* * *

Van glared at the wall of ice that blocked his greatsword. Beyond the translucent wall of ice, he could see Sol, arms crossed in a defensive stance, her expression strangely contorted.

“Sis, Sister…….”

Her head turned, following the gasping call. And there, her brother, the one she thought was dead. Berry was breathing hard, struggling to his feet.

“You…….”

“Look ahead……!”

Before she could rejoice in her brother’s return from the brink of death, the two swordsmen who had managed to break through the ice wall were on the offensive.

“Lumen.”

“……Right.”

Between the flurry of sword energy, Van and Lumen’s gazes met briefly. They were more aggressive than before. They slashed at Sol’s steel-like body, skillfully maneuvering around each other’s action radius.

Above Sol, a shield of ice was forming and shattering.

“Save your energy and don’t do stupid things!”

Sol screamed, but the ice shield continued to regenerate. Sol’s brow furrowed as she watched the shield crumble as soon as she parried a sharp blow.

‘I have to endure this. It will take some strength since the first humans I meet are these bastards, but if I hold on just a little longer, reinforcements will come. Until then…….’

This was a battlefield. A battlefield for the freedom and honor of the Demon Realm. Retreat was not an option. As she waited for the great magic circle to activate, she had vowed hundreds, perhaps thousands of times that she would die for victory.

Surely she had.

“You *sshole! Can’t you hear me telling you to stop making the shield? Are you so desperate to get screwed?”

“Don’t don’t mind me…… Fight……!”

Her brother, thought to be dead, had been brought back to life, but he was still at death’s door, and if she didn’t get him to safety soon, he would die a complete death. A horrible future unfolded before Sol’s eyes, one after another.

Her movements were becoming sluggish as her heart raced, but Berry’s magic shielded her at every turn. Behind her, a coughing fit intensified, and the smell of blood grew stronger.

‘I have to hold on. I must hold on. My life, my brother’s life, is nothing compared to the victory of the Demon Realm. Even if Berry dies here, I’ll keep fighting.’

Murderous intent spewed from her viciously widened eyes. With a roar, the outstretched power slammed into the face of the greatsword. Van, who took the brunt of the attack, was knocked back by the shockwave, sending Lumen flying behind him.

“…….”

Haah. Haah.

With a ragged breath, she stared at her enemies on the ground. Beyond the dense dust, the shambling humans wriggled with effort. A shallow tremor ran through her slowly retracted fists.

After a moment of watching their movements, Sol turned her cold eyes to her surroundings.

‘There are fewer of them than I saw when I first came here. Are they hiding, or have they moved on to fight elsewhere?’

She could vaguely hear the humans communicating. Judging by the lack of further attacks after taking down the two humans, she was probably right.

Convincing herself, she rushed to Berry without hesitation.

“Wake up, you dumbass!”

“Kkurgh…….”

Sol, carrying her limp brother, hurried to the other side of the clearing, scanning the still-quiet backside.

“Why are you running away……!”

“Shut up.”

“You have to finish it off while those bastards can’t move…….”

“Why do you keep running your mouth when you have been beaten almost to death by an alter ego? Just shut up and put some strength in your legs!”

Frustrated with Berry’s constant flailing, Sol picked him up and started running.

“Where are you going, Sister?”

“First I’m gonna get away from those assholes, and then I’m gonna dig a hole or find some allies, starting with you…….”

Sol’s frenetic pace slowed slightly. She glanced once at her brother, who had thrown his arms around her neck, fixed him lightly, and hugged him, then frowned slightly in puzzlement. When she finally stopped running altogether, she said, breathlessly.

“Why is your body so heavy?”

“What?”

“Why did you bastard, who had nothing but bones, suddenly become heavy?”

Berry blinked blankly at Sol’s offhanded comment.

“Come down and stand up straight. I want to check it out.”

“Come on, all of a sudden.”

“……Come down.”

As she released her supportive arm, Berry’s body fell with a dull thud. She ignored his cries of pain and tried to lift his top.

“What are you doing!”

Grabbing Berry’s arm in protest, she yanked his top off. She twisted his body and checked his back. Clean flesh, without a single scar. She swept her hand over it, rolled her cold eyes, and looked at Berry.

“Where’s the scar, Berry? Your burn scars.”

Her voice, low with anger, was directed at Berry, but the man had completely erased his earlier bewilderment. His expressionless face tilted slightly, and he spoke in a gravelly voice.

“Was there such a thing?”

“You……!”

The brother in front of her wasn’t really her brother, and when Sol realized that, she rushed to close the distance.

Phoosh!

The dark energy stretched out soundlessly, becoming a three-pronged spear that pierced her body.

“Kuhargh……!”

She felt goosebumps all over her body, even as she was being stabbed. It was dark energy of such unbelievable purity. But even more horrifying than her surprise at the sudden attack was the sight of Berry’s flesh trickling away.

Underneath her brother’s dissolving form lay the assassin who had killed him. Covered in purple blood that was unmistakably his own.

The assassin on the floor slowly raised himself to his feet, his head fixed on the crumbling Sol, and slowly unwrapped the damp bandages. Sol’s body slowly collapsed in pain. The blood-stained bandage fell over her face, which was filled with horror, betrayal, and terrible anger.

“It was a good companionship, and if you hadn’t tried to kill humans, I wouldn’t have stepped in.”

Yozen rubbed his long, scarred eyelids to retrieve the dark energy, the spear of dark energy now gone, leaving only the marks of its penetration in Sol’s body. Sol twitched briefly, then died with a long gasp.

After confirming her death, Yozen raised his left arm, and a small fairy appeared from within the cuff.

“Hah, it’s finally over. I almost choked on the smell of your dark energy, Yozen! How are you going to take responsibility?”

“……Dark energy doesn’t smell or anything.”

“Hmph, it smells to me. A very unpleasant smell.”

On Cadel’s orders, he showed Sol a vision of Berry to demoralize her for the fight, and then Yozen, dressed as Berry, took care of her. Lydon flew toward the main camp, ignoring Yozen’s silent protests to prove the odorless nature of dark energy.

“Stop talking and follow me. Grab Van and Lumen, we’re going to go see my darling quickly.”

As soon as they realized that Lydon and Yozen were trying to kill Sol with their illusions, Van and Lumen rushed at her, distracting her. They feigned being attacked and were pushed back, following Yozen’s cue to stand behind Sol.

“Did you just gain weight when you were told to train? My whole body feels tingly from being crushed by your huge body.”

“Why are you complaining about your frail body to me? You should’ve dodged that one better. Where’d you trade your fly-like speed?”

“If I had avoided it, would that demon have run away with peace of mind? You’re still all muscle and no brain.”

“Let’s see how great things are in your brain.”

The moment Van snorted and stretched out his hand aiming for Lumen’s head. An irritated voice stopped the two men from engaging in a confrontation.

“Are you two fighting right now? If my darling saw this, he’d spit on you for being pathetic! If you’re going to be incompetent, don’t be pathetic, or if you’re going to be pathetic, don’t be incompetent. You’re embarrassing to be around, just do one or the other.”

Lydon gave them a stern look as he dropped Yozen, whom he’d carried like a piece of luggage, to the ground. For some reason, it was the right jab at the right time. Van and Lumen stopped fighting, seemingly shocked that Lydon, and no one else, had landed a blow.

Yozen turned away from Lydon, who was still nagging at them, and pulled out his ‘shadow alter ego’. The chattering of the men fell silent at the sight of Cadel’s dark energy alter ego.

His hands were clasped together in front of him and he was busily pointing at something. That was Cadel’s posture when he deployed a spell that utilized a large amount of mana.

“The demon was definitely killed. It looks like Cadel is also in the midst of a battle, so it would be best to move to Rania quickly.”

After confirming Cadel’s condition, Yozen immediately spread dark energy to locate him. Van, Lumen, and Lydon then followed Yozen, who took the lead, to Rania, where Cadel and Garuel would be.

“Hey, assassin. How’s Commander doing? Any injuries? Fatigue?”

In the aftermath of the battle, all the remaining horses had fled, so they were forced to run on foot after crossing the traveling gateway. Van was constantly worried about Cadel’s condition, even as he ran breathlessly. It wasn’t that he didn’t have faith in Cadel, but more that he didn’t want him to get hurt.

At first, Yozen had stopped repeatedly to check on Cadel’s alter ego, but now he merely nodded his head in a tired manner. The indifferent response made Van want to confront Yozen once more.

“Why don’t you stop bothering him? No matter where you look, it doesn’t look like Leader is in crisis.”

Lumen tapped Van on the shoulder and jerked up at the sky. Where they were now was the entrance to Rania. They were still on the outskirts, unable to see into the center of the city, but following Lumen’s gaze to the sky, Van quickly realized what they were seeing.

A great magic circle stained the skies of the Empire red, and the cataclysmic meteors that rained down from beneath it were too perfect to be considered a crisis.