A few moments prior.

Lisa and Cylia opened the door to the throne room of the palace. However, they encountered Dreyar, an S-rank demon, who sat on the throne which originally belonged to Cylia.

He stabbed the ground with his great sword as he lifted himself from the throne.

"..."

Both Cylia and Lisa were shaking in their boots and sweat rolled down their cheeks as they anxiously watched him walk toward him.

Dreyar did not say anything. The only sound they heard coming from him was his clattering armor.

Lisa clenched her robe.

Usually, a dangerous enemy would trigger her instinct to defend herself, however, this time, she was intimidated by Dreyar’s pure presence so much that she did not even dare to move.

Instead of relying on her instincts, she forced her will onto her body and acted.

Scared and trembling, she took off her robe, revealing an attire that resembled Olivia’s. She wore a skin-tight black bodysuit without any sleeves. Like Harik, she, too, wore chest armor but that was the only piece of armor she equipped as she wanted to maximize her mobility and speed.

Lisa charged her rapier with lightning until the whole room was brightened up from the sparks.

She knew that half-assed attacks would not do anything against Dreyar, therefore, she had to give it her all from the get-go.

"..."

Dreyar remained unfazed even when Lisa thrust her rapier.

A lightning beam engulfed the throne room, blasting everything away in front of Lisa.

The room’s roof was not there anymore and the walls facing her were also blown away. Even the floor was completely destroyed, showing the room below the throne room.

"Impressive display."

"?!"

A B-rank, or even an A-rank demon would have been fatally injured if they had taken the attack face on, however, Dreyar was still in front of Lisa and Cylia with his wings spread.

He floated there unscratched by her attack.

"N-no way..." Lisa muttered in disbelief.

Her hand which held her rapier shook even more.

She used up most of her magic for the attack but she did not even manage to damage him slightly.

"?!"

Then, she noticed the cracks in her weapon until it completely shattered.

"Nothing can put as much as a scratch on my armor."

"..."

Stunnedly and paralyzed by fear, Lisa watched Dreyar cocking his arm back and launching a heavy punch.

She opened her mouth when she was hit. No sound came out. Instead, she listened to the sound of her rib cage getting shattered inside.

Lisa fell to her knees and when she was about to fall flat on her stomach, she fell down to the room below them as the ground was blasted away by her own attack.

"L-L-Lisa...!" Cylia shouted with a stinging and suffocating throat.

"You’re the queen of Grat, I assume?"

"?!"

Cylia hurriedly looked at Dreyar.

"I apologize but I was unable to protect the throne from damage." Dreyar stated indifferently.

At the same time, he drew his sword and held it above his head with one hand.

"..."

Cylia was a mess internally.

She could not care less about her throne. But she also could not think about anything concretely.

Her nation was about to meet its doom, the troupe that was escorting her was most likely eliminated and the status of her other children was a mystery to her. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

The only thing she knew was that she had to draw her sword.

However, even that seemed pointless.

The moment Dreyar swung his sword, Cylia drew hers but her sword, including her body, was cut in two.

"This should put an end to my job now." Dreyar stated.

The upper part of Cylia’s sword landed beside Lisa who had trouble breathing.

"..."

She looked at the broken sword of Cylia.

Tears emerged from her eyes.

She was in pain.

She did not want to nor could she move from her spot. But what pained her the most was the fact of how easily they were defeated.

The group initially expected to encounter a smaller force in Grat but none of them would have thought that there was already a elite group awaiting them.

"..."

Lisa tried to utter words but aside from blood nothing came out.

Even her cry was drowned by the blood.

She could only look up at Dreyar who left after killing Cylia effortlessly.

"Mi..."

Again, Lisa tried to talk she did not succeed.

She imagined the future with her friends as they did their trip after the war was over.

She hoped to spend time with her dear friends and that they all could laugh again like two years ago.

Especially the smiling face of the now cold-appearing Mika flashed her mind.

But that was the last image she had before rubble from the destroyed roof crashed on her.

In the meantime, Elsa and the two A-rank demons she was facing stopped for a moment as they looked at the hole in the palace.

The group that followed Lisa and Cylia was also stunned after heading outside.

"Lisa...?" Elsa muttered pensively.

"What was that lightning just now?" Santro wondered.

"Wait... Wasn’t Sir Dreyar there?" Aliya said baffledly.

Elsa could barely stand on her feet due to her injuries. Her body was mostly numb and she could sense her consciousness fading, however, she tried to continue fighting as she waited for the return of Lisa and Cylia.

Compared to her, Aliya and Santro were still fine but it was visible that it took them quite the effort to fight Elsa.

"?!"

Elsa widened her eyes when Dreyar flew out of the throne room.

He looked down on everyone as he analyzed the situation.

His eyes were fixated on Elsa.

"..."

Elsa felt the pressure and that she stood no chance against him.

But at the same time, she quickly put the pieces together after seeing him come out of the throne room from where Lisa had fired off her attack a few moments ago.

"It would be wise to surrender already." Dreyar suggested.

"H-huh...?"

"The queen is dead. If you want to see it with your own eyes, then feel free to do so."

As much as she did not want to believe his words, there was no doubt that he was telling the truth.

"I’m giving you and your people two options. Either get killed or continue living as our prisoners."

"..."

Elsa did not say anything at first as she looked at the ground.

She clenched her fists and dug her nails in her palms.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Elsa erected an ice wall so high that the demons had to take a detour around it.

"Everyone, run!" she commanded to the others on the other side of the wall.

"Run and report back to the others!"

The group hesitated for one moment as they were stunned by the fact that the mission failed and by the presence of Dreyar, the demon who killed Grat’s queen.

"Heh, as if we would let you-"

"Stay here." Dreyar cut off Aliya who was prepared to go after them.

"S-Sir Dreyar..."

Santro was also surprised.

"Let them do what they want. Nothing will change in the end. Instead, head over to the group of humans and check on their situation." Dreyar ordered, referring to the group surrounding Eliza and Werena.

Aliya and Santro obeyed Dreyar and left him alone with Elsa.

"Your leadership is both remarkable and foolish." Dreyar stated.

"Heh, what do I care what a demon has to say...?" Elsa huffed with her typical smirk, albeit finding herself in an unfavorable situation.

"Is this your answer to my question?"

"I would rather die than be caught by you pieces of shit." Elsa replied, spitting blood on the ground.

"What a shame. I’m beginning to like you more."

"Can I count that comment as sexual harassment?"

She was struck by fear but she still charged at Dreyar with her beaten-up and tired body.

It was only weeks later when the others got to know about the incident in Grat.

Their attempt to defend Grat from Lucio’s army ended in a huge failure. Not only was the capital and palace already overthrown but the group sent to Grat was completely wiped out aside from a few soldiers and students fleeing to the North.

The enemy’s group may have received quite a few losses but the group led by Cylia and Elsa suffered an even greater loss.

Whereas Elsa’s status and whereabouts were questionable, the deaths of many people, including Harik, Lereon, Lisa and Cylia were pretty much confirmed.

South Grat fell into the hands of demons while the North still remained untouched by them for the time being.

It was only a matter of time until Grat was completely overthrown by the enemies and until Grat launched an attack to fully destroy their remaining enemies.

However, before the letter containing that report reached Mika and the others, they had to deal with the problems in front of them: Defending Rostanta from Lucio’s army and attacking Loogam during the absence of Lucio’s main force.