Meanwhile, as Zane is busy taking care of the monsters that are invading the Capital, Shizuku, Kaori, and Liliana make their way further into the castle. The plan is for them to go and meet with Kouki and the other students. As such, they are headed to the rooms where the members of the Hero's Party have been staying in the castle since they first arrived.
It takes them only a few minutes to reach the area. During the entire trip there, the group does not see a single guard. Liliana finds this to be very unsettling. She says, "Where are all of the guards?"
"I am sure they are out fighting against the demons right now," Kaori says.
Shizuku replies, "Even if that is true, I have to admit it is odd that we have not seen a single soldier the entire time we have been in the castle."
"The palace guard should be here even if all of the others are busy defending the Capital. Also it is strange that we have not seen any soldiers rushing to the battlefield outside," Liliana says.
Kaori states, "For now we just need to focus on meeting up with Kouki. I bet that it is just a coincidence that we have not seen any soldiers so far."
"I guess that is possible," Liliana comments.
When the three girls reach the wing of the castle where the Hero's Party stays, they go to Kouki's room. When they get there Shizuku knocks on the door. It takes several moments for the door to open. When it finally does, Kouki is on the other side wearing his pajamas.
When Kouki sees Shizuku and Kaori he states, "No way. You actually got away."
"Got away?" Shizuku asks.
Kouki says, "You know from that pactmaster who kidnapped you. I have been worried sick ever since then. I requested for the King to send me to go and save you. He told me that he had as many men as he could already on the case. When there was no news I feared the worst."
"Hang on. You think we were kidnapped?" Kaori asks.
"Well of course," Kouki replies. He then says, "Is that not what happened?"
Shizuku says, "Of course not. Nagumo came and talked to us. He asked us to do something for him, which is why we left. Suzu and Taeko both knew that we were leaving. I figured they would have explained the situation to you."
"Both of them did mention something like that. That made no sense though. Then we were told by the Divine Priestess that Ehit gave a revelation to her that you were kidnapped by a pactmaster," Kouki states.
"That is not what happened at all," Kaori declares.
At this point Ryutarou peaks his head out of the door. He then says, "Remember what we were told, Kouki. All that matters is that they are back."
"What were you told?" Shizuku asks.
"That is not important," Kouki replies. He then says, "Anyway it is the middle of the night. Did you just wake me up to let me know that you were back?"
Shizuku replies, "No. Didn't you hear the loud bang a little while ago?"
"Oh right. Do you know what that sound was? It sounded like something shattered."
"It was the barrier that protects the castle, breaking," Liliana replies.
"Are you serious?" Ryutarou asks.
"Yes," Shizuku replies. She then says, "We will explain everything. But first I think we should wake everyone else up so that we can explain it to all of you at once."
At this point, the five of them go around the castle and wake everyone up. Each of the members of the Hero's Party are happy to see Kaori and Shizuku are back. They are both asked a ton of questions by everyone as they are waking everyone up. Both of them just say that they will explain it all later.
Once everyone is awake and gathered, Yuka asks, "So Kaori and Shizuku, mind telling us where you have been?"
"We were doing something that Nagumo asked us to do," Shizuku replies.
"What did you ask you to do?" Daisuke asks.
Kaori replies, "He wanted us to go and find Zane. He needed Zane's help with something and wanted us to go and look for him."
At this point Suzu declares, "See I told you that is what happened! Hajihaji showed up in the middle of the night and asked them to go help him out in finding Zane."
"Yes, that is what you told us. However, remember what the Divine Priestess told us," Kouki says.
Takeo comments, "I don't know why you are so sure that she was telling the truth. I would think you would believe your own classmates over the words of some stranger."
"What she said does make a lot of sense though too," Eri comments. She then says, "For now I am not sure that it matters what actually happened back then. I take it that you woke us all up for some reason."
Shizuku replies, "That is right. As of right now there is a large force of demons and monsters attacking the Capital."
This statement is met by a number of gasps from the members of the class. Many of them seem to not believe what Shizuku is telling them. However, at the same time they know that if she is telling this truth this is something that is a serious problem.
Once she has recovered from her shock, Yuka asks, "How did they even get to the Capital?"
Liliana says, "We have no idea. However, I saw the Great Barrier broken right before my eyes. That is what the loud sound you all heard earlier was. When I looked outside the window I could see what appeared to be a large army coming this way. According to Tio it is an army of monsters and demons."
Ryutarou asks, "Who is Tio?"
"Remember, she is one of Nagumo's companions," Yuka states. She then says, "This is really bad."
Kouki says, "We have to buy some time. Then the people here can evacuate, and the army and the knights can regroup."
"Wait Kouki," Eri declares. She then says, "I think we should regroup with Meld and the knights, not go fight on our own."
"But it might be too late by then," Kouki replies.
At this point one of the castle maids comes running over to the group. Her name is Nia. She was serving as the personal maid to Shizuku when Shizuku was living in the palace. Nia runs right up to Shizuku and says with a blank look on her face, "It is so good to see that you are still alive."
"Yes, I am quite alright," Shizuku states.
Nia then says, "It is terrible. The Great Barrier has been broken and a huge army of monsters is invading the Capital as we speak."
Shizuku states, "We already are aware. We were just discussing what we are going to do about it to help out."
Eri asks, "Nia, how many demons are there?"
Nia replies, "Roughly one hundred thousand."
When this news is heard by the students many of them are taken off guard. Eri does not seem surprised though. She simply says, "Kouki, there's no way we can hold back so many. We need a larger force to match them. To do that, we should coordinate properly with Meld. Don't you think so?"
At this point Suzu declares, "Yes, I agree with Eririn. Eririn is smart. She doesn't wear glasses for nothing!"
Eri states, "The glasses don't have anything to do with this, Suzu..."
"I agree with Eri, too. I think we were losing our cool. What about you Kouki?" Ryutarou says.
Kouki replies, "Yes... At times like this, we can't just jump into action. We need to coordinate. Let's regroup with Meld."
"There is no time for that though. As we speak Zane, Shea, and Yue are out there fighting against the demon invasion," Kaori states.
"What do you mean?" Kouki asks.
Kaori says, "We came here with Zane, Hajime, and Hajime's allies. When the barrier broke, Zane, Yue, and Shea went out to fight against the demons. That was over an hour ago. There is no way they can keep it up for much longer."
"But if we go out there then we will just get killed," Eri states. She then says, "Remember how hard of a time we had in Orcus. Also remember how easy of a time Nagumo had down there. I am sure that Nagumo and his allies can hold out at least until we have regrouped."
Ryutarou states, "Eri is right. I don't like the idea of leaving them alone. We would just get killed if we went out there right now."
"I don't like it either. However, I am not sure if we would be much help," Shizuku says. She then says to Kaori, "I know that you want to help the others. We would probably just be in the way though if we rushed out there."
Kaori sighs before saying, "I guess you are right. We should try to regroup with the knights as fast as we can."
"Now that that is settled, Nia do you know where the knights are gathering?" Eri asks.
Nia replies in an emotionless voice, "I believe they were all heading for the arena next to the palace."
"Alright, we should go there then," Eri says.
The whole group agrees with this plan. They then make their way to the arena that is located right next to the castle. As they are going, Shizuku looks out at the area around near the castle. From what she can tell, no monsters have made it this far. She hopes that means that Zane and the others are doing alright."
Just as Shizuku is thinking that she hears Zane's voice coming from the seashell that Hajime made. Zane asks, "Shizuku are you guys doing alright on your end?"
Shizuku goes to answer the seashell, when Ryutarou grabs her hand. He then says, "So that is how he is doing it."
"Doing what?" Shizuku asks. She then says, "Can you let go of my hand? That kind of hurts Ryutarou."
"I am sorry, but this is for your own good," Ryutarou states. He then quickly punches Shizuku in the stomach and then knocks her out with a blow to the head.
Kaori sees this happen and is about to do something when she is hit in the back of the head by Kouki. This knocks her out. Once this is done, Kouki picks up Kaori while Ryutarou picks up Shizuku.
Once they have done this Kouki states, "I really hope that the priestess was telling us the truth about them being brainwashed. If not, we are very much in the wrong here."
"Come on. You said it yourself, there is no way that Kaori and Shizuku would go out on their own without telling us," Ryutarou says.
Liliana does not see this happen, as she is near the front of the group while Kaori and Shizuku are near the back. As such, she is not aware of what just happened. She just keeps heading towards the arena with all of the others.
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Zane's Status Panel
Job: Maverick
Occupation: Former Adventurer (Silver Rank)
Strength= 3502
Vitality= 3503
Defense= 3502
Agility= 3504
Magic= 3505
Magic Defense= 3503
Skills
Language Comprehension (Can understand any language)
Ancient Magic Mastery (Grants perfect affinity to all types of ancient magic)
Mana Manipulation (Can use magic without chants and magic circles.)
Soul Shell (Grants immunity to Divine Edict)
Heir of the Liberators (Boosts all stats based on number Great Labyrinths cleared. Grants additional skill for each labyrinth cleared.)
All stats +2000
Detect Magic - It allows the user to detect and perceive the flow of mana and activation of hidden or ranged spells and magic. (Grand Gruen Volcano)
Mental Fortitude - Grants immunity to any kind of mental attack. This includes illusions. (Frost Caverns of Schnee)
Detect Threat- A skill that allows the user to sense when they are in any danger of being harmed. (Great Reisen Labyrinth)
Mana Conversion - Allows the user to convert mana into stat bonus for a certain period of time. (Sunken Ruins of Melusine)
Spatial Magic
Metamorphosis Magic
Gravity Magic
Restoration Magic
Artifacts
Treasure Trove (Allows user to store items in another dimension)
Ring of Mana (Grants user the skill mana manipulation)
Divine Amulet (Dramatically increases the mana of the user. Dramatically increases mana recovery rate. Also grants the user the ability to see the mana of other living beings)
Ring of Resistance (Grants user the skills poison, paralysis, petrification, and fear resistance)
Magical Cloak (Grants the user the skill all elements resistance)
Boots of Air (Creates platforms under wearers feet when they are falling, or jump)
Monster Deck (Allows the user to summon monsters from a deck of cards that last for ten minutes before disappearing again)