"Urghh... It's so complicated," Xeno complained, her voice thick with frustration. "No matter how I look at it, we clearly have so many advantages. We have both quantity and quality, yet we're so cautious. I didn't even think this much when I attacked Demon King Nirvana," she shouted, stomping her foot hard against the stone floor.
"And that's why you lost," Vesilisa answered immediately, her voice calm and steady.
"You better shut up," Xeno retorted, her cheeks flushing crimson with anger.
"It's my mouth. Why don't you cover your ears instead?" Vesilisa added in a flat, emotionless tone that somehow made Xeno's fury intensify.
Xeno's lips twitched uncontrollably. She raised her hand, pointing her index finger accusingly at Vesilisa. "I've been observing your behaviour towards me quite a while now, It seems I need to discipline this cheeky brat to respect her elders," she shouted, though she deliberately held back her aura, knowing it would reduce the entire basement—and perhaps the royal palace above—to rubble in seconds.
Meanwhile, Vesilisa's expression remained unchanged as she gracefully rose to her feet. "May I humbly ask how?" she said in that same flat, emotionless tone, though the way she spoke it felt like she was mocking Xeno even further.
"Let's have a spar. I only need a second to discipline you," Xeno said with a confident smirk spreading across her face.
Vladimir was about to intervene, but Priest Adam spoke first. "Not here. You'll both destroy everything. Besides, there are so many important books and instruments of mine here," he said, gesturing around the room.
Xeno shook her head dismissively. "Don't worry. Nothing will happen. I assure you."
With that, she fixed her intense gaze on Vesilisa. "What about you? If you just agree to call me senior from now on, I'll let this matter drop."
"If I prove myself, then you better call me leader from now on," Vesilisa added with the faintest hint of a smile, stepping forward confidently.
Arthur couldn't help but slap his forehead with a heavy sigh. "Why are we even fighting among ourselves?" he muttered quietly to himself.
Both Xeno and Vesilisa looked at each other, each understanding precisely what kind of trump card they had to defeat any opponent in a single second without destroying their surroundings.
With everyone else watching—even the other warlords, Ashford and Beatrix—their eyes widened slightly at the outcome.
Few seconds passed.
Xeno was kneeling on the ground, panting lightly, sweat beading on her forehead. This wasn't from exhaustion but from being completely overwhelmed.
For three consecutive rounds, Xeno had lost each time.
And why wouldn't she have? Just as each round began, Vesilisa had simply stopped time for Xeno alone. The world froze for her, but not for Vesilisa, who remained free to strike or wound her wherever she wished.
"Why? Why are you even afraid of that Scarlett Nova when you can do something like this? Is she that powerful?" Xeno asked, her anger replaced by genuine puzzlement and surprise.
Even the other two warlords were equally stunned. They had expected Vesilisa's powers to be comparable to theirs, but now they were forced to re-evaluate their assessment.
She was far far above them.
"Of course I alone am enough for her, with Arthur assisting at best. But that's only when we're face to face. Even then, I can't maintain it indefinitely. It consumes enormous amounts of mana. Some time ago, I used time stop on her, but my mana consumption increased even more drastically. These dragons have very high regeneration. If I fail to kill her before my mana run out, I would be left completely vulnerable without any mana," Vesilisa explained, revealing why she was being so cautious about Scarlett.
"Besides, don't change the topic. Address me as leader from now on," she added, turning away with an air of finality.
"No, it won't count. You're not even giving me a single second. How is that fair?" Xeno argued, pushing herself to her feet.
"What difference does it make?" Vesilisa sighed with a hint of impatience.
"Fine. I won't do anything for one second," she said.
And so, the duel began once again, but this time, the results were completely different.
The moment the duel started, Xeno took a quick step back, forming a complex hand sign with her fingers as she whispered softly.
"Mental World: World of Graveyards."
Xeno was probably the only human who had received a blessing from a fallen angel. And not just any ordinary fallen angel, but the second most powerful fallen angel after Lucifer—Azrael.
Azrael Mandela Anafabula.
Blessings were unique gifts, and it was up to the one bestowing the blessing to decide what abilities they would grant to the person receiving them.
Because of this, Xeno had been blessed with the ability to cast Azrael's mental world whenever she wished, as many times as she needed.
When she activated this power, both she and Vesilisa vanished for only a tiny fraction of a second—so briefly that no one in the room even noticed they had disappeared and reappeared.
This happened because Xeno immediately withdrew from the mental world, since her intention wasn't to kill Vesilisa.
But that brief moment was more than enough time.
This time, Vesilisa found herself on the floor, her body shaking uncontrollably.
Arthur jumped to his feet instinctively. He had never seen such an expression on Vesilisa's face before. She looked utterly terrified.
"No way... Is this what it feels like to be trapped inside someone's mental world? So completely helpless!" Vesilisa thought to herself, breathing heavily as she tried to calm herself.
She slowly pushed herself up, her mind racing with countless thoughts.
"To possess something so overwhelmingly powerful... How could she possibly have lost to Nirvana, the fourth? Is she truly that strong?" she wondered.
She and the other Holy Knights had always believed that with their blessings from the true dragon—and some even having blessings from archangels—they stood above most of the demon kings in power.
The only reason they hadn't hunted down the demon kings was for their own selfish purposes. But now, it felt as though her eyes had been opened to the truth.
Demon kings weren't that weak after all. They had been dangerously underestimating them all along.
Meanwhile, although Xeno had technically won their duel, she didn't feel happy. Her thoughts were surprisingly similar to Vesilisa's.
"It even worked against someone who can stop time... Yet... yet why didn't it work on her?" Xeno clenched her fist so tightly that her knuckles turned white, barely managing to conceal the burning hatred within her.
The issue wasn't that Nirvana had managed to defeat Xeno despite her having access to a mental world. The real problem was that her mental world, granted by the fallen angel Azrael, had simply refused to work on Nirvana at all.
It had done absolutely no damage.
Both women returned to their previous seats. Neither Xeno addressed Vesilisa as "leader," nor did Vesilisa call Xeno "senior."
But there was now a subtle understanding between them. Both recognized that each possessed formidable strength in their own unique way.
"Phew, no more fighting between you two. Actually, no fighting from anyone," Vladimir said, his gaze sweeping across everyone in the room.
"I think we got sidetracked. We were supposed to be discussing the war with DreadHaven," Vladimir clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention back to him.
He turned to look at Xeno. "So where was I? Oh yes, about us having advantages. You're partly right, but she has advantages too. She can resurrect the dead, and I sensed genuine divinity emanating from her. Who knows what other powers she possesses? And most likely, her subordinates will be just as formidable."
After a brief pause, he continued, "That's why we must now use our full force to eliminate DreadHaven from the map completely, same as it never existed last year."
"Yes, that's why we should first discuss who will lead the attack and who will defend the ritual," Vesilisa said, her tone becoming serious once more.
"Because of the distance between us, we can't attack at our full strength, but this also gives us an advantage when it comes to defense," Arthur explained, adjusting his glasses in a distinctive manner.
"Exactly. Their numbers are far lower than ours anyway. If they decide to attack us, DreadHaven will be left vulnerable, and I know she's not foolish enough to allow that. Most likely, they'll use sneak attacks focused on disrupting our ritual rather than trying to defeat us directly," Vladimir said, adding further reasoning to support Arthur's statement.
"Although defense is our current advantage, it only applies to frontal battles. They could still use sneak attacks. Even then, they don't know that completing the ritual is our primary objective, so they'll most likely try to attack us directly rather than focusing on disrupting the ritual," Arthur spoke again, lightly adjusting his glasses with his index finger.
Ashford and Beatrix listened silently to their conversation, offering no comments.
At that moment, Xeno raised her hand. "Aren't we forgetting something important? Your comrade was captured by Scarlett, right? What if he tells her our entire plan?"
Adam immediately shook his head. "No, that's not possible. I've placed bindings on each of us. We cannot disclose information even if we want to. Not even soul searching would work," he said with absolute confidence.
"Hmm... so regarding defense, I'll be conducting the early phase of the ritual, so of course, at the start, I'll be neither defending nor attacking. You all have to take charge. Once the initial phase is complete, my disciples will take over for continuation, and I'll be free to help with defense," Vesilisa explained calmly.
Arthur nodded in agreement. "As always, I'll be with Miss Vesilisa," he said.
"I'll be on defense too," Xeno spoke up, raising her hand with newfound enthusiasm.
It was quite a surprise that Xeno had chosen to defend instead of attack, given her typically aggressive nature.
"If she decides to attack here, she'll surely come herself or send her best warriors here. It'll be more interesting," Xeno added, a wide grin spreading across her face as she imagined the upcoming confrontation.
Vladimir clapped again with a nonchalant smile. "It's decided then. Miss Vesilisa, Arthur, Xeno, and Lady Beatrix will defend the ritual, while I will lead the army to attack DreadHaven with Adam, Ashford, Sparda, and other sub-branch Holy Knights, along with an army of ten thousand elite soldiers."
"Ten thousand?" Arthur repeated, his brow furrowed with confusion.
Last time, they had decided to send at least twenty-five thousand elite soldiers.
Vladimir sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly as he felt the weight of their predicament. "Distance is our disadvantage as well. Previously, I was counting on Gwarga as an ally or at least neutral, but now they're our enemy. It'll become even more difficult to build a camp there and attack DreadHaven. The longer the war goes on, the more food and water we'll need," he explained, his voice tinged with frustration.
There was also a very high chance of being attacked by the Gwarga army from behind as well.
Once they arrived there, they would have enemies on both sides. Water was somehow manageable with water magic, but food wasn't.
That's why he had to reduce the number of soldiers even more.
But at that moment, Arthur spoke, his voice cutting through the heavy atmosphere. "And what if I can solve this distance problem?"
Everyone's gaze immediately landed on him, their expressions shifting from concern to curiosity. Vladimir looked up at him and asked, "You can do that? Why couldn't you say so earlier?"
"Because it comes with its own risks. Once I solve this problem, it'll be solved for both sides," Arthur replied solemnly, his expression serious.
"Hmm... Right, he can control space. A big portal? A gate?" Vladimir thought to himself, his mind racing through the possibilities of how Arthur could solve the problem.
"And one more thing," Arthur added, his voice growing quieter. "I don't think I'll be able to recover anytime soon."
Both Vesilisa and Vladimir fell into deep thought, weighing whether to take this chance or not. It had both advantages and disadvantages.
Especially the fact that Arthur might not be able to participate in the war, which would be a great loss to their forces.
But no matter how much they considered it, the advantages greatly surpassed the disadvantages.
Once the distance problem was solved, they could send an army of hundreds of thousands of people, overwhelming them with numbers while the important ones remained here to defend the ritual.
And even if Vladimir and the others were to participate, they could choose to retreat and attack without any hurdles. There would be no issues about food or time, nor about an army backstabbing them from behind.
Vladimir stood up and took a deep breath, his decision made. "It's worth a shot. Do it."
"As you wish," Arthur said, standing up as well, his movements deliberate despite the gravity of what he was about to attempt.
Without stopping, he walked forward until he was at the center of everyone around him, then he took out his sword, firmly stabbing it into the ground.
Everyone was waiting for him to mutter some magical words or summon something, but the next moment, all the mana from his body started flowing through the sword into the ground below.
As if being absorbed by the earth itself, the ground glowed faintly with a dark blue aurora and immediately began trembling.
The whole palace, the whole capital—no, even more than that. It was much bigger than Vladimir or anyone present there could imagine, except for Arthur himself.
It was as if a great earthquake had struck after hundreds of years. Yet somehow, the basement didn't collapse, remaining miraculously intact.
Arthur's condition grew worse with each passing second. It was as if he had aged considerably in just a few moments.
His face turned pale, devoid of blood, and his muscles grew thin, as if he were malnourished.
And then finally, his grip loosened, and he fell directly to the ground with a soft thud.
Despite feeling intense pain, Arthur let out a weak chuckle. "Haha... it's actually done. I wasn't so sure myself," he said, though even speaking felt difficult.
Every muscle in his body ached, and a deep headache and dizziness filled his mind, making it hard to focus.
Vladimir looked around, feeling just as confused as the others.
"Nothing changed though?"
At that moment, Arthur let out another dry chuckle and said,
"Everything changed."