Chapter 46: Archdukedom.

"We are here, the Archdukedom," Sierra said as she stood on top of the mountain and looked down at the Archdukedom.

The Archdukedom was so vast that it was almost as big as West Dasmein, and the presence of demons was so overwhelming. Alseace looked at it from the distance and could see hundreds of demons flying around above the city and they were as big as a commercial plane.

"We are going straight to meet the Archduke?" Alseace asked and looked at Sierra with a curious look on his face. "Do you want me to use Shadow Movement so we can go there unnoticed?" Alseace asked.

"Don't joke around, Al. Every stealth skill isn't going to work with these high level demons," Sierra answered as she unwrapped a lollipop in her hands.

"What are we going to do then?" Alseace asked with his eyebrows furrowed.

Sierra put the lollipop into her mouth and turned around to look at Alseace. She suddenly smiled and slowly leaned her body back which made her fall off the cliff.

"If you want to know the answer, keep up with me and watch!" Sierra shouted as she was free-falling.

Alseace walked to the edge and watched Sierra stare him in the eye, and then suddenly she disappeared and reappeared above the city. He was shocked and confused as to how she did that, but when he thought about it, that move was similar to what Carazen had, [Jump] skill.

"What are you doing, Miss Sierra?" Alseace asked under his breath.

Alseace used [Shadow Movement] and entered the shadow world to reach the base of the mountain. The moment he left the shadow world, he was dumbfounded when he saw hundreds of demons flying toward Sierra. He looked around and made sure there was nothing around him, and then he entered the shadow world to enter the city.

[0.006118% EXP]

[0.005964% EXP]

[0.006092% EXP]

[0.006227% EXP]

...

...

...

[Agility has increased by 2.94 points]

[Strength has increased by 2.91 points]

[Magic has increased by 2.84 points]

[Sense has increased by 2.90 points]

Looking at the notifications that flooded in front of him, he immediately went to the surface to look at what had happened. When he looked up, he saw all the demons that were as big as an airplane, hundreds of them, they were all burned into ashes as they were falling from the sky.

"What just happened?!" Alseace asked with his pupils trembling. He looked at Sierra's back with beautiful fire wings on her back and how the sky rumbled so loudly. "Are you perhaps planning on fighting all of them on your own? Didn't you say you don't want to do this?" Alseace squinted his eyes.

He felt a presence behind him and saw big claws reaching out onto his back. He dodged it and immediately drew his sword and coated it with Aura, and then he used the [Affinity: Holy] skill to modify the Aura into Holy Aura.

He slashed his sword at the big hand that tried to grab him. He noticed how easy it was for his sword to cut the big hand as if he was cutting paper. The demon started to roar when its hand was cut off and dropped to the ground.

The demon went on a rampage and roared to notify the other demons around it that another human had entered the city. The demon was bigger than the buildings, and its eyes were glowing red and it was glaring at Alseace.

Alseace bounced from wall to wall and jumped toward the demon that looked like a humanoid deer. He pulled his sword and as soon as he was in range, he swung his sword at the demon's head and cut it off in a blink of an eye.

He glanced at the demons around him and knew it would be hard to handle all of them at once. He then decided to enter the shadow world and find a safer place for him to be. He was in the middle of the city, and it would only bring him trouble.

As he was trying to run away, he felt someone or something following him. His instinct told him to look down, and then a hand came out right in between his legs. He cut it off, but then a few other hands appeared right around him and tried to catch him.

"Is this what Miss Sierra means? Stealth doesn't work, huh? I guess I have no other choice but to fight..." Alseace said as he cut off all the hands. "I hope I'm strong enough to fight them all," Alseace pulled the staff on his back and left the shadow world.

As soon as Alseace left the shadow world, he saw dozens of demons with different appearances and sizes standing around him. He didn't think twice and immediately pointed his staff at the ground and cast a fireball. The moment it exploded, he used the distraction and cut off the demons in front of him as he cleared his own path.

"You're having a party?" Sierra's voice could be heard from above. "Do you mind if I join?" She chuckled and landed right in front of Alseace.

"With pleasure," Alseace answered and stopped running.

"You're strong enough, and yet you're running, why?" Sierra asked as she pulled the lollipop stick in her mouth and threw it away.

"I would rather fight them one-on-one knowing how strong they are. I'm planning to defeat them one by one as they're trying to chase me," Alseace answered.

"I see. Well, I believe that's not necessary anymore. Let's make a mess of this place until he shows himself," Sierra said as she removed her gloves.

Alseace hummed and looked at Sierra's hands which reminded him of what had happened to Carazen. He then thought about whether her [Life Drain] skill could be used against demons or not. If she could, then Sierra's lifespan could be a thousand years, and thinking about that made him feel uncomfortable.

"Al, I'll tell you everything," Sierra said as she cracked her knuckles.

"Everything?" Alseace asked as he looked at the demons who hesitated to make a move because of Sierra's black Aura around her body.

"Hmm, my life, my adventure, my beloved friends," Sierra answered with a smirk. "But, you have to gain it since I'm not going to give it for free," Sierra continued.

"Gain it? How?" Alseace asked again with his eyebrows raised.

"You have to survive this mission," Sierra answered. "Can you do that?" Sierra asked as she chuckled.

"Survive? Do you think who thought me about survival?" Alseace smiled as he coated his sword with Holy Element. "I'm more worried about you though. You're risking yourself entering the vortex," Alseace glanced at Sierra.

"So? God wants me to be their puppet. They won't let me die even if I want to. Don't worry about me," Sierra answered with a cold expression.

(On the other side of the Archdukedom)

"What do you think was that thing earlier? Do you think that was Sierra's doing?" Louvenia asked as she fought the demons in front of her with her bare fists and feet.

Lucretia created a firewall and burned all the demons that tried to enter it. She saw some of the demons were strong enough to hold the fire, but they were weakened by it so that Louvenia and the others would kill them.

"If that was really her, we know how powerful these demons are, and we shouldn't take things easily. I'm counting on you Lou," Lucretia swung her red long rod and increased the power of the firewall.

"Leave it to me... I'll deal with those demons that enter your fire," Louvenia answered as she readied her stance and clenched her fists.

Although they both sounded so confident about each other, what they saw earlier made them realize how weak they were. The bright blast happened in a split second without leaving a trail and was enough to turn all the demons into ashes. The skill that Sierra used to kill hundreds of demons in an instant.

"(I would never forget that humiliation... Sierra)" Lucretia gritted her teeth and burned all the demons around the wall.

Lazuli and the other candidates were baffled watching Elenoir single-handedly kill dozens of strong demons that were ten times bigger than her. She decapitated, mutilated, and burned them into crisp restlessly without stopping even for a second.

Elenoir landed right in front of Lazuli, and she was covered in sweat. She immediately used the [Lightning Trail] skill and started helping the Candidates that struggled to fight the demons. She was pushing her limit after what she saw earlier that Sierra did in the middle of the city.

"It's not the time to be amazed, let's help her!" Lazuli said as he swung his scythe.

Mihangel and the other Guildmasters entered the city at the same time, and they were welcomed by powerful demons. They knew it would be hard to go further knowing that the demons kept coming the longer they fought.

"Mihangel, I think it's time for you to use that skill again," Ackerly said as he swung his longsword and clashed with the demon's claws.

Mihangel went down to his knee and put his hands on the ground. He used [Ice Path] and turned the ground around him into ice just like how he did it to the sandworm earlier. He then used [Frostbite] to freeze all the demons that were exposed to the ice.

Ackerly and the others used that opportunity and crushed the bodies of the demons. No matter how thick the demon's body was, as long as it had been eaten by frostbite, their bodies turned one with the ice. A single punch and slash to the ice would crumble their bodies and die in an instant.

"Thanks for that! It makes things easier for us!" Ackerly said with a huge grin on his face.

"This might be good for us, but I'm more worried about the others," Mihangel answered as he wiped his hands and looked at the distance.

"Are you seriously going to worry about Gratya? Katya? Nero? Or Ando? These guys are Sierra's disciples, they're nothing like us. Trust me, I have seen them fight, they're monsters," Ackerly answered as he rested his longsword on his right shoulder.