"Mirmul was like a second hometown to me. I lost people I considered family, and I went for revenge because I was furious.

But...

I learned that the humans were the ones who had angered the demons.

Humans had infiltrated the demon city and kidnapped demon children. The demons had only come to retrieve them."

"...I see...that makes sense...

...Thinking about it, it's something that money-hungry humans would do.

...But wouldn't it have been enough to retrieve the children and kill the culprits? Why destroy the entire city?"

"Even the vampire boss apologized for destroying the city. To be honest, I was surprised."

"The demons were vampires!"

"Yeah, the vampire lord apparently didn't know about it. By the time he intervened, the city was already destroyed.

...Humans have gotten pretty weak compared to the past."

"The past?"

"Around the time of the human-demon war two thousand years ago."

"I see...vampires are immortal, so the lord has been alive since the war two thousand years ago.

...It's good that you didn't have to fight an immortal being."

"I did fight them in Mirmul. I could defeat the lower-ranking vampires, but the lord was strong. It's true that they're immortal. It's only natural that the city was destroyed. If there were an all-out war, humans probably wouldn't win."

"But I heard you defeated them?"

"They retreated. I didn't lose, but I couldn't kill them. If we'd fought endlessly, I don't know how it would have ended."

"So you won, even if you couldn't kill them."

"...Vampires aren't a race that likes fighting.

I went there to take revenge, planning to destroy their city, but then they apologized, explained things, and I lost my anger. Well...if an enemy I'm not sure I could even beat apologizes and offers compensation, I had no choice but to make peace, are you satisfied?"

"Lots of information...it'll take me some time to process it. I'm not very smart..."

"So you were suspicious that I was a demon spy and treated me badly?"

"...Somehow, I felt that you not taking revenge on the demons was just like avenging Catherine...

I tried to provoke you repeatedly to reveal your true identity. I thought you'd reveal your identity if I underestimated your level."

"Your provocation was clumsy."

"Hmph, your acting was pretty awful too...You couldn't be an agent with that performance" (laughs)

"So that brutal training was because of me?"

"To be honest, I'm sorry to the other trainees. It was mostly personal feelings. I think I'm a disqualified instructor."

"But, how strong are you really?"

Afterwards, Iraira challenged Ryu to another mock battle. This time, Ryu fought Iraira using only his natural abilities, without time magic or the Divine Eye.

It seemed difficult for him to win against Iraira with just his natural abilities...

But Ryu's physical abilities were extremely high, and he had already learned almost all of Iraira's techniques in slow motion during the previous mock battle. And he wasn't at a disadvantage in terms of the number of attacks, thanks to dual wielding.

At first, Ryu was no match for Iraira, but as they fought repeatedly, they became evenly matched, and Ryu started winning about half the time.

"You're still strong, Iraira. As expected of an S-rank."

"Former S-rank. But you still kept your 'secret weapon' a secret. If you'd used it, I wouldn't have stood a chance."

"That wouldn't be meaningful, raw strength is important."

"Right. Your secret skills are still a mystery, but training your natural abilities will have a positive impact when you use your skills.

But I'm starting to lose confidence after getting stronger so quickly..."

Ryu's swordsmanship had improved considerably after being trained by Reinarde. And through repeated mock battles with Iraira, he'd developed new techniques.

This was actually Iraira's way of thanking Ryu for saving her son.

Finally, Iraira requested a single match against Silver Mask. She wanted to know the full extent of Ryu's abilities, with his secret weapons.

Ryu reluctantly summoned Silver Mask. (He went to the changing room and put on the mask. He was determined to maintain the setting.)

Iraira faced Silver Mask. Ryu had been using dual wielding, but Silver Mask was wielding a single longsword.

Just as Iraira was about to attack...

She found Silver Mask behind her, his sword pressed against her neck.

...

Later, Iraira said,

"I didn't know what happened.

It wasn't hypnosis or super speed, it was as if time had stopped...It couldn't have been.

It was terrifying...

Silver Mask is not someone to be trifled with..."

Next Episode

Goodbye Iraira.

Stay tuned!