"We will be arriving soon."

"Understood."

Even though his body did not make a full recovery yet, Mika was in a carriage heading to Loogam.

He was sitting in the carriage alone and kept staring outside with eyes that were as void as the eyes of a corpse.

With Lily away from Fuera, he thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to end things in Loogam.

"..."

He clenched his fists.

"I won’t let you die as well..." he muttered.

Lily tried to hide the information about Grat but Mika still managed to find out.

Seeing her behavior, he noticed something strange and conducted an investigation which made him stumble upon a report from Grat.

"Belian... Sara... Rachel...!"

He gritted his teeth in order to hold back his emotions.

"?!"

And before he could lament about their deaths again, Mika suddenly looked outside by poking his head out of the window after he sensed danger.

"Stop the carriage!"

A few minutes ago, Lucio was sitting in the headmaster’s office of the academy of Loogam.

"..."

Blankly, he looked out of the window.

"Dreyar... Ralph..."

Lucio lost important people in a short amount of time.

Dreyar was his trump card as he could not imagine anyone beating him in this realm.

Ralph, in return, was not strong, however, he was dear to Lucio as he was the one who mentored Lucio from a young age and taught him many things. He was someone he used to look up to.

He was not just a mentor but also a close friend and parent.

"Don’t worry... I will achieve the Demon King’s goal...! Just watch me...!"

The Graymen family was known for giving birth to exceptional individuals with most of them ending up with a high position in the palace of Stakew. Some even managed to become the king of Stakew.

However, what most people did not know was the family’s ties with demons.

Before the great invasion of demons, an ancestor of the Graymens encountered the current Demon King.

Everything that ancestor experienced with and learned from the Demon King was handed over like a book from generation to generation. Those in the family treated the book with utmost care and devoted their bodies and minds to the Demon King’s sayings, making them faithful followers of the Demon King, albeit he was no longer in the human realm.

"..."

Lucio sighed.

Although he declared that he would achieve the Demon King’s goal, his progress took a big punch.

For a long time, Lucio saved up a large amount of magic energy in order to open the portal for the Demon King but due to teleporting Olivia, who possessed the blood of a demon, to the demon realm, he had to sacrifice a great amount of magic.

"!"

Suddenly, he widened his eyes and jumped out of his seat.

"What’s going on outside?!"

Demons stormed the office and tried to report to Lucio frantically.

"I see..."

Grimly, Lucio stepped outside and took a look at the scene for himself.

Right above the sky of Loogam, Sylvia and Lily were having their showdown.

At that moment, the two were still charging up their final attacks.

"You two!" Lucio yelled angrily.

But none of them reacted.

"Tch...!" he clicked his tongue.

"Cease whatever you’re doing!"

He tried to use his ability, meaning that the two should most likely think that they did not want to stop, resulting in them stopping.

"Wha-"

However, they still did not react.

It was as if they did not perceive their surroundings.

"Hey! Stop those two already!" Lucio commanded the nearby demons.

"Y-yes!"

Thus, an army of demons vigilantly flew up to them.

But even they knew it was too late.

The two girls charged at each other and soon the entirety of Loogam was engulfed in something both bright and dark.

"No way." Lucio muttered in disbelief.

Lucio was just like his other family members an exceptional person whom no one could ignore. Therefore, it was new for him to have anyone ignore him completely and treat him like he did not exist.

That, in turn, was fatal as his whole ability was based on the target thinking about him.

"I can’t die like this...! I haven’t even met him yet! You hear me?!"

Despite the situation, he still stood proudly.

"Not even the wielder of Excalibur was able to beat me! I refuse to die like th-"

At the same time, Lena Hayth who was imprisoned in the dorms looked outside.

She and many other citizens were originally hidden in the training space from Lily and the others when they raided Loogam. But due to the death of Ralph, his spheres were lifted, leaving Lucio no choice but to contain them in the dorms for the time being.

"Lily...?" Lena muttered with a blank expression before she and the other citizens were blinded by the brightness and darkness.

It was on that day when Loogam as a nation was wiped off for the second time.

Everywhere was rubble from the destroyed buildings and walls.

Black ice and blue flames were scattered around the ground. And the more one headed in a certain direction, the more ice and flames were found. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Even the temperature was affected as it constantly switched to either being extremely hot or cold with each step.

"..."

Mika vigilantly walked around, noticing faint black ice and blue flames at some spots.

There were also dozens of dead demons but he kept moving forward.

"?!"

He came to a halt once he saw Lucio on the ground.

Usually, Mika would not hesitate to attack him, however, there was no need for that anymore as Lucio’s torso was not connected with his lower half anymore.

Mika moved again, leaving the already dead Lucio behind him without giving him any thought.

It was only when he almost arrived at the place where the academy initially was that he would stand still for the second and last time.

"Lily...?" he muttered flabbergastedly, recognizing her from afar.

It felt like his heart sunk when his eyes were on Lily, who was skewered by multiple black icicles before they shifted to the other person.

"?!"

Not far away from her, there was Sylvia.

Someone who he thought was dead.

Even though she should not be there, she was.

She was barely standing on her feet and did not say anything or move.

"..."

Trembling all over his body, he tried to get closer to the two girls.

"...?"

Sylvia, who did not notice Mika, was wobbling over to Lily and made the ice that pierced her disappear.

"..."

Unconsciously, Lily fell into the arms of Sylvia who immediately slumped down.

"I’m sorry."

While hugging Lily, Sylvia froze herself and Lily in black ice.

The two were frozen in a sharp ice block but that was not the end. Around that ice block, sharp ice pillars emerged diagonally and wildly as if she was trying to guard the ice block in the center.

"H-hey! Sylvia! Lily...!" Mika shouted, finally regaining the strength in his voice and body again.

But he was swept away by the ice.

"..."

Dumbfoundedly, he sat on the soil, staring at the front which resembled a forest made out of black ice.

"E-Excalibur...!"

He summoned Excalibur but he could not hold it properly.

Excalibur fell from his clumsy and shaking hands and clattered on the ground.

"I didn’t expect it to end like this."

"What a disappointment. In the end, he did not do anything."

"Cut him some slack, will you? He’s still a child."

All of a sudden, three new people arrived.

However, they came from above.

Albeit the grey weather, the sun suddenly shone on Mika and his surroundings.

"..."

Still in shock, Mika turned around and saw three people who shared the same features as him.

Golden hair, blue eyes with white cross-shaped pupils and a halo above the head.

"This is the first time we meet so let us introduce ourselves. I am Zeima."

The mature woman introduced herself with a gentle smile.

"My name is Lanzar."

The young man was visibly annoyed and refused to look Mika in the eyes.

"Raspalia."

The girl appeared more tired than annoyed and just stared at Mika with droopy eyes.

"We’re here to guide you to our realm." Zeima stated.

"..."

Those words snapped Mika back.

He gritted his teeth furiously.

"So you’re the colleagues of Mikalea, I assume...?"

Mika clenched his fists.

"!"

But before he could make a move, Lanzar stopped him.

"Don’t you dare utter his name, you hear me...?" he stated threateningly, pointing the Holy Spear at Mika’s throat.

"Haha... Hahaha!"

However, Mika burst into laughter.

"What gives you the right to treat me like that, huh? I should be the one who’s angry at you...!"

Mika changed his tone and abruptly ended his laugh as he returned the threat to Lanzar.

"You damn...!"

The two were about to throw it down.

"Time for me to step in."

Suddenly, Raspalia appeared between them.

"!"

She touched the two guys softly and made them switch places with their backs facing each other now.

"..."

Mika did not care anymore and used Excalibur to cut them down as he rotated on his heels.

"Stop it."

Mika could barely move an inch of his body.

It felt like his body was moving at an extremely slow pace.

"We’re here to pick you up and not to fight you, Mika Elbar." Zeima said sternly.

"And what if I’m the one who wants to fight?" Mika retorted sharply.

"I wouldn’t recommend that. We’ve already taken away the powers we have let you borrow from us. Even if you have Excalibur, I doubt that you could win against us three." she replied with a sigh.

Mika stabbed Excalibur into the ground.

"Hm?"

Lanzar narrowed his eyes.

"Do I look like I would comply with you that easily?"