A month earlier.
Near Gostan City, sowhere in the mountains.
Solitär sat on a fallen tree trunk, idly swinging her small legs.
She was waiting for soone.
No—she was waiting for a great demon.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Before long, heavy footsteps echoed through the forest.
Rivale's tall and burly figure slowly erged. Spotting Solitär sitting on the trunk, he cheerfully raised a hand in greeting. "Hey there, little Sol."
Hearing his voice, Solitär smiled brightly, her tone light and playful. "Ah, you're finally here. Grausam and I have been waiting for quite a while."
The mont she finished speaking, a gray figure suddenly appeared from the shadows of the nearby bushes.
The figure wore a hood and was completely wrapped in a robe, its appearance utterly obscured.
Rivale glanced at it once before casually finding a large rock to sit on.
Letting out a relaxed breath, he spoke to Solitär and the gray figure. "You two always love ordering this old man around. So, where do you need to charge in and fight this ti?"
Despite the complaint, there was no reluctance in his voice—if anything, there was excitent.
At that, Solitär glanced at the gray figure.
The figure said nothing, only giving a slight nod.
So she explained on its behalf, "Grausam says that before the Omniscient Schlacht died, he foresaw several critical futures. One of them is happening right now."
"Schlacht believed that soone would obtain sothing extrely valuable here—sothing that would plunge the demon race into a difficult battle in the future. He wants us to intercept them."
Hearing this, Rivale's interest was piqued. His lips split into a grin, revealing sharp teeth, and he licked them with growing excitent.
"So that ans there's going to be a satisfying fight here. Now that's what I like to hear."
"Who is it? Is it Eisen—the strongest warrior?"
He had long yearned to face that legendary figure. In the haze of his mories, he even wondered if they had fought before—otherwise, why did the re thought of that na make his blood boil, filling him with uncontrollable excitent?
It had been far too long since he'd encountered a worthy opponent.
Even the so-called Warrior Village had turned out to be nothing more than empty reputation.
That recent battle… thinking about it now, it had been rather boring.
Seeing the madness flickering in Rivale's eyes, Solitär knew exactly what this bloodthirsty war god was thinking.
"The future is unclear. We can't determine their true identity."
"Oh? Interesting… Then how do we intercept them?"
Solitär hopped down from the tree trunk, clasping her hands behind her back as she slowly paced a few steps.
"As for that, Grausam and I have already done so investigation. There are two places of interest here. One is inside Gostan City—a dungeon that hasn't been cleared yet. The other lies in the eastern part of the Neck Mountains, possibly related to dwarves."
"I believe that if sothing 'valuable' exists, it's most likely in one of those two places."
As she spoke, she glanced at the gray figure in the shadows. It remained silent, nodding in agreent.
"So all we need to do is get there before that mysterious person and take the 'valuable item,' right?"
Hearing this, the excitent on Rivale's face faded slightly into disappointnt.
What he craved was the thrill of battle. If this was just about retrieving so "valuable item," then it was far too dull.
"Fine. You youngsters always like these complicated plans."
"An old man like is much simpler—I just want a good, satisfying fight."
With that, he stood and walked deeper into the forest.
Solitär called out behind him, reminding him that each of them would handle one location and regroup here afterward. He didn't respond—just raised a hand and waved it casually.
…
After Rivale left, Solitär walked up to the gray figure, leaning forward slightly with her hands behind her back, carefully examining the person hidden in the shadows.
But they were wrapped too tightly—she couldn't see anything at all.
She shook her head helplessly.
"I clearly rember we t not long ago… so why can't I recall where? Did you take another piece of my mory again?"
The gray figure remained silent.
Solitär smiled, her tone playful yet teasing.
"Changing your appearance, changing your form… disappearing from human sight again and again. You always manage to escape safely, living on no matter the situation."
"So this ti, what are you going to beco? Do you really need to be this mysterious?"
The gray figure ignored her teasing. In a flash, it vanished from where it stood.
Solitär shrugged, clasped her hands behind her back, and lightly walked out of the forest.
She arrived at the edge of a cliff, overlooking the magnificent city of Gostan City below, a mischievous plan forming in her mind.
————
One month later.
Present ti.
Eastern Neck Mountains, within the forest.
Rivale had picked out a group of rchants as his breakfast.
Eight people—well-balanced in both size and build. Just the kind of al he liked.
He carried out a very thorough pre-al ritual, savoring every mont.
As for cleaning up afterward… that was the part he hated most. So he casually abandoned the annoying carts and began his work for the day—
Following the map Solitär had given him, he continued searching for the so-called ruins.
"Sothing related to dwarves, huh?"
At least it added a bit of interest to an otherwise boring task.
Even if there wouldn't be a proper fight, witnessing the "Steel Civilization" that once dominated the human world would make the trip worthwhile.
As he walked, he suddenly sensed a wave of mana detection from behind.
Oh?
A powerful mage had appeared nearby.
His wrist rolled slightly as a silent grin spread across his face. Now this was getting interesting.
Hmm, and there's a warrior too… pretty weak.
No, wait—why did they just get stronger?
Hmm?
Now weaker again…
How amusing.
With that thought, he glanced back and confird that they were heading straight toward him.
He imdiately leapt behind a distant rock formation, completely concealing his presence.
He had no intention of scaring away such a rare "opponent."
He was going to have so fun with them…
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