Death... and me

Lavanda narrowed her eyes. She only knew that Rean, Kentucky, and Essefy had gone out to look for Zandolf themselves. Yet, they also lost contact with them. Only today, now that they appeared here, did she finally have the chance to ask them. Yet, they knew nothing. "Trapped? You are saying you got trapped inside the Devils' Territory and returned alive?"

Rean nodded. "That's because were weren't trapped by the Devils. Instead, it was some ancient formation in the Essence Race Ruins. The Devils probably didn't even know we were there. First of all, it isn't even a terrain worth attacking, so there weren't any Devils near those ruins anyway. In the end, we spend all these days to get free."

Rean then asked back. "Still, we didn't find senior Zandolf. How come he isn't back yet? We saw on our way here that the army was advancing. Wasn't it supposed to happen only if he commands?"

"Since I'm his substitute, I obviously have the authority to deploy the army," said Lavanda. The fact was that Lavanda was quite displeased to be sent to this place. As mentioned before, this continent didn't hold any strategic value, so the war here wasn't that important. However, if she conquers it quickly, she might be able to bring the army somewhere worth being used. She truly didn't like the idea of this army being used mostly for the support of other armies.

She continued. "So, how did you get out in the end? The Essence Race Formations should be quite impressive."

Rean agreed with her. "Definitely! Didn't you see? We took way over a month to return. I think we were already lucky enough there wasn't any slaughtering formation in place, too. To be honest, I think we would have taken even longer, or perhaps never returned, if it wasn't an ancient formation. It most likely lost most of its power already by the time we stepped in it."

Lavanda had some knowledge about formations, so she knew what Rean said was possible. Besides, because of the Devils' invasion back then, no one was left to explore these ruins. It was hard to tell whether the formations back in the Essence Race Cities were still active or not. "Fine. However, you are not part of my army, so you must leave. Just go back to your post in the Tormalek Continent." Lavanda then left, as she was still commanding the army's advancement at the moment.

Rean, Kentucky, and Essefy didn't complain at all, quickly going to the Long-Distance Teleport Formation and paying to get away from that place.

Of course, the problems weren't solved with just that. As soon as they arrived at the Limigo Region in the Tormalek Continent, Hrume came to see them. "So... you finally decided to show your faces again, uh?"

Back when Rean's group had helped Gardo, Gardo said that he would cover for them while they visited Zandolf. However, he would only do that for a week, and after that, he wouldn't have anything to do with them anymore. Way more than a month had passed already, so Rean, Kentucky, and Essefy were now being treated as Deserters or Experts killed in battle. Yet, finally, they appeared again.

"Ahem..." Rean took the chance to talk. "We were sorry, senior Hrume. We were trapped inside an Ancient Formation in one of the ruins of the Essence Race. We were supposed to be back way earlier."

Gardo didn't seem to care. "As far as I know, you weren't even supposed to go anywhere else after helping Gardo. Once you finished helping him, you should have come straight back. Or could it be I was wrong? How come you ended up going to Zaldolf's army?"

That was the one thing Rea, Kentucky, and Essefy couldn't deny. "That's true. However, senior Hrumes know very well why I came here. I didn't hide from you or anyone else that I was looking for information regarding the Essence Race. So, when I finally got some information, I had to go there to check. I just didn't expect to get trapped."

"So you did it knowing you were breaking orders, is that correct?" Hrumes asked with a cold tone.

Rean rubbed the back of his head helplessly. "That's... That's correct."

Hrumes then looked at Essefy. "I know Goku and Kenny were after information regarding the Essence Race, so it makes sense they broke the rules to go investigate that place. However, what about you? Why did you follow them?"

Essefy dropped his head. "I just thought it would be funny to check things out..."

Hrumes' expression turned even worse. "Normally, death would be the only outcome to desertes like you three. However, it is true that your efforts helped our Realm of Gods' Armies achieve two major victories. Millions were saved by your contribution. Besides, you did come back in the end instead of fleeing, which is somewhat commendable. That said, I will spare your lives."

"However!" Hrumes' face then showed a cold smile. "Your actions can't go unpunished, or they would settle a precedent to the army. An army is composed of orders, and orders must not be broken. Otherwise, it would crumble. All your Merit Points... have now been wiped out! And that also includes the points you earned for the contribution to Gardo's army. Oh, just so that you know, that mission ended in the death of an Elder Devil, so each of you was given over 2,000 points, which are now gone, too. Hahaha!"

"EH?!" Rean, Kentucky and Essefy were taken aback. That was a crazy huge reward! If Rean and Kentucky put their merit points together, they could have bought 500 grams of Serene Gold Filament! Yet, it was all gone now. 

"Come on, senior Hrumes! You can't do it with us!" Even Essefy complained, knowing that such a huge amount of Merit Points would be very useful for himself, too.

"Yes! Yes! This is too harsh!" Rean and Kentucky complained as well.

"Hmph!" Hrumes didn't relent. "Count yourselves lucky I didn't take your lives. Now, shut the fuck up and get ready! Your next mission has already been assigned, and you sure are fucking late for it."