Chapter 24: A Standoff

Around fifteen minutes later, an SUV pulled up in front of Austin and Satella, who was waiting at the campus entrance.

The driver's window slid open, revealing Alysia's gorgeous face. "Come, get in."

However, as she spoke, Alysia's eyes instinctively were drawn to Satella, dressed in proper and conservative clothes with a large pair of black sunglasses covering half of her face.

[A/N: I changed the eyeglasses to sunglasses]

Alysia sized her up without bothering to hide her intentions and raised her eyebrows. It seemed she couldn't connect the person she talked to on the phone to the woman in front of her, someone who looked like a nun.

She had imagined Satella to be a hoodlum, dressed in the most revealing attire possible, looking like a seductress. She hadn't expected Satella to turn out looking like a nun, looking prim and proper.

Similarly, Satella's attention was immediately captured by Alysia. Considering the way Alysia spoke, Satella had imagined her to have a vixen-like both in appearance and temperament. She hadn't anticipated Alysia to be looking both elegant and refined.

For a moment, the two women were at a loss for words. It was only after Austin's nudge that Satella snapped out of her daze.

She then glared softly at Alysia as if issuing a warning. Unwilling to back down, Alysia merely smiled, but her eyes were full of provocation.

There were invisible sparks between them, constantly clashing.

Ignoring the two women engrossed in their silent standoff, Austin proceeded to open the back seat passage, not expecting to see someone in the front passenger seat. "Eh?"

There sat a brown-haired woman with huge eyebags that stood in stark contrast to her pale skin. For a moment, an image of a cute-looking panda crossed his mind.

"Are you Austin?!" the woman asked him, sounding excited.

"Yes, do you know me?" Austin replied, his gaze naturally shifting to Alysia. Judging by the woman's tone, she seemed to know him through Alysia. He just wasn't sure what Alysia had told her about him.

"Hmmm... you're pretty ordinary compared to what I expected," the woman remarked thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry?"

"But it's indeed the truth that you've gained the Sin Of Pride's approval. Hmm, well, perhaps, your ordinaryness is what makes you special."

What the hell is this woman talking about?

'Are you praising me or mocking me?' Austin cursed inwardly as his mouth twitched.

"Well, in any case, nice to meet you. My name is Agatha." Agatha leaned from her seat and offered her hand.

Austin accepted her hand and shook it. However, his gaze immediately wandered to her upper blouse. More precisely, her chest area. From the looks of it, she was in a rush and hadn't buttoned it properly, causing her huge cleavage to be visible.

Before, due to their angles, he hadn't seen it properly, but now he noticed that Agatha's breasts were exceptionally large. When they shook hands, her breasts jiggled ever so slightly.

Austin's face immediately turned ashen as he felt his blood rushing through his brain. 'Damn it!'

He felt as if the gods were putting his will to the test today. Alysia, Eris, Satella, and now Agatha – the day was so lively that he kept crossing paths with high-class women. It was worth noting that with their beauty, they could easily dominate the entertainment industry just by showing their faces.

Normally, just encountering one of these women could be considered a blessing for the day, but he had met all four of them.

"B-brother, are you not going to release that woman's hand?" It was unknown when Satella had ended her silent war with Alysia, but she now appeared beside Austin, pointing out their joined hands.

"Oh, sorry," Austin jolted and released her hand instantly.

Agatha doesn't seem to mind as she still fixed her gaze interestingly at Austin, seemingly in wonder.

Satella instinctively blocked her gaze by sitting atop Austin's thigh as if a hen protecting her chick.

Austin could now only see Satella's nape, and he subconsciously inhaled.

Hmm... a vanilla scent. She didn't change her lotion, huh?

He felt an intense desire to lick her nape, but the awareness of their surroundings held him back. He wasn't exhibitionist or shameless enough to indulge in such actions in the presence of others.

He regretted not fooling around a bit with her back in his dorm. Yet, on second thought, considering the possibility of roommates walking in at any moment, he realized it might have been the wisest choice not to initiate anything in his dorm.

Unaware of Austin's thoughts, Satella found herself in another standoff, this time with Agatha.

"Who are you?" Toward a stranger who abruptly popped out and disrupted her observation, Agatha's tone didn't hold respect and had a hint of annoyance and hostility.

Summoning her courage, Satella clenched her fist and spoke with a mix of timidity and resolve. "Shouldn't you introduce yourself first before asking others?"

"What?" Agatha was taken aback by the unexpected rebuke from the girl in front of her.

"Isn't that the logic?" Satella pressed on determinedly.

"Hey, hey, don't fight in my car." Alysia's voice rang out, dispelling the gloomy atmosphere. "She's Austin's sister. You don't need to be so wary of her. Wait, why am I the one explaining it? Damn you, Austin, you should speak on her behalf, not me!" After complaining, she drove her car away.

Meanwhile, Austin immediately returned to his senses after getting caught in Alysia's scent. He was aware of what was happening; he just didn't expect Satella to be so fierce despite still wearing her sunglasses.

"She's my sister, Miss Agatha." Austin coughed.

"You should have said so from the beginning." Agatha was a rather straightforward person. Since she had already received the answer, she returned to her seat. However, she occasionally turned back to look at Austin. This alarmed Satella once again.

"Who are these people, brother? Why are they so obsessed with you? What exactly have you been doing in these past four months?" Satella bombarded him with questions in a low voice.

Although she spoke in a hushed tone, both Alysia and Agatha possessed keen hearing.

Since Agatha didn't know Austin's circumstances, she blurted out in surprise, "Huh? Little girl, you're really a mortal?"

"A mortal?" Satella had a lost look.

Crap!

Austin was about to say some lies he had prepared beforehand when his eyes landed on Satella's sunglasses. At that moment, he changed his decision and decided to confess. "Satella, hear me out first, and don't freak out, okay?"

Satella nodded in confusion.

Austin began to recount his story from the previous night with some alterations.

...

Five minutes later, Satella, wearing a dumbfounded expression, spoke slowly. "So, brother, you're no longer human now?"

"Apparently not. Can't you tell by how different I look now? I'm paler than a snowman and have a perfect physique. I even beat that jerk William in a race without breaking a sweat. Do you think as a human, I could achieve all this in four months?"

Satella nodded thoughtfully and hesitated before asking another question. "Then, are you still my same brother?"

Before negative thoughts could pile up in her head, she felt her hair being roughly rubbed.

"Silly. Of course, I'm still me. It's just that my race changed. Other than that, I'm all the same," Austin said with a light laugh.

Satella patted her chest in relief and then turned to Alysia.

Naturally, Alysia sensed Satella's gaze and, with an air of suaveness, said without prying her gaze away from ahead. "Little girl, you must want to thank me for saving your brother, right? But you can save it."

"Actually, I want to ask you whether it's possible for you to reincarnate me into a demon too?" Satella asked, causing Austin to feel a bit shocked.

"Satella, what are you doing?" Austin inquired.

Satella didn't answer him but continued to look at Alysia.

"Oh, you're not thanking me?" Alysia asked after a brief silence.

"Didn't you say yourself that I should keep it?" Satella retorted calmly.

"Didn't you catch on that I was just being polite?" Alysia remarked, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, anyone can potentially be reincarnated as a demon. It all comes down to whether you've got the cash for it. The ingredients needed for the ritual don't come cheap. So, if you're wondering if I can turn you into a demon too, the answer is yes, as long as you've got the money."

"How much does it cost?" Satella inquired.

"One million dollars," Alysia replied, then added, "At the present. The price might keep going up due to the difficulty of finding the ingredients."

"One million..." Satella mused before nodding determinedly as if she had set a goal. "I'll definitely get you the money soon."

Chop!

"Aw! That hurt, brother!" Satella cried, rubbing her head in protest.

"Why are you treating a million dollars like it's pocket change, as if you can grab it tomorrow?" Austin criticized. "And why are you so insistent on becoming a demon? Just stay as you are now."

Satella pouted, and Agatha chimed in, "Little girl, why don't you become my disciple and become a witch?"

'So she's a witch.' Austin finally realized. He had suspected Agatha's identity to be special but had no opportunity to ask it.

"I never expected someone like you to be interested in taking on a disciple," Alysia quipped with raised eyebrows.

"Don't you see my eyebags getting heavier and more evident day by day?" Agatha explained. "Even my beautifying spell can't keep up with the growth of my eyebags. If I had a disciple, wouldn't my workload be lessened because I'd have someone to share it with?"

"That's true." Alysia couldn't help but agree.

"Hehe, so, little girl, don't you fancy the idea of becoming a witch? Look, I can conjure fire with just a thought." As Agatha said that, a ball of fire materialized from her palm.

"Hey, stop! Do you want to burn my car?!"

...

Twenty minutes later.

Satella had her face almost glued to the window as she gazed upon Alysia's massive mansion.

It was at this moment that Austin noticed something different about the place.

It took him a few seconds to figure out what the difference was.

It seems when he first exited the mansion, he didn't see anybody. However, now, there were a few people tending to the garden.

As the car drove closer to the main mansion, there were also a few people dressed in uniform cleaning the floors, windows, and such.

"Why didn't I see these people this morning?" Austin couldn't help but ask.

"Because they only start working at 8 a.m. They don't stay here either. I hired them just for the mansion maintenance," Alysia explained.

Alysia drove her car directly to the front of the mansion. Afterward, they exited the car, and Alysia casually handed the key to one of the butlers.

Noticing that Satella's attention was still marveling at the mansion's grandeur, Austin inched closer to Alysia and whispered, "Can we speak for a second?"

Alysia took notice of Austin's gaze at Satella and shrugged. "Sure, what's wrong? We couldn't talk for a long time, though. That sister of yours, tsk, tsk, she's really a brocon. While I'm not afraid of confronting her, it won't be a good experience to get targeted by a yandere."

"My sister is not as bad as you described her to be!" Austin subconsciously refuted with a frown.

"Heh, I don't trust words from a siscon like you," Alysia added. "Anyway, enough of dilly-dallying, get to the main point. What did you want to talk to me about?"

'Wasn't you the one that diverted from the topics?' Mouth twitching, Austin finally said, "Do you know why I'm admitting the truth to my sister?"

Without waiting for her response, he continued. "That's because I sense the same demonic energy you displayed when you fought with that blonde ghost, Emily, on my sister."

"Demonic energy? Your sister?" Alysia peered at Satella but soon shook her head. "I don't sense any from her. Are you sure you're not mistaken? Demons at the Tenth Level are basically like ordinary humans with an imperfect sixth sense. It means they can sense supernatural energies like demonic energy, divine energy, and magic, but not very accurately. Perhaps what you sensed was only a trace of demonic energy left by other demons. That means she might have encountered a demon without her knowing."

"Do you know split personality?" Austin suddenly said.

"Yeah?" Alysia felt confused at the abrupt change of topics by Austin.

"My sister seems to have contracted that kind of ailment. But aside from her personality changing, she will remain the same with her memory remain intact. The trigger for this change is her sunglasses. When she removes them, she switches to another personality. In the past, I used to think it was her way of coping with her shy and easily embarrassed nature, developing this mechanism to make herself braver. You know, like what I used to think of you, a Chuunibyou. However, now that I'm aware supernatural things exist, having become a demon myself and experienced firsthand how demonic energy feels, I believe there's certainly more to this." Austin narrated without a pause.

Alysia thought for a moment. "Are you saying that she emits demonic energy when she switches to this other personality of hers?"

"That's right," Austin affirmed.

After a while, Alysia declared with an intrigued expression, "Now I'm curious. I've never heard of such cases before. Let's go. See if you can persuade your sister to remove her sunglasses."

Austin walked over to Satella and affectionately patted her head.

"Brother?" Satella asked smilingly.

Austin spoke gently, "Why don't you try taking off your sunglasses? It's not very comfortable to see things in the dark, is it?"

"But-" Satella hesitated, glancing at Alysia and Agatha nearby. She had never removed her sunglasses in front of others, only in the presence of Austin and her mom.

"It's okay. Maybe they can help solve this other personality of yours. Remember, they're a demon and a witch, respectively," Austin reassured.

As if soothed by a lullaby, Satella nodded slowly and began to remove her sunglasses.

As the sunglasses came off, both Alysia and Agatha's eyes widened in amazement.

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