In the timeline where Leon and Alice met Lumina—the Swordmaiden. During that time, the history's great war was raging.

The war where the Five Calamities fought together to seize godhood. The Great Calamity War.

It was said that after the war ended, the five calamities, horrified by the destruction their greed had caused, joined hands. Accepting their fate, they split their domains and took positions in the heavens, maintaining order in the mortal world.

No one really knew where they had gone, or if they were even alive. Some believed they attained godhood, became immortal, and chose to guard the land from above.

Leon sneered inwardly as he recalled the story from one of the original Leon's memory fragments.

'Heh… guardian of the world.'

Haru—aka Leon—knew what the Five Calamities had truly done, and where they were now. If he revealed it publicly, the uproar would sweep across nations. He would be branded a traitor and executed on the spot by order of the calamity tower heads. Not even his sister could protect him.

Sure, parts of the tale held truth. But much of it was exaggerated.

In the real world—the one outside The Shattered Swordmaiden book—the Five Calamities could not directly meddle in mortal affairs, bound by restrictions. But here, in this timeline from thousands of years ago, all five roamed freely like ordinary human beings.

Though this book had no pages dedicated to them, there was still a way to meet the Silvermoon Goddess, worshiped by the Blood Tower. In this era, however, she was still just a mortal.

But that was secondary.

For now, Leon's goal was to earn Lumina's trust. And if time allowed, he would try to meet the goddess of the Blood Tower.

"War?" Leon echoed the Swordmaiden's words.

He feigned shock for now, before glancing at Alice. She quickly masked her concern and turned back to Lumina.

"Miss Lumina," Leon asked, "a war… do you mean a war between kingdoms, or—?"

"The latter," Lumina replied, her eyes closing for a moment. Then she added.,

"They have already made their move. And soon, the world shall witness it."

By they, she meant the Five Calamities.

Resting her back and stroking her Moonblade, Lumina explained further. Alice and Leon had already heard of this story.

After finishing her explanation, Lumina said to both.

"It is dangerous for kids of your age to wander off this plane, at a time like this."

Indeed. Forget the five calamities, this world also had another threat under its nose, and that was the Demon God.

According to the Swordmaiden, she and her maids and knights had already encountered several Archdemons in this icy land. Together they fought fiercely, and because Lumina led them, they gained the upper hand.

But then, something unexpected happened.

The Archdemons did something none of them could understand.

One by one, her fallen knights and maids began to rise again, their bodies warped in flesh, twisted bones turned into chimeras. They turned their blades against the very comrades they once fought beside.

Seeing their loved ones transformed into grotesque monsters shattered the others' resolve.

The despair among them spread like a plague, and in their hopelessness, more and more of them succumbed, and became chimeras themselves.

The Swordmaiden tried to knock some sense into them, but… it was too late.

In the end, those who survived the battle didn't last long either. Months later, Lumina was the only one who remained.

Alice didn't speak. She simply listened, watching the grim expression on the Swordmaiden's face as she narrated her end of story.

Was that truly what happened to her? How could she even smile after all that? If it was Alice in her place, then… then she would have lost the meaning of life long ago.

She would blame herself for all the losses, for being this powerless.

"Archdemon huh…" Leon whispered. "What did they use to turn them into chimeras?"

Even though the atmosphere was grim, Leon still inquired.

Lumina turned to him, and with her usual tone, she properly explained.

"All of that happened so suddenly, that, every time we missed them… but."

"…one of the Archdemons was weird, it had a yellow gemstone on the forehead, right here."

She continued, raising her right hand and pointing at the middle of her forehead.

Leon thought carefully this time.

'A chimera, and an Archdemon with a gemstone…'

Leon had a vague idea of who that was, and how it did that.

"A Demonic Necromancer."

Leon stated out loud.

"Hm?"

"What?"

Both Alice and Lumina turned to him, confused.

Noticing their stares, Leon asked.

"How much do you guys know about demons and their rankings?"

"Only that they have similar rankings as us humans, and just like us they possess mana cores too, which are ranked different with each color grade," the Swordmaiden said.

Leon nodded. "Yes, and like in our own we have different species of elves, dwarves, humans, dragons… similarly, the demon world has their own species."

Pausing for a moment, Leon added.

"Wraiths, Oni, Hellhounds, Succubi, Fallen Angels, and… Demonic Necromancers. And each attains different ranks such as Lesser Demons, Higher Demons, Archdemons, and so on till the Calamity-class Demon."

The ranking was quite similar to what the humans had for themselves. With each higher shade of mana core, they gained rank.

Currently, Leon's mana core was a four-star Crimson Core, which gave him the rank of an Awakened.

"That much we're aware of," the Swordmaiden said.

Alice nodded alongside.

The demons didn't belong in this world. They had come to this land, occupied by humans, elves and others, from their own world called the Demon World.

The only thing known was that they came here through a portal, a miniature form of wormhole connecting the two worlds.

And there were still many undiscovered wormholes left in the world through which demons passed.

Seeing Leon quiet, Lumina asked.

"What are you getting at?"

Leon nodded, then said. "As I said, the Demonic Necromancers are the species capable of turning the dead into undead. Surely you must have heard about it as well, right Miss?"

The Swordmaiden nodded. "Precisely, but, as far as we were taught, they can at most awaken two or three undeads. Unless…"

Lumina thought, rubbing her chin.

Alice finished her sentence instead.

"Unless the rank of that Demonic Necromancer was higher than an Archdemon."

Higher than an Archdemon would only mean that the demon they were referring to was an Abyssal-class Demon.

"Ah, that's troublesome." The Swordmaiden sighed.

When a demon reached White Core, they were given the rank of Abyssal-class.

A Demonic Necromancer with a White Core was capable of controlling over a hundred undeads. And looking at the situation, they encountered more than three hundred chimeras, which could clearly point out that there was not one but three or more Abyssal-class.

Despite the situation, Leon was calm. He came prepared.

He had known beforehand that there were only three Abyssal-class hiding in the iceland. He had played this portion of the game after all.

"Ah, we are so fucked!"

Alice cried, holding her head in a dramatic position.

"Quiet down."

The Swordmaiden said, shooting her a glance. "Loud noises will trigger the nearby chimeras."

Alice shut her mouth.

Leon felt satisfied watching her. Clearing his throat, he told Miss Lumina,

"If we kill those Abyssal-class demons, then the chimeras would return to normal dead bodies."

"Huh." Hearing him, Lumina shot up from her place.

"Are you serious?" she asked in utmost urgency, "tell me, where did you get this information from?"

As far as she was aware, there was no documented research that mentioned such details about Abyssal-ranked Demonic Necromancers.

Alice kept her mouth shut and let Leon handle the rest.

"It's true," he answered. "It was not mentioned in any of the books yet, because it was still under research."

"Then how did you know that?"

"Because I know someone who was researching in that domain. He told me the findings were almost done, and could be revealed to the military in the upcoming months."

"Hmm…" the Swordmaiden whispered, "if it's true, then I must kill those demons before I move further."

Lumina desperately wanted to put an end to her comrades' suffering. No matter how many she killed, there were always a few who managed to slip away from her grasp.

It was frustrating for her, finding each one of them, searching for each face among those rotting corpses of chimeras, and counting heads one by one to keep track.

But if she could end it all by killing just three or four demons, she would blindly choose that option.

After thinking for a few seconds, Miss Lumina made up her mind.

"Alright, killing them is the best choice I have right now."

A grin formed on Leon's lips.

'Perfect.'

As soon as Lumina made her decision, a transparent window flashed before his and Alice's eyes.

Progress: [|||||||43%-------]

"?!"

Alice startled, inwardly overjoyed.

'Finally, some progress.'

A straight 43% was insane. This meant Leon and Alice had managed to jump to a certain point in the story, skipping most of the useless parts.

But this was not the end.

Leon knew that from this point on, things would only become harder.

Because in the story written in the book, the Swordmaiden ended up severely injured after facing three Abyssal Rank all on her own.

But this time, it was different…

'A demon's greatest weakness was light.'

And Leon was the only one among them who held it.

If he managed to help the Swordmaiden achieve her goal, then she would be willing to share her secrets with him, about the Moonblade.

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