At the Douglas manor, Sophia received the alert sent by Umber."ALEPH!" she commanded, her voice tight with urgency. "Prepare as many troops as you can—immediately!"

  "As you command, Duchess," Aleph, her loyal commander, replied as he hurried to mobilize resources.

  Laurence, who was nearby, approached with a frown. "What's happening, Sophia?" he asked urgently.

  "Lusian is in danger," she answered gravely.

  With Umber's decisive support, the group managed to defeat the Lich swiftly. But the victory was bitter. From within the cave, undead began to emerge—bodies that showed no signs of decay. They were fresh corpses, animated by grotesque magic.

  Charles and Lusian exchanged worried glances; they both knew it wasn't over yet. "They've started killing the villagers, my lord!" Charles reported, alarmed.

  "We have to go in now," Lusian said firmly. "If we don't act quickly, not only will the prisoners be in danger—our enemies will grow in number."

  Inside the cave, Jerges, leader of the demonic cult, ordered his followers to select the strongest villagers and subject them to a ritual meant to turn them into undead. Showing no mercy, the cult members began slaughtering adult men and women, drawing a magic circle while using a Lich's ability to saturate the corpses with corrupted mana. Their goal was to buy time and create a diversion that would allow them to escape.

  Before the cult could complete their objective, Albert stormed into the cave after defeating one of the Liches. To secure their retreat, the cult deployed most of the undead toward the main entrance, reserving forty-two of them to hinder Albert and ensure their leaders' escape. In total, the cultists had managed to create four hundred and fourteen undead.

  "Dispose of those annoying obstacles," Albert ordered firmly. "I don't want any more casualties. Hunt down those fools and don't let them escape."

  One of Albert's men asked anxiously, "Sir Albert, shouldn't we support our lord?"

  Albert replied calmly, "Charles isn't as useless as many believe—he can handle it. Our priority is to carry out our orders: pursue the cult members and prevent their escape."

  At the eastern exit of the cave, a desperate battle was underway. Several members of the demonic cult were attempting to flee through that route, led by Saul, the second-in-command, a Magister-Delta rank mage. The adventurers trying to stop their escape were being overwhelmed by the enemy's strength.

  Saul's spells—and those of the other cult mages—cut through the adventurers' defenses with ease, even those wearing high-rank armor. The situation was critical, but the Douglas knights held firm thanks to their superior armor and iron discipline.

  Saul faced Cain directly. The difference in power was overwhelming. The mage enveloped Cain's body in contaminated mana, slowly crushing him. Cain could barely withstand the pressure and realized he had made a grave mistake by disobeying Jaiden's orders, the commander of the Douglas forces.

  Amid pain and despair, Cain regretted his recklessness, his pride, and his ambition. But before his life came to an end, he gathered his last strength and managed to wound Saul's hand, causing a slight but unexpected break in his concentration.

  Meanwhile, Keitaro fought alongside his fellow Gold-class adventurers against a group of cult warriors. Despite their bravery, they were barely holding formation. Without the constant support of the Douglas mages, they would have been annihilated long ago.

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  "Keitaro, you need to help Lord Jaiden with your ability!" one of his companions shouted. "If you don't, we'll all die here!"

  Keitaro hesitated, knowing his power could reveal too much about him. "I can't be seen using my ability… I'll be exposed to everyone," he replied tensely.

  "If you don't," Iris said, locking eyes with him, "our friends will die too. Please… help them."

  Keitaro realized he had no other choice. Determined, he ran toward the sector where Jaiden was fighting, ignoring the warnings about the danger. The commander had just beheaded an enemy when he saw him approaching.

  "Kid, stay back! Remain with your group—this sector is too dangerous!" Jaiden warned without pausing his combat.

  But Keitaro spoke firmly. "Sir, I have a way to get you close to that mage, Saul. His magic is overwhelming everyone."

  Jaiden, intrigued, allowed himself to listen. "What can you do, boy?"

  "I can send you behind him," Keitaro explained confidently. "You just need to prepare your strongest strike. I'll bring you back."

  The commander watched him for a few seconds, measuring his resolve. Finally, he nodded. "Alright. Let's try it."

  Keitaro activated his ability and etched a magical seal onto Jaiden's hand. In a blink, the commander vanished from his position and reappeared behind Saul. The mage barely had time to turn when Jaiden's blade pierced his neck. His head rolled across the ground, and in the next instant, Jaiden vanished again, reappearing beside Keitaro.

  The spell completely drained Keitaro's mana. With Saul's death, all his support spells dissipated, instantly throwing the cult's warriors into disarray. Five minutes later, Jaiden and his team advanced deeper into the cave, though the cost was high: ten adventurers and five Douglas knights had fallen in battle.

  In the northern sector, Leonidas, leader of the earth-affinity mages, ordered the preparation of a powerful spell to crush anyone attempting to escape. They did not have to wait long. Several cult members, accompanied by undead, emerged from the cave… only to be struck by enormous falling boulders that reduced them to dust.

  That passage had been meant to remain secret, known only to the cult's initiates, but Charles had uncovered it by interrogating captured prisoners.

  Realizing he had been ambushed, Jerges, the cult leader, ordered the Lich accompanying him to activate its ability: transferring the strength of an underworld entity into a corpse. Though the effect lasted only fifteen minutes, it granted the undead the power of a Magister-class warrior.

  Jerges sent the remaining one hundred and fifty undead forward and ordered Elio, his third-in-command, to reinforce them with support spells.

  Understanding the scale of the threat, Leonidas immediately activated all pre-prepared spells, disintegrating forty-six undead. But the rest advanced relentlessly. The Douglas knights resisted as long as they could, until the numerical difference began to tip the balance.

  Leonidas confronted the Lich-enhanced creature directly. He immediately realized he would not defeat it easily, but he did not retreat. Despite having already exhausted much of his magical energy, he unleashed his finest techniques. Each impact made the ground tremble.

  The enemy's contaminated mana was slowly poisoning him, scorching his lungs with every breath. Then he heard a shout from the rear lines:

  "Fall back, Leonidas!"

  He obeyed instinctively, and a moment later, the undead was struck by a rain of fire. Its body burned, yet it still moved.

  Gathering his remaining strength, Leonidas activated his most powerful physical enhancement spell. With a roar, he unleashed a final blow that split the undead in two. But before collapsing, the creature managed to launch a slash that tore open the breastplate of his armor, gravely wounding his chest.

  Several knights rushed to his aid and dragged him to the rear, trying to stabilize him. Around them, the battle raged on—the roars of the undead and the thunder of magic filled the air. The Douglas line held… but barely.

  Albert caught up with the demonic cult's main group, unleashing a ferocious battle. Despite their resistance, the cult members were mercilessly slaughtered. Facing imminent defeat, Jerges made a desperate decision: he sacrificed his own men, using them as human shields to break through the knights' ranks. With only a few survivors, he escaped with the Lich's help.

  After the battle, Albert approached Leonidas, who lay wounded on the ground.

  "Still alive?" he asked mockingly. "A simple mission, and you're already lying there on death's doorstep."

  Leonidas growled irritably."Why did you take so long, you old bastard? You said you wouldn't delay supporting us."

  Albert exhaled in resignation."The plan got complicated. I had to improvise—and deal with a rather troublesome skeleton while I was at it. All because my lord wished it so." He pulled a black pearl from his bracer.

  Leonidas immediately recognized the object and muttered in annoyance,"Liches shouldn't be a problem for you."

  Albert smiled with clear satisfaction."They weren't. But there were plenty of demonic cultists. When I finished off that Lich, the looks on those idiots' faces were priceless."