"This is so annoying! Not only are they resorting to emotional warfare, they're trying to bring us down with them!" I exclaimed as I blasted an approaching demon with magic, sending it flying away into the wall as it cursed at me. "It doesn't help that these monsters lost their sense of pain, unlike the ones we fought down in the basement!"

"They're also spouting some annoying crap that twists the Ignifera way! Literally burning shit down as a way to move on from the past and start anew is just way too extreme!" Raghnall complained while slicing and burning down the ones trapped by his chains with a swing of his flaming greatsword. "I admit, this kingdom certainly has its flaws and could improve on certain things but setting it literally ablaze isn't the way to go!"

"Raghnall, please do remember that they've been corrupted!" Rufus pointed out as he tried his best to either cripple the enemies or burn them down to ashes. "We don't know if they truly believed that originally or if their way of thinking and beliefs have been forcibly modified! It might be in our best interests to ignore anything they say!"

I feel kinda bad doing so though... I thought to myself as I shot at some of the monsters with magic projectiles while maneuvering around and keeping my distance, trying to kill them as fast as possible by headshotting them or aiming for their hearts. From what they've been saying as we fought, Ignifera pays more attention to the strong rather than the weak. Staying as a weak-willed, incompetent person in this kind of place is considered blasphemous. In a way, they're basically outcasts, just like how us Devourers are in the Academy. ...however...

They also mentioned retaliating back with pretty extreme methods like setting cities ablaze in this kingdom, which certainly seemed to be the case from the ruins I saw back when we were on the dragon. At that point, because of what they've done, they no longer deserve any sympathy. Their hands are voluntarily covered in the blood of others. They're no longer just a victim.

After a brief moment of silence, I decided to speak up. "Sorry. I truly feel for you guys as an outcast but..." I remarked, then shot a nearby corrupted cultist right through the heart. "You've lost your way and become monsters instead, drowning in your own anger, hatred, and despair. Nothing you say can alleviate your crimes now."

"You got that right! Complain all you want but it doesn't justify what you've done!" Raghnall added as he burnt down the corpse from afar with a fire spell. "In the end, you guys chose this route so take responsibility for your actions!"

Almost immediately after we said that, some of the cultists hurled themselves at us while angrily spitting out curses at us. I was about to blast them away with magic like usual but out of nowhere, all of them were suddenly shot down by a barrage of fiery bullets. I blinked my eyes in surprise as they fell to the ground, their bodies disintegrating into dust alarmingly fast while the mist inside them burnt away into nothingness.

Before I could think about who did that, I felt the communication spell immediately turning on. "Oi, Stella! You alright?!" Leo exclaimed anxiously while Raghnall and Rufus continued fighting, albeit more carefully. "We were met with interference when we tried to contact you earlier ago so...!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" I mentally answered, barely dodging the demons that decided to take advantage of that short moment of shock to attack. "What about you guys? Is everything alright or...?"

"Er...well...not really?" the angel said with a nervous laugh as I launched the corrupted monsters away with an explosion spell. "That spell high up in the sky has been activated so I'm currently trying to gather enough magical resources from the store Princess Cecilia was guarding. After all, I've been tasked with Plan B, which is to counter the nuke with an equally strong water spell."

"So, the situation has gotten even worse over there, huh?" I commented with a sigh. "Still, if that's Plan B though, then what's Plan A? Confront the caster?"

Leo was weirdly quiet for a bit but he eventually let out an awkward cough. "Well, the thing is...we actually already encountered the dude but he's...uh...kinda dead now. His death didn't stop it at all," he explained, catching me off-guard. "According to Vin, the Guardian probably used spell anchors with mana batteries to keep it active and functional. Plan A involves finding those before the orbital nuke becomes fully operational, which is what Princess Cecilia is doing right now since she knows this place better than us."

"Ah, those, huh? I suppose I should've expected that," I said as I tried shooting down the few remaining demons left in this room with some magecraft. "Convenient for grand, powerful spells, especially if the user doesn't have enough mana, but comes at the cost of having a slow startup. After all, the anchors can only handle so much mana at a time before overloading and exploding."

"It would be nice if I could get access to those energy supplies, just in case, but that's probably asking for too much..." Leo remarked, sighing.

Another familiar voice popped up before he continue any further though. "I can try commanding my familiars to bring the tanks to you but I'm pretty sure they'll be killed off before they can reach you. There's probably more demonic presences that we're not aware of, hiding in plain sight," Vin answered, serious as ever. "Anyways, I need to focus on eliminating all the monsters in that building Stella is in so I'll go back to being silent as I shoot them down with the fire elemental ammunition that I was given by the Princess. Say my name if you need anything from me."

"So it was you that shot them down," I commented as I silently noted that all of the demons in the room were now obliterated, including their corpses. "Guess we'll be able to escape this place a lot faster then. Though..."

I paused and glanced back at the doorway we came through earlier ago. I had no idea if Idalia was still down in the basement or if she was now on the way toward us. Unsure of what to do, I turned my attention to the two boys nearby and noticed that Rufus also seemed to be concerned about her, his worried gaze fixated on the entrance leading downstairs. The white-haired male, on the other hand, was walking towards the other door with his greatsword at hand, ready to strike down a monster that dares approach him at any given moment.

"If you're that worried about her, you could go and make sure she's alright, you know. I don't mind going alone and fighting against all those demons," Raghnall said, then stopped right in front of the damaged door covered with fiery chains and looked at the two of us, his expression grim. "I'll be honest though, I think you should. That girl is certainly trying her best to stay strong but I don't know how long she can keep it up. She's probably emotionally falling apart from everything that's happening right now. I bet she cried her heart out back there while we fought the corrupted cultists over here."

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

I flinched at that, suddenly feeling a strong sense of guilt. A part of me wanted to go down and check up on her now because of that but hesitation stopped me from doing so. Didn't she want to deal with it alone because of what she's done or lack thereof? Besides, do I even have the luxury of time to help her right now?

"...you two continue onwards, then. I'll go down there alone," Rufus answered with a sad smile, taking me by surprise. "As a citizen of Ignifera, I'm more familiar with the struggles that she's going through than our esteemed guest. ...especially since I had a younger sister that joined the Fire God's Phoenix..."

I couldn't help but frown upon hearing that last sentence. It certainly explains why he's so kind and caring toward her but...that makes his past actions a lot more depressing. All I could do was solemnly nod my head in response, unable to find any comforting words to say to him. As the soldier walked away to where Idalia was, I eventually turned my attention back to Raghnall, who was silently watching the orange-haired male with a hand on his hip.

"If only there were more people like him in this kingdom," Raghnall lamented. "Because of their desire to get stronger and become better, the people here usually have very little time to help and support others. Not only that, because of how our culture is, certain expectations are put on everyone, which could be...suffocating for some."

"...I see..." I stated as I looked away, my heart feeling heavy. "...then I guess something like this was bound to happen, huh?"

The Artifact wielder let out a pained, bitter laugh. "Excluding the turning into demons part though. There's no way anyone could've predicted that happening," he remarked, then gestured towards the door near him. "Anyways, let's get back to the issue at hand, alright? This isn't really the time for talks like these."

"Agreed, we're low on time, after all. For now, we need to prioritize escaping and exterminating all the corrupted cultists before this building becomes flooded with that black mist..."

"Black mist...?" Vin repeated, reminding me that the communication spell is still on and that both Leo and Vin heard everything. "It seems I made the right call then earlier ago. After the incident with the Guardian, I decided to place the headquarters into a sealed zone as soon as possible, using the marker bullets as relays to serve as the foundations for the spell. However, at best, it's only a stopgap measure. We'll need someone that can nuke the place to oblivion, preferably with the fire or holy element..."

I blinked my eyes in surprise at that while Raghnall watched me with a raised eyebrow, curious. "You guys sure work fast, huh? Kinda makes me feel a bit guilty that I didn't get anything of use from this investigation," I mentally admitted. "Though, thankfully, I did find Raghnall, the Fire Artifact wielder, over here! Should I connect him to this discussion or...?"

"By all means. He's rowdy and hot-blooded but he'll get the job done, especially when the going gets tough," Vin answered.

With a nod of my head, I extended my hand to the white-haired male, magical energy now floating around it due to me casting the spell to add someone to the communication hub. As if he figured out what I was trying to do, the boy let out a sigh and walked over towards me. Once he was close enough, he put his hand onto mine, causing the spell to immediately connect with him.

"There, I'm connected now," Raghnall said, mildly annoyed. "So, what the hell is it that you need to tell me? I'd rather go back to fighting than talking—"

The male immediately stopped talking as his eyes widened in shock. I was about to ask him if he noticed something bad as he sent a hostile glare back at the chained door until I suddenly felt the presence of an intense magical signature appear out of nowhere.

"...we got company," Vin remarked, clearly troubled by what he was seeing. "Classification, full-fledged demoness. Affinity type, Darkness. Magical strength, abnormally high. If I were to rank it, it's at the level of an Artifact wielder going all-out or perhaps more. ...to be frank, I think the mastermind finally decided to make themselves known to us."

Before I could say anything to what he said, I suddenly heard the newcomer speak up. "I know you're here. Cowering away won't save you or them, you know? Just like the heroes of the past, why don't you confront me and put your lives on the line?" she sneered sadistically, her voice amplified by magic. "After all, no one can help you. Rex might have ruined my plans but that Executioner is stuck protecting the 'core' of this land of flames. He's forced to rely on others to make sure I fail sending this land to the lightless abyss."

Executioner...? Protecting the 'core' of this land...? I repeated to myself, frowning. With the latter, I assume something incredibly important is in the ruins but...what's with the former? Is it connected to what he's doing?

"This isn't the time to be thinking, Stella," Raghnall mentally retorted as he turned to look at me, abruptly pulling me away from my thoughts. "Prepare yourself because this is an unavoidable fight. Before that though, take this and crush it. Rex said I'll need to give it to you when the situation escalates to a certain point so..."

He handed me a small transparent gray cube and I hesitantly took it, unsure as to what this is for. Seeing no reason to distrust him and Rex, I hurriedly did as I was told. Almost immediately, my hand and arm were surrounded by a multitude of magic rings, foreign runes inscribed on their transparent surfaces. Not only that, I felt the magical energy inside my body being refilled at an astonishingly fast pace. The rings all faded away as quickly as they appeared though, leaving behind a black metallic gauntlet with razor-sharp claws. I moved it around, noting how comfortable the gauntlet was and how it fit me quite nicely.

"Rex told me that weapon was specifically designed for Devourers," Raghnall explained, causing me to glance at him in surprise. "That kind of thing is a rarity in itself so I have no fucking idea how he got his hands on something like that. ...but whatever, it doesn't matter right now. You guys ready?"

My heartbeat suddenly went faster at the thought of fighting the powerful newcomer but I nodded my head regardless. "Yeah, no issues here," I answered, trying my best to fight back the anxiety, while Vin grunted in response. "I have no idea what this gauntlet is capable of but I can tell there's a lot of unknown Void-type enchantments on this weapon so I'm sure it'll help out a lot."

"I won't be able to help at the moment but good luck, you guys!" Leo exclaimed cheerfully. "For the sake of Ignifera, beat the shit out of that demoness!"

With that, after casting some spells to hide ourselves, the Fire Artifact wielder dismissed the chains and then opened the door leading towards where the lady was. The two of us stealthily walked forward, preparing ourselves for what might be a tough challenge.