SSS-Ranked Awakening: I Can Only Summon Mythical Beasts-Chapter 271: Arielle’s Theory

Damien and Arielle walked through the dimly lit streets of Westmont, the soft glow of lanterns flickering along the paths leading back to the Mercenary Guild building. The evening air was cool, carrying the faint scent of wood smoke and fresh earth.

Despite the calmness of the night, Damien's mind was far from at ease. The conversation with the Town Lord still lingered in his thoughts, twisting into something heavier. People from the Eastern Shirefort Continent were looking for the savior of Westmont. They didn't know it was him, but if they ever did…

He sighed, shaking the thoughts away.

Beside him, Arielle walked with an easy stride, but there was something different about her tonight. She wasn't ranting or teasing him like she usually would. Instead, she seemed deep in thought, as if debating something internally.

As they neared the guild building, she suddenly spoke.

"Damien," she said, her voice quieter than usual.

He glanced at her. "Yeah?"

She hesitated for a moment, then looked up at him with curious eyes.

"Have you ever wondered where demons really come from?"

The question caught Damien off guard.

He frowned slightly, considering it. "They're made by the Dark Gods. Everyone knows that."

Arielle nodded, as if she had expected that answer.

"Yeah. But what are they made *from*?"

Damien slowed his steps. He had never thought about that before.

"You can't make something out of nothing," she continued. "Every creation has an origin, an ingredient. What do you think demons were before they became what they are?"

Damien remained silent for a long moment, his mind racing.

Finally, he exhaled. "Are you saying you believe demons used to be… human?"

Arielle stopped walking and turned to face him. The lanterns above cast shadows over her face, but her eyes gleamed with conviction.

"I do."

Damien's first instinct was to dismiss the idea. It sounded absurd.

But then—

His mind drifted back to the demon he had fought in the dungeon.

It had been different.

It had been intelligent, not just reacting but learning mid-battle, adapting like a human would.

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It hadn't just been a beast of destruction. It had grown stronger as the fight dragged on.

The memory sent an uncomfortable chill through him.

Slowly, he turned back to Arielle. "Why do you think that?"

She crossed her arms. "Think about it, Damien. The Dark Gods didn't just create demons out of thin air. What if they took humans and poisoned them with so much darkness that it corrupted their very being? Altered them until they became something unrecognizable?"

Damien stared at her, his thoughts spiraling.

It made too much sense.

He had seen how demons operated. Some were mindless, but others—others were too calculated, too aware.

It wasn't hard to imagine that they had once been something else.

"You're actually serious about this," he muttered.

Arielle smirked. "Of course."

Damien exhaled, running a hand through his hair. "And what if you're right? What does that mean for us? For people like me who fight demons?"

Arielle's expression sobered slightly. "It means that every time we kill a demon, we might just be killing what used to be a person."

Damien's jaw tightened. That was… unsettling.

But at the same time—

He thought of the horrors demons had committed.

The blood, the destruction, the suffering they had caused.

If they had once been human, then what did that mean about their humanity now?

Had they truly lost it all?

Damien wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

He took a deep breath and shook his head. "Where did you get this theory from, anyway?"

Arielle grinned. "It's not my theory."

Damien's brows furrowed. "Then whose is it?"

She tilted her head slightly, studying his reaction before finally answering.

"My master's."

Damien blinked.

For a moment, he didn't say anything.

He didn't even know how to feel.

Arielle had a master?

Why had she never mentioned it before?

Something about the revelation felt… off.

And, for some reason, he felt betrayed.

But then—

He reminded himself that he, too, had secrets he hadn't told her.

He had his own past, his own mysteries.

He couldn't be upset about her keeping something to herself when he had been doing the exact same thing.

So, instead of questioning why she had never told him before, he simply asked. "Where is this master of yours now?"

Because now, he was very interested in meeting them.

Arielle chuckled softly, shrugging her shoulders as if what she was about to say wasn't anything significant. But Damien could see it in her eyes—the weight behind her words.

"The reason I became a mercenary," she began, "moving around, hunting demons, taking on contracts—it was all because of him."

Damien leaned forward slightly. "Your master?"

She nodded. "He went missing years ago. No one knows what happened to him. No warnings, no messages. Just… vanished."

Damien's gaze sharpened. "And you've been searching for him ever since?"

Arielle smiled, but it wasn't her usual mischievous grin. This one held something deeper.

"He taught me everything I know. Since I was a kid, he drilled all his knowledge into me—combat, strategy, survival. He made me strong. So when he disappeared, I decided it was time to return the favor. It was my turn to go after *him*."

Damien remained silent for a moment, letting her words settle in.

Arielle—loud, confident, reckless Arielle—had been fighting all this time, not just for the thrill, not just for survival, but for something far more personal.

She had been chasing after a ghost.

"Do you plan to keep searching?" he finally asked.

Arielle nodded, not even hesitating. "Of course."

Something inside Damien shifted at her response.

His thoughts drifted back to their earlier conversation. The theory about demons. The possibility that they were once human.

Arielle's master had been the one to come up with that idea.

That meant he knew something. Something big.

And if Damien could find him—

Then maybe, just maybe—

He could discover something even greater than just eradicating demons.

Their true origin.

Arielle's mission suddenly became his mission.

Damien leaned back, exhaling. "Then I'll join you."

Arielle blinked, caught off guard. "What?"

"I'll help you find your master," Damien said, meeting her gaze. "I want to know what he knows."

Arielle studied him for a moment before a grin slowly spread across her lips. "You're serious?"

Damien smirked. "Do I look like I'm joking?"

Arielle chuckled. "Well, well. Looks like my search just got a whole lot more interesting since you'll be coming."