Watching Piers and his followers disappear into the distance, Kaiser and his team gritted their teeth. Kaiser punched a nearby wall, shattering it, and said, "Damn! We were so close to Rei! We just had him!"
Adreil confessed, "It's because of me. I got caught up by the Sin of Pride power, due to which Sentry and Hella were not able to participate in battle."
"Even if they had shown up, we would still have to run because we were outnumbered by them," Ben conceded.
"And now we have no way to locate Rei if he went out of our sight," Lyla worried.
"Not necessarily," Ben said. "I may have a way to locate him. I mean, I can't directly locate him, but I certainly can locate the Holy Sword."
"Yes, our holy magic might work to identify where the Holy Sword is," Emilia agreed.
"If that is the case, we can't dilly-dally," Hella said.
They immediately began following Piers's trail, using their senses to track visual signs, footprints, and the holy traces left by the Holy Sword.
The 4 Heads and the loyal teachers watched Piers leaving. "We can't let them just destroy our branch and go away," one teacher argued.
"If we start an all-out fight, we will only be feeding the hyenas," one of the Heads said, looking at Kaiser's team. "Plus, he has the Holy Sword. We just need to spread the word, and he will be dead meat."
Piers's team marched into the forest, with Kaiser's team stealthily following them. After a week, Piers and his followers reached a village. Piers watched it from afar.
"Make sure to frighten the villagers to the point of leaving," Piers commanded. "If any villager is harmed, I won't tolerate it."
Piers sat on a nearby stone while the Dark Lions transformed into dangerous, scary figures. Under the cover of night, they entered the village, threatening the inhabitants with their powers. The villagers started running away. The Dark Lions made sure their attacks were all near-misses, threatening them without causing injury. Their plan worked, and the villagers fled.
Piers slowly entered the now-deserted village. "Everyone, take your rooms. We will make sure to give the best rooms to the Dark Lions since they were the ones who acquired the village," he announced. Piers himself went to a nearby shed to live.
Kaiser and his team watched this from afar. "No matter what happened to him, he is still the same Rei," Kaiser observed. "He can't harm an innocent person."
That night, Piers took out his Dendrogram and wrote: I want more allies to help me. Where can I find them?
The Dendrogram wrote: Near the east river at the White Mountains.
"Wait, that's close," Piers noted.
The next day, Piers was about to leave when Astarte approached. "Where are you going, Piers?"
"To get more help. During that time, I want you to train everyone."
"Okay, I believe you," Astarte said.
Piers activated Mephisto's power and ran toward the White Mountains. Astarte watched him go, muttering, "I hope he trusted me more."
Tenko, watching from a distance, immediately followed Piers, jumping from branch to branch while skillfully manipulating the wind to increase his speed.
In the Astria Kingdom, Eugene was fishing, and while fishing, he looked at the sky and said, "What a beautiful day," when suddenly Daina punched him on the head.
Daina yelled, "I told you to set up the camp like an eternity ago! Then what are you doing here?"
Eugene rubbed his head. "But food is important too."
"I can easily kill a boar or take out fish in a few seconds! No need for you to spend an hour or two on it!" Daina retorted.
Eugene sighed. "Oh, come on, look around you. Isn't today a beautiful day to enjoy?"
Daina shouted, "Make the tent now!"
Eugene hurried to the tent. "Okay, I am doing it! I am doing it, sheesh!" As Daina walked away, Eugene muttered, "Sword monster." A rock shot toward his head, narrowly missing it. "Wait! She could hear me from there?"
After the tents were settled, night came, and they were roasting fish. "The person whom I mentioned to you about before—the one who is good for joining our team—is nearby, in the next village," Eugene said.
Daina's interest piqued. "Wait, so what are this person's powers? Is he a magic user like you?"
"Actually, he is a wizard, but I honestly don't know if he might have developed his powers or stagnated. Though the one thing I know is he has enough potential to work for us," Eugene explained.
"I don't know what a wizard is, but if he is strong, then that's good for me. So, what's his lineage? I mean, whether he is an orphan or belongs to a martial arts family?" Daina asked.
"I don't know his lineage. When I met him, he was a waiter at a restaurant," Eugene said.
Daina hung her head. "Looks like leading a team of some of the strongest people is not in my fate."
The next day, Daina and Eugene went to the nearby town. "I can sense him here," Eugene said.
"Again with that talk! Magic does not work like that, Eugene. It..." Daina began.
"Yeah, yeah, it's a burst of power. However, the moment you stop believing what you are thinking is true, the actual truth comes out," Eugene interrupted.
Eugene and Daina turned to the left and saw a person showing a puppet show to children—it was Bart.
Eugene smiled. "That's our man. His name is Bart."
"You must be kidding me! That guy? That puppeteer?" Daina exclaimed.
"Not that puppeteer. He is the puppeteer," Eugene corrected.
"Still a puppeteer, though. He is as far from combat as one could get," Daina muttered.
"Just wait and see," Eugene said.
After the puppet show, Bart began rounding up his things. Eugene approached him with Daina. "Hey, Bart, want to join us in making a team?"
Bart looked at Eugene and smiled. "You know how I am. Consider me in."