The world was in turmoil because of the news of the appearance of the demons.

The General Guild tried its best to contain the spread of the information and falsify it, but there were many proofs of the attack of the demons.

Someone recorded a small video of my fight and Mika with Adramelech and leaked it to many news agencies throughout the world.

There were even some pictures of the skeletons and manticores fighting the awakeners and wreaking havoc in the dungeon.

Some General Guild members came to the hospital while I was there to shut Kamui and the others up, but they could not change their testimonies. They have even threatened them, but nothing worked.

All the participants had the backing of the Saber Slayer guild. They could not do anything to us – including Kamui, Mika and I -.

All the guilds suspended their raids in the dungeons after hearing the latest news. The solo awakeners, especially the lower-ranked ones, became too scared of going and stormed the offices of the General Guild to get some sort of explanation.

This was Vladimir’s plan. He set everything into motion. He started by using a recording device to take footage of the battle and took pictures of the battlefield. He had the backing of the guild master of the Saber Slayer guild. He assured all of their members that nothing would happen to them and they stood firm to what they have witnessed.

Afterward, He talked with Kamui to get him to join the Saber Slayer guild and protect him from any misbehavior from the General Guild toward him.

They have tried to recruit Mika, but she declined. Nonetheless, they have acted as her protectors – the same way as I have the protection of Mr.Nizar-, so she feared nothing.

Then, Vladimir used his vast and shady network to spread the information he had about the appearance of the demons and all the proof he got.

In the span of a single day, the whole world was talking about what has happened and people started questioning the legitimacy of the General Guild and the higher-ups to an extent.

The biggest news agencies took interest in the latest trend and got more information from Vladimir. This was the last nail on the coffin for the General Guild on this matter. They could no longer stop the storm that was coming.

When I was discharged from the hospital with Kamui, we went to the dojo, but I was called to an urgent meeting in the main building of the General Guild in RECAM city.

.

.

I arrived at Recam City in the early morning of the next day. I stayed at the station until morning and I went to the main office of the General Guild where I was called. It was at the center of RECAM city.

It was a big building that reached the sky. You could not see its top. The external architecture was breathtaking. You could keep staring at it the whole day and not get bored by the magnificent view.

When I entered, a guard blocked my way. He was a young Giant wearing a tuxedo and a hat written on it ‘GG Security’.

“What business do you have here?” He looked down on me.

“I was called for some sort of meeting.” I stared back at him.

“Show me your identity card.”

I brought out my identity card from my storage and showed it to him.

He kept looking at it and my face for several seconds, and then he handed it to me.

“The infamous Shiryuu Ackford. Did you mess up again?” He fleered.

“None of your business.” I took the card from his hand and went inside.

When I have entered, I met Liam, one of the General Guild members who came to scout me when I got the Dragon Sword.

“It’s been a while Shiryuu. I’ve heard you’ve been through some trouble since our last meeting.” He extended his arm to shake mine.

I did not have a negative opinion of Liam, he seemed to be a nice person when I met him, but his guild is absolute trash and treated me badly, so I tried not stirring any trouble for the moment.

“Hello, Mr. Liam. Yeah, I sure had my share of troubles, and it is all thanks to your guild.” I accepted his handshake.

“I don’t know exactly what they want from you, but let me tell you this.” He got closer so no one could hear us. “Be aware of the top brass of the guild.”

“Are you sure you want to tell me this?” I murmured.

“Treat this as a friendly tip.” We shook hands again and he went away to continue what he was doing.

Afterward, a secretary came and showed me the way to the office of the one who called me.

When we arrived, I saw Vladimir, Mika, and her Cousin Sara waiting outside the office.

“You’ve been called too.” Mika addressed me.

“Yeah, they’ve told me to come here after I left the hospital yesterday.”

“Some men in black suits visited me two days ago and told me to come here today. Sara came with me in case things got hairy.”

“Those old farts in the General Guild are in a big mess right now.” Vladimir looked at the secretary who in return glared daggers at him.

“What business do you have here?” I asked Vladimir.

“Well, I’m the one who stirred trouble, so I think they want to make things work for them.” He laughed and turned toward the door. “By the way, this is the office of the General Guild’s master.”

“The man who answers directly to the eleven elders…” I said.

The secretary entered the office and after a short while, she came back. “The guild master is awaiting your arrival inside.”

***

Somewhere in the depths of the dungeons:

The doors of the castle – that is inside a small island in a big lake – opened. A horned creature came out and greeted the arrived guest.

“Lord Asmodeus is waiting for you inside.” He bowed slowly and put his hand on his chest.

“I’ve heard that one of his top followers was killed, is that right?” A man of small posture approached the servant. He had pale skin and black eyes that spread fear to anyone who saw his face. He had white horns and small arms that made his posture look grim.

“I don’t know the details, Lord Mammon.” The servant quickly exchanged glances and turned around to lead the way into the main room.

The servant led the way to a big room at the end of a long hallway lit by purple gems. He opened the door and returned to his post near the front gate.

Mammon entered the big room and found a round table with seven seats, with only one seat remaining empty.

“It seems I’m the last one to arrive.” He giggled.

“You’re too late.” One of the demons sitting at the table stood up and punched the round table. “Even Belphegor arrived before you.” He pointed his black finger to an old man sitting in a chair. He had green horns with a big black beard touching the table. His eyes were closed and his tail was big enough to reach the door where Mammon came from.

“I had some errands to take care of and get due payments from my beloved customers.” He opened his mouth to laugh and large saliva came out from it.

“I envy you Mammon for having things to do.” Said a blue-hooded figure.

“Let’s save the chat for later and start our meeting.” Asmodeus clapped his hands and brought the attention of the arguing demon lords.

***

A week after the spread of the information regarding demons, I was finally able to return to the dojo.

I was welcomed by Necro and we went to the Master’s office. Inside, we found the three trainers; Hideyoshi, Vincent, and Shimatsu standing near the Master who was sitting in his big comfortable chair.

“Welcome back Shiryuu. I’ve heard you had a rough time.” Said Master.

“Thanks for your concerns. I think it will only get busier from now on.”

“I feel a different aura coming from you.”

“I’m trying to grow even more stronger with each passing day.”

“So you’re still going after ‘strength’.”

“If I don’t get stronger, I won’t be able to protect anyone or reach my goals.”

Master stood up from his chair and went to the nearest window. “Can you leave us for a second?” He asked the trainers and Necro to leave the room.

The trainers nodded their heads and Necro said in a low voice, “You’re up for some hard times.”

After they have left, a silence hit the room, and then Master spoke.

“My dear Shiryuu. Since you came here, you were looking to get stronger, and I’ve noticed quite some things that I’ve meant to tell you.”

Master was serious and his tone shifted while he was talking. I did not say anything and let him continue his speech.

“You’ve been training harder than anyone. You have developed your own way of training. You have mastered skills that take a lot of time to learn in a short while. You have acquired powers that everyone dreams to get. You have honed your skills to the extreme. You can easily be an A-rank Warrior by now, which is an amazing feat seeing how you were before. But, you’re missing an important thing.”

“What is it, Master?”

“Your inner self.”

“What do you mean?”

“You are trying to reach your goal and concentrated all your efforts to get to it, but you neglected everything else. Strength does not come with hard work and getting stronger physically. You need to have to be stronger mentally. You need to improve your own self. Find more meaning in your life. You will soon reach a roadblock and you will lose the meaning behind your current life. Do not just keep training your skills. Try to enjoy your daily life and find more meaning in it. The fight against the Demons is unavoidable, so take this opportunity to think of what I told you and I guarantee that you will be a different person, and you’ll grow even more.”

I have never thought of what Master had told me. I was always trying to run away from the thought of having a normal life. I have been training and raiding dungeons to get stronger and find the truth as soon as possible.

I looked at the ground for a moment and turned my attention back to Master.

“Thanks, Master for what you told me. I’ll do my best.” I had nothing to say and was completely speechless.

“What will you do?” He asked.

“I came back to move to the second branch, but I think I’ll return to my home for the moment and think of what I want to do afterward. I’ve been dealing with a lot of things lately.”

After chatting with Master for a little longer about different topics, I went out from the office and looked for Kamui who was ready to head out to his new guild.

The next day, I took a flight to Chemrak City in my home country Comadra.

Even as a Mythological Weapon wielder, people did not make a fuss about me and kept their distance. However, I managed to improve my reputation a little bit after the General Guild ruined it.

After arriving, I went to the train station, took the train to Qatenin, and headed directly to my home.

‘Home sweet home…’ I muttered to myself.

I unlocked the door and when I entered, the sweet home scent hit me hard. I felt nostalgic and emotional at the same time. ‘It’s been rough the past months.’

I took a shower, changed my clothes, made dinner, and went directly to my bed. I invoked the Dragon Sword in my hand and kept staring at it until I fell asleep.