A total of two and a half months have passed since they arrived on the Demon Continent.

Using the connections they had made over that time, everyone's journey went a lot smoother. Erina and Kei had managed to arrive at Goetia after Angie and Date. The four of them met up with each other and made money using various ideas they brought from the human continents.

Yoko, Kazuki, and Umi were still far, but they were traveling through towns at a faster pace because they had taken up a job of escorting. Their fees were waived in exchange for escorting merchants and nobles who were looking for mercenaries.

Natsumi and Arata, who were already right next to Goetia weeks prior had established contact with Erina and the others. With their help, Natsumi was able to graduate from being a waitress.

In the end, they all managed to find a means to get to Goetia and within the next two weeks, should all be able to gather there.

"...There's still no word about Kai."

Natsumi bit her lip lightly. With Angie's information, they managed to find out that Kai was posing as a traveling merchant named Tullius. He sells goods that couldn't be found anywhere on the continent and had made quite the name for himself. The problem was... it's been a while since any report of activity from him.

"Well, you don't have to worry so much. It's Kai, after all."

Arata spoke from the side and then downed a mug of beer—something that even the demons really liked.

"It's because it's Kai that I'm worried. He made a lot of moves and didn't even try to hide the fact that he was selling goods from humans but all of a sudden, he just vanished. If this was back at our continents then I wouldn't have worried..."

There was nobody stronger than Kai among the humans, that was a fact that all of them knew well. However, there were still many demons and angels that were far more powerful than him.

Arata still looked unperturbed.

"Well—"

All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door. Natsumi gave Arata a look and he moved to open it.

During these past few weeks, they had managed to rent out a building for their operations. It wasn't a very big one, but at the very least, they could do anything they wanted within its confines. They were currently at what looked to be an office. The table that Arata had set down his mug on was a desk.

The strangest thing was, there should be nobody here other than the two of them. They even prompted not to hire any caretakers and made do with just Natsumi's wind magic and Arata's earth to sweep away the dust and dirt.

Arata opened the door and standing there was a demon woman waiting for them at the door. Upon closer inspection, Arata could see that her body was a bit soul-like.

"..."

He didn't know what to say so he ended up just standing there for a bit.

"Greetings, humans. My name is Amanda Heidel Dominicus."

The woman curtseyed perfectly. It was to the point that Natsumi who had received etiquette lessons all her life was dumbfounded.

"We are of the Neutral Faction, and we wish to talk with you two."

The talks with the Neutral Faction went well, or at least that's what Natsumi thought. There was no way to say for sure whether either side would follow the deal through the end.

"They want to meet Kai..."

Natsumi was tapping her desk. Arata was still with the Neutral Faction talking over some things while she headed back to the office to think about what happened.

The talks weren't very complicated, there were just a few important conditions that she had to mind.

The first condition was to stop the attacks around the continent, which they could easily comply with—if they had contact with Yoko and the others that is. At the very least, Natsumi promised that their currently known members wouldn't do any more damage to the cities.

As a bonus, they were even provided Yoko's location and that they should be able to make contact with them very soon.

The second condition was that in exchange for their cooperation, the Neutral Faction promises not to interfere with them more than necessary.y It was a great deal, but there wasn't any reason for them to give in so much, which made this more suspicious than it had to be.

But... the third condition, was to meet with their leader.

They had already figured out that their leader was the mysterious merchant that appeared before, but even they lost track of his whereabouts and couldn't do anything other than contact his friends.

All in all, it was a very fruitful talk. Unless Kai planned to antagonize the Demon Continent, this was the best deal they could possibly strike. There was also something that they found out, the Neutral Faction followed the Demon of Hell Flame.

"If Kai were to meet with them..."

For the first time, Natsumi felt hope that they would be able to stop the Demon Continent from participating in the war. This wasn't just a mission that they could put off, it was a mission that would involve the very fate of the world. The pressure that everyone felt was immense, but they all hid it behind their trust in Kai.

Around two hours after Natsumi returned, Arata finished his talks with the Neutral Faction.

"So, all that's left is to wait for Kai, huh?"

"Nn..."

There was nothing else to do. They had already sowed the seeds, they only needed to wait and reap the rewards.

"...Arata, could you help me test something?"

If there was nothing else to do on the political front, then all that's left was to train. Natsumi asked Arata and the two of them went to the back of the building.

"So, all I have to do is try my best to defend?"

"Yeah..."

Natsumi took out her bow and closed her eyes.

Before she did anything, she first entered a state of self-analyzation.

Her forte was wind magic, but she had also recently managed to complete the trial for earth with Arata's help. The two elements weren't the best combination, but it wasn't like that was everything in her arsenal. She could also control fire to an extent now, making three of the four basic elements available to her.

There was also the gift of amplification, she could make someone stronger to a certain extent.

It won't work on people who reach the upper limits of her skill like Kai, but it was a great weapon to use for the other members.

However, she still felt that she was lacking. It wasn't just her, she felt that everyone except Erina was still lacking something important.

During the battle with the Immortal, there was nothing they could do but distract him. During the battle with the Blind Swordsman, they couldn't even directly participate in the battle so they deal with the aftershocks and stray bullets.

Sure, they were strong enough to say that they could stand at the peak of humanity, but was that really enough?

Humans were plentiful, but that was just because of their tenacity and reproduction abilities. If Demons and Angels could reproduce at the same rate as humans, the world would have long since been conquered by their two races.

In reality, humans were one of the weakest races, only superior to sentient beasts.

Would she be able to be any help if she were to continue living with only the knowledge of humanity?

Natsumi drew back her arrow. Silently, and calmly, she released the arrow from the bow. It flew through the air and moved so fast that a cone of air was surrounding the arrow, signifying that it moved so fast that it broke the sound barrier.

Arata already had his shield up, and to top it off, he had also erected a giant stone barrier. It was tougher than steel.

However, it only lasted for an instant.

The moment the arrow hit the barrier, there was an explosion.

Arata was blasted away along with the wall behind him. Not only that, but they had also managed to destroy the surrounding houses as well. It was a devastating attack that neither of them expected.

"Nng..."

Natsumi looked like she was about to cry. Not two hours ago, they had promised that they wouldn't cause any more damage. It wasn't a problem for her as she had never done any in the first place, but just now, she had destroyed half a city block. She plopped down on the ground.

Instead of joy at her new technique working, she became forlorn at the thought of having to renegotiate.

As for Kai, who had been counted as missing, he was currently having a battle with a demon. They had been fighting for three straight days and while he felt sorry for Akane, he had already informed her of the situation and made sure she was able to take care of herself.

Kai held out his gun and fired Rend several times but his opponent just blocked them all. Next, he took out Deceit and using his extreme reflexes, attacked from several angles at once but the result was still the same.

His opponent was a Marquess, one on the same level as Amon.

Another of the conditions that Gusion had set for him to guarantee his participation in the conference was to defeat his attendant, who was the Marquess.

This wasn't their first bout, throughout these three weeks, he had continuously battled with the Marquess for days at a time.

—Marchosias. That was the name of the Marquess that Kai was fighting.

He fought similarly to Kai, they both ignored the injuries that their opponents left on their bodies and continued to fight. The only thing is, Marchosias wasn't a pure demon, he was a therianthrope, a werewolf.

In his human form, Kai could contend with him somewhat, but the moment he turned into a werewolf, his five senses were amplified to the point that Kai couldn't even land a hit. Not only that, his power, speed, and mana, they were all amplified as well. It took Kai everything he had to defend against the attacks.

If he were to use the golden sheath or Superbia, he could win. But, would Gusion even consider that a win?

With three weeks from his three month deadline gone, the hope to set up a conference was turning bleak.

"Kuh...!"

Kai took a blow from the werewolf Marchosias. He managed to regenerate quickly because of his vampire blood, but just defending wouldn't allow him to win the battle.

He loaded a shell into his arm but it proved fruitless. The werewolf's thick skin just made his arm bounce off of it. Even his attacks that used vibrations to disturb the insides wouldn't work.

In the end, Kai had to accept his defeat once more and retreated into the Illusion World where Akane was waiting for him.

She took care of him and made him rest. She had almost fully recovered during these three weeks—which were even longer to her because of the time difference. Now, she devotes her time to training and taking care of Kai whenever he came.

"Jeez, you're all sweaty."

Akane took a towel and began wiping off his sweat. From his forehead to his neck, she wiped off everything she could reach.

"You should go take a bath, just wiping you off isn't enough."

She forced him to take off his shirt and then pushed him into the bathroom, she threw away the ripped clothes he wore and after about half an hour, Kai stepped out of the bathroom looking refreshed.

"So, how was it?"

Akane sat on the bed. She had her knees pressed together and gestured for Kai by tapping her lap.

Being used to it, Kai began to lay down on her thighs. She then began stroking his head.

"It was still the same result, I tried to focus on attacks that didn't need to go through his skin but I really couldn't do anything against him."

"And, what do you plan to do now?"

"I guess I'll try to attack a single spot on his body? It might become more effective and I don't really have a problem being that accurate..."

It was Akane's technique to soothe Kai's nerves. She didn't know much about what was going on outside and what she did know was just information that Kai had told her. He was practically already her slave, he stopped resisting anything she did, even if they were a bit ridiculous at times.

'I bet even Erina hasn't done this. Hehe...'

Akane laughed to herself inside. Little did Kai know that he was already being trained. She was expectant to what the others' reactions would be when Kai will dive onto her lap without any hesitation.

There was also that she made him used to her scent. Whenever they slept, she would always hug him in a way that he would definitely smell her. Now, whenever Akane smothered him, he would feel the urge to sleep.

It was a great way to make him rest, and Akane enjoyed it.

"Kai, why don't you try using your angel powers?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

Though she very much enjoyed the time they spent together, she couldn't possibly hold him up forever. After thinking about it, Akane decided to ask Azrael about her powers and amazingly, there was a way for angels to fight catering to demons. She had waited for Kai to return before telling him about it and now that he's rested, he felt that it was fine to tell him.

"You see..."

Kai's eyes lit up at Akane's explanations. He tried to go back to fighting right away but after Akane stopped him and smothered him a bit, he fell asleep beside her.

Her hero needed some rest, and that's what she was here for.