Within the chaos of the battle, Severin was annihilating the Guardian and Devil Holder armies. Suddenly, a Guardian Holder General approached him.
"And you must be Severin, the former teacher of the Devil Hell Branch, the one known as the Devil of the Black Lands," the General stated.
"And you are?" Severin replied.
"Oh, you break my heart. I am a General of the Guardian Holder Army."
The General made the first move, using White Arts to create swords and sending them flying toward Severin. Severin created black mist, eroding the swords. The General created several massive white swords above and sent them down. Severin conjured a dark wheel, rotating it to create a tsunami of dark wind that broke the swords.
"You are way more powerful than I thought," the General admitted.
On the other side of the battlefield, Kade was killing Devil Holders when he noticed a woman sitting calmly on a rock and retreated slightly. Severin had taught him to judge everything as a potential threat. Kade used a sacred technique, sending palms of white energy. The woman used a hidden technique, sending a claw of darkness that instantly devoured the white energy palms.
Kade realized she was no ordinary soldier. "So, who are you?"
The woman stood up. "I am one of the Generals of the Devil Holder Army. And who are you, cutie?"
"I don't think I need to introduce myself, do I?" Kade challenged.
The woman laughed. "Yeah, you are right. After all, you are going to die." She used a hidden technique, creating a massive abyss that attracted Kade.
"That's not what I meant," Kade said, using a hidden technique to form a trigram that clashed with the abyss, destroying it. "I meant you will inevitably be killed, so why remember? That would embarrass you even more."
"Destroying one of my techniques does not give you the right to get cocky, boy," the woman snarled, using another hidden technique to summon a dark soul reaper that flew toward Kade.
"You should not be so violent," Kade replied, using a hidden technique to create a beautiful woman made of white energy. The woman hugged the soul reaper, and both dissipated.
"Like you can stop me," the General scoffed.
"I have stopped you," Kade said. The trigram that previously clashed with the abyss instantly covered the woman. The trigram technique I used is a two-way delayed technique. If one part is used, the second part absorbs the nearby White Arts power after I create some of it and then activates. But I wonder, is it enough to stop her? Kade thought.
Trapped in the trigram, the woman found she could not summon Black Arts energy. "Don't think it can stop me," she said, trying to break free.
"Now get ready," Kade said, finishing her with a final hidden technique.
Severin was still fighting. The General sent several huge white energy swords, which Severin dodged, creating black claws to destroy them. The General used a hidden technique to summon swords from the ground, but Severin used a hidden technique to create wings, flying up to dodge. He threw a dark ball at the General, who created a giant knight made of white energy. The knight swung its sword, destroying the dark energy.
Severin looked at it. "So, you felt it?"
"Feel what?" the General asked. Suddenly, the General fell, unable to move. What is happening to me? It can't be a Black Arts power; I had made sure there was no black mist around me. What did he do? With that thought, the General died.
Using an air poison which is both colourless and odorless to kill him was a good idea. He did not even knew, Severin thought. He created several jet-black swords and sent them at the knight, piercing its body and dissipating it, then confirmed the General was dead.
Piers flew to the top of a cliff and landed in front of the eight heads: Cary, Zain, Jett, and Kage from the Devil Hell Branch, and four heads from the Guardian Holders.
"Where are our men?" Cary demanded.
"They were already killed by me." Piers flicked his sword, scattering their blood.
The first head of the Guardian Holders said, "You came on your own. This was a foolish mistake, boy, and your last one."
"We will see about that," Piers replied.
Cary disappeared, but Piers moved instantly, stopping her sword with his Holy Sword. Behind him, the third Guardian Holder head attacked, but Piers twisted and kicked him, though the third head managed to block with his sword. Jett's skin covered in scales, horns grew, and his eyes turned yellow; he gained claws and fangs and attacked Piers. Piers flew up and breathed Hellsfire like a devil, forcing the third head, Jett, and Cary to retreat.
Suddenly, Piers saw four golden poles with rotating symbols around him. The fourth head was trying to trap him with a ritual, but Piers absorbed the power with his Holy Sword.
"I am useless here," the fourth head muttered.
"Let me try!" Zain shouted, summoning a cage from beneath the ground to imprison Piers, but Piers broke free with his Holy Sword. "My tricks won't work either. It's on you," Zain sighed.
Kage used hand signs to communicate a plan, then sent black arts reapers at Piers, who cut them with his Holy Sword. This was the moment Cary needed; she jumped, threw a potion at Piers (to stop his regeneration), and then cut his wings to prevent him from flying. Piers, with clipped wings, fell toward the ground.
The others waited to kill him, but Piers made a flame tsunami, forcing them back, and landed softly. The first head attacked using White Arts, creating talismans around Piers and bursting them, but Piers dodged. While dodging, the second head, now armored and carrying a spear, slashed Piers across the chest.
The others seized the opportunity: Kage and the first head used Black and White Arts, Cary and the third head charged, and Jett and the second head attacked. Piers used illusions, then hypnosis, making everyone struggle to keep their minds straight. Jett breathed flames, breaking the hypnosis. The second head attacked with his spear, but Piers easily dodged, countering with the Phantom Insignia, cutting the armor, and then piercing the third head with his Holy Sword. He kicked Cary, but Jett struck him with his fist, and Kage covered him in a dark storm, inflicting several wounds.
Piers broke free with his Holy Sword and charged Kage, cutting his chest. The fourth head used White Arts to create strong energy talismans and threw them at Piers. Piers couldn't dodge this time, but the talismans stopped inside him. The angel looked at the talismans, its eyes glowing, and the talismans repelled, striking the fourth head. Cary cut Piers's back, and Jett pierced Piers's chest, his hand coming out the back.
Piers sent a tornado of Hellsfire, engulfing and burning everyone. The cliff, weakened by the force, broke, and everyone fell.
Kaiser's team watched from afar. "We can't let them get close to Rei, otherwise this fight will continue till he dies," Kaiser said.
"Don't worry," Levi said, taking out a bazooka and shooting the cliff near where they were falling. The blast sent Piers flying in one direction, while the eight heads fell in the other.
Kaiser commanded, "I will deal with Piers. You all deal with the others."
"Got it," the group said in unison.
In Astria, Bart and Eugene heard about the dungeon outbreak.
"Wait, I have seen a dungeon outbreak! It's very deadly. We need to tell the authorities about it," Bart warned.
"Yeah, dungeon outbreak is no joke," Eugene agreed.
"Yes, let's go inform the authorities about this," Daina decided. Ava, Eugene, Bart, and Daina went to the Hunters Tower and reported the situation.
The receptionist said, "A dungeon outbreak? We will investigate about it."
Afterward, they went to a restaurant to eat and talk about their future goals. "We should leave this place," Daina suggested.
"Yeah," Eugene agreed.
Suddenly, a girl in white armor, Hanna, entered the restaurant. Eugene and Bart instantly looked hostile, ready to attack.
"What is it, Eugene? Bart? You seem very angry," Ava asked.
"We have a beef with that girl there," Bart growled.
"Not right now, Bart. She is not our enemy," Eugene said.
"What are you guys talking about?" Daina asked.
Hanna, being mind-controlled by the mystic church's weapon, thrashed the reception table and said in a mechanical voice, "I need Silvaran with fire peacock eggs on it." The receptionist said "I am sorry we don't sell those... its too pricy." Hanna grabbed the receptionist by the collar. Daina, Bart, and Ava stood up ready to attack, but Eugene stepped between them. Hanna threw the receptionist against the wall and left.
Daina's face was bitter. "Eugene, why did you do this?"
"There is someone whom I made a promise to, due to which I can't let Hanna be harmed before he comes to stop her," Eugene explained. Besides, she is being mind-controlled. It's not her fault, he thought.
"So you would let the innocent get harmed instead?" Ava accused.
"Sorry, but I can't let you harm her."
Bart stated, "I know who she is and who made that promise. However, no matter what, you can't let your feelings about a promise get the best of you."
With a huff, Bart, Ava, and Daina left. Eugene's relationship with his team was strained, but he did not regret what he did, believing the mystic church, not Hanna, was the true villain.