"...So, you're saying that you're the reincarnation of the late Malevolent Emperor's knight, Cain Latorre...?" Seria asked in disbelief.
"That's right," Caron confirmed.
"How am I supposed to believe that? Honestly, it would be more believable if you told me your previous life was as a dog," Seria said.
Seria's reaction was far more stubborn than anyone had expected. She looked at Caron with eyes brimming with distrust.
At the Saintess' immediate response, the three former Imperial Guards members burst into laughter and added their own quips.
"Maybe it was the life before his previous one where he was a dog?" Kerra suggested.
"Indeed, the Saintess has a sharp eye," Ugo agreed.
"Seria, you've really changed. But it's the undeniable truth," Beatrice added.
The scriptures did contain a line that read...
"The noble soul is reincarnated time and again, burning its body for radiant glory."
It meant that only souls destined to bring forth radiant glory would reincarnate. But Seria simply couldn't believe Caron would ever bring such radiant glory. Caron Leston was the kind of man who shattered glory—never the one to bring it.
...O dear Light, Seria called out internally.
Still, she had to admit it. Her heart refused to accept it, but her mind understood. If Caron truly was Cain Latorre reincarnated, then it explained why those three knights treated him with such familiarity.
"...Alright, I get that Caron was Cain Latorre. But let me just ask one more thing," Seria said.
"Go ahead, ask freely," Caron replied.
"Were you this much of a disaster in your previous life too?" Seria asked.
Caron shook his head firmly, and answered, "Absolutely not. As a knight of the Imperial Guards defending the palace, I was a man of great dignity and—"
Just as he was about to spin a convincing lie, Beatrice patted Seria's head and cut in, "Don't listen to him. The commander was a mad dog even back then. It's just that the Malevolent Emperor had him on a leash. Whenever he got the chance, he went berserk like a lunatic. I still remember when a huge rebellion broke out in the empire's east—he was about to storm in alone to slaughter every last noble. We barely stopped him."
"Is that true, Uriel...?" Seria asked.
"Here, just call me Beatrice, Seria. At least for now, I'd like to be Beatrice," Beatrice replied.
"Yes, Beatrice," Seria said.
"Anyway, he was insane back then too," Beatrice said as she glared at the back of Caron's head.
At her words, Kerra pulled a flask from his belt and took a swig, then added with a nod, "I thought I was going to die that time. Sure, the Commander was insane, but he wasn't all bad."
"That's right," Ugo agreed. "Didn't he rush in to minimize meaningless casualties?"
"Casualties, my ass," Kerra scoffed. "He just wanted to tear those nobles apart with his own hands. Isn't that right, Commander?"
"Haha, such nice weather today," Caron said, looking up at the sky.
"Nice weather? The sky's covered with dark clouds from all that dark mana. Only lunatics would call this good weather," Kerra said.
Seria found herself smiling as she watched the four of them exchange their rough banter. She thought, They get along well.
By human standards, they had lived far longer than most could imagine. Each one of them was a warrior who commanded both respect and fear wherever they went. And yet, seeing them speak so casually with each other somehow felt comforting.
Cain Latorre's reincarnation... Seria thought as she silently studied Caron's back. The latter's shoulders were broad and solid with muscle—a dependable frame, even if she didn't want to admit it.
The Holy Kingdom had investigated the Malevolent Emperor incident thoroughly, so there were plenty of records about Cain Latorre. Some of those records even contained details the empire itself had never learned.
The man who was toyed with by the Malevolent Emperor until his final breath, Seria recalled one of the records. Now she could almost understand why Caron harbored such a deep hatred toward demons and the Demon Kings.
They were still chatting away, catching up after a long time apart, when a voice rang out.
"Enough chattering and get ready. The destination is in sight."
It was Gratia, still flying steadily ahead.
At those words, Caron focused mana into his eyes, extending his vision. Far off in the distance, he saw a massive island.
"It's bigger than I thought," he remarked.
"Didn't I tell you? It is a massive island," Gratia said.
"The fact that something like that just appeared out of nowhere... smells really fishy," Caron said.
The island was enormous. It was far larger than any near the continent. And above it, violet light shimmered. It was a gate that proved the island was connected to the Demon Realm.
"If we can destroy that gate and clear out the demons and monsters, we should be fine..." Caron added quietly.
Thanks to Gratia, the sea voyage that would normally take more than half a month had been reduced to a fraction of the time.
Caron let out a low whistle of admiration and called out, "Gratia."
"Speak, O oath-bearer," Gratia said.
"When the war's over and you're broke, how about working with me? You don't have a lair anymore, right? You must be flat broke," Caron asked.
"...Shouldn't your Leston clan be responsible for my retirement?" Gratia asked back.
"Hey, you can't just take money without working for it. With your incredible flying speed, we could start a delivery company. For the richest of the rich—dragon-speed shipping. I can already smell the money," Caron replied.
"Ha... You are truly insane," Gratia muttered.
Only Caron Leston could make such a crass proposal to a proud, ancient being.
As Caron kept spewing nonsense, his gaze swept back to the Ghost Island. He could feel the island brimming with powerful dark mana. The closer they got, the clearer he could see the demonic monsters flying above it.
"Wyverns," he remarked.
Wyverns were intelligent flying monsters—responsible for the Demon Army's aerial strength. They shrieked as they soared through the sky.
The entire island radiated chaos.
"Gratia, were the monsters this frenzied the last time you came here?" Caron asked.
From the constant cries, it clearly wasn't normal.
"That, I do not know," Gratia answered.
"From the way dark mana is flaring like sporadic explosions... It looks as if a battle is going on down there," Caron said, observing.
From the air, they didn't have the luxury of studying the details. They would have to land to know more.
Caron glanced at his companions and asked, "What do you all think?"
Beatrice nodded as if it were obvious, then replied, "Is there anything to think about? We land and check it out."
"Use your body, not your head, Commander," Ugo added.
"No need to overthink. Act like a Commander should," Kerra said.
Ugo and Kerra both tossed in their curt opinions.
Caron sighed and shook his head, then said, "This is why I can't stand people who've never been in command. You think you can win a war without strategy or tactics?"
Kerra smirked openly, then asked, "When the body fails, the brain suffers—wasn't that your favorite line, Commander? Don't pretend to be clever now. Just do what you always do."
"...Seria, what about you?" Caron asked.
"Shut up and land, Warrior," Seria answered.
And so, with unanimous agreement, the "Ghost Island Assault Plan" was decided.
"Gratia, bring us down," Caron said.
"Understood," Gratia replied.
Wrapping her body in mana, Gratia dove toward the Ghost Island.
A streak of blue light tore through the violet sky and slammed into the island below.
***
The landing was flawless.
Kwang!
A dragon wrapped in a protective barrier slammed into the ground, crushing the demonic monsters at the landing site into nothing but pulp.
Tak.
The moment Gratia touched down, the knights riding on her back leaped lightly to the ground.
The instant Caron's boots met the earth, he called out, "Pluto."
Dozens of Pluto clones burst from the ground as if answering his call. It had perfectly inherited the doppelganger's power that Caron had absorbed; thanks to that, it now had the ability to divide into multiple copies.
Meow.
More than twenty cats nodded in unison before scattering in all directions.
"No matter how you look at it, that's a convenient ability," Beatrice remarked with a small note of admiration, watching the cats spread out. "Maybe your previous life was so awful, Commander, that you got ridiculously lucky this time around."
Knights were unmatched in combat strength, but their abilities outside of battle were generally pitiful. That was natural enough—knights were meant to be the leading force in a fight.
But Caron made up for those shortcomings through his spirit, Pluto. To say a fellow knight didn't envy that would be a lie.
"You want one for yourself?" Caron asked with a sly smile.
"Can I?" Beatrice asked.
"Who knows? That depends on Pluto," Caron replied, then glanced around.
From above, the Ghost Island had looked ominous enough, but now that they stood on it, the view was even stranger.
The sky was entirely tinted violet. It wasn't so different from the visions they had seen in Saint Kamael's tomb.
"Not even a Demon King could create land like this overnight," Caron muttered.
Moreover, what was even more remarkable was that remnants of past history could be seen everywhere.
For example...
"Isn't that a castle wall, Commander?" Kerra asked, pointing toward what looked like a half-collapsed fortification.
Caron frowned slightly and agreed, "...It is."
They all wondered what this island could really be.
While Caron rubbed his chin in thought, Gratia shifted into human form and said, "It's possible this place was concealed by dark mana until now, oath-bearer."
"Concealed?" Caron asked.
"The North Sea is filled with dark mana. Not having anomalies here would be surprising," Gratia explained.
Closing her eyes, she let her mana spread outward, then said in a low voice, "I believe caution is warranted. The flow of time here seems distorted."
"...Time?" Caron asked.
"Time on this island appears to pass a little more slowly than outside. This too is a form of ancient magic," Gratia continued.
If a dragon—one who could command pure magic—said that, it wasn't something to be brushed aside.
Caron scratched his head in confusion.
A land filled with dark mana, its timeline twisted—no kind of strange occurrence would be out of the question.
"For now, let's start scouting—" Caron began, but before he could finish, something stirred within the senses of the scattered Plutos.
"Owner," Guillotine called.
"They're not giving us much time," Caron muttered.
The force approaching was no small one—at least a hundred strong. And they weren't just mindless demonic monsters. Caron could sense intelligent beings brimming with dark mana among them.
It was almost certainly a demon-led army.
Without hesitation, Caron opened his pouch of dimensional space and summoned the Avengers. Then he called out to his companions, "Prepare for battle."
"Quite the fiery welcome," Beatrice remarked.
"We didn't come here for sightseeing," Caron said.
The Avengers—knights at the 7-Star level—formed up instantly, while Caron's companion stood before them. It was a force composed entirely of knights, enough to crush almost any enemy in a single blow.
Once their formation was ready, Caron quietly turned to face the east.
Du-Du-Du-Du!
The ground trembled under the pounding footsteps, and monstrous roars erupted from all directions.
Kieee!
Kyaaaa!
"...Something's off," Seria said, tilting her head beside Caron.
"What is?" Caron asked.
"It's definitely dark mana, but... It feels different from what I've sensed before," Seria explained.
"What do you mean—" Caron began, but before he could ask for details, the enemy came within visible range.
Yet they didn't advance any closer.
"What are they doing?" Caron muttered.
Demons and monsters alike were notorious for attacking anything that wasn't their own kind. If it didn't carry dark mana, they would treat it as prey. It was no exception.
A strange tension rippled between the two groups. But the first to break it wasn't Caron's side. It was the demons.
Tat-a-tak.
A demon approached, mounted on a beast resembling a horse. And more surprising still—
"...Is that a white flag?" Caron asked.
"Looks like it to me," Beatrice replied.
On the demon's back fluttered a white banner—an unmistakable sign that they sought to talk.
The unexpected situation left Caron momentarily stunned.
"Commander, what do we do? Should I just kill him now?" Kerra asked, flooding his blade with mana.
But Caron lifted a hand to stop him and said, "Let's hear what he has to say first."
One thing was certain: These weren't ordinary demons. Which was why Caron decided to at least try a conversation. Not that he expected it to work.
Tak.
The demon with the white flag stopped before them.
"I have been waiting for your arrival," the demon said in flawless human speech. "Bearer of the Execution Sword—are you the descendant of Rael Leston?"