Caera Denoir's POV:

Intense pressure escaped the hall as the clouds of dust dispersed. The wall to my right has been shattered clean. Piles of debris spread across the floor. The attention shifted towards the uninvited guests. A devious grin formed on Agrona's face. A face that I never imagined. Pain spread across me as my mind went numb. I could feel my sense of self fading away almost as if I am in a foreign vessel. The magic circle was draining me at an even high rate.

I held out my hand hoping to catch Grey's attention. His eyes inspecting everyone in the hall before his gaze stumbled upon me. He smiled, a wave of relief flowed on his bright white face which turned to irritation after he spotted my fatigue and the magic circle below me. He prompted Regis, who destroyed it with his sharp claw.

"Impossible...How is it possible for a magic circle created by the High Sovereign himself to be destroyed?" a Highblood spoke in disbelief. Agrona was staring at the incident amusingly.

I fell to my knees, with the magic circle gone, I came back to my senses. Searing pain erupted in my head, as the numbness wore off. I held the back of my head while Regis placed his paw on my palm. A mysterious energy, which is surprisingly warm and comforting flowed into my body. The pain decreased exponentially. My body felt light and rejuvenated after a few seconds.

"soldiers, apprehend them" someone groaned.

Hundreds of soldiers stormed in through the door before they flinched at the sight in front of them. They stood inspecting each other unable to make up the courage to approach us. I tried to get on my legs while Regis escorted me to Grey's side.

"Withdraw the troops, he is not someone you can handle" Agrona ordered.

"Are you fine Caera?" Grey asked searching for any visible wounds

"Yeah, now I am. Thanks to you guys." I said with a bright smile

"Where is Seris?" he mumbled into my ear while everyone was glaring daggers at us.

"Maste....." I tried to speak.

"Her master along with your lover escaped the day before, Arthur Leywin" Agrona stated nonchalantly.

Grey's face fell blank. The dragon beside him hissed at Agrona. Regis seemed uninterested as he was tending to his fur. What puzzled me was the name Arthur. If I remember correctly it was the name of the young lance from Dicathen. Why did Agrona speak his name now? Am I missing something?

"More than that I am shocked to know that you survived after pushing yourself to that extent," Agrona continued.

Survived? who? Is he talking about Lance Arthur who was Alacrya's biggest threat, and was declared dead after a few days of our victory in the war? Does this mean that he is still alive? That is good news for Tessia. But where is he though? I still had many questions popping up in my brain.

"On other matters, I can not sense your mana core. Did you..perhaps break it?" Agrona spoke with a hysteric laugh pointing his finger at Grey.

Everything fit into place in my mind, even though I still had few suspicions. The reason why Grey was unconcerned for Alacryan practices, the reason why he didn't have a bloodname, the reason for why he doubted me and people around him, the reason for why he was furious at finding that I was a Vritra for the first time, the reason he constantly tried to explore relic tombs and most importantly, the reason why he couldn't use Mana.

A strange feeling seared through my chest, a bit of sadness that he couldn't trust me enough to reveal his true self, and a bit of admiration for how he survived this long in the enemy continent and how he endured himself around his enemies. He fought for achieving power to burn this stage. The stage which set the Fate of the World. He wanted to break the very Fate that stood against him. That which crushed him before and took his peace.

My heartfelt heavy. I felt glad for resoluting myself to bring a change in Alacrya. Would he have killed me if I hesitated?. Bringing back the courage to face Arthur, I firmed my stance. He was exploding in anger yet he restrained himself from acting carelessly.

"Yes, my mana core is destroyed back then. But I've returned with something more omnipotent. Enough to drag you down your Throne." Arthur scoffed.

"I look forward to it." Agrona spoke.

I filled Arthur in on all of the things that happened. He became stiff before relieving himself when I told him about saving Tessia. He genuinely thanked me. I felt satisfied yet loneliness haunted at the back of my heart.

"Do you not care for your people, now that I have sent most of my forces to exterminate them?" Agrona made a narcissistic smile.

Arthur frowned at this news and clenched his fist tight. Pressure seeped out from him. I gulped my parched throat in anxiety. His face seemed to be exploding from anger.

"Arthur, we need to go save them" the dragon spoke, her feminine voice which sounded grandiose.

"Princess, I am all in for trashing the demon lord right here, but, meh, let's go save the refugees first. Then come for his head later." Regis pitched in.

"Do you think you can leave? " Agrona blurted in slight annoyance.

"Oh yes, we do, Since we are Majestic AF" Regis scoffed.

Agrona erupted in anger. The Highblood heads flustered at their insignificance here. The only scythe present charged at us with his limbs clad in mana. The air around him wheezed as he reached us at an astonishing speed which my body couldn't even react to.

"Agrona, you have to get down here personally, if you want to have a chance at restraining me." Arthur said as he parried the scythe with his Dagger. The collision caused an impact and knocked people a few feet away. Soulfire erupted from the scythe as his face winced in desperation.

Arthur vanished into thin air. He appeared right in front of the scythe before he pounded his fist into the Scythe's head pinning him to the now cratered ground. He held his supremacy while restraining the scythe under his foot. Agrona leaned forward supporting his hands on the throne's handrest anxiously.

My mind trembled to make sense of the scene before me. Arthur easily overpowered and pummelled the newly-appointed but one of a strong scythe. I knew Arthur was powerful enough to withstand the relic tombs but the scale of creatures in Tombs differed greatly to compare his strength outside the tombs. His strength surpassed that of human limits. Arthur then knocked the scythe into a nearby wall.

Agrona rose out of his throne. His face now a mess of anger. He waved his arm horizontally, a string of black flames raced straight to us. As it was about to hit us, Regis unleashed a jet black aura that engulfed the incoming projectile until it was completely devoured.

"Quite the interesting partner you got there" Agrona let out a grin.

"Damn right I am Agrona. You tell me! ain't I a great weapon? " Regis growled as if he was throwing a tantrum.

"Indeed, you are a fascinating weapon" Agrona confirmed it for Regis.

"But I hate how my princess here disregards me as one" Regis blurted out like an old drunkard.

Agrona's face twitched in annoyance as he couldn't stand being mocked. Agrona descended the stairway towards us. He stared at us. The air became stiff and dry. My body felt heavy as I barely managed to stand.

"Are you sure you can escape the asuras here in the central dominion? This time, I will make sure to see you to your grave." surge of dense mana flowed through Agrona.

I couldn't even release my breath. The intense facedown left me with huge anticipation which I have never felt in my life before.

Arthur vanished and reappeared in front of Agrona, with his dagger descending at Agrona.