"That son of a bitch!" Seraphina Valemont, leader of District C, clicked her tongue in annoyance. After the arrival of Marcos Gildark, she and her lackeys had been forced to retreat and activate the emergency defense. It was an extremely complex spell, designed by the very person who had created the city.
As long as the defense remained active, the inside of the castle was safe. However, the district leader was far from calm. Even if there was no immediate danger, the situation was terrible: the city, which had remained hidden for centuries, had been discovered by the kingdom. Even if they managed to repel the attack, sooner or later they would be defeated, especially if the Sword Saint decided to show up. The criminals had nothing left to do there anymore.
"I refuse to believe that all these years of work can go to shit in a single day! And all because of…! Huh!?"
Seraphina's pupils widened as she focused on a familiar figure in the distance. Three men were standing near the barrier: Marcos Gildark, some random black-haired guy, and…
"Nadir Ashveil! That bastard!" Seraphina clenched her fists. That man had been brought in by Gilbert, one of the residents who had returned to the city after escaping the Prison Tower. They had tortured him to extract information about an extremely powerful technology, but he refused to open his mouth.
So they resorted to Félix Argyle, another of their new acquisitions. His healing powers possessed the ability to "brainwash" people.
Félix succeeded. Nadir finally gave up the required information, but afterward he ceased to be useful, so they sent him off to die in the coliseum.
"Why is he there…?" She slowly turned, fixing her gaze on a certain figure who shrank back in fear upon seeing her reaction. "You useless demi-human bastard! You were supposed to have shattered his mind!"
"I did! I swear I did!" Félix screamed in terror, but the leader did not believe him and stabbed him with her rapier.
It was not one stab nor ten: it was hundreds of thrusts that the demi-human was forced to endure. That woman was sadistic to the extreme. She had turned Félix into the outlet for her stress, taking advantage of his regenerative abilities to brutally torture him.
The spectacle of blood and agonized screams produced a lustful smile on Seraphina's face. Before she could continue her sickening act, one of her men stopped her.
"Milady! Look!" He pointed outside the castle.
"...Huh?"
When she saw the unknown black-haired man rise into the air and raise a sword glowing with sinister light, Seraphina swallowed nervously.
"That guy can't destroy the barrier, right? Only the Sword Saint should be capable of something like that."
However, not even a second later, the magic protecting the castle collapsed under the impact of the destructive purple energy.
Apparently, Reinhard would not be necessary.
"Oh shit," the district leader muttered.
After witnessing such a display, she knew she was doomed.
But she would not go down without a fight.
So she ran downstairs, followed by the others.
Meanwhile, Leandro, Marcos, and Nadir entered the castle.
"So you're playing both sides with the witches, huh?" Nadir smiled mockingly.
"Three sides, if we count Echidna." Leandro raised his index finger.
"I don't get it… You've met the Witch of Envy in person, and two others too?" Marcos looked utterly confused.
"Most witches are dead or sealed away, but there are still some roaming around. Pandora, the Witch of Vainglory, for example, is the leader of the Witch Cult. Unfortunately, I have no control over her."
"Wait, Vainglory is the leader? What about Envy? Isn't she their greatest object of worship?"
Leandro scratched the back of his head.
"The only one who truly worshipped her was Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti. Besides, Satella couldn't care less about the cult."
"Don't say her name so casually!" Marcos panicked, but then remembered who he was speaking to. "Ugh…"
"It'll take you a while to get used to it."
"But if there's no connection between the cult and the Witch of Envy herself… then why does the cult even exist in the first place?"
"That's one of the mysteries I intend to solve, in due time. Pandora is very slippery: you can't keep her in one place for long."
"Maybe she's not that slippery if you slept with her," Marcos replied.
"Hmm. Good point. I'll try to keep her around longer next time. I'll ask her a few questions."
"Boss, this place is empty," Nadir announced. He had moved ahead of the group, protecting the vanguard.
"Should it be?" Leandro glanced around, narrowing his eyes.
"No." The blacksmith quickly shook his head. "But I doubt they ran away. They must be hiding somewhere in the castle; maybe the basement?"
Leandro nodded, satisfied with Nadir's suggestion.
"Let's go."
The trio proceeded down the stairs, their footsteps echoing against the stone walls as they descended.
Below, the lights were sparse and flickering due to the torches. As they ventured deeper into the massive dungeon, the men found rusted cells, human remains in various states of decay (some recent, others reduced to bones or dust), and finally an enormous chamber that seemed to have been designed for a special purpose.
Standing at the center of that chamber was an adult woman. Judging by her face, she appeared to be around thirty years old, and she was insane.
That was Seraphina Valemont.
She looked at the three men with a deranged smile and greeted them with her arms spread wide.
"Welcome, gentlemen! I prepared a reception just for you! Please, don't be shy and come closer!"
Around the woman lay numerous bodies piled on the floor. Marcos, Nadir, and Leandro spotted Félix almost immediately: the poor boy's clothes were soaked in blood, and he was one of the bodies closest to the strange woman.
Leandro was the first to move again, walking fearlessly toward the pile and kneeling beside one of the corpses to check its pulse.
"He's dead… Don't tell me…"
Quickly, he checked another body, but that one was dead too. Then he checked another, but it was also dead… Just in case, he examined a fourth body, but the result was the same.
Apparently, they were all dead.
And Félix was among them.
"Hey, what did you do to all these people?" Leandro's voice came out deceptively soft.
"Hahaha… Don't you know? What a lack of imagination. You're just like all strong men: your brains are only good for fighting."
The black-haired man growled.
"Don't dodge the damn question."
"Hmm? You really want to know? Fine! I'll explain it because I'm so kind!"
Seraphina covered her mouth and held back her laughter so she could continue speaking.
"You see, this place contains the central spell of the barrier. Long ago, the witch who created this city cast the spell from here. She was very intelligent, so she designed it in a way that future residents could understand it and use it for other purposes if something bad ever happened."
Suddenly, light poured from the woman's body, revealing a tangle of magical text floating over her skin, covering her like an intricate tattoo.
"Do you know what the barrier feeds on when there's no mana?" she asked, her voice trembling with amusement.
"Don't tell me," Marcos muttered.
"It feeds on souls! Souls! Hahahaha!" Seraphina pointed at Marcos, and it was as though she had ripped the life straight out of his body. The man collapsed to the floor instantly, lifeless.
"Boss, we're in troub—"
Nadir could not finish his sentence, because Seraphina pointed at him next, stripping away his very essence.
Finally, only Leandro remained.
"Interesting. Where do the souls go when you extract them?" he asked calmly, ignoring the horrible situation looming over him.
"Mmm? You're still thinking about that? Well, they go to the core of the barrier, obviously! After some time, they're converted into energy that fuels the spell! I wonder if this trick would work against the Sword Saint too…"
"I doubt it, but it'd be worth a try." Leandro walked toward her. "Tell me, could you return the souls to their original bodies if you wanted to?"
"Why would I want to?" Seraphina burst into laughter. "Well, maybe I'll do it for the healing boy! He's a wonderful toy! But the rest of them, including you… can rot for all I care!"
Seraphina pointed her finger at Leandro.
A fragment of light flew out of his body.
But Leandro did not move.
"Huh? What's happening?" The woman frowned. "Why are you still standing?"
The black-haired man staggered, but he did not fall. Slowly, his face transformed: at first expressionless, then confused, and finally deranged.
"Pandora… Satella… Echidna… YOU FUCKING BITCHES! HOW DARE YOU BETRAY ME!"
"Huh? W-What's wrong with you!? You shouldn't be able to move!"
It did not seem like Leandro was hearing Seraphina's rant. The black-haired man grabbed his head with both hands, trying to orient himself.
At that moment, he had no idea where he was or why. His memories from that timeline were contained within the fragment of soul that had left his body.
What remained of him was a mixture of the Hunter and Swordsman Doppelgangers.
"I'm not done playing yet… I'm not satisfied," he muttered to himself with a crazed expression.
Seraphina clenched her teeth. Then the magical text shifted shape, and her entire figure lit up with a blinding glow.
"If I can't take your soul, then I'll destroy it completely!" She extended one hand and fired a beam of strange energy toward the black-haired man. "Disappear!"
In an instant, the beam tore through the air and reached where Leandro had been standing.
However, there was nobody there.
"Where…? Huh?"
"My memory might be bad, but I'm pretty sure I already killed you. How did you come back to life? Did that idiot Félix revive you? He should know sending weaklings against me is pointless."
Seraphina could sense an overwhelming presence behind her, but it radiated so much killing intent that it felt as though a sword had been pressed against her throat, preventing her from moving.
"What the hell are you talking about, you insane bastard?" Her voice wavered between anger and terror. "You never killed me."
"Now that you mention it, this place, these people…"
Leandro observed the room curiously. Seraphina did not dare move, as the murderous intent still weighed upon her like a guillotine.
"Marcos Gildark, huh. And that over there is Félix. This doesn't resemble my memories of when I was here. What the hell is going on? I feel like I'm overlooking something very important."
Suddenly, his pupils trembled.
"Shit, don't tell me… Another timeline? That bitch must've reset again. Damn it!"
Seraphina gasped as a strange pressure enveloped her entire body.
"Tell me exactly what happened here."
"And what if I don't want to?"
A dry chuckle echoed in Seraphina's ears, making her skin crawl.
"You'll want to."
Then a horrible sensation invaded the woman. Her smooth, flawless skin began to split and stretch under the influence of an invisible force.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!?"
Blood burst grotesquely from her body as the woman screamed and writhed, feeling her epidermis painfully tear apart and expose the flesh beneath.
A pool of blood formed beneath Seraphina, who could faintly see her reflection in the liquid.
She was no longer beautiful. She looked like a monster.
"Why are you doing this to me!?"
"You'd better start talking. I can still fuck you up in many other ways."
"You appeared out of nowhere with those two men!" Seraphina trembled in fear and hurried to cooperate. "I don't know who you are or what you want! All I did was defend myself!"
"But how exactly did you defend yourself?" Leandro pressed.
"... I took their souls. Theirs and yours too," Seraphina explained timidly.
"Oh… So my soul isn't complete right now." The black-haired man nodded in understanding. "Interesting. How do I get it back?"
"If I tell you… you have to swear you'll let me live." She still refused to look at him; her voice was pleading.
"I swear." Leandro's expression was unreadable. "Now I expect a satisfactory answer."
"If you want your soul back, just destroy the barrier core! All the energy is stored there!"
"Good. Take me to the damned core."
Swallowing nervously, the woman obeyed. Every second with her body flayed raw was torture, because even breathing hurt, let alone walking and feeling her clothes rub against exposed flesh.
Seraphina walked to a wall, stopped before it, and pressed a brick that shifted inward. She groaned in pain and withdrew her hand. The wall was stained with blood.
"Son of a bitch," she muttered hatefully.
"Oh, did that hurt? I'm terribly sorry."
Leandro smiled and kicked her, sending her crashing into the wall. Seraphina collapsed, screaming as if one of her limbs had been severed.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"You're awfully noisy, woman. Should I cut out your tongue?"
"NO! No, please…"
"Then shut up." He looked at her with a mixture of killing intent and contempt. "I don't like whiny people."
Seraphina hated him. She wanted to rip off his testicles and force him to eat them, but she knew it was impossible. That man was far too strong.
"... Yes, sir," she replied. She could not remember the last time she had been submissive to anyone.
The two stepped back when part of the wall separated and rotated like a door, revealing a hidden passage.
The black-haired man looked at the district leader, and she nodded. Both of them entered the corridor.
At the end of the narrow passage, another room appeared, smaller than the previous one. At the center stood a small pillar holding a glowing magical crystal.
"I bet that's the core," Leandro said as he approached the object.
"Yes."
"Destroy it."
"What?"
"I'm not an idiot. This place is full of magical protections against intruders. If I so much as touch that thing, I'm sure it'll incinerate me or something."
"...Tsk."
Seraphina lowered her head. That bastard was not only strong: he was perceptive as well.
She had no choice but to approach and deactivate the core's final protection. Only then was the magical crystal exposed and safe to handle.
Leandro smiled in satisfaction. Even if the crystal possessed enough power to kill him, he would survive thanks to Pandora or Satella, but it would be an unnecessary nuisance.
Besides, he did not want to rely on those two.
"What are you waiting for? If you're planning to use that crystal for something strange, it won't work."
"I wasn't thinking that!" Seraphina lied.
She held her breath as she extended her hand toward the crystal. With a resigned sigh, she destroyed it.
The object's energy was released instantly, dazzling both Seraphina and Leandro.
Félix, Nadir, and Marcos regained consciousness at the same time. They quickly stood up, confused and surrounded by other men.
"What the hell happened!? Where are Leandro and that woman!?" Marcos shouted, scanning the room carefully.
"Oh shit, a knight!" The city residents tried to flee in terror, but were instantly eliminated by one of Marcos's attacks.
"Whoa! Be more careful, man! You almost hit me too." Nadir smiled and wiped a hand across his forehead.
"Huh!? Captain Marcos!?" Félix's high-pitched voice caught the attention of the two men, who turned toward him.
"Félix!" Marcos approached him, with Nadir following close behind.
The three men (well, two and one questionable case) reunited with a mixture of surprise and relief.
"Captain, I'm sorry… I'm a failure who can't even protect himself." Félix lowered his head. "I don't deserve to be a knight."
"Lift your head, Félix. We'll talk later. Right now we need to find Leandro."
"No need," Nadir said, pointing toward the wall that was opening.
Leandro and a horrifying-looking woman emerged from the opening in the bricks.
"Hello, I'm glad to see you alive," the black-haired man greeted them, his brow slightly furrowed as though something was bothering him.
"Y-You're… here too," Félix murmured, staring at Leandro in astonishment.
It was not Julius nor Reinhard who had come. It was him. The man Félix distrusted.
The black-haired man stopped in front of the demi-human and looked at him for a second. The shadows almost completely vanished from his face, and he smiled, though his eyes remained dull.
"Of course. You're my favorite femboy, so I came to save you."
"I don't know what that means, idiot…"
Despite himself, Félix began to cry. He cried because the torture was over. He cried because he had been rescued. He cried because he did not feel worthy of the title of knight. He also cried because he felt he could not even call himself a "man" at that moment.
Félix had wanted to protect Lady Crusch from the very person who had just rescued him. He had the audacity to act like a knight or prince charming… when he fit the role of a damsel in distress far more.
"Well, we accomplished the main objective. All that's left is to find our companions and get the hell out of this place."
"What about her?" Marcos pointed at Seraphina. "She's a criminal and must be judged—"
But before the knight could raise his sword, Leandro halted his movements with the Authority of Sloth.
"I made a deal with her. I won't kill her."
"Then I will," Marcos insisted, maintaining his stern resolve despite knowing he was inferior to Leandro. "As a knight, it is my duty to punish crime. That woman has more than enough charges to warrant the death penalty."
"I've decided to make her my slave," the black-haired man declared. "That way she can atone for her sins."
Seraphina's eyes widened, but she said nothing. Complaining would be the same as admitting she preferred execution.
Marcos growled and remembered the mysterious hooded woman who followed Leandro around.
"Do you have a fixation on evil women?"
"Yes." Leandro nodded and winked at him. "Besides, Emilia's faction needs leaders with experience and knowledge of the underworld."
The knight clicked his tongue but stopped arguing, knowing it would be pointless.
Meanwhile, Leandro extended his hand and touched Seraphina's flayed skin, causing a purple glow to appear.
"A curse," Nadir muttered as he saw the mark appear.
It was the same mark used in the slave market. A spell whose activation meant immediate death for the cursed individual.
"..."
Félix had been staring intensely at the woman, especially since Leandro mentioned enslaving her.
Leandro noticed Félix's gaze and his smile widened.
"What's wrong? Want some time alone with her to vent?" he offered casually.
"Huh? Hey, that's not—!" Seraphina panicked.
"Shut up." Leandro struck her, sending her crashing to the ground with a groan of pain. "I'm serious, Félix. You can do whatever you want to her, though I'd appreciate it if you healed her afterward so she stops looking so unpleasant."
The demi-human's eyes remained fixed on the woman who had brutally tortured him. He stared at her as though hypnotized.
It might be a good opportunity to regain some sense of control and vent his helplessness.
"I… I'll accept your offer."
Leandro nodded and patted him on the back before walking away.
"Take your time."
Marcos and Nadir followed the black-haired man toward the dungeon entrance.
"We shouldn't waste time like this," Marcos snorted irritably.
"Félix needs to clear his head a bit. We might need his powers later," Leandro explained. "Meanwhile, I'll take a look around the city. You two stay here with Félix."
"You want me to stay here doing nothing?" Marcos frowned, visibly offended.
"Most of the danger is already gone. We killed the three leaders and slaughtered most of the residents. There's no need to keep fighting. I'll find our companions and bring them here so we can leave."
"You…"
Marcos was about to say something, but then a horrifying screech echoed through the area. Leandro recognized the sound and sprinted up the stairs.
Naturally, Nadir and Marcos followed after him. The three reached an open space and quickly searched the surroundings.
It did not take long to find the source of the phenomenon.
A massive figure was flying above the city. It was a beast with wings and a gigantic horn on its forehead.
But that beast should not have been there.