"What a... pain in the ass!"

Florian punched a beast right through its chest.

Releasing a shockwave of lightning from his core, the beast's body disintegrated into dust before it could move another muscle.

Turning around, he looked at Albriar's forces valiantly defending their city and the citizens trembling in fear with nowhere to go.

Even though exhausted, the light in their eyes still burned bright, ready to lay their lives for their Lord.

But this time around, the invasion came unexpectedly, even worse than earlier that day.

Looking back in front of him, further north of the city, hundreds of giants watched patiently in front of the rift that brought them into this time.

Not a single one moved, leaving Florian and his subordinates to deal with the large number of smaller beasts.

The day was starting to end as the sky's blue and appeasing color took on the warm light of a candle.

With the bright ball of fire sinking into the horizon, the future appeared bleak for those fighting.

'Are we supposed to fight all night? What about tomorrow?'

Frustrated and demoralized, Florian ran through the ranks of the corrupt beasts, vaporizing them with a single touch.

Moving at an incredibly fast speed, his body glowed bright purple as he continued to pump more lightning energy into his veins.

The lightning 'Elemental Mastery' became incredibly lethal against the flesh of creatures, while being a great help in reducing the burden on the soldiers' shoulders.

What was a one-versus-fifteen encounter became closer to a one-versus-three fight.

That was how numerous the corrupt were. Not only were they all similar carbon copies of each other, but they were entirely covering the land north of Albriar.

Even after killing an endless number of their kin, there seemed to be absolutely no end in sight.

The fatigue was creeping inside Florian's core. His muscles ached, and his mind grew foggy. Even though the pain on his side had been removed, the time spent with it drained his strength continuously, leaving him in a particular state of weakness.

Even before entering Horizon, Florian had been fighting this horde of monsters. Less than an hour after returning, the first rift to open was the one near his city.

It's already been three hours, and he and his men were starting to lose this battle, thanks to the lack of rest this whole ordeal brought with it.

Nimble and swift beasts tried to encircle Florian as he stopped to breathe.

"!"

Not letting him even do that, he focused on the creatures. Focusing the magic inside him into his chest, he clenched his hands into fists before releasing it in a powerful pulse of electrical power.

The electrifying energy traveled through the beasts and burned them into ashes right away.

"Kuh... *Cough*"

Beads of sweat dripped profusely from his face.

"I wish... I could see Kamala right now."

Swiping the sweat off his face, he dropped his face and placed his hands on his knees, requiring a moment to recover.

Suddenly, a wide shadow covered the field. Florian looked up, only to meet a gigantic reptile looking down on him.

"..."

A weird smile formed on Florian's face.

"If I have to die..."

His body burned brighter as electricity ran wild through his skin. Crouching to jump at the monster, that smile disappeared when the energy that powered him ran out.

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"Ack! For the love of-"

The giant monster lifted its left foot and moved it above Florian. In the middle of the northern fields of Albriar, its Lord was about to meet his hand.

*Crash*

Crushed under the giant, Florian disappeared.

Or so it appeared.

"Gh! Good thing I came in... clutch!"

Opening his eyes, Florian's gaze fell to the back of a woman he wasn't expecting to see.

"K-Karteira?"

"That's me..."

Karteira was holding the giant monster's weight all by herself, her shield above her.

"If you could... move rapidly... that would be... appreciated..."

Hearing the plates and bones crack under such a pressure, Florian gathered his thoughts in one place.

"Right!"

He hurriedly moved away. Without wasting another second, Karteira pushed the creature's foot away.

"Aaaaah!"

Two containers opened behind her, pushing her off the ground.

The hundred-meter-tall monster fell backward and crashed on the land, while also crushing a massive number of smaller beasts in the process.

But that wasn't all Karteira did. She continued upward, aiming at a specific area, before finally dropping with all her might in that place.

"Get lost!"

Her scorpion tail appeared out of its concealment, and she stabbed the neck of the reptile.

"Explode!"

The jewel on the base of her tail glowed brighter before releasing a beam of fire from its tip, which was inside the creature's neck.

Its head inflated until it couldn't take anymore.

In a large explosion of fire and gore, the entire head past the spot where Karteira stung it ruptured. As it did, the entire body turned to ash, which itself evaporated right after.

"I'll take your life as a trophy. Orion's not the only one who can fight monsters anymore."

Seeing the woman's blue hair sway in the wind, Florian felt relief.

'I'm glad to be alive.'

Karteira turned around, threw her hair behind her back, and walked toward Florian.

"Tired?"

"More than you'd think."

"I see."

Karteira looked at the soldiers behind him, who were barely standing up. They were able to take a break thanks to her, as she killed the wave of corrupt beasts behind Florian before helping him.

Suddenly, a loud whistling sound echoed from the rift.

"What now?"

Turning to the large opening, Karteira and Florian prepared themselves for another wave of enemies.

But instead, they noticed the giants enter the rift and the smaller beasts retreat toward them.

"..."

In disbelief, Florian dropped his shoulders.

The soldiers seemed to think the same as their weapons dropped to the ground in loud clattering sounds.

Luckily, thanks to their experience earlier that day and the adrenaline still present in their system, no casualty was in their ranks.

Some were gravely wounded, while others were in serious conditions between life and death, but for the moment, no life had been lost yet.

"The rift... it's closing."

Karteira looked with interest at the portal. When the last tiny spot entered the portal, it closed entirely.

No traces of the creatures were left from this battle. All the corrupted killed vanished into nothing, not even dust or ashes.

As if their existence had never existed in this place, all that was left were exhausted soldiers and a confused Florian.

On the other hand, Karteira was pretty satisfied. Even though not at the same scale as Elliott, she managed to kill one of the gigantic lifeforms that invaded the continent.

Florian suddenly turned around and rushed toward his city.

"The enemy has backed off! This is our victory!"

Lifting his fist in the air, Florian encouraged his soldiers.

For a moment, they appeared confused. But rapidly, a smile developed on their faces as the realization came in.

They were too exhausted to cheer loudly, but the ones in shape hugged the person closest to them in relief.

"We're returning to the city posthaste! You are ordered to return home for the night and rest! If something were to happen tomorrow, it would lead to catastrophic damage to our forces if none of you are in shape."

Florian had already decided that guard duty would be done by civilians tonight. His men's health was a priority at this point.

As the force made its way back toward the city with the wounded carefully transported away, Florian glanced at Karteira, who walked next to him.

"Thank you. If you hadn't come, I wouldn't have been able to give a night of respite to these people."

At his words, she looked in the distance. A frown appeared on her face.

"Why didn't you ask for help? You knew that you alone wouldn't be able to cut it, right? You're not that stupid."

The words leaving her mouth cut straight through Florian's mind.

"..."

The silence was deafening. Yet, after a moment, Karteira opened her mouth.

"I might look like this, but I am a former commander. That's why I cannot understand your choice to keep quiet. How long have you been defending this city?"

Florian sighed in resignation.

"That's pathetic of me, isn't it?"

"I pride myself on the knowledge I've gathered, but when it comes to taking action, I chicken out."

Glancing at him, Karteira asked him.

"What do you mean? You thought no one would help you?"

"Not exactly. I understand that all of you are kind-hearted people. If I had asked, you would have definitely helped."

"So, what's the problem?"

"Orion..."

The frown on Karteira's face became even more serious. At first, she thought Florian preferred to be helped by Orion, but that wasn't it. Instead, the real reason shocked her.

"He's gone, right? From the looks of it, he isn't dead, but be it him, or Amelia, you have lost the two key pillars of this group."

"It would be pretty inconsiderate of me to add to the grief by forcing you into battle when you have to deal with that."

Her mouth opened wide for a second before a grin replaced that expression.

Seeing her expression, Florian appeared confused.

"Why the grin?"

"I'm just thinking; don't mind me."

In her mind, Karteira was feeling even better about having saved him. She realized that these humans really were the last sparks of kindness, a flame that needed to be preserved until Orion returned.

With a smile, she walked toward the city with Florian.

Thereafter, the women of the Agathion faction returned to Horizon to rest and report on what had happened in each part of the continent.