As the orb of blood rushed to the portal, a vacuum-like sound reverberated through the entire world and caused it to tremble. The portal showed no signs of cracking but Amelia didn't have a hint of worry on her face as the orb that was at least ten meters high and ten meters wide began draining. The amount of blood she absorbed from the demons was frightening but she still wouldn't be able to get this much blood from that alone.

She was a vampire, a being that can take the blood from others but they can also create blood.

"[Blood Tsunami]."

Amelia muttered. The orb of blood floating behind her burst apart and then formed a huge wave of blood, it looked exactly like a tsunami, although it was quite thin because of the limited amount, it would still frighten anyone who dared look at it.

"If bit by bit won't work, then how about all at once?"

Though she was talking to an inanimate object, it appeared to have heard her provocation as the vacuum-like sound became louder.

Amelia pointed her finger at the portal and the tsunami of blood rushed forward. Erina who was watching at the back was astonished, the blood seemed as if it wouldn't harm anything but when she looked at it, it was as if she knew by instinct that it was dangerous.

The tsunami of blood opened a small hole to open the path for Amelia and then closed itself once more. The waves roared while the portal's vacuum-like sound became even louder. Now, the world was trembling so much that it felt like an earthquake of magnitude 10 everywhere on the planet. Luckily, the entire world was an illusion and no matter how it quaked, it wouldn't do anything. If it could somehow bring down the illusions, then they can be restored in the blink of an eye. Any inhabitants currently in the world, exempting Amelia's group, would only be illusions.

WHIRRRRR

Now, the vacuum-like sound was so loud that neither Amelia or Erina could hear their own voices and they were forced to cover their ears. Angie woke up because of the sound and had to cover hers as well.

BOOM

All of a sudden, the blood tsunami overwhelmed the portal and exploded. Six chains broke apart and like a vacuum being put on reverse, Kai was blown out of the destroyed portal.

But even though he was flying at about a thousand kilometers a second, he could still stop himself. Forcing his body to stop, he crash landed on the floor and created a giant crater.

"So I'm finally out."

Kai stretched his arms and then his body. A few seconds after, Amelia arrived with the other two in tow.

"Welcome back, dear."

Amelia greeted him with a smile. Erina on the other hand, encased herself in a pillar of ice just as she arrived.

"...?"

Kai looked at the pillar of ice in bewilderment, his eyes then traveled towards Angie whose appearance was very disheveled. Seeing the pillar and Angie, it all made sense to him.

It's been awhile so I guess it's fine to tease her.

A smirk floated across Kai's face and he quickly went to work.

Using telepathy, Kai transferred his thoughts to Angie and Amelia.

Inside the pillar of ice where Erina was changing her clothes and fixing herself, she suddenly heard a noise.

"Ahn~"

"..."

She stopped herself for a second.

Did I just mishear...?

"Ahn~ Not there~"

"?!"

That was Amelia's voice! Don't tell me... they're doing it there?!

-Erina, an innocent girl exposed to the dark side after meeting Kai and Amelia was now having wild thoughts running around her head.

"Eh? Master, me too?! Ah...!"

The temperature suddenly lowered below absolute zero celsius.

"...He touches Angie but not me?! I'm his... g-girlfriend!"

Erina quickly lowered the pillar to be met with the sight of Kai giving Amelia and Angie acupuncture. Amelia covered her mouth with a fan who knows where came from and Angie had her mouth covered to stop herself from laughing.

"Y...you two! You tricked me!"

"Thank you for the meal."

Hearing Kai's unexpected comment, Erina tilted her head.

"Even I wouldn't be so bold as to walk outside with only my underwear!"

Amelia said with a laugh.

Hearing that, Erina ran inside the pillar, closed it, and yelled as loud as possible. Of course, it was futile since the pillar itself wasn't sound proof.

The Empire's Capital

Dark clouds began forming above the capital of the Empire at a rapid pace. In just a few seconds, it became a storm cloud. This was obviously not a product of mother nature, it was by magic.

"Your Majesty, the clouds!"

"What about the clouds?"

Heliana was at her room and had her curtains closed with only a lamp to light up the room so when she heard the maid inform her through the door, she quickly opened the curtains.

"It's just a storm..."

"Your Majesty, it was formed in seconds! We may be under attack!"

Hearing that, Heliana cast off any doubt and ran outside. She wore her empress clothes almost all the time, she only removed them when it was time to sleep or if she wanted to go to the pond but it seems that tonight, she won't be able to go.

"Have we received word from the esteemed elder?"

"We haven't received any reports yet, Your Majesty."

A couple of knights were running towards the direction of Heliana's room but stopped when they saw her.

"Your Majesty, we're here to inform you about the clouds!"

"Give us all the information you have."

They walked faster and faster to the gate of the palace. Right now, she couldn't go to the throne room, what would she solve by staying there?

"So, there was a sudden influx of magic power and then the clouds began to form? Why couldn't We feel it from the room? The mana required to manipulate the weather would have to be an insane amount, at least an S-class' mana!"

The knight scratched his cheek.

"Your Majesty, only about a handful of soldiers felt the mana and they were all at what should be the future eye of the storm."

"So the mana was contained in a single area, how much mastery would one need to do this...?"

The maid had long since separated from them and now, Heliana was accompanied by a dozen knights.

"Hel!"

"Lu!"

Seeing the figure arriving on horseback, Heliana had a delighted look on her face.

"What's happening? I saw storm clouds suddenly forming so I had to rush here..."

Lu, real name: Lucent Hanford, the vice-captain of the knights of the Empire. The Empire was a matriarchy but when Heliana was pressured, there were only male nobles present. This was because the meeting was done in secret, the male nobles were nothing in the face of their wives' authorities.

But even with the matriarchy, Lucent Hanford was an exception. Normally, a noblewoman wouldn't take up knighthood up until reaching the rank of vice-captain. Most noblewomen stop at trainees or full-fledged knights but they wouldn't climb up the ranks because there was no need to do so, their status was already far ahead of the others but Lucent was different, even before she reached adulthood, she trained as a knight and was praised as a prodigy.

Though her father and mother tried to dissuade her, they reached a compromise by promising that the time that she takes over the title of Countess, she would step down from her position as knight captain. She was Heliana's most trusted soldier and also close friend since they had been close since childhood. Excluding the aide who she thought of as a grandfather figure, Lucent was the closest to her.

"Hel, what's going on?"

Normally, a knight calling the empress by such a familiar name would be punished but everyone knew of the relationship between these two so nobody reacted.

"We don't know but We've received reports that there was a sudden influx of mana. Now, the army is preparing to mobilize and citizens are being evacuated."

"Got it. I'll take the front."

"We're counting on you."

Lucent was at A-class, in terms of talent, she was probably on the same level or just a bit lower than Erina but in terms of combat experience, Lucent had a lot more. Though she hadn't faced off against a foe like Fate or Kai, she was still quite proficient in battle, she was the queen of the chessboard and Heliana was the king. Together, they were feared for not losing a single war.

The clouds began to move in a different direction, at first they were gathering towards the center but now they were rotating around the center. Lightning began to crackle but none of them went out of the clouds.

"Get ready!"

Lucent commanded the dozen knights behind Heliana and set up defensive positions.

The thunder roared as a huge pillar of lightning appeared from the eye. It was directly in front of the palace and nobody got hit, fortunately.

Four figures were visible from within, Lucent had no hesitation as she thrust her spear forward and just as she did so, the lightning dispersed.

CLANG

Her spear hit metal and was held in place.

"...?!"

No matter how she moved the spear, it wouldn't budge. Even if someone twice as strong as her wouldn't be able to hold it this tightly.

"Who the hell?"

Kai pulled the spear close and dragged Lucent along with it. Stumbling, Lucent fell into Kai's arms but that quickly turned into a brawl. Lucent let go of her spear and tried to strike Kai's chin but she was stopped with a single hand. She then kicked the floor and kicked Kai's body but he didn't move an inch and she used him to get away.

"Lu, wait!"

"Hel, get back!"

Seeing Heliana approaching her, Lucent quickly tried to push her away but it appeared she used too much force at the unguarded Heliana as the latter began to stumble backward.

Whoosh

"That was close."

Kai appeared right behind Heliana and stopped her from falling.

"T-thank you, Sir Kai..."

Heliana lowered her head and meekly said. She then faced towards Lucent and took her hands in hers.

"Lu, this is Sir Kai, the S-class that We hired in place of the esteemed elder's absence... We have no idea why he appeared in lightning though..."

"S-class...?!"

Lucent was shocked but quickly regained herself and bowed at Kai.

"My apologies for disrespecting you, Sir Kai! If you so wish, please kill me but do not harm the Empire!"

"...Why does everyone automatically prostrate themselves?"

"Isn't it because of your clothes?"

Angie arrived next to Kai and pointed out his clothes. Right now, he wore the black trench coat and had quite the intimidating air around him.

"Hmm..."

As Kai seriously pondered the comment, Lucent slowly raised her body.

"Sir Kai...?"

"What?"

"You aren't going to punish me or anything...?"

"Do you want to be punished?"

"No, if possible..."

"Then I won't punish you."

Kai sighed and shook his head before turning his gaze at Heliana.

"Heliana."

"Y-yes!"

Heliana was still dazed from watching Lucent and Kai's exchange and was shocked at the sudden call but to Lucent, it sounded like a response of nervousness.

"Wait, Sir Kai! It's my fault so don't punish Hel- I mean, Her Majesty!"

This girl is such a pain in the ass...

Kai's eye twitched, why was he being framed as a villain? If that was the case, then he should just act like one. Settling that internal conflict in less than a second, Kai quickly closed in on Lucent and raised her chin.

"Then, will you take her place in my bedroom?"

"?!"

Lucent's eyes widened and looked at Heliana in shock.

"Wait, I don't recall anything like that!"

Heliana became flushed and quickly tried to deny it.

"I-if..."

Seeing Lucent lower her head, Heliana stopped and tried to listen.

"If that is what it takes, then I'll gladly take her place!"

"Alright, this stops here."

Erina arrived and covered her hands in Eternal Frost before smacking Kai in the face.

"Ouch!"

"No complaining! This is the second time you've tried to trick a girl today!"

Erina sighed at Kai's fake villain behavior and placed her hand on Lucent's shoulders.

"Don't worry, Kai's not the person you think he is. In fact, he's incredibly nice and can't leave others alone!"

"Eh..."

And just like that, the first meeting between Kai's party and Lucent concluded.

(Great War Arc Ends)