The forest erupted into chaos.
Steel clashed.
Magic illuminated the trees.
Birds scattered into the sky.
The frightened merchants hid behind their broken wagons while Team Seven faced nearly forty mercenaries.
Darius Voss rested his greatsword on his shoulder.
He smiled.
“So…”
“Let’s see if the famous Crimson Swordsman is worth the stories.”
Yozaro calmly raised Dawnbringer.
“I don’t fight for stories.”
“I fight so the people behind me can go home.”
For a brief moment…
Darius’s smile disappeared.
“Same formation!”
Yozaro shouted.
Kael instantly moved to the left flank.
Rex became the team’s shield.
Luna climbed onto a fallen wagon to gain a clear view of the battlefield.
Mira remained in the center, protected by Fenrir.
Months of training had made them move almost instinctively.
They didn’t need lengthy commands anymore.
One glance was enough.
Five mercenaries rushed Kael.
One attacked high.
Another low.
The others surrounded him.
Kael grinned.
“You guys never learn.”
His sword flashed.
Clang!
Clang!
He redirected the first strike into the second attacker.
The third stumbled.
Rex charged through them like a charging bull.
BOOM!
Three men were thrown aside.
Luna raised her staff.
“Frozen Bloom.”
Ice flowers burst from the ground, locking several enemies in place without killing them.
Mira immediately healed an injured merchant who had been struck by a stray arrow.
No one in Team Seven fought alone.
Yozaro stepped toward the mercenary captain.
Darius planted his sword in the earth.
“You know…”
“I’ve been watching you.”
Yozaro narrowed his eyes.
“Watching me?”
“Since the academy.”
“So it was your people.”
Darius nodded.
“We were ordered not to interfere.”
“Only to observe.”
“Until now.”
Darius pulled his blade free.
Unlike Varis…
Every swing shattered the ground.
Yozaro refused to meet the attacks head-on.
He slipped to the side.
One strike.
Then another.
Searching.
Observing.
Waiting.
Raizen’s lessons echoed in his mind.
Control the distance.
Their blades locked.
Yozaro looked closely at the symbol engraved near the hilt.
The mark of Greed.
“Where did you get that sword?”
Darius laughed.
“So you recognized it.”
“It was given to me by a man with golden eyes.”
Yozaro’s heart skipped a beat.
“…Azrael?”
Darius’s smile vanished.
“You know that name?”
The mercenary captain jumped backward.
He lowered his weapon.
“I’m not your enemy.”
Kael shouted from across the battlefield,
“Yozaro!”
“What are you doing?!”
The fighting around them slowed.
Even the mercenaries looked confused.
Darius sighed.
“I accepted this job because I wanted to see you myself.”
He removed the leather glove from his right hand.
A silver ring rested on his finger.
The same symbol.
The same rune.
As Yozaro’s ring.
“You…”
“You have a Key.”
Darius nodded.
“My grandfather entrusted it to me before he died.”
“He said one day…”
“I’d meet someone carrying its twin.”
Yozaro slowly lowered Dawnbringer.
“Who was your grandfather?”
“I never knew his real name.”
“He only called himself…”
“…The Keeper.”
Suddenly—
THUD!
An arrow pierced Darius’s shoulder.
His eyes widened.
The mercenaries turned in shock.
A black-robed man stood atop a cliff overlooking the battlefield.
The Crimson Cardinal.
His voice echoed through the valley.
“Darius Voss…”
“You’ve disappointed us.”
The mercenary captain clenched his teeth.
“You were using us…”
The Cardinal smiled.
“Of course.”
“You served your purpose.”
Black-robed soldiers emerged from every direction.
Not dozens.
Hundreds.
They surrounded both Team Seven and the mercenaries.
Kael cursed.
“…We’ve been trapped.”
Rex tightened his grip on his axe.
“So much for an easy mission.”
The Cardinal raised one hand.
“Kill everyone.”
“No witnesses.”
Darius pulled the arrow from his shoulder.
He looked at Yozaro.
“…Looks like we have the same problem.”
Yozaro smiled faintly.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
Darius laughed.
“Then let’s survive.”
For the first time…
The mercenaries and Team Seven stood side by side.
Former enemies.
Now unwilling allies.
The Cult attacked.
Dark magic rained across the valley.
Luna erected a barrier just in time.
The impact shook the earth.
Kael and Rex led the charge.
Yozaro and Darius fought shoulder to shoulder.
Their swords moved with surprising harmony.
As if they had trained together for years.
Watching from the cliff…
The Crimson Cardinal narrowed his eyes.
“So…”
“The two Keys have found each other.”
He slowly reached inside his robe.
And withdrew…
A third silver ring.
Unlike the others…
Its rune was glowing.
The Cardinal smiled beneath his hood.
“Let’s see…”
“…whether the Heir is worthy of opening the First Gate.”
He crushed the glowing ring in his hand.
The ground beneath the valley began to tremble.
Deep underground…
Something ancient awakened.
A colossal stone door, buried for thousands of years, slowly began to open.
From the darkness behind it…
A single golden eye opened.