Vikara's eyes flickered with something strange. There was defiance. Resignation.

His jaw moved slightly.

Crunch.

Galahad's eyes narrowed.

"What did you just—"

Too late.

Vikara's body suddenly began to tremble violently. His muscles spasmed uncontrollably. Veins bulged across his neck and arms. Blood leaked from his mouth, then his nose, then his eyes.

A poison pill. Hidden in his mouth from the beginning. The moment he fell to the ground from Galahad's attack, survival was no longer possible. So he bit down on the poison pill.

Vikara laughed again, weak and broken.

"You humans…" he gasped. "You won't get… anything…"

His laughter turned into choking coughs.

His body convulsed harder. The light in his red eyes began to fade rapidly.

Galahad clicked his tongue.

"Tch."

He inspected the demon but there was nothing on his body.

He released his grip.

Vikara's lifeless body dropped to the ground with a dull thud, rolling once before lying still. The tremors stopped completely.

Dead.

Galahad straightened and looked down at the corpse for a moment, his expression unchanged.

"Waste."

He turned away and scanned the battlefield again.

The forest was ruined beyond recognition. Craters scarred the ground. Smoke still drifted lazily through the air. Broken trees lay scattered like corpses.

His gaze stopped on Amon.

The boy lay there, barely breathing.

Galahad walked toward him and knelt down. He inspected Amon's condition briefly—burns, internal damage, severe mana exhaustion.

His brows furrowed slightly.

"…Still alive," he muttered. Galahad stared at him silently.

With this, his mission to find the boy was complete.

Then he heard the sound of footsteps. He briefly looked at the small incoming troop behind him. They had followed him after he left. It was a good thing they came. He couldn't carry six people alone. Two of them were dead.

After Galahad left, Caspian had ordered the troop to move out in case medics were needed for other soldiers.

Galahad stood up and looked toward the remaining humans.

"Secure the survivors," he ordered calmly. "Treat the wounded immediately."

His eyes returned to Amon.

"And get this boy back to the base," he added. "Now."

Before doing so, he summoned a healing potion and poured the liquid into Amon's mouth. He was in really bad condition, after all.

Then his eyes fell on Aziz's dead body. He inspected it. Found nothing other than a storage ring. The content in it were not worth.

He saw the deep hole on his heart. Made by some sword. In instant, he guess that Amon was the one who killed this demon.

The evening wind passed through the destroyed forest. Despite it being evening, the sky was still dim and gray.

The battle was over.

But the consequences had only just begun.

---

The sky was slowly darkening as the troop and Galahad returned to camp.

"Take them to the medic tent. Burn the dead with respect… collect their ashes. That's the only thing we can give back to their families."

After ordering the soldiers, Galahad walked toward the main tent, where meetings and discussions took place.

Mana lanterns gleamed outside the tent, brightening the incoming darkness.

"You are back, Commander. Did you catch anyone? Were there any casualties?" Caspian, who had been sitting at the large table, stood up. His yellow eyes were calm.

Galahad didn't say anything. He walked toward the table and sat down in a chair.

"Hah…" He exhaled.

Caspian remained silent, waiting for Galahad to catch his breath before speaking.

"I wasn't able to capture any demon alive. There were two, as per the information we got. One was already dead by the time I reached there. The other took his own life with a poison pill." He rested both hands on the table.

"Two of our men died by his hand."

After hearing this, Caspian said, "It can't be helped. They really don't think twice before taking their own lives…" He sounded almost amused by the demons. They chose death rather than giving any information to humans.

It wasn't surprising. Many of them were just a bunch of lunatics.

"Oh, there's also another thing," Galahad said, nearly forgetting to mention it.

"What is it?"

"The boy named Amon… the one we were meant to search for during our stay here. He was there. If I'm not wrong, he was the one who killed the other demon. It shocked me… seeing that boy alive in this forest alone. And capable of killing a demon two ranks above him."

Caspian's eyes widened in surprise. It was a natural reaction. It wasn't an everyday occurrence to hear about a boy surviving alone in such a forest for two whole weeks. And now his senior commander was saying that this Amon had killed a demon stronger than himself.

"Now that's surprising news. I guess we should inform the Academy," Caspian suggested.

Galahad let out a weary sigh. "We couldn't," he said. "Have you forgotten? The communication crystals we carry are bound by Imperial protocol. They allow contact only with Her Majesty, high-ranking Imperial Commanders, or the Capital Defense Authority."

"Oh!? Hehe. I forgot about that." Caspian scratched his cheek with a sheepish smile. How could he forget such a basic thing after spending more than a month here?

"Anyway, I will contact Her Majesty," Galahad said. "I'll inform her directly. She will then relay the information to the Academy's Headmistress."

Caspian nodded slowly.

"That's all we can do for now," he said. "This place doesn't have a teleportation gate. Nor do we have any artifacts that can teleport us back to the kingdom."

Caspian's expression darkened slightly. "Of course it doesn't. Amon Vale will have to stay here until help from the Academy arrives."

"Exactly," Galahad replied. "We need to wait after informing Her Majesty. If the Academy sends a ship or an airship, it could easily take more than a week."

Caspian tapped his right foot on the ground, thinking. "By the way, Amon Vale is a commoner. If not for his connection to the Academy, he would have had to stay with us until we decided to return, which could take months."

Amon wasn't from some high-ranking noble family that would justify sending a whole ship just for him.

But the Academy had its own privileges. They would never abandon a student like this, no matter how weak or untalented they might be.

"The boy is special, I guess," Caspian said thoughtfully. "To think he survived… He might be talented. Perhaps even one of the top first-year students, despite being a commoner."

Caspian truly thought highly of Amon.

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