Piers burned the remaining vines and man-eating plants with his Hellsfire that was within the city while standing on the outskirts of the city. Amplifying his voice with energy, he commanded, "Everyone, cease your attack and meet me at the town square!"
Silas, who was locked in a fight with Bret and Luc; Astarte, who was at a draw with Adreil and the Devil Holders; and Titus, who was chasing Ben, Selene, and Emilia, all immediately stopped and returned to the town square.
Watching Astarte depart, Sentry said, "Did we just lose?"
"Even with all these powers, we are nothing in front of these monsters," Ben muttered.
"I needed to repay Rei, yet here...." Bret trailed off.
As Piers slowly walked toward the Town Square, he looked at his sword, the Phantom Insignia. I could have let Rei pierce my throat, and nothing would have happened due to my regeneration powers. Then why did I stop? Have I become soft? No, that's not it then... Suddenly, the memory of Rei's appearance returned, filling Piers with deep sorrow, desperation, anger, and a small flicker of hope. He is just like me, Piers thought.
At the Town Square, Piers ordered, "Find the branch building of the Devil Holders. From now on, we will use that branch building for us."
"Yes, Master," Kade replied. Kade took some of the newly joined Devil Holders and instructed them to show him the building. After checking it, Kade returned. "I found the building, please follow me."
Kade led everyone to the building. Severin observed, "I can see the building is protected by spatial powers, too." As they entered, they found themselves in another world.
Piers turned to Severin. "Master Severin, can you manage the branch's spatial powers?"
"Yes, but it will still be a bit difficult. Let me see what I can do. These works are not for one person," Severin said, beginning to study the spatial controls.
Piers settled in. I need my mind to be resolved, he thought, heading to the training room. He took out his Phantom Insignia and began slashing downward. While slashing, he suddenly felt something—the image of a boy with blonde hair, drowned in water, sleeping there. Piers stopped. I don't need these kind of distractions now, he thought, and resumed his training.
A week later, inside the Devil Mask Branch, the Elder received news of the nearby branch's fall. "First the Devil Hell Branch, now this branch. I am sure we are next. Before they attack us, we have to attack them."
"But Patriarch, how will you attack them? We don't know their location," the youth who brought the message asked.
"They must be in the branch building. If they are not, then we get to claim it. In both ways, we will be the winners," the Patriarch asserted.
"But what if they attack our branch when we are out?"
"Then we would just live in the devil holders branch building, no matter what happens we will keep our branches safe" the Patriarch said.
"Okay, Patriarch."
Meanwhile, in the Heaven Hall Branch, a woman holding a fan heard the news. "Oh, is this news true?"
"Yes, this is true. Now an internal struggle is going between the Devil Holders," her servant confirmed.
"This will be the perfect chance to destroy a Devil Holder Branch. Make the forces ready. We are marching towards this Devil Holder Branch the next day."
Piers, in his training room, wrote in the Dendrogram: What are the new developments between the Devil Holders and Guardian Holders?
The Dendrogram wrote back: The Devil Mask Branch and Heaven Hall Branch armies are marching towards this branch for the start of a war.
Piers smiled menacingly. "Garth, Xander, come here!" Garth and Xander instantly appeared. "We have a war coming at our doorstep. Make some rituals to protect our branch from both Devil and Guardian Holders."
"Yes, we will do our best," Garth said.
"Don't worry, we know what rituals to use," Xander assured him.
In Astria, Bart, Eugene, Ava, and Daina were standing in a dungeon facing a huge ape.
"Everyone, are you ready?" Bart asked.
"Yes, let's push ourselves to the limit!" Daina charged at the ape. The ape tried to crush her with its foot, but Bart used his Earth Spell, covering the ape's leg.
"I can't hold him for long! Go! Go! Go!" Bart yelled.
Ava jumped and ran onto the ape's skin. The ape tried to smash her with a fist, but Eugene quickly created a barrier between the fist and Daina, protecting her.
"Thanks for that," Daina said, then attacked the ape's eye.
"Don't worry, I got you covered," Ava shouted, using her fire magic to attack the other eye.
The ape screamed and became restless, but Daina continued slashing. Bart, seeing the ape about to charge him, created several earth spikes at its legs. The ape screamed and charged at Bart, Eugene, and Ava, its feet now torn by the spikes.
"No, you don't!" Daina jumped down and then jumped up with full force and with her legs pushed the ape away. Bart, Ava, and Eugene spread out.
"What is its problem?" Ava asked.
"Whatever it is, I am going to fix it," Eugene said, creating chains to bind the ape. Daina charged at its head, Bart bound it with earth, and Ava covered it with ice. Daina reached the ape's head and tried to pierce it. "My sword is too short to slash through the ape's head."
"Don't worry!" Bart focused. Earth started attaching to Daina's sword until it formed a huge, long sword. "Will this do?"
"Oh yeah, it will do!" Daina jumped and pierced the ape's head, killing it.
Daina smiled. "We did it!"
As everyone celebrated, Eugene came to Daina. "We are getting strong. I can stop the demon's healing for a while, meaning we would now be easily able to handle many demons at once."
Daina's smile faded. "However, we still have no chance against the Fate Demon, right?"
"No, but if we train like this, then we will soon have enough strength to kill the Fate Demon," Eugene assured her.
"Yeah, and we will train our hardest during this time," Daina resolved.