Day of Despair

"Uwaaa!" 

Arthur woke up from his sleep as he let out a roar. 

"What's wrong, Arthur?" 

"Onii-sama?" 

"Arthur?" 

Arthur's expression was horrible as if he had just found out that the lover he wished to meet was in the embrace of another man. 

"...nothing." 

There was no way for him to tell what the content of his dream was. 

Nevertheless, everyone noticed the gloominess in his voice, but they didn't keep pressing him further since no one in this place was in good condition. 

Especially the members of the Slash Dog and Lavinia Reni. Their clothes, which were usually new, fresh, and without any wrinkles, were in a mess, dirty, and even some holes could be found. Their expressions were all horrible, and it was clear that they hadn't slept well for the past few days, especially after Riser had made the bounty. 

Every day was like a living hell for them since sometimes the normal people who they thought were gentle or a grandma whom they helped when she fell turned out to be bounty hunters who came after their lives. 

The temptation of the bounty given by Riser was great, especially when everyone knew that they could get the good side of Riser as long as they could take one of them down. 

What did it mean to have the good side of Riser?

It meant that their future was great! 

Money aside, the intangible benefits that came from hunting down those criminals were so great that many bounty hunters came after their lives. 

Watching everyone whose situation became so horrible due to him, Vali felt an intense guilt. "I am sorry... it's because of me that you..." Even if he was awkward and proud, he knew that the misery that everyone had everyone felt was all due to him.

Unlike the Hero Faction, Magician Faction, or even the remains of the Old Satan Faction, even though they were criminals, they didn't do anything to the innocent people, so even if they were attacked by innocent people, they still had a hard time killing them, which was different from the Hero Faction, Magician Faction, and the remains of the Old Satan Faction who could do a cruel thing without worry. 

Watching how depressed Vali was, everyone suppressed the gloomy feelings in their hearts. They were the ones who had chosen to go after Vali, and they knew that this was the revenge given by Riser. 

"You don't need to worry, Vali. Everything will be okay." 

"We have decided to help you, and of course, we will stay by your side until the end." 

"Moreover, you are the only one who can defeat that fake Lucifer." 

Tobio and Reni tried to cheer Vali up since they knew the only one who could defeat Riser was Vali. 

Still, whether it was Tobio or Reni, the two of them never thought that their situation would become like this. Tobio was Grigori's ace and Reni's Grauzauberer. The two thought that as long as two powerful organizations would work together with Vali, there was a chance to throw down the fake Lucifer and bring true peace to everyone. 

However, reality slapped them harshly. 

Grigori and Grauzauberer quickly abandoned them and listed them as criminals. The two organizations drew a line between them and told the world that they had nothing to do with them. 

Suddenly, Reni thought about the words that she had said to Mephisto Pheles. 

You will regret it. 

Now, who was the one who regretted their choices?

Reni had never lived such a miserable life, being hunted in the morning and night. Moreover, she was different from the guys who could handle dirty environments, and she also wondered how long it had been since she had slept in such an environment. 

Still, Reni also had her own pride, and she didn't think that her choice was wrong. Instead, she knew that someone needed to break and destroy this fake peace, showing the world what true peace truly was. 

Tobio was stronger than Reni since his life wasn't that good. If there was something that he was worried about, it was about his fiancee, who was a part of the Five Principal Clans. Fortunately, he had heard that the Five Principal Clans had joined the alliance. Even though he hated the alliance, he knew that his fiancee could live well in the alliance instead of hiding like a rat in the sewer like them. 

"Yes... it's your fault." 

However, while Reni and Tobio tried to comfort Vali, someone couldn't bear it anymore.

Shigune Nanadaru, one of the members of the Slash God, accused Vali directly and cruelly without hesitation. 

"It's your fault, Vali! If you don't do something like this, will we have to live like this?" 

"Nanadaru!" Tobio started at Shigune furiously. 

"It's all your fault too, Tobio! If you don't order us to follow you in this mission, then will we have to live miserably? Look at Azazel. That guy is living well and ignores all of us! Why do I have to live like this because all of you are here?!" 

Unlike the others, Shigune didn't have much of a good relationship with Vali. The reason why she was part of the Slash Dog was due to an accident that happened three years ago. Usually, she only did a mission given by the Grigori, and they hardly met each other, but somehow, she was forced to be involved with the matter of Tobio and Vali. 

Frankly, Shigune didn't want to be involved in this matter even if Azazel had ordered her to do so. 

At this moment, Shigune realizes the cruelty of the worker, especially when she can't choose her own fate. Yet, there was nothing she could do, especially since this was the only place that she could stay. She wasn't sure what she was talking about or what everyone's expression was, but she poured all of her frustration and passed out as she was unable to handle the pressure. 

"Shigune!" 

Sae Toujou, who was Tobio's childhood friend, hugged Shigune tightly, helping her. 

However, at the moment, besides Sae, no one had helped Shigune as they could only bow their heads low. 

Still, at that moment, a loud voice was heard from outside of their hiding place. 

"Over there!"

"Hahaha... we're going to get rich!" 

"Don't kill them! If we can get them alive, we can get more money!" 

Everyone was startled. 

Reni was stunned and said, "We're surrounded! There are thousands of people outside!" 

These numbers brought everyone to horror. Usually, with such a number of people who came to hunt them, they would notice them immediately, but they couldn't stay focused, especially when Shigune was in outburst. 

"We need to run!" 

"Le Fay, hurry up!" 

They had been exhausted from fighting so many times, and they didn't have time to rest. 

If Arthur still had his Caliburn, they might be able to escape easily. 

If Kuroka was there, they could teleport directly. 

However, without those two, the only one they could meet was Le Fay. 

Under the urge of everyone, Le Fay quickly made a teleportation circle and teleported everyone, but due to her limited magic power as she was unable to properly rest, the circle wasn't so huge to teleport everyone. 

"Ah!" 

At that moment, a scream sounded. 

"Sae!" Tobio only realized that Sae and Shigune hadn't been teleported. 

"Tobio-kun!" 

Yet, everything was too late since, as they were teleported, Sae and Shigune were left behind under the group of bounty hunters. 

"NOOOOOOO!" 

As soon as they were able to arrive at the safe place, Tobio quickly got up and went to Le Fay. "Teleport me back! I need to save them!" 

However, Le Fay passed out after using all of her magic power. 

"Le Fay!" 

"Calm down, Tobio-kun!" 

"How could I calm down?!" Tobio held his head in frustration. "Sae..." 

Everyone lost their calm at this moment, but suddenly—

"You look so disgraceful, Vali." 

"Who?!" 

Everyone became tense as they looked at the source of the voice, and from the dark, they saw a young man with a dangerous spear that caused them to shudder. 

"How about it? Do you want to work with us to show the world who is right?"