Compared to last night, the atmosphere on Riezel's side tonight was just as lively, but with a completely different vibe.
At this moment, there were some refugees gathered nearby the camp, devouring the roasted monster meat Riezel had given in a rather crude manner. Even though the sight might've been a bit unseemly, at least there was a sense of life and warmth to it.
On the other hand, the knights who gathered to set up camp seemed like they were on duty, all very serious, making the atmosphere feel rather tense and dull.
In such an environment, Riezel didn't stay in the camp long, as after chatting with Nibald for a bit, he returned to his tent.
Yuri and Marilyn had prepared a lot for Riezel's trip, making sure to pack all the tools he would need, so his carriage also had a tent, which Lizbeth set up for him.
Lizbeth had set up a tent for herself too, but unlike Riezel, she didn't settle in right away but found a quiet corner to practice Love Breathing.
If an expert from the Demon Slayer Corps were here and saw Lizbeth's rhythmic breathing, they would be able to tell that she had taken her first steps in Love Breathing since she was already able to successfully strengthen her heart and lungs, speed up her blood circulation, and in turn, enhance her physical abilities.
At this pace, Lizbeth would soon master Love Breathing and move on to practicing its sword forms. If Mitsuri, the creator of Love Breathing, saw Lizbeth's speed and efficiency, she would probably hide her face in shame.
Just like that, time passed quickly.
As the night grew deeper, Nibald, Andrea, Fanny, Gerald, and Felix all returned to their own tents, leaving a group of knights outside standing guard, taking shifts to watch over the camp.
At some point, a layer of dark clouds drifted across the sky, covering the moon and the stars, and plunging the earth into complete darkness. Only the campfire in the center of the camp still burned brightly, casting its warm glow.
*Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!*
Suddenly, three figures appeared silently in the camp.
Like ghosts, they had no aura, no presence at all, as when they landed, not even a single footstep could be heard.
Even though they passed through the camp at high speed, no wind followed them—it was as though they had no physical form, vanishing every time they moved and reappearing in another spot without making a single sound, truly eerie and chilling to the extreme.
Shadow Sword Saint Rohm, while also a master of stealth, still followed human patterns, but these figures were different since they had no resemblance to humans whatsoever, giving off a distinct ghostly vibe.
As a result, the knights completely missed these ghost-like figures, allowing them to slip into the camp and head in one direction.
Soon, the figures stopped.
Ahead of them, a young girl stood in a corner, her eyes closed, breathing slowly—sometimes inhaling large amounts of air, other times exhaling faintly.
She was none other than Lizbeth.
"...Target confirmed."
"...She matches the description."
"...Begin the capture."
Instead of speaking normally, the figures vibrated the air around them and communicated through the air vibrations without speaking a word, causing Lizbeth to not notice their arrival as she continued breathing softly, practicing Love Breathing.
In the next second, the figures moved again, darting forward like ghosts, extending their arms toward Lizbeth with eerie, ghost-like speed.
What they didn't know was that not far away, in another tent, a pair of tightly closed eyes suddenly opened, a coldness gleaming in them.
"?!"
In that instant, Lizbeth, who had been completely unaware of anything, suddenly opened her eyes as if she had received some kind of signal—her eyes first flashed with a hint of surprise before quickly hardening into a sharp focus.
*Zing!*
Inside Lizbeth's tent, Moslow, lying silently on the ground, suddenly trembled before unsheathing itself on its own, transforming into a chilly flash of swordlight that shot toward her direction.
""?!!!""
Seeming to sense something unusual, the figures paused for a moment, but after this brief pause, they moved even faster, reaching out to grab Lizbeth just before Moslow reached her.
"You?!"
Feeling three hands grasping her shoulder, arm, and neck, Lizbeth exclaimed in shock.
She tried to struggle, but as cold, dark energy surged from the three hands that touched her, she immediately froze, feeling a chilling power drain her warmth and consciousness, turning her into a lifeless, immobile corpse, unable to respond at all.
"Mas... ter..."
Lizbeth barely managed to utter the name that seemed carved into her bones before going completely still.
Swiftly grabbing Lizbeth, the figures, like ghosts, silently vanished.
They were incredibly fast since, in the blink of an eye, they had already left the camp and were about to merge with the darkness.
Unfortunately, that was the last move they could make to escape.
*BOOM!*
With the sound of rumbling thunder, a flash of lightning suddenly cut through the darkness, slicing through the campfire's glow with incredible speed.
"Thunder Breathing - First Form - Thunderclap and Flash."
Following these words, the lightning turned into a slash and quickly caught up with the three figures, slicing down with fury.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
Powerful enough to split mountains, the lightning slash struck the three figures, and yet, instead of cutting them down on the spot with a spray of blood, it seemed to hit solid iron, sending them all flying.
Unable to move, Lizbeth fell from mid-air.
*Bzzz—!*
In the critical moment, the lightning flashed again before a figure appeared beside Lizbeth.
"Are you okay?"
Riezel, holding a black sword, caught Lizbeth in his arms and asked her softly.
"Mas... ter..."
Lizbeth tried to respond but found it surprisingly difficult since her lips could barely move.
Seeing this, Riezel immediately recognized Lizbeth's condition.
'Is this... paralysis?'
As Riezel confirmed Lizbeth's condition, he let out a sigh of relief.
*Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!*
Just then, the three figures that got struck by Riezel's lightning slash unexpectedly charged back in.
"...Someone appeared, obstructing the mission."
"...Confirming the identity of the obstructer—it's the new Sword Saint, Riezel Brynhart."
"...Unable to overcome, change strategy, focus on capturing the target."
As the air got filled with subtle vibrations, the three conversed with each other.
In the next moment, the three quickly spread out without a sound, taking a large detour—except for one, the rest scattered in different directions, completely avoiding direct confrontation with Riezel.
"Who are you?"
Riezel held Lizbeth with one arm and gripped his sword with the other, asking coldly to the strange attackers.
Upon a closer look, these attackers were cloaked, their faces hidden, leaving only faint outlines of their bodies visible.
Riezel immediately activated the Transparent World, making his eyes shimmer with a transparent glow.
In the next second, he froze.
"You—"
Before Riezel could finish his sentence, one of the three attackers charging directly at him reached his front and thrust a dagger at him.
Upon closer look, like its user, the dagger was equally strange, resembling the claw of a fierce beast. Not only did it have four additional blades extending from the edge, but the surface of the blades was slightly curved, making one question whether it could even function as a weapon.
Only someone who possessed the Transparent World like Riezel could feel the chilling energy emanating from this claw-like dagger, sending shivers down one's spine as if they had touched something extremely repulsive.
A cold light flickered in Riezel's eyes, and without delay, he chanted magic.
"Greater Teleportation."
Riezel's figure vanished in an instant, reappearing behind the attacker.
*BOOM!*
With a swing of his black sword, the attacker was sent flying like a piece of stubborn iron, surprisingly not sliced in two.
"Tch..."
Riezel clicked his tongue in annoyance, a rare reaction from him.
*Swish!*
*Swish!*
At the same time, the other two attackers suddenly appeared behind Riezel.
It was almost as if they were counteracting Riezel's previous move, returning the favor—both raised their claw-like daggers and swung them down at him.
"Body of Effulgent Heliodor."
Noticing the cold, ominous attack from behind, Riezel didn't choose to dodge with teleportation magic this time but calmly chanted a 10th-Tier Magic that was the same type as 'Body of Effulgent Beryl' and 'Body of Effulgent Aquamarine'.
'Body of Effulgent Heliodor', a defensive magic that could reduce slashing damage for a certain period and completely negate a single instance of slashing damage, surrounded Riezel's entire body with a golden-red glow.
*Whoosh!*
*Whoosh!*
In the next moment, as the two claw-like daggers pierced into Riezel's back, slicing through his body, Body of Effulgent Heliodor activated, making time seem like it reversed as his body suddenly shifted, displacing a distance and pushing the two daggers away.
"Maximize Magic - Fireball."
Having shifted a distance, Riezel appeared right next to the two attackers and stretched out a finger toward them.
In the next moment, surging flames erupted, gathering into a massive fireball that shot out from Riezel's fingertip.
*BOOOOM—!!!*
As the massive fireball hit the two attackers, it created a deafening explosion in the air that swept through the area, making flames rage and engulf everything in its path in a blaze, scaring off countless flying insects and animals.
Such a loud explosion naturally made the people in the camp startled awake.
"Wh-What's happening?!"
"What's going on?!"
"An attack!"
"Get ready!"
Exclaiming in a hurry, the knights began to stir, drawing their weapons and rushing toward the direction where the explosion had taken place.