According to Uruze, Shizuka had indeed helped her quite a lot while staying by her side. However, Shizuka was not helping for free—she and Uruze had made a deal.
"She asked me to use Iceflame's intelligence network to help her find someone named Rakaru."
"Rakaru? Why is she looking for that person?"
"I don't know either. In any case, it doesn't seem like anything good…"
At this point, Uruze let out a sigh.
"I didn't think much of it at the time. Later, through the intelligence network, we did indeed find four people named Rakaru. One was an ordinary old man, one was an adventurer, and another was a single bachelor…"
Alright, those were obviously not it—so what about the last one?
"This…"
Uruze hesitated for a moment.
"The last one was Seth's magic high official Rakaru. After Shizuka got this information, she immediately rushed out to find him…"
"Wait—when did this happen?"
"Just these past few days."
"Has she gone insane?"
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai looked completely dumbfounded.
"The Demons have already occupied almost two-thirds of Seth's territory, and she's running out now to look for someone—this is a straight path to death!"
"I said the same thing, but Miss Shizuka's attitude was extremely firm…"
"This is really killing me…"
After hearing Uruze's report, Duanmu Huai could only stare in silence. If it were anyone else, dying would be dying—he wouldn't bother caring. But Shizuka was different. She was Maria's good friend, and Maria was now an extremely important member of the Inquisition. If Shizuka died, then things would really get ugly.
"Where did she go?"
"It seems to be… the Tower of Leaps."
"...…"
Damn it.
Of all places, she had run toward the royal capital. Duanmu Huai had just withdrawn from that direction, so he knew the situation very well. At that time, most of the people in the royal capital had already boarded the Sky City. What remained were only die-hard holdouts—and the Demon army.
Even if Shizuka was a fairly capable mage, she was still just fairly capable. Forget Demonfolk apostles—if she ran into a slightly larger Demon army unit, she'd be finished.
"Forget it. I'll take Aegis and go check things out."
Duanmu Huai was obviously not going to let Shizuka go die. At the very least, alive, he had to see her; dead, he had to see the body. Otherwise, how was he supposed to explain things to Maria when he got back?
With no other choice, Duanmu Huai made this decision. He then found Anne and Guleya and explained the situation to them. Upon hearing that Shizuka was currently in danger, both of them became tense. Although they weren't particularly close to Shizuka, they had met and spoken with her at the Inquisition. Now that they heard she was in danger, they were naturally worried.
"Do you want us to help, Knight-sir?"
"No need. I'll just take Aegis. You two help guard this place. The Demon army is closing in and could attack the city at any moment. With you and Guleya here, it'll be enough to hold them off. Just be careful of Demonfolk…"
As he spoke, Duanmu Huai explained the Demonfolk's invincible barrier to them. Upon hearing about something so outrageously unfair, Anne and Guleya were left stunned.
An invincible barrier? What the hell is that—no matter how you hit it, it doesn't take damage? That's way too shameless!
"In short, if you run into something you absolutely can't damage, notify me immediately. Of course, if I run into one, I'll just casually slaughter it."
After all, Duanmu Huai was heading back to the royal capital next. There was a good chance he'd encounter a Demonfolk there instead of here. If that really happened, even better—he could casually chop that Demonfolk down, or use her to test whether his Monster Tamer abilities actually worked on Demonfolk.
Since he already knew about the situation, Duanmu Huai didn't feel like staying any longer. With the Sky City here, plus Anne and Guleya, nothing would go wrong—of course, he also told them that if they really ran into a Demonfolk and couldn't win, they should just use the Sky City's teleportation gate to escape. There was no shame in that.
Before leaving, however, Duanmu Huai also went to ask King Gandhi about the situation. King Gandhi informed him that among the Four Heavenly Kings, there was indeed someone named Nagi Ze Rakaru. However, she was a young girl, likely even younger than Shizuka, so she definitely wasn't the person Shizuka was looking for. That meant it was most likely her father.
And this particular Heavenly King had not retreated together with them. No one knew where he had gone.
Upon receiving this answer, Duanmu Huai could only feel helpless. At this point, it seemed there was no choice but for him to personally make a trip to the Tower of Leaps.
After that, Duanmu Huai brought Aegis back to the Sky City and used the teleportation gate to requisition a Night Raven Blackstar gunboat from the Inquisition's mothership—this was one of Maria's achievements after taking office.
Previously, Duanmu Huai hadn't had any reliable ordnance engineers under his command, so Kukuru could only manufacture basic firearms and ammunition. But now that Maria was around, the Void Shipyard could finally be used to produce mechanical equipment like tanks and gunboats.
As a result, Duanmu Huai could once again drive the Night Raven Blackstar around to wreak havoc…
Which clearly showed just how important Maria was to him.
So Shizuka, you absolutely cannot die.
Piloting the Night Raven Blackstar, Duanmu Huai sped forward. It didn't take long before he arrived outside the Tower of Leaps near the royal capital. From afar, the royal capital was no longer the prosperous sight it had been when Duanmu Huai first saw it. The entire city was filled with ruins. Only the central royal district remained relatively intact, swarming with rampaging Demon soldiers.
However, Duanmu Huai had no intention of lingering here. After circling above the royal capital once, he headed straight for the Tower of Leaps.
Meanwhile, inside the Tower of Leaps…
…it was complete chaos.
"Flame Arrow!!"
Shizuka raised her hand, and a streak of fire shot forth from her palm, striking the Demon in front of her. The Demon let out a scream before collapsing to the ground, turning into a corpse.
"Hah… hah…"
At this moment, Shizuka was drenched in sweat. Her gaze was icy and resolute, her body covered in blood. Her mage robe was torn to shreds, and the hat she used to wear was nowhere to be seen.
In truth, this journey had been just as perilous for Shizuka. Just as Duanmu Huai had guessed, after the Demons occupied Seth's territory, Demon forces were rampant throughout the region. There were even squads formed by rioters.
Along the way, Shizuka had encountered many dangers—some even life-threatening—but in the end, she had forced her way through on sheer willpower.
Because she had not yet achieved her goal!
However, even after arriving at the Tower of Leaps, countless obstacles still lay before her.
The place was crawling with Demon soldiers. Even so, Shizuka continued forward, advancing toward the top of the tower—step by step, step by step…
"Ugh…"
Finally, perhaps due to extreme exhaustion, or perhaps because she had pushed herself too far, Shizuka suddenly felt her legs give out, and her entire body fell backward!
At this moment, Shizuka's heart was filled with sorrow and rage.
Is this… the end?
However, just as Shizuka closed her eyes, preparing to endure the pain of impact, she suddenly felt a large hand appear at her back, stopping her fall!
Then, a voice rang out.
"Whew, scared me there. Just barely made it."
"Huh?"
Hearing this voice, Shizuka opened her eyes—and when she saw Duanmu Huai's massive face right in front of her, she immediately twitched in fright.
Well, that was understandable. Any girl who suddenly opened her eyes and saw that face would react the same way.
"So tell me—what exactly are you trying to do here?"
Looking at the bloodstains and holes all over Shizuka's body, Duanmu Huai found it hard to understand.
"I heard about you from Uruze and rushed over right away… By the way, who are you looking for here? Even if he was here, he's probably already dead."
"He absolutely cannot die!"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's words, Shizuka suddenly clenched her fists and forcefully broke free from him.
"It has to be me… I have to be the one to kill him!!"
"…Revenge, huh."
If Duanmu Huai hadn't known why Shizuka was looking for someone named Rakaru before, her reaction now made it obvious.
"You have a grudge?"
"..."
"You'd better explain it to me properly. Otherwise, I won't let you go."
"Ugh…"
Hearing this, Shizuka gritted her teeth and tried to break free from Duanmu Huai's grip. Unfortunately, he held her firmly. Realizing she couldn't escape, Shizuka finally lowered her head.
"He is my… sworn enemy!"
Then, Shizuka explained to Duanmu Huai the hatred between herself and the man named Rakaru.
What surprised Duanmu Huai was that Shizuka had originally been a citizen of Seth—and not just any citizen, but the daughter of a high-ranking official. Logically speaking, if nothing had gone wrong, she should have been living the life of a Level-1 Citizen in Seth, just like Magico.
But this was where the problem lay.
A certain man had set his sights on Shizuka's mother. For that reason, he killed Shizuka's father and forcibly took her mother. After losing both parents, Shizuka was sold off, and after many twists and turns, she eventually arrived in the Free Cities.
Shizuka didn't know much about that man—only that he possessed powerful magic and that his name was Rakaru.
And the reason she had followed Duanmu Huai to Seth this time was precisely to find this man…
…and avenge her parents with her own hands!
(End of Chapter)