"Who are you?" Roza's bloodlust grew stronger, her slender figure poised to strike at Madam Scarlett's neck.

"I'm Lilian, please, you can't do that to her," Lilian cried, completely losing her composure.

"What makes you think I would go against Council orders?" Roza hissed, anger and annoyance clear on her face.

"I can convince you, just listen to me," Lilian pleaded.

"Okay," Roza replied, retracting the talwar and aiming it rudely toward Lilian, who held it with both of her slender arms. "If you have your last words, you can speak now."

Now, her bloodlust was directed toward Lilian's innocent figure, ready to take her life if her words didn't convince her.

"Master Decimus has already gone to search for the Labyrinth," Lilian said, grasping at any random piece of information she could find, without fully understanding the matter at hand.

"Huh!" Roza breathed.

"Really? Well, that's good, but that means you still don't have a clue about the Labyrinth's location," Roza concluded, her gaze shifting back to Madam Scarlett, who remained poker-calm, seemingly unbothered by this revelation.

"When he comes back, you can ask him!" Lilian's plea continued.

"But I don't have much time, you see," Roza scoffed, her sword still raised against Lilian.

The effects of the Unicorn's horn stab wouldn't last more than several days. If Jean were to find out about Roza's actions, it would be impossible for Roza to reach her destination, the Labyrinth.

"Guess those were your last words," Roza said as a magical aura surrounded her in a violet hue. Her bloodlust increased, her arm raised, ready to cut through the fragile body of the silver-haired girl.

"Albert..." Lilian managed to whisper, as if her life had flashed before her eyes. Her little brother's face flashed in her mind, 'Albert,' softly the only word she managed to breathe.

*BOOM*

A deafening blast shattered the tense atmosphere, leaving ears ringing for several seconds. Then, as the dust cleared, a figure began to take shape. His golden-styled hair gleamed in the dusty air, and his golden eyes flickered with emotion. The man, dressed like a bartender, held a sword that radiated a heavenly aura.

His presence left a trail of destruction behind him, and he had blasted a huge hole in the room, revealing the beautiful green garden outside through the shattered wall.

"Hope Has Arrived!" Albert announced, for a split second, his figure seemed more muscular than it actually was, then it returned to its normal masculine appearance.

"Yo, lil princess, you can't be serious right?" the man said as he poised his sword against Roza.

"Argh, Alphonse, take care of him," Roza ordered, her annoyance evident as she didn't even bother to question the man's identity.

"Whoa, is this going to be a butler vs. butler showdown?" Albert exclaimed, taking a deep breath and leaning forward while raising his sword horizontally into a fighting stance.

"Alphonse, kill him at once," Roza barked.

"What kind of stance is that, young boy? I've never seen this type of swordsmanship except from Master Decimus."

"Oh, this... THIS is my bullshit heavenly killer style," Albert said confidently.

"What?" Alphonse questioned, not expecting such harshness from the young man's words.

"Like I'm going to wait for you to prepare that spell right there, old fart. Why do I always have to deal with old dumbasses? Just give me the lil princess, right? I have to ask her somethin," Albert blurted without consideration, his tone shifting to annoyance.

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"My lady has nothing to do with the likes of you, brat," Alphonse replied with the demeanor of a well-behaved butler as he drew the rapier from his waist. Despite being known as a magician, his specialty lay in using both the sword and magic with frightening precision.

The tension in the room continued to escalate, and Roza was once again interrupted, this time by an unfamiliar figure. Frustration welled up within her as she couldn't afford any further delays in her plans.

However, she found herself interrupted yet again, this time by Susan, who had remained seated but was now adorned with a dazzling golden gauntlet.

The gauntlet sparkled with precious magic stones, one adorning each finger, casting a radiant glow in the room.

Roza exhaled in frustration. "Now what?" she muttered under her breath.

"I will not let you do as you please," Susan declared with unwavering determination.

She took a confident step closer to Roza, her gauntlet emanating a potent aura of magical energy.

Susan had earned her reputation by being able to defeat wild bears with just three strikes from the special gauntlet she wore.

In a direct hand-to-hand combat scenario, Roza stood no chance against Susan's formidable martial arts skills.

Even if just one of Susan's punches connected, Roza would be rendered useless for further battle.

However, Roza was no fool. With her heavy talwar in hand, the slender, violet-haired Roza took Madam Scarlett as a hostage. She put an suspicious metal collar around Madam Scarlett slender neck.

"Subdue her!" Roza ordered the guards, her voice edged with tension.

The guards lunged at Susan consecutively, one after the other. However, Susan's response was swift and devastating.

"blugghrr" "Aaaaa..." "...khghr"

Her gauntlet vibrated with a unique and overwhelming magical energy that only she possessed. Each punch she delivered sent the guards hurtling away.

Some of them crashed through the shattered opening in the wall, landing forcefully in the garden of Madam Scarlett's house.

"Whoa, Sissy Susan's going wild there. How about we stop circling around, old fart?" Albert taunted his opponent as they continued their tense dance, never once clashing their weapons.

[What is this young man up to? I can't find any openings.] Alphonse couldn't help but complain to himself, growing frustrated.

[And what's with this forward and backward movement? I can't read him at all.] Alphonse found Albert's movements perplexing as the young man took a step closer, then another back, almost like performing a folklore dance.

"Hey, old man, are you done playing?" Albert questioned, clearly annoyed. He continued his circular movements, alternating between advancing and retreating like a pendulum.

"What nonsense are you doing?" Alphonse was utterly bewildered, struggling to decipher the young man's intentions. He thrust himself forward with speed and precision, his rapier aimed at Albert. Simultaneously, a ball of fire formed at the tip of his sword and hurtled toward Albert before the rapier could reach him.

"WOAH...DAMN you!" Albert narrowly evaded the fireball, his expression a mix of surprise and frustration.

Blocking the rapier with inches to spare, Albert had narrowly escaped being impaled. He closed one eye, stuck his tongue out playfully, and mocked the elderly butler.

"You brat!" Alphonse's tone was filled with irritation as he swiftly turned his torso, swinging his rapier toward the young man's neck, attempting to catch him off guard with the rapid change in direction.

"...ha!" Albert tilted his head downward in an attempt to evade the strike. However, the rapier unexpectedly altered its trajectory, angling downward to slice into his shoulder.

"What...?" Albert's shoulder was grazed by the rapier's sharp point, drawing a crimson hue of blood from the wound.

"This is what—" Before Alphonse could continue reprimanding the arrogant youth, he was kicked in the torso by a swift swing of Albert's foot. Unfazed by the injury he sustained, Albert threw his words carelessly.

"Do you know how expensive these clothes are, you old bastard?... Aaaa, give me the girl already. I'll tear those for her myself, you know?" Albert's nonchalant attitude belied the seriousness of the situation.

"Brat, do you not feel pain?" Alphonse regained his footing on the room's floor and questioned Albert.

"Now that you mention it, damn, it hurts. What did you do?" Albert realized the intense pain in his arm.

"I have imbued my rapier with a poisonous magical spell, but it seemed to have no effect on you. Or, to say it more clearly, you have not shown any drops worth of magical energy."

"'Cause I don't have any magic, zero in total," Albert casually replied.

"What? Then how did you shatter through?" Flabbergasted, Alphonse asked. In this world, every being possessed some amount of magical energy, even if they were incapable of using it for combat purposes, except for a few rare exceptions.

Alphonse's astonishment was a genuine reaction. As far as he knew, Decimus was the only person devoid of any form of magical energy, an exception found in the rarest of the rare.

Decimus had been recognized as one of the transcendent beings on the face of this world, even after having close to nothing in magical capability.

"That's..." Widening his eyes, Alphonse muttered.

"Look carefully, old man." Albert notified the elderly butler. His entire body brimmed with an energy that Alphonse had only seen in Decimus. A translucent aura surrounded Albert's figure.

"This is Heavenly Ki," Albert announced, taking a single swing of his sword. A huge gush of wind erupted forth, shattering the remaining glass windows. The force of the wind sent innocent manservants and maids hurtling away as they became victims of the force.

"Heaven Shattering SWING!" Albert declared, causing the elderly butler to be sent flying and crashing toward Roza. They hit the walls of the room with a resounding impact.