The skies of Apeiron were still peaceful on the surface, but if one gazed deep enough, they’d be able to see the storm taking place beneath. In various locations on Apeiron, massacres were taking place.
Within the hideout of a certain secret organization, Rose, Ruyue, and Elena stood together.
Shing!
A white crescent moved through the air as Elena rapidly swung her sword. With each movement she made, another enemy fell lifelessly to the ground. Behind her, Rose and Ruyue calmly walked through the musty halls of the hideout.
Rose spoke with a smile. “Want to know a fun fact? Actually, this organization has been trying to kill me for a very long time. They even coerced a portion of the nobles in the Adelaire Empire to rebel against Father. But since they didn’t have any 4th class experts, their plans were never carried out.”
Rose swiped her hand through the air, causing a wall to the side to disappear. The three women walked through the newly revealed corridor behind the wall and began a new battle. This time, Ruyue stepped up.
Iceflames rapidly covered the hall and suffocated those within. The burning chill of the flames combined with the powerful yin-attributed mana Ruyue gained through her contract with Lily truly turned the area into a freezing hell.
But the three girls walked through that hell unaffected. It was as if the suffering that the hundreds of enemies around them were experiencing wasn’t real at all.
“I feel like I should be thankful to these people, though. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have needed to hide my identity while traveling, and I would’ve never met Damien on that escort mission. Fate is a weird thing sometimes, isn’t it?”
Elena rolled her eyes. “This is supposed to be a serious operation, yet you can’t stop yourself from recounting old memories? I mean, I know the difficulty level is basically 0, but you still have to show these guys some respect, right? At this rate, they’ll cough blood and die of anger before we could even kill them, and that’d be a waste of experience points.”
Rose shrugged without a care in the world. “Come on, don’t these bastards at least deserve a little humiliation? My life was so annoying because of them!”
“You can humiliate them all you want if you just cast a few illusions. I remember you used to have some…interesting…hobbies back in the day.”
Rose gave Elena a sideways glance and smiled sarcastically. “Is it really okay for you to talk, though? I remember you prepared a eunuch for Damien when he returned to Earth back then.”
Elena blushed in embarrassment. “T-that was then and this is now!”
Ruyue’s grin widened. “No, no. That’s something I should be saying. I’ve already kicked my bad habits, but you don’t seem to have made any progress at all.”
Her gaze shifted to the hallway they just came from. Even though the cuts on the corpses were clean, there was no reason for Elena to slash more than once to take care of any of their current enemies.
The stray arms and legs strewn across the floor were simply the result of Elena playing with her food.
Elena turned away in avoidance, pretending she didn’t see anything. And soon after, the trio finally made it to the end of the hallway.
“This should be it.” Ruyue sighed. “It was annoying taking care of all the small fries until this point, so I hope that at least the boss is somewhat presentable.”
Elena nodded in agreement. “Come to think of it, why did the three of us come together? Only one would be necessary to take care of this place.”
Ruyue giggled lightly. “Well, a certain somebody heard that this place was the force that kept chasing her during her childhood and immediately dragged us along before even hearing Damien’s explanation about their strength and numbers.”
This time, it was Rose’s turn to blush in embarrassment. Well, it was true that she got a little overexcited, but it couldn’t be helped. Just being back in her homeworld for the first time in so long made her feel giddy.
Rose hurriedly walked to the front of the trio and pushed open the large stone doors in front of them. The only way to avoid her current shame was to completely divert attention.
And this boss man was the perfect opportunity to do so.
Because the organization’s hideout was created inside an excavated old dungeon, the layout mirrored that structure. They had already passed through all the mobs present in the other rooms, and now, in the most cliche manner possible, they entered the boss room.
On the throne centered against the back wall of the boss room, an imposing man sat placidly.
“You…Adelaire Princess, it seems you’ve finally come.”
Rose glanced at the man with indifference even greater than his own. She looked him up and down with such a fierce gaze that it felt like she pierced his body and directly examined his soul.
“Disappointing,” Rose muttered under her breath.
“You…! What the hell did you just call me?!” The man on the throne boomed.
Rose rolled her eyes and raised her voice. “I called you a fucking disappointment, deaf bastard. I can’t believe someone as weak as you actually had the audacity to plot against me and my father.”
“Bitch, you vanished for a few years and came back far too arrogant for your own good. Let me show you—!”
“What’s with old people and their insistence on trying to prove their power to me? It’s so damn pointless.” Rose cut him off before his speech could crescendo.
“If you want to make a cool villain speech, then at least have the power to do so. Anyway, I have no time to waste on you. After you die, I can finally go see father again. So, goodbye!”
Rose clenched her fist. Space distorted around the throned man, crushing him into meat paste in an instant.
“Wow!” Ruyue whistled. “I knew you were head over heels, but to think you’d even imitate his attacks.”
Elena nodded furiously in agreement. “Mm. I think we need to hold an intervention for our big sister. If things go on like this, she’ll lose all her creativity. Her naming sense might even become as bad as Damien’s.”
“Gasp!” Ruyue gasped exaggeratedly. “Anything but that! It’s been a while since you two have seen him fight, so you wouldn’t know, but do you even understand how many different attacks and abilities he’s named with the word ‘void’? I think it’s better if we name his abilities for him from now on.”
Rose’s eyes widened in realization. “It’s not just the Void Physique, the Void Sword Art, and his last name anymore? When it was just three, it was acceptable, but more than that…”
Rose’s eyes hardened as she spoke. “Alright, I accept your intervention. There’s no way I’ll allow my naming sense to deteriorate so much!”
Elena and Ruyue nodded in solidarity with her. As the three of them continued to talk and joke, they exited the now-destroyed hideout of the nameless organization.
“Hmm, we finished one, so Damien should’ve finished at least five by now, I think? Looking at the time, it’s around time for us to meet at the palace.” Elena said.
Rose nodded with an excited smile. “Good, good! Little sister Ruyue, it’s finally time for you to meet both my father and Damien’s mother! Let’s go!”
Ruyue smiled in nervousness and excitement. While she fretted over how to act in front of Damien’s mother, the three flew into the sky and began moving toward the capital of the Adelaire Empire.
With the destruction of the hideout they just raided, 1,322 traitors had been exterminated. And according to the estimate made by Damien, close to 250,000 remained.