With the sound of a giant swallowing a mountain, the entrance to the hidden vault leading down to the Ebony Fire crumbled. The river churned like a wrathful dragon before returning to normal flow, erasing any trace of what had transpired.

A hand grabbed a stone on the riverbank and a person crawled out.

“Wow, that really happened…”

Ahh, classic Indiana Jones experience and I now got it.

After obtaining the Twilight Fire, the vault began to crumble down. Viers frantically escaped. If he was only buried by rocks and mud then he wasn't too worried but being lost in the realms between dimensions worried him greatly.

Viers didn't find any danger in his surroundings and the sun was getting low so he decided to make a fire.

For Max.

First, he moved away from the river to find a secluded area, chasing away a few monsters in the process.

Then he consigned Max’s body to a pyre.

Either turning the body to ashes or separating them into portions. Viers chose the former because he felt sort of responsible for derailing Max's life.

Viers alone watched in silence as the fire sent Max on the final journey.

Without Victa, a fire Pathseeker burned all the same. Viers didn't utter a single apology. He didn't regret the path he chose to walk.

Red fire was burning under the scarlet sky.

May you find happiness in your next life.

He waited until the body was completely burned. If it were ordinary fire then it would've taken hours, but that wasn't what Viers used, the cremation was completed in around fifteen minutes.

Only ashes remained. Ashes that he could see were special even without Euryale Sight.

Viers made a condescending smile. Tempting me, Plot armor of the MC? You’ve got to do better than that.

The ashes would make excellent food for Faiya.

The Faiya who was made from Anne’s phoenix remnant fire as the base and had consumed the Twilight Fire.

Viers was not a fool and nothing more needed to be said.

And so Viers scattered the ashes to the winds, discarding a fistful’s worth for the time being. He would spread the rest at various places, very distant from each other. Disposal of an MC’s remains needed great care.

Viers kept some of Max’s hair and blood for curse medium in case he got a spare body or clone hidden in another place. The soul was separated into four parts before Viers even attempted to soul search it. The soul he turned into a reverse Horcrux. One part destroyed would set off a chain reaction to the other three to be destroyed as well. Just in case the soul tried to somehow revive separately, Viers got a kill switch nearby.

The other MC that Viers obtained both body and soul, Aravin, also received the same treatment.

There were all kinds of resurrection methods in fantasy stories, such as gathering seven orange balls and making a wish to a dragon god.

In the absence of said balls, Viers counted there were five ways for them to be revived: Multiverse shenanigans, time manipulation, causality reversal, reality alteration, and deus ex machina.

Sadly, nothing Viers could do in response to those methods. He could only do his best and hoped the world did not screw him over just to see him suffer.

For now.

The fire elemental in question was sleeping with a smile on his face, with the same peacefulness of a child after eating his fill of tasty treats. After eating the Twilight Fire, he was in the middle of becoming a Rank 3.

With this, all three of his familiars had the power equivalent to Level 3 Pathseeker. Though it was difficult to say how much of an impact they would make in the battles ahead, every bit of power helped.

Viers put much more attention on Faiya than his brother, Futon. The reason was his origin. Viers knew he was literally playing with fire by turning Anne’s remnant fire into a fire elemental. Should any abnormalities occur, he was ready to take action.

There were none so far.

Clarissa said she needs a fire of Anne’s level for Project X to work and I have just the one. Anne's kind of fire doesn't grow on trees. Twilight Fire is one but I didn't know I would get it.

Viers looked to the red sky.

I hope ten soul purification process is enough. But Mary Sue…

Viers shook his head. He had more important things to do than thinking of what ifs.

I’ve stolen heavenly providence from Max. What’s next?

After finishing the high-priority cremation of Max, Viers read the tome that Barakal left to his successor. He skimmed most of it except for the parts containing info on Twilight Fire. Viers wanted to know how it could be used.

He found out that the Twilight Fire could be used as a wondrous power source, even for a non-fire Pathseeker. Viers felt it strange that the sealed power of the royal family was a specific element. What if the child born was not of fire affinity? Now he had the answer.

Still, it’s a fire and having Faiya utilizing it should be best. He benefits from it more than I do. Need time for the baby elemental to grow into his power though. For matters of the immediate future, if Barakal’s tome is right then Twilight Fire can be my second trump card against a Level 5! This is exactly what I need right now.

Viers was only a Level 3. Normally, he should not be able to put up the slightest bit of resistance against Level 5s. But extraordinarily, he had two, and both methods were related to Faiya.

Next, Viers soul searched Max. The partition of his soul didn't matter. It meant he had four smaller books than a single big one. Because of time constraints, he only focused on matters with relevance.

The Dagger of Maud. If you got slashed seven times by this dagger, certain death. One use only. Max bought this from Aletro with his shards to be used against Tanael. It really is for me, alright. I humbly accept your gift, Max.

The teleportation rune from the undead at the Foulfae Swamp. The dead Level 4 handed down a good thing. Never seen runic magic before. The rune is simple, looks like a heavily modified ‘E', but it’s actually made of hundreds of smaller runes. Allow the user to short-range teleport; there's no need for space affinity but there's a cooldown period. Can be invoked with Victa or mana crystals. Useable as is but the undead, Max, and I cannot use it to its full potential, lacking the means to harness the rune. I got some ideas but it needs tweaking—a nice surprise for emergencies.

That's all from Max. His cultivation focus is on his body and Ivory Fire. The ashes from his body are unusable and the Ivory Fire has merged into Twilight Fire. The rest of his belongings are not really worth mentioning. He’s pretty poor. What a truly pitiful MC he had become. Half-baked because of me and fell before he could mature.

The complete harvest of Max’s resources came later. Viers ransacked his brain to find what was the best course of action for him.

Viers felt a slight relief that he had the foresight to reset his Profound Codex time limit before things in Valkut went to shit. Before Pinaca and Russ’ wedding, Viers made sure to appease his Profound Codex -which was two days ago- so he was not in any danger of forcefully becoming powerless at night for the next eight nights.

…Guess I need to hurry up and master the Vigor of Responsibility Arte. The expiration clock is already ticking… I can guess what Rose was thinking before she taught me this. She is afraid to empower me too much but the time limit eased her conscience. Heh. Just one year? Fine. But the Victa generation rate will be much, much higher than you think! 472.36% Horizon boost will make me a Victa production factory!

Mwuhuhuhu… Huahahahaha!

A maniacal villain laugh was a bad idea, even the Evil Overlord List forbade it. Viers compromised by only doing so in his mind and keeping it short.

Time for me to help the young heroes of the Church make history. Time to make preparations to storm the tower and face the Boss of Valkut arc!

Why would Viers go to such lengths to help Rose and the others? Was it because of the promise to Mita? Affection for Rose or Ciel? Feeling indebted to Paina? Had his dead conscience returned to life?

Viers was simply greedy for profits.

And it was because he truly believed this group would succeed.

A group of righteous youth fighting an evil brainwashing mysterious organization that has enslaved a city, using a long-lost ancient weapon, and giving the-world-is-mine vibes? Hell, even if we are fighting God, Fate, or a concept, I would still put my money on the group of youth! It’s basically the storyline of most JRPGs, man!

Right now the enemies were overwhelmingly superior. If they focus all their attention on Damon and the others they would get squished like little bugs.

The light-aligned youths usually prevailed no matter the odds but Viers was not without concerns. For one, he killed Max, whose template was to save the party in a moment of crisis.

Classic villain, making things worse for their own side, the irony was not lost to Viers.

Whatever the case, Viers didn't fancy getting squished.

Let’s see if I can’t change that.

Viers looked towards the mountain ranges, remembering the words said by Captain Price to General Shepherd.

“You wanna put out an oil fire, sir? You set off a bigger explosion next to it. Sucks away the oxygen, snuffs the flame... We got ourselves a pretty big fire. Gonna need a huge bang.”

When Viers was making sinister plans, ideas came flowing like a monsoon flood.

Hmm, hmm… I should reconvene with Arsène first before taking action. It will be a tiny~ bit risky.

***

At the camp of the Silver Legion, the air was a heavy one.

The two groups that went to scout the city and went to the elven grove had returned.

Bryan started by telling his observation.

“Valkut is a ghost city. The tower turned at least half of the city into itself, houses and buildings seemed to have melted into its walls. There is only a single main entrance and the wall is impenetrable. We didn’t get too close but picked people's presence further in. Those who are not under the enemy's control are forced to sleep. The road is littered with hundreds of people and we can't awaken them no matter what we try. There are no enemy forces patrolling the city, it seems all their forces are inside the tower.”

“Those few we get in contact with outside won't or lack the ability to help us,” Ciel added. “Bad timing. The once-a-year exit day was very recent. Those who wanted to leave Valkut had just left. And we didn't manage to find any Level 4s. Either they hid very deep or the enemy did something to them.”

“There are no signs of the possible Level 5 old lady that Viers met as well,” Rose looked down.

Then it was the diplomatic group to the elven home reporting next.

It was much shorter. Wendy shook her head.

“They refused to help us. The wars of humans are of no concern of theirs, they said,” Damon said in resignation. “They are not even listening to our arguments.”

“Even being allowed to enter their borders is because we are with the Church and thus a special privilege, they said. Hmph. The elven elders might be fair on the outside but they are rotten twigs on the inside,” June was looking miffed.

“So, no reinforcements,” Rachel said in a calm tone.

“...It’s up to us now.”

Damon’s words and face were those of a martyr, something mirrored by the rest of the Silver Legion.

“You look oddly at ease, Viers,” Conn said.

“Just thinking it is darkest before dawn,” Arsène replied.

Shortly, they felt the ground beneath their feet shake, as if something was its way digging out.

“Enemies!?”

The company was already in its battle position when the thing emerged.

“A metal… mole?” Rose never saw things like it before.

“Oi, someone is inside it!” Bryan exclaimed.

A drunken dwarf came out of the mole drill car thing.

“Eeey, finally find you a lot. By my beard. You sure don't make yourself easy to find.”

“Mister Tomthur!” Wendy gasped. “What are you doing here?”

“Escaping the city… and to give you a hand, I suppose,” Tomthur took a chug from his canteen. It had the smell of beer.

The faces of Damon and company lit up with smiles after the appearance of the Level 4 dwarf. Arsène’s eyes were on the vehicle Tomthur rode.

“Oh? Looks like I’m not the only arrival,” Tomthur said.

The gang followed the line of sight of the dwarf to the branch of a tall tree nearby.

There were two silhouettes and they jumped down. The light from the camp illuminates their faces. Fair-haired with marble-like skin. Beautiful in appearance and they moved with grace. Their pointy ears showed who they were.

“Peacekeepers from the Estellian Church, it will be our honor to assist you in your battles ahead,” the male elf spoke.

“Lord elf, you’re most welcome but why?” Damon asked.

“Our line has been helped by the Church in the past,” the other elf was a female. “Friends of the plains, I, Delimira, and my brother, Kailu, will lend our bow in the fight against the man that stands atop the tower of pride.”

The light of hope was rekindled with the arrival of another two Level 4s.

“You know the aim of the governor, elf?” Tomthur asked because of the wording.

“That is so, friend of the stone,” Kailu said. “The tower is thinning this area’s fabric of space. Should it proceed unchecked, otherworldly beings would be able to come into this land as they please.”

The legionaries didn't need to be told how bad it would be if beings that didn't belong in this world came in droves.

“Is the governor trying to summon demons from Hell?” Ciel clenched her fist.

The sister elf shook her head.

“A lord on the other side has already accepted the invitation. A lord of the fae.”