Two frightening clashes were happening simultaneously in front of Verity. The first was the furious battle between Bel, the demon, and the golems of steel.

  One might have thought that a single demon stood no chance against such an army, but Bel stood his ground with chilling lethality. He cut, ripped, pulverized and crushed every single golem that dared approach him. Of course, for every golem that he incapacitated, ten more lunged forward while the former recovered, but not all golems seemed to regenerate once struck down.

  Verity watched with great curiosity. Somehow, Bel had found a way to keep the golems down for good.

  ‘...How is he doing that…?’

  Unfortunately, he could not ask Bel directly, so he simply observed as he was battled a few golems himself.

  BOOM

  The second clash was between Azazel and Felicia’s…familiar? Verity was not sure what exactly that mighty wolf was, but he certainly knew that it was strong beyond belief. Although the spirit had shrunk its imposing size in order to fit in the narrow cave, she fought on equal terms with the demon who had treated them as no more than insects to be crushed under his feet.

  Verity watched their blurry figures in awe, unable to even follow their movements. They were leagues ahead of him in terms of power, a level he could not even fathom as he was currently.

  Still, a faint sense of pride filled him. ‘...Heh, They’re still weaker than my Master.’

  The fact that he could perceive the battle at all was proof enough. Verity remembered his spars with his master distinctly. Whenever she got somewhat serious, he could not even see her move.

  “What are you smiling for? Don’t tell me you’re starting to take after Felicia!?” Marco shouted as he watched Verity from the corner of his eye.

  Taking advantage of the momentary lapse in attention, a golem tried to pierce his chest, only to leave no more than a shallow scratch and in turn receive a web of cracks in its weapon.

  Verity wiped the smile off of his face. “N-No…I was just thinking about something….”

  Felicia cut down two golems at once, and her head snapped to Verity. “What’s wrong with taking after me!?” She asked.

  Verity shook his head. “W-Well–”

  Midnight let out a shout as her daggers pierced a golem’s chest. “How much longer!? My attacks aren’t doing anything to these things!!”

  Beads of sweat rolled down Hoshino’s temple and blood trickled from both of her nostrils. Guiding mana was not mentally demanding, but such a large amount still made it a strenuous task. “Not much longer…!!”

  She looked down at the inscriptions. ‘...It should have been activated by now…!! What am I missing!?’

  The clock was ticking. Bel’s battle seemed to be tipping in his favor, and when no more golems stood in his way, they would truly be doomed.

  Hoshino bit her lip. ‘Screw it!!’ She had been careful until now as she guided the mana toward the system, but pressed for time, and unsure as to what she was doing wrong, she threw caution to the wind and amplified the amount tenfold.

  It took only a moment for the inscriptions' shimmer to rise from faint to nearly blinding.

  Hoshino’s eyes widened. “Ha…HAHA! It’s working! I told you I could do it!! I’m a genius!”

  Hopeful expressions flashed across the faces of everyone present, but not long after, Hoshino’s face hardened.

  “...I do not wish to rush anyone… but it appears you’ll need to get in the circle my Knights, now!!”

  Whatever mechanism she had put in motion, she could not stop, delay, nor control. The system was activating, and it was activating at that very moment.

  As the runes shimmered and the mana in the air shifted, Bel’s head snapped to the humans. “Not in your dreams!” He tried to unfurl his wings to chase after them, but a golem jumped onto them, then a second, then a third, then a fourth…

  “YOU FILTHY THINGS!!” Bel roared, fighting the golems off twice as aggressively as he had been before.

  Verity, Marco, and Midnight retreated toward the circle, while Felicia shot for something else.

  It was Knight Jerin’s heavy frame which she had leaned against a wall before the battle started. She couldn’t simply leave him behind.

  “Felicia!!” Verity shouted, but Hoshino reassured him.

  “It’s alright! Thanks to my amazing skills, we still have another twenty seconds before the system activates! She may retrieve Knight Jerin with no worries haha!”

  Lies, of course. Hoshino had no control over the system.

  As Felicia made her way back into the circle carrying Jerin on her shoulder, Verity heard a familiar voice in his mind.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  [Your sponsor shakes her head. ‘Not fast enough. ‘Something’ is coming. It might be bad if he sees that ring on your finger. As in, really bad.’]

  Verity frowned in confusion, but if anything, Vera was not a liar, so he had to trust her. The only time she had warned him in the past was before the gates of Plamodel, when his very soul was under threat of erasure.

  For some reason, while she cared little when Verity was on the verge of death, Vera seemed to care for his soul.

  He gripped Hoshino’s shoulder. “Make it go faster!! We need to get out of here, now!!”

  Hoshino tilted her head, but looking into Verity’s fiery amber eyes, she couldn’t help but feel the same sense of urgency he felt. Verity was quite convincing when he needed to be.

  “A-Alright!!” As blood leaked from her eyes this time, Hoshino tripled the input of mana she was supplying the system.

  The runes shimmered even brighter than before, the moment was nigh. There was no telling what would happen, but as it was their last resort, Hoshino put everything she had into activating this system.

  Felicia looked toward the entrance of the chamber, and cried out, “Eril–”

  ‘Just go.I am more than capable of handling two lowly demons by myself. I’ll see you soon.’

  Erilsa’s confidence was unwavering, and it almost put Felicia’s heart at ease.

  Almost, that is.

  She bit her lip, but she wasn’t so inconsiderate as to trample on her guardian’s resolve. ‘...Alright… I’ll be waiting for you.’

  In the next second, a flash of light illuminated the entire chamber, drowning every shadow, and when it finally faded, the six of them had disappeared.

  The humans had managed to escape, leaving only a spirit, golems, and demons.

  Azazel clicked his tongue. “How convenient…,” He exhaled sharply. “But you will die here, spirit… and so will they.”

  Erilsa smirked arrogantly “...I don’t think you, or that brat, have the ability to do such a thing, demon.”

  However, Azazel’s eyes seemed distant, as if no longer considering her words. With a complicated expression, his eyes closed, he turned around, and prostrated himself.

  Even Bel, who still received the onslaught of attacks from the golems, did the same as simply endured the pain with gritted teeth.

  They spoke in unison.

  “We kneel before the only Truth.”

  Erilsa did not understand what the demons were doing immediately, but she did feel the atmosphere growing colder… quieter.

  Even the incessant clamor of the golems seemed to be drowned by the stillness enveloping her, however paradoxical that was.

  Step…step…step…

  Something was approaching, and for the first time in a long…long time, Erilsa felt her chest tighten.

  —

  “AAAHHHH!!!”

  SPLASH

  Verity landed face first in a murky, stinking body of water. Thankfully, or perhaps not so much, it was rather shallow, so instead of sinking, his head collided with the gravel bed of the pond.

  The pain was not too terrible, but Verity still quickly raised his head above water. He pinched his nose as he looked around.

  “Ugh, where am I…?”

  The stench was truly foul, and the water seemed to be rather dirty. When put together with the wild vegetation growing all around him, Verity came to the conclusion that he had landed in a swamp…somewhere.

  “Where are the others…?” He wondered, scanning his surroundings.

  If they were nearby, he’d have heard them by now.

  He stood up, the water reaching his knees, and tried calling out their names. “Guys!? It's Verity! Where are you all??”

  After a minute had passed with no reply, he stroked his chin. “I guess we got separated.” He sighed. “In any case, I should probably try to get out of here first. This place stinks.”

  He looked up to the night sky. ‘Oh, and thanks for the warning, by the way.’

  But Vera did not reply.

  He was used to it. She did whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted to do it. He simply shrugged and began making his way out of the shallow swamp.

  As he took his second step, he felt his leg collide with something hard, and thick.

  He looked down, initially thinking it was nothing more than a tree log, but then stopping to get a better look. He bent down, brushing the water aside, his fingers touched something cold, metallic. His eyes narrowed.

  The log seemed strangely familiar, and… it also appeared to be wearing armo–

  “Knight Jerin!!!” Verity shouted.

  The knight was floating face down atop the swamp water.

  “Stay with me!!” Verity exclaimed as he dragged the heavy knight back to the shore

  After a few rounds of chest compressions, the knight expelled the water which had filled his longues, and he threw a disoriented gaze toward Verity. “What…what happened?” Jerin asked.

  So far from the cave, the Thorn of Sin’s influence was beginning to fade.

  Verity let out a sigh of relief and waved his hand dismissively. “Long story, I’ll tell you all about later….”

  Then, the bracelet attached around his wrist, the Whispering Band, buzzed.

  [Come in, where are you?]

  Verity recognized the voice. It was Felicia.

  Feeling stupid for having forgotten he had such a convenient artifact, Verity spoke into the bracelet.

  [I’m not sure. A swamp, probably not too far, since the sky is the same as before we entered.]

  [Good, we landed near the Eldvar volcano, according to Marco, at least. Who’s with you?]

  Verity heard Marco’s voice in the background shouting that he’d never forget this place. He also heard Felicia shushing him.

  [...I’m with the knight, Jerin. Are the rest of you together?]

  Felicia paused for a moment before resuming.

  [...No, I don’t know what happened to Hoshino and Midnight… I hoped they’d be with you.]

  [I see… well I’m sure they’ll be alright. Midnight has been an adventurer for a long time.]

  Marco echoed Verity’s words, and Felicia sighed. [I hope so…. In any case, find a village or anyone nearby, let’s meet back at Plamodel.]

  He had a long walk ahead of him, evidently.

  Verity let out a long sigh. [...Yeah sure, see you the—]

  A sharp pain.

  A freezing cold…so cold.

  Blood spurt from Verity’s mouth.

  What had just happened?

  He looked down.

  A hand was growing out of his chest, blood flowing from it.

  [...Verity? Are you still there?]

  Cough, cough

  Verity choked on his own blood, unable to reply.

  [Verity!! What’s going on? Talk to me!]

  “...Such a weak mind.” A chilling voice resonated behind him, and the hand that had pierced Verity’s chest was retrieved, leaving a gaping hole in its stead.

  As he collapsed to the ground, Verity took in the sight of Knight Jerin’s imposing figure standing above him.

  ‘W-why… did he…?’ Verity thought erratically.

  But the eerily crimson pupils that pierced through his very soul made Verity realize that the being before him was no knight. It was something different, something much more terrifying.

  Whatever it was that took control of Knight Jerin’s body, it looked upon Verity with disdain, holding a silver ring Verity immediately recognized—Vera’s.

  Verity gargled blood as he spoke. “G-Give…it..back…!!”

  Verity knew the ring was his lifeline, but he had the being take it without him even noticing.

  The being clicked its tongue. “It is a shame that l can do no more but to end your life...” It said, “It is much too generous for a vile thing such as you…but it shall do.”

  The being exuded an aura of disgust when gazing upon Verity, but Verity felt that it was not quite directed toward him. Rather, the disgust it felt from gazing upon Vera’s ring was much, much stronger.

  [Verity!! What’s happening?? Talk to me!!] Felicia cried out from the other end of the Whispering Band.

  Verity knew it. He would die soon. He could feel his body growing colder with every second.

  Somehow…the sensation was not all foreign to him, almost familiar.

  Weakly, slowly, he brought the bracelet to his mouth. In his last moments, he thought of warning his companions. “R-Run…” He whispered.

  The being’s lips parted. “Die.”

  And so Verity died.