Swordmeister of Rome

"Hehe…"

When she returned to the room, Stiel found Sian who was grinning on top of the bed.

"What happened? You look excited."

"I found something nice."

Sian showed her a necklace and a ring.

Interested, Stiel asked, "Oh, isn't that the one from yesterday? From the Aksarai? Where did you get it?"

"I found it on the road."

"Wow. You really are lucky at finding things."

"Hehe. Luck comes to those who search for it."

"Yeah, well. You don't hesitate to take things by force."

"…You look excited too. What happened?"

"Oh. It's not much. They were making something interesting nearby, so I paid them a visit."

"Them? Don't say you destroyed a few things."

Sian was concerned as Stiel's way of doing things wasn't normal.

"What are you talking about? I just took a look at that magic rune. I didn't want to destroy it yet."

Stiel smiled but Sian became worried. Something really annoying always happened when Stiel was excited like that.

"Sir Liviath. Welcome."

Dekaduin greeted Liviath politely. Liviath glanced at Dekaduin and asked, "What do you need me to do?"

"It's simple. You just need to provide energy through your <Way> at the center of the rune. Next is on us."

"Good. That's simple. But will it really work? Is it safe?"

Liviath looked unconvinced. It was only a smaller size since it was a test, but it needed to be closed when the experiment was done.

"It was created per Sir Takion's blueprint and finished with the other world's knowledge."

"Takion really was smart. Where's Lagaope?"

"He took in a new recruit, but he was successful."

"Oh. So they are bringing the <Barakuna> then?"

Liviath looked at Dekaduin with a surprised look. He knew about the <Barakuna>. There was time when he went out to the sea to kill it, but he almost got killed. To tame such a monster…

"Good. So our new recruit is promising then."

She wasn't a superhuman yet, but that didn't matter.

"So when are they coming?"

"Tomorrow, at 2 PM."

"Good. We'll make quick work of it."

Liviath laughed.

"Miss Stiel, you look more excited than yesterday."

"You think so?"

'Yeah. It makes me more uneasy.'

Sian did not speak this out loud. It was because he found Stiel's nickname while reading through Aksarai.

<Stantahl the First. Goddess of Disaster>

Even without the book, there wasn't one case that ended nicely when Stiel became excited. Now, she was more excited than ever before.

"Hey! You thief!"

Sian figured it didn't mean to call an innocent man like him, so he ignored it. But someone called out again.

"YOU! You who stole our necklace!"

"Sian, you steal necklaces now?"

"I won it fair and square."

Sian turned back, and sure enough, that voice was calling him.

"Hm. What is it?" Sian asked.

"I brought 20 thousand talons. Give me back the necklace!"

"Kurin. Stop."

It was the blue-haired woman who shouted. The blonde and red-haired women were trying to stop Kurin.

"Heh. Sian, do we look like we're easy to pick on?" Stiel laughed.

"I'm sorry, but didn't you promise that you would pay with your belongings? And you made me choose 20 thousand talons worth of items? I only took a necklace and a ring."

"You knew! You knew what it was! That's… that's more than 20 million talons!"

Kurin couldn't continue since she was so enraged. She did say take what he wanted, but they did not expect for Sian to take away the <Necklace of Vows>. They couldn't even react at the unexpected turn of events.

"20 million…?"

Sian flinched at the price of the item and felt bad. It was true that he approached them, knowing what it was, but he needed the item. There was no way he was going to return it.

"Do you want me to help you?"

"Huh? Miss Stiel, I have no intention of beating them up."

"I know, I know. You just feel bad because it's expensive right?"

"Ugh." Sian grimaced as Stiel pointed it out.

"Wait here."

Stiel walked toward Kurin.

"Babies, you need that necklace to protect that boy there, right?"

"Ugh… Yes, that is correct."

Sian didn't look intimidating so Kurin shouted and did what she wanted, but she couldn't stand against the woman in front of her like that. It felt like she would be ripped into pieces with one wrong word choice.

"I'll give you a resolution. If that necklace only serves to save him once… how about Sian here promises to help you all once when you face danger?"

"Huh? Miss Stiel, I can't follow them around twenty-four hours…"

Stiel didn't seem bothered.

"Twenty-four hours? Hehe, let me tell you something about the future."

"Uh… I don't think I want to listen to that."

"No. It's for your own good. You all will face a danger and come ask for help to Sian in about an hour or so. I guarantee it."

Sian looked at Stiel with concern. She must've seen something yesterday. However, the four of them looked unconvinced. They were afraid of the woman, but they had skills. They thought she meant she would come to kill them and Sian will protect them from it, but from the look of the man, that didn't seem to be the case.

"So, you made a promise. Sian, this is a good bargain if you don't have too feel bad about taking on such an easy job."

Sian became relaxed. At that moment, Sian turned out to outer Kerbal. He then turned back to Stiel and asked, "…Was that what you were talking about?"

"Wow. They must be in a hurry."

Kurin couldn't understand what these people were saying. She became confused, but she turned around to the same direction that the man looked toward while ago. There was something approaching from far outside of Kerbal.

Dekaduin asked the other Magic Priests, "Has Limainu returned?"

"Yes. He has evacuated to safety."

Only his trusted people were left here. It was the least amount of people needed to activate the rune.

"Good. We'll activate the rune once Sir Liviath enters it and escape through the Ra-Shar-Roa. Did you install the recording device?"

"Yes. We have thirty-six devices installed on top of the hill."

"We have finished installing the measuring devices… Good. Let's do it."

"Yes, Master Dekaduin."

Dekaduin led his Magic Priests and moved them to the vital points on the runes. Liviath was watching in the middle while yawning.

"Ugh, why do they need so many preparations?"

He had been standing there for an hour. However, he was excited to bring out his full power since he hadn't done so in a while.

"So I just need to pour power into this place? Hehe."

Liviath began activating his way, <Sun>, and everything from within began to change. His body began to change and reorganize itself. It was being recreated to fit the creation of <Sun> from within. Then his body started shining brightly.

Limainu would've been terrified if he had seen this. A man going through a nuclear fusion from within. The powerful energy raged through Liviath's body, but the energy did not go past the runes as it began to absorb it gregariously.

"Be careful! Watch closely and control your Exar!" Dekaduin shouted as vast energy stormed around the runes. Failure to control it would mean the end of their lives. After a while, the energy that came from Liviath filled the runes in rough but organized manner.

"It's done… Go, we will escape now!"

Dekaduin began running away and Liviath jumped out also.

The people were all gone, but the runes that were placed over hundreds of yards still shined in bright light. Soon, all light was absorbed into the center where Liviath was standing and a red sphere appeared in the air.

No, it wasn't a sphere. It was a red hole.

The hole began to grow in its size and became as large as a mile wide.

The great magic, Hell's Gate <Tasha-Dagon> was opened.