What if you are reborn as a demon after a funeral?.

Chapter Sixty: Master and Disciple Who Exchange Sincerity

In the reception room reserved for Seria at the Continental Magic Association branch, a routine meeting is being held.

But the meeting was only halfway through when the door to the meeting room was kicked open.

When everyone turned to look, the newcomer still had an arrogant expression, as if he was there to challenge them, but... before he could finish speaking, he suddenly stopped.

Because the moment the door was kicked open, the challenger—Ash—saw from afar that at the far end of the room, on a large wooden chair, sat a figure that looked like a child with an ungainly posture—it was clearly Celie herself.

"Huh?" Celia, equally startled by the sound of the door being broken down, looked up and noticed Ash's expression gradually stiffening. Unconsciously, the corners of her mouth curled up into a wide smile: "...Hooray~?"

"—Excuse me, I've entered the wrong room!"

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Ash quickly stepped forward, picked up the broken doorknob, and swiftly pulled it all back and straightened it.

Having completed all of this in one go, he smiled awkwardly yet politely and nodded slightly to everyone in the room: "You can continue, don't worry about me."

As he spoke, while everyone inside was still stunned and hadn't come to their senses, he casually closed the broken door again.

Just as he turned around, breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and was about to leave quickly...

"Where are you going, my good disciple?" His shoulder was suddenly pressed down, and a familiar voice came from very close behind him.

"...Spatial teleportation? That's a bit scary..." Ash sighed softly, then patted his face, trying to calm himself down.

Then he slowly turned around, a smile on his face as if he were seeing her for the first time, and looked at the petite figure floating in mid-air, feigning surprise as he said:

"Oh my! Isn't this my respected master, Celia? How long has it been since we last met? A thousand years, perhaps? I never expected to see you here, what a wonderful coincidence!"

“Tch, what a pretentious guy,” Celia clicked her tongue in disdain.

"Do you think that by pretending you didn't find anything, and that we just met, I'll let you off the hook as if nothing happened?"

"What do you mean by letting go? What kind of relationship do we have?" He tried to talk about their past relationship and play the emotional card.

But this only prompted Celia to coldly reply, "What relationship? A relationship of not seeing each other for a thousand years, what other relationship could it be?"

"Ha, ha...that's really hurtful! I miss you so much, I think about you every day..."

"There hasn't been a single word for a thousand years?"

"...Uh, is that what you're concerned about? That's not like you at all..."

“Indeed.” Celia nodded thoughtfully, causing him to smile as well. “Then! To celebrate our reunion, why not…”

"Don't be so happy yet. Since you're here, you should have been prepared for the consequences, right?"

"...What kind of awareness?"

"In short, let me see what progress you have made in the past thousand years before we talk about compensation."

"Compensation? The gate thing? I... no—wait a minute!"

His smile was frozen as he tried to say something more, but then he saw magic gathering between Celia's hands, which made him break out in a cold sweat.

A terrifying smile spread across the ancient elf's face, and then...

Boom-! ! ! !

The sound of an explosion echoed throughout the Magic Association building.

Ash's figure weaved through the flying flames... He had no intention of fighting at all; he simply wanted to escape first, after all, as long as the green hills remain, there's no fear of running out of firewood.

But the explosions continued one after another, showing no signs of stopping.

"Don't let anyone get hurt, okay? Otherwise... we'll have to keep going."

With the warning ringing in their ears, the entire building was almost instantly destroyed, and the outer wall collapsed as well.

The barrier set up around them offered no resistance and easily succumbed to this terrifying energy.

However, once everything calmed down, the situation at the scene was strangely astonishing.

Even disregarding the smoke and dust, the towering flames reached over a hundred meters high. The impact of this energy should have turned the surrounding area within a few hundred meters into ruins, creating a horrific tragedy.

But in reality, only the interior of the Magic Association was damaged, with no impact on the outside.

...........................

It is almost impossible for such a terrifying attack to occur within the Continental Magic Association, an authoritative organization that has gained renown throughout the continent in a short period of time.

However... the impossible still happened, and not a single person stood up to stop this tragedy.

No, those who actually have the courage to stand up will probably turn into pieces of meat flying through the air in the next instant.

There are usually quite a few staff members here, but the actual number of deaths is zero.

And only one was injured.

Covered in ash and blood, Ash looked extremely disheveled and was the only victim in this incident.

"...What sins did I commit to deserve coming to this godforsaken place?" he muttered, lifting the wall behind him. He felt that this level of violence was definitely down to the level of torture.

This made him turn around and look at the elf strolling towards him with an air of leisure, and he remarked:

"What are you doing?! There's a limit to everything, you know? If it weren't for me, someone would be dead by now!"

"No one died, right? And I did hold back a bit, so consider this a test for you."

"...Your Magic Association is finished, isn't it?"

"It's alright, isn't it time for you to make compensation?"

"Wait a minute? I only broke one door, right??" A sense of foreboding washed over him in the now partially ruined Magic Association. He glanced warily at the "girl" standing before him: "You wouldn't be thinking of...?"

"It's that...you wouldn't..." Celia's smile was exceptionally bright, making him almost want to curse as he hesitated to speak: "...No, you...I...?!"

"Since it was going to be demolished and expanded anyway, now that you're here, someone will pay for it, right?"

"but....."

"How about you have my position?" Before he could refuse, Celia offered him a huge temptation:

"Although this organization has only been established for a short time, it is considered quite good among human organizations. How about it? Consider it compensation for accidentally injuring you. I wouldn't entrust this hard work to anyone else."

"No, wait a minute, let me sort this out first..."

After being beaten again, the sudden shower of strange gifts left him bewildered. He rubbed his forehead with one hand, remaining silent for a long time before asking suspiciously, "You suddenly turned violent towards me, and now you're giving me so many benefits..."

"Think about it, if I suddenly give it to you, my men definitely won't be obedient to you, right?" Celia spread her hands with a bright smile, looking like she was doing this for your own good, and coaxed you gently:

"Besides, under normal circumstances, why would I want to harm you? Otherwise, how would I demonstrate my abilities and save those people? I'm paving the way for you. Isn't this the master-disciple relationship you've always talked about? — The organization I created will be inherited by you!"

"That can't be right... You just thought it was too much trouble for you, so you wanted to beat me up to vent your anger and dump all the hard work on me, right? And now you're even calling it inheritance?"

Ash gathered his thoughts, wiped the blood and ash from his face, his expression etched with frustration. He even asked, genuinely bewildered:

"You clearly hate doing these troublesome things, so why did you come out? To fulfill your disciple's last wish after 1000 years? When did you become so gentle??"

"Haha, as expected of you, Ash." Celia shook her head and laughed, "Only you dare to speak so recklessly to me."

"Nonsense? Is it really nonsense? Clearly..."

"One more time?" Celia smiled, but her eyes flashed with an indescribable ferocity.

This forced him to swallow the words he hadn't finished saying.

"Excuse me, I suddenly remembered I have some things to take care of at home, so I'll have to take my leave now." He, who had been sitting on the ground pretending to be seriously injured, immediately stood up, dusted himself off, and turned to leave without saying a word.

This time, to his surprise, he wasn't stopped. But after walking past a broken wall, he saw Celia, who should have been behind him, suddenly appear in front of him, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, looking at him. Startled, he instinctively took two steps back.

"Are you a ghost?! You appear and disappear without a sound?!"

"What's the rush? Seriously, it's been so long since we've seen you, and you're already leaving? That doesn't make sense."

"Uh...actually, I wanted to go to town to buy some gifts, since we haven't seen each other for so long...it's only right to show some courtesy, isn't it?"

"I do not mind."

"I do care!"

"Bullshit."

"...Actually, I've lost too much blood. I'm a little dizzy now, ah, I can't stand up straight." As he spoke, he swayed and fell to the ground with a thud, once again feigning a serious injury, clutching his head and saying regretfully:

"Excuse me, Celia... I feel like my body really can't take it anymore. Could I go back and rest for a bit before we talk about what happened before?"

"Can't hold on any longer?"

"Yes, after all, you injured me like this... Of course, I don't blame you, after all, you are my master, right, so..."

"Don't try to play the emotional card with me!" Celia interrupted him coldly, mercilessly exposing his lies.

"Isn't most of your body covered in chicken blood? Or did you smear it on yourself when I wasn't looking...? Are you afraid of blood?"

Chapter Sixty-One: Who's More of a Demon? · Half a Century Has Passed in the Blink of an Eye (3K)

It wasn't at the moment of the attack, but when he encountered Celie, that Ash had a premonition that he was going to be in big trouble.

Amidst the shockwave and smoke, he rushed into the kitchen without a word, hastily smearing some blood on himself, trying to make himself look as bad as possible so he could get away with anything. However...

"Tsk... I was actually seen through?" Even though he was unexpectedly and easily seen through, the other party was this cunning old fox, so he was not embarrassed at all. He still clicked his tongue and turned his face away: "...Old ginger is spicier, this saying is indeed true."

“You don’t need to resist like this, I won’t force you.” Celia tried to reason with her, to appeal to her emotions, but…

"Then I refuse." He was completely unceremonious, refusing without even thinking.

This caused Celia's slightly relaxed expression to instantly turn cold again:

"...What do you mean by this? Rejecting me so quickly, are you not going to give me any face at all?"

“Uh, I meant to say…” He paused for a moment, looked around, and then pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from the ruins. He wrote a series of words in a flowing hand and then respectfully handed it over.

"What?" Celia took the letter and frowned after just one glance.

As I pick up my pen, my heart is filled with gratitude and awe.

Since I began my studies, I have been fortunate to receive your meticulous guidance. You not only imparted all your magical skills to me, but also gave me endless inspiration and guidance in how to conduct myself in society.

Your wisdom, patience, and noble character have illuminated my path like a lighthouse, from which I have benefited immensely. My gratitude is beyond words.

However, after careful consideration and self-examination, as I face the precious inheritance that you, Master, are about to bestow, my heart is filled with complex emotions and struggles...

The string of text was mostly flattery, the most hypocritical and clichéd words, which gave Celie a headache.