Out of all opponents, Dreyar was probably the one whom Mika had the most trouble with based on pure combat skills. Compared to his comrades, Dreyar was a demon who did not rely on his demonic abilities and instead honed his fighting and sword skills.

That was why Mika, who was a nightmare for enemies who relied on abilities and magic, struggled against Dreyar.

"..."

Mika looked up as the Holy Spear kept increasing its length while pushing Dreyar further up.

"Now then..."

He disappeared alongside his spear.

"Ugh..." Dreyar groaned.

The spear was actually able to create a small hole in his perfect armor. However, he did not pay attention to that fact as he turned around with his back facing the ground.

Mika appeared above him, blocking the sunlight.

"It’s time for us to end our long-lasting Chapter, Dreyar."

Mika retracted his arm and spear.

Around the spear lightning and light gathered.

"More..." Mika muttered.

There was already a great amount of both attributes but Mika wanted more.

"More...! I need more to kill him...!"

Dreyar gripped his sword tightly and retracted his arm, too.

"Mika Elbar! I acknowledge you! You may be able to triumph over me today but let me tell you this! I’m just the mere sixth rank! Among us S-rank demons there are monsters who wouldn’t even break as much as a sweat fighting me!"

"..."

Mika did not react particularly after hearing that.

"I don’t care about them. It was never my intention to fight all of you. My only goal was finding and killing you...!"

Mika amassed enough and readied his throw.

"Heh, is that so...?"

Even though Mika blocked the sun, Dreyar was still blinded.

Both of them threw their weapons at each other at the same time.

"Hngh...!"

And while Dreyar’s sword pierced Mika’s left upper arm, Mika’s lightning-light-enhanced spear pierced Dreyar cleanly at the spot where Mika focused most of his attacks.

Without stopping its speed, the spear went through his guts and headed toward the ground.

"..."

Dreyar did not make a sound.

The last thing he perceived was the shrill light and the big and loud explosion below him.

The explosion that made the earth tremble could have destroyed the whole capital if they had not moved somewhere else.

"..."

But Mika could not care less and closed his eyes as he fell.

He and Dreyar both landed hard on the ground which turned into a vast crater.

"...ka!"

Mika could not move his body anymore.

He only lied there with eyes that were about to close.

"...Mika!"

From afar, he could only perceive faintly a voice calling out to him. But he had no strength left to respond.

"Hey, Mika!"

His blurred vision turned clearer once Lily appeared in his field of vision.

"Stay with me! I will bring you to the castle..."

However, Mika lost consciousness at that moment.

It was only more than a week later when he would finally awake.

"..."

He stared at his bandages and gently touched the spots where he was hit by Dreyar. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Ugh..." he groaned lightly.

It was a long time since he was hurt so much from a battle.

"Be careful, your wounds didn’t heal up completely yet!"

Lily sat beside him.

The two were in Mika’s private room in the castle of Fuera.

The doctor told Lily that Mika only needed some rest from now on. Therefore, they let him sleep in his bed while she was watching over him.

"Is... Is he dead...?" Mika asked weakly.

"Is that the first thing you say after sleeping for so long?" Lily remarked baffledly.

"..."

Lily sighed.

Considering how serious his wounds were and how much he exhausted himself in that battle against Dreyar, she could not hold it against him for sleeping for so long.

"Yes. Right after rescuing you, I went back and confirmed his death. We confined his body and equipment in the castle. If you want you can-" she said sternly.

"It’s fine. Knowing that he’s dead is enough." Mika cut her off.

He stared blankly at the door which was right in front of the bed.

"That demon... It seemed like you met him before..." Lily said, averting her eyes from Mika.

"Yeah, we shared quite a past." Mika replied bluntly.

The revenge he worked on for the last two years was finally completed for the main part.

Beatra, Martha and Dreyar. The three demons who were the main cause of his village’s demise were finally dead.

And yet, Mika did not know what to do with the emptiness he was feeling inside of him.

There was still the war ongoing and his friends were spread across the world in order to save the world, however, here he was, completely unmotivated and clueless about what he should or wanted to do next.

"..."

Lily stared at Mika’s face dejectedly.

It seemed like he did not want to talk about that yet.

However, she was not in a position to say that. After all, there were things she wanted to hide from him as well.

"Mika."

"?"

He turned his head lightly to her.

"During the time you were asleep the group led by Ms. Werensten were able to retake Stakew. According to the reports, they managed to defeat the enemies without suffering great losses."

Individuals like Bakil and Vasilya survived as well.

"She even mentioned that they were able to rescue the remaining students and teachers who were not able to escape the last time. Among them was even Mr. Linster." Lily added with a smile she forced on her face.

"Really? That’s good to hear." Mika replied in a dry tone.

"Yes. I’ve sent her a letter, stating that they should return here for the time being before we plan our next move."

"I see. What about the Grat team? Any news from them?" Mika wondered.

"No. Not yet." Lily responded with a desolate smile.

"..."

Then, Lily stood up.

"That’s everything for now. I want to stay here for a little longer but I have some things to take care of."

"Are you heading out?"

"Yeah." Lily answered.

Her smile still did not reach her eyes.

"I’ll make a small trip in order to research the rumors surrounding the missing people."

"You mean the rumors from the newspapers?"

Lily nodded.

"I see. Be careful then." Mika said without doubting or questioning anything.

"Got it."

Lily headed to the door but stopped before leaving.

"Is something?"

"..."

Lily looked back at Mika one last time.

"Everything will be over soon so let’s go on a trip after the war."

She left the room before she could see Mika averting his gaze bitterly.

"..."

Her expression turned grim immediately after leaving the room.

Walking in the hallway at a fast pace, Lily crumbled an envelope she had hidden from Mika.

"There’s no way I could tell him..." she muttered with a shivering voice.

Weeks passed since the Grat and Stakew team departed for their missions and since then, the tides of the war changed drastically.

Lucio, who ruled over four nations, had to give up Stakew on Rostanta which was now overseen by Mika temporarily. However, on top of Stakew, Grat also fell out of his control.

But that did not necessarily mean that Grat was retaken by Mika and the others.

As of now, both Lucio and the faction around Mika were in the possession of two nations.

Grat, meanwhile, turned into an inhabitable nation.

The nation which was once known as one of the biggest nations with different climates in the South and North turned into a vast and frozen nation with no human or demon walking around there.

A while ago.

The Grat team was already in the midst of a battlefield in Youra.

"Hm? Have I seen you before?"

A beaten-up Elsa was behind bars in Youra’s prison.

That prison was originally supervised by demons but because of the battles outside not a single high-ranking demon was there.

"I don’t know but it’s not the time to wonder that, Ms. Sunoma...!"

Cail Maystra, a former Loogam student who transferred to Youra, was unlocking the cells of the people imprisoned there.

"You have my gratitude, boy." Elsa stated sternly after she was freed of her handcuffs.

Explosions and the sound of weapons clashing were heard outside.

"I will head outside first." Elsa declared.

Cail nodded before he headed to the next cells.

And while he freed one prisoner after another, a certain prisoner observed him from afar.

That prisoner was locked up alone and was not even chained to the walls. The reason was that the person did not have any limbs for the chains to attach to.

It was a young man who shared similarities with Cail and whose curly black hair was slicked back.

His sharp green eyes were looking proudly at Cail who was busy instructing the group of prisoners and letting them escape.

"You’ve grown into a remarkable person, Cail..."

It was only a matter of time until Cail would reach his cell, however, unbeknownst to anyone, everything would change in the next minute.