A few days later.

"..."

A group consisting of three people was camping deep inside the Great Jungle but the atmosphere was very tense.

"What now? Didn’t you achieve your goal?" Xander asked disinterestedly as he stared at the campfire.

"..."

But Martha, the head of the operation, did not respond. She had a grim look on her face as she lightly touched her stomach.

A certain spot there was covered in bandages but the wound still stung extremely. And on top of that, Beatra a fellow B-rank demon died recently.

Those two may have bickered all the time but in the end, those two were from the same realm and had the same goal in mind. They were too proud to say it out loud but they could be considered friends.

"I, for my part, will leave today." Dreyar stated as he stood up.

"..."

Xander looked up at him slightly nervously.

"As much as I enjoy the companionship with my fellow kin, I want to explore this human realm for now." Dreyar added indifferently.

Even though there was no danger in sight, he wore his full equipment.

He glanced behind him shortly.

"And with that thing, I assume that you won’t need me for a while." he said sharply.

And before Martha or Xander could say a word, Dreyar spread his wings.

"I hope we meet each other again."

Following that, he took flight.

"..."

Martha wrathfully clenched her fists.

"Still not satisfied?" Xander sighed.

"Mika is dead. Sir Dreyar told us that himself." he elaborated.

However, Xander understood her anger. After all, Mika left a great wound on her behind before passing away. Because it was a wound caused by Excalibur, demons had trouble healing from it and the pain they suffered was a lot more than if a normal sword would have hit her instead.

For the past few days, she could not even move her whole body. Only today, she started to be able to sit.

"..."

Ignoring her unresponsiveness, his eyes wandered to the creature staring at them.

"I know it was his way of showing concern but it’s still off-putting..." he remarked.

Observing them with a glare was Shira, the king of the jungle.

A semi-transcendental being who gave Mika and his group a tough time when they headed to the Great Jungle with the Hayths and Bugars.

Now, Shira was standing there as if it was guarding them. However, his whole body was covered in slash wounds. There were a few signs of stabbings. The right arm was completely cut off. And the left eye was closed as Shira lost its eye during a fight.

Shira was constantly glaring and grumbling as he did not move his body from the spot. Rather, Shira could not move.

"..."

Xander sighed.

When their group gathered in the Great Jungle, they were immediately confronted by Shira who showed hostility towards them.

At first, they were surprised that it could talk but Dreyar spared no time and engaged in a battle with it.

Watching them fight, Xander realized how ridiculously strong Shira was. However, Shira was no match for Dreyar who quickly ended the fight.

And since Dreyar knew about Martha’s ability, he ordered her to make it obey her.

Thinking back about it, Xander concluded that Dreyar already made his decision to leave after seeing Shira. But because he did not want to leave Xander and an injured Martha unprotected, he beat up Shira so much that the condition for Martha’s ability was fulfilled.

Now, Shira was her slave, albeit its fighting capabilities were greatly cut due to the injuries.

"!"

Shira suddenly lifted his face and looked around.

"Is someone there?" Xander wondered.

"..."

Shira ignored him on purpose.

"Answer." Martha commanded with a cold glare.

"T-there is someone..." Shira replied reluctantly, gritting its teeth.

"Eliminate the person." Martha said, narrowing her eyes.

"Yes..."

Clenching his fist, a defeated Shira headed in the direction of the person who apparently just entered the Great Jungle.

"Are you sure about sending it out alone?" Xander asked.

Shira was indeed strong but in its current state, even Xander could go up against it.

"Shut it."

Xander sighed once more.

"I will go and check things out for myself." he stated as he left.

A few minutes later, Shira finally came across the intruder.

"..."

Its widened eye met the apathetic eyes of a person it made a promise with.

Mika.

"You really came, huh...? Unfortunately, at a bad time." Shira chuckled.

Mika promised Shira to come back to the Great Jungle in order to cure it.

"What happened to you?" Mika asked sternly.

"..."

Shira was too ashamed and just averted his gaze.

"Understood."

Mika began to walk further.

The pressure he emitted grew tenser which Shira instantly noticed.

Shira’s bestial instincts told it to not touch Mika but Martha’s order overwrote that warning.

"Mika, dodge!"

Mika easily dodged Shira’s arm swing.

"They really are here, huh?"

Mika quickly put the pieces together. Judging from the injuries, he concluded that Shira fought against Dreyar and because Shira attacked Mika reluctantly, Martha must have controlled Shira.

It felt like his brain and thinking processes took a leap, too, since he woke up in the village.

"Sorry, but this may hurt a little."

Carefully, Mika stabbed Shira in the thigh shallowly.

"Argh...!"

Shira’s fur slowly dispersed, revealing human skin under it. However, Shira grabbed Excalibur and tossed it away.

"Hmm... So I didn’t hit the right spot."

Mika thought that he could undo Martha’s ability by simply stabbing Shira with Excalibur but that was not the case.

"It’s no use. Her ability affects one’s mind so if you want to negate her ability you have to stab the head."

"..."

With a worse mood, Mika coldly turned to Xander who flew above the trees behind Shira.

Mika instantly switched to the Holy Spear and threw it at Xander.

"Enlarge."

"Gah!" Xander groaned.

He tried to dodge but was hit when the spear suddenly increased its whole size.

And when he fell to the ground, Mika went after him and pressed his foot against Xander’s throat.

"Ugh!"

"Are you tired of living or why did you show up in front of me?" Mika asked in a cold tone.

"...!"

Xander desperately tried to free himself as he grabbed Mika’s leg.

Even Shira came and tried to kick Mika. But this time, Mika was unaffected by Shira’s attack as he bluntly blocked the kick with his forearm.

Then, Mika lifted his leg and launched a kick, sending Shira away.

Xander, in turn, coughed extremely after being freed. But he, too, soon tasted Mika’s kick and was crashed against trees.

"..."

Excalibur was summoned into his hands as Mika casually walked towards Xander.

"W-wait! I came to tel- AAHHH!!!"

Mika cut off Xander’s left arm and watched him scream in agony.

"I...I want to make a deal w- Umpfh!"

This time, Mika stomped Xander’s head against the tree.

"Don’t waste my time. If you want to live longer then I’d suggest you hurry up." Mika sharply stated.

He retracted his arm and continuously stabbed Xander in the abdomen.

"There... There are other people- Hngh...!"

Xander understood the message Mika sent to him.

Mika would continue inflicting pain on him but if Xander wanted to voice out his statement, he had to bear the pain. After all, Mika would not spare Xander even a second of his time just to listen to his request.

Thus, Xander fought against the pain and the blood that gushed out of his mouth.

"...aside from us who..."

Shira came from behind, trying to tackle Mika.

"Ack!"

Mika disappeared from his spot, making Shira tackle Xander.

"?!"

Xander saw Mika stomping Shira down on him, worsening his stomach wounds. But he had no time to complain as Mika was about to kill him.

Mika retracted his arm and was about to aim for Xander’s head next.

"There are other people behind that attack!" Xander shouted as fast as possible.

"..."

Sweat rolled down his bloody cheeks as Xander’s eyes looked at the blade which was just one inch away from stabbing his head.

"What did you say?" Mika said threateningly.

"..."

Xander’s jaw trembled in fear.

"AAHH!!!"

"Don’t make me wait or repeat myself."

Ruthlessly, Mika slashed Xander’s left eye.

"Tell me."

Mika gently kicked Shira away from Xander.

"Hngh...!"

Excalibur was now stuck in Xander’s right thigh.

"Who teamed up with you bastards? Tell me the names of everyone who was involved."

"W-will you spare me then- Ugh!"

Mika twisted the blade inside Xander’s thigh.

"What did I tell you to do?"

"I-I understand...!"

Shakingly and with ragged breathing, Xander began to reveal every piece of information he had to Mika.

"I see."

Xander did not dare to look at Mika’s face right now.

Veins all over Mika’s body were about to burst out of rage.

He raised his sword.

"..."

Having no voice, Xander looked at the sword with fear.

And as the sword was about to strike him, he forcefully closed his eyes.