At three in the morning...

*Morse code-like sounds rang*

Alicia: *yawns* This is Alpha, how can I help you?

Iris: Good morning, Alpha, this is India.

Alicia: I... Iris-sama!? Could I ask what can I do for you?

Iris: I am supposed to give out spoiler alerts with Onii-chan... But he is still in a coma... So Alicia... Could you do the spoiler alert with me please?

Alicia: Y...Yes! *clears throat* In this chapter, we are going to find a person whose first appearance is in LN Vol.12, so don't forget to read it, if you hate being spoiled that is.

Iris: If you do not mind encountering spoilers, you may proceed in reading this chapter: Splitting Up to Get Tasks Done! (Part 1)

Rain: *opens the door abruptly and shouts in the background* Iris-sama! Iris-sama! Big news! Guardian-san has finally wake up from his coma!

Iris: I understood! Until we meet, Alicia!

Alicia: Sure!

Iris: *ran towards Guardian's room to pay him a visit*

I opened my eyes and found myself lying on a large bed.

I sat up, took a look at the calendar, and inspected the Outfit closely, found out that what happened before was true - Saki sacrificed her life by casting Sacred Highness Heal on me without caring the side-effects of using it as a Lich, and me broke two Core Outfits and three sets of Core Weapons.

By the way, there were quite a number of holes on my trenchcoat, mainly located on the back and the sleeves, the shirt had blood stains on it and my pants had some torn marks. The Core Crystal had a hole in the middle, with cracks on the side.

*sigh*

Just then, the door opened as a familiar girl with long, partially braided blonde hair with blue eyes, a green headband with grapes on the left side, golden accessories and a white dress. She was holding a towel, whereas the woman behind her had neck-length blonde hair and blue eyes, in an outfit consists of a blue beret, dark blue gloves and dress held a bucket of water.

The girl had a relieved expression on her face, as if she was glad to see me regaining my consciousness.

The woman put on a genuine smile on her face, like she was watching a heart-warming scene from a drama or something like that.

"Good morning, Onii-chan." Iris greeted with a warm smile as she approached me with the towel, with Rain placing the bucket next to her.

"Good morning, Iris. May I ask a few questions?" I greeted back as I returned the favour with a warm smile.

"Sure, what do you want to know?" Iris replied as she wrung the towel out of the sink.

"Um, excuse me, but could you hand me the towel please? I mean, I am honoured that you cleaned my body during the period I went out of cold. But it is still a bit..." I asked as I lowered my head in embarrassment.

"But Onii-chan, I don't mind doing that for you?" Iris tilted her head in confusion as she looked at me with her pure eyes.

"Alright then... Could you please wipe my arms and neck please? I can't bring myself to request you to wipe the rest of my body." I said with a shy tone as I sat on the bed.

"By the way, may I ask how long has it been since I was knocked out?" I asked as Iris proceeded in wiping my left arm with a wet towel.

"It has been two weeks since you were found fainting in the palace, Guardian-san." Rain replied as she sat on a chair, sipping on a cup of tea.

"I see... How about Alicia and the others? Were they fine? Or rather, do you know where did the Soul Jar go?" I looked around to look for my fellow party members and the Soul Jar.

"Alicia-sama has left the palace along with Loby-san and Amai-san... Was it? Also, Alicia-sama had a jar containing purple smoke in her hands as she left the palace." Rain answered as Iris gestured me to turn around to wipe my neck.

"Is that so... Was there anyone else with the three when they left the palace?" I asked Rain.

"But Guardian-san, there were only the three of them?" Rain spoke with a confused tone as she had a resigned expression on her face.

"Huh..."

'I guess Chris either got send back to her dimension, or she returned by herself. But still, where did Karu go?' I thought to myself.

"Onii-chan? Can you hear me?" Iris waved her hand before my eyes in an attempt to catch my attention.

"Yes, what is it?" I answered as Iris sat on the bed before me.

"Wait, where did Rain go?" I asked as I looked around.

"Rain has left the room a few minutes ago, Onii-chan."

"Can I go out today?" Iris asked innocently.

"You know the rules and so do I. I am not allowed to bring you out, Iris." I sighed in resignation as I facepalmed myself.

"...Please...?" Iris crossed her fingers as she pleaded with her puppy eyes.

You got me.

One hour later...

"So, all we have to do is to go incognito and do what we have to do." I did a set of gestures and conveyed the message to Iris.

"Onii-chan, can we have pizza before we return?" Iris asked as she pulled on my sleeve.

Before we left the palace, I got my hands on some outfits and weapons that were common among adventurers and civilians.

Then Iris and I changed outfits and headed out to the blacksmith, and somehow the guards did not notice us.

Don't ask me why, that is exactly what happened. And I don't think I can ever explain it.

I figured hiding our identities with cloaks is too obvious, it is basically sending a flare to those who lurk within the capital. If we need to be invisible to the enemy, the best method of doing so is to blend into the environment - making us indistinguishable from ordinary adventurers and civilians.

My wallet's going to be empty once again... *sobs*

I opened the door as I made up my mind.

"Welcome! It has been quite a while... Wait, where is your Core?" The blacksmith greeted us once again as he eyed us up and down.

"Uh, well... About that..." I scratched my head as I showed him the heavily damaged Core.

"Let me take a look." The blacksmith as he handed the Core to his assistant and told him to turn on the Core System.

The Light Core Outfit materialise onto the blacksmith's assistant.

Then he circled his assistant and began to inspect the Core System closely.

"Could you take a look on the general conditions of the Core Outfits?" The blacksmith turned on his assistant.

"Both the Light Core Outfit and the Water Core Outfit were heavily damaged, and the Fire Core Weapons all broken." His assistant replied as a miniature magic circle appeared in front of his right eye.

"However, since the Light Core Crystal suffered even more damage, it would extremely difficult to restore it back to its former condition." The assistant continued as he reported the conditions of two Core Outfits.

"Sorry, Guardian-san, but the only thing we could do is to a-"

"Hey, blacksmith-san, is there a way other than abandoning them?" Iris interrupted before the assistant could finish.

"I would say the easiest way to deal with them is to abandon them, but... it doesn't sit well with me that we would abandon them that easily." The blacksmith spoke as he stared at the Core Crystal.

"Give me a moment to think this out." The blacksmith sighed in resignation. "I will notify you once I have made a decision." He continued as he gestured us to leave immediately.

"I will be waiting for your letter." I let out a sad smile before I left the blacksmith with Iris.

"Yeah, until then!" The blacksmith spoke with a hurried tone.

"Ah, Iris. Let's go." I spoke as I held her hand gently.

"But Onii-chan, where are we going?" Iris asked as she looked at me with a confused look in her eyes.

"I thought you wanted to go somewhere." I answered as I smiled warmly with a mischievous gleam in my eyes.

A few minutes later...

"Thanks for waiting." I spoke as I placed two plates of pizzas on the table.

"Oh my, what a lovely smell!" Iris exclaimed as she looked at the food on the table.

"You think so?" I smiled at her reaction of smelling the pizzas.

"May I ask what the flavours are?" Iris asked with sparkling eyes.

"I got ourselves the pepperoni & cheese pizza and the pizza of the day." I grinned as Iris' stomach cried out for food as she waited me to finish patiently.

"Ah ha ha, alright, let's dig in before the pizza gets cold-"

"We have been looking for you, Magic Swordmaster. How nice of you to bring a cute girl to us." A black hooded guy stepped up and say that antagonistic line as he pointed his staff at me.

"Crud."

Alicia POV

"Good Afternoon, Lord Zereschrute. My apologies for the sudden visit, it is an emergency matter nevertheless."

"Lady Astroraia, welcome and thank you for making the journey. I have heard the details, it seems like you desired to know the process of reviving an undead. I suppose it is safe for me to assume that you have found out my identity, considering you made your way here for that." A noble wearing an exotic bird suit as he gestured us to stand up.

*yawn*

"What's the matter, Lady Astroraia? You looked tired today." The noble asked as he tilted his head in confusion.

"My apologies, Lord Zereschrute, I did not have enough sleep last night." I apologised as I tried my best to suppress my fatigue.

It is tiring no matter how much you look at it.

Iris-sama called me over three in the morning - the time when people would fell in deep sleep.

So I answered her call and we chatted for a certain period of time, about a variety of topics like her Onii-chan, and some nobles, my family and something else.

We chatted for approximately an hour, it was sometime before sunrise when we ended our conversation.

Therefore, I slept a total of three hours last night. It was not like I could not get used to sleeping in such a short time, it was still quite a pain to wake up in a deep sleep condition nevertheless.

I took a little snooze while we continued our journey and en route to the city, yet it was not enough to make up for the energy loss.

"Wait, Alicia onee-chan!" Loby cried in alarm as he shook my arm.

"What is it?" I turned onto the Archwizard in red as I rolled my eyes in slight annoyance.

"Yunyun wasn't with us the entire time!" The red robed teenager gestured where her planned position would be as he exclaimed in shock.

Come think of it, I didn't saw her on the carriage this morning before I took a snooze...

Don't tell me...!

Did she cast Teleport on herself?!

To be honest, it would be better if she was not at the scene, since this noble always requires those who paid a visit to do some tasks before complying to their request. We would be better off if he wants us to do some physical tasks.

"It wasn't like I refuse to tell you the process of an undead revival. Yet you would have to prove it. Show me... Show me you are capable and suitable for such a mission...!" The noble in a penguin suit spoke in a dignified tone, by which I thought it clashed horribly with his appearance.

I am trying my very best not to laugh at this scene, could you imagine an odd-looking bird saying this cool line?

But still, this is not the time for jokes or punchlines. I would have to fight my way through trials to revive Saki-san, and increase the chances defeating the Demon King Army.

We need to take down the Demon King Army, whatever it takes, apart from the expense of the Belzerg Kingdom itself that is.

Meanwhile, in the Demon King's Castle...

"Who is this?" The Demon King asked as he heard the door slammed open.

"It has been a while, Your Majesty." The cloaked teenage boy spoke with an incredibly deep voice, which one would suspect if it was someone else morphed into him.

"Oh, it's you. What brings you here today?" The Demon King responded unenthusiastically as he gave the hooded teenager a lazy gaze.

"I transformed into one of your favourite subordinates and you didn't notice. You would have been assassinated if I intended you to die." The teenager grew taller as he took off the hood.

"You..." The Demon King glared at him. "Why are you here...?"

"Don't you worry. I am here to strike a good deal." The white haired figure snapped his fingers as the approaching guards fell down face-first.

"Are you not interested? The secrets behind the Core Outfits of the Magic Swordmaster." The man had a smug expression on his face as he enjoyed the resigned yet intrigued expression of the Demon King.

"After all, the point is that if you could not beat a person, you would ask him/her to join you. It is the same for the equipment."

The Demon King nodded as two of the guards approached the white-haired figure.

"You picked the wrong guy, fool!" The Demon King shouted in a triumphant tone as the guards was about to cut him in halves.

"Heh."

The guards stared at the figure in a wide-eyed expression as their swords snapped.

"See what I mean? So are you going to strike a deal or not?"

Back at the restaurant...

"It would be the best if you would follow us without any resistance." The taller cloaked figure spoke as he extended his hand towards us.

"Look, we are in the middle of a lunch break and you are interrupting us? Did anyone taught you guys manners?" I retorted as I looked at them with disbelief.

"Is that so? We will return after you finished your lunch. Don't you dare try and run from us." The four left us alone, as if they believed we wouldn't escape as I don't have the Core System with me.

At this rate, we are not going to comply to them that easily.

I beckoned the waiter forward and told him to bring us boxes as we are having takeaway pizzas instead.

Then I showed the manager my own coat of arms, which was a birthday present from Iris by the way; and requested him to show us the way to the roof of the restaurant.

"Alright Iris, these boxes are our lunches, so whatever you do, don't drop them, ok?" I told Iris as I handed her the boxes and carried her bridal style after she received them.

"But Onii-chan, what if they found us?" Iris asked in a worried tone as she looked into my eyes.

My brown eyes were met with fear-ridden blue eyes of hers.

"Don't worry, I am certain we will be fine. Not to mention, I will protect you if anything happens." I reassured her with a gentle tone.

"Keep quiet so we won't be under the enemy's radar." I whispered as she hugged the boxes and leaned her head against my left chest.

I may be calm on the outside, but seriously, her warmth and fragrance made my heart beat rate skyrocket.

This cuteness... it's over 9000...!

Anyway, let's hope she couldn't sense my heartbeat.

'Here goes nothing.' I thought to myself as I took a deep breath and began leaping from roof to roof.

I leapt and landed on the roofs carefully as I had no intention to plummet to our deaths.

It had been about thirty three minutes before we were two or three streets away from the Royal Castle.

I landed at an alley and put Iris down.

"Don't open it just yet. A pizza tastes the best when you can sit back and relax." I took the boxes from Iris with one hand and her hand with another.

"Now, let's return home." I looked at Iris with a warm smile.

But as soon as we walked out onto the street, we were surrounded by two hooded figures.

"Do you honestly think this would work on us?" One of the hooded figures spoke as he drew his sword while the other readied a stance for casting magic.

I drew one of the swords and hand it to Iris as I used a Summoning Scroll to store the boxes, then brandished a sword and a dagger and pointed the former at the cloaked figure in front of me.

We stood back to back and were ready to fight.

Alicia POV

*panting* "How many monsters were there? How many monsters remaining do we have to defeat?" I shouted at the noble in an odd bird suit.

"As expected of Lady Astroraia and her escorts! You are indeed formidable adventurers!" The noble exclaimed as he laughed and gave us a round applause.

"For the last level... This is your opponent!" The odd bird gestured his subordinates to raise the gates before he left the arena.

"No... How could this possible...?" I stared our final opponent with disbelief.

It was Saki-san but with grey skin and purple eyes.

It did not take long before the noble entered the arena as well.

"Now, are you ready for your defeat?" The noble spoke as he pointed at us with an exaggerating pose.

He charged along with the greyed Saki-san a few seconds later.

"I would let you neither mock Saki-san nor harm my friends! Prepare yourself, Zereschrute!" Amai, who I thought was a hard-to-get-mad person, went berserk when she saw the greyed Saki-san.

But a greyed version of a person seemed familiar... Where have I heard it...?

Ah, I remember now! It was...

But the question was: how did Zereschrute managed to get his hands on these monsters...?

Weapons clashed as Iris and I charged in opposite directions and started fighting against our supposed abductors.

We started off strong as the cloaked people dodged our attacks, and then it was a stalemate when the figures were trying to waste our energy.

So I stopped and fired a net of light beams via Sacred Thunderbolt.

The beams bounced around and began to close in, then it hit the cloaked figure.

However, it seems like no damage was inflicted upon the mysterious figure.

I grazed the cloak a little bit, yet the interior clothing was still intact, which suggests that the unknown person was unscathed.

This gimmick, is definitely taken from the Core System. I don't really have any valid explanation aside from that.

How did the Cult obtained that?

The cloaked man kicked me in the stomach as I was trying to figure how did they stole the gimmick.

Meanwhile, the other cloaked figure used wind magic and blew Iris back.

I stabbed the ground with the sword in hopes of not hitting Iris, who I thought was fighting against the other unknown adventurer.

Then I turned around and catch Iris after I stabilised myself.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I put Iris down and did a quick check on her.

She nodded.

Hmm...?

The necklace she was wearing had... Japanese encrypted on it...?

Don't tell me that's another cheat item I have to deal with.

But there was a mysterious space under the scribbling, by which my guess would be the remaining times we could use this cheat- uh, I mean divine relic.

"Hey, Iris. I got a plan to get us out this situation." I beckoned Iris forward as I told her my plan.

"Did you came to realise our strength and discussing the terms of surrender?" The one facing Iris taunted us as she laughed.

"We are going with you, but only in one condition. Say after me." I said with a somewhat resigned expression.

Of course, with my experience of performing in the Drama Club in my previous life, I am certain I did a pretty good job.

"Sure." The feminine voice answered.

"Hey, are you sure about that? He tricked us once, and we could not afford to fell for his schemes once again!" The masculine voice spoke and attempted to stop his partner from doing dumb things, like how they are going to fail their mission.

"Aw, come on. How were they going to set us up? Let's believe them one more time."

"But-"

"Thank you, could you turn around?" I asked with a polite tone as I sheathed my sword.

"I don't know what you are scheming, but don't you expect me to fall into your trap again."

"Thank you. Then repeat after me: Your things are mine."

"Your things are mine."

"My things are yours."

"My things are yours."

"I'll turn into you."

"I'll turn into you! Oh wait, this doesn't sound right..."

Meanwhile, Iris's necklace began to glow.

After a few seconds, I flashed a look at the cloaked figure who looked at her hands in confusion.

Then, she ran off in the other direction and left the scene.

"Your things are mine, my things are yours, I'll turn into you! Your things are mine..." Iris kept chanting the sentences as she tried to undo the gimmick.

"Curse you...!" The masculine voice yelled as it lunged at me with its sword drawn.

"Oh right, I almost forgot you were here as well." I launched a ball of dark energy, which wrapped around his neck and threw him onto the ground.

Then I grabbed Iris's hand and ran.

However, the cloaked figure got back up quickly and chased after us.

Iris struggled to break free from my grip as she wasn't being herself at the moment, so I stunned her gently by using Stunder and tried to made our way back to the Royal Castle, with her lying in my arms.

Alicia POV

"Amai, wait!" I shouted as she lunged at the noble and the greyed Saki-san.

But it was futile, as Saki created an ice bolt and hit Amai, who was immobilised by the expanding ice.

I tried to break the ice with my sword, yet the ice was too hard to break.

A visible dark aura flowed out of the greyed figure, which I suspect that something was not going to end well.

The greyed Semi-Archwizard fired an AOE freezing spell and froze the noble in an odd bird suit.

As for Amai, she could still talk when she was immobilised by the bolt of ice, however she was completely frozen this time.

Meanwhile, the ice kept expanding and have no intention of stopping, probably due to the fact monsters do not have self-control.

Hmm?

But Loby on the other hand tried to avoid the expanding ice.

If I could get him to melt the ice...

"Loby-kun! Could you go to the spectators stand and cast some Fire-aligned spells to heat the ice please? I need your help to break the ice." I shouted at Loby, who was busy trying to avoid the ice.

"Huh? Sure!" He shouted back as he began to made his way onto the stand.

"Let's try the skill from the Magic Swordmaster." I muttered as I raised my sword in the air.

"Roar, spirits of Thunder!" Dark clouds started to gather and lightning hit my blade as I recited a somewhat chunnibyou incantation.

"Awake from your slumber, strike and render your opponents helpless temporarily! Stunder!" I finished my chant as I stabbed my sword onto the ground and current from the sword broke some of the ice.

"Hellfire!" Loby shouted as he pointed his staff at the expanding ice.

Sure enough, the spell melt some of the ice, yet only a small part of the ice was melted down.

I am sure Loby's mana reserves should be enough to hang on for a while.

"Loby-kun, how long can you hold out?" I called out as I began to take out my adventurer card.

"I can still hold out for a few minutes! So be quick if you have something on your sleeve!" Loby answered as he continued to spray fire at the expanding ice.

"Good! Could you buy me some time please?"

Should I use 'that'? I mean, I was told that I was not allowed to use it unless under special conditions or emergencies.

However, this is definitely an emergency - Our lives were in stake, the castle was on the verge of being frozen, the lives of the innocent civilians will be endangered if no action was taken to stop that monster.

Recalling what my father taught to use that skill, I closed my eyes and concentrate.

Then I took a deep breath and focus on the warm sensation flowing in my veins.

According to what Guardian said, the warm sensation is the aura.

Yet, that did not happen back when I received training on how to utilise the power.

Concentrate first, Contemplation later.

According to Loby, a light purple magic circle appeared around me

"Onee-chan! Behind you!" Loby shouted as he warned me.

I opened my eyes and found the greyed Saki-san was behind me and ready to cast her spell.

I leapt and dodged the spell, then looked for the high ground.

Deep down I knew we would have to act fast, or otherwise Amai would sleep eternally in the ice.

Loby-kun on the other hand, his face looked pale, probably because the ice started to overwhelm his flames.

"Onee-chan...!" Loby shouted in fear as he was overwhelmed and surrounded by ice pillars.

To hell with the so-called steps using that! Lives are in danger!

I dashed and stood in front of the Archwizard.

Then, I did a sword plant, closed my eyes and concentrate.

I raised my sword as a light purple magic circle appeared beneath my feet.

"Loby-kun! Cast Inferno and break yourself out now!"

"I... I can't!" Fear has taken the young Archwizard's senses as the boy stammered in terror.

"Just do it! It is just do or die at this point!" I yelled as I maximised the output of my power.

"I... Inferno...!" Loby yelled at the top of his lungs as the ice turned orange due to the reflection.

Actually, that is what he said to say the least, as steam filled the entire arena.

At any rate, the arena was filled with steam, therefore I did not know what the actual situation is.