After parting ways with the green-haired duo, Claudia and Merida, Knox and Serene continued deeper into the island, exchanging brief words along the way.
To be honest, Knox was a bit surprised.
Serene had openly laid out her plans for this island evaluation without much hesitation.
Including her intention to scout Simon.
From Serene's side, it was a calculated gamble.
After spending some time with Knox, she had come to a conclusion.
He wasn't the type to blindly interfere.
He was more of a thrill-seeker.
So she bet on that.
If she was right, Knox would find her plan interesting and choose to watch, or even cooperate.
If she was wrong, he would never sit still knowing his friend might get dragged into something troublesome.
And now—
She had won that gamble.
After hearing her plan, Knox found it… interesting.
Enough to go along with it.
"Then I'll stick to what we agreed on. I'll stop anyone who tries to interfere," Knox said casually. "But once that giant monster shows up, I'm moving immediately."
"Alright. I'll be counting on you until then," Serene replied with a small smile.
A moment later, she glanced at him.
"But I'm curious… why are you so interested in that monster?"
Knox shrugged lightly.
"I just want to see a fight between kaiju."
"…Kaiju?" Serene tilted her head. "What's that?"
Knox only chuckled.
"Hehe."
I mean, that giant Bigkrum against a giant Mem… isn't that basically a kaiju battle?!
Sure, there's no Ultraman, but watching a pink Godzilla go up against a giant monster in real life… that's something you don't miss.
Serene stared at him for a moment as Knox nodded to himself, clearly pleased with his own thoughts.
Then Knox broke the brief silence.
"I really hope your attempt to scout Simon works out."
"Hehe, I'll take that as a good omen," Serene replied.
With that, the two of them continued forward, heading toward their intended destination.
After walking together for some time, Knox and Serene eventually decided to part ways for a while.
Serene needed to prepare for her plan, and she had several things to arrange before everything could begin.
As for Knox, he chose to spend his time wandering around the island.
Of course, his idea of "wandering" was far from ordinary. As he moved through the forest, he casually hunted monsters that crossed his path, and from time to time, a few unlucky students also ended up becoming part of that "stroll."
The island remained chaotic, filled with scattered battles and movements from other participants, but Knox moved through it all without much concern.
After some time, his pace gradually slowed.
A faint shift in the atmosphere caught his attention, subtle but enough for him to notice.
Knox narrowed his eyes slightly, then a small grin formed on his face.
"Looks like it's about to start."
Without wasting any more time, he adjusted his direction and began heading toward the designated location.
***
A wide, open clearing lay hidden within the forest of Kera Island.
High above, Knox sat quietly on a tree branch, his gaze lowered toward the scene below as he observed everything without making a sound.
Just as planned, Simon had been lured here by Serene's illusion, rushing all the way into the clearing without hesitation.
Not long after, Serene appeared.
Without holding back, she suppressed the gathered students in front of Simon with overwhelming force, establishing control over the entire area in an instant.
Knox watched the scene unfold with interest.
As Simon's anger flared in response to Serene's provocation, and as Serene began revealing fragments of Simon's secrets without the slightest concern for his reaction, Knox casually chewed on a strip of dried monster jerky.
Watching it play out like this was far more entertaining than he had expected.
Below, the conversation between the two continued, their emotions completely out of sync.
Serene spoke as she pleased, while Simon's irritation steadily grew.
Eventually, Serene began to press harder, deliberately exposing more of his hidden past.
Seeing that, Simon let out a mocking laugh, questioning whether Serene was truly suited for politics, before opening a subspace portal.
From within it, he summoned the 7th Legion's Ancient Undead, Pier.
The atmosphere shifted instantly.
The battle began.
Caught off guard by Pier's sudden appearance, Serene reacted immediately, launching an attack with her feather.
Knox remained seated on the branch, casually watching the battle unfold below.
Then, without shifting his gaze, he suddenly spoke.
"How about it, Igris? How's our senior Legion Commander's skill… and his Ancient Undead?"
To anyone else, it would have sounded like he was talking to the air.
But in truth—
He was speaking to his shadow.
A faint ripple spread across the darkness beneath him.
Then, a voice followed.
[Weak. Very weak. In your words, my liege… this looks no different from chicks pecking at their enemy.]
Hearing that, Knox almost spat out his jerky.
"Pfft—!"
He covered his mouth, shoulders shaking slightly.
"Haha… yeah, that's true."
His eyes returned to the battlefield.
"Still, based on the original story, Simon is supposed to become the strongest… and the biggest Legion Commander in history."
A faint grin formed on his face.
"Hmm… now that I think about it, I kind of want to try fighting his legion with my Shadow Army~"
Igris responded immediately, his tone unwavering.
[My liege, even without you, victory would be ours without a doubt.]
Knox chuckled softly at that.
"Confident as always."
He tossed another piece of jerky into his mouth, completely relaxed as he continued watching the battle, casually chatting with Igris like this was nothing more than entertainment.
GRAAASH!!!
Pier's massive greatsword tore through the air, crashing down toward Serene with overwhelming force.
Serene reacted instantly, raising a feather barrier to block the attack.
The moment the blade collided, a heavy shockwave burst outward, shaking the surrounding clearing.
Cracks spread rapidly across the barrier before it shattered under the pressure.
But before the aftermath could fully unfold—
Simon had already sent Pier back into subspace.
The battlefield fell into a brief, tense silence.
Now alone in the clearing, Simon stood his ground.
He did not retreat.
Instead, he faced Serene directly.
Serene narrowed her eyes, her expression tightening as she pulled out another feather.
"I am the next Ivory Tower Master."
"The one who will divide the continent into three… and usher in a new era."
Her voice rang with conviction.
With those words, her attack was about to be unleashed—
At that exact moment, the space itself distorted.
A figure appeared.
"I think I just heard something interesting. Looks like someone is sleepwalking?"
A woman stepped forward as if she had torn through space itself.
With a casual swing of her hand, every feather Serene had thrown was burned away in an instant.
Her presence alone carried overwhelming confidence, as though even the authority of the Ivory Tower meant nothing to her.
"Who said the protection is over? I'll be the one protecting Simon."
"A mere dog of the Ivory Tower?"
Lorain Archbold.
The next head of Kizen.
The moment she stepped onto the battlefield, the air in the clearing turned cold.