(Warning! Lot's of swearing in this chapter!)

After everyone got out of the carriage, which fled like it was on fire right after they did so, what stood in front of the group was an imposing forest that carried a gloomy and desolate aura. Even an idiot would know not to approach it as the forest excluded an aura warning everyone of the extreme dangers ahead.

They couldn't help but gulp at the sight of this, and some even started to doubt their decisions in accepting the quest.

Even Nadina was quite startled as the forest was nothing like the one she got lost in back then.

At that time, even if it was dangerous, at least the atmosphere was quite peaceful and full of vitality. However, now it's as if someone dyed the whole forest in black ink, causing those who stare into it to unconsciously feel as if an endless amount of killing intent was crashing down onto them.

When traveling, one could barely see 10 meters in front of them, whereas back then, Nadina was able to see at least half a kilometer in all directions.

"We've already come so far, and there's no backing down now. Everyone, we're aiming to become stronger, so if we cannot even pass this measly test, what right do we have to proclaim ourselves and geniuses?", stated Liam, who was one of the first to calm down.

"R-right...", Melodie replied meekly.

As the group walked inside the forest, it's as if they stepped into a completely different world, one that's isolated from the rest. Darkness engulfed everyone and it felt as if many pairs of eyes were fixed upon them, watching every step they take.

When they ventured further into this dangerous and unfamiliar place, low growls could be heard from time to time, which caused everyone to feel more restless.

Suddenly, a shadow pounced on them from behind and scratched Lyra on her back, which left a large, bloody wound.

"Lyra!", Nicolas cried out.

Everyone was stunned by the sudden ambush, but did not stay that way for long as they worked together to hack the shadow down, which was surprisingly very weak.

Melodie didn't take her sweet time dilly-dallying either as she rushed in to heal Lyra. After a few minutes, her back was as good as new without a single scar on it. However, Melodie on the other hand, had a slightly pale face, but looked as if she could still hold on. This is due to the overuse of mana, and since Lyra was inflicted with a severe wound, it took away a lot of Melodie's magic to be able to heal her.

Lyra thanked Melodie for her assistance, and everyone raised their awareness by a whole other level, as everyone was extremely on guard for fear that anything else unexpected would occur. They could be said to have gotten lucky this time as Lyra only received a severe injury, instead of having gotten killed with one strike. Wounds could be treated, but one cannot bring the dead back to life, unless you wield immense power like Miranda, who granted Nadina the chance to be reborn. However, all this would just be a faraway dream for normal inhabitants of a plane, like Melodie and co.

Slowly, they started to approach the figure, which had now become a corpse, in order to take a good look at the "thing" which injured Lyra. After everyone saw its appearance, their faces paled, while Lyra and Melodie couldn't help but go to the side and puke. Even Nadina, who had seen many horror movies in her past life, shook a little.

Laying on the floor was a corpse of a "thing" that couldn't have been more demented than it currently is. Its body structure was completely distorted, as arms were growing out from all over the place and it had at least hundreds of eyes covering its body. At the places where it was attacked, maggots were squirming out and the worst part is, many human shaped limbs, regardless of if it was a head or leg, grew out from strange places. One can't even tell where the front and back of the monster are located.

"SCCRREEEECCHHH!!!", the monster, who was supposedly dead, suddenly let out an ear piercing shriek.

Everyone was alarmed as they got into a defensive position, awaiting the next attack.

But it never came.

After it gave out one last screech, the monster started to dissolve into an icky black goo, as if acid was poured onto it, not even leaving the bones behind, if it had any.

This left a large shadow in all their hearts, as everyone was terrified and only had one thought in their head. 

'Run'

As soon as the thought arrived, Nadina, who was honestly just a bit stunned by the appearance of the monster and had calmed down long ago, spoke out. "What are you pussy-cats afraid of? Sure, that monster looked very disgusting, but even in the end, it was pretty weak, so what is there to be scared of?"

Everyone came to a realization with her words as they gradually started to regain their coolheadedness. If even that sissy Nadina wasn't nervous, why should they be? Plus, the monster was pretty easy to kill. If was like they were facing low leveled goblins, so weak that they could be defeated with one strike. With that thought in mind the confidence which lost came back, and they resumed their mission.

Spade shot his sister a proud look, as if saying "That's my little sister! Isn't my angel just the best?", and Melodie started to trail behind Nadina like an obedient little chick following its mom. Nicolas had an incomprehensible gaze as he watched her, Lyra basically had the same look that Spade carried, and the rest found her to be less unpleasant than before.

Nadina was speechless.

All she did was get a little pissed off at their cowardliness, then this happened.

Mmm, yeah. Mr.Driver-who-drove-me-to-the-capital was right, there really are all types of people in this world. Better not bother with weirdos like them.

If Lyra knew what Nadina was thinking, she'd probably smack her best friend on the head while shouting, "As if you have any damn say in this! You not only dress up as a boy, who in other people's eyes is the 'genius youngest S ranked adventurer' but is actually and SSS ranked adventurer, you also have an affinity with all the elements. And if that wasn't enough, you also came up with some crazy 'Engagement-cancellation plan' and dragged me into it. If anyone here is abnormal, it. Would. Be. YOU!"

On the way, they encountered more creatures like the monster from before, and all of them were easy to kill, but nauseating to stare at. It really made one want to throw up on the spot!

As they reached nearer and nearer to the core of this forest, where the demon was supposedly located, the monsters started to get stronger and their appearances started to become more and more gruesome. It's a good thing that they gradually started to become accustomed to it, as they no longer found themselves holding an urge to puke whenever they saw one.

Nadina and her group finally reached the center of the Forest of Nightmares, and unexpectedly, there was... nothing!

Nothing at all! No living (or dead) being in sight, no grass, no trees... just a cold, hard ground and endless amounts of darkness.

"Welcome, to my paradise.", came an eerie voice that seemed to resonate all around them.

"I haven't had such delicious prey in a while~ You should have never come here, haven't your mommies and daddies told you that? A bunch of half-grown brats venturing into my forest? That's like dinner being served right to me!"

After he said the last word, an invisible pressure crashed onto them, and everyone's instincts were telling them that they were going to die. They were going to die. Them, geniuses of the greatest academy in Sairale, people who were revered wherever they went, people destined to be successful and have a bright future ahead of them, people who were going to accomplish great things and become the pillar of this world, and all this would be caused by a demon, the lowest of the low. The creatures that were shunned upon by everyone. The ultimate threat to the other races.

"No... even if I die here, it will never be by a lowly demon like you!", the usually calm Ace shouted out. It looks like even he was scared sh*tless by this demon.

The rest nodded their heads, as if agreeing with his statement.

"But, doesn't his aura seem somewhat different compared to your average high-tier middle class demon?", questioned Liam.

"Now that you mention it.. yeah! Remember that one public execution of that low-tier high class demon? If you think about it, this demon's aura is kinda like his...", said Nicolas.

"F*ck! D-don't tell me..."

"...that this demon evolved into a low-tier high class one?!"

"Hehe~ You filthy humans are actually smart aren't you? No... quite a few of you here aren't fully human...", said the demon as he materialized in front of them, then turned to Ace. "A half-phoenix, huh? Those are quite rare, just like dragons, so you must be very tasty!". It wasn't a secret that the queen of Pafizika is a phoenix, so it's no surprise that Ace would have some phoenix blood in him.

Then he turned to Melodie with an intoxicated expression and said with a voice like he was talking to his lover, which sent goosebumps down everyone, "Oho~ well don't we have an esteemed guest today? When was the last time I've eaten an angel? I can't remember, but it was very, very tasty. Although you're only a half... there's no doubt that you must be very appetizing as well." Yeah, no surprise there either. I mean, with the fluffy and "pure" appearance of Melodie, only an idiot wouldn't think that she was affiliated with the angel race. 

When it came to Myers, his eyes widened as he licked his lips and said, "Fallen angel! Those are extremely rare to come across, and all the dark energy in you can help me directly make another breakthrough to middle-tier!"

The demon directly skipped past Reito, as wolves were quite common and there was honestly nothing special about them.

When his line of sight landed on Spade, he literally started to drool. His voice shook as he exclaimed, "A fairy.. it's actually a pureblooded fairy! Those damnable winged-humans with pointy ears just hide all day, so a lot of us demons have never seen one before... Now that there's a lost little fairy that delivered himself right to me... Ahh~ Thinking about it just makes me hungry~"

But when he looked at Nicolas, he had a very strange look on his face, as if expressions his complete confusion at why the hell he was even here. "I'm not a cannibal... so what the heck is a half-demon like you doing here?"

If everyone was stunned to find out that Spade was a fairy, then they were absolutely flabbergasted when the demon said Nicolas was a half-demon.

Suddenly, their gazes turned wary as their glared at him with hostility and were clearly extremely suspicious of him.

However, Lyra and Nadina seemed to act as natural as ever, like they already knew about that fact. When he was younger, Nicolas was often bullied due to his half-demon lineage, and it was always up to Nadina to protect him while Lyra treated his wounds. They knew that their best friend had suffered a lot because he was born as something he didn't want to be, so they never abandoned him even when others did. That's why they were neither scared nor held any animosity towards the adolescent.

Nicolas also seemed to be used to these looks, as he also acted as if nothing happened.

While everybody else distanced themselves from him, Nadina and Lyra walked closer. Even if she was someone who was hell-bent on getting her engagement broken, Nadina was still someone who knew her priorities, so she let go of all that crap about being bratty and calmly walked towards her best friend. 

Meanwhile, Nicolas was baffled at the actions of the "school bully", as he'd always held a bad impression of her. It was this one girl who he'd always been guarded against that, in the most critical moment, came up to defend him. He lamented on the fact that people's true faces really can be uncovered at the most dangerous moments. Too bad they were all going to die here, or else he'd apologize to her and perhaps even become friends.

You can't blame Nicolas for thinking this way as what are the chances that a normal group of students can defeat a high class demon? None. But there was one miscalculation, and that's Nadina.

This is her plane, and she's the Realmkeeper of it. Therefore, she controls all life and death happening here. With one thought, she is capable of killing the pest in front of her, but she chose not to as she still wanted to keep her identity a secret.

Nicolas wasn't the only one who was stunned by Nadina, everyone who was originally on guard against Nicolas were also bewildered by her behavior. Everyone knew Lyra and Nicolas were best friends, as they always spent their time together, so it's only natural that she'd protect someone she cared for, but what about Nadina?

"Woah, did you get your head smashed by a door or something? Or is it because  you two are of the same caliber? I guess birds of a feather really do flock together. Seeing how cruel the both of you are, it's no surprise you'd want to defend one of your own kind.", mocked Myers.

That was the final straw for Nadina, as these imbeciles have crossed her boundaries one too many times. They hated her for being such an arrogant brat? She tolerated it because it's the image she wanted, and it's partially her fault. They mocked everything she did? She tolerated it. They called her heartless? She still tolerated it. But now they're badmouthing her friends, and that's when the last bit of patience in her ran out.

What happened next? She exploded.

"Shut up you f*cking idiot. Would it kill you to f*cking shut you sh*tty mouth that just goes b*tching off every second? You're seriously the most goddamn f*cking annoying asshole that I've ever seen. It's like you can't f*cking live without f*cking insulting us every goddamn f*cking second. You're a complete retard, so just shut your damn trap. So what if Nicolas is a f*cking demon? SO WHAT? Did he ever express public contempt against others like you did? Did he ever abuse their authority and badmouth others whenever he felt like it just like you did? Did you have to experience the isolation and pains of being scorned for something you never wanted to turn out as like he did? No. You. Did. Not. Therefore I would be very grateful if you'd just piss off, you goddamn son of a b*tch. You know what, f*ck this sh*t. You dipsh*t should just go and screw yourselves over a thousand times. I don't even give two f*cks anymore. D*ck heads like you should just rot in hell. Yeah, I'm acting like a b*tch and a brat. Sure, I'm wearing disgusting clothing that makes people wanna puke. Do I look like I give a crap? No. That's why you should just f*cking grow up and stop acting like such a baby who goes around picking on things they don't like."

. . .

(」゜ロ゜)」

There was just total silence.

Spade had never seen his dear little sister this mad before, to the point of using all these "unethical" and "slum" words to retaliate against the rest of them.

Everyone else... couldn't even fully process what was going on and what happened next... probably left a mental trauma in them.

Nadina walked up to the demon, cursed at it a few times, then snapped her fingers. 

Without even being able to have let out one last scream, the demon's body exploded on the spot, with its innards flying everywhere, then dissolving into nothingness.

The only part intact would be the head, which at this point, carried completely lifeless eyes, and it was helplessly stuffed into a bag.

"M-Monster", sobbed Myers while trembling like a newborn deer.

Nadina turned to face him, then gave a bloody smile and put her hands to her lips, creating a "shh" gesture.

Melodie was scared, but she still trusted the hero she looked up to. Her savior and idol. Which is why she spoke up, "Myers, just shut up. Nadina-sama is always right."

Spade also chimed in, "My dear angel would never be wrong in whatever she does. Monster? I think the real monster here is you, the one who goes around insulting everyone and creating inner demons. You think you're so cool, high and mighty with because you're a genius, huh? Don't give me that crap. I can tell you right now that my dear Naddy's swordsmanship is levels above you."

Lyra also chuckled, "Dina.. no, now it's Naddy-chan, is my best friend. Talking sh*t about her is doing so to me as well. If you wanna go, I don't mind playing with you lads for a while~"

Nicolas had an astounded expression plastered onto his face as he quietly squeaked out, "D-Dina?"

Ace, who was silent this entire time, just sighed, "I am neither an idiot nor someone with low IQ. You're probably doing all this for a reason, right?"

Nadina just spat out three words for him, "Cancel the engagement".

He then had an 'I knew it' look on his face as he shook his head and said, "If you hate being with me so much, I won't force it. To tell you the truth, although you always looked so lovestruck when it came to me, I couldn't feel and of it. However, don't you dare think I'll be giving up so easily. You shouldn't underestimate a prince, because I'll still court you whenever I can, and win your heart fairly."

"That won't be happening"

"Never know if I don't try, right? Alright... I, Ace Fairmond hereby declare my engagement with Nadina Loctine annulled. Do you accept?"

"I, Nadina Loctine, accept your decree."

With that, a piece of paper that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere burst into tiny particles and both Nadina and Ace could feel a certain connection between them was severed.

"Since my job is now complete, I'm going to have to knock you out, okay? Everything that happened today must be known by no one."

Truthfully, she was going to use a memory wiper spell that Realmkeepers could use to wipe the memories of those who've seen them use their real powers. Every keeper has it, since it's very convenient and it helps keep the balance in their world.

Those one Nadina's side agreed without hesitation, but Myers started to complain, "What?! Why do you get to knock us out? What if you do something bad? What if--"

*Pah*

Time waited for no one, so she directly kicked him in the nuts and his eyes rolled to the back of his head as he completely fainted.

Everyone unconsciously shivered at that sight.

Nadina then turned to the rest of them and said with a warm and sunny smile, "Sweet Dreams~"

Suddenly, the world around them turned dark.