Time passed, and it became late at night.
No one was allowed to approach the bars that confined the monster.
The guard on watch was also positioned so that he could observe from a window in the inner room, and everyone was careful not to enter the monster's field of vision.
A monster that learns everything it sees. This was the countermeasure against it. Thanks to this, the monster was currently just standing there blankly with the face and body of Pascal, the last person it had imitated.
"...Aura, mimicry, learning..."
However, the pronunciation of its quiet muttering gradually became clearer and more distinct. The monster diligently combined the insufficient information it had heard so far to understand the meaning and usage of words.
A quiet voice wandered through the darkness.
Or so it should have been.
"You are a disaster."
Someone's leisurely footsteps echoed within the prison.
It was a tall man. His hair was as long as his height, and his skin was pale. His handsome features were particularly noticeable for his sharp nose.
Staring blankly at the man, the monster muttered,
"Yes. That's what you should have been."
Hearing that voice, the guard rushed out.
The guard drew his sword and faced the suddenly appearing stranger.
"This place is under a lockdown order! No one is allowed to enter!"
The stranger clicked his tongue and waved his hand towards the guard.
Following the diagonal trajectory he drew, Aura shot out, charging towards the guard.
"How dare you apply the rules of this place to me... Huh?"
The man, after shooting the Aura, didn't even glance at the guard, but something was strange.
The guard, who should have been sliced apart in the shape of the Aura, was standing there perfectly fine.
There wasn't even a scratch, let alone being cut into pieces.
"...The rules of this place."
The guard, with a sudden change in demeanor, brought his hand to his face.
The skin of his face peeled off like a mask, revealing a completely different person wearing the guard's uniform.
"That sounds like you're not from here."
The man who had been disguised as the guard was Azier.
Azier briefly looked at the mask he had removed.
"...That guy, he's well-prepared."
At his muttering, the man frowned.
This time, Azier's sword extended. It was a sword wind imbued with Aura.
The man spread his palm and blocked the Aura. Seeing this, Azier's eyes narrowed.
'He blocked Aura with his bare hands without using Aura. He's not human.'
Both the acrobatics of shooting Aura with his fingers without any weapons and the toughness of his body that could block a sword wind of Aura with his palm were feats impossible for humans.
"I should be asking. Where did you come from?"
At Azier's words, the man let out a scoff.
"I personally blocked it with my bare hands to make you feel the difference in our levels, yet you still utter such insolent words after seeing this. A mere human."
Azier lowered his sword. The tip of the sword, emanating a faint Aura, touched the ground.
"I am a mongrel, not a human. You sure take your time saying it."
The man shouted and spread both hands, shooting out Aura. He had no other weapons on his body. It seemed his hands themselves were his weapons.
'You might have dodged by chance earlier, but not this time.'
The man confirmed that the Aura blades created from his ten fingers filled Azier's surroundings.
Just as there had been a loud sound when he blocked the Aura, there should have been some sound when his Aura reached Azier.
Why was it so silent?
'They said it was a learning monster.'
Even as the high-speed Aura flew towards him, Azier momentarily rolled his eyes to look at the monster.
'It's better to end this quickly.'
The moment Azier raised the tip of his sword and touched the dozens of Auras,
The Auras lost all their energy, plummeted, and vanished.
How he neutralized all those Auras, in what order he touched them, it was all too complex for the man to understand.
"The difference in our levels."
Azier, as always, looked at the man with his characteristic expression.
"Shall we see that later? I'm busy right now."
"...You insolent bastard!"
The man's Aura exploded. He rampaged without any consideration for being discovered within the Imperial Palace.
The amount of his Aura clearly surpassed Azier's by a large margin. It was probably a massive amount of Aura, exceeding even Enfer's.
However, there wasn't a single flicker of disturbance in Azier's expression.
"You have quite a lot of Aura."
Azier simply took his stance, not even taking out his beloved spear, and still holding his sword, he looked at the enraged man indifferently.
"It would be a good match for my younger brother."