“How many are there?”

Leila directs the question towards me. She unsheathes her greatsword while being cautious of her surroundings.

She knows that I have a skill that allows me to sense the presence of other creatures like her.

Fortunately for me, I have a more powerful skill.

I take a look at Leila's greatsword and notice that it is quite beautiful.

The sword guard is painted black and spread like a cross, while the hilt is painted white.

A common design.

The hilt and guard aren’t made out of any normal metal. It’s made out of manite, natural iron infused with raw mana. The thick blade is made out of the artificial metal Adamant.

Her weapon confuses me a bit.

Adamant is an extremely durable material for shields and armor but not much as weapons while Manite is a metal that continuously absorbs mana, making it a great catalyst for enchanted weapons.

I wonder why she’s using an adamant blade instead of a Manite blade.

The Adamant would have been better as the guard while the Manite would have been better as a blade.

“There is a small retinue of soldiers coming here and while that isn't a problem there's one who’s quite problematic.”

That’s what I’m sensing as well.

There are 6 average level soldiers, 4 veterans, and 1 elite soldier coming this way.

The average ability level of human beings is level 2 to 6 and trained human beings are somewhere in between 7 and 20 while elites range from 21 to 45.

If that was the case, I wouldn’t worry that much since Leila herself can wipe the group out if she went serious... but the group traveling here isn’t human, they’re demons.

My mind seems to recall the numbers me and my siblings put on every race.

The average ability of members of the demon race is 3 times higher than the human race.

If there is truly an elite by demon standards, then that person might be stronger than Leila or Elizabeth.

“Really, how problematic?”

While Elizabeth asks me a question, fire mana flows through her dress.

Immediately, her blue dress transforms into a more combat-oriented look and it takes a more reddish hue.

Kin stares at Elizabeth's dress in awe. She must have never seen such a beautiful dress in her whole life.

She's a good person, maybe I should get her something nice in the future.

Hmmm... where did that come from?

Before I could contemplate my sudden thoughts, Leila warns us about the incoming demons.

“A group of demons is coming here.”

Kin’s eyes flicker for a moment and she uses her skill [Avatar Synchronization].

Thankfully, Kin is playing it smart. She’s only using 30% of her avatar mode's current capabilities, which is 1% of Felina's power. Both her magic power and body power jump to 300.

The sudden change surprises our two companions but Leila is more shocked than Elizabeth.

“So that’s why you wanted to bring her along, at least we won’t have to protect her.”

Leila smiles while commenting about Kin.

She must be thinking that Kin is like her, someone who's been holding back great power.

I’d think that too but Kin is so much more stronger than Leila if she were to tap into Felina's deeper reserves.

“Magnus, how powerful are you? Not meaning to offend but I can’t feel any magic coming from your body. I feel that your body will explode the moment I punch it or even flick my finger in your general direction.”

Leila asks while concentrating.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any power at all so I'll have to tell the truth, so I won't be a burden.

“Sorry, I don’t have any mana and my body is nothing impressive”

Elizabeth looks disappointed but doesn’t say anything. I guess she was expecting me to be someone amazing.

“I have the wyvern to protect me. You don’t need to protect me. Just focus on defeating the opponent.”

Leila nods at my reassurance, though I think she’s not convinced.

“Anyway, I think we should hide first to survey the area.”

Leila is right, we should hide first and study our possible opponents before we get into any real danger...

If we're really unlucky, they might be able to break the formation to get the treasures, though I doubt it.

I quickly survey the forest so I know where we can hide.

“Let’s go hide in the forest, but what about the wyvern?”

Elizabeth asks.

The wyvern is too huge to hide stealthily in the forest so I order it to fly a little higher than usual, just above the clouds so it can’t be seen.

We immediately run towards the forest, so we won’t be easily spotted unless they have an ability that’s similar to Leila or me.

I need to remind myself that I must come back here again. The treasures in that formation is too good to pass up.

The others slow down so I could keep up with them. While running towards the forest, I take a few seconds to study my companions.

The first I notice is Elizabeth. There's no better way to describe her other than she's breathtaking.

I don’t really know why I’m having these thoughts lately, not only for Elizabeth but also towards Kin.

Is this mortal body the reason why I'm having vulgar thoughts towards the opposite sex?

That is a very scary thought.

Elizabeth is staring at the clearing just near the formation but I notice that she’s sneakily stealing glances at me, studying me.

I thought the quiet would last but eventually she speaks.

“Hey...”

I nod at her, as a form of acknowledgement.

“I’m sure you will become a very powerful person.”

I agree. I can't stay being weak.

“In my prophecy, I saw you standing in the front of a battlefield, wounded and had dozens of arrows piercing you...”

She stops for a moment but quickly continues.

“...Yet, in that image your face did not carry fear or anxiety, it carried satisfaction and happiness; Like, when a tired friend who just finished reading a book finally has the time to go out the house to be with his friends.”

Elizabeth looks peaceful and extremely calm, despite the approaching enemies.

Her ability to see the future is terrifying. If what she said is true... Then I will be engaged in a war.

I turn to focus on Elizabeth's face and see that she is smiling.

“While you were standing in the battlefield, I heard you mutter something I couldn’t quite make out. It was a quick dream but I could never forget that prophetic dream.”

Now Elizabeth is looking at me with gleaming eyes.

“So tell me honestly, are you really weak or is there something holding you back?"

I internally sigh. I am slightly shocked but also exasperated by everything Elizabeth is saying.

“No, I’m not holding back”

I’m not.

I’m sealed but I don’t need to tell her that. I don’t know her well enough to trust her. In fact, there isn't anyone else in this world that I can trust.

If anything, the only thing I can trust in this world is that wyvern. I should think for a name for it.

Elizabeth smiles wryly and nods. She resumes looking at the clearing.

Then I see a gleam in her eyes that I haven’t seen earlier, it’s the eyes of a keen and cunning tactician.

Well she does have the rare skill [Genius Mind] so I’ll leave it up to her. Although, I could make up a battle plan myself but I’m not like my sister Remries so I’m not sure my strategy of hit them until they die would work.

After a few minutes, Elizabeth is raising both her hands in an L position in front of her.

I think she’s calculating the distance.

“Done."

Elizabeth mutters one word before she starts drawing on the ground with her index finger.

Looking over the drawing, I notice that she inscribed a rune on the ground emanating mana infused with earth.

She’s designed it to release the elementary level spell [Ground shake], a few feet away from us, specifically near the formation. After drawing it, she starts to move and draw multiple runes consisting of the same spell.

After writing at least 6 more runes, she returns to our area. She gives me a proud look and I semi-understand her plan.

“They’re near."

I sense the intruders just a few meters away.

I internally sigh and think of the things I'll be doing after. After my current problems, the first thing I’ll do is generate mana.

Yup! Just sit down anywhere, preferably somewhere soft, then collect mana and relax.

Elizabeth beckons the three of us to come near her.

“Lady Kin."

“Just Kin please, your highness”

Hmm… Kin is quite courteous to people she doesn’t know. I wonder where did she learn that?

“Okay Kin, what level of spells are you capable of using?”

Elizabeth’s eyes seem to be in deep thought right now, it must be indiscernible to other people but I can see that she’s calculating every move possible.

Kin thinks for a moment then she speaks.

“I can use elementary, primary, and middle level magic.”

I can see some spark of excitement in Kin’s eyes. This must be her first time actually using her powers for anything other than gagging the mouth of fallen gods.

Elizabeth nods in approval.

“Leila I want you to summon a [Flame Darkin] in the middle of the cannon fodder. Kin can you use the elementary level spell [Blinding Flash]?”

Kin nods towards Elizabeth’s question.

“Good!”

Elizabeth looks towards Kin once more and says.

"Kin, once the leader appears, I want you to use [Blinding Flash] with him as the center."

Elizabeth looks at Leila and continues.

"Once the enemy group is blinded, I want you to immediately cast [Flame Darkin] in the middle of the group, so confusion will spread".

Once Elizabeth finishes her basic plan, Kin and Leila nod in agreement.

Hey, what’s my job?

“And Magnus...”

I perk up, I don’t know why but this is getting me excited as well. I wonder what will I do, order the wyvern to drop from the sky, or maybe order it to whip them with its poison tail while they are blinded but before I could continue my fantasies, Elizabeth gives me a disappointing mission.

“I want you to do the bartering with them."

I become hesitant but I really can’t do anything for now so I nod at Elizabeth’s suggestion.

“To be specific, I don’t want a fight to suddenly ensue, peace between the humans and demons have always been rough but I don't want risking injuries or death between my allies. So I want you to appear to them friendly and ask them of their business. I want you to lead them at the place where some of the runes are placed, so you’re safer.”

Well, that part was obvious, but I guess I have to go be bait now.

When I go near the formation, I sense that the group approaching us is cautious.

They must be pretty near if they can feel me.

A few minutes later, a group of humanoid beings emerges from the other side of the forest.

The one leading them is a tall demon with red skin, white hair, red eyes, and a single upward horn on his forehead.

It's a stereotypical look for a demon and admittedly, I can see my brother's appearance on them.

The others don't have anything noticeable about them except maybe a few estranged colors.

I remember from my brother that demons have a very similar look with humans, except their skin color and a few differences, such as horns.

If a member of the demon race doesn't reach the minimum ability level of 50, their appearance is extremely similar to the average human but once they reach a higher level, they start to transform.

That’s a good sign for us. The four veterans on their side are all below level 50 while the leader is only, wait let me check... level 99.

Not good.

“Hello there.”

This is quite stressing.

I hope that my brother's descendant is reasonable. Azael has never been one for reasoning but I hope his offspring is different.

The tall horned demon seems to be deep in thought and after a few minutes, it speaks with a deep and commanding voice.

“Kill It.”

Nice.