Rita Naturia smiled.


    Finally, her prey was here.


    The one who had kidnapped her dear, precious Anya.


    "Hello, dearie~?" She fluttered her long eyelashes. "I''m so happy to see you~ ?? You have no idea how long I''ve—"


    BOOM


    She never got to finish her sentence.


    For Hugo already blew her head off with his Boom Cannon.


    ?


    Hugo


    Before I stepped into this lascivious-looking bedroom, I had stored a Boom Cannon with my time magic. I fully intended to use it if the succubus was too much for me to handle. And the moment I saw her wearing that absurdly sexy nightgown, I knew I had to kill her right on the spot.


    I looked down to my crotch. Sure enough, the little guy was standing at full attention.


    I sighed.


    As I walked across the room, I paid a quick glance at the corpse of the succubus I just killed.


    Stepping over her, I walked to the other side and opened the door there.


    ?


    Felicia


    "Atchoo!"


    After traversing what felt like a series of endless, looping corridors, Felicia was finally graced by a different scenery—a massive room filled with rows and rows and rows of bookshelves from top to bottom.


    She tapped her staff once, ordering her shadow to split and scout the room.


    "I see. So you are a shadow mage as well."


    Felicia froze. She tapped her staff once more, erecting a shadow done around her.


    From the ceiling, a black gooey blob fell, landing right in front of her. And from that blob, an elven woman took form. She was dressed in gray, the color of her dress complimenting her gray-blue waist-length hair perfectly. Under her was a giant book that she rode on.


    "Greetings." She spoke, her voice completely flat. " I am Adele Naturia, the fifth wife of the Demon Lord of Wisdom. As a fellow mage, I would like to challenge you to a match."


    "A match?" Felicia replied, her expression one of disbelief.


    "A match of spells, of course. A duel, if you prefer."


    Felicia gripped her staff. There was no refusing this challenge—she realized that much. She had to beat her. A shadow mage could easily contend with the mobility of another shadow mage. She couldn''t run even if she wanted to. She''d just catch her from behind, which would be really bad for a pure spellcaster like her.


    "Of course." Felicia put on a confident smile. "I''ll be happy to accept your challenge."


    "Then, we shall begin at once."


    She snapped her finger.


    And in an instant, tendrils fired out from her shadow, ramming their sharp ends at Felicia''s barrier.


    The barrier cracked but it didn''t shatter, giving Felicia time to summon a potion out of her Dimensional Storage, drinking the red liquid in one move. Without skipping a beat, she proceeded to summon a knife and slice open her own wrist. Blood poured out of her damaged arteries, dripping down to the floor, forming a crimson puddle.


    It was exactly what she needed to activate her spell.


    "O Crimson God of The Damned! Hear my plea! Let the woes of the world be heard by this servant and lend your power to purge all light and innocence! Blood Cloak!


    Just as Felicia finished her spell, her barrier shattered.


    The elf was a second too late.


    The blood came to Felicia''s aid, forming their own tendrils to counter the elf''s spell. It quickly dawned on Adele that her shadow was being overpowered as the blood tendrils slowly crept closer and closer to her.


    Deciding that she was at a disadvantage, she retreated. She flew away further into the library, far enough to be out of range of the blood spell.


    "What''s the matter? Running away?" Felicia spoke in a mocking tone. "I am not just a shadow mage, you know. I am also a blood mage."


    The blood now formed skeletal-like wings that attached itself on her back, allowing her to chase after the elf.


    The two flew further into the library—rows and rows of bookshelves flying to their left and right.


    "The necromancer." The elf spoke, her gaze resting on Felicia. "Your beloved saved you for your power. Picked a fight with the human church and got out alive. All when he scarcely reached adulthood. Impressive. I see why you become his wife."


    "He didn''t save me for my power, just so you know. He saved me because he thought it was the right thing to do. That is how noble and kindhearted he is," Felicia replied, her words brimming with pride.


    "Really now? I somehow doubt that. It would be foolish if he did."


    As she flew backwards, still deeper into the library, the elf fired bolts of lightning towards Felicia. The redheaded mage responded by using her manipulated blood to create a shield that absorbed her spells.


    All of a sudden, however, Felicia stopped in her tracks.


    "...I see. You''re trying to lure me into a trap, don''t you?" Felicia smiled.


    "Very perceptive…" Adele replied, a twitch of annoyance coloring her face. "...is what I would say if it weren''t so obvious from the start that I was leading you to a certain place."


    "Let me guess. An anti-magic field. The bane of every mage in existence, correct?"


    The elf didn''t reply. But it was clear from her expression that Felicia had hit the jackpot.


    "Hmph, the oldest trick in the book. You wouldn''t be the first to try that sort of trap for sure."


    "...Fine. We''ll do this the hard way then."


    "The hard way?"


    All of a sudden, with a soft poof sound, the elf popped out of existence.


    Felicia had no time to finish her thoughts.


    For the books around her began to fly off their shelves, right towards her.


    The blood quickly formed a bubble around her, protecting her from their onslaught. All the while she desperately looked around, trying to find where the elf had gone.


    She flew downwards, landing on the carpeted floor of the library. She then began to chant the strongest fire spell she had.


    "O great fire spirit of volcanoes, grant me the strength to burn my foes into ash. Flame Strike!"


    Relying on her barrier to protect her, Felicia fired the spell at point-blank range.


    KABOOM


    She closed her eyes and averted her gaze, feeling the heat burning her face.


    The spell worked, and the cluster of books surrounding her turned into a rain of black ash. The surrounding bookcases caught fire as well, however, as the spell''s radius was decently large.


    Felicia couldn''t help feeling bad about the fact that she just burned all those books. If the circumstances were different, she would love to read them all in her free time.


    She flew upwards, away from the fire she had started. Once she was a good distance away from the ground, she proceeded to close her eyes.


    She cursed the fact that she was never able to replicate Hugo’s ability to see magic. Or to utilize and weaponize raw mana for that matter. It was yet another reason why she admired him so much. He was 10 years younger than her yet he was already a much better mage than she was.


    "Frost Nova."


    Her heart skipped a beat.


    She was far too late to react.


    A wave of cold swallowed her in an instant, freezing every inch of her body.


    Her blood barrier activated in response to the attack but it wasn’t enough to keep herself from being frozen. The blood wings she used to hover in the air froze as well. Unable to flap anymore, it could no longer support her weight, making her fall back down to the depths of the library.


    Just before she landed, shadows burst out from the floor. Forming hands, they all reached up towards her, catching her before she could hit the floor.


    Unfortunately, the elf’s attacks hadn’t ended yet.


    “O Lord of Flames! Rend mine enemies impotent under your flames and shatter their body into ashes! Explosion!”


    Felicia could do nothing as her already battered shield received the spell point-blank.


    ?


    Myrilla


    "Heeyyy, where are you going? We haven''t finished our fight yet!"


    Myrilla flew through the hallways, going as fast as she could without crashing onto the many walls she had to navigate through. Behind her was the harpy, chasing her with full strength, despite the injuries she had sustained. After all, how could she look her Darling in the eye if she couldn''t even kill a single one of the invaders?


    Unfortunately, she soon found out that she had cornered herself, for the hallway ended in front of her, with only a door to the left.


    She blasted the door using her Wind magic, entering it without a second thought.


    Only to find that she was, all of a sudden, in a middle of a golden forest.


    THUD


    The door slammed close behind her.


    She turned around and it was no longer there. She was just staring at the trunk of a tree.


    She was trapped.


    "Oh my oh my, what do we have here? A stray little Nerthusian."


    The wind picked up, gathering the autumn leaves on the trees and ground, concentrating them into a violent ball of leaf-filled storm. A second later, however, they dissipated, revealing a butterfly-winged woman with golden hair smiling towards the mind-reader.


    "Greetings. My name is—"


    "I know who you are. Selene Naturia. The archfey of autumn. And his third wife."


    "How rude…" She pouted. "You should let others introduce themselves, you know, even if you can read their minds faster than they could speak."


    Myrilla''s grip on her staff tightened, a bead of sweat traveling down her forehead.


    "Why the tense face? Are you possibly afraid of me?" She giggled. "Don''t worry! If you kneel down now and promise to be a good girl, I''ll vouch for you becoming his next wife!"


    A flash of anger glimmered in Myrilla''s eyes.


    "No? Then I''m afraid I''d just have to turn you into my servant instead."


    With a snap of her fingers, vines burst out from all sides. From the earth, from the trees, even from the leaves hanging over Myrilla''s head.


    And all of them were heading towards her.


    "Cyclone Wall!"


    An Advanced-level spell that erected a miniature around a person, protecting them from attacks from the outside. Unlike Hugo, who hardened the air around him, she turned it violent instead. It was a difference of perspective. Hugo, being from the modern world, saw air as merely particles of many types of gases. She, on the other hand, saw it in the classical way—as stale and unmoving wind.


    The wall stood, shredding the vines before they could get close to her.


    "Oh?" The archfey smiled. "You''re quite the mage, aren''t you? Now I wonder. Just how strong you are compared to your husband."


    "He''s not my husband, you imbecile!" Myrilla shouted. Still keeping up her Cyclone Wall, she retreated with her Wind Boost spell, putting as much distance as she could between her and the fey.


    She knew it was ultimately a futile move. This was her domain. There was no escaping her.


    But she needed to bide her time. There was a chance that he could come in and rescue her after all.


    …No. What was she thinking? She was supposed to keep him safe in place of Alan and Renee. She should be the one to rescue her.


    But he didn’t need her, did he? He was already far stronger than she was.


    “I can sense it, you know. Your unrequited love for him.”


    To her surprise, the voice of the archfey echoed inside her mind.


    “...Hmm, no. This is not love. This is… desire. You desire his attention. You want him to give you the attention he gave to his wives.”


    “You’re just one sad and lonely creature. Just like the girl that came here before you.”


    “Her name was Victoria. She’s the one you want to save, no? Oh, let me correct that. You don’t actually want to save her. You''re just going along with it because he wants to save her."


    Myrilla didn''t reply.


    She was right. She thought the whole thing was foolish from the start. Fighting against a Demon Lord… saving some girl he barely knew that had refused his help…


    She couldn''t dissuade him though. She knew his kind heart would regret it for the rest of his life if he let her be.


    Myrilla stopped. She glanced behind her. No one was there.


    "I can see you~"


    A breeze blew from behind her.


    No one was there however.


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    ?


    Hugo


    "...eeeeyyyy…"


    "Heeyyy, where are youuuuu?"


    I readied myself for a fight. The voice was unfamiliar to my ears, which meant it could be an enemy. I activated my Sight, anticipating any magic that might be coming towards me.


    She flew around a corner, disappearing the moment I caught sight of her presence.


    A smile formed on my face.


    Using a combination of my Wind Step and Graceful Step, I dashed down the hallway, chasing after the rainbow harpy with my full speed.


    When she realized I was coming for her, it was far too late for her to react.


    I grabbed her throat, pushed her to the nearest wall, and constricted her with wind tendrils, keeping her hands and feet (well, talons) on said wall.


    "Alright, you! Tell me where I can find Victoria!"


    "V-Victoria? Y-you mean, the half fairy girl?"


    "Yes! Where is she?"


    "She''s… she''s being kept somewhere in the center of the fortress! I don''t know the way! They won''t tell me!"


    "They? Who are these ''they''?!"


    “D-Darling! A-and the others! They never tell me anything!”


    Hugo paused.


    “Fine.” I released my choke, letting her fall to the ground, coughing profusely in the process. “You’re going to lead me out of these hallways. Oh, and I want you to tell where you’re keeping my friends as well.”


    ?


    Astra Naturia (The Harpy)


    Little did Hugo know that the harpy was quite taken by his looks. Not to mention the fact that she was into being treated roughly as well. Combine the two and he just charmed the harpy into being his ally. Temporarily, at the very least.


    The harpy stood up, dusting herself in the process. Smiling, she then said to him, “I’ll give you a tour of the entire place if you want!”


    Hugo raised his eyebrow before responding with his own smile.


    BA-DUMP


    Her legs wobbled. She just had been hit by Hugo’s patented lady-killer smile.


    “That would be lovely.” His voice was as soft as silk. “You’re Astra, right? My name is Hugo. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Milady.”


    And then, he bent over and kissed her hand.


    Steam came out from her ears (metaphorically speaking) — her face turning as red as a tomato.


    “O-of course! The pleasure’s all mine!”


    ?


    As promised, the harpy proceeded to lead her through the labyrinthine hallways, all the while telling him about his fight with Myrilla.


    “And then, she conjured a tornado right on my face! Can you believe it?! How rude! She didn’t even have the courage to stay and fight afterwards! She just ran away! What a coward!”


    Hugo didn’t say anything. He just let her blabber on her own.


    Eventually, her story ended, with her pointing towards a dead end.


    "That''s where I saw her last. I don''t know how she did it but she just disappeared into thin air!"


    She then stood aside as he examined the enclosed space.


    A grin formed on her face. She could hypnotize him with her song! And then he would be hers!


    She took a deep breath, preparing herself to blast him with her song. The louder she sang the faster it would take effect. Point blank like this, he should be charmed right away.


    “And here I thought I would let you live.”


    Her eyes widened. Her heart sank.


    She opened her mouth, blasting her song at him.


    Only for it to never reach Hugo’s ears.


    “It’s useless. I’ve stopped the vibrations of the air molecules around me. No noise can reach me unless I let it in.”


    He turned to face her, a grin on his face as he aimed his left palm towards her.


    “Frost Nova.”


    The harpy couldn’t do a thing.


    She could only watch as her body was enveloped in ice.


    ?


    Hugo


    Hugo quickly caught up that she had fallen in love with her. He wasn’t some dense harem protagonist who could never take a hint. That blushing… her fluttering of the eyes…


    And he decided to use that to his advantage.


    He pretty much now knew the general layout of the castle. It would be only a matter of time until he made his way to where they kept Victoria.


    But before that, he would need to meet up with Myrilla first.


    He had a strong suspicion that she was in a fight right now after all.