"M-Mika!"

Zack shouted his name nervously from behind.

"You can’t enter just like that...!" Wendy remarked, glancing anxiously over to Olivia.

Those two were assigned to guard the room, however, they let their guard down upon Mika’s arrival and his appearance that would have alerted anyone.

"..."

Mika ignored their words and stepped towards the table.

"H-he’s the captain’s candidate...?!"

Some of the candidates were flabbergasted by that fact.

But they and the two new members of the Grand Order ceased their efforts to seize him because Olivia ordered them but they could not help but feel uneasy around him. Thus, they observed every single move of his.

If he would show any signs of hostility, then they would not hesitate to strike him down.

"What exactly happened to you?" Olivia asked sternly.

She may have had a rough grasp on his situation thanks to her sister, however, she wanted to hear it from him in person.

"An S-rank demon appeared in my village." Mika stated.

He appeared indifferent at first glance, however internally, his blood was boiling from the rage.

"S-S-S-rank?!"

It was a natural reaction for most people, especially for the candidates.

A while ago, Vira was considered to be the strongest demon in the human realm, however, she was an A-rank at the end of the day.

The candidates were whispering to each other.

"Silence." Olivia ordered sternly.

But it was visible on her face that she was shocked by the news.

"An S-rank, huh...?" she sighed.

"Are you really believing him? If he really saw an S-rank demon, how could he be still standing here?" Loram doubted.

"Truth be told, I also cannot quite imagine how he could escape an S-rank alive..." Eliza added tensely.

They knew about Mika’s achievements in Grat, including the subjugation of Vira but they still had doubts. Furthermore, Mika seemed too fine in their opinion.

There were no grave injuries or any injuries altogether. The blood on his clothes belonged to his enemies which were mostly monsters.

"I came here with the hope to find him but it seems like I misjudged." Mika said, ignoring Loram and Eliza again.

"You’re searching for that demon...?" Olivia asked.

"Yes. I fought against him once and lost. So I tried following until I arrived in the Great Jungle. However, since then, I was not able to gather any information about his whereabouts."

"I thought that he would try to test his strength against the strongest humans so I came here." Mika added.

Only after arriving in Fuera, he remembered that he was invited as a candidate.

"As embarrassing as it is, we didn’t even know about the existence of that demon until today." Olivia replied.

"I see."

"Anyways, there’s a lot I want to talk to you about but how about joining this meeting for now? We will discuss-"

"I decline."

"Hm?"

Olivia raised her eyebrows for a moment.

"Instead of wasting my time with pointless and long discussions, I’d rather go out and actively search for that vile creature." Mika said with slight scorn.

Then, Loram pulled on Mika’s shoulder, turning his face to him.

"Hey, don’t you think that you’re pushing your luck now?" he stated with sharp eyes.

"Loram, stop." Olivia ordered sternly.

"Captain! You can’t allow such a rudeness! It’s not just disrespectful to you but to the others, too!" he argued.

However, those, who were associated with Mika, did not show any signs of complaints.

"..."

Mika slapped Loram’s hand away.

"You intend to search for that demon even though you don’t know anything?"

"Yes."

"You fool..." Olivia sighed once more.

She gestured with her hand for Mika to come over.

"Just stay here. We will make a plan." she said tiredly.

"Am I even allowed here?"

"What are you talking about? You’ve received an invitation from me, didn’t you? Only members and their candidates are here."

"..."

Mika stared at Olivia without changing his expression.

"I’m sorry but it seems like there’s a small misunderstanding."

"?"

Now, the others, who were silent for a while, turned their heads to Mika with question marks above their heads.

"Speak, Mika. What do you mean?"

Olivia’s eyes sharpened.

"Since I’m here I also wanted to formally decline my position as a candidate for the Grand Order. I simply don’t desire that title and the corresponding duties." Mika explained apathetically.

A vein was about to burst on Olivia’s forehead.

Ophelia, meanwhile, could not keep her jaw closed like many others.

"Care to repeat that?"

Olivia was in a bad mood now.

"I respect what you’re doing but being a part of this group wouldn’t help me."

"The Grand Order exists to solve problems and defeat enemies the normal mage wouldn’t be able to do on their own. You stick your noses into things only after being told to do so. You exist to protect the people. However, that’s not what I want to do."

Mika’s hands were behind his back.

"If you’re humanity’s shield, then I want to be the sword. I want to hunt down my enemies." Mika added firmly.

Killing those on his personal blacklist would not satisfy Mika yet. He wanted to get rid of any evil in this realm, meaning he wanted to kill every demon here.

"Without waiting for an order, I want to use every single moment to hunt possible threats down."

It would be too late if they were to wait.

Instead of waiting for something else to get destroyed in order to notice the threat, it was more efficient to eliminate the threat before it could do anything.

However, Mika’s motivation was not due to goodwill or the like.

He just wanted to get rid of any potential threats which could lead to the great war which Mikaela was talking about. According to Mikaela, God gave Mika the mission to end the war. Only after achieving that, Mika would be allowed to enter the heavenly realm.

And that was Mika’s goal.

He wanted to enter that realm so that he could take his ultimate revenge.

In the human realm, he could only take revenge on Dreyar for directly taking part in the mass killing of his village, including his family. But Mika also had to pay back the angels and God who made the quests for him and planned each step in his life which led to cruel choices.

It was payback for messing with his life.

"..."

Olivia was clenching her fist, digging her nails into the flesh.

"Olivia Rostanta." Mika called her out as he walked to her seat.

He stood right beside her and looked at her side profile.

"...?"

Everyone was perplexed when Mika stretched his hand to her.

"I’m currently looking for strong people who could join my group and I want you to be the first one to join."

"What?!"

The others began to raise their voices in disbelief and some also slammed the table with their hands.

"This group will only contain people who possess the strength to take on a demon. In other words, I’m making a group consisting of the world’s strongest peop-"

Before he could finish, Olivia launched a heavy fist which was enhanced with lightning.

The others immediately erected a wall with their magic to protect themselves, however, the room drew the short stick as there was now a hole, showing the outside.

"..."

Dust was kicked up but quickly dispersed.

Mika was unfazed after he dodged the punch by just simply moving his head to the side.

"Are you mocking us...? I have tolerated many things but I won’t let you mock the Grand Order, which I, the captain, lead." Olivia said sharply.

The Grand Order was supposed to be the strongest group because the members were the strongest mages. However, Mika trampled on their image as he wanted to look for the actual strongest people in the world.

"Are you calling us frauds...? Scams? Do we look too weak to you? Do you really think that you can search for stronger people than those who are here?"

Olivia sounded more annoyed with each passing second.

"Mika! Olivia!"

Ophelia was about to get between them as she sensed that the situation was about to escalate.

However, she was too late.

"..."

Silently, two candidates jumped at Mika from behind while charging their magic attacks.

Mika naturally noticed that and did not break a sweat countering that attack. He used light to blind them for a moment and used that short time span to get behind them.

"?!"

He grabbed both their heads and slammed them against the table as he landed.

"I will be blunt with you but sadly that’s what I’m saying." he gave a positive response to Olivia’s questions.

"..."

Of course, Olivia was anything but happy to hear that.

But it was not just her.

Most of the Grand Order was offended. Even the Bugars.

Thus, they all stood up and readied themselves.

"Why don’t you see for yourself if they’re weak or not...?" Olivia remarked coldly.

Ophelia, Sara and Elsa showed no interest in that dispute.

"..."

Mika counted the numbers.

It was him against four candidates and five official members.