Chapter 1 (Part 2)

When Ulfric saw the madness in Davros' eyes, he shivered. At the same time, he understood. This wasn't like his meeting with Hajime Nagumo. These monsters had never planned on negotiating from the start.

"Let me explain something to you, since you don't seem to understand. Negotiations can only occur when both sides are on equal footing. Do you understand what equal means!? No grubby beastmen will ever be equal to us, the chosen race! All you filthy animals deserve is death!"

Davros raised an arm and began chanting with practiced speed.

Ulfric reacted with superhuman speed and fired an arrow at him. His aim was perfect, and the arrow went straight for Davros' heart. Considering the distance, it was an almost unbelievable shot.

Unfortunately, his arrow was knocked down by a wall of wind. One of the demons had seen the attack coming and cast the spell ahead of time.

"Ware, men!" Ulfric called out a hasty warning.

"Lava Burst." A second later, Davros' spell went off.

Clods of earth rose up from the ground and coalesced into boulders. The boulders were then engulfed in superheated flames and burst apart into

chunks of lava that rained down over the battlefield. Lava Burst was an advanced-level composite spell that combined earth and fire magic. Though it fell under advanced level, its force was as great as some ultimate class spells.

Lumps of burning lava pelted Verbergen's gates.

There was a thunderous roar, followed by a massive shockwave that knocked Verbergen's soldiers flat.

The massive, thirty meter gate was blown off its hinges, taking the nearby trees with it. The parts of the wall surrounding the gate were charred black, and just barely held their shape.

The demons had wiped out Verbergen's last line of defense in a single attack.

"Such power..." Ulfric trembled as he looked at the remnants of the gate.

The soldiers who'd been standing beside it were all on the ground, surrounding by burning embers of lava. He couldn't tell if they were dead or just barely breathing, but none of them moved.

"See the difference between us?" Davros voice was a curious mixture of contemptuous hatred and madness.

"You're nothing more than rejects who were abandoned by our glorious god. The fact that beasts like you tried to form a country is an affront. We are the chosen people, and it is we demons who will usher in a new era of prosperity and splendor. It baffles me that you lesser creatures can't even understand such a simple concept." Davros glared with bloodshot eyes as the beastmen started crawling back to their feet.

"I am truly grateful that crushing your puny nation is part of my mission. Consider this an honor, you brutes. We won't turn you scum into slaves... We'll hunt down every last one of you instead." Two creatures leaped out of the shadows and headed straight for Ulfric.

Ulfric doubted they'd kill him before at least torturing the location of the true labyrinth out of him. Which meant they were hoping to capture him now so that he wouldn't accidentally be killed in the battle that would follow.

"Tch." He pulled three arrows out of his quiver, and fell backwards off the archery platform. His instinct, honed from years of experience, had led him to make the right decision.

No matter how fast an adversary was, once you started falling they had no choice but to change course and attack you from above. And in order to change direction, they first had to decelerate.

Ulfric let his two arrows fly, striking down the pair of bee monsters that had come after him. Meanwhile, his third arrow trailed an arc threw the sky and fell straight toward Davros.

Ulfric then twisted in midair, and fired another volley of arrows through the newly opened hole in Verbergen's wall. These shots seemingly weaved through the press of beastmen and monsters. They, too, headed straight for Davros.

Ulfric's marksmanship was legendary.

Even Davros couldn't help but be amazed. But he still leaped to the side quickly enough to avoid the deadly barrage.

"Damn you!" Davros hated that a measly beastman had forced him to dodge.

He unleashed a barrage of fireballs, casting practically without chanting. Though fireball was a beginner-level spell, it still packed quite a punch. The earth shook as the storm of fire crashed into the ground around Ulfric.

"Gaaah!?" He cried out in pain as the shockwave sent him flying backwards.

Seeing their elder in trouble, the beastmen rallied once more and charged. However, the demons joined their monster servants in the counterattack, and the beastmen's battle cries soon turned to gurgled screams of pain and terror.

Everyone in the city knew that the gates had fallen. Messengers had already delivered reports of the demons' response to the elders, who were now organizing an evacuation. They had all of the civilians split up and flee in different directions, but there was no telling if they'd be able to escape safely still.

It came down to how much time the remaining soldiers could buy. The elders despaired. There didn't seem to be even a glimmer of hope left.

Verbergen would perish today. The enemy this time was too strong.

"No, wait... we've still got a chance." A bearman panted as he took a beetle's charge head-on. The stunt cost him a few ribs, but it put the monster in range of his halberd, which he swung down mercilessly.

His name was Regin. He was a powerful warrior who was next in line to be the bearmen chief. He was also the soldier who'd ignored the elders' decision and gone after the Haulia clan after Hajime had crippled Jin. He had of course been utterly crushed, and returned home in disgrace.

As penance for defying Verbergen's orders, he'd been demoted down to a lowly foot soldier and lost any chance at becoming the next elder.

"If... If they come here to help we still have a chance. I have to find them." A monster resembling a butterfly fluttered in front of him. It unleashed a beam of heat from its eyes which punched through Regin's flank. Right after, another beetle charged at him.

"Gaaah!?" Regin screamed out in pain as he was sent flying past the fogless barrier created by the verdren crystals.

"Sorry, guys! Just hold out a little longer!"

Though he was bleeding from head to toe, Regin still got back to his feet. He squeezed out every last ounce of his strength and ran off into the distance.

When he arrived at the Haulia village, he found it completely fortified, with armed guards ready at the gates.

As he burst through the fog, he was greeted by a squadron of rabbitmen glaring at him with the predatory eyes of monsters. The sight terrified him so much he let out an involuntary scream.

"Never thought I'd see our bearman friend here." Cam stepped forward. His glare was so feral that Regin averted his gaze. But then he gathered his courage and took a step forward toward the Haulia chief. Regin threw himself at Cam's feet and pressed his forehead into the ground.

"I understand full well that I have no right to ask you for anything! But please, lend us your help! I'll even give you my life if that's what it takes!" He kept his plea short as he knew how shameless it was to beg like this.

The strongest active member of the strongest beastmen race was bowing his head to a rabbitman, the race everyone ridiculed as the weakest.

Had any other rabbitman seen this, they would have doubted their eyes and pinched their fluffy ears to make sure they weren't dreaming.

Cam's response was unexpectedly cold.

"You're an eyesore. Shut your mouth," he said resolutely.

"Wha—"

Regin ground his teeth. Why!? The beastmen's sacred home, the sea of trees was being invaded. Sure Verbergen and the Haulia had had their disagreements, but Regin was sure they would have helped in the face of such a crisis.

Shocked, Regin opened his mouth to argue.

Before he could say anything though, Cam overrode him.

"You've all heard the reports, right men? Their target is the true labyrinth. The labyrinth we've been charged to protect until our boss returns one day."

"..."

Goosebumps rose on Regin's arms. Though they were silent, the Haulia clan was exerting some unseen pressure.

"Those bastards are trying to lay their grubby paws on boss' prize." There were a number of loud screeches, and all of the monsters in the vicinity fled as fast they could, the undergrowth rustling as they ran past. None of them wanted to be anywhere near the Haulia right now.

Even Regin felt like running. But he couldn't move.

"If... If they do anything to the Grand Tree that makes it impossible for boss to reach the true labyrinth..." Cam's rabbit ears stood on end as he ground his teeth ominously.

"Listen up, men. We are all comrades-in-arms, all family. Can we really sit back and watch as our boss' dreams... are crushed before our very eyes!?"

"Sir, no sir!"

The Haulia yelled at the top of their lungs. The volume of their voices pushed back the fog a few centimeters.

"Would we be able to face him if we let these bastards do as they please!?"

"Sir, no sir!"

"Would we have any right to call him our boss!?"

"Sir, no sir!"

"That's right. If we fail here, we're trash. Trash that isn't even worthy of licking boss' boots! Are we trash, gentlemen!?"

"Sir, no, sir!"

"Now that's what I wanna hear! We are Haulia! Boss' personal army! The strongest army in the world! And we're going to prove it by teaching those demons a lesson they won't forget! Let's remind them who truly owns these woods!"

"Aye, aye, sir!"

Silence filled the forest once more. The Haulia began to calm down.

No wait. They're still pumped up... They're just preparing to kill...

Though they were standing right in front of him, Regin was having a hard time keeping his eyes on them. It was as if they were melting into the background.

Regin realized that this was what the Haulia were like when they were truly serious. All that noise from before had just been for show.

Now they'd gone utterly silent, nearly disappearing from view, with bloodlust oozing from their pores.

This was who the Haulia were. This was the true strength of the rabbitmen everyone had once called the weakest in Haltina.

The rabbitmen smiled, unable to hide their mounting glee.

Their feral grins resembled the crescent moon.

One after another, the Haulia faded from sight. Where were they headed? The only place soldiers the world over ever headed. The battlefield.

Regin was later noted to have said, "The Haulia terrified me back then. Even though they weren't yelling and screaming like before, their quiet smiles were... ghastly. Ever since that day, I haven't been able to sleep. Whenever I close my eyes I get nightmares of grinning rabbits coming for... Haaah... Haaah... Sorry. Just thinking about it makes it hard to breathe. I need my meds..."

The first to notice something strange was Vice-Commander Celeka.

"Hm? Wait, why are they coming back?" Celeka tilted his head as he watched a bee-shaped monster—the demons called them Squiers—return to his position.

Because of their speed, the monsters made for good messenger birds. In fact, Celeka had sent this one off with a message for his flanks just a few moments ago. However, he could tell the Squier still had the orders he'd written tied to its leg.

Which mean that it had somehow lost track of where his flanking unit was.

He untied the message just in case, but as he expected it was the same one he'd written.

"Don't tell me the fog's started affecting them suddenly." Celeka shook his head. "Nah, there's no way," he said, discarding the possibility.

Up ahead, Ulfric and the beastmen's best elites were holding their own against Davros' charge.

Honestly, Celeka wanted to be a part of the beastmen extermination battle, but he knew someone had to stay behind to keep an eye on the overall situation and maintain control of the monsters.

Besides, the demons had already fought their way into Verbergen, and were slaughtering soldiers and civilians alike. The beastmen might still be holding out, but it was only a matter of time before they were routed.

Shrugging his shoulders, Celeka retied the message and was about to order the Squier back out when another one flew in.

"What, you too?" This one, too, still had his message attached to its leg. In order to prevent any beastmen from escaping the purge, he'd split his unit into three and had them surround Verbergen. And now, he'd now lost contact with two of those three units.

"Perhaps I should send in reinforcements, just in case..." Celeka doubted his men were so hard-pressed they hadn't had time to reply.

It was more likely they were just so caught up in the slaughter that they hadn't noticed he'd sent the Squiers.

If only I could communicate telepathically with the monsters. Celeka mused to himself. With a wry smile, he blew the whistle around his neck. Its noise was too high-pitched for demon ears to perceive, but all of the monsters he kept in reserve would gather at the sound.

He'd deployed his reserve forces at various points around the city, and it shouldn't have taken them long to assemble.

"..." The monsters did show up, but only a third as many as he'd deployed.

Celeka blew his whistle once more. But no more appeared.

A wave of dread washed over him.

"What's happening? Why aren't the monsters coming back!? Did we lose control of them? Impossible, Freid-sama made them specifically for us. There's no way they'd stop listening to commands." Celeka ordered one of his men to go scope out the situation.

"Fidra, the monsters aren't responding to my commands! I want you to—" He stopped mid-sentence.

"Fidra? Hey, where are you!? Fidra!" Fidra was meant to have been engaging the beastmen holding the remnants of Verbergen's gate. But he wasn't there. Upon looking around, Celeka realized how drastically the situation had changed in the past few minutes.

"The barrier's... shrunk?" Normally, there perimeter of verdren crystals extended a good distance out of Verbergen. Right now, though, its range had shrunk considerably.

He strained his eyes, and spotted a shadow at the edge of the fog.

"Fidra! Is that you!? Answer me!" There was no reply.

"Get out there and support Fidra!" Celeka ordered his monsters.

He couldn't imagine anything had happened to his best soldier. After all, their side was winning. Once they wiped out the last remaining soldiers and Davros handled the elders and commanders, all that'd be left was slaughtering the remaining beastmen. Ten of his monsters charged into the fog, toward the shadow Celeka had spotted.

That should have solved everything. Celeka tried to ignore the cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

But just then, he felt something coming at him from behind.

"Tch— Wind Blades!" His instantaneous reaction and almost nonexistent chant was a mark of how skilled he was.

However, his wind blades passed harmlessly through the fog, touching nothing.

"What the? What's going..." Celeka was finally starting to panic. Before he could make another move, something fell in front of his feet with a heavy thud. Curious, he looked down.

What he saw unnerved him.

"Ah!" He leaped back with a yell. Sitting at his feet was Fidra's head.

"Captain, we're under attack by an unknown number of hostiles!" Davros stopped what he was doing and turned to face his flustered messenger.

He had been just about to spear Ulfric with a Crimson Javelin and put an end to the fight. Ulfric, Zel, the other elders, and all of the beastmen captains lay defeated on the ground.

As Davros still needed to get the location of the true labyrinth out of them he'd avoided hitting any of their vitals, but they were still on death's doorstep.

"Under attack? What do you mean?" He frowned in confusion.

"There's something in the fog! Fidra's already been slain! Moreover we've lost contact with two of our units! The monsters I sent to reinforce them have all been wiped out!"

"What!? Call back all of the monsters we sent into the capital! Who leads the last unit!?"

"Balen, sir!"

"Recall him this instant!"

Davros hadn't been expecting this. Eyes bloodshot, he turned to glare at Ulfric. He finished his incantation, and a flaming javelin appeared in his hand. He pointed it at Ulfric and said, "What's the meaning of this? You sure are crafty, bringing out your trump card at the very last moment." Davros had lost a number of his men, and a great deal of monsters his beloved commander had entrusted to him.

His voice trembled from barely suppressed rage.

In truth, however, even Ulfric didn't know what was going on. If he really had a trump card up his sleeve, he would have used it before the gate had been destroyed. He was just as confused as Davros.

He opened his mouth to say as much, but stopped when he caught sight of who was standing atop the remnants of Verbergen's walls.

Eyes wide, he was too stunned to answer Davros' question. Seeing his surprise, Davros turned and followed his gaze.

Standing atop the shattered gate was a rabbitman.

But there was something clearly strange about him.

The demons had studied up on the traits of each of the beastman races before their invasion. So they knew that rabbitmen were a cowardly race who eschewed battle. And in fact, all of the rabbitmen they'd met until now had fled at the first sight of conflict.

However, the rabbitman in front of Davros was calmly standing in the middle of a battlefield. His ears were covered in blood, and he was glaring at Davros with unbridled hatred. In one hand he held a short sword. In the other, a demon's head.

"You bastard." That demon was the leader of one of the squads they'd lost contact with.

"Cam... Haulia..." Ulfric muttered in awe. The leader of the clan they'd banished had returned.

The other elders and soldiers were just as stunned. Everyone was staring at Cam in blank amazement.

Cam casually tossed aside the demon head, as if it was nothing more than trash.

He then looked down at Davros and sneered.

"Heh." It was obvious to everyone present that he had nothing but contempt for Davros.

Without another word, Cam vanished into the mist.

The fog parted to show a path heading in the direction he'd disappeared. He must have left verdren crystals in his wake.

It was obviously a challenge.

"Vice-Captain Celeka. Gather all of our forces. It's time to hunt some rabbits." Davros' voice was completely flat, and his face devoid of emotion.

When Davros' anger reached past a certain point, he no longer expressed it on his face.

"At once, sir!" Celeka, on the other hand, was trembling with rage.

Davros strode down the path Cam had left for him, without so much as a single glance at any of the elders. It appeared he thought Verbergen's forces were too exhausted to pose a threat even if he left them alone. He'd let Cam's taunts get to him and was no longer thinking clearly. With the demons gone from Verbergen, Ulfric breathed a sigh of relief.

"I never imagined he would be the one to save us..." He muttered.

The other elders nodded absentmindedly.

Davros marched through the fog, his army of monsters at his back.

He'd linked up with his remaining unit along the way, but as he'd feared, the two they'd lost contact with had been completely annihilated.

Including Davros and Celeka, only six demons remained. They'd lost over fifty percent of their fighting force.

What was even more humiliating though, was that they hadn't even noticed this new enemy until most of them were dead.

Those blasted rabbitmen had chipped away at their forces while they were busy pillaging Verbergen. The fact that the rabbitmen had planned it that way, and that the demons had actually fallen for it aggravated the demons to no end. Davros was seething.

He hadn't expected rabbitmen, the race known to be the most sympathetic of all beastmen, to use their own nation as bait.

It was a miscalculation he couldn't have foreseen.

After all, he had no way of knowing that the Haulia had been exiled from Verbergen, and thought nothing of the lives of other beastmen, unless they were rabbitmen.

"I have never suffered such a humiliating defeat in my life. Unless we annihilate every last one of them we'll be returning home in disgrace."

"You said it, captain. I know there's no honor in war, but sacrificing your own brethren is still a despicable ploy! We won't let these cowardly vermin live!"

The other four demons nodded in agreement to Celeka's words.

Just then, a shadow flitted past at the edge of their vision.

A few of Celeka's Squiers shot forward, faster than lightning. He'd ordered them beforehand to target anything than moved.

A second later, they were all sliced neatly in two.

"What!?"

"Impossible, where did that attack come from!?"

Davros opened his eyes wide in surprise. Celeka cast his gaze about in a panic. Another shadow dashed past. As Celeka hadn't rescinded his order, another unit of Squiers shot forward. These, too, were cut in half before reaching their target.

"It's not an attack, vice-captain! Look closely! They've stretched wires between the trees! It's a trap! Don't send any more Squiers out!"

Celeka switched tactics and sent out his armored beetles, the Drygers, instead.

"Hmph, nothing more than petty tricks. I'll run you all down!" The Drygers toppled the trees holding up the wires, and... fell to the ground.

"What now!?" Toppling the trees had caused the wires to stretch, activating the second part of the rabbitmen's trap. The wires had pulled crossbow triggers which had rained arrows down on the Drygers' propulsion organs.

Their remaining momentum carried the Drygers straight into the pitfalls the Haulia had prepared beforehand. The heated coals at the bottom of the pit ignited the Drygers, incinerating their flammable bodies.

With that, another chunk of Davros' monsters were defeated.

"Everyone, get in a circle formation! Start casting wide-area magic in all directions! Have the Cyuverias fire blind too!" The butterflies that fired heat rays, Cyuverias, started launching their attacks in all directions. Meanwhile, Davros and the others began chanting wide-area magic spells. Demons were already more skilled in magic than humans, and six of them in tandem were strong enough to blow apart everything around them.

However, they'd made a mistake in ordering their Cyuverias to buy time by firing into the mist at random.

As their rays melted the nearby trees, a there were a number of loud snapping noises in quick succession.

It was followed by a loud whoosh, and a giant tree pendulum came swinging down at the demons.

It punched through a number of monsters and slammed squarely into one demon, sending him flying.

"Gah!?" He cried out in pain as he vanished into the fog. A few seconds later, he screamed again before going silent.

"Kramer! Gah!?" One of Kramer's close friends interrupted his chanting and called out to him. A second later, he followed his buddy into the afterlife as an arrow penetrated the back of his skull. He slipped off the Dryger he was riding, dead before he even hit the ground.

In the span of a few seconds, the demons had lost another third of their remaining number.

However, these four made sure to finish chanting their spells to completion. Together, they summoned a howling storm that blew away everything in the vicinity.

"Infinite Storm Edge!" Infinite Storm Edge was the strongest wind spell in existence. A massive storm whipped up around the demon. Countless blades of winds rode the storm, making mincemeat of everything inside it.

All of the nearby trees were cut into pieces, and even the surrounding fog was blown away. Davros' thinking in that they needed something to alter the flow of the battle had indeed been correct. But he should have been more wary of the traps the Haulia had set up beforehand.

They were fighting in the heart of Haulia territory. Cam and the others had already factored in the likelihood that the demons would lose their temper at being whittled down by unseen traps and try to blow everything away. And so they had prepared a safe path of retreat.

Namely, they'd dug trenches. They'd fortified the walls of their trenches with bedrock that they'd dug up, and covered the tops with shock-resistant material. The only reason they'd been able to box themselves in like that was because their Azantium-coated short swords were capable of cutting through anything.

Had they opted for a more suitable spell, like Lava Burst, the demons may have been able to inflict some damage on the Haulia, but they'd let their anger get the better of them.

"Hmph, this should make it easier to spot—"

"Captain!"

Davros turned to Celeka, who had an arrow sprouting from his shoulder. A second later, a hail of arrows rained down on the demons.

"Vice-captain! Shit, they must have burrowed underground!" Bolts came at them from all angles, occasionally accompanied by stones and sacks filled to the brim with some unknown powder. Davros and the remaining demons were forced to put up barriers around them.

Because they weren't given any time to think, they didn't realize the powder wasn't poison, but simple ground flour.

The Haulia were only doing this to buy time until the mist returned.

Finally the arrows and stones came to a halt. Enough powder was in the air that it would function as mist for a little while. Annoyed, the demons once more started chanting wind magic.

"Send all the monsters out! Eliminate those pests!" Even though the fog was beginning to return, the monsters were capable of navigating within it.

However, the monsters just looked about in confusion, and made no move to charge.

"Huh? How come they're not chasing the rabbitmen?" It was then that Celeka realized. Originally, he had ordered the monsters to attack any rabbitman they located.

Unlike the demons, they didn't need to confirm the rabbitmen's presence by sight, they had perception skills for that.

And yet, they'd only attacked the two times shadows had flitted close enough for even the demons to see. In other words, the rabbitmen had some way of hiding their presence entirely.

"Crap. Here they come, get ready, men!" Davros called out a warning as he spotted a number of figures crawling across the ground.

"Sorry, but you're too late." Davros couldn't tell where that voice came from.

But a second later, all of his monsters started getting assassinated. Davros and the other three demons were safe because of his barrier, but the monsters hadn't been within it.

The Haulia weaved between monsters with unparalleled grace, striking at each monster's vitals as they passed it.

Their hit and run was executed so perfectly even Davros had to admire their skill.

Before the demons could respond, the rabbitmen melted away into the mist again. Most of the few remaining monsters chased after them, as per their orders. Which of course meant they split up in all directions.

"Captain! We can't fight them in their territory! Let's retreat to Verbergen for now! I know it's shameful, but if not even our monsters can keep track of their whereabouts, we won't stand a chance! We're at a disadvantage here!"

"I can't believe we've been pushed this far by a bunch of stinking beastmen!" Davros clenched his fist so hard he started bleeding, but he knew Celeka was right. They needed to retreat and regroup.

"Everyone, we're forcing our way out of this death trap!" Davros mounted one of the last Drygers and led their retreat.

Unfortunately, retreating meant they once again had to navigate their way through a maze of trees.

"Aaaaaaaaah!?"

"Heather!"

The demon known as Heather suddenly had a rope slung about her neck and was wrenched upwards.

A deluge of blood spilled from above. No one could tell what exactly had happened, as her head was draped in fog.

Davros' Cyuverias started firing randomly into the fog, but were shot down by a barrage of accurately aimed arrows. Whatever land-based monsters were left ended up falling into more pitfalls, or were trapped by puddles of viscous sap. Those that got trapped were left behind, and summarily executed by the Haulia.

Occasionally, another shadow would flit past the demons, taunting them.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, you scuuuuuum!" Spurred on by panic and rage, one of the demons leaped off the path and charged at the shadow. He fired off a barrage of spells, some of which hit the shadow and sent it flying.

"Haha, take that you little—"

"Balen, don't break formation!"

Davros' warning came too late.

The force of Balen's spells temporarily cleared away the mist, only to show that he'd hit a wooden dummy, and not actually a person.

He barely had time to go "Huh?" before a rabbitman girl leaped down and gently cut his head from his shoulders.

Davros and Celeka began chanting, aiming to hit the bunny girl the moment she landed. But before they could finish, their Drygers came to a sudden halt throwing their riders off and cutting off their incantation.

"Goddammit, how many traps did you put down!?" The Drygers had been caught in a pair of makeshift bear traps. The Haulia had used a special ore, one that shattered into jagged pieces like obsidian, to line the trap's jaws.

"C-Captain..." Davros turned around to see Celeka crawling on the ground, his back riddled with spikes. When he'd been thrown off his Dryger, he'd landed in a field of caltrops. It was only dumb luck that had saved Davros from a similar fate. Unfortunately for him, his luck had run out.

Looking around, he saw the last of his monsters succumbing to various traps. His giant cricket-shaped monsters, Linvals, all died as they stepped on paper bags that held a poisonous gas. His Drygers were wiped out by punji traps that had been cleverly camouflaged. His flying leaf-insect-like creatures, Ozmuses, were caught in nets made from vines that resembled barbed wire and were shredded to bits. His Squiers were lured in by the glimpses of rabbitmen the Haulia allowed them to see and sliced in half by more wire traps. Even the monsters who'd left earlier to chase the retreating Haulia found themselves falling prey to traps.

And it wasn't just traps anymore. All of these booby traps had just been one way to even out the difference in numbers and strength between the Haulia and their foe.

Now that they could attack with relative safety, Par started sniping Davros' Cyuverias as well. He made sure to mask his presence to the utmost, and change locations after every shot to keep enemies off his trail. His crossbow was the best-suited weapon to the task as well.

Any monster that wasn't instantly killed by a trap was finished off by a Haulia's short sword while it was still immobilized.

"Are all the vermin living in this forest as crafty as you fiends!?" Davros roared in frustration.

Had any of Verbergen's soldiers heard his outburst they would have vehemently denied his accusation. The Haulia were the only clan with such a huge fondness for booby traps. No other race or clan used them. And no other clan or race wanted to be associated with them.

None of the demons could have guessed that the monster of the abyss' influence reached even here. But it was his Spartan boot camp that had turned these rabbitmen into shrewd killers. First he'd shattered Freid's plans at the capital, now his trained soldiers were ruining Davros' ambitions in the Haltina Woods.

"If I could just make it back to Verbergen, I could take one of those elders hostage and..."

"That won't do you any good."

A voice boomed out in response to Davros' mutterings. Because of the rabbitmen's confusing movements, and their excellent stealth skills, Davros wasn't able to pinpoint the source of the voice.

"It won't?"

"Indeed. If you want to kill the elders, go ahead. It's no skin off our back."

"Aren't they your leaders?"

"There is only one man worthy of being called our leader. But as you are about to die, you have no need to know who he is."

"You think a pack of stinking beastmen can kill me? I'll prove to you my life won't come cheap, you bastards!"

"Shouldn't you be more worried about that young man next to you?"

"What!?"

Come to think of it, Celeka's been awfully quiet. Sure, he'd been stabbed by a field of caltrops, but his injuries shouldn't have been fatal.

"Gah C-Captain... R-Run... away..."

"Vice-Captain Celeka!? What—wait your face, those spines were poisoned!"

The Haulia were masters of murder. If they'd invited their enemy into a killing field, it was only natural that they'd make all of their traps fatal. One of the rabbitmen walked out of the mist.

"I don't believe it. You really are rabbitmen. Weren't you supposed to be the weakest race?"

"We are. It's all just a matter of perspective, you see. What we lacked was resolve. True, until now all we ever did was run away and hide whenever a fight was about to break out. In that respect, we certainly are the weakest. But looking at that from another angle, it means we were able to survive in this sea of trees without ever fighting. In other words, that's how much potential we had." Cam's lips curled up into a fearless grin. "No one else is as suited to fighting within these woods as we are. Which means so long as we possess the will to fight, us rabbitmen are the strongest race in Haltina."

"You've got some nerve, calling yourselves the strongest race," Davros sneered.

Cam shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

"The only one who truly deserves to be called the strongest everywhere is our boss, but... well, there's no point in discussing this with you. By the way, I hope you know all of your monsters have already been wiped out. No one's coming to help you. Your precious subordinate'll be dead soon, so he's no use to you either. So—what do you think of settling things with a duel? You versus me."

Davros' eyes shot open in shock. That cocky fool thinks he's already won. He thought to himself as he saw Cam's fearless smile. If I take him hostage, will those other rabbitmen stand down? I've already failed in my mission and shamed my homeland, but I need to get this information back to the others somehow. Davros got to his feet and dropped into a combat stance. He'ld made his decision.

"Looks like you're not all spineless wimps. If a duel's what you want, a duel's what you'll get! I don't back down from a challenge!"

"Hmm, very well. Then let us begin."

Cam drew his short sword and crouched low to the ground. He looked ready to charge at any moment.

I'll stick to low-level spells. Speed's more important than power here. I'll destroy his footing using spells I only need to chant the name of! With his plan of action decided, Davros warily observed his foe. The moment Cam stepped forward, he would cast. The two of them stared each other down, like gunmen in a wild west movie.

Finally, Davros saw Cam tense his legs. Now!

"Wind Blast!" A sphere of wind headed straight for Cam's legs.

"Wha—" And missed.

Davros had expected Cam to leap forward, but he'd actually jumped back into the mist. Bloodlust had been dripping off him, and was continuing to drip off him even now, so Davros had been justified in expecting an attack. Even a veteran such as himself couldn't help but be momentarily taken aback. And naturally, the Haulia's sniper team wasn't going to let that opening slip past them.

"Gaaah!?" A barrage of arrows pierced his legs, sending him to his knees. The Haulia had done to him what he'd been planning on doing to Cam. Once he was immobilized, another one of the Haulia fired a small bag at him with a slingshot.

It was filled ground pepper seeds that grew in a certain corner of Haltina. They made for great seasoning, and also as ingredients for a makeshift tear gas bomb. The bag burst, filling Davros' lungs with burning hot powder.

A mage who couldn't talk, couldn't cast. Coughing profusely, Davros just barely noticed someone coming at him from behind.

"Ah!"

He turned around, dodging in the nick of time. But that attack had been a trap. A blade suddenly sprouted from his chest. Another rabbitman had stabbed him from the back.

"Y-You bastard. You said this would be a duel," Davros spat, his breathing labored.

Cam twisted the blade and tilted his head.

"I simply asked what you thought of settling things with a duel."

In other words, he'd implied that he was interested in seeing if Davros wanted to settle things with one, but he had no intention of a duel from the start.

"You, craven cur."

"Can't say I care about being praised by anyone other than Boss."

With that, Cam unsheathed his second short sword and decapitated Davros. As his consciousness began to fade, his final thoughts were, Your Majesty, Freid-sama, beware the demons that lurk in the sea of trees.

"In short, that was how we annihilated the demons. Unfortunately, Verbergen still suffered great casualties in the—Hm? What's wrong, Boss? You look like you swallowed a thousand cockroaches. Like your favorite pet grew way faster than you ever expected and now you don't know what to do with it."

"You're not doing this on purpose, right?"

Hajime glared at Par. Par tilted his head in confusion; it seemed he really wasn't doing it intentionally. Lana and the others seemed just as lost.

"What's the matter, boss?" their gazes seemed to say.

At the start of Par's tale, most of the people listening had sympathized with the beastmen. But as he'd continued, they'd started feeling more sorry for the demons than anything.

I never thought the day would come that I'd pray for the souls of my mortal enemies. Liliana thought, her expression grave.

Meanwhile, Kouki and the other students were glaring at Hajime. Of course your disciples are going to be like this with the way you are! You killed that demon in Orcus without even listening to her final words, and you told Freid that you don't give a damn about your classmates or the citizens! Though their gazes were reproachful, they didn't dare say any of that aloud.

However, it was Shea who'd been hit the hardest. She scowled at Hajime and said something.

"Hajime-san, do something! My family's evolved too far. In the wrong direction, too. This is all because you got them fired up with that speech before you left Haltina!"

"You do realize you're not that different from them, right?" Hajime replied casually, while Shea pounded on him with her fists.

"Please don't lump me together with the likes of them!" Shea wailed. She could say some surprisingly cruel things about her own family.

Hajime ignored Shea's blows and turned back to Par.

"At any rate, you guys did good. You understood that you couldn't win in a pure battle of strength, so you focused on gathering information and utilized your race's special traits to their utmost. That was the perfect combination of ambushes, traps, sneak attacks, and diversions. You didn't hesitate to use methods others would call cowardly, and as a result you're a far cry from the clan that used to run away at the first sign of trouble. You've really exceeded my expectations."

"B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-Boss praised us!"

Tears spilled from Par's eyes. His rabbit ears stood on end.

"What an honor!"

"All that hellish training was worth it!"

"Boss! I can die a happy woman now!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Lanainferina! We can't die yet, we're just getting started! This is what we worked so hard for! Sniffle"

"Heh, Minasteria. This the first time I've ever seen you get so this emotional. Man, you're making me cry too."

All twenty rabbitmen wept tears of joy. It was quite a sight, seeing them all trembling with happiness, their bunny ears flapping back and forth.

"Hajime. Be careful about praising them."

"Yeah..."

Yue watched the rabbitmen with a tired look on her face. Shea's rabbit ears drooped as she bowed apologetically to everyone else. "I'm sorry my family's such a pain to deal with!"

Next to her, Tio muttered, "They have been trained splendidly..." She looked enviously over at Hajime, and Kaori took a few steps away from her.

Hajime cleared his throat to get everyone's attention again and asked Par to continue.

"So what happened after that? You gave us all of the background information, but you still haven't explained how that connects to the current situation."

Par instantly stopped crying and stood at attention. The change was so sudden Liliana, Kouki, and the others took an involuntary step backwards.

"Correct. In order to defeat the demons and their monsters, we had to use up almost all of our booby traps and consumable weapons. In order to shore up our defenses, and avoid dealing with the chaos in Verbergen, we retreated back to our village."

With Verbergen's forces depleted, the elders had had a hard time treating the wounded, recalling all of the beastmen that had evacuated the city, and repairing the shattered main gate. It was in the middle of their hectic recovery period, just three days after the demon attack, that they'd been hit again.

"We just couldn't catch a break. This time it was the empire that invaded. Unlike the demons they had no way of navigating through the fog so they just sent a massive army to push their way in by force."

"What do you mean, by force?" Hajime asked dubiously.

Liliana was curious as well, and she leaned in closer.

"Well, Boss. Those bastards decided if they couldn't find their way to Verbergen normally, then they just had to burn the forest until they had a clear path to the city."

"They set the whole forest on fire!?" Liliana exclaimed in surprise.

Par turned to Liliana and nodded.

"Until now, they'd forced slaves to be their guides through the forest so no one was expecting them to switch to such drastic measures."

Forcing slaves to guide soldiers through the forest wasn't something that was done often. The imperial soldiers knew that the beastmen they'd enslaved would turn on them given the opportunity. After all, no one wanted to lead their captors to their countrymen. It was natural the beastmen wouldn't make for the most willing or trustworthy guides.

And no one had been expecting another large-scale attack right after the demon invasion.

"They weren't here to invade though. They only wanted to capture slaves."

"That's all? They went to such lengths just to capture slaves like always?"

"Correct. Unfortunately, we noticed their assault too late, and by the time we'd arrived at Verbergen there was nothing to be done... Well, with their army in tatters, it's no surprise they buckled quickly."

"Something must have happened within the empire..."

Par nodded in affirmation.

"We captured a number of the empire's rear guard as they left and interrogated them. It appeared the empire had suffered an assault by an army of powerful, never-before-seen monsters as well. They'd suffered serious casualties, and had come to Haltina to 'replenish their supply of hard labor' as those scum put it."

Everyone gasped. Liliana looked particularly shaken. She had been planning on appealing the empire for assistance, but now it turned out they'd been hit just as hard as the kingdom, to the point where they were resorting to massive slave drives to recruit labor.

Now that he'd grasped the overall situation, Hajime sighed.

"I see now... They probably claim it's to rebuild the country, but it's obvious what trash like them are really after. If you guys are striking back against them, that means they must have captured rabbitmen too, even though they're useless when it comes to hard labor."

"Yeah. It's disgusting."

Rabbitmen were usually bought as sex slaves within the empire, so it was obvious what they were really being captured for. Though the Haulia cared nothing for the fate of Verbergen, they couldn't stand idly by as their weaker comrades had their futures stolen from them.

In order to rescue them, Cam had left for the imperial capital along with his best elites. The rest of his family had stayed behind to watch over Haltina. However, no one had heard anything from him since he'd infiltrated the city. No messengers had come to deliver reports, which had started worrying the other rabbitmen.

Unable to stay put any longer, they'd assembled another unit to sneak into the capital and find out what had happened to their comrades. Par's Baltfeld squad had been chosen to partake in the operation as well.

"We didn't want a repeat of whatever might have happened to Cam's squad, so we focused on gathering information first. We put scouts at every one of the capital's gates and gathered as much information about the empire's current forces and the state of the city as we could. It was then that we saw a transport packed with slaves leaving the capital, so we decided to ambush it and free the slaves while also gathering what information we could from the slavers."

And that was when Hajime, who'd been headed to the empire himself, had run into them. The following slaughter he'd witnessed firsthand, so he didn't need to ask about it.

"I've gotta say though, those demons sure are keeping themselves busy. The assault on the kingdom was probably their main goal, but... god, they're annoying."

Hajime shook his head wearily. He was getting tired of running into demons everywhere he went. Liliana and Kouki groaned as well. One attack had nearly destroyed them, they couldn't imagine having to deal with a continuous stream of them.

Par's bunny ears perked up at Hajime's words.

"Judging from your tone, it sounds like you've been fighting demons yourself, Boss."

"Yeah, they've been running around everywhere trying to sabotage the kingdom. Unfortunately for them, I always happened to be wherever they showed up, so all their plans fell apart."

To Hajime, the demons were nothing more than pests who kept interfering with his quest. It wasn't like he hated them or anything, but they always seemed to get in the way of whatever he was doing at the time. More often than not, he'd kill them just because they were a hindrance.

And though he hadn't directly interfered with the Haltina Woods affair, it was his influence that had led to their defeat there as well. Par had mentioned Verbergen was in pretty dire straits, but Hajime was willing to bet the demons were in even worse shape.

"Well anyway, I more or less understand what's going on. For now, I take it you guys are going to keep looking for information on Cam's location?"

"Yes, sir. Also, I hate to impose on you boss, but..."

"Yeah, don't worry. I was heading there anyway. I'll drop off all the beastmen in the sea of trees."

"Thank you very much, sir!"

Par and the others bowed to Hajime.

Shea fidgeted with her bunny ears, looking like she wanted to say something. In the end though, she kept her mouth shut.

Hajime noticed the gesture though, and guessed what it was she wanted to say, too. But he stayed silent, figuring it was better to wait for Shea to say it herself.

The rest of their trip passed uneventfully, and Hajime dropped Liliana, her guards, and Par's squad down near the outskirts of the imperial capital. He agreed to deliver Par's message to the Haulia still in the Haltina Woods, and sped off towards the forest.

As they drew close to the sea of trees, Shea gasped. With the help of Farsight, she was able to see just how badly the forest had been burned. It appeared the empire had taken the straightest route they could toward the center of the woods. The scars they'd left in their wake were still fresh, and there was a single line of burned trees from the edge of the forest to Verbergen.

"This is horrible..."

"I cannot say I approve of such wholesale desecration of nature."

Kaori and Tio covered their mouths in horror. Burned, blackened trunks littered the ground. The Hoelscher Empire had burned a swathe about one hundred meters wide straight through the forest. At the very least, they hadn't let the fire run unchecked through the whole forest, but every living creature within the burn zone had been charred to a crisp.

Shea looked the most devastated out of everyone. Her bunny ears drooped as she looked at the destruction. Her memories of Haltina weren't all pleasant, but it was still her home. Yue gently squeezed Shea's hand.

"Looks like Verbergen's still a little protected. The trees might be gone, but the fog's still here." Hajime pointed to the white fog on his crystal monitor.

Altina, who'd come to the bridge a few minutes ago when Hajime had told everyone they'd reached the sea of trees, replied.

"We may have been exhausted with our battle against the demons, but we still had a somewhat sizable fighting force left. When we sent soldiers to engage the empire, they stopped burning the forest. I think they wanted to avoid burning us all to death by accident. The empire was looking for slaves, not corpses after all."

"Makes sense. But Par said they made it all the way to Verbergen? I have no idea how far away from the city you guys stopped them, but I'm amazed they didn't get lost."

"Signs of our battle with the demons were still littered around the city, so they were able to keep their bearings by following the carnage. In fact, they realized halfway to the city just how badly we'd been weakened."

"You guys just can't catch a break, huh."

So the area around Verbergen hasn't been burned down, at least. Which explained why Hajime couldn't pinpoint Verbergen's location from where he was. He didn't want to frighten any beastmen left in the area either, so he did the sensible thing and landed Fernir on a blackened patch of ground just before the fog started.

He walked down the ramp, the freed beastmen following timidly in his wake.

They were glad to be back home, but the devastation their homeland had suffered weighed heavily on them.

Kouki, Ryutarou, Suzu, and Shizuku all spat curses at the empire. But despite their anger, there was nothing they could do. However, there was someone else who could. And she was just as angry about what had happened.

"Hey, Hajime-kun. Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Hm? What's up, Kaori?"

Kaori's divinely beautiful face was flush with excitement, and she was breathing hard. Behind her, Shizuku muttered "Uh oh, she's at it again..." Sadly, she said it too softly for Hajime to hear. If he had, he might have been able to stop her.

"I was thinking of using restoration magic on the forest. I have enough mana to do it, and in this body I think I can handle an area this big no problem too!"

"You want to use restoration magic on all the burned trees? I guess in Noint's body you probably do have enough magical skill and mana to do it, but..."

"Yep. It'll only take me a minute, so just wait right there."

"Huh? Wait, you're going to do it right now? Wait up, you moron!"

But it was too late. Kaori really was a priest through and through. The moment she saw anyone or anything that was injured, she got right to work.

"Tetragrammaton!"

Tetragrammaton was restoration magic that could restore anyone or anything back to its original state.

Ripples of mana spread out from her body. Her normally lavender-colored mana had tinges of silver in it now. Her mana melted into the forest, bathing it in light. It was truly a sight to behold, seeing an entire forest shimmering with divine light.

The earth went from black to green, and the toppled trees righted themselves, their burned trunks springing back into life.

Everyone watched in slack-jawed awe as the forest knit itself back together. Once she was finished, Kaori proudly wiped a bead of sweat off her brow.

"Kaori, you idiot." Yue kicked Kaori in the shin. Her pointed boots made it hurt quite a bit.

"Owww! What was that for, Yue!?"

"Look around, dumbo."

"What do you mean—"

Kaori trailed off as she examined her surroundings, and realized the fog had returned. She could barely see a few meters in any direction.

"..."

"I figured we could just follow the damage all the way to Verbergen, but... I guess not. Looks like you'll have to guide us again, Shea."

"Leave it to me~"

Kaori buried her face in her hands and squatted down in shame. A few beastmen children ran up to her and tried to comfort her. Hajime couldn't tell if it was because they trusted her now that she'd restored their home, or if they just felt sorry for her.

"Y-You were amazing, Onee-san!"

"Don't be so sad! We'll be here so you won't get lost!"

"Everything'll be alright, Onee-chan!"

Unfortunately, their attempts at cheering her up just made her more embarrassed.

"Cheer up, Kaori. You did a good thing."

Shizuku knelt down and patted Kaori's head.

"Let me guess, you were probably thinking something like 'Now that I have this new body, I won't let Yue hog all the glory! Look at me, Hajime-kun, I can be useful too!' I get how you feel, but next time think before you act."

"I will..."

Kaori nodded meekly.

Grimacing, Ryutarou turned to Shizuku and said, "Are you a psychic or something? Ever since coming to this world it's like you've been able to read Kaori's mind or something, Shizuku. You're starting to freak me out a little."

"You know, Ryutarou-kun. Sometimes, it feels like I'm being totally left out from their little world..."

Suzu was looking down at the ground, desolate, when she felt a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw the last person she'd expect smiling at her and giving her a thumps-up.

"I understand, Suzu. I too, often feel left out when Yue and Shea start ignoring me. But fear, not. Eventually, your loneliness shall transform into pleas—"

"Tio-san. Please stop corrupting our party members."

Hajime sighed as he watched the chaos unfold.

"Kaori, come on let's go. You might have messed up a little, but that was still seriously impressive so cheer up."

Kaori instantly perked up at those words.

Hajime then turned to Tio and said, "Listen up you hopeless pervert of a dragon. The forest's fog doesn't affect you either right? You're in charge of guiding Amanogawa and the others. In fact, why don't you just join their party forever?"

"Are you trying to pawn me off, master!? Have you no manners!?"

Hajime ignored Tio and started walking forward. Of course, being ignored only made Tio more excited.

"W-Wait, Nagumo! You can't seriously be leaving us with her!"

It was rare to see Kouki talk ill of anyone that wasn't Hajime.

"My apologies, Kouki. But I feel nothing even when you insult me. In fact, it rather irritates me. Find someone else to belittle."

Tio gave Kouki a pitying look, nodded, and walked off into the mist as if nothing had happened.

"Why does it feel like I just got dumped, even though I didn't confess?"

"You're better off not thinking about it. Come on, let's go."

Ryutarou smiled sympathetically and gave Kouki a pat on the back.

And thus, the group advanced through the fog toward Verbergen. Two months had passed since the last time Hajime and Yue had visited the city. They'd grown a lot stronger since, and they'd acquired plenty more ancient magic as well, including the one they needed for this labyrinth. And yet, they weren't able to escape the effects of the forest's disorienting fog.

The two of them shared a knowing smile and nodded to each other. This place is still super dreary. Hajime thought.

Having discovered that Hajime and his party held no prejudice against them, and meant them no harm, the beastmen became quite trusting of him. They surrounded Hajime and the others as they guided them through the mist to make sure that no one got separated.

They seemed to have a particular fondness for Kaori. The children especially crowded around her, and blushed every time she smiled at them. A few of the beastmen girls were already clinging to her clothes and arms.

Shea and Altina meanwhile, were leading the group from the head of the column. Altina kept trying to sneak glances back at Hajime, but was met by Yue's cold glare every time, so she stopped.

After about an hour of walking, Shea's drooping rabbit ears suddenly perked up. She strained her ears and peered through the fog.

"Hajime-san, there's an armed group headed our way."

Surprised, the other beastmen turned to Shea. None of the others, not even any of the other captured rabbitmen had been able to sense anything. It appeared her perception abilities were on another level. A few seconds later, a squad of armed tigermen appeared from the fog, proving the truth of Shea's words.

They had their weapons bared and looked ready to attack at a moment's notice. The only reason they didn't charge right away was because they saw how many beastmen were in the group. Their leader surveyed the group, his eyes opening wide when he spotted Hajime.

"You're that boy from back then..."

Hajime, too, remembered this tigerman. He was Gil, the leader of the of the squad that had run into Hajime during his first trip to Haltina. He'd managed to survive through both raids.

"What are you here for this time... Wait, is that you, Altina-sama!? Are you alright!?" Gil cried out in surprise as he spotted Altina.

"Yes, I'm fine. These people and the Haulia clan saved me."

Once he'd confirmed her safety, Gil heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness. Ulfric-sama was worried sick about you. You should hurry back to the city and let him know you're safe... Boy. Is it a policy of yours to rescue our countrymen every time you visit Haltina? I must say, it's a rather strange hobby for someone as arrogant as you, but... well, thanks."

"As if I'd have a policy like that. It's just coincidence."

Kouki and the others looked curiously at Hajime. They hadn't expected him to have other friends among the beastmen. Shea gave them a brief explanation of what had happened last time, including how Hajime had saved her family's lives. Kouki and the others nodded, finally understanding why she'd fallen in love with him.

"Anyway, are there any Haulia in Verbergen? If not, is there anyone who can tell me where their new village is?"

"Hm? There's a few Haulia in Verbergen right now. You've probably already heard, but we were attacked. After the empire retreated, a few them decided to stay in the city permanently."

"Perfect, that'll save me some time. In that case, that's where we'll go too. We won't have to wait outside until an elder shows up to let us in this time, will we?"

Hajime strode forward without waiting for a reply. I see he hasn't changed a bit. Gil thought to himself as he signaled his men to sheathe their weapons. A little exasperated, he took it upon himself to guide them the rest of the way.

Even though they'd just been raided by humans, none of the beastmen seemed wary of Hajime or his comrades. He wasn't sure if that was because the Haulia he'd trained had been the ones to save Verbergen, or if the elders had told everyone else not to oppose him, but regardless of the reason, he was glad he didn't have to fight anyone this time.

When they arrived at Verbergen, Hajime found it radically changed from his last visit. The grand, imposing gate that he'd passed through before lay on the ground in splintered pieces. It appeared the beastmen hadn't found time to clear the wreckage away yet. Craters pockmarked the city's streets, and large boulders lay strewn about. The winding walkways and sweeping aqueducts crafted directly out of the trees' branches had been smashed here and there, making them unusable. The beautiful city that had once captivated Hajime was now a smoldering wreck.

"This is horrible..." Someone muttered. Hajime couldn't help but agree. A gloom hung over the city, and the wind that blew through had a distinctive chill to it.

One of the people walking down Verbergen's main street stopped when he spotted Hajime's party and stared at Altina in disbelief. A second later, he beamed and started running forward. His expression stiffened a little when he spotted unfamiliar humans next to her, but when she told him they were the ones who'd saved her his smile returned and he hugged her tight.

Many of the beastmen gave Hajime their thanks and rushed back to their homes as fast as they could. The reason became clear as soon, Hajime was surrounded by a huge crowd of Verbergen's residents. After a never-ending stream of thank yous the crowd finally began to disperse. The only person that remained was one Verbergen's elders, Ulfric Heipyst.

"Grandfather!"

"Oh Altina, I'm so glad you're safe..."

Tears pooling in her eyes, Altina buried herself in her grandfather's arms. Hajime idly recalled what Ulfric had told him on his last visit. That any beastman who was taken captive and brought outside of the sea of trees was considered dead. Because going after captured slaves would only lead to more casualties.

He must have thought he'd never get to see her again. A few of the onlookers teared up as well as they watched the touching reunion. Finally, Ulfric broke away, gave his granddaughter one last pat on the head and, turned to Hajime, a wry smile on his face.

"I must say, I wasn't expecting us to reunite like this, Hajime Nagumo. Nor did I think you would be the one to save my granddaughter. Fate works in mysterious ways, I suppose. At any rate, I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

"I just dropped her off here. If you want to thank someone, thank the Haulia. I'm only here because I need to deliver a message to them actually..."

"You're the one who molded them into what they are. So in the end, it was your actions that saved my granddaughter, and my people. You can't deny that. I owe you a greater debt than I can ever hope to repay, so at least accept my thanks."

Hajime scratched his cheek awkwardly and shrugged his shoulders. Yue, Tio, Kaori, and Shea all watched over him with smiles on their faces. On the other hand, it irked Kouki that Hajime had done more to help the people of this world than he had, even though Kouki was the one who'd been training all this time to save everyone while Hajime had just been trying to find a way home.

Ulfric looked over Kouki and the others while continuing his conversation with Hajime.

"Unfortunately, the Haulia you're looking for just left the city to go on patrol. They should be back soon, but..."

"In that case, is it alright if we wait here until they do? It looks like you guys need some help, and our healer's been itching to get to work ever since we got here. What do you say? You'll get quite a bit out of it too."

"Hm? I'm not quite sure I understand what you're getting at, but you are of course welcome to stay. Of course, I won't ask for anything in return either. In fact, why don't you come to my house? I'll tell the guards to inform us when the Haulia return."

Ulfric then started walking over to his house. Altina surreptitiously tried to grab Hajime's hand under the pretense of guiding him, but was stopped short by Shea. Hajime ignored the silent staring contest that broke out between the princess of the elves and the overpowered bunny girl and turned to Kaori. Kaori smiled, realizing Hajime had already figured out what she was about to ask. Unable to hold back her happiness, she tried to hug him but was stopped short by Yue. The ultimate vampire princess and unstoppable girl in the body of one of god's apostles started their own staring contest.

"See what I mean, Suzu? Once you grow accustomed to it, this feeling of alienation isn't that bad."

"Umm, Tio-san. Please stop treating me like we're the same. I'm not a pervert like you..."

"If you ask me, I would say you have all the qualities needed to become a good one though..." Tio muttered softly as she watched Suzu cower behind Shizuku. Hajime shook his head in exasperation and followed behind Ulfric. Once inside, Altina brewed Hajime and the others some tea while they waited for the Haulia to return. Ulfric wasn't sure what to think of how his granddaughter clearly seemed to be fawning over Hajime. For his part, Hajime pretended like he didn't notice. Instead, he focused his attention playing with Shea's bunny ears. It was his way of reassuring her that he had no intention of making a move on Altina.

Around the time that they'd finished drinking their tea and exchanging information, Kaori flew in from Ulfric's window. His house was nestled in the trunks of a massive tree, and sat a good ten meters above the ground.

"Taking a break?"

Kaori shook her head at Hajime's question.

"Not quite. I finished healing everyone who was injured. I also restored the gate and the central areas of the city. And, well, I was thinking it'd be good practice if I could go out and restore the nearby villages too..." Kaori trailed off. Hajime could hear beastmen chanting her name in the distance. He and Ulfric stood up and stuck their heads outside of the window. Practically all of Verbergen was standing outside, cheering.

"Wait, I recognize some of those guys. Aren't they the other elders?"

"Indeed, that would be Zel and Guze. What has gotten into them?"

Unlike the other beastmen, they were making a beeline for Ulfric's house. It appeared they were terrified of the other beastmen's fanatic zeal and the speed with which Kaori had converted them.

Ulfric massaged his temples, fighting back a headache. Hajime started helping Kaori inside, then stopped when he heard a rush of footsteps.

Everyone turned toward the entrance, just in time to see the doors flung open. They were thrown backward with such force that the frames creaked.

"Boss! It's been ages since we last saw you!"

"We've been waiting for your return, Boss!"

"I-It is an honor to see you again, Sir!"

"Oi, newbie, go tell everyone else the boss' back! You've got thirty seconds!"

"R-Roger!"

The Haulia spilled into Ulfric's living room. Kouki and the others spit out their tea in surprise. Having already seen Par and the other's reactions they'd been somewhat prepared for the Haulia's enthusiasm, but they hadn't expected it to be so vehement. Once the initial outburst died down, they filed into ranks and saluted. Hajime noticed there were a few new faces among their number. Judging from their earlier words, Hajime guessed that they'd been recruiting and training rabbitmen from other clans in order to bolster their army.

"Uhh, yeah, it's been a while guys. Anyway, you're creeping out my comrades so can you stop with the salutes?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Their cries were loud enough that the whole forest probably heard them. Even the rabbitmen who weren't Haulia were swept away by the atmosphere and matched the volume of the hardened veterans who were overjoyed to see Hajime. It appeared they'd kept up his Spartan training regime even in Hajime's absence.

"I ran into Par on the way here so I more or less understand the situation. From the sound of it, you guys did pretty well. I know it couldn't have been easy, driving those demons out."

"W-We are undeserving of such praise, sir!" As Hajime had expected, the Haulia burst into tears. He gave them a moment to collect themselves then passed on the message Par had given him. Namely that they were planning on invading the imperial capital and were requesting reinforcements.

"I see. Thank you very much for taking the time to pass on Baltfeld the Executioner's words, Boss."

"Hey, uh... don't tell me you guys all have nicknames too."

"Us...? Heh, of course we do. I am Iorniks the Thunderclap! He who strikes with unpredictability and speed of lightning!"

"...I see."

It's too late for them. They've gone too deep. The pandemic started by "Baltfeld the Executioner" had infected every one of the Haulia. They were beyond salvation now.

Hajime sighed and changed the subject.

"Looks like you guys have been training recruits from outside the Haulia too. How many men do you have now?"

"Let me think... We accepted many promising youths from the clans close to us, and the remnants of the Banton clan came to us as well after they were defeated, so... at present we have 122 men in fighting shape."

Hajime, Shea, and Yue all looked up in surprise. That was far more than they'd been expecting. Hajime nodded to himself and looked up at Iorniks, who still seemed confused at the question.

"In that case, I can take you all at once. Ior...niks. Gather everyone you were planning on sending to the capital. I'll take you there."

"Huh?" Iorniks looked blankly at Hajime for a few seconds before realizing what he meant. "Ah! Roger! I'll gather everyone at once!" With a crisp salute, Iorniks—his real name was Io—ran back out of the house and started gathering his men.

Io couldn't believe that Hajime would assist them in assaulting the capital. Especially since it would mean putting the real reason he'd come here, conquering Haltina's labyrinth, on hold.

Shea was even more surprised than Io was. Her eyes opened wide and her bunny ears stood on end as she stared at Hajime.

"H-Hajime-san? What about the labyrinth..."

"You're worried about Cam and the others, aren't you?"

"Um... well... I am... but..." Shea faltered.

She knew Hajime had come here for the labyrinth, and that looking for Cam would have required going out of their way back to the capital he'd wanted to avoid. Which was why she hadn't said anything. Moreover, Cam and the others hadn't been kidnapped, they'd infiltrated the capital of their own volition. They had been prepared for the danger when they'd gone in.

Shea had made her decision when she'd asked to go along with Hajime back when they'd first met. She would go down her own path, and her family would go down theirs.

Of course, knowing that her father had gone missing still made her worried, but she knew she couldn't just ask Hajime to turn back for him. But though she'd tried to hide her apprehension, the tension on her face and the slight droop to her rabbit ears had not gone unnoticed by Hajime or Yue. Even if she could hide it from the others, they'd known her for too long. Hajime walked up to Shea, who was still at a loss for words, and gently pinched her cheeks.

"Hweh?" She looked up at him, unable to comprehend the meaning behind his actions. Hajime returned her gaze, smiled awkwardly, and said resolutely, "You don't have to force yourself to smile like that... I could tell your rabbit ears were drooping you know. If you're worried about Cam, you just had to say so."

"B-But..."

"No buts. What are you trying to hold back for after all this time? Just say what's on your mind like you always do. Where'd all that boldness you had when I first met you go? If you're not smiling, then... we can't keep acting like normal either."

"Hajime-san..."

Though his words were a little blunt, it was clear Hajime cared about Shea. Which was why he'd said what he had. Shea knew that as well, and she covered his hands with her own. Her eyes were brimming with joy.

"I know it might be hard to believe, but... well, look, I care about you. So if there's something bothering you... I'll do everything in my power to fix it."

"Hajime-san, I..."

"So go ahead and say what you want to say. I'm listening."

Shea basked in the warm sensation of Hajime's hands on her cheeks and mustered her courage. She looked Hajime in the eyes and said, "I'm worried about my dad. Even if I don't get to see him, I at least want to make sure he's okay."

"You should have just said so from the start. You were acting so reserved I thought something might be wrong with you."

"Y-You're making it sound like I normally don't hold back at all! I can't believe you, Hajime-san!"

Shea puffed out her cheeks at Hajime, though it was obvious she wasn't really mad. Her eyes were sparkling and her cheeks were flushed. That was the face of a girl gazing at the boy she loved. Hajime's words had filled her with such joy that she could barely contain it.

Shea hadn't even realized she'd been trying to reign in her selfishness around Hajime. In truth, she'd just unconsciously been trying to show off her good side so that she wouldn't lose to new contenders for Hajime's affections. But after hearing those words, Shea no longer felt any need to hold back.

"Mmm... I missed that cheerful smile." Yue watched over Shea like a protective older sister.

"Hmm, perhaps there are times when kind words truly are better than insults." For once, Tio said something halfway normal. Maybe I can finally cure her of her perverseness once and for all. Hajime mused.

"Aww, I'm so jealous."

"I guess anyone'd be happy hearing something like that from the guy they love."

"Y-You're surprisingly blunt now... Nagumo-kun. That part of you has definitely changed the most. I'm kinda surprised actually."

"Shea-san... I'm so envious..."

Kaori, Shizuku, Suzu, and Altina all voiced their respective opinions.

Their comments reminded Shea she was still in public, and she bashfully buried her face in her hands. But her bunny ears and tail were still twitching happily.

Kouki glared at Hajime and muttered, "So you'll still fight if it's for your comrades..." His voice was subdued, but there was a hint of irritation in it. Seeing his best friend's reaction, Ryutarou scratched his head, at a loss for what to say.

Just then, Io returned to the house. He'd finished rounding up the other Haulia. Honestly, he'd finished way faster than Hajime had expected.

Hajime said his goodbyes to Ulfric and the others, led everyone back to his airship, and took off toward the empire once more.