The Beastfolk Liberation Army was structured around its Seven Sins, who acted as its high-ranking commanders.

For example—

Under Akashmir’s crimson lightning, there was the Annihilation Legion, made up entirely of Dark Elves specialized in offensive magic.

Under Hurricane Urakan, there was the Beast Legion, consisting of Werewolves and other beastfolk who instinctively followed the strong.

And among the six legions commanded by the Seven Sins, there was much debate—both in-universe and among fans—about which was the strongest.

Some legions relied almost entirely on the overwhelming power of their commander.

Others had relatively weak leaders but were filled with dangerous individual warriors.

Because of these intricate power dynamics and natural counterbalances between the legions, no single one could claim absolute dominance over the others.

However—

If you asked which legion was the most troublesome, there was only one unanimous answer.

The one led by the Elder Lich, Morte of the Plague.

The Undead Legion.

‘A legion made up almost entirely of undead and necromancers… a literal army of walking corpses.’

They were not the same as the vampire I had encountered earlier.

If anything, vampire blood magic felt like a subcategory of necromancy.

If vampires were creatures that feared death and sought an eternally beautiful form of immortality—

Then necromancers were beings who rejected death itself, existing in the limbo between life and undeath.

Compared to Drakel, who was obsessed with youth to the point of using a Tesseract, Morte was fundamentally different.

He was already nothing but a walking skeleton.

A clear distinction.

"Welp, guess there’s no choice! Let’s just kill everyone here and spread the rage gas throughout the hotel, Verita!"

"A crude plan, but not a bad one, Vita."

Vita and Verita.

A red-haired girl and a blue-haired girl.

Standing before the battered Tamamo and the injured Alice.

At a glance, they looked like middle schoolers at best.

But despite their childlike appearances, their faces were twisted with pure bloodlust.

And the words they spoke were not exaggerations.

Vita and Verita weren’t just part of the Undead Legion.

They were Morte’s personal guard.

And more importantly—

They were high-tier undead he had personally created.

On the outside, they might appear to be beautiful young girls.

But beneath that illusion—

They were rotting abominations, unstoppable dolls of slaughter.

‘This is bad. Vita and Verita may not be as strong as a Sins, but individually, they’re on par with a fully-powered Tamamo. There’s no way we can fight them like this.’

Tamamo was too weak to even stand.

Alice, lacking her usual twin swords, had deep wounds on her shoulder and arm.

Meanwhile, the twin sisters were completely unscathed, standing there fresh as if the battle had just begun.

Even if this was a fair fight, there would be no guarantee of victory.

But with this massive gap in condition—

The outcome was obvious.

‘And if those two are here… then that means Morte himself must be somewhere in this hotel.’

Were Raven and Victor fighting him right now?

I couldn’t be sure.

But it seemed highly likely.

Which meant…

Help wasn’t coming anytime soon.

Morte was vastly superior to his fellow Sins, Akashmir and Urakan.

If Raven and Victor were up against him, expecting their aid anytime soon was unrealistic.

That meant…

I had no choice but to find a way to help Alice myself.

I was just about to step forward—

When suddenly, my rational mind slammed on the brakes.

‘Wait… do I actually stand a chance?’

Sure, thanks to the fracture, I was much stronger than before.

But—

The reason Vita and Verita were so powerful was simple.

One of them was a Death Knight, an undead warrior with limitless stamina, monstrous physical strength, and masterful swordsmanship.

The other was a High Lich, a necromancer with near-infinite mana reserves and absolute mastery over corpse magic.

Even fighting just one of them would be a huge gamble.

Fighting both at their full power?

I didn’t even need to think about it.

They would cover each other’s weaknesses perfectly.

There was no way I could win.

Honestly, the fact that Tamamo had been holding them off inside the auction without succumbing to the gas was already incredible.

‘What if I transformed into my adult form like I did against Akashmir?’

The adult me had the raw strength to overpower a Sins like Akashmir in pure brute force.

If I could reach that form—

A Death Knight and a High Lich?

They’d be nothing.

I could crush them.

But—

‘…No. Even though I brought the Tesseract with me after changing clothes, I don’t have enough energy to sustain the transformation.’

Pulling power from the Tesseract to transform my body…

And maintaining that transformed state.

Between the two, which one drained more energy?

Obviously, the transformation itself required far more power.

Even if I burned through the entire energy supply—

Reaching my adult form again was impossible.

If I somehow managed to transform, I’d probably revert immediately or—

Worse.

The Tesseract might even overload and break.

Everything was blocked.

This wouldn’t work.

That wouldn’t work.

Then what the hell was I supposed to do?!

Fighting was suicide.

Reinforcements weren’t coming.

There was no escape.

This was a dead-end.

‘Wait… they’re undead… if I can target their weakness…!’

Like a bolt of lightning, an idea flashed through my mind.

A plan.

A way out.

A solution.

Maybe the only one.

Meanwhile…

Alice narrowed her eyes at the twin girls before her.

‘Should’ve grabbed my weapons before leaving my room…’

She sighed.

"Tamamo, those two… they’re strong, aren’t they?"

Alice knew her childhood friend’s capabilities.

Physically?

Tamamo was average.

But in terms of magic?

She was top-tier.

And yet—

"Nyaahaha… I could barely take one down… but there’s two of them, so…"

"…Got it. Shouldn’t have asked."

Honestly?

She wished she hadn’t asked.

If each of them was only slightly weaker than Tamamo—

And Tamamo was already this injured—

That meant their situation was beyond dire.

Running wasn’t an option.

Even if they turned their backs now—

The twins would easily catch up.

And worst of all—

Sabrina and Yuria could get caught up in this, too.

That meant—

Alice had only one choice.

She had to fight.

Even if the odds were against her.

Even Tamamo, someone Alice had secretly harbored feelings of inferiority toward, couldn’t defeat these enemies.

Then how could Alice, who was injured and unarmed, possibly stand a chance?

She couldn’t.

But running away wasn’t an option either.

Because this place was filled with people she cared about more than family.

Jin, Yuria, David, Reine, Sabrina…

She wouldn’t let any of them die.

Alice slowly lowered Tamamo onto the ground.

Then, without looking back, she shouted.

"Sabrina! Yuria! Take everyone and run! I’ll hold them off!"

A pink fire ignited inside her.

It wasn’t desperation.

It was a will so strong it refused to be swayed, even against an overwhelming storm.

A fire kindled by the resolve to protect, even at the cost of her own life.

"Nyahaha! Trying to buy time, huh? Well, I am the Student Council President. I can’t just sit around while Alice-chan stands her ground!"

Tamamo, swaying from blood loss, gritted her teeth and stood beside Alice.

Even though they were facing monstrous opponents, she refused to back down.

"Kuhaha! Alice is giving it her all—how could a grown man like me fall first?! Leave this side to me! Kuahahaha!"

"I wanna run… I wanna run… I wanna run…!"

"If they won’t fall no matter how hard you hit them… then just keep hitting until they do!"

The Fixers, who had been overpowered by the undead soldiers, snapped out of their panic.

They could have run.

This was just a job for them.

But instead—

They stood their ground, protecting the exit and preventing the undead from advancing.

There were still civilians inside.

Running away was not an option.

Maybe that was what it meant to be a Fixer.

To take responsibility.

"Hmph. A half-dead mage and some weakling without an ounce of magic think they can stop us?"

"Pathetic. Even animals understand the difference in strength. You’re dumber than beasts."

"Kihihi! If we turn you into corpses, Morte-sama will reward us!"

The Vita twins didn’t seem fazed at all.

From their perspective—

The battle had already been decided.

Tamamo and Alice were too injured to be a real threat.

At best, they could stall for a few minutes before dying.

But stalling wouldn’t change the inevitable outcome.

It was pointless struggle—

Or worse—

A meaningless death.

"Sister. I’m going. Give me a weapon."

"Mhm! Spatha Ossium!"

Vita chanted a spell.

A sharp, bone-crafted sword materialized in the air.

Verita snatched the blade—

And charged at Alice.

Her speed was terrifying.

In a blink, she was upon Alice, her blade poised to cut her in half.

"Ugh! Move—!"

"Defen—!"

Tamamo tried to cast a spell, but Verita was too fast.

The sword was about to cleave into Alice—

But then.

Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

Out of nowhere—

Dozens of arrows made of pure white light rained down on Verita.

At first, she thought nothing of them.

She had no reason to dodge.

Compared to her—

This was nothing more than a pitiful attack.

But the moment the arrows got close—

An instinctual chill crawled up her spine.

Her body reacted before her mind did.

She kicked off the ground, dodging backward.

Pababababak!

The arrows missed their target and embedded into the floor.

But—

The shock on both Tamamo and Vita’s faces was clear.

"This… this is divine magic?! I thought it was extinct…!"

"Liar! Morte-sama said there’s no divine power left in this world!"

Every gaze turned toward the source of the attack.

And at the end of those stares—

Stood a small girl with long, snow-white hair.

"…"

Her white cat ears twitched.

Her thin, fluffy tail swayed behind her.

It was Yuria.