Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, Claire was about to attend Midgar Magic Swordsman Academy!
Only adults could enroll in Midgar Magic Swordsman Academy.
Minors were forbidden from enrolling in Midgar Academy.
Claire's exceptional talent was quickly noticed by the Magic Swordsman Academy.
But the Magic Swordsman Academy wasn't the only one who noticed Claire; there was another person as well.
That person was Viscount Olba, one of The Order's executives.
Viscount Olba looked at Claire's file, surrounded by the files of other incoming students.
Viscount Olba carefully examined each file, finally focusing on Claire's.
Her file contained a sentence:
"Suspected of Demon Possession, but the Holy Church sent people to investigate and found no abnormalities in Claire's body!"
At this moment, Viscount Olba looked at his pocket watch.
Inside the pocket watch was a Magic Swordsman Academy student, with beautiful white hair and an innocent smile, looking very cute. Viscount Olba stood beside her.
"Milia! Even if there's just a sliver of a chance, I will save you!"
To save Milia, Viscount Olba sacrificed everything, giving it all to The Order, but still couldn't cure Milia. And the person responsible for treating Milia had even turned Milia into something neither human nor ghost.
Viscount Olba could only endure. Until he found a way to cure Milia, he could only let Milia suffer for now.
"Milia, wait for me. Once I find a way to cure you, Father will definitely save you!"
"Depart for Kageno Territory!"
"Yes!"
The night before Claire was to leave for the capital, Xi Nuo was sleeping in his room.
The magic warning device he had set up reacted.
Xi Nuo opened his eyes.
He saw a sneaky person appear outside Claire's window, blowing an unknown gas into the room with a straw-like object.
Xi Nuo realized that the person was blowing poison gas.
Claire, being in her own home, naturally had no defenses and was easily knocked unconscious.
That person climbed through the window, picked up Claire, and fled.
Xi Nuo immediately followed.
The person made several turns and arrived at a cave.
Claire was locked in a cage.
Viscount Olba quietly waited for Claire to wake up.
Xi Nuo did not save Claire; this was a necessary setback on his sister's path to growth.
Originally, Beta was responsible for contacting Xi Nuo.
But Xi Nuo informed her through a magic puppet to follow Lord Shadow for now!
In the morning, the Kageno household was bustling with noise.
"Claire! That's Claire! The future glory of our Kageno family! She's been kidnapped!"
"Are you saying, you bald man, that you're not going to look for her?! You scoundrel, hurry up and go find Claire!" Claire's mother yelled, hitting Claire's father.
Xi De was already familiar with the members of Shadow Garden. During the time Xi Nuo was in seclusion training, Alpha and the others continuously attacked The Order's strongholds.
They often encountered Xi De, who could find The Order's strongholds without any prior intelligence.
Over time, they became a bit more familiar with each other.
The Seven Shadows realized that Xi De possessed immense strength and a terrifying intellect; it seemed he knew everything.
But compared to Xi Nuo, Xi De seemed a bit individualistic, rarely sharing information with Alpha and the others, and appearing and disappearing mysteriously.
Other than Xi Nuo, no one could understand what Xi De was thinking.
Beta contacted the other Seven Shadows. After all, she was the older sister of the two Lords, so they certainly had to exert themselves to save Claire.
Xi De was looking at the map, pondering where his sister was hidden, when Beta appeared.
"Lord Shadow, we have a rough idea of the enemy's strongholds. There are three suspicious locations!"
Upon hearing this, Xi De held his teacup, looked out the window, slowly drank a cup of tea, and then with a flick of his wrist, threw a magic flying knife towards the map.
"It's over here!"
"Oops, I missed!" Xi De muttered softly to himself.
"If it's this place... no, if it's like this, everything makes sense. As expected of Lord Shadow!" Beta said with praise and respect, but her expression showed little fluctuation.
Her heart already belonged to another, Xi Nuo.
For Shadow, Beta only had respect; for Xi Nuo, she only had... Beta contacted the Seven Shadows, preparing to move out and rescue Claire together.
In the dungeon, Claire woke from her coma. Viscount Olba had been waiting for Claire to awaken.
"I also have a daughter, so I hope you can be obedient. I don't want to resort to force!"
"You are? Viscount Olba?"
"Who I am or my identity is not important. I heard that you once suffered from Demon Possession!"
"That's just rumors spread by maids and servants. Didn't the Holy Church's people also come?"
"But the Holy Church found nothing on you. There's no smoke without fire, so why would people spread rumors that you have Demon Possession?"
"Demon Possession? My brother said I just had some ordinary skin condition that could be cured with some simple herbal poultices!"
"Your brother? Xi De, or Xi Nuo? It seems I'll have to tie both of them up!"
"Crack!" The magic-suppressing chains made a strange sound, and Claire immediately broke free.
She threw a punch at Viscount Olba.
Xi Nuo observed from the shadows.
"Let me see if my strengthened sister can defeat this small boss!"
Viscount Olba never expected the opponent to display such speed.
He quickly dodged the attack, but Claire pulled back her attack halfway through.
She dismantled the magic-suppressing chains on her wrists with her bare hands.
At this moment, a powerful surge of magic erupted from Claire.
"If you dare touch my brother, I'll make sure your entire family dies without a complete corpse!"
Terrifying magic raged within Claire.
"Your strength! How is this possible!"
Viscount Olba made a snap decision and immediately took a potion.
He brandished the sword in his hand and engaged Claire in a fierce battle in the dungeon.
Even without a magic sword, Claire was still able to contend with Viscount Olba.
This was all thanks to Xi Nuo's teachings. Xi Nuo would beat up his sister every once in a while, and his sister would often beat up Xi De.
Xi De looked ordinary and had little presence, always hiding in the back. Claire treated Xi De this way for his own good.
Because Claire liked to beat up Xi De, it made Xi De avoid women even more. Xi De's mother was a violent person, and his sister was also violent; it was too hard for him, a mere background character.
Viscount Olba continuously launched attacks, but Claire always managed to dodge them from extremely tricky angles.
This was all thanks to Xi Nuo's repeated beatings.
However, due to the lack of a weapon, the potion-enhanced Viscount Olba was ultimately stronger.
"Lord Olba!"
"What is it!"
"There are intruders!"
Olba's expression changed.
"Seven girls have arrived outside, each of extraordinary strength. Our people can't withstand their attacks and are rapidly suffering casualties! She..."
The speaker was cut off mid-sentence by a figure who decapitated him. It was Zeta.
"After beheading the last grunt, Zeta returned to Alpha's side!"
Zeta could sense that Viscount Olba was not easy to deal with and did not act rashly!
"Who are you people!"
"We are Shadow Garden, lurking in the shadows, hunting those in the shadows."
"We will destroy the Diabolos Cult."
"We know everything!"
"Diabolos the Demon's resurrection, the descendants of heroes! We know all of this!"
"As well as the truth of Demon Possession!"
The Seven Shadows explained, one after another.
"How do you know this information!"