Chapter 327: The True Target

Location: Lummimc City Express Highway — Toward Yuno City

The express highway stretched across the land in a nearly straight line, connecting Lummimc City to the surrounding cities through a network of restricted routes. Officially, the highway existed for VIP transportation and emergency travel, allowing important personnel to move between cities without becoming trapped in ordinary traffic.

In reality, its primary users were the Agency.

The roads were designed wide enough for armored vehicles and emergency convoys to travel at extreme speeds, with most civilian traffic prohibited from entering without special authorization. Whenever a crisis occurred in another city, these express routes allowed Agency forces to reach the affected area as quickly as possible.

Tonight, that purpose was being pushed to its limit.

Several Agency vehicles raced down the highway at tremendous speed, their engines roaring as the convoy headed directly toward Yuno City. Armored transports occupied the front and rear while specialized combat vehicles remained between them, carrying equipment prepared for whatever unknown threat awaited them.

In the middle of the convoy was the vehicle carrying Sara and Sister Mary.

Several guards sat around them, fully armed and prepared for combat, but the atmosphere inside remained tense. Nobody spoke unnecessarily. News of Captain Raven’s death and the catastrophic losses suffered by the Shadow Corps had already spread through the command structure, and no one inside the convoy needed to be reminded what that meant.

Sara sat quietly with her arms folded.

Unlike the others, she wasn’t simply waiting to arrive. Her mind had been working continuously since they left headquarters, trying to fit every piece of tonight’s invasion together.

Something about the entire situation bothered her.

Why Yuuta?

That question kept returning no matter how many possibilities she considered.

Why would the demons specifically target Erza’s husband?

Surely they knew who Erza was. Anyone capable of organizing an invasion on this scale couldn’t possibly be ignorant of the Supreme Commander’s strength. Attacking someone personally connected to her wasn’t merely dangerous it was practically asking Erza to hunt them down herself.

Yet the demons had done it anyway.

Sara’s eyes narrowed.

Unless they planned around her from the beginning.

Leviathan.

The creature had appeared at almost the perfect time, forcing Erza away from the cities and keeping her occupied over the ocean while the demons carried out their invasion elsewhere.

That couldn’t be coincidence.

So they knew.

They knew how dangerous Erza was. They knew they couldn’t casually approach Yuuta while she was nearby, so they had sent something powerful enough to keep her occupied.

But that only created another question.

Why go this far for him?

Yuuta was human.

At least, that was what Sara had believed.

Now she wasn’t nearly as certain.

The strange Calamity-level energy detected in Yuno City, Sister Mary’s reaction to it, the mention of a seal, the near-total destruction of Raven’s unit and the demons’ obvious determination to reach Yuuta all suggested that there was something much larger happening beneath the surface.

Sara glanced toward Sister Mary.

The woman had barely spoken since they left headquarters.

And she knows something.

Sara was certain of that much.

Before she could organize the questions any further, the entire convoy suddenly erupted into chaos.

Tires screamed against the expressway.

The lead vehicle slammed on its brakes, forcing the one behind it to swerve violently. Another armored transport drifted sideways to avoid crashing into them, while the remaining drivers reacted almost instantly, braking and maneuvering around one another.

Sara was thrown forward against her seatbelt.

Sister Mary caught herself against the side of the vehicle, while the guards immediately reached for their weapons, assuming they were under attack.

Within seconds, the entire convoy had stopped in the middle of the highway.

Sara straightened herself.

"What happened?"

Nobody answered immediately.

Her expression darkened.

"Why are we stopping in the middle of the road?"

The vehicle’s internal display suddenly flickered red.

A calm artificial voice filled the cabin.

"Warning. Navigation anomaly detected. Convoy route calculation suspended."

Sara steadied herself against the seat as the vehicle came to a complete stop. Around them, the rest of the convoy had done the same, several vehicles having drifted across the expressway to avoid colliding with one another.

"What happened?" Sara demanded. "Why did we stop?"

"Chief Sara, an error has occurred within the destination-tracking system."

Sara frowned at the dashboard.

"What kind of error, Monday?"

There was a brief electronic pause.

"Attempting diagnosis..."

Several displays across the vehicle rapidly changed as maps, coordinates and streams of data appeared.

"Primary navigation system: unable to resolve destination. Secondary navigation system: unable to resolve destination. Agency regional positioning network: no geographical confirmation received."

Sara’s expression tightened.

"What’s the destination status?"

"Destination: Yuno City. Current status: undetectable."

Sara stared at the screen.

"What do you mean, undetectable?"

"Clarification: Yuno City’s registered geographical coordinates are no longer producing a valid location response."

"That doesn’t make any sense. Recalculate."

"Recalculating..."

The map disappeared and returned several times.

"Route calculation failed."

"Use another Agency server."

"Already attempted. No valid response."

"Then access the regional positioning network."

"Already attempted. No valid response."

Sara’s irritation began turning into concern.

"Monday, stop repeating errors and tell me exactly what is happening."

The AI remained completely emotionless.

"Based on currently available data, Yuno City cannot be detected by any connected Agency positioning system. Satellite-independent navigation, regional mapping and emergency coordinates have all failed to confirm its location."

Sara went silent.

Monday continued.

"Probability of simultaneous conventional system failure: negligible. Current anomaly cannot be explained using available navigation data."

Sister Mary’s expression changed.

Sara slowly leaned toward the display.

"Are you telling me we’ve lost an entire city?"

"Negative. Physical destruction cannot be confirmed."

"Then what are you telling me?"

A short pause followed.

"From the perspective of every currently connected positioning system... Yuno City is no longer present at its registered location."

Sara stared at the display.

"You’re saying it disappeared?"

"Correction: disappearance cannot be confirmed. The system can only confirm that Yuno City is presently unlocatable."

Sara clenched her jaw.

"Is something like this even possible?"

"Insufficient data to provide a reliable answer."

"We don’t have time for this."

Sara immediately looked toward Sister Mary.

Unlike everyone else in the vehicle, Mary didn’t appear confused by what Monday had reported.

She looked terrified.

"We need to keep moving," Mary said. "Now."

"But we don’t even have coordinates anymore."

"Sara, you don’t understand." Mary’s fingers tightened against her clothes. "We don’t have time. We need to reach Yuuta as quickly as possible."

Sara studied her face for several seconds. That wasn’t the expression of someone encountering an impossible phenomenon for the first time. Mary looked as though something she had desperately hoped would never happen was happening right in front of her.

"Mary... do you know what’s causing this?"

"We’ll talk later. Please, Sara. Every second matters."

Sara remained silent for another moment before turning back toward the dashboard.

"All right."

She touched the communication panel.

"Monday."

"Awaiting command, Chief."

"Disconnect from the Agency navigation network. I want an independent search."

"Specify search method."

"Bypass the regional network. Connect directly to every available observation satellite. Search the entire Yuno sector manually optical, thermal, radar, everything."

The displays immediately changed.

"Command acknowledged. Initiating direct satellite connection. Bypassing Agency navigation network. Beginning independent geographical scan for Yuno City."

Sara’s eyes remained fixed on the screen.

"Find that city."

"Acknowledged, Chief. Satellite acquisition in progress."

Several maps appeared across the vehicle’s main display. Lines of data rapidly scrolled beside them as Monday bypassed the Agency’s ordinary navigation systems and established a direct connection with the satellites overhead.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then the entire display turned red.

A sharp alarm erupted throughout the vehicle.

"WARNING. WARNING. HUMANITY-LEVEL THREAT DETECTED."

Sara’s head snapped toward the screen. The guards around her immediately reached for their weapons, while even Sister Mary looked toward the display.

"What is it, Monday?"

The AI responded without emotion.

"Chief, a new high-density energy signature has been detected within the Yuno City search region. Classification is currently in progress."

"A new energy signature?"

Sara’s expression darkened.

What now?

After Leviathan, the Upper Blood Demons, Raven’s death and the unidentified Calamity-level presence, another monster appearing was the last thing they needed.

"Who is it this time?" Sara asked. "Another monster?"

"Analyzing energy frequency. Comparing signature density, demonic composition and archived threat records. Please wait."

The screen rapidly cycled through data. Several possible matches appeared and disappeared while the percentage beside one particular profile steadily increased.

"Demonic signature confirmed."

Sara leaned forward.

"Identification?"

"Cross-referencing with restricted Agency database."

Another second passed.

"Match established. Confidence level above identification threshold."

The alarm continued screaming around them.

Sara’s patience vanished.

"Monday, who is it?"

The AI answered immediately.

"Threat identified: Demon King."

Sara froze.

"What?"

For a moment, she genuinely wondered whether she had heard the AI incorrectly.

"Confirmation: detected energy signature matches archived data assigned to the Demon King. Humanity-level threat status confirmed."

Sara’s eyes widened.

"The Demon King...?"

The words barely left her mouth.

Of all the possibilities she had considered, this wasn’t one of them. The Demon King himself had entered Yuno City.

"What the hell is the Demon King doing there?"

"They’re after Yuuta."

Sister Mary’s answer came immediately.

Sara turned toward her.

Mary’s face had gone pale.

"They were never attacking these cities just for destruction," Mary continued, her voice tense. "Yuuta is what they wanted."

Sara’s mind raced.

Leviathan had drawn Erza away.

The invasion had overwhelmed Agency forces across multiple cities.

Captain Raven and almost her entire Shadow Corps unit had died protecting him.

And now, with Erza still far away over the ocean, the Demon King himself had appeared in the same city as Yuuta.

The pieces finally connected.

"Shit."

Sara immediately activated the convoy-wide communication system.

"All units, maximum speed! Resume movement immediately!"

The drivers hesitated because their navigation systems were still malfunctioning.

Sara didn’t give them time to question her.

"I don’t care if navigation is down. Continue along the expressway and use the satellite feed as soon as Monday establishes a route. Every combat unit moves at full speed!"

"Chief, direct route calculation remains incomplete."

"Then calculate while we’re moving!"

"Command acknowledged. Reinitiating convoy guidance using available satellite data."

Engines roared throughout the expressway.

One after another, the armored vehicles accelerated again, rapidly gaining speed as the convoy charged toward Yuno City.

Sara gripped the edge of her seat.

She understood now.

This wasn’t merely an invasion.

Yuuta had been the target all along.

And if the Demon King himself had gone to retrieve him after everything else had failed, then whatever the demons intended to do with Yuuta had to be far more important than Sara had imagined.

Sister Mary’s next words confirmed the fear growing inside her.

"They’re going to use him."

Sara looked at her.

Mary’s fingers tightened.

"And whatever they need Yuuta for... I don’t believe they need him alive afterward."

Sara’s expression hardened.

"Then we reach him before they can."

__________________________

Location: Atlantis Ocean

Erza’s breath caught the moment her eyes focused on the distant figure standing within Yuno City.

Even from such an enormous distance, there was no mistaking that demonic aura. It was far too dense and far too powerful to belong to an ordinary demon. She had felt countless demonic presences throughout the night, but this one stood apart from all of them.

The Demon King.

Erza’s violet eyes narrowed.

"What is he doing there...?"

For a moment, she simply watched him.

Then a faint smile appeared on her face.

"It doesn’t matter."

Perhaps this was actually fortunate.

She had already spent far too much time toying with Leviathan, treating the ancient creature as little more than an inconvenience. If the Demon King himself had finally appeared, then there was no reason to drag this war out any longer. She could simply kill him here and bring an end to the demonic threat before it spread any further.

How foolish.

Erza slowly lifted one hand.

Did you really think distance would protect you from me?

Cold gathered above the ocean.

The temperature around Erza dropped so violently that frost spread across the surface of the water beneath her. Moisture in the air condensed and froze as an enormous mass of ice began forming high above her.

It grew rapidly.

Within moments, a gigantic ice spear hovered above Erza, its enormous pointed tip angled toward the distant land. The weapon was far larger than anything a human could possibly wield, its surface gleaming beneath the moonlight as Erza continued compressing her magic into it.

She had no intention of traveling all the way to Yuno City just to fight Allen personally.

She would pierce him from here.

Erza narrowed her violet eyes and began carefully following the Demon King’s movements.

The distance was the only inconvenience.

She was still above Atlantis Ocean, while Allen was countless miles away. Even with a weapon of this scale and the power behind it, Erza needed to aim properly before releasing it. A slight difference in direction across such an enormous distance could completely alter where the spear landed.

So she focused.

Her gaze followed Allen.

The enormous ice spear slowly adjusted above her, its tip moving with her line of sight.

"There."

Erza raised two fingers, preparing to release it.

Then she noticed someone beside him.

Her fingers stopped.

The enormous spear trembled.

Erza’s eyes narrowed as she tried to focus on the second figure. The person appeared to be unconscious, lying motionless near Allen.

Black hair.

A familiar build.

Something about him immediately disturbed her concentration.

Erza’s hand began to tremble.

"No..."

The magic maintaining the gigantic spear destabilized.

Its tip lowered.

Then the entire weapon dropped from the sky.

BOOOOM!

The enormous spear crashed harmlessly into the depths of Atlantis Ocean, sending a towering column of water into the air. Waves exploded outward from the impact, but Erza didn’t even look at them.

Her raised hand remained frozen.

Her fingers were trembling.

Her violet eyes had widened as she stared toward the distant city.

"Yuuta...?"

His name barely escaped her lips.

Her heart began pounding.

For several seconds, Erza couldn’t think properly. The distance was enormous, she reminded herself. Even with her dragon eyes, she couldn’t possibly identify every detail perfectly from this far away.

"No."

Erza shook her head.

"It isn’t him."

She forced herself to breathe.

"It must be someone else."

There were countless humans with black hair. A similar height meant nothing. A similar body meant nothing. She was tired, frustrated and already thinking about Yuuta, so naturally her mind would try to connect some distant stranger to him.

That explanation made sense.

At least, Erza desperately wanted it to.

"Yes... someone else."

She tried to smile.

"My Yuuta has no reason to be there."

Yuuta should have been at the apartment.

Safe.

Protected.

There was absolutely no logical reason for him to be standing beside the Demon King in the middle of Yuno City.

Erza repeated that thought inside her head, desperately constructing explanation after explanation because the alternative frightened her too much to accept.

Then she focused again.

And noticed another familiar presence.

Erza’s false smile disappeared.

"...Grandpa?"

Isvarn.

There was no possibility of mistaking him.

Her gaze immediately moved toward the smaller figure with him.

White hair.

A tiny body.

A presence intimately familiar to her.

Erza stopped breathing.

"Elena...?"

The last of her denial shattered.

If Isvarn was there...

If Elena was there...

Then the black-haired man beside Allen—

"No."

Erza’s gaze snapped back toward him.

This time she focused with everything she had.

She saw his face more clearly.

She felt his presence.

And finally, there was nothing left for her to deny.

Yuuta.

It really was him.

Her husband was unconscious beside the Demon King.

"No... no, no..."

Erza’s heart slammed against her chest.

She didn’t waste another second.

Her wings spread.

BOOM!

Erza blasted away from Atlantis Ocean.

The air detonated behind her as she accelerated, and the ocean beneath her violently parted under the pressure. Enormous waves rolled outward in her wake as she crossed the water at a speed that turned the world around her into little more than a blur.

"Yuuta!"

Her mind couldn’t understand it.

Why was Yuuta in the middle of Yuno City?

Why was Elena there?

Why was Isvarn with them?

What happened to the apartment?

None of it made sense. Yuuta was supposed to be safely inside the home she had protected herself, not lying unconscious in the middle of a battlefield with the Demon King standing beside him.

Yuuta had no reason to be outside the apartment, much less unconscious in the middle of a battlefield.

None of it mattered.

Not anymore.

The only thing Erza understood was that her husband was unconscious and in enemy hands.

"No... I won’t let you."

She pushed herself harder.

The remaining ocean disappeared beneath her at a terrifying rate. In barely half a minute, Erza had crossed a distance that should have taken vastly longer, leaving enormous disturbances across the water behind her.

Land appeared ahead.

Davenport.

Erza tore through the air above it without slowing.

Her violet eyes remained fixed on Yuuta the entire time.

Now that she was closer, there was no room left for even the smallest doubt. She could see him far more clearly.

His black hair.

His unconscious face.

His motionless body.

It was Yuuta.

Her Yuuta.

And he was in the hands of her enemy.

"No... I won’t let you do that."

Erza accelerated again.

Then something moved between them.

At first, it was only a handful of dark shapes rising into the sky.

Then dozens followed.

Then hundreds.

Erza’s eyes narrowed.

A massive group of demons flew upward and spread across the sky ahead of her, deliberately forming a wall between her and Yuno City.

They were Minos.

Their faces possessed disturbing fish-like features, while enormous bat-like wings extended from their backs. Spears, axes, swords and other weapons filled their hands as hundreds of them gathered in Erza’s path.

More continued rising from below.

They weren’t there by accident.

They were waiting for her.

"Formation!"

"Block her path!"

One of the demons raised his spear toward the approaching figure.

"DON’T LET THAT MONSTER NEAR HIS HIGHNESS!"

"For the Demon King!"

The demonic army tightened its formation.

Hundreds of weapons turned toward Erza at once.

Their orders were obvious.

They didn’t need to defeat her.

They only needed to delay her.

Even a few seconds would be enough.

Erza understood that immediately.

And that was precisely what terrified her.

Her eyes moved past the enormous formation, desperately searching through the gaps between wings and bodies until she caught another glimpse of Yuuta.

Still unconscious.

Still in enemy hands.

Every second she wasted here was another second Allen had with him.

Erza’s hands trembled.

Her heartbeat became painfully loud in her ears.

She couldn’t lose time fighting an army.

She couldn’t allow them to delay her.

She couldn’t lose sight of Yuuta again.

The demons lowered their weapons as Erza approached, preparing to stop her at any cost.

Erza didn’t slow down.

She didn’t change direction.

Her violet eyes remained fixed beyond them, toward the distant figure of her husband.

The fear inside her was rapidly becoming something else.

Because there was only one thought left in Erza’s mind.

I need to reach Yuuta.

To Be Continued...