The heroes gathered once again after Poda-Bruss had concluded the construction of his special domain with the king's support. It was publically announced as the work of royal mages. Equipped with cloaks to hide their identity just in case they met a demon lord, they were now ready for departure to Sonosis.

     "See you guys later!" shouted Siege

     "We'll be back with good news," said Poda-Bruss

The heroes held hands with Blodelshein and in an instant, they disappeared into thin air. Since Blodeshein did not know the exact location of the demon lord's castle, she scoured the minds of Pronuses and used their thoughts to pinpoint the ideal location. When they finally landed back into existence, they were in the middle of an alley in the capital city of Sonosis. The atmosphere of the area was different from Avangarden, the sky was red with ominous clouds swirling into the center above the demon lord's castle. Poda-Bruss and Blodelshein had never been this close to the demon lord's home before.

When they finally made their way to the entrance, they were surprised that the entire security of the area was wiped out by an unknown force. The guards' bodies lay on the floor, lifeless. The door was ajar as well, another intruder must've invaded the castle.

The group carefully entered the castle, and the gruesome scene within made Orchestra puke a little in her mouth. The distinct stench of fresh blood was dizzying as it made her choke. As they continued through the bloodied halls of the building, they noticed that the invader was most likely wielding an axe as shown by the large gashing wounds across the bodies. Whoever this was clearly did not care about stealth or being humane.

When they heard a sharp scream from the floor above, they promptly rushed to the source. This was the castle's throne room, and the door was wide open. Seeing the heroes, a small Pronus ran toward them and hid behind them and a woman with a large dual-ended axe swiftly continued the chase.

     "⌈Motor Control Lock⌋"

The woman fell down with a thud, cracking the floor tiles, but she kept her eye contact with her prey, who was still cowering in fear behind Orchestra.

     "We should go somewhere more discreet..." said Poda-Bruss, holding the small demon with one hand and the woman on his shoulder

Blodelshein sensed her surrounding but found that everyone in the building was already dead.

     "Let's just stay in the throne room"

     "Then I shall search the room for anything of interest. There may be some clues regarding the demon lord here"

Orchestra and Blodeshein tied up the demon and the lady with rope and sat them down on the spots of the carpet yet to be stained by blood.

     "Alright so who are you guys?" asked Orchestra

     "..."

     "Come on, let's make it easy for the both of us. Look, we're heroes okay? Now can you tell me who you are?"

     "He-heroes?!"

     "That's what I said"

     "This is taking too long, I'll just read their minds," said Blodeshein

     "Wait, why didn't we do that in the first place?"

     "I'd rather not overuse it if possible"

Blodelshein scanned the strangers' minds and scoured for their identity.

     "Done. This small demon is the demon lord and this tall one is a hero"

     "Wait, really? This tiny demon is the demon lord?!"

     "Stop calling me tiny godammit!"

     "Well, I guess I'll trust you on this one. So what do we do with it"

     "Why don't we take her to our base?" said Orchestra

     "Poda, are you done with your search?"

     "Yes, but I couldn't find anything important. There is no sign of a demon lord anywhere around here"

     "I'm a demon lord!"

     "...What's up with this one?"

     "Oh, this one's actually the demon lord"

     "Wait, really?"

     "Yup, unbelievable, huh?"

While the conversations continued, Blodeshein could feel the hateful glare radiating from the axe-wielding hero.

     "You're name is Solas right?"

     "..."

     "Don't worry, we're your allies as fellow heroes"

     "...Why did you stop me from killing the demon lord?"

     "Well, it was a bit sudden so I just acted on reflex. Also, it'd be more valuable to use this demon lord, wouldn't it?"

     "There is no need for cowardly scheming such as using a demon lord. Our job as heroes is to kill the demon lord. Anyone who is in my way is no ally of mine"

     "What's up with this one..." said Orchestra

She was reminded that heroes came in all shapes and forms. Before meeting her predecessors and successors, she thought that all heroes were about the same; charismatic, strong and equipped with a solid sense of righteousness. While she did meet many heroes like that, being Siege, Poda-Bruss, Kallen and Blodelshein, she also met heroes with... unique personalities. Reginn was still righteous and protected others, but he had a sadistic edge to him, a side of him that enjoyed the dominance he felt over others. He also had the intelligence and strength to back it up, though he lacked in common sense. Kaizer was similar to him, except that she felt much more human, perhaps due to her strength being more human. While at first she seemed to be sadistic and sociopathic like Reginn, when you got to know her, you could see that she liked the company of others. She was also lazy and clumsy, which made her feel disarming.

She began to wonder what it meant to be a hero. Why was someone like Kaizer chosen to be a hero? Was it her drive for affirmation? Her strength? Belief in the Goddess? She pondered those questions as they made their way back to the entrance.

On their way, they crossed paths with 4 strangers. One with a tall build, glasses and a white beard, a young man with blue hair, a zombie-like lady and a boy wearing a cloak.

     "Excuse me, could you tell me where you're going with that," said the blue-haired man, grabbing Poda's vacant shoulder

     "..."

Noticing that something felt off, Blodelshein tried to read the mind of the demons but failed. Surprisingly, the strangers seemed to have noticed and looked around for a bit before focusing their attention back on the heroes. This was bad news.

     "We're... evacuating. Someone or something came and destroyed the castle and everyone in it, so we're-"

Suddenly a whistle began to blow from the cloak of the boy.

     "...She's lying," said the boy

     "...So could you tell me again? What were you doing in this castle" said the blue-haired man in a much more threatening tone.

Blodeshein realized that they needed to go now and grabbed Poda-Bruss and Orchestra's wrists in order to teleport away, but in an instant, the large white-bearded man with glasses bodied her and knocked her all the way to the wall on the other side.

     "⌈Maximum Barrier⌋!"

Poda-Bruss accordingly put up a barrier tightly around him and Orchestra.

     "Quick, retreat!"

Orchestra quickly grabbed Blodelshein and took to the sky while Poda-Bruss ran carrying Solas and the demon lord.

     "⌈Motor... Control... Release⌋..."

Blodelshein undid her skill, returning Solas's ability to move again. Solas summoned her axe and took her stand against the chasing strangers.

     "Don't wait for me, you guys go on"

However, the strangers had a different plan in mind.

     "Karudo, you go after the winged girl. Velvel, you go after the one who created barriers. I'll fight this arrogant hero and Alcaeus... uhh... you can go back to the demon lord's castle. Try to find... something I guess?"

With a sigh, Alcaeus stopped following the chase and began to walk back to the castle. There was no arguing it, he'd just be a burden to the other demon lords if he fought alongside them. Especially since he was almost killed by the axe-wielding hero.

When they finally reached Solas, Karudo, the bespectacled man, vanished into thin air while Velvel, the zombie-like girl jumped up to the roofs of the buildings and continued pursuit of Poda-Bruss.

Zealot vs. Solas

The blue-haired man, called Zealot by his enemies, lost his cloak and revealed his glorious form for all to see.

     "If you move out of the way, I'll let you live"

     "I never make deals with demons"

Solas spun her axe and smashed Zealot, but he was able to block it with just his index finger.

     "I'm not lying. I'll really let you go, you know?"

Solas backflipped away, before charging in for another strike. This time, her axe was covered in a white flame. Zealot automatically used his finger to block it once again, but this time, it was chopped clean off. However, he did not feel any concern, but rather, curiosity. From the looks of it, Solas was a Pravus. She may hide her wings, but her mannerism and hair colour told him more than enough. Therefore, that strike was likely imbued with holy magic, extremely effective against demons like him. Even then, it was surprising that she was able to damage him like that. Even the strongest holy magic couldn't even scratch him. She must've been using some kind of talent.

He regrew his finger right away before going on the offensive. Solas blocked Zealot's punch with her axe but was still blown away through multiple buildings. Zealot cracked his knuckles as the last time he felt this thrilled was when he fought Reginn.

Solas recovered from the rubbles and stood back up with both her hands holding the axe. She was clearly bleeding from all corners of her body, but she stood there as if it was but a scratch.

     "I guess I'll just have to knock you out and leave you be"

     "I do not want your pathetic grace, demon"

     "Well, think of it as my show of strength. The strong can kill any opponent, but the truly strong can choose the fate of their opponent with no repercussions. I'm not worried about you harming me, so that's why I'm letting you go. I don't particularly like killing you see"

     "Liar, all demons crave the blood of humans"

     "No no no, not all demons are like that. Personally, I just want everyone to be happy. Killing always results in someone being unhappy, and I just don't want that"

     "What childish ideal"

     "Of course, but the simplest is the best, no?"

Solas once again enveloped her axe with holy magic before charging at Zealot, but he chose to just stand there and tank the hit. This time, he was able to block the strike with his finger.

     "Impossible..."

     "Well, I suppose so, but seeing is believing right?"

Solas tried to backstep away, but Zealot followed and flicked her forehead with his fingers. She was knocked out and lay unconscious among the rubble. Zealot decided to leave her there for now as he was sure she could find her way back somehow. He himself decided to check up on his comrades.