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“That was magnificently fought. I’ll uphold my word and open the path for you.”

Saying that, Adnammelech moved to the side of the garden, opening the way forward.

“I would like to fight you again sometime, if chance would allow it… But this time together with the demons back there.”

Saying that, she vanished just the way she had appeared.

At the same time, the surrounding scenery also regressed to its decayed and overgrown state.

“…Huh, is it just me or was that foreshadowing a powered up version coming later?” Crim muttered with a distant look and everyone nodded in agreement.

But the three guilds did not linger there for longer and resumed their exploration of the area.

The path leading to Castle of Seyfert was thin and with many turns and twists.

From time to time gargoyles and statues came to attack them, so the group defeated them before moving forward, and eventually they reached the area in front of the castle’s gates.

It was a rampart, built to fend off attackers. While the building was largely broken down and ruined, it still retained some of its original shape, like a display of fortitude, and when the group took a step closer…

“So it seems they got through Adnammelech.”

It seemed like time was wound back again, the castle gates returning to their former glory and splendor.

Then they heard a deep voice speaking to them, his sword stuck to the ground like Adnammelech’s and of the same deep crimson color, though this one was close to two meters long when measuring from the tip to the hilt. Behind it was its owner, a gigantic man with his upper body exposed, who was also two meters tall.

Next to him there was also a pair of knights fitted in full armor, one male and the other female, armed with a one handed sword and dagger, their blades a deep crimson as well.

“I’m El Chai, ninth of the Red Lion Emperor’s Twelve Blades.”

First the tall man introduced himself.

“And I’m the eight blade, Elohim Shabbat.
“The seventh blade here, Adonis Shabbat.”

Then the young blonde boy with short hair placed a hand to his chest and introduced himself, after which the girl Adonis, who had shoulder length blonde hair, held the hem of her skirt for an elegant curtsy as she introduced herself too.

“…So we’ll be fighting the three of you this time?”
“Yes. The one you fought earlier, Adnammelech, she’s the strongest knight of the Red Emperor’s Twelve Blades, surpassing even her older brother who’s the commander.”
“She once held the moniker of the last of the emperor’s blades, but here you stand, having defeated her. Fighting you one by one would be a mockery of the skill you’ve displayed.”
“And so this time it’ll be us three against you.”

Their voices sounded nearly crestfallen as they lauded her achievements, though at the same time it made sense that Adnammelech was the strongest.

“I don’t mind. If you stand in our way, we’ll just push through.”
“I concur. Having to sit back watching has made my blood long for a fight.”
“This is just perfect to blow off some steam.”

The three Demon Lords who had not been able to fight earlier agreed immediately, and then those behind them nodded as well.

And so the fight with the second set of guards from the Red Lion Emperor’s Twelve Blades was about to start.

Except that…

“Alright so, how are we going to split up the members?”

They still needed to have a strategy meeting first, which their three opponents allowed, and so everyone formed a circle to talk with each other.

From their formation, it was easy to assume that the tall man with the greatsword in the center, El Chai, was the main enemy.

The other two twins, Elohim Shabbat who had the thin straight sword, and Adonis Shabbat with the dagger, did not look like they were the most aggressive fighters.

So the first plan was to have the main group take on El Chai, while a smaller group took care of the other two.

Or they could use a few members to restrain El Chai, while everyone else blasted at the Shabbat twins with all their power.

Those were the obvious options, and after some thinking Crim raised her head when coming to a conclusion… but someone spoke first.

“Say, Crim.”
“Hm…? What’s the matter, Sorleon?”

Sorleon raised his hand and called to Crim. She looked at him wondering what he wanted, without expecting what he would say next.

“Wanna see which of us can take out one of the sides first?”
“Huh? What nonsense dost thou prattle now…”

Crim muttered in bafflement, wondering why anyone would even think of such a competition when they were supposed to be acting as a group.

“Actually, it’s been bothering me for a while, you’ve gotten really timid after that time you lost when you came here solo, haven’t you?”

That made Crim’s hand twitch.

“…Hast thou lost thy senses? This is a raid battle, where fighting alongside one’s comrades is the standard.”
“Well, I can’t deny that… But going to sulk in a corner all the time isn’t exactly fighting alongside others, is it?”
“What is thy intent with these words?”
“Oh it’s nothing, that’s just the impression I get from you compared to the time we fought.”

As Crim continued looking puzzled at it all, Sorleon leaned in to whisper into her ear.

“…You look like a neutered puppy.”

Hearing that made Crim freeze, remaining completely still for a moment.

“Hey…Crim? You shouldn’t let it get to your head…”
“…”

Frey could no longer stand still, so he hesitantly approached her. But Crim remained quiet, all emotion slowly vanishing from her face until it looked like she was wearing a blank mask.

Meanwhile everyone else was getting more tense and nervous. A chilling sweat overtook Frey’s spine as he had a bad feeling about it all too, and seeing that, Sorleon merely shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, if you don’t think you can do it then I won’t force you either.”

That was the final straw. Frey felt like he could hear something snap inside the girl next to her.

“…Hmph, bring it on.”
“Hey…Crim?”

Hearing that mutter made all blood drain from Frey’s face, making it look deflated. He was essentially overtaken by a dreadful sense that this was a bad, bad idea.

But Crim could no longer be stopped as she stormed over to Sorleon, who was two heads taller than her, firmly grasped his lapels and thundered angrily at him.

“…What gave thee the notion that my silence allowed thee to speak as thou pleaseth?! Nevertheless, I shall accept thine challenge. Let us determine who is truly superior!”

To put it bluntly, Crim had gone insane.

She harshly let go of Sorleon’s lapels, nearly pushing him back, then formed a shadow scythe in her hands and huffed with indignation as she walked toward Adonis on the right.

When Frey finally snapped out of the bafflement of what had transpired, he turned to glare at Sorleon with reproach.

“Sorleon, while I have to thank you for getting her out of that state…”

Frey had also noticed what Sorleon had mentioned, he had known Crim since they were small after all.

Lately she had become rather tame, always being more careful and never taking risks.

Sorleon had pointed that out bluntly, angering Crim in the process and pushing her out of her doubtful state. That was something Frey could thank Sorleon for.

But the way he did it was still something Frey could not accept as Crim’s friend.

“…But you’ll have to let me punch you once when this is over.”
“Ohh, damn that’s scary. But I guess I can do that much.”

Sorleon replied with a rather sarcastic voice before running to the left side where Elohim was standing.

Both of them were actually serious about defeating one alone, which only made Frey sigh even more.

“Ah…Shao, look after them, will you?”
“Sigh… Oh well, might as well do that. I’ll watch over them, so the rest of you will have to take care of El Chai.”

Shao shook his head, muttering something about having to babysit grown children as he went to a better position.

“Umm, Frey…about Crim…”
“Oh, don’t worry about her. It looks like she’s channeling her anger in a good direction.”
“There’s no way to stop Crim once she gets like that anyway.”

Lycoris sounded worried, but Frey tried to reassure her, and then Freya waved it away too, showing no concern whatsoever.

Meanwhile Crim’s frenzied eyes were locked on Adonis, trying to find the fastest and most efficient way to take her down.

That was the same way she looked at Sorleon during the tournament, seeming fully reinvigorated when compared to her tame and languid attitude of recent times.

Sorleon glanced at her for a moment, nodding with satisfaction at what he saw, and then turned to look at his own target, Elohim, enjoying the thrill of the hunt.

“Wait…what’s going on Elohim? What’s this chill I can feel?”
“What a coincidence, Adonis. I can’t stop sweating for some reason.”

Meanwhile the twin bosses, who were supposed to be NPCs, looked back with faces that kept getting paler…