Seven minutes after Tokino came to her senses, Auris thought his fight this time would not be one-sided. He could still feel the scars the Peerless Champion gave him. However, he was confused throughout their duel.

No matter how much he used his flame-based demon magic, Tokino perfectly predicted his next move. Another minute in, he had now been dealt with stab wounds faster than he could regenerate—shown as flares covering said injuries.

Getting desperate, Auris decided to use a technique. A yellow-orange construct resembling sheet music encircled Tokino, and just as how he wanted it to function, her movement slowed down dramatically to match the music’s tempo. With all this, fiery notes gravitated toward Tokino and seared her skin. More materialized, which caused her to scream louder and fall to her knees.

Auris created a large, sharp beam note on top of her, intent on decapitation. Now also desperate, Tokino did the only thing she could by stopping the attack with one hand, no matter how painful it was. Even when his magic was still in effect, she threw the note at him at tremendous speeds, destroying multiple buildings behind Auris. He got distracted as he dodged, so Tokino exploited this to close in the distance.

Auris thought at first that she would stab him again, but instead, she moved her left to deliver a straight punch to the gut. Auris finally realized just how vast Tokino’s magic was; he coughed out enough blood to stain half of her hair as he flew many meters away.

Catching her breath, Tokino passively healed herself and mended her clothes, though she was still fatigued. Eventually, she fell face-first. Numerous explosions and debris flying in the air happened around the area from afar. The culprits turned out to be none other than her family, who rushed to her aid.

Yukino hugged her mother immediately. “Is the Bear gone?” she looked up at her.

“Yes… I’m sorry if I scared you, honey….” Tokino hugged her back.

Haruto came in next to check on his wife; he smiled. However, suddenly, Tokino fell onto him out of complete exhaustion; she apologized to him for needing rest. Haruto felt an intense heat emanating from her body—as if suffering from an incurable fever. Due to this, Kenkō stepped in, knowing what the problem was, and asked Haruto to lay her down.

With a downward stroke of her index finger, she made an incision near Tokino’s heart, all possible due to her innate ability: “Flawless Doctorate.” Not only could Kenkō mimic any medical equipment, but she could even administer a plethora of drug chemicals just with a simple touch. Her ability’s accomplishments were beyond the impossible, though it still had limitations.

Sterilizing her right hand with runes, Kenkō dug deep into Tokino’s chest cavity until she felt something vaguely round.

Yukino gasped. “Big Sis, what are you doing…?!” She tried to run toward her, but Kakunō put a stop to it.

“It’s okay, Yuki. Your mom isn’t feeling any pain. Kenkō’s just stitching up her Core. I’d say it’s pretty damaged, with how long it’s taking.”

“Core…?” she looked up at him in confusion.

Kakunō sighed and patted her head. “Don’t worry. We’ll learn more about that later, okay? Just watch.”

Yukino saw her mother take a deep breath and immediately got back up as if it were a miracle. Her incision was also now gone. Yukino hugged her again, but this time she was happy—as was Tokino. Kenkō walked to her. “You shouldn’t fight again, though. I patched it all up, but it needs time to heal itself, and that would be beyond the realm of Runic Art and even my magic.”

After Tokino agreed with a nod, Yukino suggested she rest back at the airship. She knew it would be put into question by her older siblings, considering just how far away their ride was. Fortunately, Yukino answered all their doubts by creating a very complex rune portal, showing the airship’s recreation room on the other side. “W-Wait a minute…?! Stuff like this isn’t even possible at long distances.” Kakunō’s eyes widened.

“Anything is possible, Big Bro,” Yukino expanded the portal, “…You just need luck on your side.”

At the airship, Richard’s Pegasi were startled by the runic portal. Seeing Tokino appear, he walked closer, “Are you alright?” he asked.

She nodded at Richard for his confirmation and sat at the library section. “Don’t worry about my family. They’ll be fine, including my Yukino. She is strong…” she smiled intimately.

Back at the scene, Auris crawled back up under a pile of rubble. Flames still covered his body, healing him. Not one to handle humiliation quite well, he became frustrated, complaining internally of why Meretrix even wanted to go to Smaragdos in the first place.

Walking back to where he fought Tokino, he instead saw her comrades. “Hey! Weren’t you supposed to be fighting our guys out there? I heard your voices a mile away!” he pointed at them in irritation.

Auris began looking around the vicinity, seeing his men open flaming portals beneath their feet; it resembled pentagrams. “Sorry, boss! You’re on your own now. Gotta feed the kids!” one soldier shouted before being transported back down below.

Several nerves popped in Auris’ head. “You idiots! You were only fighting five of them!! How could you—” he heard a thunderous sound behind him. Rubble and dust flew around the air, hearing a chuckle.

“What…? Ya thought we were weak or some shit? I legit killed half of ‘em. All I had left to do was double-check.” It had been so long since Auris heard of that familiar voice. It filled him with immense dread, bordering primal fear.

He sweated bullets and turned around slowly, trembling. His mind tried to rationalize it as just him seeing another one of his men—if only taller—but it failed. As soon as Auris looked up and witnessed the Peerless Champion’s toothy grin, he screamed at the top of his lungs with eyes widened.

Auris ran as fast as he could to the distance while still screaming. “What’s his problem…?” Kenkō looked at him from afar.

Hokori chuckled. “I’m guessin’ he remembered our last fight.”

“Wait a minute? Aren’t we supposed to turn him in?” Haruto turned to his comrade.

“Oh, yeah…” Hokori scratched his head. “Well, whatever the case, let’s just follow him,” he shrugged, “Ain’t no one here to stop us no more. I’ll call in some of the carpets. You’re gonna need it.” He opened his Pocket Hub.

Kakunō complained that it took longer than expected to arrive. When it did, Yukino sat beside Kenkō again. He and Haruto had their own. “I’m confused… Why do we need this?” the latter looked at Hokori.

“Because… you guys gotta keep up with my pace!” he pointed with a grin.

“What? Keep up with your—” dust flew onto his face as Hokori flash-stepped and sprinted to where Auris ran. Sighing, Haruto asked Kakunō if he was always like this; he was given a yes.

Yukino wrapped her arms around her big sister’s waist as they all now flew to the skies.

After thirty minutes of running, Auris stopped to catch his breath. Disbelief plagued his mind, still denying the fact that Hokori showed up—the one man who lacerated his entire back. No matter what he thought, his eyes never lied.

He complained in utter anger, hammer fisting the ground multiple times, which caused fissures. Auris decided to lie down and gaze upon the stars. He still loathed himself after forgetting the one man he warned his comrades.

After his complaints, Auris began to believe that maybe there was still a chance for victory, so he stood up tall. However, halfway through the idea, he forgot about Hokori once again.

Auris laid on the ground on his face, moping about how much of a failure he was. He declared he failed his mother, father, uncle, aunt, and even cousins. His mope evolved into a bawl.

Lastly, he turned around to gaze upon the stars again and contemplated his demise right there and then. He shouted at the heavens, asking the Gods to take him. “What are you waiting for?! I’ve accepted my fate!! I’ve—” he heard footsteps nearby.

“Geez, man. Shut the fuck up. This ain’t a soap opera…” said a familiar voice.

Looking left, it turned out to be fellow general Lupa, along with Meretrix. “Guys! Oh, how I’m so glad to see you again!” Auris hugged the latter’s chest.

“H-H-Hey! Who the fuck permitted you to do that?!” Lupa shakingly pointed at him while blushing.

“It’s alright, hon. Little boys need comfort, too,” she smiled, patting Auris’ head.

Lupa sighed. “Yeah, right… Like you aren’t just into this perverted bullshit—” seeing Meretrix’s death glare, she gave off a sigh instead. “Nevermind….”

Eventually, Auris let go. “So um… what do we do now?”

Meretrix walked past between them and looked at the distance. “We’ll have to stave them off. I won’t leave until I find out what’s happening back home. When I’m in this place—it’s the same choking feeling,” she clutched her chest.

Auris asked her again, this time on how they could keep them at bay, considering every one of their soldiers left them out of fear. Meretrix walked further, “We have one more ace up our sleeve, hon. Against archmages, they’re weak. But these guys number in the hundreds.” She drew blood out of her right palm. It formed large, burning pentagrams on the ground.

As the earth trembled on fire, hulking humanoid creatures emerged—four meters tall. The land of Naraka officially named them “devils.” Their appearance resembled what most people would think about when they hear the word. Curved horns, long tails, massive arms, red flaming skin, blazing yellow eyes, and lipless mouths exposed their sharp teeth. Their furry legs also bent like an ungulate.

Meretrix explained to her comrades that she had to divide her magic onto all three hundred of them. Said magic would only come back to her when they die. With that, the devils all marched out to find the enemy. “I won’t be able to fight for now, but at least we can keep them busy,” she explained further.

“What do we plan on doing now?” Auris walked closer.

“We’ll go back to the palace. It’s where I found the most clues. And if I can—I’ll save the boy.” She clutched her chest again, “I know how loss feels like all too well….” her eyes lowered. Unfortunately for Meretrix, her resolve was interrupted by the one man they were most wary of from behind. He was even “kind” to bring in a few devil heads with him on his right hand.

Hokori walked closer and waved at the demon generals, “Hey, y’all!! Long time no see. Can ya show me some fun for fifteen minutes? Better not disappoint me again with another five.” He chuckled.

Auris cowered in fear behind Meretrix, while Lupa snarled and shouted at The Peerless Champion how she never forgot the humiliation of their previous battle. Noticing the several devil heads on his right hand, Meretrix walked in front of her comrades and showed Hokori a seductive smile. “My my, hon… Must you ever be so rough? It’s too much for my taste….” She placed a finger on her lip.

Hokori raised his arms high, “Of course! I be doin’ the same in bed, y’know?!” He charged right at her.

In response, Meretrix stood her ground and closed her eyes. Flames clad her body all around. The moment she opened her eyes again, her corneas turned bright red. The pupils changed shape into white upside-down crosses, “Nono Cerchio… Boreas!!” A devastating gust of cold wind permeated the area in front of her. Hokori’s entire body immediately froze and shattered into pieces on the ground.

Her comrades stood in complete shock. “Wow… how come you never used that before?” Little did Auris know that he would get his answer quickly. He saw her falling to her knees, suffering from frostbite as her skin chipped. This time, not even healing runes were enough.

They picked Meretrix up by her shoulders. She insisted she should be back at the palace at all costs. However, what little did they also know—the battle was far from over. The three generals heard footsteps behind them, and turning around to see what it was, only made them more unnerved.

It was Hokori’s lower half walking toward them. Suddenly, his entire body regrew in an instant—as if in a single timeframe. Next, blood runes covered him while naked; he now wore fresh new clothes and accessories, albeit the same as before, down to the circular shades he bothered to break the lenses off.

Hokori chuckled at the generals, tying his hair back into a ponytail. “Bruh, if you thought it was that fucking easy to kill me—I would have died when I was seven!” He pointed at Meretrix, “So… you wanna go to the palace, right? Sure, why not? Let’s duke it out in there!” he grinned.

Her eyes widened, sweating her face out. “Wait… How did you—” she was grabbed by the neck in a flash. Hokori jumped into the far distance.

Auris cried out for Meretrix in the sky and ran. Lupa flash-stepped in front, holding his shoulder. “Leave her be for now. I know she’s got no chance of winning—but with that child inside the palace—not even that animal would be so reckless.” Lupa also told him they should focus on the other mages coming their way, noting that they were now close.

She walked into the distance, preparing herself via cladding her body with fire. Auris walked from behind, “I don’t get it, though. I thought you hated Meretrix.”

Lupa sighed with her eyes closed. “This isn’t about love or hate, dude. I’m a general, first and foremost. We stand tall for each other. You can tell her I’m sorry after our bullshit endeavors here are finally over.”

She cracked her knuckles, showing narrowed eyes full of determination. Moved by her words, Auris stood tall beside her with a stern demeanor, “I know. You don’t have to tell me twice….”