The Guardian slowly grabbed his longsword, dragging it to the ground as he stood in the direction of the cave's exit.

“Liara, Milena, guard Glenn,” Sahro ordered, drawing his sword with a serious expression. His mechanical arm was more scrap than prosthetic, but a crimson discharge of electricity still coursed through it.

"Who guards who?" Glenn questioned. "Nelg!"

A longsword appeared in his hand, shining with a cold, deadly glint.

"Wait, no, I didn't agree to that! Glenn, you need to stay put!" Nelg exclaimed in protest. Glenn looked at his weapon in utter disbelief.

"Who do you take me for? Did you really think I would leave my friends to fight for me while I twiddle with my thumbs in a cave? Just because I can hear the taste of mushrooms doesn't mean I can't defend myself!"

Milena grimaced. "Sorry, but you can't use Mana. Leave it to us this time."

"What—" Glenn's eyes widened as a ring of light appeared around him and restrained his movements. Liara held her hand out, the nerves popping out of her forehead as she concentrated on maintaining him in place. Milena rushed in and pressed her thumb against his forehead. Glenn's eyelids shut themselves instantly and he collapsed on the floor, snoring heavily.

"He should be dreaming of escaping the restraints and fighting whatever's outside by himself. As long as he doesn't recuperate his Mana, he'll stay like this for a day or so." Milena dusted her hands off, her back drenched in cold sweat. The pressure coming from outside the cave was slowly but surely becoming unbearable.

"Children." The Guardian's voice was weary yet firm. "Stand behind me. You're not yet strong enough to face opponents at this level."

Milena instinctively activated her Mana Sight and checked him out, pausing when she couldn't find a trace of any mystical power. No Aura, Mana, nor even Divinity.

The Guardian was a mundane person with no powers. The Guardian turned to her and grabbed her shoulder with a heavy hand.

"I don't have the powers I used to have, but..." He clenched his longsword tightly, "I have other means at my disposal."

"Whatever, old man," hissed Sahro as red electricity crackled violently around him. "Let's do this. We need to break through them and escape. We can't even dream of defeating them."

Milena nodded slowly as Liara grabbed Glenn from the ground and put him on her back, wearing him like a backpack. She nodded in their direction resolutely. Lucian laughed nervously, a bead of sweat pearling down his forehead.

"Three damned Newborn Rulers. Easy work for Munirp's next king, haha!"

Sahro patted him on the back with his mechanical arm. "As much as it's worth, I think you're part of the team now, Lucian. You're our friend—no, our brother. If we die..." The Black Heir grinned widely as power coursed through him. "Let's die as heroes."

Lucian perked up as a golden crown of Mana appeared above his head, brimming with mystical might. "An end fitting of legends. A last stand worthy of the history books. So be it!"

Milena shook her head silently, her daggers drawn and her powers ready.

"Let's go." The sound of the Guardian's boot on the warm volcanic floor echoed in the cave loudly, ringing through their hearts and sending adrenalin pumping through their veins. Sahro, Lucian, Milena, and Liara followed the ancient fighter as they left the cave.

Outside, standing in the hellscape of the Beyond, under the uninterested watch of the eyes in the sky, was a legion of a hundred knights in emerald-colored scale armors commanded by three masked individuals. A Rabbit, a Snake, and an Owl. Would Glenn had been awake, he would have recognized the Rabbit's clothing as jeans and shirt, while the Snake was a lady wearing a stylish blue dress that would make modern models jealous, her legs revealed by tempting slits that reached up to her waist. Only the Owl seemed to wear appropriate garments, more accurately a leather armor with rough iron pauldrons.

The Rabbit turned to the Owl, puzzled. "I thought my message was clear. I only asked for the Devil's Hand, didn't I?"

The Owl pointed at Liara, who was carrying Glenn on her back. The Snake lady snorted mockingly. "Seems like the Devil's Hand got betrayed. Look, his Mana Heart is as weak as a mundane human's!"

The Rabbit rubbed his chin, staring at the Guardian for a moment.

"...No, I don't think that's correct." He disappeared and reappeared inches away from the Guardian, staring up at the armored fighter curiously. "Seeing how this old bastard is protecting him, I think it's more plausible for him to be out of commission because of his fight with Laurance."

The Snake lady shrugged. "That's probably right. After all, even if he was a talentless, weak freak, Laurance was still a Newborn Ruler like us. Taking him on as an Expert Magi must have cost the Devil's Hand something important."

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"No matter," dismissed the Rabbit with a wave of his hand. He reached his hand out at the Guardian, a smirk perking out of his mask.

"Give us the Devil's Hand; as promised, we won't hurt his friends. We won't even hurt him! Just...bring him somewhere nice, I swear!"

The Guardian raised his sword and placed the tip against the Rabbit's mask. "If you think I'd believe the treacherous words of a bastard like you, then you are a fool. This is my only warning. Flee now, and never come back."

The Rabbit laughed broadly before suddenly turning into a vaguely humanoid fire. He slammed both of his palms into the Guardian's chest, knocking him a distance away.

"Try us, old man! The Occult Wanderers didn't grow so strong looking away from fights!" The Rabbit disappeared in a trail of burning light as he clashed with the Guardian once more. The Owl mask remained standing next to the emerald knight legion, silent with his arms crossed.

The Snake lady appeared in front of Liara and reached her hand out to touch Glenn's face. "Such a handsome Devil...I could have believed him if he called himself Lucifer and said that he fell from grace."

Liara's sword was a blur as it hacked for the Snake lady's wrist. The latter simply pulled her hand back and tried slapping Liara away, but Milena's suddenly swept beneath her and stabbed her dagger for her heart. The Snake lady yelped and hurriedly backed away.

"You didn't scratch my dress, did you?" She hurriedly checked the fabric, and audibly sighed in relief as she failed to find any damage.

"What would an ugly bitch like you need such a nice dress for anyway?" Milena shouted in a rare outburst of anger, Mana swirling around her. The Snake lady slowly turned her head toward her.

"...What did you say?"

Unfortunately, she couldn't hear Milena's reply as a majestic voice rose over the battlefield.

"True Dawn!" A beam of golden light shot out of Lucian's hands, destroying everything in its path toward the Snake lady. The latter took on a serious stance and she made a precise hand gesture. Black particles flew out of her pockets and formed a shield in front of her, blocking the spell effortlessly.

"Wait, isn't that...?" Her eyes widened slightly, but she could not reach the end of her thought. Sahro left scorched earth behind him as he transformed into violent red lightning and shot for her throat. The black particles swirled and formed a large blade that effortlessly swatted Sahro's efforts away.

Milena slammed her hands on the ground, a wave of Mana exploding out of her. "Dream Palace." Her words were as silent as a whisper, and yet everyone heard it clearly. The Snake lady looked around her as the world changed from the hellscape of the Beyond to a modern city's layout, with countless heavy-duty trucks driving at maximum speed toward her.

"Oh." The Snake lady took a step back, a cold sweat drenching her back. Lucian's New Dawn almost reached her when the warrior in an Owl mask stopped it while shattering the illusion and imprisoning the Snake lady at the same time. The Snake lady panted heavily, holding her chest as if to stop her heart from jumping out.

"T- Thanks. I'm really weak to illusions." She gasped.

The Owl looked at her before nodding gently. "I know." His voice sounded rough, different from the mockeries and lightheartedness of the Bunny's.

Milena winced, feeling the counterblow hitting back as her spell was destroyed. Sahro dug his feet into the volcanic ground as the crimson lightning intensified around him. Sharp, vicious fox ears and a large fox tail appeared on his body, made entirely of red electricity. He drew his sword back at the maximum, all his muscles tensing up for that one attack.

"Akairaijin!" He roared as he lunged forward, disappearing into a red lightning bolt. He broke through the sound barrier as the flat of his sword slammed against the Owl's opened palm. The Owl's eyes widened under his mask as he flew back from the knockback and crashed into the Snake lady. Both flew away into the distance, effectively kicked out by Sahro's attack.

The Black Heir fell to one knee, his mechanical arm crumbling into dust, revealing the stump of his shoulder. A weak electrical current imitated the shape of his arm where a mechanical arm previously stood. Lucian hurriedly dashed next to Sahro and helped him up.

"It's our opportunity!" Milena shouted. "We need to get away now!"

"You don't have to tell me twice," grumbled Sahro as he leaned on Lucian to run away. The corner of Liara's lips curved upward as she watched her friends somehow fend off two Newborn Rulers. She adjusted her hold over Glenn and ran alongside them, heading for the Horizon Gates.

***

"NO! MY DRESS!" The Snake lady cried as she held the end of her beautiful blue dress where a slight scratch had ruined the fabric.

"...I'll find you another one," sighed the Owl as he dusted himself off. "I didn't expect that. This Black Heir used Japanese in his spell. I don't think he's from Earth, but he certainly knows someone from our homeland. Let's capture him alongside with the Devil's Hand."

He glanced at the Rabbit and the Guardian fighting in the distance and shook his head. The Rabbit was playing. No way he would be unable to defeat a powerless old man with his strength. The Guardian didn't have any superhuman strength or speed. He only swung his sword at the right time, with the right strength. Dodging with half a step, leaning his head out of harm's way, letting the blows slip past him.

But still, he was the most mundane of mortals. Nothing like him.

"Let's go back." The Owl turned to his ravishing companion, only to find her staring silently at a figure standing a few meters away. At the sight, the Owl could only fall silent as well.

A knight wearing an armor of white and gold was standing there, his hands resting on the pommels of his two sheathed rapiers. A red cloak fluttered in his back, an emblem embroidered on the rich fabric. A setting sun. That same setting sun was embossed on his breastplate and his great helm. The knight's white, shining eyes were barely visible through the slits in the helmet.

"I'm afraid you can't go past me." The knight spoke quietly, and yet both the Owl and the Snake took a step back out of dread.

"T- The King's Blade!" She gasped, a cloud of black particles surrounding her.

The Owl breathed out deeply, a colorless Aura empowering him and his fists. "Harriet the King's Blade. So the Crown did get news of our activity."

The King's Blade gracefully drew out his rapiers, taking on a calm stance in opposition to them. "I have no obligations to reply to that. Simply know that you crossed the path of Munirp's Royal blood, and for that..." His Aura exploded out like a tsunami, pushing the Owl and the Snake back a few steps.

"You must die."

The Owl and the Snake exchanged a look. No matter. They had a safety plan anyway.

The Devil's Hand will fall in their hands. It wasn't a hope.

It was a fact.