We traveled towards the south for quite a while now, with the flying castle as our destination. We burst through the sky at an amazing velocity while Caera was having a hard time keeping up with the pace.

"Are you okay Caera? Would you prefer it if I hold back a bit on the speed" Sylvie's voice pierced back even in this loud disturbance.

"No, I can hold out. Thanks for the concern. " Caera struggled to speak loud enough.

"Fine, Hold on tight. " Sylvie said.

"You know what, I can always use my armor form to provide support for you. " Regis said as his lewd thoughts flowed into me.

"Regis" Sylvie's sharp voice stuck hard at Regis as he stopped wagging his tail.

"Ma-am," he said

"Caera is fine on her own. Worry about yourself. " she continued.

Regis put up a puzzled face as Sylvie killed her momentum in an instant pushing Regis away from the edge before Sylvie caught him. He growled as Sylvie let out a cheery laugh.

Caera chuckled as she scratched her cheek. I was glad that I got an ally against Regis now. We are almost a few miles away from the outskirts of Valden city. Our heartwarming moment was interrupted when we sensed intense power surges from different locations. There seemed to be a lot of them. Sylvie raced forward even faster than before. Just as I thought, she has been holding back.

Someone is approaching in our direction with a speed rivaling Sylvie's. Judging by the aura leakage, it must be a projectile or a launched weapon. Yet, its power is something not to be taken lightly of. It is at a long distance which made me doubt whether it is locked onto us. Just then Sylvie voiced her concern.

"Arthur, there might be enemies in Valden city and we need to hurry because I can sense Boo there," she said.

I had no words for this. My mind went blank, I cannot reach them before the projectile does. Ellie is in danger. I need to do something or else I might lose her. I sought out every skill and trick I had and arrived at a single decision.

Predicting my next move Sylvie nodded her head in agreement, while Regis engulfed me with his Jet black aura. Caera lost at our telepathy, tilted her head.

I jumped off into the air and used god step with a maximum range in succession. This extremely exhausted my aether reserves, yet that is a trivial matter. I took out the spatium artifact, which can erect barriers with a pre-determined area. I had used it a single time in the second relic tomb after which I was completely knocked. From what Regis informed it covered a large area and emptied all me aether back then.

Although my aether pool has increased by many folds since then, it is risky nevertheless. This is the only thing I can bet on. I directed the aether in me into the artifact which glowed and soon an arc of black aura formed behind me, spreading towards the horizon in the shape of a semisphere. The barrier was not fast enough.

A spear is bound towards a round building ahead of it. The barrier was far away from intercepting it. How useless is this barrier not even able to isolate the place quick enough. I cursed at my helplessness. The spear struck the building. Fear crept up to me with the possibility of Ellie and supporting forces using that building as their base.

Multiple silhouettes sped through the barrier before it even materialized completely. They were headed to the same building. They had black horns. I glanced back at Sylvie who was unable to make it into the barrier.

'Don't worry about us, go ahead Arthur. There seems to be more coming from the West.' Sylvie said.

She was right. I was completely lost in my situation that I failed to analyze the surroundings.

'We will inspect those forces and inform you. So, hurry up ad save Ellie.' she continued.

'Okay, be careful. ' I said back before exciting the aether particles around me.

The Purple tendrils spread throughout my surroundings as I prepared to use my God step. The Vritra entered the building in no time. I have no time to spare. I caught the flow of aether and vanished into thin air before reappearing directly above the target building.

'Arthur, cool down your head. You need to heal the injured, I will keep those bastards in check' Regis said.

Alright. I shot several aether projectiles above me to accelerate my fall further. I hope nothing bad had happened. Prayed to whatever god this world has. I reached my limit, I cannot afford to lose anyone, not anymore. My dad, Tessia, Adam, director Cynthia, and many more.

I used God step just a few feet away from the building and appeared inside it. I searched my surroundings frantically before I felt a wet sensation on the ground. It was a pool of red blood. I traced my sight along with its flow only to see a heart-wrenching scene. Ellie was pinned to the wall by a spear that pierced her just above her heart. Her left arm was dangling as blood spewed out of her mouth.

My eyes widened in terror. She is conscious and was staring at me with a weak and puzzling look. I cursed myself for letting her experience this pain. I glanced behind me furiously. There stood two pure-blooded Vritras, unlike the scythes or retainers. They are perplexed at my appearance. Looking at the bow one of them held, they must be the ones who launched the spear. I released a burst of my bloodlust directed at them. They gasped for breath as they readied their stance.

'Princess, don't make it hard for the people here any longer. Go, save your sister.' Regis said.

I inspected my surroundings and found familiar figures among the soldiers. It was Lance Varay and Lance Aya. Just as Regis said, they were struggling from the leak of my intent. I lift off all my aura and glanced back at Ellie and readied my stance to burst step. Lance Varay, reacted to my suspicious stance. Before she could raise her concern I appeared before Ellie. She was caught off guard as she trembled in pain while pulling the spear.

"Hello, Ellie" I spoke with a faint smile.

It has similar runes which disrupt the flow of mana. I caught it with my right hand and used my left hand to inspect the wound. The spear vanished into thin air as I used the flames of destruction rune to get rid of the inorganic spear. I passed aether through her body as it started to heal the wound.

"Brother.." she spoke while sobbing her eyes out. I held her to support while she fell to her knees. She looked at my face to confirm her words.

"let's end this farce and go meet mother, Ellie," I said while taking her into an embrace. She wrapped her arms around me as she continued wailing.

I supported her on her legs while facing the entrance. Everyone except the Vritra looked at me with deliberation.

"Is that you, Arthur?" Lance Varay asked.

"Hello, Lance Varay and Lance Aya" I greeted them politely.

Lance Varay smiled as she took my greeting as a hint. Lance Aya, surprised let out laughter without a care for the Vritra standing, which dealt a huge blow to their pride.

I need to evacuate the people before engaging them. Reading my expression, the Lances moved to help the soldiers. Regis, escort them to safety. I ordered him who was facing the Vritra for a while.

'aye, aye princess.' he shot back.

He proceeded to blow the back of the building to create an exit which blew away the Alacryan soldiers, leaving the Lances and Ellie dumbfounded. What a show-off, I thought.

"This much is required for my grand conquest in Dicathen" he replied out.

I tried to let go of Ellie, but she refused to let go. I patted her head and consoled her.

"You are going to come back to us right, brother?" she blurted out.

"Yeah, I will return to you guys," I said without a hint of hesitation.

"Promise me!" she said.

"Sure, I promise to return back to mother and Ellie. Show me how strong you have gotten at that time, I hope you weren't slacking off with Boo and giving the Commander a hard time." I said.

"Of course, don't go crying if we manage to injure you. " she giggled as she followed Regis out of the building.

I glanced at Boo who smirked while walking over to the exit. I can sense a bit of rivalry between Regis and Boo as they glared at each other and decided to leave.

With all the sweet parting over, I got back to the business. Nerves popped out on their forehead as they were ridiculed for this long. I was grateful that they waited, for their farewell from this world.

"How are you alive? Arthur Leywin!" the one on the right spoke.

"There is no way for you to be alive after Scythe Cadell and Scythe Nico were so sure of your demise." the other one spoke.

"Honestly, that is one question I don't want to answer, especially to your kind" I raged my words as I plunged towards them.

I reappeared before the Vritra with the bow and punched him through the entrance. The other Vritra, closed our distance as we got into a brawl of fists. I overwhelmed him with my aether embued punches and was trashing his face and gut. I deliberately took some hits which were painful but not on the level where I felt they were fatal. The Building fell down as it couldn't contain the intense barrage of shockwaves.

I kicked him in the left to which he tried to guard with his arms. He drifted away as his arms became a mess of broken bones and torn muscles. He inhaled deeply, maybe for the soul fire. I used Burst step and held his mouth from opening while pushing him towards the rubble. He struggled to free himself from my grasp with his tattered arms.

The other Vritra held his bow and materialized an arrow while pulling it along the string. I used Burst step and punched his face from the side. He couldn't react in time as he was airborne towards the neighboring houses, smashing into them. I followed along his path and trashed his face into the floor consecutively.

I stepped on his bow breaking it in half and inspected the other Asura, who was aligning his broken parts. The Vritra held in my arm, splurted out blood.

"The main forces with the most powerful Vritras and Scythes are on their way here. It is just a moment of time before you get killed for good," he said weakly.

"Like you stood any chance from the start. They are rushing to their doom." I said.

'Arthur, looks like we are caught in the middle of an upcoming war. I can see the forces from Epheotus attacking the barrier you erected. There are also the Vritra forces gathered on the other side. Looking at these numbers makes me feel that they are going to wage an all-out war' Sylvie spoke from around the barrier.

Even the barrier is at its limit from the attacks. I have to stop this war. Otherwise, it will lead to the doom of Dicathen. I pulled off the barrier. I can feel masses marching from either side. Regis returned to me. He escorted them far away, but if the war starts nowhere is safe anymore.

'What's the plan? Surely, we can't let the war happen right?' Regis spoke.

The two injured Vritra got on their feet with a grin on their face. As expected of Asura's, they won't die that easily. The forces were in sight. I clenched my fists while Regis used his Armor form to boost my aether abilities.

I mentally prepared myself to prevent the same massacre I became sick of throughout my both lives.