We left Agartha and headed south-east towards the town called Kleene.

“This sword really is amazing. Are you the one who made it Rhazes?”

“No, it was one of the things that was being stored in the research facility. It was apparently made quite some time ago. I was tasked with taking care of it but as you can see…”

“So you just took it? Hahaha, to think that a day where you would steal would actually come. So, what is the name of this sword?”

“According to the person that appraised it, it’s However, the people in the research facility called it

“… A fine name.” said Aias with a smile.

However, that still didn’t change the fact that as of now we were runaways. Going against the Demon clan, didn’t mean just going against the Demons, but rather every single person that served under them.

We had already managed to take care of their attacks a couple of times, however, we would get cornered eventually. We needed companions that would fight alongside us.

“If we go East of Kleene, we’ll reach Mount Maxwell. According to the rumors Eliphas Butler should be there.” I told Aias about the rumors that I had heard about Butler.

“That Great Magician!? Still, even if he really is there, he should already be pretty old, don’t you think?”

“Right now we must take all the help we can get. If there’s even the slightest chance that he’ll lend us his power, we must go!”

We headed towards Mt. Maxwell where the Great Magician Butler was supposed to be.

Butler had become a legend of a sort, because he was able to cast magic even beyond the abilities of the Demons, while still being just an ordinary human.

It took us over four days, however, in the end we reached the town at the foot of Mt. Maxwell.

Butler was surprisingly quite popular in this town so we were able to find his whereabouts quite easily, so me and Aias headed halfway up the mountain in search of him.

After reaching the designated place, what awaited us was a huge mansion. When we knocked on the gate, a displeased voice was heard from the inside.

“What might it be. Do you have some business with me?”

An elderly person over his seventies appeared, wearing a black-gray robe.

“Are you Butler?”

“As I already said, what business do you have with me! I don’t have the time to chat with you.” said Butler while stroking his beard, looking at us from top to bottom, as if trying to appraise us.

We went inside the mansion and proceeded to tell Butler about the things that had happened to us. When we finished our story he replied…

“To pick a fight with the Demon clan… Your stupidity is beyond belief.”

“But didn’t you do the same thing long ago…”

“It was long ago just as you said, on top of that what happened was that a Demon had just wanted to test his strength so the young me complied with his offer.”

“But you went undefeated didn’t you Butler!” asked Aias with eyes filled with respect.

“Hmph! That aside, why did you come here? You can’t be thinking of asking old me here to fight alongside you now can you?”

“We really are in desperate need of companions that will fight alongside us. Butler please…”

“Don’t be stupid! There’s not much a geezer, with just a little bit left to live, can do. I don’t have time to play with you, go back!!”

“Butler, we’ve heard that way back, the same as us, you have had complaints about the Demon’s rule. Please, won’t you lend us your strength!?”

“No matter what you say, my mind won’t change! Hurry up and go b…” while saying that Butler’s expression suddenly changed.

“You… you were followed?”

“What!?”

Butler’s words left Aias in shock. After all we had been quite careful to check for pursuers before coming here.

“It can’t be…”

I immediately ran towards the nearby window with Aias to peek at the outside, while trying not to be seen. Outside there were a number of soldiers, with some people that seemed to be of the Demon clan.

“Butler we’re sorry, it seems like we were careless.”

“I never expected brats to be cautious in the first place!” saying that Butler headed towards a room in the back of the mansion.

We decided to follow after him. Butler went inside the room, where he lifted the lid of a rectangular shaped box.

“You said you killed a Demon right… In that case that sword should have the power embedded into it.” hearing Butler’s words Aias looked at his sword.

“Demons cannot be killed with just any weapon! A weapon embedded with a special power is required. Like this one here…”

From inside the box Butler took out a black staff that gave off a profound air.

“… A weapon from the legends, that was created long ago.”

“Are you going to fight with us!?”

“Because of you, now I’ll probably be seen as a traitor as well. And I don’t think that the Demons will be willing to listen to anything that I have to say.” said Butler with a light smile.

“Furthermore, I don’t have much left. I might as well go wild and release some of this resentment while I still can…”

We confirmed that the whole mansion had been surrounded, so we decided to casually leave through the front entrance.

“Oh my, what is the renowned Mr. Butler doing with the likes of these criminals? 　Would you care to explain yourself?” spoke politely one of the Demons, while the rest of his companions made sure to circle around us, closing off our path of escape.

No matter how one looked at it, we had no chance of escape.

“Nothing much, we were just having a small chat. I’m quite old as you can see, so I’m not that fond of fighting. Would you mind leaving us alone?”

“Surely you jest… We cannot just turn a blind eye to the grave crime they committed. We would also like to ask you to come with us as well Mr. Butler.” said the Demon while raising his hand, giving a signal to his companions to attack us.

Aias and I immediately went into fighting poses.

Their numbers were overwhelming so we prepared ourselves for the worst…

“Blazing Dragon!!”

Butler raised his staff and from it an enormous fire dragon appeared, coiling itself around the surroundings. The enemy soldiers were enveloped within the flames and quickly burned down to a crisp.

Even the Demons were pushed back by the intensity of the spell, not being able to move at all.

“As expected… However, you will regret going against the Demon clan.”

“If it’s regret, then I’ve already experienced it countless times. Since this is the end, I might as well go ahead and do what I please!”

“Kill them!”

After the Demon’s words left his mouth, in a place a bit further from the influence of the flames, another Demon suddenly flew at us. He was carrying a short sword and was flying straight at Butler.

Close-range was the achilles heel of any magician. Having noticed that Aias immediately charged towards Butler in order to help but…

“You’ve sure got the balls to challenge me at close-range!”

Butler raised his staff once more, releasing a new spell.

“Combination Magic Helheim!!

Black flames appeared from Hades’ Staff, completely engulfing the Demon that was flying towards Butler. With a shriek of pain, the Demon was turned to ash.

“Tsch! To think that he’d still have this strength at his age…”

While the Demon leader’s attention was captured by Butler Aias charged in. His timing was perfect.

“Imbecile! Don’t get close to him. He has the Unique Skill!”

“Too late. [STOP!]”

It seemed like the Demon had cast his skill, however Aias’ sword didn’t stop and slashed through the Demon.

“Ugh!? How…”

While puking out a handful of blood the Demon fell to his knees and lost his life.

“I don’t quite get what happened, but it seems like you’re okay. But you must not be careless. Reinforcements will soon come.”

Heeding to Butler’s words we quickly left the mountain. While running away from the Demon clan, Aias found the opportunity to tell Butler about his skill and ask for advice.

“So you can stop Unique Skills… This is the first time I’m hearing of such a thing. Now that I think about it, when I was attacking with my magic the Demons seemed like they couldn’t use their skills.” said Butler while looking at Aias with admiration.

“Demons value their Unique Skills way too much, against an opponent like that your Unique Skill has immeasurable power.”

While running we decided to stop at a river to catch our breaths. We situated ourselves in an open area so that we could clearly see if anyone was coming towards us.

“Give me a second.”

I deployed a magic circle from which a single Spirit came out. It was a small flame bird with a transparent body.

“Hm? What’s this? A summoned monster?” asked Aias.

“Yes, it’s a rare Spirit monster that I managed to Tame a while back. It has the Unique Skill .”

Hearing our conversation, Butler decided to join in as well.

“That’s not your ordinary Spirit. When it grows it will turn into the Oracle Beast known as Phoenix. Do you think that you’ll be able to raise it lad?”

“This little one is an Oracle Beast? Butler you really know a lot… So Rhazes what exactly do you plan to do with it?”

“Well it’s still small so I won’t have it fight just yet, however, I will still be enough to have it circle around the area and watch.” saying that I let the bird fly into the air.

At first it never hit me that this little one would turn out to be an Oracle Beast, however, it didn’t change the fact that it was an irreplaceable companion of mine.

While the little flame bird was keeping watch, we talked with Butler about our plan from now.

“It is true that you are able to slay Demons with your power Aias. However it will be impossible to take down the root of it all, the Demon Lord that is. After all his strength is on a whole other level compared to the other Demons.”

“Still, in order to make our dreams come true we must defeat him. Butler please tell us, what can we do.” begged Aias, to which Butler stroked his beard, losing himself within his thoughts.

“There is a slight possibility. If we’re able to defeat all of the Divine Generals and isolate the Demon Lord then we might have a chance.”

“All of the Divine Generals…”

“Even so it is only a slight chance.”

Having made up his mind, Aias clenched his fist.

“Butler you seem to know quite a lot about the Demon Lord.”

“No, I don’t know that much. From what I’ve heard he apparently has the ability to consume the bodies of the dead… However, that is uncertain as well.”

There was not one person who knew the details about the Demon Lord. However, because he was able to produce Demons at a whim, unless we defeated the Demon Lord we wouldn’t be able to rid the world of the Demons.

While all of us were discussing the matters with gloomy faces, the flame bird that was circling in the area suddenly let out an ear piercing shriek.

We immediately stood up and looked around the surroundings, only to see a huge bird flying straight towards us. On top of the bird, there was a man with a hood of his head.

“A tricky one appeared…” After Butler said that, the enormous bird landed on the ground right in front of us.

“It’s been a while Butler.”

The man got off from the bird and greeted Butler. Due to his face being covered from the hood, I couldn’t quite distinguish the man’s features, however, I could clearly see that he was smiling.

“Is he a friend of yours Butler?”

I asked, to which Butler looked at the man with an unpleasant expression on his face.

“I know him quite well. I’ve fought him once when I was young. Unlike all of the other Demons, I couldn’t even lay a hand on him.”

“Is he really that strong?”

“Yea. He’s one of the Divine Generals, while at the same time being a close aide to the Demon Lord. The oldest of the Demons…”

The man took off his hood, revealing the elderly face hidden behind it.

“The Sea God, Oceanus!”