In just over a dozen exchanges, Laura was clearly at a disadvantage.
Her swordsmanship was still exquisite and her footwork agile, but anyone could see she was struggling.
Every block or dodge was fraught with danger.
Fine beads of sweat broke out on her forehead, and her breathing was no longer as steady as before.
One No. 3 had already forced her into a bitter struggle; now there was another “Demon King Seed” level enemy who was potentially stronger, more frenzied, and unpredictable…
Laura’s heart grew heavy.
Even if she risked everything and managed to deal with this demonic dragon at the cost of being heavily injured or even falling, there were still three Blood Pillars watching like tigers behind them…
The situation in Betty Territory had taken a sharp turn for the worse, and it was now in a precarious state.
An atmosphere of despair began to spread among the human soldiers who were unwilling to retreat.
Just then, Luke suddenly remembered something.
Enduring the sharp pain, his trembling hand fumbled in his robes and pulled out an object.
It was the palm-sized [Disposable Anywhere Door] that Senior Yize had repeatedly instructed was his “last escape route.”
Right now, it looked like a finely crafted child’s toy.
“Luke, at a time like this, you still have the mind to play with… a toy?”
Emma looked at the small wooden door that suddenly appeared in his hand, feeling both anxious and confused.
“This isn’t a toy, Senior Sister Emma!”
Luke’s voice was hoarse, but it carried a strange seriousness.
He gripped the small wooden door tightly.
“This is… something to save our lives… at the critical moment, it can take us away from here.”
“Just… just this little wooden door?”
Emma looked at the tiny wooden door in disbelief, then at the Imperial Sword Saint and the dragonized Leon fighting for their lives, and then at the dark mass of the Blood Clan Legion.
“It can… take us away? How?”
Luke didn’t explain in detail.
He clutched the wooden door, his eyes filled with intense conflict.
If he used it, injected Mana to activate it, and opened the door, they could go straight back to Senior Yize’s dormitory at Starlight Academy.
It would be safe, and they would instantly escape this desperate situation.
But…
He looked up, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the soldiers around him—tired, fearful, or desperate, yet still gripping their weapons and refusing to retreat.
He looked at the back of the Imperial Sword Saint, Laura, who was fighting a bloody battle against the monster.
He looked further into the distance at the civilians within Betty Territory who were shivering in the darkness, placing their hopes on them…
Once they, the core combatants, “escaped” through this door, what would happen to those left behind?
It would be an undisputed, bloody massacre and feast.
Betty Territory would completely turn into a land of the dead.
This door was the hope for life, but it was also a symbol of abandonment and betrayal.
Unless it was truly the final, irreparable moment, he could not bring himself to press the activation button.
He gripped the wooden door tightly in his palm, his knuckles turning white.
Ultimately, he did not inject that bit of Mana.
He only stored it away more carefully, his gaze returning to the battlefield, his teeth gritted.
Meanwhile, at the rear of the Blood Clan camp, No. 3, Chise, and Bart were hidden in the shadows, their crimson pupils closely watching the battle between Laura and Leon.
More accurately, they were watching Leon’s state.
“That blue-haired woman looks like she’s about to hit her limit too,” No. 3 analyzed in a low voice, his finger unconsciously rubbing his chin.
“But this dragonoid… is even more troublesome than expected.
If we try to capture him by force, the losses will be great.”
Bart snorted coldly.
“His attacks have no pattern; he relies entirely on instinct and that frenzy.
But his strength and recovery are indeed a nuisance.
Even if I were at my peak and fought him head-on, the outcome would be hard to say.”
Chise was calmer.
“His energy fluctuations are very unstable.
At his peak, he approaches the threshold of a True Demon Lord, but there’s a brief drop after every outburst.
Perhaps we can wait for the moment his power drops or when he’s heavily injured by that Sword Saint…”
Just as the atmosphere on the battlefield reached a point of extreme suppression—with despair spreading in the human camp and the vampires plotting in secret—another change occurred!
High above Betty Territory, the night sky that had been dyed red by the Blood Moon began to twist and fluctuate violently!
Immediately after, a deep purple spatial rift with unstable, shimmering edges tore through the sky without warning!
It was identical to the rift that appeared when Jellal took Yize away, but it seemed… more hurried and unstable.
The energy dissipation at the edges of the rift was also more obvious.
“Spatial fluctuations?!” Sara was the first to sense it.
She snapped her head up, her beautiful eyes filled with extreme shock.
“So strong… such powerful spatial Magic fluctuations!”
She had some knowledge of Space Magic herself, and the Mana fluctuations emitted by the rift before her were at a level far beyond her understanding.
Almost every being on the battlefield was drawn to this sudden change in the heavens.
Even Laura and Leon slowed their fierce combat, warily pulling apart and looking toward the sky.
At the rear of the vampires, a sharp light flashed in No. 3’s eyes.
“It’s That Great Person! Could it be… he’s planning to personally intervene again?”
If Master Jellal personally intervened to take away this troublesome dragonoid, it would naturally be for the best.
They could then focus on completing their clearing mission.
Under the gaze of countless eyes filled with suspicion, expectation, or fear, the spatial rift trembled violently, as if the being inside was struggling to maintain its stability.
Finally, a cloaked and somewhat… hurried figure “tumbled” out of the rift.
His posture was even a bit pathetic, completely different from the calm majesty expected of “That Great Person.”
As soon as this person appeared, he waved his hand back.
The rift, as if wiped away by an invisible hand, quickly shrank, closed, and disappeared into the air, as if he were terrified that something might follow him out.
The three Blood Pillars dared not be slow.
They immediately revealed themselves from their hiding spots, turning into three streaks of blood and quickly arriving before the cloaked figure, bowing slightly.
As the representative, No. 3 took a step forward, speaking respectfully but with a hint of inquiry.
“Master, you’ve returned.
That black-haired human… has he already been dealt with by you?”
Beneath the cloak, Jellal’s face was hidden in shadow.
But if one looked closely, they could see that his breathing was slightly faster than usual.
Hearing No. 3’s question, he paused for a moment before answering in a tone that sounded calm but, upon closer listening, carried a slightly unnatural tension.
“Uh… yes, he’s been dealt with.”
His tone was brief, as if he were unwilling to talk much about it.
Bart’s crimson pupils flickered slightly.
He was somewhat surprised.
Based on his previous assessment and the terrifying strength Yize had displayed, he felt that even someone as strong as Jellal would have had to fight a world-shaking battle to take down that black-haired monster.
It seemed impossible to return so quickly and so… “calmly.”
Unless… Jellal’s strength was far more unfathomable than he had imagined?
This thought made his awe of this “Master” even deeper.
However, what they couldn’t see was that under the shadow of the cloak, a trace of shock that had not yet fully faded remained on Jellal’s face.
‘Is that black-haired monster… really still human?’
Even now, the shock and pathetic state from not long ago echoed in his heart.
‘My body is infinitely close to that of a true Dragon!
But in front of him… it was like it was made of paper!’
That purely ultimate, unreasonably brutal physical strength…
If the other party hadn’t seemed unskilled in high-level Space Magic, allowing him to seize a tiny gap to force an escape and banish Yize to a random coordinate on the other side of the continent…
He had no doubt he might have actually been beaten to death by the other man.
‘Escaped back?
No, that’s called a strategic transfer!
It’s to preserve a useful body for the greater plan!’
Jellal convinced himself in his heart, forcibly suppressing that sense of humiliation and lingering fear.
He composed himself.
To change the subject and hide his slight loss of composure, he cast his gaze toward the battlefield below.
His tone carried a deliberate trace of dissatisfaction and questioning.
“Why hasn’t the human territory here been taken yet?
Your efficiency is too slow.”
However, the moment his gaze swept across the center of the battlefield and met the dragonoid’s vertical pupils—Jellal’s pupils suddenly contracted beneath his cloak!
The shock on his face was quickly replaced by excitement!
He could clearly perceive the dragon power surging within that dragonoid!
It shared the same source as the Igneel Dragons he had stolen!
His voice rose slightly due to excitement, but he quickly lowered it, as if afraid of disturbing something.
“To think… after I returned, there would still be this kind of… unexpected harvest?!”
He had originally planned to return for a brief reorganization and to redraw the plan to deal with Yize, but he hadn’t expected to encounter such a pleasant surprise.
Bart keenly caught that unusual trace of excitement in Jellal’s tone, as well as his instinctive phrase, “after I returned…”
Combined with Jellal’s slightly hurried appearance just now and his action of quickly closing the spatial rift…
An absurd yet increasingly clear thought uncontrollably surfaced in his heart.
‘Could it be… That Great Person didn’t return leisurely after dealing with his opponent, but rather… from that black-haired human…’
‘(Escaped back?)’
This thought made Bart shudder.
He immediately suppressed it firmly, not daring to think further, let alone show the slightest sign of it.
He lowered his head, making his posture even more respectful, waiting for Jellal’s next command.