There were a few swordsmen on the Guardian Knight Order’s side who could wield the swift sword technique, but unfortunately, they couldn’t match Lumen’s speed.

Their swords could not keep up with the bloodsuckers’ movements. If they were lucky, they’d slice them, but they usually just chased their tails. Even that was on a fairly fast axis compared to the other swordsmen.

But Lumen was different. His sword drawing technique was so quick that those swordsmen only realized that the bloodsuckers had been cut after the afterimage of the sword energy remained. It was no different for the bloodsuckers, so they dispersed to avoid the afterimage of the sword energy without even realizing that they had been cut and dropped their half-dismembered bodies in a huddle.

Truly overwhelming speed. Rather than blocking Lumen, the bloodsuckers died one after another without even being able to reach him.

It was a great momentum, but even so, he was not able to cut down the entire bloodsuckers’ barrier alone. This was because Ashvka’s volume of bloodsuckers was as enormous as Lumen’s speed.

“Long time no see, Van Herdos.”

However, it was enough to create a gap that Lumen could dig through.

“How did you bastard get here…….”

“Stop looking at me like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Van was stunned by Lumen’s appearance through the bloodsuckers’ barrier. It was a shocking enough appearance to temporarily push aside the worries about Cadel that had been filling his head.

Lumen sneered at Van once, then looked at the power of the allies inside the seal circle.

‘I had heard that they were moving with the Guardian Knight Order, but I didn’t realize it was a battalion led by Sorin Salamo.’

The knights looked exhausted, but none were wounded or fallen, a testament to their skill and a testament to Sorin’s command.

They say he was a man of skill comparable to the commander of the Guardian Knight Order. It appeared that it was not an exaggerated rumor. Lumen could have found Sorin and heard his command, but he did not do that.

Because his leader was Cadel Lytos, not Sorin Salamo. If he needed information, Van was better than Sorin.

“I got the estimate right away. Since you couldn’t attack those insects with your dull great sword, you couldn’t get any blood or power, right?”

“Oh, yes. Your sword may be perfect for dealing with those pesky little bugs, but my greatsword specializes in killing like a true man.”

“Is it manly to struggle without being able to catch a single bug? That’s amazing. I learned something new.”

The two men knew what was urgent for the other, but it was more important for them to scratch each other’s tempers.

After a long, pointless duel, they finally got down to business when their mutual displeasure reached its peak.

“So, are you going to try a range attack that can tear down the barrier?”

“You’ve seen it before. It’s the same technique I used to wipe out the Baskin Village.”

“I know, such a stinky technique surely remains in my memory.”

“So the mere smell of blood offends the noble young master. Anyway, the technique requires the blood of the bloodsuckers to execute. Feed my sword some blood with your perfect-for-flying-bugs swordsmanship.”

“Like when we were dealing with the witch? I hope that this time, my hard work will be worth it.”

Bickering under their breath, they finally agreed on a goal, and without further ado, they got to work.

* * *

The arrival of Lumen Dominic would turn the tide of the battle, but not as much as Cadel’s mental state.

Knowing that Lumen was here in Alithis, that he was beside Van, besieged by the bloodsuckers. Knowing that Lumen was within reach of answering whenever he called was a great relief to Cadel.

It was a feeling of confidence that even if the sudden quest failed and the story progress was a mess, Cadel would not be frustrated by not being able to overcome the hardship. That was what Lumen meant to Cadel.

This was true even though he had made Cadel so anxious and upset from the beginning.

“Cadel, even if Lumen hadn’t come, I would have saved you, okay? Okay? You have to realize that.”

With Lumen’s help, Cadel escaped unharmed, and the barrier of protection for the magicians was once again in place. Naturally, Lydon joined the effort to restore the seal, but it seemed more important for him to make himself known to the approaching Cadel.

In 10 minutes, he would have saved Cadel, but the fact that Lumen surpassed Lydon by such a small margin made Lydon seem unhappy and didn’t even seem to welcome his arrival.

Cadel soothed Lydon and turned to Martin next to him to ask about the progress of the seal’s restoration.

“We’re more than halfway there, but Ashvka is getting stronger and stronger, and we’re going to need to reduce Ashvka’s stamina even a little from inside the barrier to finish the seal safely.”

It wouldn’t be easy. If they couldn’t keep up with the bloodsuckers’ speed, they’d have to overwhelm them with range, but the knights’ sword aura had its limits. The whole point of having a mix of swordsmen and magicians in the Knight Order army in the first place was to compensate for each other’s weaknesses.

But if the magicians were completely out of the picture in this way, the progress of the battle was bound to be slow.

‘I need to maintain the barrier surrounding the magicians, and Lydon needs to assist me as we work on the sealing. It’s hard for me to join Ashvka’s defense.’

What he could look forward to was Lumen’s sword energy, which exceeded the speed of the bloodsuckers, and Van’s wide-range attack.

‘If Sorin and Dreyfe could add their strength, suppressing Ashvka’s power would not be impossible.’

It was not something he could just wish for, and for now, Cadel had to trust his allies inside the seal circle and keep restoring the seal.

“Everyone is probably fully aware of the dangers of Ashvka. Let’s believe them. From now on, I will also do my best to restore the seal.”

“……Do you have the mana to spare?”

“The barrier surrounding the personnel inside has been lifted. It’s not a good thing for them, but it gives me some extra mana. Don’t worry, I don’t plan on holding on until my mana runs out.”

Neatly shrugging off Martin’s concerns, Cadel took up a solid position on the outside of the seal circle.

‘All I can do here is trust my subordinates to do their jobs perfectly.’

His subordinates had never betrayed his expectations, and he had no doubt that it would be like that this time too.