"Gah! W-Who are you?!" Chester frantically exclaimed as he was pinned to the ground.

"You don't have any right to know me, Scum," answered the person who was pinning Chester to the ground.

"... A woman?"

Chester was slightly surprised as soon as he heard his soon to be killer's voice. He didn't feel the woman utilizing her Mana, but in spite of that, he still felt a great force pushing him down to the ground.

He wouldn't have thought any of it if she was a Knight, but since she was also a Mage like him, he was as amazed as he was embarrassed. He, after all, still couldn't match her power despite the physical training he had undergone.

"Let go of me, woman. I won't say a word to anyone about your master—I swear!" Chester said as he was flipped over.

"I just want to be alive so—wow... You are pretty." Chester was dumbfounded as soon as he saw the appearance of his soon to be killer.

She has a long, violet hair; a pair of clear, blue eyes; a delicate mole under her left eye that further amplified her charm; a fair skin tone; and a beautifully sharp chin. She was definitely one of the most beautiful women Chester had ever seen directly.

"Keep that word to yourself, Empire scum." The violet haired woman, Ione, scrunched her nose up in disgust. "Keep looking at me like that, and I'll let you know how it feels having your eyeballs in your arse."

"... Now that I think about it, you are not as beautiful as I thought, ma'am," Chester politely said.

Ione clicked her tongue, then punched Chester's chest, right on the place where his heart was located at.

Crunch!

Chester held back an undignified scream as soon as his chest bone was broken. He gritted his teeth as he endured the pain, but he couldn't help widening his eyes as soon as he found what had happened to his Magic Circles.

"W-What have you done?! I can't access my Magic Circles anymore!"

"To not even know such a thing—as expected of an uneducated Empire scum." Ione scoffed in disdain. "I, for your information, have just sealed your Magic Circles, so I can play with you without worrying about you attacking me sneakily."

"I am not into that kind of play unfortunately." Chester looked at Ione's cruel smile in horror.

Quickly losing the cruel smile on her face, Ione sighed lightly in exasperation. She knew Chester wasn't purposely annoying her, but everything that had come out of his mouth so far had managed to annoy her.

She initially wanted to extract some information about the internal of Braxtein Kingdom from Chester by torturing him, but now that she had figured how annoying he was, she thought it would be better to perform a [Soul Scourge] on him.

Clenching her fist, she strongly punched Chester in his lower jaw. Chester couldn't even flinch as her fist was so quick, he only realized he was being punched after he started feeling dizzy.

He only managed to blink his eyes for a couple of times to get rid of the stars he was seeing, before he went unconscious. The last thing he had in his mind was, 'This type of woman is the reason why I don't date.'

Smack!

Ione slapped Chester's cheek once to make sure he was really unconscious. Although she knew he was from the beginning, she just suddenly felt the urge to do it—she felt strangely offended.

"This man is not surrounded by many negative energy, but I still can't spare this man ... Many of our own were killed by this type of man," Ione muttered bitterly as she looked at Chester.

She put her palm on Chester's forehead, and was about to perform [Soul Scourge] when something fell out of his coat. It was a clear crystal sphere that was used as a media to communicate by Mages—a Visual Orb.

Wondering briefly why Chester would keep such a thing outside of his Spatial Bracelet, Ione then turned her attention away from it ... At least, until she noticed there was someone connected to the Visual Orb.

"I highly recommend you to not do anything that may do harm to that man."

"Who are you?"

Ione turned to the image projected by the Visual Orb, and quirked her delicate eyebrow. She could see an extremely attractive young man with a brown hair that was smiling faintly at her in the projection.

"Why don't we know each other when we can meet directly?"

"Such a thing will never happen." Ione scoffed coldly. "The day we meet will be the day when I end your filthy life."

"You sound like someone from the Church." The young man in the projection lightly smiled. "It is very ironic considering your true identity, isn't it, Ione?"

"..."

The moment the young man called her name, Ione's eyes widened in shock. She had never told her name to anyone who was born in Braxtein except for Charles, the person who she had come to serve.

Even then, not even Charles knew who she really was. Basil, from how it looked, really knew who she really was, and therefore she couldn't help clenching her fist in fury and slight fear.

She didn't want to be exposed, because that would endanger all of the people who had raised her. They didn't even know what she was currently doing, so she couldn't afford to involve them in her problem.

"What do you want?" Ione said through gritted teeth.

"Take that man to the place where the mist was originated from," the young man said calmly. "You will see many people fighting Demons around the place, and in case they got cautious of you, you can say that Basil sent you there."

"Basil...?"

Receiving Ione's puzzled look, the brown haired young man, who was none other than Basil smiled mysteriously. "That is my name—Basil Pacifer."

As soon as he said that, Basil activated his Pacifer Seal. His eyes turned golden at the same time his Pacifer Seal glowed in gold—he looked more charismatic and regal than he already was.

"Thou lookest perplexed, young lady."

"H-How...?!" Ione widened her eyes as if she had just seen something that should never happen. "Y-You... You are the—"

"We shall talk when we meet," Basil interrupted. "I am aware thou art curious, however the time is not now." Motioning his hand towards Chester, he said, "Bring that man with thee, and expect mine arrival."

Ione was about to say something, but Basil immediately deactivated his Pacifer Seal and cut his connection to the Visual Orb. Ione's face immediately turned sour, but a beautiful smile bloomed on her face not long after.

"Our hope for glory has been born..." Ione chuckled in disbelief. "It is unfortunate that I can't talk with him now, but I should be patient for I will be able to meet him soon."

Ione's heart beat faster in excitement. "I don't know if he is the real deal, but I can already see the hope of our Pacifer Clan's revival in his eyes ... In case he turns out to be a trickster, I, Ione Pacifer, will kill him myself."historical

As the light in Ione's eyes sank down coldly, her Pacifer Seal appeared in the middle of her forehead. The Seal briefly shone in white, before disappearing in the next moment.

...

After walking for a couple of minutes towards the direction where she could feel the mist was originated from, Ione, while carrying Chester in her arms, could finally see Familia Hotel.

There were 20 people fighting with the Middle Class Demons outside the High Grade Mana Barrier covered hotel, just like what Basil had told her earlier. 6 amongst the people were the Knights of Hauler.

"They are already exhausted." Ione frowned. "Considering how weak they are however, I am not even surprised."

She unconsciously scoffed as she thought about how generally weak the people living under the Empire's rule were.

She, of course, knew that the people of Pacifer Clan were different, but she still couldn't help ridiculing them for how lacking they were compared to everyone from Pacifer Clan from time to time.

"For Basil to protect the hotel this much, he must have something precious inside it," Ione mused. "To think that he let these people protect the hotel... He must have been left with no choice."

Extending her hand as she decided to lend a hand to the people protecting the hotel, Ione sent a Spell towards the Demons overwhelming the Knights of Hauler.

Her Spell shot towards the Demons like a flash, and upon contact with them, it immediately made them explode.

The Knights of Hauler were immediately perplexed the moment the bits of the Demons' flesh hit them, and it didn't take them long to turn to Ione.

"They can only notice me after such a direct approach?" Ione snorted in amusement. "How laughable."

Receiving the people's cautious gaze, Ione strode confidently as if she was the owner of the world. Some of the Demons that noticed her presence came at her, but they were immediately obliterated before they even reached her.

Unlike when she was helping the Knights of Hauler however, she didn't even extend her hand this time, thus creating an image of her being untouchable.

"Basil sent me here." Upon arriving right in front of Thompson, who she had correctly deduced as the leader, Ione gestured at Chester in her arms. "This man is important enough for Basil, so you shouldn't waste my time, and let me in."

"... Who are you?" Thompson asked hesitantly. "You are beautiful, but if you are going to pose as Miss. Iliana, you look slightly older than her."

"Iliana, huh?" Ione quirked her eyebrow in interest. "Is this just a coincidence? There are so many things that make me feel curious now," she mused before throwing Chester at Thompson. "Just take him inside yourself."

"Wow wow—calm down, lady! I was just asking!" Thompson exclaimed after barely managing to prevent Chester from falling to the ground.

"I have told you that I was sent here by Basil—you don't believe me, and I am sick of it." Ione waved her hand nonchalantly. "You can take that man inside in my stead. I am going to fight some Demons until Basil arrives here."

Blinking his eyes at how similar Ione's behaviour to Iliana's and Basil's, Thompson wondered if the three were somehow related ... They were.