On the same day the white class split in different directions and before Belian and Lisa arrived at their destination, Lily already wandered around a small town near the southern borders of Rostanta.

The sun was setting when she entered a bar.

"Hey, that uniform..."

"That appearance... Isn’t that..."

Unfazed by the stares and whispers of those around her, she walked to the shelter and took a seat.

"How can I help you?" the barkeeper asked with his gaze on the glass he was wiping.

Instead of answering, Lily took out the quest and placed it on the counter.

"I’ve come here for the quest. Do you have any information?" she asked sternly.

"..."

The barkeeper glanced at the paper. His gaze narrowed when he went through the content.

"It’s about that demon, huh?"

"So you know anything about it?"

"Yes, but there’s no need for you to do anything." he said with a gentle smile.

"Hm? Why that?"

"?"

He tilted his head slightly, confused as to why Lily sounded annoyed.

"A few days ago, there was a person here who asked me the same so I gave him the necessary information. After that, the person disappeared in front of my eyes."

"And when I opened up the next day, I found a letter addressed to me on the shelter which stated that the demon was subjugated."

"Do you know the name of that person and where that person went next?" Lily asked.

"N-no... Sadly not. I wanted to thank that person for helping this small town but there were no traces left behind."

"I see."

Lily stood up.

"Thank you for the information."

And then she left the bar.

"..."

She was in thoughts as she walked down the street.

The quest she was attempting to complete was a quest from the academy, meaning that only students or teachers should be able to know of them as the academy had the rights for those quests.

In other words, other guilds or academies should not have access to those quests.

And because Lily took the demon subjugation quest, no other student could accept the quest.

"Am I missing something here...? Someone outside the academy had information about the demon here and subjugated it already..." she muttered pensively.

"Demon...? Wait..."

Slowly but surely Lily connected the dots.

"This is far-fetched but..."

There was a group that was causing one headline after another for its reputation as a demon-slaying troupe.

"Hunters...?"

A troupe consisting of Sara and Olivia and led by a mysterious person.

If it was Olivia, the former captain of the Grand Order and queen of Rostanta, then it would be child’s play for her to get her hands on the whereabouts of most demons in the world.

"Then... Was the person, who took down the demon, the leader...?"

Olivia and Sara’s faces were well-known but that was not the case for the leader who was apparently strict about showing their face.

"Damn it..."

Lily clenched her fists after realizing that she just missed an encounter with the leader of Hunters.

"Hey, you. I can give you the information you want."

"..."

Lily turned to her side.

A man was leaning against a building in a dark alley. He smirked eerily at Lily.

"Woah, no need to look at me like that." he chuckled when Lily glared at him.

"What do you want from me?" she asked.

"Just like I said, I can give you the information you want." he repeated, stepping out of the alley.

"Is that so? I hardly believe that you’d give me the information for free though."

"You’re smart. I like that!"

"..."

Lily glanced to her sides after noticing the man’s underlings approaching them from each angle.

"How about spending the night with us? We will get some fun and you will get fun in addition to the information you’re seeking. Hell of a deal for you, isn’t it?" the man said, licking over his lips.

Lily’s gaze narrowed as she was about to move her hand.

"Are you sure about fighting here so openly?"

His men already got them surrounded.

"I know who you are. You’re Lily Hayth, a member of the Grand Order. Considering your strength, I don’t think you want the buildings and houses here to get caught up in our little spat."

Then, one of the men reached his hand to Lily while ogling her lustfully.

"I’ve always dreamed of having some fun with someone like her..." that man stated arousedly.

However, before he could touch her, Lily grabbed his wrist tightly to the point that his face turned distorted from the pain.

"..."

Still glaring, Lily slammed the man to the ground and knocked him out by kicking his jaw.

"Hey, hold up..." the man, who initially approached her, said taken aback.

"Did I ever agree on striking a deal with you?"

Lily cracked her knuckles.

"There’s no need to negotiate with people like you."

"G-get her!"

While screaming, the men behind her jumped at her.

"Ack! What’s that?!"

But those men retreated when they faced a sudden heatwave so strong that they felt like melting.

"Instead, I will beat the information out of you lot." Lily declared sharply.

The man in front of her sensed the heatwave and also stepped back.

He and his men drew their weapons and enhanced them with magic.

"..."

Lily looked up at the window of the house behind that man and saw a mother with her child. They looked down anxiously at the people.

She took a deep breath and summoned her black wand.

"Toss them up." she stated calmly.

Following that order, Lily’s big phoenix was summoned from beneath. And when it spread its body and wings, everyone, including Lily, was tossed into the air.

"Shit!"

"Waah!"

"A-a-a monster?!"

Lily looked at the panicking men and retracted her right hand which was in flames.

"Damnit!"

The leader of those thugs noticed that Lily was charging up.

"Dodge!"

It was too late.

Lily unleashed a flame blaze midair which engulfed everyone in sight.

"..."

And while she landed on her phoenix, the burnt men fell to the ground.

"Good job."

Lily swung her wand, making the phoenix disappear.

She walked over to the leader who was still conscious.

"Now talk. You know who and where the person I’m looking for is, right?"

"..."

Weakly, the leader looked at Lily.

He struggled as he lifted his arm and pointed in the direction of the borders.

"I... I just know that he took a carriage to Prat..."

"Stakew..." Lily repeated in thought.

"Understood." she added instantly as she turned her back on him.

Lily did not waste a single second and walked away.

"Heh... No wonder she’s called the Emp-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he lost consciousness.

Meanwhile, Lily made her wand appear again.

Her next destination was Stakew, or to be more precise Prat.

She knew that she should return to Fuera as her quest was technically completed, however, she wanted to confirm personally the death of that demon. And for her, there was no better way than to meet the one who apparently killed it.

Furthermore, her intuition told her to head there nonetheless.

"Let’s fly-"

She was about to use her phoenix to fly again but she stopped summoning it midway as she suddenly sensed an ominous pressure coming her way from above.

"..."

With squinted eyes, she looked at the darkening sky until she perceived a small silhouette.

The creature just kept on flying and eventually passed Lily.

"Phoenix."

Lily got on her own creature and followed what she saw.

"There’s no doubt about it."

She had encountered such beings multiple times already. It would be embarrassing if she could not recognize their aura by now.

"That’s a demon."

In the meantime, Olivia and Sara were riding on monster horses.

"Tsk. They’re smart." Olivia admitted, clicking her tongue.

"If we let them escape then our reputation will take a huge hit from it." Sara sighed.

"That’s the last thing we should worry about. You know how he ticks, right?"

The Hunters were on a mission to subjugate a small group of demons but it appeared like the demons learned about their plan and tried to flee.

They may have managed to kill most of them but two demons got away from them.

"Wait, isn’t that the town where he killed a demon a few days ago?" Sara wondered, after recognizing the town where Lily was from a distance.

"Take the horse with you. I will go ahead."

"What? W-wait!"

Olivia let go of the reins, stood on the seat and jumped off with a lightning-enhanced body. Sara was left behind with two monster horses.

"This way of traveling is more suited for me!" Olivia remarked with a smirk as she moved like a lightning bolt to the town.

However, she quickly dispersed the lightning on her body when she saw a certain scene unfolding before her eyes.

"..."

Open-mouthed, Olivia watched the gigantic fireball that expanded in the sky and illuminated the dark sky.