As the light of Heaven's Path bathe Soli, a painful strike hits the monster as he screams his heart out. He is now severely underestimates Karina that he is now getting punished for it.
Through the pain that he needs to endure, Soli is trying to make a handsign and release his trump card yet, but he restrain himself as he remember where Karina is casting this lethal light. Soli raises his hand and he points down, which make Karina alert but it is too late. The spear that Leon have thrown earlier stabs her as she turn around and sees Lenny stabbing her. She then use the Wind Spell: Gale Blast to fling him away from her.
Karina's mouth bleed as she pulls out the spear out of her. She is capable of healing herself, yet doing it in front of her enemy is very much not advisable. "Heh, my Mana is hitting its limits. I need to take my exit then..." Karina thought as she is keeping her eyes at Soli, whom recovering himself from the light attack earlier.
"Phew, no rest for a wicked." Soli remarks as he witness that her injuries have been healed and he dashes to her and he chambers a fist instead. He doesn't want to hold back or think of Reconstructing her, he just wants to get this over with.
"One of those demon losers are going to town about turning the whole place into an ugly piece of work. I am here to save what is beautiful from it. Don't you agree?" Soli ask as he continues to unleash his fist as Karina are blocking and dodging every attack. "Oh? You claiming to be a savior now? What stupidity you have." Karina reply as she stomp the ground and she release earth spires to make her opponent to distance himself as she fires her next spell.
Karina prepares to fire Five Elements Storm again, something that Soli fervently prevents as he coat himself in a tornado of air barrier. "Five Elements Storm!!!" Karina screams out as the force of her attack and Soli's air barrier sends her flying through the forest and to the Vulcans proper. She lands and she sees a bunch of people gathering in the plaza circle where she almost land.
As soon as she lay her eyes on the people, the horror in her eyes becomes undeniable as she witness something that churns her stomach upside down.
"What's going on? What the..."
Before she can end her words the people turns on her and she witness how the people become demons that are giggling and snarling. In the center of it all a lone succubus stands while she is with a mummified corpse newly revived. The mummy walks towards her, and it ask what's going on.
"The crowd are waiting. The day our Demon King returns are drawing near and I want you to lend us your strength Amun." The succubus explains. Harker doesn't think twice as she have also notice Karina as she decides to flee instead of fighting as her Mana is running low. "Is this how your majesty wants to do the task at hand? Very well." Amun the mummy Herald answers as he stares at Karina and she's engulf in insects.
Karina screams out as she tries to coat herself in flames to protect herself from the deadly insects. Amun then raises his right hand, and a sea of sand suddenly appears from the heavens. While this is happening, Eugene and Leon are fleeing to the other direction. They have met several demons blocking their path and Eugene have manage to eradicate every last one of them quickly.
"Captain! How should we tackle this matter?! This issue needs to be fixed, and fast!" Eugene ask while he is running alongside Leon, which is currently fending off several demons firing high velocity projectiles to them, something that manage to kill several of the escaping Holy Knights that are with them.
"You have a time to think about that? Focus on surviving first!!" Leon screams out as they suddenly hears a large flapping wings looming from afar. Leon tries to squint his eyes in order to see what's going on, yet he cannot recognize anything from his position. "You've got to be kidding me... First demons, then that crazy priest looking man and a dragon now? Looks like Eastern Border are only for hardcore masochist." Leon remarks, a thing that make Eugene close his eyes and sigh.
"Then lets get out of here before we die from some random stuff the demons are firing toward us." Eugene responded as he manage to kill the said bunch of demons with a high velocity spell of his own. The group continues escaping, only to encounter an old looking man with horns and a crystal ball.
"Tch, who are you?! Are you getting on our way?!" Leon ask while Eugene prepares an Ice Spell, far different from Karina's preferred instant elemental spell. "Oh no don't mind me. I am Trismegistus, a Herald of the Demon King's return." The old man introduce himself with a bow, but that polite gesture is following a summoning that make the group open their mouth and gape in the scale of the monster being called out.
"Ice Barrage!!" Eugene shouts as he create three spell circles and continuously fire his magic unto the gigantic monster that are escaping the said summoning circle from behind Trismegistus. The monster tanks through the attack as Eugene cast a handsign to improve his attack.
"Ice Magnum!!" Then a equally large spell circle form from Eugene's back. He then points at the monster that is escaping the circle. The Ice Magnum fires and the monster tries to block it, only for the spell to envelop him instead and turn the monster into a block of frozen being.
"Hoho! You have your own bag of tricks boy? Let me see that to the test then..." Trismegistus praises Eugene's effort as he cast his own spell to fight with him. Leon doesn't let this happen as he draws his sword and tries to slice the spellcasting Herald up.
"What the!!" Leon is shocked as Trismegistus cast a bunch of swords to protect himself and he later fires a bunch of sword towards Leon. Leon then inhales with all of his might, and he fires a powerful ball of wind to stop the shooting swords at him. Trismegistus then points his finger at Eugene, who casts a quick barrier to protect himself as well. "Tch, you Demon King's lackey!!" Eugene exclaims as he maintains his Barrier while the swords just fall off and it is trying to pierce through.
Leon then distracts Trismegistus, making the old man step out and while he swings his sword two times. The old man then cast a water spell, one which entrap Leon in a massive bubble that traps him in a watery dome as it floats to the air. "Captain!!" Eugene screams out as he stomps his staff to the ground and concentrates to cast a spell.
"With this shall bring the light! Heaven's Path!"
With the same light as his master have cast against Soli, he shower it against the frozen monster as it quickly dies to the said light spell. Trismegistus then answer in kind as he wants to actually position himself away from the ongoing battlefield, a thing that he is tasking himself as Conquer is making a ruckus at the front entrance gate of Vulcana while the Plaza is currently besieged by Harker and Amun, who is focusing themselves in chasing after Karina.
The Sage is badly injured, low on Mana and she needs rest. Her situation is bleak as she is hiding in one of the houses nearby. She is trying to fully heal her sides and her shoulder, only for it to not work as much. "What the heck is the particles that monster have shoot me. It isn't making my injuries heal and that being, it is almost something I can't fight all by myself." Karina remarks as she looks out in the window since she heard a wings flapping outside.
An hour ago...
"Ugh... Headache one after another... It that there is some trouble happening at the Eastern Border. A patrol states that the disaster's happening on the Eastern Border. I am getting reports that the locals are turning into something. Looks like the Oracle's guess is right." Princess Lucy sighs out as she is deciding if she will command Sylvia and Van to go over.
"Thing is, if we let them go now, the Capitol will be out of strong warriors! We need to allocate our personnel much better." Her servant notes out as he is thinking if the Sword Saint and the Holy Knight Captain can be let go as they are actually in custody due to the training session that they had done. Gran is actually there as well, scratching his head as he ask the two why the heck they need to not hold back.
"I could ask the same thing as well man. When swing that Finishing Move though, it felt cathartic as hell." Van shares as Sylvia is just looking to the both of them as she's thinking out of the cell as she is more concerned with the affairs with her knights now.
"Hey Sylvia, you okay? I can tell that you aren't sleeping properly. If you can, please take a nap." Gran notices as he hears somebody opening the gate and entering. "Mr. Gran! You have a guest." The warden calls him out. Gina appears as Gran stands but he can't look at her in the eyes.
"Hey, how's anything going?" Gran ask as he tries to peek at his girl, only for her to grab his face and answer. "You, why did you turn yourself? I thought we are going to deal with this together?" Gina ask as she frees Gran's cheeks so that he can answer her properly.
"Well, you see... Sylvia's not really herself. I want to help her in anyway I can. I want to thank her as she's the one who set me to the path of being an Adventurer, and since I am gonna be dealing with the ghost of my past, I'll gonna be needing all the help I can muster." Gran answers in a more serious expression. Gina then delivers a letter coming from the Princess.
Gina opens the letter with the seal the Sword Saint recognizes, then she reads the letter in a lit candle on the side of the cell. "Due to an ongoing crisis in the Eastern Border of the Kingdom. I hereby temporarily pardon Gran, Sylvia and Van for their crimes as they need to be deployed in the region to deal with the problem at hand." Gina reads out loud as the warden rises up from his seat to know if the letter is authentic.
"See the seal and the signature inside then." Gina answers as she hands the letter over. Gran then smirks as the warden opens the cell gate and the three stretch and thank Gina. "You really are helpful nowadays huh." Sylvia banter with her rival as Gina bumps her head with her rival. "Great, maybe we should put you back in the jail then huh..."
"Now now, I prefer for the two of you to be friends like usual!" Van then both grab them bybthe shoulder with a big smile on his face. Gran then jelously grab Gina away from him. "Get off my girl you princess lapdog." The white haired Exorcist says as Van's temple swole up.
All of this back and forth are broken by Sylvia's declaration. "I'll go. I want to see if I can honor his wish by being there." Sylvia remembers Lenny as he is currently standing next to Soli while they are looking throughout the city of Vulcana. The whole city are reeking of death and destruction. Karina, even though weak and limping, is able to escape the demonic crowd as Amun, Harker and Trismegistus are destroying the place.
"What an ugly sight they are painting this place. Stay here Louis, I prefer to not also stain my hands with the ugliness they like to show with." Soli gently ask of the boy, who just not himself as he nod. Lenny also stay as per Soli's request. The monster descend into the battlefield, planning to make this chaos into an opportunity.
"I shall contain and have this monstrous horde bow down at me. Beauty shall be known by you lot." Soli exclaims as he runs through the demonic crowd and killing them with a single punch or single touch. Harker and Amun notice the advancing Soli, and Amun extend his hand as he aims against the otherworldly monster. "You'll go no further!!" Amun angrily states as a bunch of sand suddenly flies through Soli, but he stomp his foot and when the sand falls through him, it changes into a glass as he Reconstruct it.
"Have some pane for a support." Soli jokingly says as he throws the glass made sand iti Amun like a shuriken. The mummy Herald have just block it with sandwall, but it makes him ask how the heck Soli do that.
"Heh! These people..." Soli shrugs off the blocked attempt as he rush to slay several demon turned masses to drag their blood out and he harden it to the point that Harker and Amun notice that this guy is truly a threat. "Harker, focus on getting the demonic horde out. I feel that the less he makes from the environment that he is much weaker then." Amun's assessment about Soli as Harker's eyes lights up, commanding the demons with her mind. The surviving demons get out of the way, yet they didn't know the terrifying power that Soli holds.
"Please..." Soli remarks as he sprouts the Deconstruction particle from his hands. He throw it forward to them knowing that Amun will use his sands to block it. The mummy Herald does, only for him to get shocked as it just pass through like his sandwall are nothing. Soli then starts moving leftward, where Harker is standing beside the mummy.
The succubus Herald then starts noticing him moving through the sides. Soli tries to grab her to end the fight, but she intercepts it and she uses her innate strength to drag him out and break his arm. Soli then cut his own arm and dashes to her back, kicking her ankles and regenerate his left arm out. He then grab her neck and Amun turns as this whole phenomena happens in a flash.
"How did he..." The thinking mummy Herald says out loud as he tries to use the sand to deflect out the particles instead, only for him to fail and decides to jump out of the particle's path instead. Soli is able to separate him and Harker, and Amun looks around as the air shifts as the demons starts growling and Soli smiles at him. "One down..." Soli says as he make Harker stand again on her own, but Amun sees the change on her eyes.
"You bastard! What did you do?" Amun angrily questions Soli as he embraces Harker from the back and answers. "I made her beautiful you see. These, vile and putrid demons you are parading around are such... Waste! I despise what you've done to the place. I manage to find a good playmate on this world, a beauty I can't seem to grasp. But you come here, starting painting this whole place with your ugly image! Seriously you should all be learning how to..."
The whole rant Soli are lost to Amun, who starts flooding the whole city with sand. In just half a minute, he is able to fill the whole place with sand, something that Trismegistus and Eugene have notice.
At the same time, a certain group and a dragon enters the airspace. A black swordsman and an armored woman drops through like a meteor dropping through the hard sand so hard that it splash like water and reach the dragon's wings, making the owner scream about how hard to clean her dragon are.
"Wait, how do you clean Faffy Veronica? I didn't hear that before." Rinko ask of her pink haired friend as Faffy refuses to land on the lake of sand. Amun is standing in one of the roof as Lenny have carry Louis out of the city. Karina is stil trying to heal her open wounds. Gran and Gina then lands near her, seeing the faint trace of Soli as the monster is burried with Harker on that lot of sand.
"Hey lady, don't you move. I can feel the Dimensional Flow of that monster in you. You are hit by his Deconstruction?" Gran ask as he approaches her and tries to mend her wounds with his Barrier Technique. Gina stands guard as she can see several demons are rushing through the forest, outskirt of Vulcana. Gran looks at the damage, and he closes it properly, taking him a whole minute to do it properly. "There, I hope you didn't have to move your waist and shouldet for a while, but I guess you need to." Gran says to the reticent Sage as she pants heavily.
"Who are you? I owe you one..." The Sage thank the Exorcist to what he have done. Gran then grab her staff and hand it to her. Gran then goes to Gina as she is gonna be facing multiple charging demons. "Want to join to the party? There are plenty of participants!" Gina exclaims as she spins and swipe the first demon that is able to enter her range. The next ones are getting stab and slice to the head and the subsequent demon is getting stab in the neck. The demons that are following stops and starts casting spell.
Gina doesn't let it as she closes the distance in a single step and starts wildly stabbing and slashing their hands and life off. Gran just looks at her as he notice how fast she dispatch the enemies without leaving anything to him. "I want to be a supportivs boyfriend for her. If she's happy, why should I stop it?" Gran thinks as Karina tries to stand and drag her feet to help, only for Gran to turn and catch her when she is trying to walk over to him.
As soon as Gran catch her by the back, her face and Gran's face got closer to each other. Gina, who are focused on slaying the incoming demons, have turn to see what Gran is doing as she notice that she manage to slay all that she can see. She turn and sees the scenario where the two are almost have their faces near each other. The light on her eyes grows dim, until it dies and she slowly walks back to Gran. The Exorcist doesn't know the trouble he is in now.
"Oh, I'm sorry for bothering you... It's just, so unnatural for me to be passive at the time like this." Karina shares as Gran props her back to stand on her own. As soon as she stands, blushing and somehow feeling the heat from Gran's face and the injuries she is enduring, she peek and see a more pressing matter, a matter that are silently escalating. "Gran? What are you doing?" A voice who is very like it come from the abyss ask as Gran feels colder and the whole place becomes icy all of a sudden.
"Is that it? You prefer older women now? You cheating now?" Gina ask as Gran face her and bows. "I have no intention of cheating to you nor thinking and seeing any other girls in my life. Please, stab me with this if you ever caught me." Gran seriously says as he present his ceremonial dagger, the Flow attuned dagger, for Gina to stab him.
"Are you serious? Why do you want me to stab you?" Gina ask as she is baffled about how Gran address the matter, to which Gran answers in a serious tone. "Well, I want to show you that I am only thinking of you. If you think that I am loving another woman, please kill me. I promise my heart to yours, as I promise yours as mine... Wait, it sounds so cannibalistic in that sense." Gran explains as Gina's jealousy fades as she remembers how Gran deals misunderstanding, with maturity at times.
Gina sighs as she speaks. "Alright fine. I guess you are the only man in this world, wait, can I even claim that if you told me that you aren't from this world? Also, is it safe for me to be with you?" Gina thinks out loud as Gran raises his head and approach her. He embraces her as he speak. "I thunk it is fine. After all my frelings won't change for you."
Karina, who is single and really wanting to be in a relationship for a while now, wants to shoot the two with her Five Elements Barrage, but a pressing matter breaks the attention of the three as Trismegistus just made an explosion that rocks the whole Vulcana as Soli and Amun are now joined with Van and Sylvia, who's eyes can't believe how Soli is still alive. "You bastard!!! You should've been dead!!" Sylvia furiously says as Van calms his head and tries to calm Sylvia down as well.
"Sylvia please. We are in a middle of a war here. I notice an immense Mana coming from that man, and this one... Is completely lacking of it, kinda like Gran." Van points his thumb to Amun as he is facing Soli and now sprout out Harker. "This one... I can't sense any Mana at all, but he is exuding such pressure!! I felt this with Gran before, but to this extent? What is his relation with that guy." Van thinks to himself while Sylvia turns to face Amun.
"You outsiders. Get out of here. These whole thing is between me and that monster there." Amun threatens the Sword Saint and the Holy Knight Captain as he prepares to reshape the whole sanded place into something. All of the people that are standing on the sand are losing balance as they jumps out, Amun then forms a pyramid and have it fly to the sky.
The fighters landed back to the solid ground as Amun flies in the air as well and he makes a triangle handsign with his hands.
"Mausoleum of the Living." Amun states as the said pyramid of sand turns upside down and have the peak of it goes under and it drops to the ground with speeds that breaks the sound barrier, 5 times. The four jumps out, yet it affects Eugene and Trismegistus fight as the latter is getting an upperhand to the former.
"Hehe! You focus too much about the spells your enemy is releasing, that you have no idea that I can close the distance like this!!" The old man Herald gloats since he closes the distance and blown Eugene away to the sea of trees that are covering the way to Vulcana. Leon tries to stab Trismegistus with his spear, only for him to recoil back and sent flying with a ridiculous force.
"What? You foolish man! It is often normal for us mages to set up barriers if we go up close and personal, don't you think?" Trismegistus ask of the down Eugene, whom are having a hard time to cast another spell as the Herald is emitting something that are disturbing his Mana. The old man tries to get in for the kill with a spell.
"A wonderful mage you are. If I am a sage or something, you are a perfect student. Alas this is the way it is. Time to say goodbye." The old man state to the handsome mage. Eugene tries to conjure up a spell to get him out of the situation, but even before he does, a shadow looms over the old man.
"Yeah, say goodbye then old man."
A familiar voice of a mixed race mentor who once guide him speaks out. With two daggers prepared to stab, there is only a single move that she needs to unleash in order to finish the fight. "What the..." The old man Herald says as he attempt to turn around, but the lady doesn't give him the moment.
"Finishing Move!!"
Mayuri then slices Trismegistus in a speed that breaks all of his capability to intercept or recognize an attack. The old man guess that the attack is far faster thanbthe thunder sprite's lightning bolts, to which he gets slice through his neck, upper torso, stabbed through the heart and Mayuri ends the whole attack with her using her whole body strength to suplex him and grab his left leg and throw him into a tree nearby and stab his head.
The green haired Rogue snap back her assassin role, but she swears on her mind. "This is to protect, not only vengeance or for selfishness."
Mayuri then retrieves the daggers she use from the body of the old Herald. She turn around and approach Eugene, who are happy to see his former mentor from his Nightfall days. "Me-mentor hello! How are you? How you know that I am here?" Eugene ask as he check himself if he can hold a proper conversation with her, being shy and all.
"I'm okay Eugene, you must have a tougher time around here, are you okay?" Mayuri ask him back, making the handsome mage scratch his head and laugh. "Yes, but all of my comrades and Leon looks like aren't fine. I can cast a first aid kind of spell, can you help me getting into them?" The Sage's apprentice ask of her, but somehow Eugene is noticing something about Mayuri, something that is very out of line as they are on the battlefield.
"Is she that beautiful before? Am I under any spell?" Eugene ask himself just as he is trying to steal some peek to evaluate if what he is feeling is real. Mayuri notices his glances, and she also feels the same way.
"Oh my god I know he is handsome before but he turn to such a hot one right now. Am I doing fine right now? I hope I can show more of my cool side today!!" The green haired Rogue thinks as they are both on their awkward phase right now.
While all of this are happening inside Vulcana, Conquer and his steed Blaze is standing in the opposite side of the Vulcana outskirt, taking the task of seeking the Sacred Beast that is used to seal the Demon King and now living in one of the cavern nearby. Before Conquer and Blaze approach the said cavern, they confronted several Holy Knights along the way, patrolling the area for a potential threat who wants to go near the said Sacred Beast.
Before he can go through, a sudden gust of wind and flapping wings steals his attention. As the skeletal Herald turn around, a shield maiden and a pink haired mage confronts him.
"Faffy and us commands you to stop right there!" Veronica commands as Rinko nods.