A tall girl in a white kimono stood silently before the tombstone.
The girl had unique cherry-blossom colored hair, tied into a high ponytail, and as the autumn wind gently blew, fine strands of hair fluttered.
Her face was beautiful, with a sharp intensity in her brows, like a sword about to be drawn from its sheath.
The girl held a bouquet of freshly picked flowers in her hands. She gently knelt down and carefully placed the flowers before the tombstone, then pressed her hands to the ground and bowed deeply.
After completing this, the girl stood up and turned to look at Ezreal and the other two. From her appearance, she seemed to be around eighteen or nineteen, similar in age to Ezreal.
Marcus and Cana took two steps forward, shielding Ezreal. They hadn't forgotten that they were on a protection mission.
The girl carefully observed the three of them, completely ignoring the sand swirling in Marcus's hands and the cards at Cana's fingertips, not taking them to heart at all.
After observing them, the girl's gaze finally settled on Ezreal, and she said, "So this is what you look like. You're unexpectedly a handsome man."
The girl's voice was very pleasant, like pearls falling onto a jade plate, soft and gentle.
Marcus and Cana, who had been on guard, exchanged a look when they heard the girl speak, then both turned and asked, "You two know each other?"
Ezreal nodded, "You could say that."
The girl softly asked, "You got what you wanted, why haven't you left yet?"
"Long time no see, Ikaruga." Ezreal waved his hand, smiling as he greeted her, then continued.
"I might need to bother you here for a while. I need to strengthen my Summoned Beasts here."
"You know, once we leave the Asgard Mountains, it won't be so easy to find so many powerful and diverse demonic beasts."
Ezreal smiled and spread his hands, explaining to the girl named Ikaruga, then introduced the girl to Marcus and Cana.
"The retainers of the Alfred Family take their surnames from birds, and the strongest among them inherits the family's surname as their true name. This person before you is the one who inherited the name Ikaruga."
"When I was collecting dragon scale magic-sealing stones, I happened to encounter her returning to sweep the graves. Don't let her delicate appearance fool you; she took out six of my Demon Wolves with a single katana strike!"
Ezreal's tone was somewhat indignant. He truly hadn't expected that Ikaruga, the minor supporting character from the assassination organization in the original Tower of Paradise, was actually a descendant of the Alfred Family's retainers, and her strength was terrifyingly powerful.
He had sent almost all of his Summoned Beasts, except for the Fire Crown Treant, to explore the Alfred Family ruins.
But as he explored, his Summoned Beasts suddenly started dying one after another, almost instantly, without even a chance to resist.
After discovering this, he used consciousness attachment to figure out what was happening.
He had just transmitted his consciousness to one of the Crimson Feathered Demon Wolves when he saw a flash of a katana coming at him, splitting the Crimson Feathered Demon Wolf in half, and his consciousness was also severed.
Helpless, he had to disperse his consciousness into the Red and Blue Stone Warriors, and only then did he see what was happening.
A girl in a white kimono, wielding a red katana, was taking out almost all of his Summoned Beasts except for the Red and Blue Stone Warriors, one by one, with a single strike.
Even with the strength of the Red and Blue Buffs, they couldn't block her attacks.
Her incredibly fast slashes were almost impossible to evade! Her attacks were also fierce and vicious, like a venomous snake, striking with lethal intent.
It's important to know that besides the Red Buff, which had now evolved into a Fire Crown Treant, he also had one Red Buff and two Blue Buffs, and these three guys were practically the first tier among his Summoned Beasts.
Purely in terms of strength, relying on excellent magic reserves and the magical properties of the crown of embers and the crown of insight, dealing with ordinary B-Class Mages was child's play.
But in the hands of this girl, they were almost instantly cut down in a matter of seconds.
Only the Red-Blue Stone Golems, whose bodies were made of a large amount of magic-sealing stone, made the girl feel a bit troublesome.
This gave Ezreal the chance to explain to the girl.
As winter approached, many demonic beasts began to hibernate, and those that didn't reduced their activity, making it a less dangerous time in the Asgard Mountains.
This girl named Ikaruga chose to return to sweep the graves at this time. When she saw Ezreal's group of Summoned Beasts, she thought they were reckless demonic beasts trespassing into the Alfred Family's ruins, so she attacked with extreme ferocity.
Ezreal briefly explained his purpose, and Ikaruga immediately stopped her attack.
Although he was there to take the Alfred Family's magic-sealing stones, Ikaruga did not prevent this action.
magic-sealing stone, as a material, was useless to ordinary people. Even if sold, though expensive, few people bought it.
After learning the situation, Ikaruga only made an agreement with Ezreal not to disturb the tombstones of the Alfred Family members; as for everything else, he could take whatever he could.
magic-sealing stone was as abundant as tap water in the Alfred Family.
The Alfred Family's warehouse had no shortage of magic-sealing stones.
Moreover, while Ikaruga's strength was astonishing, she had only taken out the Summoned Beasts because they were isolated during the exploration of the ruins.
In a head-on confrontation, Ezreal was confident that even without summoning the Fire Crown Treant, just his other Summoned Beasts cooperating under his control, Ikaruga would definitely not be his opponent.
Ikaruga was also well aware of this, so after they made their agreement, they didn't disturb each other and went about their own business.
Ikaruga was busy sweeping the graves, and Ezreal was busy collecting magic-sealing stones in the warehouse.
"Your Summoned Beasts really do need to be strengthened." Ikaruga smiled, then bowed slightly to the three of them.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Ikaruga."
"Ezreal."
"Hello, I'm Marcus."
"Just call me Cana."
"Good thing you didn't come at us with a katana this time. I was worried before we came." Ezreal said with a joking smile.
"It's your ability to have come here. As long as you don't disturb the slumber of the Alfred Family, you're free to do whatever you want here." Ikaruga covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
"This time, besides staying here for a while, there's another matter." Ezreal took a few steps forward, his smile sincere.
"How have you considered joining Fairy Tail?"