"Hah..."
Raon let out a long sigh as he watched Alice standing alone in front of Giran Island.
'What you said before was right.'
-What I said before?
Wrath tilted his head as if asking what Raon meant.
'You said before that all the women around me are strange. That's correct.'
There's a saying: "Know your enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat." It's one of the basic military strategies spread across the entire continent. However, Alice ran straight to the island and declared war as if she didn't care who the enemy was.
It was behavior that made it hard to believe she was a direct descendant of Zieghart and Glenn's eldest daughter.
-This King does not speak nonsense!
Wrath lifted his chin as if it were obvious.
-But it's not something that should come out of your mouth either.
'Me?'
Raon pointed at himself with his index finger and tilted his head.
'Why me?'
-Why? Because you're the strangest of them all! It's natural for weirdos to attract other weirdos!
Wrath frowned as if wondering why Raon didn't understand.
'I'm not that bad.'
Raon shook his head as he watched Alice shouting for them to hurry up.
'If anything, I'm on the normal side...'
-What a load of crap!
Wrath slapped his hand down as if to say it wasn't even close.
-This King has lived for a long time and traveled all over the world, but you're the only one who's ever tricked four demon kings!
He snorted, telling Raon to do some self-reflection.
'Hmm...'
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at the five flower bracelets on his wrist.
'Not four, but five.'
-T-This King wasn't tricked!
Wrath shouted loudly.
-I was scammed!
He frowned, telling Raon not to treat him the same as the other demon kings.
'Right. You're not.'
Raon smirked as he looked at Wrath's round eyes.
'You give rewards without even being tricked.'
-T-That's not something this King does either! It's that damn system's doing!
Wrath shook his hands with his cheeks flushed red, seemingly indignant.
"...I apologize."
While Raon was teasing Wrath, Lawaine bowed his head with a pale expression.
"I apologize on behalf of Lady Alice."
Lawaine drooped his shoulders like a parent apologizing for their misbehaving child.
"It's alright."
Rimmer patted Lawaine's shoulder and shook his head.
"No one expected that troublemaker to act normally anyway."
He smiled lightly, saying there was no need to apologize.
"Even so..."
Raon swallowed dryly as he looked back and forth between Lawaine and Alice.
"I didn't expect it to be this bad."
Lawaine had said that Giran Island was uninhabited. At a time like this, the presence of multiple martial artists on an uninhabited island likely meant they were after the Soul Crystal, but someone who would charge in and roar immediately was beyond his common sense.
"So that's what we should learn!"
"Yeah. It's cool..."
Martha and Runaan nodded with their hands clasped together, seemingly impressed by Alice's bold words and actions.
"No! You shouldn't learn that!"
Burren waved his hands at Runaan and Martha, saying it was behavior unbecoming of a leader.
'Phew.'
Raon let out a soft sigh as he looked at Burren.
'As expected, Burren's the only normal one.'
In reality, the person acting as the vice division leader of the Light Wind division was not Rimmer, but Burren. Raon had been thinking of passing that position to Martha or Runaan since Burren looked tired lately, but now it seemed absolutely impossible.
-T-This King agrees.
Wrath nodded, indicating he had the same thought. For him to say this despite caring for Runaan and Martha meant the situation was serious.
"What are you doing! Hurry up and come here!"
Alice gestured cheerfully, as if telling them to cross over quickly.
"...We should go."
Raon nodded heavily, then kicked off from the sea and headed towards Giran Island where Alice was positioned. Although he didn't know who the enemy was, strangely, he wasn't anxious. It seemed to be due to his trust and expectations in Alice as a martial artist. Hoping to become someone like Alice for the Light Wind division, he set foot on Giran Island.
The outside of the island was full of pebbles and rocks, while the inside was densely forested, making it difficult to see clearly.
"Why are you so late?"
Alice tilted her head, asking why they hadn't followed quickly.
"I know you're strong, Aunt, but you're too reckless."
"Life's too short to waste gathering information and making plans."
Despite her playful words, she spoke in a serious tone as she placed her hand on the sword hilt.
"We need to finish this quickly and save Sia."
Alice gazed towards the interior of the island with calm eyes, as if only thinking about rescuing Sia.
"That's true..."
Raon bit his lip. If those on the island found the Soul Crystal first and escaped, it wouldn't be easy to track them down. As Alice said, fighting to seize it might be the right approach even without information.
"Lawaine."
Alice gestured to Lawaine, who had arrived behind Raon.
"You remember where you saw the Soul Crystal, right?"
"Yes. It's on the opposite shore from here."
Lawaine, seeming surprised by Alice's serious gaze, immediately gave his answer.
"So we'll have to break through everything in the end."
Alice licked her lips, saying it was actually for the best. Whoosh! Just as the Light Wind division and the Azure Wind's crew all arrived in front of Giran Island, the forest inside the island burned black and two people walked out. Rumble.
The man on the right was wrapped in a black robe from head to toe, which was burning like flames, possibly an artifact.
On the left stood a tall woman with bronzed skin, as if she had been living on this coast, her eyes sharply honed like blades. Both the man and woman were surrounded by an imposing aura that surpassed their impressive appearances.
Behind the robed man stood demonized humans shrouded in darkness, while around the bronze-skinned woman, strange figures in white robes appeared. They were the fiends of the Black Tower and White Blood Religion.
"Well, well, if it isn't a familiar face."
Alice twisted her lips into a smirk as she looked at the bronze-skinned woman.
"Second Apostle. You managed to escape quite well last time, didn't you?"
"Zieghart's encirclement was sloppy."
The bronze-skinned woman, called the Second Apostle, shrugged her shoulders as if it had been easy.
"But you all..."
She narrowed her eyes as she scanned Alice and the Light Wind division.
"Are you here to find the Soul Crystal?"
Judging by her words, it seemed that the Second Apostle had also seen the Soul Crystal here, just as Lawaine had predicted.
"And what if we are?"
Alice nodded slightly, as if thinking that lies wouldn't work anyway.
"...Zieghart."
The man in the black robe flashed his pitch-black eyes at the Second Apostle.
"It seems your information wasn't false after all."
"I told you it was correct from the beginning!"
The Second Apostle frowned, asking why he hadn't believed her.
"And who are you?"
Alice lowered her eyebrows as she looked at the man in the black robe.
"Judging by your gloomy attire, you look like one of those Black Tower guys."
She threw a taunt at the man in the black robe, as if testing him.
"..."
The man in the black robe didn't answer Alice, but looked at the Second Apostle instead.
"Who is that woman?"
He spoke in a calm tone, as if he didn't know Alice.
"Huh?"
Alice's forehead veins popped out, seemingly angered that he didn't know her.
"Alice Zieghart."
The Second Apostle moved her lips without taking her eyes off Alice's hands.
"She's a Transcendent Warrior of Zieghart."
She let out a short sigh, indicating that the situation wasn't good.
"Damn! This is why we should have found it and left as quickly as possible!"
The Second Apostle frowned, blaming their delay.
"..."
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at the man in the black robe.
'Something's off.'
His life force is too weak. Usually, the stronger the expert, the stronger their life force. But that man in the black robe, despite having a stronger aura than himself, barely showed any signs of life, as if he was about to die.
"She's certainly strong. It would be dangerous to leave her be."
The man in the black robe nodded, seeming to acknowledge Alice's martial prowess.
"I'll hold her off, you find the Soul Crystal. Can you do that?"
"Is that possible?"
The Second Apostle's eyes widened. It seemed she didn't know the exact capabilities of the man in the black robe either.
"It's sufficient."
The man in the black robe's voice didn't waver at all. It meant he truly believed he could hold Alice back.
"Ha!"
Alice brushed up her red hair and let out a scoff.
"Alice Zieghart must have really fallen. To be disregarded by a mere curtain like that."
She bared her white teeth, treating the man in the black robe like a curtain.
"It seems our little brother has been foolish and disrespectful, so today I'll show you properly what a Zieghart's sword is like."
Alice drew a chilling smile, saying she would thoroughly deal with the man in the black robe and the Second Apostle on behalf of Karoon.
"Find the Soul Crystal and return while I keep her tied up."
The man in the black robe stepped forward, saying they should meet at the designated place.
"Understood."
The Second Apostle quickly nodded.
"Without Alice Zieghart, the rest are just worms. It won't be difficult."
She raised her fingertips, saying she could slaughter them all.
"I'm not sure who's tying up whom here. And..."
Alice flashed a chilling gaze as she placed her hand on Raon's shoulder.
"Worms? My kids might be like that, but my nephews are strong."
Alice said she trusted Raon and the Light Wind division as she immediately drew her sword. Shing! Her spatial sword advanced simultaneously with the draw, slicing through the neck of the man in the black robe. Whoosh!
However, the man in the black robe transformed his body into mist, deflecting Alice's sword strike. He wasn't a martial artist, but seemed more like a magician or shaman.
"You're quite impatient."
As the man in the black robe extended his hand, black mist surged around Alice, sucking in her ankles.
"Aunt!"
Raon tried to reach out to Alice, but was blocked by the mist and couldn't touch her.
-That's a demon.
Wrath frowned as he looked at the man in the black robe.
-It didn't descend in its true form, but seeped into a body. That body must have been created too.
He licked his lips, saying it was a demon that had entered a body created like an artifact.
"Ah, this feels disgusting."
Alice frowned as she looked at her lower body stuck in the black vortex.
"If you were human, you couldn't escape from there."
The man in the black robe, who had become the mist itself, shook his head as if telling her to give up.
"Sorry, but I'm not an ordinary human!"
Alice raised her upper body, resisting the black mist that was sucking her in like a black hole. She was suppressing the mist made of power, aura, and demonic energy with her strength.
"Hmm..."
The man in the black robe let out a small gasp, seemingly surprised by Alice's martial prowess.
"Raon. You can do it, right?"
Alice looked at Raon while forcibly suppressing the black mist.
"You can win without sacrificing a single one of our kids, right?"
She nodded, telling him to speak up now if he couldn't do it.
"..."
Raon didn't answer immediately, but looked at the Second Apostle who had revealed a cold gaze.
"We can do it. We have a grudge against them too."
The Second Apostle had broken through Zieghart's castle walls and tried to kill Sylvia.
After hearing about that incident, his insides had been boiling for a long time, so he welcomed this opportunity for revenge.
"Then I'll trust you."
Alice grinned and relaxed her body. Her physical form melted into the ground along with the black mist.
"Hmm?"
When Alice opened her eyes again, a space dyed pitch black appeared all around her. Intense demonic energy could be felt from everything - the ceiling, walls, and ground.
"A barrier?"
"It seemed I couldn't defeat you in that dimension."
The floor rippled like mud, and the man in the black robe rose up. He looked human, but seemed to be made of smoke in reality.
"So you can win here?"
Alice snorted as if finding it ridiculous.
"It doesn't matter if I can't win. I just need to buy time."
He shook his head as if to say he only needed to keep her tied up.
"This is the problem with you Black Tower bastards. Your brains are so full of demonic energy that you can't make proper judgments."
Alice lightly tapped her head while looking at the man in the black robe.
"I won't kill you here."
She sneered as she raised her sword.
"Because I want to show you who's standing outside."
* * *
"A grudge, you say..."
The Second Apostle smirked and shook her head.
"On a normal day, I might have lost to you."
She tilted her chin sideways while looking at Raon.
"But today is a day without ups and downs." (E/N: slight reminder: second apostle is weird, not clear why yet, but her aura 'keep going up and down')
A powerful bloody energy surged above the Second Apostle's shoulders. It was the aura of a Transcendent Warrior beyond Grandmaster.
"Light Wind division."
Raon extended his hand while withstanding the Second Apostle's aura.
"Cut them all down."
"Yes!"
Without a moment's hesitation, the Light Wind division drew their swords and charged towards the demonized humans of the Black Tower and the White Blood Religion followers.
"Kill them all!"
The Second Apostle also stomped her foot and ordered an attack, as if telling her forces not to be pushed back.
The fiends of the Black Tower and White Blood Religion behind her rushed towards the Light Wind division. Crash! A powerful shockwave exploded as the two forces collided head-on. However, the difference between the two sides was apparent from the first strike. Rumble!
The Light Wind division, with their sword formations, turned the charging White Blood Religion followers and Black Tower's demonized humans into mere lumps of flesh as they rushed forward with their astral energy.
The gap in martial prowess was as wide as the distance between heaven and earth.
"How dare you!"
Martha frowned as she raised her sword.
"Lack of training."
Burren waved his hand, telling them to train instead of drinking people's blood.
"Weak..."
Runaan also briefly lowered her head as if finding them pathetic.
"Let's push on and finish this in one go..."
"You brats!"
Just as Martha was about to swing her sword at the front, a snow-white hand flew in front of her eyes.
"Ah..."
It was the Second Apostle. She had launched herself to cut off Martha's breath, who was standing at the very front, instead of targeting Raon.
Clang!
Just before it could pierce Martha's neck, a sword blade burning with flames violently struck the Second Apostle's hand.
"Hmm..."
The Second Apostle stepped back, clutching her slightly trembling hand.
"Look at me."
Raon looked down at the Second Apostle, tilting his chin sideways. His eyes began to burn with the flames of arrogance.
"The one who will take your neck is right here."