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"What you just did kid was dangerous."

Ulpo looked at Leonard, not fooled by his height and stature. Even though Leonard's growth spurt makes him look like an adult, Ulpo could confirm his age by other methods. Nonetheless, Leonard didn't make any arguments.

"If I didn't do that the other evacuating demons would get targeted."

"And for that, I thank you for your bravery."

Leonard nodded, he understood what the general was feeling all about this. Especially since he had come to terms that demons are people as well, he couldn't help but get angry at the Empire's decision. 

It's not like the olden days where demons would keep their treasures inside castles along a feudal society to make looting easier. Demons had partaken in a closeted monarchy. 

It's close to a Republic than an actual monarchy. The only difference is that since the Demon Queen or a Demon King is close to an honorary position that cannot be ignored that they are still treated like royalty. 

This was the case until the previous demon King took rise, only ending when he died once again. Though, Leonard could only know that the Demon King is in a slumber. 

Anyways, Ulpo led Leonard to a vehicle. 

"Get out of the city, Allard would soon become a chaotic battleground. I doubt the humans who landed would finish their directives with just landing."

Leonard nodded, he'd done enough on this place. He just hopes that the other demons had already evacuated. Especially the circus performers that he hired. 

Leonard decided that the best course of action was to leave this place, the war happened in the later parts of the web novel, but he was sure that something happened to boost the event to happen sooner. 

***

Back at the academy, Walter won the tournament. Claiming the prize he had anticipated. But nonetheless felt unfulfilled. When he came back to the dorm to rest he met Abigail, looking at her with a solemn yet unreadable look. 

Walter looked at his adoptive sister with crestfallen eyes, Abigail was sure that those looks are for Walter himself. 

"Brother?"

"Hey, Abigail. Can we talk for a second?"

"Sure…?" 

Abigail was unsure of Walter's attitude. Before they came here he was energetic and confident, one could say he was arrogant. But over the course of staying within the academy his aura changed. 

One could say it was like a child went to war and his naive innocent looks vanished like a bubble. Walter's eyes displayed maturity out of his age despite his crestfallen look. 

Abigail and Walter walked up to his room. Abigail was about to sit unto the bed, she always did this on the first iteration she felt closer to Walter after all. But when she did, she expected Walter to sit beside her, instead he grabbed a nearby chair and sat in front of her. 

"Walter?"

His eyes, which were looking down, looked up at her. Abigail couldn't help but gulp down dry saliva as Walter looked straight at her eyes. 

"I'm sorry, Abigail."

"huh?"

"I…"

Walter leaned back to his wooden chair, making it creak. His head hoisted back whilst his body relaxed to a defeated position. 

"I remember."

Until then Walter closed his eyes. Abigail's eyes widened slowly. In shock and in disbelief, her mouth slowly opened but then it closed back in. 

Walter wanted to tell her that it wasn't his fault, he felt controlled like a puppet. Him admitting he 'remembered' clearly opened some memories best forgotten. 

But he knew it was nothing but an excuse. He knew that if he justified himself with him being controlled and that he had no conscious input in the part where he tried to bed his sister, it would sound like an escape, an excuse of the weak and irresponsible. 

"Brother, it wasn't your fault."

"Is it?"

"Huh?" 

"Do you think it wasn't? I remember doing it because I was arrogant to think I deserved it."

Did he? Walter was convinced in such a notion, the disgust that welled inside him greatly want to distance himself away from his sister. 

"..."

Abigail was silent, only looking at Walter's poor visage. She can't offer words of comfort nor reason why Walter wasn't at fault. Walter took this as a sign that Abigail clearly couldn't forget his betrayal. 

"Abigail… from today forward, live without me."

"H-huh? B-Brother, what do you—"

"I don't deserve to be your brother."

Abigail's heart was beating fast, she could clearly tell she didn't like what was happening. The first Iteration Walter was different from this iteration. That was a clear stated fact. 

'Brother! You aren't at fault!'

'Brother! It's clear it wasn't you who did that!'

Abigail tried to clear this up, she begged her mouth to move, for the air in her lungs to form sounds in the form of words. But nothing, nothing came out of her mouth. 

It's clear, Walter isn't the same, he doesn't need to compare himself from the former one. 

But Walter thought differently. If it happened, it could happen again, he didn't trust himself after remembering those things. 

He was ashamed, repulsed by his former self. The arrogant, naive, and pathetic coward of a man that his former self, the first iteration, he rejects, but can't help but to compare himself to. 

"I'll ask the Baron to take care of you. I'll cut ties as soon as I find a lead against the Zurtin Brites." Walter lifted his head. "That way you can… "

His words stopped, Abigail was tearing up. Her eyes were droopy, they were looking at Walter clearly. This time, instead with the enigmatic curtain that surrounded her sister's eyes there is only rage, sorrow and desperation. 

"B-brother…"

Walter out of habit leaned forward and clenched his sister's shoulders out of worry, already his words of worry came out like a bursting dam. 

"Abby wh-whats wrong?"

Abigail's hand clutched the hem of Walter's clothes. 

"D-Don't leave me." tears just kept coming out of Abigail's eyes. "Leonard and you… both of you aren't the same from then… they're not you…"

She said sobbing. Walter just stayed still, Abigail's head now was bowed down, looking below. She could tell that the stream of tears still isn't done coming out. 

"Whatever… sob being is controlling you and Leo… is the only one I can't forgive!." Abigail leaned closer towards Walter. 

"I always believed in you… brother… I always did… but you're not him, you're not the man from then." 

from the first iteration. 

"You're my brother." 

from the very beginning. 

"Not the puppet!"

Walter gritted his teeth, even biting on his lips. Him telling Abigail he would leave is nothing but a strike on her fragile heart. How could he not know? He has been with her since childhood, he knew that sister can't handle abandonment.

He was practically betraying her, his promise! 

"I'm sorry."

"Don't do that again!" Abigail sobbed. "If I knew you were the same as that man from then, then I would've left you didn't I?!" she screamed her sobs were now louder. 

"Abby I…"

"Don't leave me again!"

'Again…'

That lingered in Walter's mind longer than any word has ever been until now. He hugged Abigail who was sobbing uncontrollably on his chest. 

Right, he was stupid. How could he not know his sister? She knew him the most, how could he?

He was so stupid, the first iteration clearly gave his sister bad memories, how could he not make up a better way?

He was so used to thinking that his enemies would think that he couldn't help but project his predicted dialogue towards his sister. He was really stupid. 

"I'm not going to leave."

Walter said softly. 

"Y-you better take me somewhere this weekend! O-okay?!" Abigail declared. 

"I will."

Walter wouldn't abandon his family again. Not for other reasons. 

***

The Demon Queen was surrounded by warlords. Their meeting at a round table was occupied by 8 people including the Demon Queen herself. 

"Any reports from the Shapeshifters?" The Demon Queen asked. 

"The one we planted among the military has been suspected, he can't do anything lately. They might even be planning to throw him out."

"A shame… "

The round table discussed what could potentially happen in this war. The humans attacked with no declaration, much is expected from the two races' relationship. 

"Anyways, we need to get the cities near the border evacuated before any major happens." The Queen simply declared. 

One of the Warlords nodded "Right now, the nearest city that would be targeted is Alfard, next is Kiryu."

"Yes, We have to turn Kiryu into a bastion, because once they take over that city it will be over."

Once the humans have taken over Kiryu the demons would lose ground over their current border, map outlines would change. In any case, failure to defend a significant landmark is unforgivable. 

"Fahillia," the Demon Queen looked at one of the Warlords. "I place you in charge of this Area."

"Yes, your majesty." The Warlord, an albino if he was a human, nodded. 

"In any case, what's the situation in Alfard?" The Demon Queen inquired. 

"General Ulpo managed to take care of the situation, though the sudden attack did take the lives of innocent civilians."

The Demon Queen was visibly annoyed at the statement given, however, her emotions are not directed to anyone in this room. Much is obvious. 

The meeting with the warlords was brief and concise, they talked points of invasion, possible invasion points, possibilities of traitors and possible ways to attack the humans. 

After a while the meeting was adjourned and the warlord stood up one by one. However, Fahillia stayed longer along with the Demon Queen. 

"Your Majesty…"

"Yes?"

"Why do you hide the existence of that human?"

That human… Leonard, Lorentia looked at Fahillia with a tired look. She knew that Fahillia was only worried about the people's safety, a human is a hazard, every single one of them. That's believed by every demon. 

"I owe him."

"What do you mean?" 

Fahillia, even though he has mastered his emotions, couldn't help but let his cool facade crack, a demon, owing a human?

"He saved my life… not once or twice."

"..."

Fahillia was visibly shocked and speechless. Why would a human help a demon, surely they have some hidden motives. 

"And you know what he said when he helped me?"

At this point Fahillia was utterly confused. 

"He said," Lorentia imitated the first iteration Leonard. Her voice turned grumpy. "Dammit! It's supposed to be my vacation! Why are people always in danger when I'm not around?!"

Fahillia just sat there, he didn't know what to say in front of Lorentia, what shocked him to speechlessness was Lorentia's display. 

"He… He said that?"

"Yeah, he already knew I was a demon."

"He did?" Fahillia was now more than curious about this human. 

"Yeah! And even though the relationship between humans and demons are bad, he never looked at us with disgust. He only looked at me annoyingly because I was in danger." Lorentia giggled. 

Fahillia had never seen Lorentia happily talking about something for years. He was basically the godfather of Lorentia after the previous Demon King neglected her. 

So the fact that she's happily talking about someone like this warms his heart. 

"I need to talk to him at least once."

Lorentia paused for a second. She looked at Fahillia, her expression back to being stoic, it was unbelievable that the girl that was talking brightly changed so fast it was hard to compare. 

"Warlord, the meeting is done so let's leave already."

Fahillia smirked, "Ah, I wonder if I'll meet the equivalent of my grandchild someday."

"Get out!"

***

Leonard was escorted out of Alfard, and they moved toward Kiryu. This city is the centre stage for evacuation right now since it's near other border cities. 

Leonard looked forward, his once bright blue eyes are now milky white that shines like the stars. 

"This isn't good."

Leonard felt something was wrong. 

"What do you mean?"

One of the demons that rode the large vehicle on the same destination asked. 

"There's no way that humans would only bring a few bombs and a hundred troops." Leonard replied casually. 

The other demons who were being escorted at Kiryu looked confused as they're near enough not to avoid eavesdropping. 

"I'm sure that their assault isn't done yet—"

The City halls were used as temporary sleeping grounds, establishments with wide halls were occupied as temporary shelters. 

Like all societies, not all demons are fortunate.

Some are even on their trying times. 

Those who are fortunate enough, fled with their own devices, self and materialistic things intact all along. 

But most of which rely on government service. Shuttles and private transportations, all blocked by the amount of people migrating. 

Not all demons have the opportunity to be a warrior, to release their wings and be powerful enough to flee the city. 

Some were just unfortunate. 

Leonard watched with wide eyes, as a dark aircraft soared the sky with a roar released a single item out of its covers that soon turned opaque. 

It was invisible to the naked eye, but to those trained could tell. 

It was a bomb. 

The demon technology may be advanced. 

But as it advanced, it needed time to do so. 

And New things exposed needed to be learned with time. 

The invisible bomb was new. 

There was no time to decode this technology. 

So everyone far away enough watched in horror as the city was set ablaze in a fire. 

Leonard lost consciousness as the shockwave threw the vehicle into the air. 

***

A few years later. 

The academy has started bestowing its graduates their honorary trinkets, saluting and congratulating them for becoming pillars of the empire. 

Despite the war still going on. 

The fact that the Empire could finance the army whilst the entire country is running as usual, is nothing but a flex to other nations. 

After all, financing a war is expensive. 

Lenneza looked at the stadium, it seemed surreal. The first time they graduated, there was a terrorist attack. 

She couldn't help but sigh. Ignoring the sound of crushing bones and streams of blood behind her. 

Even though it was a graduation ceremony, they weren't inside the stadium to receive their honours. 

"We need to get there quickly… how many are there?"

"I have no idea, so why won't you ladies go there first? I knew this would happen anyways so I didn't become an honour student."

"Oh, shut up." an aggressive feminine voice butted in. "It's not like we didn't know, but we didn't know they would attack this early!"

"Your refute is denied. Didn't know yet still did it? Like you do." Walter replied nonchalantly towards Yula. 

A sigh soon interrupted their banter. "Please! We still have a few minutes left, so let's finish this already."

A blonde-haired beauty, the princess was shooting off arcane spells one after the other towards people in robes. 

"ahh!"

Soon screams filled the air, but none were to be heard as there was a barrier containing it all. 

Walter showed his prowess in the way of the sword elegantly cutting three robed men down without disturbing the wind. 

"Right, that must be the last of em'." he casually spoke. "I'm going back to the ceremony. Hopefully, I get there before my name is called. The Baron is eager to see me up there."

Everyone looked at Walter, three of the heroines were present, none looked at Walter with disgust, and none argued and even made snide remarks. Despite that, they knew who the person was, and there was a reason. One being his Aura.

It was so separate from the Walter that they knew that it was surreal for them.

"Oh, by the way." Walter stopped in his tracks. "Anyone of you going to the Demonic continent?"

Lenneza and Yula both turned their heads towards Heidi, she looked at the other briefly before sighing. 

"Yes, I plan to sneak there."

"Alright, hire me as your escort, I need to go there as well."

"Huh? Why?" Heidi raised a brow.

To that, Walter smirked, a menacing aura surrounded him.

"Because I found clues that lead there."

They ended the conversation there, moving forward.