Piers looked at Kaiser, his eyes burning with irritation. "Who are you and why are you attacking me?"
"I want to awaken Rei," Kaiser stated. "I know that if I can weaken your consciousness, then Rei can be awakened." Kaiser took out his scepter-sword, Erubus. Piers immediately activated his Dark Spirit Form, enveloping himself in a cloak of darkness.
"Fine. If you want a fight, I will give you one." Piers and Kaiser charged at each other.
In the place where Ben, Selene, and Emilia were stationed, Titus arrived, sword drawn. "I saw you attacking Piers. Who are you and why are you attacking us?"
"Who I am doesn't matter," Ben replied. "However, I am attacking Piers because I want my friend back."
"What a flimsy excuse," Titus scoffed, unleashing his God Strength. Before he could fully charge, Ben drew his magic gun and started firing. "I don't care what you believe!" Ben shouted. Titus used his God Strength to dodge the attacks and charged, but Ben anticipated it, blocking Titus's sword with his own. Ben then used his magic gun at close range, forcing Titus to back down.
Ben paused. "Better let us be, otherwise, the next shot won't miss."
"We will see," Titus challenged. They engaged in a close-quarters sword fight. Ben was forced to parry most of the time, unable to match Titus's brute strength, but used his magic gun when overwhelmed, making Titus back off repeatedly.
"I had warned you but you brought this on yourself," Ben muttered, looking to the side. "Fire now!"
"What—" Titus began, but Emilia and Selene had quickly reloaded the cannon.
"You forgot we are here too! Now take this!" Emilia yelled. The cannon fired, blasting Titus away.
"Let's go," Ben commanded, and the three quickly fled the scene.
On the other hand, Bret and Luc were met by Silas. "So, are you guys the ones who are attacking us?" Silas asked.
"Looks like we got the short end of the stick," Bret observed.
"Whatever, we need to show them what we truly are," Luc said, turning invisible. Bret charged at Silas. Silas changed his fist into a Devil Fist and attacked Bret, who used his Imperial Sword Technique to parry the blows. The force of the Devil Fist was immense, making simple parries difficult. Silas then caught something invisible in the air: Luc's sword. Bret quickly redirected his Imperial Sword Technique toward Silas's eyes, forcing Silas to dodge and release Luc's sword. Luc backed down and turned invisible again.
"It's of no use," Silas warned. "I can hear you with my increased devil senses."
Adreil, Hella, and Sentry were on top of the vines, focused on stopping anyone from gaining the high ground, until Astarte arrived.
"Hey chick, better get away or else," Adreil grinned.
"Just who do you think you are?" Astarte raged, charging in. Adreil met her sword with a maniacal smile. "You are not strong enough!"
Astarte backed down, but Adreil instead of backing down like a normal person would, charged her, overwhelming her with slashes. Astarte activated her Devil Powers. "Don't push it!"
Adreil's Sin of Pride mark blazed on his forehead, and dark energy covered him as he clashed with Astarte. Sentry and Hella stayed out of the main duel, focusing on stopping other Devil Holders trying to attack the vines.
Piers and Kaiser engaged fiercely. "Now try to fight against this! Sword Saint Technique, Form 1, Verse 4: Flame on Flames!" Kaiser slashed, sending reckless slashes of fire across the area toward Piers.
"This is nothing! Phantom Sword Technique, Verse 3!" Piers countered, boosting his speed using black spirits around his body, vanishing from Kaiser's view. He moved around Kaiser, but Kaiser couldn't see him.
"Sword Saint Technique, Form 1, Verse 6: Flaming Whirlwind!" Kaiser moved his sword in a circular motion, creating a whirlwind of fire that forced Piers to back down.
Piers answered with "Noctis Pinion," sending several black spirits at Kaiser.
"Sword Saint Technique, Form 1, Verse 5: Waterwave Crush!" Kaiser met the spirits with a wave of water from his sword, which crashed against the black spirits.
Piers then used "Sol Invictus," blasting white flames at Kaiser.
"Sword Saint Technique, Form 1, Verse 7: Earth Slasher!" Kaiser sent several pointed rocks at the white flames with an upward slash, causing an explosion on contact.
Piers covered his sword in Hellsfire and charged. Their swords collided, sparks flying. Kaiser blocked the attacks, then readied himself for a powerful slash. Piers sensed the danger and was forced to back down.
Piers was surprised by Kaiser's strength. "Looks like you are one heck of a fighter, however, I am not giving up either. Phantom Insignia, give me your strength!" The insignia shone, and black marks formed on Piers's hands.
"Let's see how you can fight," Piers challenged, charging at Kaiser with supernatural speed. His slash sent Kaiser reeling back. Kaiser was shocked. "Your power increased? But how?"
Piers sent several Mephisto energy blasts, which Kaiser blocked with fire slashes from the Sword Saint Technique. Suddenly, Kaiser was blasted away, feeling intense pain in his chest. He coughed up blood. "But how? I didn't see the blast coming at all!"
"Using illusion is one of the best ways to hide attacks," Piers revealed, walking toward Kaiser. He placed his hands above Kaiser's head and mind-controlled him. "Now go and tell everyone to stop their attacks. If they don't, then fight them." Kaiser, now under Piers's control, stood up.
In Astria, Daina, Bart, and Eugene reached a town. "This might be where Ava is. Let's go," Eugene said.
"I hope she is here. I would not want to come all this way for nothing," Daina commented.
"By the way, is she a powerful mage?" Bart asked.
"Yes, and she might have gotten even more powerful by this time," Daina confirmed.
"Well, let's start by looking at the bar. I have a good omen about it," Eugene suggested.
"If it's your intuition, then I have confidence in you," Daina agreed.
They walked into the bar, and Daina spotted the girl. "There she is. Let's go," Daina whispered.
They sat down at Ava's table. Ava looked at Daina. "I remember you. You are the girl who was with that guy. What do you want?" Ava's expression darkened.
"Don't worry, we are friends of Rei," Bart said, taking out his scepter-gauntlet called Ourea and creating a miniature dust tornado. "Look, this is what Rei taught me."
Eugene made his palm glow with holy magic and said. "Yeah, you can ask Rei if you find him anytime."
"I trust you two, but I don't trust her," Ava said, glaring at Daina. "Her master tried to kill Rei, and he is missing ever since."
"Don't worry, I know he is alive," Eugene assured her.
"If you know about Rei then you should also know that killing Rei is not so easy right?" Bart challenged.
"No," Ava admitted.
Daina got straight to the point. "We are making a team to help Rei during an upcoming war. Will you join us?"
"I was looking for Rei to help him but if there is an upcoming war with Rei as the center then I am ready to join your team to help," Ava agreed.