* * *

“Where the hell did he come from? Really…… His presence is unmistakable.”

Dreyfe drew a ragged breath and narrowed his eyes. His vision was dizzily etched with the afterimage of blue flashes cutting through the bloodsuckers.

Lumen Dominic.

The swordsman from the Mainue Kingdom, who had arrived without a sound, was tearing through the seal circle, leaving only a blur of silhouette in his wake.

A speed that was impossible to follow with the eye. The moment his feet touched the ground, the bloodsuckers’ bodies were cut in half along a line of blue light. When Dreyfe blinked in surprise, the Lumen he had barely found disappeared again, and instead, another flash of light appeared from a completely different direction.

It was a ridiculous move. The speed and dexterity of the swordsmanship, which was hard to believe that they belonged to a human being, were not only neat but even bloody.

Dreyfe was also a swordsman who could not be outdone by speed, but Lumen was of a different class. He had no choice but to admit it.

“He’s long been coveted by the royal family of Mainue. If he didn’t become a knight of the Empire this time, he would have a high position in the kingdom.”

Sorin said, watching Lumen’s movements with Dreyfw. He, like Dreyfe, was marveling at Lumen’s amazing sword drawing technique, but something else stood out to him.

‘The power of the aura. It’s getting stronger.’

The berserker from the Scarlet Scales Knight Order hadn’t made much of a splash so far. Sorin could feel his aura amplifying at a rapid rate.

When he was guarding the gate, that berserker was a man with a wild fighting style that allowed him to climb directly onto Sellev’s body to deliver his attacks. Sorin remembered an aura that was powerful enough to repel the demonic energy of a High Demon.

‘It was said that there was a record of him defeating the White Kingdom’s monster army with that power. ……If done well.’

Sorin had already done his research on the members of the Scarlet Scales Knight Order. He might not know everything about them, but he did know about their power.

He quickly came up with a plan as he looked around at the Guardian Knight Order who were desperately dealing with the group of bloodsuckers.

Meanwhile, unaware of such thoughts, Lumen and Van were putting the finishing touches on a job that was well underway.

“That should be enough.”

Unleashing his Blood Flow Sword, Van felt his aura expand, bringing its power to a controllable range.

‘I won’t be able to extend the range as much as I did in the White Kingdom, but it should be enough to fill the inside of the seal circle. That should be enough to wipe out all of these bloodsuckers.’

He had to make sure that the bloodsuckers could not return to Ashvka. The problem was how the Guardian Knight Order, who filled the seal circle, avoided the [River of the Dead].

Lumen came to Van’s side, brushing a stray strand of his slightly disheveled hair out of his eyes as he looked up at the crack in the seal. Ashvka’s arm, which had fallen to his shoulder, still oozed bloodsuckers, but in far fewer numbers.

It wasn’t because he ran out of bloodsuckers.

‘Maybe he’s preparing for something else. The lack of movement suggests it’s a big attack that needs time.’

Nothing should be allowed to be done. They had to inflict a significant blow so that he couldn’t concentrate on his attack.

“Hey. You think you can cut off Ashvka’s arm with your stinky attack?”

“It’s a ranged attack that disperses the power. No matter how much aura I use, it cannot equal the power of the same amount of aura in one blow.”

“I see.”

Nodding slightly, Lumen looked back at Van’s unfriendly face.

“Then you’ll have to put your plans on hold.”

“What?”

“Let’s go with the plan to cut off the arm of the one that escaped from the seal, and then wipe out all the bloodsuckers that came out of it at once.”

“I don’t have enough blood to do both at once, and we don’t have time to collect more.”

“No matter how happy you are to see me, don’t focus on me too much. It’s uncomfortable.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Lumen jerked his jaw across the area, ignoring Van’s murderous expression. The area was filled with members of the Guardian Knight Order, a group that hadn’t even crossed Van’s mind the entire time.

“Save your strength. I’ll cut off Ashvka’s arm with the knights over there.”

Shouldn’t they make the most of the power they have? Van and Lydon might be different, but Lumen was a man who was quite immune to communal life.

* * *

“As soon as we approach Ashvka, the bloodsuckers will lunge at us, but if we can get past it, we’ll have a short window of time before he spits out the next wave of bloodsuckers. If we time it right, we can land a blow to the body and take off the arm.”

Sorin was inwardly surprised to hear Lumen’s plan, for his thoughts were so similar to his own. At first, he’d planned to use the berserker’s power to break the bloodsuckers’ barrier, but then he’d become suspicious of Ashvka’s static movements. His instincts screamed that Ashvka’s body shouldn’t be left unattended any longer.

Meanwhile, Lumen’s plan to cut off Ashvka’s arm and then use the berserker’s power to wipe out the fallen arm and the bloodsuckers in one fell swoop was appealing.

“That’s a good plan. With your swordsmanship, you’ll be able to slice through the bloodsuckers as soon as they move. Me and Dreyfe will work together to find an opening.”

“We have only one chance. Whether you succeed or fail, I’ll immediately cut away part of the barrier to create an opening for you to escape, so please move your knights.”

It wasn’t realistic to attack multiple times until they succeeded. They didn’t want to push themselves to the point of making reckless choices to ensure the success of the plan.

Lumen looked away from Sorin, who was discussing coordination with Dreyfe, and toward Van, who was beyond.

He was using his minimal aura to keep the charging bloodsuckers at bay. No matter how many bloodsuckers Lumen slashed, there was only so much blood that could be drawn from the insects. Van would have to draw maximum power from a limited amount of blood.

‘Unless he has been playing around for a while, he’ll succeed.’

Lumen didn’t want to worry about Van. Rather than trusting Van, Lumen was right in feeling that if Van couldn’t even do that, it wasn’t worth interacting with him. That would be the same for the other party as well. Lumen didn’t think he was mean.

‘I can’t wait to get this over with. When I came to meet him, I couldn’t even see his face.’

Those eyes of a deep, bronze color that always glimmered. Cadel’s clear eyes, which Lumen had missed so much, unexpectedly turned gray. He had a vague idea of what had happened, but he couldn’t help but be disappointed.

If they could have some alone time together, he would be able to see Cadel’s true self again. So, after completely sealing that pesky demon that was preventing him from reuniting with the leader, Lumen had to visit him again. The only person who waited for him.