To The Western Border.

Returning to the mansion, they immediately began preparing.

If a massive horde of demonic beasts was invading, the sooner they acted, the better.

“Is setting off tomorrow fine with you two?” Vim asked Hana and Misa.

“I’m ready whenever,” Hana said.

“Me too,” Misa added.

Both agreed without hesitation.

“Got it. Go ahead and get ready. Diana, I might need to rely on your power tomorrow. I’m counting on you.”

“Of course, my Master!” Diana replied with a peace sign toward Vim.

That kind of gap in her personality isn’t so bad, Vim thought.

“Starting tomorrow, we’ll be heading to defend the western border line. I’ll have to leave the estate in your hands again for a while.”

“Understood, Master. Please leave the estate to us and focus on your mission with peace of mind.”

“Thanks as always, James.”

After speaking with James, Vim returned to his room and quickly finished packing for tomorrow’s departure, stuffing everything necessary into his magic bag.

“I should get to sleep soon.”

They were scheduled to leave first thing in the morning. Even though he had been resting all week, it was best to conserve his energy—after all, their opponents were a massive army numbering in the tens of thousands.

Vim lay down on his bed and drifted off to sleep.

♢

The next morning, he got straight to business as soon as he woke up.

“Morning.”

“Good morning!”

When he came down to the living room, Hana and Misa were already there.

“Are you two all packed and ready?”

“Yes, ready when you are!”

“Same here!”

Both wore serious expressions.

“Diana, how are you feeling?”

“Your mana feels wonderful to draw from, Master, so I am at peak performance!”

Apparently, spirits draw mana from their masters. In Vim’s case, since his base mana pool was on an entirely different scale, having it drawn from wasn’t a problem at all.

“That’s good to hear. Well, shall we go? If I remember correctly, I’ve been to the western border line before.”

Shortly after arriving in Leoria, Vim had traveled to the western border on a job.

“So you’re going to use that, then?”

“Yeah, let’s give it a go.”

With those words, Vim deployed his spatial magic. After several experiments, he felt he had really gotten the hang of it. Mana consumption was hardly a concern anymore, either.

The spatial magic Vim deployed immediately took effect.

“Alright, let’s head out.”

“Right!” both girls responded.

With Vim leading the way, Diana, Hana, and Misa followed through the spatial magic portal.

“It’s been a while since I was last here…”

When they arrived, a forest stretched out behind them while a barren wasteland spread out ahead.

Vim and his group were now standing atop a cliff. The wind blowing from the front lifted the bangs on Vim’s forehead.

“I don’t see any demonic beasts,” Misa said, squinting into the distance.

“Yeah, looks like they’re not visible to the naked eye just yet.”

Clairvoyance.

Vim’s left eye glowed with a blue light, allowing him to see up to dozens of kilometers away.

“Whoa, hold on… this is bad…”

“What’s wrong?” Hana asked, peering into Vim’s face.

“There are way too many of them. It’s not just ten thousand. There are at least thirty thousand.”

Reflected in Vim’s clairvoyant vision was a massive horde of demonic beasts that easily exceeded ten thousand.