"Mika, wait!" Belian shouted.

He and the others were about to chase after him until Mika drew his silver sword and slashed the ground, leaving a fine line behind.

"Don’t cross the line. If you do, you may get involved in an ugly situation." Mika stated, glancing back to his old friends.

"I recommend you to leave for today. One day, I hope that we can meet and have a nice talk again."

With those words, Mika disappeared behind the big doors of the academy while Belian and the others could only look flabbergasted in his direction.

"..."

Lily stared at the shattered bracelet of hers.

It was a bracelet designed not to get destroyed so easily. Even after countless attempts, she could not make a single scratch back then.

Relieved and yet empty, she lifted her face.

Maybe it was because it was Excalibur that it got off her so easily.

It was her first time fighting that sword, knowing about its ability. After all, Lily was probably the last of her friends whom Mika told about his secret.

She learned about his identity during their quest in the Unnatural Dungeon but their conversation was halted for a while until everything was settled, including the civil war between the South and North of Grat.

"W-what does he mean...?" Rachel wondered.

"..."

Belian just looked up at the hole which Mika created by initially throwing the Holy Spear into the conference room.

"I don’t know..."

"Shouldn’t we step in then? What if he needs our help?" Lisa asked.

Harik looked in the same direction as Belian.

"Let’s wait for now..." he said sternly, putting his trust in Mika.

In the meantime, the atmosphere in the conference room was as tense as ever. The group was split into mainly two: Hunters and the Grand Order.

While Cylia joined the side of Hunters, Lucio faced the Grand Order with his back.

Ophelia, who was conducting the graduation ceremony, arrived and joined the side of her sister.

"Sounds like the ruckus down there has finally finished." Olivia remarked with a proud smirk.

"..."

Lucio, who would usually flash his gentle smile, glared sternly at Olivia.

"Lucio Graymen. Are you threatening us with war if we won’t hand our nations over to you?" Cylia asked grimly.

Then, an eerie and confident grin crept onto his face.

"War would be a bit far-fetched... Instead of war, I could always opt for getting your heads here and now." Lucio stated.

Upon that comment, everyone aside from the leaders flinched and took up their stances. Only when Olivia raised her hand to signal them to stop, everyone would calm down.

"You mean you want to kill us? Ha! When do your surprises stop?" Olivia joked.

During the conference, Lucio partly revealed his true self and intentions as he proclaimed his desire to rule over all nations even if it meant to wage war for that.

"Do you really think that’s a wise decision...?" Cylia warned sternly.

Members from the top magic groups assembled for this conference in order to guarantee the safety of the leaders. If Lucio acted out of line, then Hunters and Grand Order, who had to remain neutral, would neutralize him.

"It will be you versus everyone in this room once you declare war on us." she added.

It was her way of saying that Lucio had one last chance to take back his words.

"Me versus everyone...?"

Lucio chuckled lightly.

"..."

Olivia turned stern.

"Sorry, but it won’t be me versus all of you." he stated after calming down.

Olivia inspected the room inconspicuously and quickly. Ophelia, Cindy and Sara were definitely on her side, making it 4 people. Elsa was trustworthy, too, just like Lereon who always judged things objectively.

On the other hand, Olivia did not have much information about Loram, Eliza and the new water mage of the Grand Order as she already stepped down from her position as the Grand Order’s captain.

Pondering about those three individuals, Olivia could not throw away the possibility of them being on Lucio’s side in the worst case.

Still, it would be a 6 versus 4.

"Cut to the chase. What’s your final answer, Lucio? Depending on your answer, things can go south really quickly." Olivia said, emitting some pressure.

"My answer is..."

Everyone readied themselves not just mentally but also physically.

"..the same."

At that moment, Olivia was the first one who jumped at him, attempting to attack him. And as the Grand Order rushed out to stop her from escalating the situation further, Sara and Ophelia also were about to step in.

Cylia stayed behind and watched the chaos unfold.

Still, everyone had different intentions.

While Olivia wanted to fight Lucio, who remained calm, Ophelia and Sara wanted to stop Elsa and Lereon from stopping Olivia. And besides them, three other people had mysterious intentions.

"?!"

Everyone, except those who knew, was shocked and stopped in their tracks.

"What’s the meaning of this...?" Elsa asked stunnedly as she slowly turned her head around.

The earth, wind and water mages of the Grand Order were pointing their magics at the backs of Lereon and Elsa who were focused on stopping Olivia.

"Sorry, captain."

The earth mage Eliza Bodeth had an indifferent tone and expression as she faced Olivia.

"It’s fine if we reveal ourselves now, is it?"

Loram Laft, the wind mage, turned to Lucio casually.

"It’s too late to ask for permission, you idiot."

It was Werena Terwa, the newest addition of the Grand Order as its water mage, who heaved a sigh at her fellow colleague Loram.

She was in her early twenties and had silver curly hairs which reached to her shoulders. She had a petite figure and sharp blue eyes. Her skin was pale and she only wore a thick black winter coat.

"Are you betraying us...?!" Lereon grumbled threateningly. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Betrayal doesn’t sound right in this case... Rather, I would say that we were never a part of your little group." Eliza replied calmly.

"From the beginning, we only obey our master!" Loram proclaimed proudly, drawing attention to Lucio.

"..."

While Lereon was trying his best to hold his raging emotions back, Elsa looked like she managed to get some weight off her shoulders.

"Now everything makes sense..." she muttered as a grin slowly crept onto her face.

Meanwhile, Olivia signaled Ophelia and Sara to scatter with her eyes.

"If it wasn’t for our master’s order, we wouldn’t have wasted our time and energy on joining your group!" Loram laughed.

"That’s enough, Loram. You’re talking too much again." Werena scolded him bluntly.

Suddenly, the temperature in the room dropped significantly.

"Two years ago, I sent you two to Loogam to investigate a certain case for me. Did you make a false report to me...?" Elsa asked sharply.

Loram and Eliza were ordered to investigate the case concerning the tournament in Loogam where many people, especially students, would suffer from a strange fatigue. According to Mika, that incident was connected with the method of transferring demons. However, the two came back and told Elsa that they did not find anything suspicious.

Even the case of Hecto Togin was forged by them as they, too, volunteered to investigate him after Zack and Wendy were unable to reach him. After all, the two never visited Hecto Togin and just handed Elsa a report that stated that he was innocent, dishing a punch to Mika’s credibility.

And even though his credibility took a hit, Mika did not care as he vowed to dig up everything that was related to demons.

"All the time, you were steering us away from the truth...!"

Elsa clenched her fists as she remembered how some of the Grand Order members started to trust Mika less and labeled him a fool for giving them information without any evidence. Of course, she was disappointed at first, too, but she could not shake that strange feeling of hers off yet.

Until today.

"..."

The three traitors were ready to fight against Lereon and Elsa but they stopped once again after sensing the pressure of demons coming their way.

"!"

Cylia looked outside and saw at least 10 demons heading her way.

"They are coming from the west, too!" Ophelia announced hurriedly.

"From here, too." Sara stated sternly, facing the east.

"We’re cornered, huh...?" Olivia muttered apathetically.

From every direction, demons from different ranks were approaching them.

"My guest appeared earlier than I thought." Lucio said happily.

"You’re the mastermind behind the strange incidents during the tournament, the missing of a large number of students two years ago and the overthrowing of both rulers of Malnor and Stakew. It doesn’t matter to me what kind of other evil deeds you did but still..."

Olivia walked over to Lucio.

"What’s your relationship with the demons?" she asked sternly.

At that moment, the door of the room was burst open. And from there, Mika walked in with a stern and sharp gaze.

"..."

Lucio’s smile disappeared instantly and his mood worsened.

"Don’t mind me and answer her question already, Lucio."