Editor : Amethyst00



The battle between Aaron and Azonia plunged Raysar into chaos.

Fortunately, there were no casualties.

Considering the scale of the fight, it was almost a miracle—but it wasn't just a coincidence.

It was possible only because the fight had taken place in the realm of extrasensory perception.

While Raysar was in disarray—

"Phew. Suppression complete."

Celia, who had seized control of the castle wall, let out a light sigh.

Most of the soldiers guarding the wall were ordinary people.

The city's top knights, mages, and summoners were stationed at the lord's castle.

Among them, the lord's closest aides—known as the Guardians of Raysar—never showed themselves on the castle wall.

Thus, they were helpless against the hero candidates.

The commander of the guards shouted,

"Eek! Do you think you'll get away with this?!"

The soldiers on the wall, led by the guard captain, wore expressions of anger.

Seeing them, Celia said,

"Please, just listen to what I have to say."

"Monsters of Tartaros have recently appeared within the city. Is that also your doing?! How can you, humans in form, side with Tartaros?! Do you know how many people in this city—?!"

"That's why I said listen to me, okay?"

Celia remained calm, unmoved by the guard captain's emotional outburst.

To these soldiers, it must have seemed like strangers had suddenly appeared and taken over the wall.

But for the hero candidates, there was a reason why it had to be this way.

'Raysar fell almost instantly to the advancing demons and monsters,' she recalled.

Celia glanced briefly at the castle wall of Raysar.

Being from the Lordren Empire, Celia had grown up seeing countless walls and fortresses.

Massive, sturdy walls built with the overwhelming power of the empire.

But none of Lordren's walls could compare to Raysar's.

This was the wall that had, since the Age of Calamity, withstood Tartaros's assaults alongside Godthrone.

Throughout world history, such a defensible wall could be counted on one hand.

And yet, Raysar's walls had collapsed with disturbing ease.

The implication was clear.

'Lady Azonia said traitors opened the gates.'

That was why the city had fallen without proper resistance.

No one knew who the traitors were.

That's why they had to take control of the wall.

"This wall was protected by the Guardian of the Azure Sky, Lord Agon! Do you think we'll hand it over to the likes of you so easily?!"

"Tartaros will soon launch a large-scale invasion," Celia said calmly.

At those words, the guard captain flinched.

"We're here to help Raysar."

"Then why did you subdue us?!"

"There's a reason."

"A reason?"

Distrust still lingered on the guard captain's face.

Now an old man, he had guarded Raysar's wall for many years—

Since the days the Guardian of the Azure Sky protected Raysar.

He had no talent for magic or summoning.

Nor did he possess strong aura abilities.

He could use aura, but only at a weak level.

Yet he had survived, guarding the wall in this age of despair.

To survive was to be strong.

He might not be objectively powerful, but he had excellent intuition.

And that intuition was telling him the girl was not lying.

'No… Something's strange.'

There was a subtle nobility about the girl.

A word forgotten in the Age of Calamity.

She reminded him of nobles from the old days.

'And that look in her eyes…'

They were bright and clear.

A gaze rarely seen in this era.

'She reminds me of the heroes who came from Godthrone.'

Maybe… she wasn't an enemy.

Still, he kept his guard up.

At that moment—

FWOOOSH—!

"Celia. How's it going here?"

"Just about done. You?"

"Same on my end."

Abad had flown in.

Hearing their exchange, the guard captain realized other parts of the wall had also been subdued.

'What in the world is happening? Chaos erupts within the city, and unknown people have seized control of the wall…!'

The captain grew anxious.

Then—

WOOOOOOM—!

A massive summoning circle formed above the outer sky of Raysar's wall.

Soon, the undead began pouring from the dark crimson magic circle like rain.

The guard captain's face went pale.

"Th-The Lich King…!"

It was the summoning circle of Tartaros's Supreme Commander—the Lich King.

But he wasn't the only one to appear.

The summoning circles of the other legion commanders began to fill the sky.

As enormous dark energy surged with the sudden appearance of the commanders, the subdued soldiers paled.

Even the expressions of the 1st and 2nd years who had subdued the guards hardened.

"Th-That's a legion commander…"

"Gulp."

As the overwhelmingly destructive beings appeared, all eyes turned to Celia and Abad with tense expressions.

Though their faces were set, they showed no signs of fear.

They may only be one or two years older than the others, but the battlefields they had seen were very different.

Celia, staring at the commanders, gave a hollow laugh.

"Why are you laughing?"

"I was just thinking… school life really hasn't been smooth."

Most 3rd-years at Lumene would've frozen in fear.

But Celia and Abad didn't freeze—even if they felt fear.

Besides,

Among those present were not only the Great Heroes, but even the Heroes of Dawn.

Celia took a deep breath and turned to the guard captain.

"Do you believe us now?"

"…Why did you subdue us?"

To that question, Celia replied,

"There are traitors. When they come, the traitors will open the wall."

"That's absurd!"

The guard captain looked incredulous.

"Tartaros only seeks the world's destruction! How could there possibly be traitors?!"

Even if one betrayed humanity to cooperate with Tartaros, if the world was destroyed, they'd die too. Why betray, then?

It didn't make logical sense.

But Celia could only give a bitter smile.

"Exactly. Why would anyone betray?"

She couldn't understand such foolishness.

At that moment—

"Guard captain, hear this!"

A voice boomed from below, amplified by magic.

"Take your forces and go to the lord's castle immediately! The castle is under attack by unknown assailants!"

The guard captain looked flustered.

Celia glanced at a 1st-year student from Lumene's magic department.

The 1st-year dispelled the binding spell on the captain.

Still confused, the captain ran to the wall and shouted down,

"The legion commanders are attacking! We can't just abandon the wall!"

"Gah! That doesn't matter right now! What matters is the lord's castle!"

A mage sent from the castle yelled furiously.

"……"

The captain fell silent.

The lord of Raysar and his closest aides…

In an age of calamity, food and resources were naturally limited.

Yet they still lived in luxury—something the guard captain was well aware of.

But he couldn't object.

The lord's forces were central to Raysar's defense.

Still, he believed that if the city was in danger, they'd rise to the occasion.

But during a recent major monster invasion, they hadn't appeared.

Instead, it was the heroes from Godthrone who saved them.

Though the refugee city seemed untouched by Tartaros, it had long been rotting from within.

The guard captain had known this.

'Even so… to think they'd hand over the whole city…'

"Hurry and follow orders! Take the troops to the castle!"

"If the wall falls, people will die!"

"I don't care! The lord is more important than a bunch of commoners! Without him and us, Raysar can't—"

SPLURCH—!

"Guh?!"

The screaming mage suddenly clutched his chest.

Drip—Drip—

Blood dripped from the hilt of a dagger embedded in his chest.

"Things have quieted down now."

Chen Xia smiled sweetly.

"Xia!"

Celia cried out urgently.

Chen Xia waved lightly and pushed the mage—

Thump—

He collapsed to the floor, wheezing.

"S-Save…"

"I'll save you. But tell me one thing."

Chen Xia touched the dagger with her pale hand and smiled again.

"You and the lord made a deal to hand Raysar over to Tartaros, didn't you?"

"T-That…"

"We know everything. Tell the soldiers guarding the wall."

She smiled brightly, but her eyes were chilling.

When he hesitated, Chen Xia pressed the dagger with her fingertip.

"There are plenty of others who will talk."

"Y-Yes…! Y-Yes! The lord made a deal with Tartaros in exchange for wealth and luxury! I—I opposed it! I…!"

His voice echoed loud enough for all the soldiers to hear.

Similar scenes were happening across Raysar's walls.

"S-Since I told the truth… P-Please… please spare me…"

"Wow."

Chen Xia looked impressed.

"You were going to kill so many, but now you want to live?"

"You promised to spare—!"

STAB—!

"Of course that was a lie."

"Gahh?!"

Chen Xia's fingertip pressed down on the dagger's hilt.

It sank deeper than the eye could see.

The mage coughed up blood and died instantly.

Chen Xia rose and walked to the top of the wall.

By then, the legion commanders and their forces had been summoned.

More enormous summoning circles filled the sky with dark energy.

The air churned violently.

It was easy to guess what was coming.

Chen Xia turned to the guard captain.

"The lord has abandoned Raysar."

"……"

He silently closed his eyes.

He had known something was off.

But he hadn't imagined this.

"C-Captain… Do you believe her?"

"Maybe he was blackmailed…"

"S-Still, abandoning the wall was definitely strange."

His soldiers were confused.

'I don't know what to believe. But…'

"Tartaros is coming. What will you do?"

The guard captain gripped his sword.

"There is only one thing we must do."

He spoke with firm resolve.

Though not strong in power—

He had survived guarding Raysar's walls through the Age of Calamity. That alone made him worthy of being called a hero.

"To defend the wall."

Seeing the man who had always done his best silently, Celia thought—

'…It's because of people like him that the world hasn't ended.'

It wasn't just the Great Heroes.

There were people willing to risk everything for others.

They gathered one by one to form a great hope.

With that hope, the Great Heroes fought Erebos—and saved the world.

"What a cool uncle."

Just then, someone descended from the sky and landed on the wall.

"I like brave men."

"Azonia!"

"Ugh, that damned face is always irritating."

Seeing Hell Kaiser in the distance, Azonia grimaced and stood up.

"The other walls are nearly ready. We just need reinforcements."

"Reinforcements? There are reinforcements?!"

The captain looked shocked. Azonia grinned.

"Of course, uncle."

Then—

FLASH—!

A magical circle lit up above Raysar.

A massive warp gate, glowing in pure white light.

A beam of light shot down onto the wall.

Four figures emerged first.

At the front was a beautiful woman.

The guard captain uttered her name.

"Godthrone's hero… Lysinas?"

Behind her appeared Luna and Kyle.

Azonia's mouth dropped open.

Celia and Chen Xia instinctively covered their mouths in awe.

Beside Dweno, Drianna spoke.

"Lord Dweno. You're one of the representatives—you should stand with them."

"I don't know those idiots."

Dweno drew a cold line.

'Wait… What happened to their eyes? Did they fight?'

Despite their grand entrance, Lysinas, Luna, and Kyle all had bruises around their eyes.

At that moment, Leo approached Azonia.

"Where's Aaron?"

"If it's Lord Aaron, he was just over there… Huh?"

Azonia, pointing, widened her eyes.

Aaron had disappeared with Aru, who had been holding him.

"That bastard! He ran off again!"

As Azonia flared with rage—

A message suddenly appeared before everyone's eyes. All the conquerors who saw the message widened their eyes. Seeing the objective, Leo smiled faintly.

"So… he's decided to fight."

[The conquest objective has changed.]

[Conquest Objective (Hidden): Save Raysar.]