Within the chaos of the battle, Silas stood before the General of the Guardian Holders army. Silas growled, "So you are the General of the Guardian Holders? Get ready to be defeated!"
"That's what I should say," the General retorted. His body shone, and a massive suit of armor covered him, transforming him into a giant knight. He summoned a long sword and charged. Silas used his two small axes to stop the long sword, stumbling slightly from the force. The General slashed again, but Silas blocked with one axe and used the other to send a wave of devil power. The General flinched but his armor remained unscratched. Silas continued his relentless attack, chipping the armor with a well-placed strike. The General tried to find an opening, but Silas, well-trained from sparring with Vera, easily blocked the slower, power-based attack. Both were evenly matched in power, and they charged each other again.
On another part of the battlefield, Vera faced a Devil Holder General. "So, looks like someone is in trouble," Vera said.
"And that person is you," the General sneered. His legs contorted strangely, claws formed on his hands, and his jaw widened with large fangs, making him look monstrous. Vera, in her armor, charged with impressive speed, but the speed-type Devil General easily dodged, appearing behind her and scratching her armor deeply with his claws.
Realizing the danger, Vera created distance and then used her speed to attack with her sword. As the General dodged, she pursued. They clashed; Vera tried to slice him, but he blocked with his claws. He tried to pierce her armor with another claw, but Vera blocked with her shield and sent a wave of Guardian energy to push him back. The General countered by breathing out a wave of devil energy, nullifying the Guardian energy.
They created distance again to plan their next moves. Vera sent energy slashes from afar while the General dodged, rushing closer. As soon as he closed in, he was struck by a large amount of Guardian energy—Vera had created a dome of energy around her. Vera charged and pierced the General, but the General bit Vera's armor with his fangs, tearing out a large chunk and cutting her flesh. Vera, heavily injured, channeled her Guardian powers inside the General even as he injected devil energy into her. With a final slash, Vera killed the General.
"Well, Silas," she muttered, "you were right. Sometimes creating the opportunity is better than waiting for it."
Meanwhile, Silas continued chipping the Guardian General's armor. "It's not possible! How am I losing to a Devil Holder like you?" the General cried.
"Because I am stronger than you think," Silas stated. The General furiously swung his long sword, but Silas stopped it with one axe and used the other to break another piece of armor. The General was genuinely worried. He swung his sword violently, forcing Silas to calmly retreat. Sensing the opportunity, Silas stopped the long sword again and broke another small part of the armor. Though slow, Silas was winning through calculated, opportune attacks, just as Vera had taught him. With the General's armor half-broken, he turned to run. Silas immediately sent two slashes of devil energy from his axes, cutting the armor and the General in half. "Never show your back to your enemy," Silas declared.
Piers was surrounded by the Royal Generals. The first General attacked with sword techniques, but Piers countered with Hellsfire. The second General used water magic to stop the fire, allowing the first General to press his attack. Piers blocked the relentless assault with his sword, being forced back a few steps. Piers tried to extract the soul with his hand, but the third General used ropes to tie both of his hands.
The commanders did not want to kill him outright; they knew his Mephisto regeneration and stamina made him nearly invincible, especially with his improved soul extraction, illusions, and spirit powers. they just needed to drag Piers out of the battlefield towards the 8 heads so they could kill him. however Piers, aware of their plan via the Dendrogram, instantly teleported directly in front of the three commanders. With a menacing look, he used his illusion and hypnosis powers to instill fear.
"I know all about your plan to take me out of the battlefield," Piers said.
The three commanders attacked. The Devil Commander charged with all his strength, but Piers grabbed his head, and the Commander's entire body and flesh disintegrated under hellsfire, leaving only bones. The Guardian Commander, already behind Piers, was ready to slash him, but Piers simply turned and touched him with one finger. The light in the Commander's eyes died.
The Royal Commander, realizing the futility, shed his human clothing, revealing his true demon appearance. Four Royal Generals followed suit, revealing themselves as demons. Surrounded by five demons, Piers said nothing, drew his Holy Sword, and charged it with angelic powers. The skin of the demons instantly began to burn.
"No, please, no!" the Demon Commander pleaded.
Piers teleported in front of him. "You are in my way, so get ready to die." He killed the Demon Commander with a slash, then quickly dispatched the remaining demons.
Piers then walked toward the south of the battlefield, heading toward the group they wanted him to fight.
Behind the boulder, Kaiser and Tenko's group watched in disbelief.
"Did you see that? He was a demon!" Kaiser exclaimed.
"Wait, so does that mean the Principality is—" Selene started.
"It seems so. We need to make a detailed account of this," Ben said.
Arizona added, "We need to study it further. If the Principality has been infiltrated by demons, there is no telling whether other countries might be infiltrated by it too. Maybe even Astria?"
"But that might not be all," Emilia realized. "Even nobles and organizations might be infiltrated."
"We need to be especially selective with our recruitment now," Alya warned.
"I think Luc will be a better candidate to get to the bottom of this," Levi suggested.
"After this, I will personally discover about what is happening," Luc vowed. Tenko barked in agreement.
Lyla pointed. "What is he doing?" Adreil was spreading his hands, attracting dark energy. His Sin of Pride mark was growing darker.
Sentry said, "Whatever it is, it is not good."
"No, I think it might be better for him to get more power if we have to fight," Hella argued.
Bret noticed Piers walking away. "Wait, looks like Rei is walking out of the battlefield."
"What, but why?" Kaiser wondered.
"Whatever it is, it does not look good, but do you think if he is alone we can take him down?" Kisa asked.
"Definitely not," Kaiser dismissed.
Lisa cautioned, "Then hope that he does not encounter someone who is strong enough to kill him."
With that, the group descended and chased after Piers.
In Astria, Daina's team was fighting a large boar in a dungeon. Daina swiftly cut the boar's legs. Bart created stone golems to attack it. Ava used fire javelins to burn it. Eugene shifted from defense to offense, making a projected sword and using the North Style Sword Technique to jump onto the boar's head and kill it.
"I can't believe how far we came," Daina said. "We easily defeated the boar like it was nothing."
"Yeah, we are progressing alright," Ava agreed.
"I say we celebrate this," Bart suggested.
"Yeah, for once I agree with you," Daina said.
"Wait, something is wrong. I feel it," Eugene warned.
"What do you mean, Eugene? Nothing is wrong," Ava said. Suddenly, a huge group of monsters charged toward them.
"Wait, there should not be so many monsters in this floor," Bart realized.
"Assume battle stances!" Daina ordered.
As the monsters came, Daina used her North Sword Style: Wind Form, Verse One, to cut them. Bart created earth spikes. Ava used her flame javelins. Eugene made the sword projection again and attacked with the North Sword Style. Since his stepping method was still incomplete, he used his instincts to create a complete technique. With each small step, he both dodged and killed a monster, moving like a gentle breeze. Each of his attacks sliced the monsters cleanly, as if Eugene knew their weak spots.
Daina, fighting nearby, asked, "Wait, how are you doing it, Eugene?"
"I am just moving with the flow, that's it," Eugene replied.
"Can you teach me?" Daina asked while fighting.
"Sorry, but it can be only learned by those who can see a little of the future or have strong instincts," Eugene explained.
"Aww, I really wanted to learn," Daina complained.
"Well, there are some things we can't learn," Ava said.
"Not true. Rei said that as long as we know even something, we can connect it to learn other things," Bart corrected.
"Yeah, but she would have to practice for 100 to 150 years before she could even touch the basics," Eugene joked.
As the group talked, they easily finished the remaining monsters.
"Well, something is wrong with this dungeon," Eugene said.
"This type of situation only means one thing," Daina stated.
"What?" Bart asked.
"Dungeon outbreak."