Riven and Sofia looked at the bushes. They froze in place, waiting to see what it was, but then a small horned rabbit leaped out. It looked at them, then jumped away.
They looked at each other and then burst into laughter. Riven got off her and helped her to her feet.
"You were so ready to go," he said.
"Says you. I’m sure you almost pulled your sword," she shot back.
But then suddenly, a demonized leaped out. "Rooooaaaarrrr!" It let out a deafening roar that shook the forest.
Riven and Sofia looked at the demonized. They hadn’t expected something here. The moment they saw it, their rage spiked.
Riven pulled out his sword and charged in immediately—no help, no holding back, and no stopping. He leaped into the air and slashed down.
The demonized moved fast and dodged the attack before slashing at Riven, but a ball of flames slammed into the demonized and pushed it back.
Riven pushed closer and used Flame Arc. The arc hit the demonized head-on and cut deep into its body.
’Unlike before, I’m stronger. I can kill you faster. Last time you almost killed us—this time, I’ll dominate you,’ Riven thought. He pushed his speed, his sword bursting with blue flames as he cut toward the head of the demonized.
But demonized were fast and had high instincts. It pushed back and dodged the blade. It tried to counter, but a bolt of lightning slammed into it and pushed it back, leaving a deep burn in its body.
The demonized started thrashing around, but Riven dodged all the attacks and then pushed forward faster.
"You are a demonized—how come you have the same strength level as the crocodile?" Riven asked before attacking. The demonized tried to block the attack, but Riven was already prepared for it. He sidestepped and dodged it before thrusting his sword deep into the chest and through the heart of the demonized.
The body shattered and burst into light. Riven looked at it, and for some reason, he wasn’t happy after it died.
"Did Quin put demonized as the second-day beasts?" Riven asked. The thought of it made him angry. All the students were highly traumatized by what happened in the academy, and here they were, being attacked by demonized.
"I get what he is trying to do, but it’s far too early for that," Riven said.
"I think it’s the best time. We are already at war. Quin is trying his best to make warriors faster for the sake of the kingdom. He doesn’t have the time to worry about things like their feelings," Sofia said.
Her words were true, but it also showed Riven a bit of who Sofia was inside. She was someone that would go any route for the goal, even if it meant harming others.
With this realization, it finally made sense. He recalled what had happened in the story where she saved Lance at the risk of her family getting killed.
Back when he read the story, he saw it as sacrifice and love, but only now did he remember that the night before, the king himself spoke to her and asked that she help Lance, because only through him would they be able to save the world.
She didn’t leave them. She saved him not for love—she did it because it was the best way to save the world. She was built on the greater good system.
"Well, it doesn’t matter now. All that matters is that we take them down now," Riven said.
Unknown to the students on the island, something massive had happened in the kingdom.
Sapphire, who had been on the receiving end of the war ever since its beginning, finally made a tangible response.
But their response wasn’t what the kingdom had expected. They had expected massive spells and the sending of warriors and demonized to take down the main army for Vermillion.
But none of that happened. Sapphire used different attacks. All the days that they had been taking the brunt of the attack, they had sent special mages and warriors through hidden paths to all borders of Vermillion to infiltrate all villages and small towns.
Their plan had been simple—create gates in all the small villages and towns, releasing demonized in hundreds.
Why they went with such an attack method, no one really knew. But Sapphire had their reasons, and their attack was about to cost the lives of millions and cause damage beyond what Vermillion thought was possible.
And among the towns where gates were to be planted, Riven’s hometown was one. At the forest near the town, three figures stood, staring at the town in the distance.
"Let us begin—for the greater good of the Kingdom of Sapphire and for the great Demon Lord," one said, and they started drawing the circle on the ground. They took a few minutes drawing it.
They placed some purple crystals at certain points of the circle. They stood around the circle and started infusing mana.
The circle lit up, and the crystals glowed. A few seconds passed, and the gate twisted into existence. It pulled mana from all around into it and grew in size until it was ten feet tall.
The growls of demonized soon started coming from the gate, and after a few seconds, the first demonized stepped out, standing at eight feet, powerful and with a very heavy presence.
It looked at the three men that stood there, and before they could move, it attacked and killed them—tearing their bodies apart. Then the demonized began pouring out one after the other.
This gate was bigger than the one at the academy before and was also made with better preparations. The number of demonized that could come through was three times more—and several times more powerful.
The demonized immediately rushed toward the town, moving at full speed through the forest. And when they came out of the forest and could be seen from the town, panic followed. Alarms blasted all around the town.