In one of the rural viges in the Antares Kingdom, a hooded figure ran from alley to alley like a robber being chased by a Guard. The said figure kept looking back as he ran, showing incredible paranoia.


    "To think that a Knight of ours is more obedient to a Harlot than he is to his Princess…oh, my lord. What has our Kingdom be?"


    The figure stopped at a certain alley and leaned on the wall to avoid being spotted by a pair of Guards who were inspecting the road he had just passed. He exhaled lightly and it made his chest hurt because his heart was beating wildly.


    He wasn''t afraid of the Guards; he could fight them but doing so would only expose his position, which would allow the person who was after him to catch him. He wouldn''t be able to fight that person and it would be his end.


    When the Guards stopped inspecting the road, the hooded figure heaved a sigh of relief. He looked around for a while before running to another alley.


    As soon as he reached this alley, however, a towering figure that was fully d in armour came out of the wall and then pinned him to the wall. His eyes widened; he wanted to scream robbery but the hand of the armoured figure was faster in covering his mouth.


    His scream was muffled and he could do nothing about it. He tried to pry the hand of the figure off his mouth but his lean hands didn''t have the necessary muscles to achieve that feat.


    The armoured figure put his index finger before his helmet to shush the hooded figure and then took off his helmet. The hooded figure stopped screaming and looked at the serene face that the helmet had previously hidden beneath it with widened eyes.


    "It is me, Abigail," came out of the mouth of the beautiful female in the armour. "In case you don''t believe me, I know which unique ce your mole is located in."


    The hooded figure took his hands off Abigail, prompting her to take her hand off his mouth. The hooded figure then pulled down his hood, revealing a slightly rounded beautiful face that belonged to an ash blonde-haired woman.


    "I heard that you died in one of your missions."


    "It is a lie to cover up the fact that Gabri and I ran away from the Heroes, Celia."


    The woman was the Princess of Antares, Celia de Antares. She stared at Abigail with her gleaming grey eyes, making it very clear that she was expecting cooperation.


    "I am in the middle of—"


    "Let me stop you there," Abigail interjected. "From your reaction, we seem to have the same enemy but I can''t just help you. There is a huge chance that my ally—"


    Buzz!


    Abigail''s Sound Crystal vibrated, cutting her mid-sentence. Very few people could contact her through her Sound Crystal, so she immediately took it out and infused her Mana into it to answer the call.


    [It''s me.]


    The moment she heard the voice, her eyes lit up in joy before settling down. She asked what was going on and then turned to Celia with an astonished look a few moments after.


    When the call ended, she looked at Celia solemnly and put her hand on said Princess'' shoulder. "Now, Princess, can you tell me what is going on between you and the Heroes? My ally seems to be very curious about you too."


    "That is…" Celia trailed off as she tried to figure out Abigail''s intention.


    "You can choose to not tell me and we should part ways here. If you tell me about it, I will assure you that my ally will ensure that not a single de can harm you."


    Celia contemted for a while before speaking. "Brianna…she needs my heart as a sacrifice for Mark''s Transcendence."


    "What is Transcendence?"


    At Abigail''s question, Celia answered. Transcendence was the right to use God''s Divinity for someone who was not a Holy Maiden.


    It was not a thing until the Holy Maiden from fifty years ago sacrificed herself for the Hero''s victory. Still, even though it had be a thing the first time it was done was also thest time it was done…at least, until Brianna''s arrival, given that she seeded.


    "Well…you have to be protected at all costs, then."


    Abigail couldn''t quite believe what she heard. She blinked her eyes as she looked at Celia.


    Land had called her earlier to ask if she had Celia''s Magic Code. He wanted her to call Celia because Brianna and Mark seemed to have a n with Celia. She didn''t tell him that she had Celia in front of her to not alert Celia and decided to ask what was the deal. Upon hearing what it was, she couldn''t help but fish out her Sound Crystal again.


    "Damn it!" she clicked her tongue. "Land is not picking up." Turning to Celia, she pulled Celia''s hood up. "Let''s group up with Gabri. We will leave this ce."


    Abigail''s encounter with Celia was pure coincidence. She and Gabri were resting in this rural vige because it was within the route to the territory they were heading.


    Given the situation, Abigail decided to throw away the n and brought Celia away from her chaser while figuring out Land''s whereabouts in the process. They couldn''t lose Cecilia since it would be equal to giving Mark immense power.


    Putting her helmet on, she carried Celia in her arms and dashed out of the alley sneakily. She went to look for Gabri and then immediately left the vige the moment she met her.


    ….


    Somewhere in the sky above the Antares Kingdom, sitting on the flying Genelos, Land smirked to himself.


    "Is something the matter?" Millonia asked as Land turned around.


    "Let''s part ways."


    "Huh?" Millonia and the rest of the girls quirked one of their eyebrows.


    "I want all of you to work together to beat the next Hero," Land exined. Looking at Millonia, he added, "You have grown stronger exponentially recently. You should be able to immensely help Lunea and Winerva."


    "Where are you going?" Lunea asked.


    "To the ce where I will reap my investment."


    Land had listened to the conversation between Abigail and Celia through the Sound Crystal that she had forgotten to deactivate. He immediately deactivated his Sound Crystal after he heard the situation and refused to answer her call to make her think that he was in an urgent situation.


    He had figured out Brianna''s n: she was luring him to go after thest Hero—beside her and Mark—so she could focus on getting Celia in her hands. She was doing it smartly. She made sure thest Hero was apanied by a lot of Knights and Pdins, so it wouldn''t look like the Hero was being used merely to distract his attention from her.


    If it hadn''t been for Abigail''s coincidental encounter with Celia, he wouldn''t have noticed it. After knowing it, of course, he had a n to counter it. The reason why he drove Abigail into a panicked and lost state was part of the n. He wanted Abigail and Gabri to move like a lost chicken to give Brianna assurance that their presence didn''t take her n off course.


    "…just tell me already—do you want me to feel guilty for my whole life? I wouldn''t be able to protect these guys and I am not ashamed to admit that I wouldn''t try hard. This is a good payback for our little battle but don''t you think—"


    "Hush…. Trust me, dear. You are strong; no one but me shall be able to defeat you," Land interrupted Millonia, putting his index finger on her lips.


    Millonia faintly blushed and coughed to hide the fact that she was flustered. She asked nothing and immediately nodded her head; after hearing those words, she couldn''t say anything anymore.


    To fool one''s enemies, one has to fool one''s allies. Land could bring the girls with him to regroup with Abigail and Gabri but it would notify Brianna that something was wrong. The st" Hero was still waiting for his arrival. The girls would face the Hero in his stead, so Brianna would still get the report she wanted: the Hero Killer came.


    She would proceed with her n and encounter him by the end of the day. Mark should be with her, so he could have fun with them afterwards.


    One might wonder what would happen with Millonia and the rest of the girls.


    ''Teanosvera, follow them and intervene when things are getting out of hand. Millonia has the Seed of Darkness inside her, so when you sense something Demonic from her, don''t hesitate to end everything.''


    ''I shall not disappoint you, Master.''


    He didn''t want to lose his precious minions either, so he had everything settled. He still didn''t want to make the girls feelx, so he didn''t tell them about it.


    "All right, girls, it''s time to part ways. I know you won''t disappoint me, so good luck and…see youter!"


    Land jumped down after he said his farewell. His body pierced through the clouds below them, disappearing from their views; his presence alsopletely disappeared soon after.


    The girls took their attention away and put on a serious look. They didn''t want to disappoint Land and, first of all, they didn''t want to die, so they were determined to win.


    As usual, Land was controlling everyone''s rhythm. This time, he would reap a lot from it.