Even as the members of Branch 1 moved urgently, there was no end to the demons swarming around the sync.

Yuan, who was carrying the blessed items Laila had asked for, shuddered as she watched the screen Elbeth was operating while being cursed at by Muge.

“This is disgustingly maddening. Where the hell were these things hiding? Is there another sync somewhere? Or are they being generated?”

“Another one would be terrible, but even if they were being generated, how would we know?”

The correlation between demons, ghosts, and syncs was still not explainable by exact logic.

It was only a confident guess that the sync’s energy was gathering various things that could be called evil intentions, curses, or malevolence scattered around.

They didn’t know how the principle worked or what criteria caused syncs to occur.

That’s why even Tentinella could only deal with syncs that had already formed, and it was impossible to use stopgap measures to prevent syncs from occurring.

Elbeth, already on edge, gave a sharp response as if annoyed by Yuan’s piercing voice, and Yuan pouted before running to Laila with her arms full.

“Lady Kristrad! I’ve brought them.”

Laila examined the items Yuan had dumped on the table.

“Is this everything?”

“Yes, is it not enough? If it’s not, I could use a portal to go to another branch…”

Laila shook her head.

“No. Let’s try with what we have. It would be nice to have more, but this should be sufficient.”

She took off her jacket and rolled up her shirt sleeves. Yuan, watching Laila curiously from a few steps away, asked:

“Um, can you perform blessings too, Lady Kristrad?”

Laila shook her head with a wry smile.

“Of course not. I don’t have that ability.”

“Then why…”

“Hmm, how should I explain… What I’m trying to do is… let’s say, put on a cover. I don’t know how strong the demons’ toxins are, but blessed water or crystals are very helpful in creating a protective barrier. It’s… adding another layer so that power isn’t directly exposed to the toxins.”

After finishing, Laila looked at Yuan with a slightly worried expression, as if asking if she understood. She was still somewhat clumsy at expressing intangible concepts.

Yuan, lost in thought for a moment, said:

“I think I understand. You’re overlaying another power on top so that even if exposed to toxins, the blessing’s effect will last longer, right?”

“That’s right. Hmm, I hope the two powers don’t conflict… Well, I’ll give it a try.”

Laila gathered the crystals to be used for the barrier by type and felt their power. Marshal’s blessing was particularly strong, and she could feel her palm heating up just by touching them.

By the time Eustar, Laila, and Elbeth had finished all preparations, there were even more demon corpses. The centipede had definitely grown larger, and the cloud-like toxins were about to spread through the forest like a creeping mist.

Byron said:

“There are civilian homes beyond the hill. We must deal with this before then.”

Eustar nodded as well. The Ranning Roar in his hand now had its eyes wide open, with bloodshot whites.

Tracking demons through the toxins rapidly depletes a magic tool’s energy. There was no time to hesitate.

“We’re ready.”

Elbeth turned to look at them. Two screens floated in the air. Muge from Branch 2 had remotely controlled the flow of magic to temporarily open a ‘window’ used only by Branch 2 towards Branch 1.

Thus, one screen showed the archers deployed from Branch 1, while the other showed the demons gathered around the sync, allowing them to see both sides simultaneously.

Eustar closed his eyes while holding the Ranning Roar. His darkened vision suddenly brightened as if a curtain had been lifted, and he could see the centipede’s legs constantly twitching in a dark red smoke like aged wine.

“A little more to the left.”

As Eustar clenched his palm, the Ranning Roar’s pupils moved slowly. Eustar’s vision changed along with it.

The centipede’s massive jaw came into view, and inside its open mouth, disgusting tentacles could be seen writhing independently as if alive.

He fixed the Ranning Roar’s vision on the centipede’s gaping maw and then opened his eyes. He could see the archers standing by on the right screen.

“Byron, tell them to adjust the angle of their bows a bit more upward. We need to pierce the head for instant death.”

Byron used the communicator to instruct the members to adjust their bow angles. Watching the archers on screen slowly raise their bows, Eustar said:

“Stop! That’s good.”

The archers’ movements ceased. Eustar closed his eyes again to synchronize his vision with the Ranning Roar’s, and just as the centipede’s mouth was about to open wide, he gave the order.

“Fire.”

As soon as the command was given, a signal flashed, and the archers all pulled their bowstrings at once. The arrows Laila had shielded rained down into the rising toxic mist.

— Keeek—!

Three or four arrows pierced the centipede’s palate, and one of them shattered its toxin-dripping jaw. As the giant centipede twisted its body segment by segment, the armored insects below began to crawl out of the mist in a panic.

“Kill every last one of them! Don’t let any escape!”

Other soldiers stationed around systematically killed the escaping demons. Some flapped their wings and attacked fiercely, but most were busy trying to flee.

Eustar said:

“Fire the arrows again, it’s not dead yet! This time, straight on!”

The signal flashed, and the archers who had been waiting with drawn bowstrings fired once more. Nauseating bodily fluids burst from the centipede’s body where the arrows struck.

— Keek, keeeeek…!

The centipede’s mouth opened, and poison dripped out. The grass burned and the ground rotted away. Other demons that hadn’t escaped in time melted instantly as they were doused with the powerful venom.

“Lord Eustar!”

At Elbeth’s cry, Eustar’s eyes snapped open. His vision spun as the Ranning Roar’s sight overlapped with his own, but he shook his head to clear the dizziness.

The scene on the screen was chaos.

The toxic mist released by the dying centipede was spreading at an uncontrollable speed towards the members. The archers couldn’t hold their positions and were retreating. But that wasn’t the only problem.

“The sync is growing!”

A buzzing energy could be felt. It was a massive vibration unlike anything they had experienced before. The ground around the sync shook with a rumbling sound.

Like layering darkness upon darkness, as if it didn’t belong to this world, a pitch-black hole suddenly expanded. Then it began to swallow up the surrounding demons, whether dead or alive, indiscriminately.

“What in the…”

Watching the demons being sucked into the sync, Byron quickly shouted into the communicator:

“Everyone, hold your positions and don’t get pulled in! I repeat, don’t move! You’ll be swept into the sync!”

The buzzing sync was now devouring everything around it like a whirlwind.

Trees snapped with cracking sounds as they were pulled in, and the ground was swept away. The members drew the swords at their waists and planted them like stakes to hold on, but even the largest member’s feet were staggering.

“Commander! There’s a new energy reaction!”

Elbeth, who had been monitoring the energy reactions aimed at the sync, cried out urgently. No sooner had her words fallen than a pale form rose from the center of the buzzing sync. There were even two of them.

“Ghosts? Did those things really just pop out of the sync?”

Yuan raised her voice in disbelief as she watched.

Byron and Eustar were also momentarily stunned by the unprecedented situation. At that moment, Laila, who had been slowly backing away since the sync started vibrating, quickly ran outside.

“Lady Kristrad! You can’t go out now!”

Eustar’s head whipped around.

“Laila! Damn it!”

“Your Highness!”

A commotion broke out. Eustar chased after Laila who had run ahead, followed by Byron and the other members.

However, they all had to stop in their tracks the moment they opened the door. A wind no different from a typhoon was blowing fiercely, making it difficult to take a step forward carelessly.

“Laila!”

Eustar called out to Laila, who was quickly moving away using her runner, but even his shout was buried in the wind.

Laila maxed out her runner’s speed and pushed against the strong wind to quickly advance to the front lines where the members were waiting.

“Your Excellency! It’s dangerous here, you need to take shelter inside…”

“Aagh…!”

The members maintaining formation on the right screamed. It was the ghosts. The unknown ghosts that had emerged from the sync passed straight through their bodies.

The members who came into contact with the ghosts crumpled despite their efforts to hold on, and were sucked into the sync like rolling leaves, disappearing instantly.

“What in the…!”

As the remaining members fumbled to take out their monocles, staggering in confusion, Laila shouted:

“Don’t panic and hold your positions! If you get sucked in, it’s over, so stay where you are!”

Before the members could respond, Laila poured blessed water onto her hand and quickly drew lines in the direction of the members.

The two ghosts that had been charging towards the living members, riding the whirlwind, suddenly stopped in their tracks. The pale, swollen eyes of the ghosts focused on Laila.

— A witch…

— It’s a witch…

— If we devour that wench, we’ll be full.

— Her marrow must be sweet…

Several members groaned painfully at the eerie conversation exchanged between the ghosts. They were mostly those who dealt with demons and had little resistance to psychic energy.

Laila’s expression remained unchanged even as she heard the chilling, sob-like sounds.

After confirming that the members were safe behind the boundary she had drawn, Laila took out a handful of crystals from her leather pouch.

As she spread her arms, crystals of various shapes floated in the air as if strung on invisible threads, forming an arc.

Laila’s lips moved as she caught her breath:

“You who have left your places, where do you intend to go? Even the south wind cannot protect you. You shall walk forever in shadowless shade.”

As the incantation continued, the ghosts let out ferocious cries and stretched their long fingers towards Laila.