"Everyone, move faster!"
At the gates of Heim City's inner district, Blake was commanding the Heim Knight Order as they guided the city's residents toward the underground shelter beneath Heim Castle.
Previously, for convenience, Niv had moved her armory into the castle's underground vaults. Now that Hel had already stored away that massive mech, the space below was large enough to house every citizen of Heim.
"Reporting, Commander! First squad returning!"
A knight pushed through the crowd toward Blake, holding in both arms a heavy golden plate engraved with intricate runes. Judging from the strain on his face and bulging muscles, the thing was anything but light.
"The array plate the lord asked us to activate has reached maximum energy storage."
"Well done."
Blake nodded, carefully accepting the plate before handing it to a knight automaton standing nearby. The construct immediately sprinted toward the castle, carrying the glowing relic.
Inside Hel's workshop beneath Heim Castle, Hel was bent over a slim golden rapier, meticulously carving alchemical runes into its blade.
Suddenly, the knight automaton entered silently and placed another golden plate onto a nearby rack — a rack already filled with dozens of identical plates.
"Master, what are you working on?"
Niv stepped inside, watching Hel busily etching with a puzzled expression.
"Is this your secret weapon?"
"You could say that," Hel replied without looking up. "You remember the Pseudo-Territory Transmutation Array, right?"
"Of course. I helped you set that up myself," Niv said, puffing out her chest proudly. "Thanks to the Philosopher's Stones it produced, you were able to cast higher-tier magic so easily."
She leaned closer, curiously examining the golden plates.
"The Pseudo-Territory Transmutation Array is only a top-tier spell," Hel explained calmly, finishing the last rune on the sword before setting it aside and picking up one of the golden plates.
"But once its scale reaches a certain magnitude… quantity turns into quality — and it will evolve into a forbidden spell."
Running her fingers over the engraved patterns, Hel continued, "There are many similar examples. At least within the three branches of magic I've mastered, several spells can evolve this way.
Right now, I'm preparing one from the elemental branch.
Unfortunately, I don't have a seventh-rank elemental crystal. If I did, this would be much simpler."
Hel flicked the edge of the golden plate and slotted it into a groove on her worktable. Instantly, streams of pure elemental energy flowed through etched circuits and magic circles, converging into the sword at the center of the table.
As the power gathered, the dull gem embedded in the sword's hilt began to flicker faintly — but the light vanished almost immediately.
"The best I can do right now is use a fusion of Philosopher's Insight and Primordial Matter to forge a crystal capable of withstanding elemental energy. It's no real substitute for a true elemental core."
"And these metal plates?" Niv leaned closer — a little too close. She pressed up against Hel's back, her soft body cushioning Hel's head like two warm pillows.
"They're containers," Hel said, unbothered. "I sent people across Heim and the nearby territories to harvest ambient elemental energy. Ever since the day I awakened Vivian's angelic bloodline, I've been preparing for this. Now, finally, I've gathered enough."
"Collecting energy from other lands? Isn't that overkill? Elements flow naturally, don't they?"
But as she spoke, Niv suddenly froze. She stretched out her senses — and her eyes widened in shock.
"This… this is—"
"The effect of excessive elemental extraction," Hel said evenly. "The ambient elements around Heim are nearly depleted. Even the entire Mandrake Duchy's elemental density has dropped significantly. It'll take a few days for nature to recover."
Niv stared at the sword on the table, speechless.
She couldn't shake the feeling that Hel was about to pull off something monumental — something catastrophic even.
But then again, that was exactly why she admired her master.
Rubbing her head affectionately against Hel's, Niv grinned proudly. "Vivian and the others have already reached the capital of the Sacrifice Kingdom. A squad of knights is there to receive them."
"So soon?"
"Yup! Thanks to me cleaning up all the pests on the road, otherwise they'd still be wandering in Mandrake."
"Yes, yes. My dear Niv, always so reliable," Hel said with a faint smile, patting her head.
Getting Vivian's group safely out of the Sacrifice Kingdom — that had been the hardest part.
Now, as long as the Church's reception squad was competent enough, the rest of their journey should go smoothly.
But suddenly, Niv's expression froze. Her body tensed, her face paling rapidly.
"Master," she said grimly, "the worst-case scenario just happened. You might need to deploy Morrigan yourself."
Hel's expression turned sharp at once.
Morrigan was a powerful asset. Even though Niv controlled her through alchemical runes — meaning she couldn't unleash her full strength — she could still fight at the peak of the fifth rank. That was more than enough to eliminate any beastman spies hidden among the humans.
Unless… the ambushers included a sixth-rank powerhouse.
But that was nearly impossible.
Even among humans, sixth ranks were the absolute elite — the kind of figures entire kingdoms were built around.
There was no way the beastmen could have infiltrated one at that level.
Unless… someone had betrayed them.
But what kind of benefit could possibly make a human betray humanity?
…
Several hours earlier —
Vivian and Pamela were flying together on horseback through the skies.
Far ahead, a formation of knights was waiting for them on an open plain.
"Are you the Angel of the Church and Sister Pamela?"
A white-haired old knight sat astride a snow-white horse, his voice booming across the distance.
"I am Hubertus de Serephis, current King of the Serephis Kingdom," he declared solemnly. "By the Church's command, I am here to escort the Angel."