All the soldiers of the Third Round Sect guarded the mountain where their leader was; however, it was only when they achieved victory after eliminating all the members of the Rosicrucians, everyone noticed something approaching; it was no longer pure energy, or energy they knew belonged to a human...
"Sir! A wave of demon hunters is approaching at full speed!" One of the soldiers said, going to the man whom Joakim Hans had put in his place.
"The break is over! Everyone on guard, let no demon interfere with the boss path!" He spoke, and in response, they all let out a shout of bravery, drawing their weapons and running alongside one another.
They managed to form a human wall using their shields, and then others jumped onto the shield soldiers to attack the demons.
Meanwhile, they had to trust that their leader would arrive as soon as possible before it was too late...
***
Karmen held the rose in her hand; she took it first.
At least now that she saw some determination in Mandeleine, she would at least be relieved not to sleep with regrets tonight.
Mandeleine's threads drew closer to her; threads that tangled around her arm, and other threads leading towards the rose. Karmen knew that Mandeleine couldn't unleash his offensive powers, so that's why he would only use threads; the last thing he wanted was to break the rose, and Karmen wanted to break it.
Although the offensive powers of exorcists are not usually that powerful...when combined with their pure energy and mana, they are capable of being at least...problematic.
One example would be the renowned exorcist Lahn, who created all of that theory.
And an exact follower of an exorcist's offensive is Frederick Leighton; despite not being an exorcist (something everyone knew, except Sherly), to make his 'farce' believable, Frederick did learn a few tricks from Mandeleine. In this world, besides the Hee family, Frederick and Mandeleine were the only reliable exorcists who belonged to sects.
But now that he's dead... perhaps his raw energy isn't as potent anymore? The threads Mandeleine uses are almost 100% mana, not raw energy. Although it's possible that Mandeleine is using pure air energy to power them, Karmen wasn't sure.
But did that matter? Of course not, they just had to destroy that rose.
Mandeleine pulled his threads hard, causing the rose to slip from Karmen's hands. "…!"
Although, now, she would have to overcome the strength of a man.
"…"
The rose reached Mandeleine's hand, but just as he was about to touch it, the rose gave off a blinding glow, causing Mandeleine to drop the rose.
Karmen saw it; the rose itself rejected Mandeleine.
Why?
Karmen quickly used her whip; a powerful lash infused with pure energy and mana; the same technique used by exorcists. The whip's leather struck Mandeleine on the hand; that exorcising offensive attack, reacted.
Black smoke came out of Mandeleine's almost rotten hand; not just any smoke, but impure energy.
"I-Impossible…" Karmen murmured. "Is his body...full of impure energy?"
The rose, being a pure object, perhaps that's why it rejected the impure energy emanating from Mandeleine's dead body.
A being once known for its pure, innate energy...was now one of impure energy? Something was wrong. Karmen began to suspect it.
But Mandeleine did not stop; he used his threads again to take the rose, and then began to entwine thousands of them around the rose like a kind of shield.
"It's useless." Karmen's authoritative voice made Mandeleine hesitate for a second; an entrance. "Leader's Skill: The Strength of a Thousand Men!" The whip lit up; Mandeleine managed to dodge it, but the shield he was making for the rose split in two as soon as the whip hit it.
Before the whip could do anything to the rose, Mandeleine's strings moved, forcibly lifting Karmen's wrist upward; the force of the lash was such that it bent her wrist.
The whip flew through the air, but Karmen didn't have to worry about that now; from her other hand she pulled out a pistol, and shot Mandeleine in the chest.
It was a special bullet; created by the genius Layla J. Everest, a gift for the fifth anniversary of the Third Round Sect; the bullet cuts through the skies, a bullet that, once it encounters friction with the air, the impact will be more powerful.
One and a half meters away; which meant that when the bullet hit Mandeleine's chest, it sent him flying through the air.
Karmen took advantage of the situation, picked up the rose, and went towards where Joakim was still hanging. "Sect Leader!" She went to the edge of the cliff, but, great was her surprise to find Joakim Hans using his sword to try to cut off his foot and free himself. "…!"
"It took you 6 minutes, in training you did it in 3! Stay focused, and don't call me a sect leader!" Although he was still the same, Karmen noticed the desperation in Joakim's eyes; someone so capable of losing a foot in exchange for going to help his deputy sect leader…
"Commander..." She put the rose in her mouth, while with the hand holding the gun, she fired the string.
One of Layla's miracle bullets plus pure energy, «Thank you, Miss Layla!», once the thread broke, Karmen grabbed Joakim's wrist with her twisted wrist.
Joakim had almost bent down to grab Karmen's wrist, his right foot bleeding a little more.
Just as she was about to help Joakim climb onto the edge of the mountain, they both looked at the changing battle beneath Joakim; demons had suddenly appeared.
And why would they have chosen a moment like this?
No, they didn't choose it...a Rosicrucian is the one who lured them to fight on his side; and both Karmen and Joakim realized that.
"Mandeleine..." Karmen muttered between her teeth, biting the rose with courage. "I'll tell him to stop right now."
"No," But Joakim saw something more. "An exorcist cannot attract demons; they are natural enemies." So, that meant there was a Rosicrucian in hiding, and he was the one leading the demons. "Aim!"
Joakim raised his sword, moving it around; his magic allowed him to have a sharp eye, like that of a sniper with more than forty years of experience.
And he found it; hidden in a cave, there was the filthy rat he was looking for.
However, Karmen trembled, causing Joakim to look at her; a thread was attached to her torso, and Mandeleine pulled the thread. Right behind her, Mandeleine wouldn't let her go, at least not without first securing the rose. "Give me the rose, Karmen!"
«You idiot, you can't even touch it…»
At this point, Karmen had to drop her gun and grip the ground with her fingernails; she couldn't let go of Joakim, and she couldn't lift him abruptly or he would bleed to death.
"Let me go," Joakim gave the order, then turned to look at her. "I'll go kill that rat and come back; meanwhile...kill that idiot!"
Karmen, despite how surprised she was by her leader's request...she couldn't help but smile.
He truly loved his members so much…
"Aim!" He pointed his sword at where the Rosicrucian member was hiding, and then nodded; that was the sign.
Karmen used the strength of her one arm to throw Joakim towards the northwest. "Gah!"
Joakim was falling towards the northwest, without hesitating to look back, as he trusted that Karmen would make it.
After all, Joakim hadn't yet revealed all the cards he had left.
Finally, Karmen broke free from the ground, letting herself be pulled down by Mandeleine and his strings; in the air, she pulled another pistol from her thigh and shot him in the back.
Mandeleine was sent flying forwards, before she could get up, Karmen landed safely on the ground, and continued firing at him.
Four bullets in the back; with a force that would have shattered any human body. Mandeleine was forced to almost fall off the same precipice that Joakim had previously been hanging from.
But his strings were still attached to Karmen, so he pulled on them, dragging Karmen down so that she was the one who fell off the cliff. He removed the threads from her torso to ensure Karmen couldn't climb up, and snatched the rose from her mouth.
When Mandeleine obtained the rose, he created another shield of threads around it.
But, of course, Karmen wouldn't stop there.
A whistle made Mandeleine turn around, but once he did, the whip became entangled in his arm. "…!" He fell to the ground, and then Karmen emerged from the precipice, with a whip in her hand, and a serious face.
Mandeleine looked at her, somewhere between impressed and frustrated; this woman didn't give up so easily.
Mandeleine landed on the ground, swung her whip again, grabbed the rose, and pulled it towards her. She pulled out her pistol and pointed it at the rose. "This ends here!"
But suddenly, both of her legs were cut off; the shot missed, and the bullet, instead of penetrating the rose, went towards the ground.
"AAAAH!"
Mandeleine used his threads to cut off her legs; the pain was immediate, the blood ran quickly; Karmen's screams suddenly made Mandeleine shudder.
"…" Then Mandeleine walked towards her. "You should have given it to me when I asked for it, Karmen." Just as he was about to step into Karmen's pool of blood, he stopped. "…"
It was for this reason that Mandeleine had only served the Rosicrucians as support; he never had the courage to harm others.
Including demons, ghosts...and animals.
How many times was it that all he could do, while the Rosicrucians were killing, was watch?
Every two weeks, the Rosicrucians would gather deep in their attic to kill each other, all except Mandeleine and Randy Bornman, of course. Because they were the ones who dictated victory, and who were in charge of the bodies.
"Can't you look at them, Mandeleine?" That's what Randy always told him. "Is it out of pity...or disappointment?"
Randy was always that kind of person. At least, that's what Mandeleine could see. Even on Walpurgis Night…
[Mandeleine, aren't you excited about the possibility of letting Ji Noo die? I want to see him dead, bleeding out, poisoned...it doesn't matter.]
[We're being a team now, Mr. Rosicrucian, I don't think it's right to think about that now...]
And Randy said all those things while maintaining a polished, friendly smile. [Ah, that's true, I'm sorry.]
Mandeleine always hated that murky side of his sect, although now that he was revived, he could understand why they had to kill each other and bury the bodies in strategic locations.
Although, honestly, he would have preferred to be dead, than to be willing to cause all this pain to a former coworker who never saw what was really happening in her sect.
But he always wondered, why did everyone do that, except Karmen? Why did Randy never show her that...dark side?
"Never!" Perhaps it was because he knew that Karmen would one day join the Third Round Sect. "First, you'll have to tear off every one of my limbs!" Although, for Mandeleine...perhaps the reason was due to this woman's willpower.
If she had known everything that was really happening in the Rosicrucians, she herself would have tried to kill Randy to make him stop. Even if she hadn't succeeded...she wouldn't have stopped fighting for what she believed was right.
"…"
Mandeleine wanted to be that kind of person.
But he was too cowardly to be one.
"I'm so sorry…"
Mandeleine moved his hand, the threads protecting the rose moving to leave Karmen's arms and reach Mandeleine's hands.
He turned around to go to the edge of the cliff, and there, he began to entangle the rose in threads; the definitive shield.
"…"
However, he glanced behind him, worried; did he really have a choice in this? He made a promise to Randy, he had to keep it...but if keeping a promise meant abandoning what little morale he had left...
Could he really do it?
"The commander entrusted me with this..." Karmen's voice made him turn; she was crawling towards him, leaving a trail of blood behind her, while in one hand she held her pistol, ready to fire, despite her actual condition. "Even if I die...I won't let you get away with this!"
She pulled the trigger.
"…!"
The moment the bullet left the barrel, all the air was enveloped by it; it would hit Mandeleine directly, but perhaps it wouldn't break the shield.
And again, Mandeleine hesitated; removing it meant the shield would break again, but if he didn't, the shield would continue to be created, but his body would be destroyed.
But in the end, his instincts won out; and he dodged the bullet.
BOOM!
The bullet struck the shield, destroying it, and the rose fell to the ground. Immediately, Mandeleine used a thread to pick it up.
Karmen had already foreseen it.
She whistled again, caught her whip, filled it with mana and pure energy, and with both forces, directed the whip at Mandeleine; at his neck. She would probably rip his head off.
Mandeleine created a shield with his threads to avoid it, but his hand ended up being split in half by the whiplash.
It wasn't power, it was strength; Karmen remained full of strength, despite the pain she was in.
"How…?" However, Mandeleine recalled that Karmen now belonged to the Third Round Sect, a sect where, unlike his own, they were not forced to serve their leader. "…"
They chose to die for Joakim.
Instead, he...was ordered to die for Randy.
Unconditional loyalty, or to put it less politely...faithful dogs.
Karmen continued crawling until she managed to grab the rose, then she gave Mandeleine another lash; straight to his hip.
Mandeleine managed to dodge it, but lost his left arm in the process.
He no longer felt pain, Karmen knew it.
"…"
"…"
For some strange reason, they hadn't killed each other yet, even though they said they would as soon as they met.
Perhaps they were both the same, but in different ways; both were afraid of killing their partner.
They are human, they feel too.
But now, they were enemies, and they had to fight.
But their bodies don't allow them to deliver the final blow when they have the chance.
_
Joakim had barely finished killing the damned Rosicrucian who was causing problems for his men when he ran back to where Karmen and Mandeleine were fighting.
On his way back, he climbed on top of the demons' heads, his heavy footsteps causing their heads to explode.
Until finally, he could see his men finishing off the last wave of demons. And when the last one fell, Joakim appeared before them.
"Commander!" They all knelt before him; of all those who had followed him, there were fifteen wounded and two dead. Well, the casualties weren't as many as he thought.
Soon, the man he had put in charge of the group approached him.
"Sir, our troops from both sides faced demons—"
"I already took care of the source of that, Kyle, a filthy rat was causing it," Joakim said, as he looked at the demons' bodies. "Return to the shelter, treat the wounded, and take charge of protecting the people in case more demons attempt to attack from there."
The man nodded, "Understood, sir, but I cannot obey that order!"
Joakim looked at him, surprised; no member of his sect had ever disobeyed him before...with such obedience.
"You are injured, and we have decided to follow and protect you!"
Joakim then realized; "Ah…this?" He looked at his bleeding foot, and then he snorted. "You stupid brat, I've had worse injuries than this, you forget that you're facing a resident of Region." And then he smiled, a smile that, instead of frustrating his people because of how nonchalant it sounded about his own injuries, brought them relief.
That was their leader, their wonderful leader.
Joakim Hans.
"What do we do in the first round?!" He turned around, looking at all his soldiers.
"We protect!"
"What do we do in the second round?!"
"We honor!"
That was his technique for 'encouraging' his men.
"And what do we do in the third round?!"
"We serve you, sir! From here until our bodies disobey us!"
Although, frankly, Joakim wasn't using his leadership technique to boost his men's morale right now; these words were already magical enough. "And we love the weak too, and it's for them that we're here! Got it, you wretches?!"
They all raised their weapons. "Yes sir!"
"Now obey my order, your leader will take care of saving the dirty asses of the people of this rotten world!"
"Yes sir!"
And they all marched, carrying the wounded and the dead, disappearing into the forest towards the refuge.
Once the last of them had left, Joakim looked at his blood-covered sword; he couldn't show it to his men, but in truth...he had a bad feeling about Renato not communicating with him.
Although, he knew that he was most likely the first to fall.
That's why he would keep fighting, in the name of all those who had fallen; Sherly, Layla, and possibly Renato!
"I will win this battle, just like I did twenty-eight years ago...I will do it again!" And with that, he ignored the sharp pain and the blood on his foot, and ran up to help Karmen.
_
"Now we're even, right?" Karmen said, tightening her whip.
On the other hand, Mandeleine said nothing, and looked to the side.
Karmen knew it; it was Mandeleine who was suffering the most seeing her like this. However, Karmen couldn't simply give up now over something so sentimental when they were about to die.
Karmen put her hand to her mouth, then picked up her pistol from the floor and pointed it at the rose; perhaps she would commit suicide to break the rose, but did it matter?
Mandeleine did.
Karmen's hand was cutted by threads just as she managed to pull the trigger; the bullet penetrated half of her cheek, but did nothing to the rose.
She let out a groan of pain, but she didn't stop; with her other hand she moved her whip. This time, she was able to guess where Mandeleine would dodge, managing to cut a piece off his head with her whip.
No blood came out of Mandeleine; instead, something black that looked like rotten blood with worms.
And this time, they started fighting for real.
Karmen crawled towards Mandeleine, a rose in her mouth, and while she kept hitting him with her whip, trying to cut him off once and for all.
On the other hand, Mandeleine dodged in the air, climbing onto his threads to run through the air, trying to get closer to Karmen without being cut by her powerful whip.
However, he failed to determine Karmen's next lash, causing the whip to cut him in half. "…!"
Mandeleine's body fell to the ground.
Karmen threw her whip aside, picked up the rose, and was about to put it in her mouth to bite it until it broke; a thread cut her wrist. "AAAH!" Without any other limb, yet, Karmen opened her mouth to take the rose in her mouth, but Mandeleine took Karmen's severed hand with the rose. "…N-No!"
And in front of Karmen, Mandeleine's body reattached itself with its threads, then stood before her. "…" Right now, Mandeleine held Karmen's wrist in his hand, with the rose. "There's nothing more you can do to stop me, Karmen, give up, Randy is destined to win this fight…please stop fighting."
He turned around, but Karmen hadn't given up yet.
She whistled; she summoned her whip, and then she began to move it in the air using her mana. "Never!" The whip became entangled around Mandeleine's torso, and pulled him, throwing him to the ground. "Tie him up!"
The whip began to entwine around Mandeleine's body; and then, Karmen infused him with her pure energy.
Mandeleine winced in pain; Karmen was exorcising him, and although it wasn't perfect, it was effective; impure energy was beginning to emanate from Mandeleine's body.
«She'll cancel Randy's reincarnation spell at this rate! My soul will leave my body if she keeps this up!»
Mandeleine used his threads to try to cut the whip, but, since their weapons were perfect creations of Layla...that was like trying to kill someone using a sponge!
Meanwhile, Karmen crawled towards him to steal the rose now that he was immobilized.
She had to hurry, quickly, before Mandeleine managed to break free...so she climbed onto Mandeleine's body, staining him with her blood; blood that he had been careful not to touch.
"NO!"
Mandeleine's sudden scream was accompanied by an explosion of threads that immediately shot out of his body; threads that soon turned black, and that cut like blades.
"…!"
But Karmen couldn't dodge it in time.
SLASH!
The whip lost Karmen's energy and life force, and Karmen...was left hanging; pierced by countless threads that were making her bleed.
Once Mandeleine was freed, he realized what he had done.
"…" He just murdered Karmen after he tried to free himself. "No…" Even if his intention was only to keep her neutralized by avoiding killing her...in the end he couldn't do it; anyway, confronting her would mean the death of one of them. "K-Karmen…"
But he would have preferred to die rather than kill her.
He looked at the rose; it was the cause of this disaster.
If only Karmen hadn't tried to steal it from him…
"KARMEN!" Someone's voice; Joakim's voice made him turn around immediately, like a child caught in the middle of a prank. Joakim's eyes scanned his surroundings: the severed limbs, Mandeleine holding Karmen's arm on his hand...
But seeing Karmen's body bleeding out right in front of him was what made him lose the last bits of hope they had of winning this battle with their people intact.
"…" And simply, Joakim looked with a terrifyingly glare of an angry leader at Mandeleine. He had many reasons to be angry...and the scene right in front of him only served to fuel that anger.
"Mandeleine…!" He took off his cloak and pointed his sword at him. "You're going to die for killing my right-hand man... I'll make sure you and your stupid leader go to hell!"
Mandeleine trembled; Joakim's aura was too strong. No, he couldn't even call it an aura; rather, it seemed more like the same energy pressure that Region had.
The external help was over, it was time to fight face to face for real.