Raw red hair that crackled like fire.
She stood tall and curved with maturity.
After four years, her face had lost a lot of fat.
"You're here!"
Her eyes sparkled as soon as she saw Vikir and she started waving.
"Kyaah, boyfriend, it's been a while!"
When Camus waved her hand, dark clouds gathered around her.
pudeudeug- pudeug- pudeudeudeug-
Upon closer inspection, he realized they were black-feathered flying birds.
Countless crows and magpies had gathered and were building bridges.
Camus walked across the bridge, which must have been hundreds of meters long, to Vikir.
She walked with a haphazard gait, like a model on the runway.
"...."
Vikir was silent for a moment.
His emotionless expression faltered slightly.
Then, Camus threw herself into Vikir's arms.
"You've grown so tall! Well grown, eum!"
After staring at Vikir for a long moment, Camus turns her head to look at the group behind her.
"...Uh, well, hello to you guys.."
It was a relatively more substantial greeting.
Dolores, Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair greeted Camus as well.
Camus, too, was a member of the Night Walkers, a fellow Colosseo Academy member, albeit only for a few months.
'Why should I go to school here if Vikir isn't here?'
The legend of Camus, who had dropped out as soon as she enrolled, had been a legend at Colosseo Academy for some time.
Dolores greeted her in a calm voice.
"It's been a while, Queen of the Night."
"Uh. It's been a while for you, too. Doesn't it get a little cringe calling me by that nickname?"
"The name comes from 'Night Hound,' which was Vikir's working name."
"Of course our Night Hound is awesome!"
Camus again grabbed Vikir's arm who was next to her.
A thin line of blood appeared on Dolores and Sinclair's foreheads as they watched.
Sinclair stepped between Vikir and Camus and asked.
"Speaking of which, how'd things go at Morg's place? I hear you're bringing reinforcements...."
"Of course, I'm a delegate to the Dark Hall."
Camus replied, her eyes shining.
Earlier, Camus had promised the Night Walkers his loyal support as head of Morg's Dark Hall.
...!
It was stated that the support would only be for one task, which was to track Vikir's whereabouts, confirm his safety, and safely deliver him to a specific location.
The place where Camus herself was!
"I was informed that you had escaped, and of course I assumed that you had, of course, the method of prison escape was completely unexpected... but whatever. I've since unleashed the full force of Morg's army to search the coasts of any island of continent you might have washed up on!"
As she finished speaking, she turned and held up something toward the stiffly standing Tudor.
It was an iron skewer. A small, simple, and deadly tool that had stopped the charge of the Invincible Cavalry.
"You don't have one of these in your house, do you?"
"...No, of course not. Why would I have such a thing?"
"You should be grateful. I could have used this thing without bending it, just to keep me upright."
If Camus had done that, Don Quixote's Invincible Cavalry would have been a disaster.
They should be thankful that the horses and knights didn't turn into sausages and rice cakes on skewers.
Tudor gazed at the chaos on the horizon with mixed feelings.
Normally, the Invincible Cavalry would have sidestepped such a trap with ease, but with Cimeries's brainwashing, it was impossible to do so while riding blindly straight ahead.
Now, all eyes turned to the culprit.
Cimeries. The fourth mastermind of the Age of Destruction.
He grinds his sharp teeth into the gaping mouth in the center of his face.
[So there's an ambush force after all. A black mage who absorbed Seree].
Cimeries seemed to sense Seree's aura on Camus.
But demons are demons. Cimeries relaxed, as if he had already prepared for every possibility.
[I thought that you humans would surely strive to restore Don Quixote's nature. Do you think I did not anticipate this?]
At this, Cimeries lifted the face of Pasamonte, which was buried in the horse's breastplate.
His gaze was fixed on Bianca, who stood beside Tudor.
[Usher Poe Bianca, I'll tell you why I tried to capture you].
As soon as the words were finished, something strange happened on the outer castle and walls surrounding the spire.
cheog-cheog-cheog-cheog-cheog-cheog!
A group of gray-cloaked snipers raised their bows and arrows in unison and pointed them in this direction.
Bianca's face paled as she realized what was happening.
"...God Killer Sniper Squad (神殺狙擊組)."
A group of snipers composed entirely of Usher's enemies.
A fearsome group that specializes in assassinations, especially those at extremely long range, they are monsters that make up over 90% of Usher's power.
Their presence here represents a united front of the demons that consumed Don Quixote and the demons that consumed Usher.
Why do they want to take Bianca and Tudors alive, when they could just take their heads if they wanted to get rid of them statically? Wouldn't that be much easier?
It was now clear why Pedro wanted to capture Bianca as well as Tudor.
Bianca looked back at Vikir with an urgent expression.
"It's bad! Usher's sniper squad is here! Dad said if they all got together, they could kill a god!"
"...."
Vikir nodded in agreement.
The Usher Family was the smallest of the seven Great Families of the Empire, but it was precisely because of the presence of the God Killer Snipers that they had never been overpowered by the others.
Cimeries grinned from ear to ear.
[Once the Usher Family's God Killer Sniper Squad lays an ambush, even if the best of the other six families gathered together, they would not be able to avoid annihilation! Who doesn't know that?]
There were many obstacles blocking their view, so it was impossible to see the entirety of the God Killer Sniper Group's ambush.
However, the sharp sensation of killing intent everywhere told everyone that this place was already completely surrounded.
Obstacles meant nothing.
There was no hiding from the sniping of the God Killer Snipers, who could pierce through centimeters of armor with ease.
Cimeries shouted loud enough to be heard by all of the Killing Squad's assassins in ambush.
[Shoot! Kill them all!]
Wrapping his armor around himself, Cimeries didn't hesitate to give the order to concentrate fire.
And then.
…peong!
The first sniper shot flew in.
It shot through several layers of walls, piercing through the floor and into the floor below.
It was followed by a shower of thick arrows.
dudududududu-
Just as the hooves of the Invincible Cavalry's horses pounded the ground, so did the arrows of the God Killer Sniper Squad.
jjiiing...
Vikir channels all of his mana into Decarabia.
The Red inverted pentagram's shields blocked arrow after arrow from the God Killer Snipe.
All of the Night Walkers, including Camus, rallied around Vikir, shielding themselves with Decarabia's shield.
kwakwang! kwang! peoeong-
Each arrow from the God Killer Snipers struck the outer surface of Decarabia, causing it to vibrate with a loud explosion.
Watching the rain of sniper fire, the Night Walkers all thought the same thing.
'...What the hell? Is it more bearable than I thought?.'
The God Killer Snipers were fast, powerful, and accurate, but their numbers were too small.
The rate of fire was slow, and the spacing between arrows was far too wide... No, it didn't seem like one man was using that many arrows in the first place.
This was evident by the fact that once an arrow flew, it never flew back in the same direction.
With only a handful of people, the God Killer Sniper group that had made the Usher family the strongest in the Empire was so weak?
Just when everyone was questioning in their minds.
[...What is this?]
Cimeries was thinking the same thing.
He stuck his head out and scanned the outer walls.
Sure enough, there were noticeably fewer men with bows and sniping.
Even if they were a small minority, their numbers were too small to utilize the power of ambushes and focused barrages.
[This isn't a small group, it's just a small number! What the hell, where are they all?]
Dolores, Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair, seeing Cimeries' confusion, were just as puzzled.
Then.
Camus's voice was heard as she wrapped her arms around Vikir's waist.
"But boyfriend- I've missed you so much, so please stop running away, I'm tired of chasing you, although it doesn't matter because I always have a good idea where you'll end up...."
At that, everyone looked back at Vikir with puzzled expressions.
Tudor was the first to speak.
"Vikir. Wasn't it Camus you were talking about as a backup plan? From what I've heard you talking, it sounds like you're meeting for the first time."
"Nope. She's just here."
Vikir denied it in a low voice.
Camus laughed in disbelief.
"I've been scouring the coast and deserted islands, and I don't have anything in mind."
Whatever. Vikir hadn't been talking about a secret plan.
'Then what?'
The same question pops into everyone's head.
…kwakwakwakwang!
A loud explosion erupted from the ramparts outside.
A wave of aura that fluctuates like crazy.
The corner of the castle wall collapsing and the God Killer Sniper Squad falling down.
It was a scene that made Cimeries' jaw drop.
"Pushishishi- it's dusty. Get over there and play, old man."
"Shut up or I'll have to arrest you once more, you old, raggedy escapee."
A skinny old man with a whip in his hand, smirking.
Next to him is a big old man with a heavy club.
Two old men were walking up the ramparts, making small talk.
But what they were about to accomplish was anything but small talk.
jjaag- kwakwang!
With a single stroke of the whip, the assassins of the God Killer Sniper Squad were sent scrambling out of the way, and with a single strike of the club, the sturdy walls crumbled to the ground.
"So many Imperial guards and spearmen have been killed~ This is why the revolution at that time should have been successful"
"What kind of revolution is that? It's a riot. Cut the crap and do what you were asked to do."
"Anyone would think you ordered me to do this, Drew."
"I'm not like you. I'll pay for my food."
Two old men walked up, blowing away the elite of the Usher family.
Marquis de Sade, the mastermind of the 47 Men's Riot.
And Orca, the head warden of Nouvelle Vague.
They stood side by side, looking up at Vikir.