According to the plan we headed towards the castle at dawn. In order to avoid attention from anyone we disguised ourselves and moved through alleyways and on top of roofs of buildings swiftly towards the castle. After getting there unnoticed we hid behind the terrain and as we predicted there were many guards. We noticed a window on top of the gate house that would grant us access to the inside so we went to a far corner of the building where there were no guards and climbed onto the roof and headed to the window we had scouted and jumped inside.

The inside of the castle was enormous and we were trying to think where nova might be and we decided to go towards the central building where there were the administrative quarters and the main parts of the castle and the prison was also close by to that area so we swiftly moved to the center and killed any demons we encountered but while going there Gadreel accidentally lost his balance and knocked over a sculpture. It made a loud noise which alerted a few demons in the area. There were five of them and they noticed us. Two of them went to get backup and three stayed behind to attack us. We did the same thing as them and split up and half of us faced the demons that were there and the other chased the ones that had gone to alert others and to stop them from alerting anyone so the demons wouldn’t find out about us infiltrating the castle.

We caught up to the two demons which had gotten around fifteen others to fight us and they attacked us in an attempt to capture us and get a reward but we defeated them and it was quite a battle. We had been on the move all day so we were quite exhausted. For this reason we had brought potions that gave energy and cured exhaustion and we all drank it.

Finally after a while we had gotten to the main courtyard of the castle which separated the main building from the others. Here we split up as planned. Caltis and I headed in the main building to find Nova meanwhile Telantus and the others would go to the prison building to free the hostages. When we went in the building it was much more enormous than we anticipated so we were confused about where to go. We decided to just go with the process of elimination and searched for Nova from the outside areas while heading to the center. We were also trying to locate any demons and kill them. Their number was slowly decreasing.

While we were searching suddenly an enormous demon finds us. It seemed to be a minion of Nova and much stronger than the others. It attacked us from above and Caltis blocked the attack with his sword and they started to have an epic battle. Caltis told me to go ahead and find Nova. I was hesitant at first but agreed as we couldn’t waste time.

Meanwhile Telantus, Gadreel, Signa, and Drester were at the prison building and it was crowded with guards. The building had 4 entrances and they all went to one and sealed it so the demons inside wouldn’t be able to escape and simultaneously attacked from four directions. The demons were surprised and overwhelmed. Telantus and the others overpowered them and defeated all of them. They released all the hostages that were imprisoned. The royal family were extremely grateful and thanked us multiple times, everyone was instructed to hide in a safe place where demons wouldn’t find them, people capable of fighting volunteered to help to slay the demons around the castle premises.

After the hostages were freed Telantus was concerned about us so he headed to the main building to find us and assist in the fight with Nova. As the castle was so big he had a hard time finding us and ran into demons which he slayed as he searched for us. At the time I was looking for the main hall of the Palace where we thought Nova would probably be and I heard a large group of demons and went to see what was going on. There I saw Telantus killing them but there were a lot of them so it was getting hard for him so I went to assist him. With both of us there it was much quicker. Telantus then said “I finally found you, we have finished freeing the hostages and now the others are killing the demons in the castle premises, why are you alone where is Caltis?” I told him “we were attacked by a massive demon and Caltis told me to go ahead and he would slay it so I am here looking for the main hall.” Telantus says “oh I see then let’s search together”. I ask him “don’t you know the layout of the castle, I thought your father and the king here were very good friends? Don’t you come here for visiting?” he replies “it’s true that I did come here as a kid but the princess here made fun of me and I felt embarrassed so I haven’t come here in really long so I only know which buildings are which and nothing about the interior.” I replied “that’s unfortunate, but that’s fine let’s continue searching”

We kept searching and the concentration of magic was getting denser so we knew we were on the right track. After a while we came across a massive door and it had a very dense aura so we were sure Nova was inside. We sneaker inside and saw Nova was asleep. He had an immense aura and he had much more magic than we thought. We tried to attack him while he was asleep and cast magic but he sensed it and woke up and blocked the attack. He noticed us and said “I was waiting for you to come but I got so bored I fell asleep” it seemed he already knew we were coming we attack him more directly I use magic and Telantus uses advanced sword techniques but Nova could doge them easily and we only landed a few hits but they didn’t have much effect on him.

On the other side Gadreel and the other were having the fight with a tough opponent which was one of the minion of Nova. Caltis who was fighting had finally slaughtered Nova’s minion and was exhausted. All the potions were unfortunately used up. He then moved towards the hall to assist us to fight Nova. But he gradually became weaker and his vision was blurring. It turns out in an unfortunate turn of events that the monster imitating Brooke had poisoned him when we were attacked at the shed. Caltis’s high resistance had been reducing the effects but they were finally taking effect. Caltis struggles to walk and falls down. He tries his best to get up but the poison had already taken effect.

At the main hall our attacks were barely even damaging Nova. He was able to dodge then easily. “how is he able to dodge such rapid attacks!” Telantus said with frustration. Nova replied “this is child’s play for me, I thought you were supposed to be the strongest warriors in the realm, but you are disappointingly weak”. We got impatient and frustrated and used more powerful magic which seemed to be better but also affected the surroundings. The battle was getting more intense and the attacks were getting faster. Nova was also taking some damage so he then got a bit frustrated and powerfully kicked Telantus towards a wall so hard it cracked. He then attacked again with a fireball but we both dodged it but it had immense force. Telantus then stands up and rejoins me to attack. I was becoming more and more exasperated and started attacking Nova with immense force as well. Telantus also joined me and finally we were finally able to somewhat subdue Nova and he was being pushed back. I used magic to propel my hits further and Nova was being punched and kicked into the wall.

He says “finally the battle is getting interesting, keep entertaining me mor-” before he could finish his sentence I punched him in the face and he started to bleed. This made him pretty outraged and he also started to attack back furiously. Telantus was backing me up and it became hard for Nova to keep up with the accelerated speed of both of us. Nova then attacked with an enormous fireball. It was scorching hot and even though we blocked it we were heavily burned and it was so hot wiped out the wall behind us and burned most of the surroundings . He then focused his attacks on Telantus so he would be unable to support me. Telantus was being bombarded with tremendous speed and fierce attacks. He tried to block but Nova dealt immense damage. I attacked Nova to stop him but Telantus had been injured severely. Seeing this made me enraged and I attacked with all the force I had, using every form of magic at my disposal. Nova used fire techniques with blistering heat. This caused heavy damage to the building and even the others outside could feel the waves of energy. When it felt like the fight was on our side and I could beat Nova, he laughed and said “this battle has been entertaining , no one has been able to damage me so much in centuries since the great war, I’ll have to acknowledge your strength, however! This is not enough to kill me, you have reached your limit now, let me show you the difference in our strength!” suddenly his aura becomes far denser and his magic advanced to a whole another level, he started to dominate the battle and he rained down attacks, I tried to block but I couldn’t even keep up with his attacks. It felt like I was a mouse being pounced by a lion. I somehow managed to get out of his attacks. I had totally run out of all my mana and stamina.

It felt like all hope was lost but then Telantus regained consciousness and said “don’t you dare give up Argos, hundreds of people are counting on you, keep fighting until the last moment!” after he said that he collected all his remaining mana with an item that he brought and threw it to me. Telantus was counting on me and I needed to live up to him and keep fighting even if I lost my life. I attacked once more and Nova was propelled to the roof. I jumped up as well and with all the mana I had left I concentrated it into one final attack and hit a finishing blow. The roof was completely destroyed but still… Nova survived. Now I was unable to do anything, the castle started collapsing from the shock and there was debris everywhere. Nova was looking around to kill me but then he heard a voice “Come back Nova we have got what we came here for, staying here longer is useless”, it was the Demon lord. Nova replied “as you say my lord” sounding dissatisfied. My consciousness was starting to fade but I caught a glimpse of the demon lord and saw a black silhouette.

Both of them left and the walls crumbled down. I laid there thinking to myself “I’m going to die once more, in manga and novels I used to read people were always overpowered and strong but that’s not real, I couldn’t even protect Telantus, I hope the others are safe” these were my last thoughts as I fell unconscious.