While on their way towards the northern border, Shiro stopped the car at a rather curious sight.

A lone candidate stood in their path but it seemed like she had no intent to fight at all.

Raising her eyebrows, Shiro stopped the car as she recognised who she was.

"Are we fighting?" Lyrica asked, seeing the candidate.

"Not yet, we'll see what happens since she is rank 10 Asphil who was with rank 9 when I killed her. She didn't do anything which I think was probably because she was scared but it seems like she's been waiting here for us." Shiro replied as she stepped out of the car.

Seeing Shiro, Asphil's body shook in fear but she took a deep breath and calmed herself as best as she could.

"Are you here for a fight or are you here for something else? From what I can see, you haven't returned to where you were planning to go." Shiro smiled.

"I didn't go back since I understand there is no chance of victory." Asphil shook her head.

She was a little surprised at Shiro's attitude since last time they met, she was like a malevolent beast with oppressive killing intent but now she seems to be rather casual. However, she knew better than to annoy her.

"Oh? So you're deserting your allies?" Shiro asked with a raised eyebrow.

"In a way yes. Though we aren't exactly allies since all of us wanted to be the final victor. But with Nostic's power, it's hard to imagine that we'll succeed should you have not come. But now that you've arrived, most of the candidates are helping Nostic in hopes that he will die alongside you so that they're able to seize the chance to become the final victor." Asphil replied as Shiro nodded her head.

From the way she's describing it, their alliance of sorts seemed to have quite a shaky foundation since the only reason they teamed up was because of her.

"And you're here because you don't think your alliance will win?" Shiro asked as Asphil nodded her head.

"Since I am on the lower rankings, it's rather clear that I don't have a good chance at seizing the throne at the end. Even if I go back, I am probably going to be used as cannon fodder. Plus, if any of the king candidates win, we'll lose our freedom and that is the opposite of what I want." Asphil replied as she bit her lip.

Kneeling in front of Shiro, she pressed her head against the ground and set her pride aside. As one of the highest ranking demons in this continent, she had never bowed her head towards anyone except for Shiro.

"As shameful as it is, I wish to work under you so that I may have a chance to live. It's better to do what I can to assist you rather than waste my life as a means for delay. If a king ascends, I lose my freedom and even if a king does not ascend, I would have been used as bait or to delay so my only path to survival is through you." Asphil said as Shiro raised her eyebrow and glanced at Madison.

"We'll I'm not the demon candidate so you can ask Madi instead." Shiro smiled as Asphil was a little confused but she understood that Madison was probably the demon candidate in their group.

While she was a little against serving someone weaker than her, she had no choice since it's what Shiro had said.

Sensing her discontent, Shiro could only shake her head since for people like her, the values of the demons were deeply ingrained into her so unless she was defeated by Madison, she wouldn't serve her wholeheartedly.

Walking up, Madison looked at Asphil before looking towards Shiro.

"We need more demons to look after the places we conquered so having her on our side would be quite helpful. But I'm sure for someone of your status, you would be pretty upset with serving the rank 72nd candidate when you're rank 9. Why don't we have a little spar? If I win, you'll serve me properly and if I lose, you don't need to serve me and still live." Madison smiled towards Asphil.

"Are you sure? You know if she stays around without serving you, there's a chance for her to fight you for the throne when the time comes." Shiro narrowed her eyes.

"It's fine. Trust in me." Madison smiled as Shiro nodded her head.

She understood that Madison was her own person and her decisions are her's to make.

Hearing that she was going to serve the 72nd candidate, Asphil couldn't help but feel against the decision in her mind but was overjoyed when Madison proposed the fight.

However, she quickly calmed herself down as there could be a catch.

"Don't be so on guard. Madison's being serious. If you win, we'll let you live without the need of serving after her since it's what she has decided." Shiro shrugged as Asphil looked up at Shiro with surprise.

"Don't be so surprised, we're not heartless people. Should I make an arena for you or will you be fighting normally?" Shiro asked while gesturing at the large open space that connected the central region to the northern border.

"It's up to Asphil since I don't mind." Madison chuckled.

She decided to do things the hard way so that they can get themselves a proper ally rather than just someone that had been forced to do this. She also understands that demons place strength above all so defeating her would allow her to get a proper ally.

"Are you sure you want to fight? I am 75 levels above you so it might be unfair." Asphil asked, surprising the party since she was actually worried about fairness.

"We'll have Silvia give Madison a few buffs so that she can close this gap between the two of you, how's that?" Shiro proposed with a smile as Asphil had given her a rather decent impression since many would be overjoyed at fighting a person lower level than them when their freedom was on the line.

"That is fine with me." Asphil nodded her head.

In the end, they decided to go with an open arena so that they could fully demonstrate their prowess.

Stretching her body, Madison looked at Asphil who was taking deep breaths to focus her mind. In the distance, the party was watching while Shiro acted as the referee. With Shiro's promise of not being biased, she knew that this was going to be a fair fight.

"Ready?" Shiro called out as both Madison and Asphil nodded their heads.

Slamming her staff down, Silvia applied a few buffs to Madison so that her stats would increase. This way, Asphil wouldn't be able to brute force her way through.

Summoning an Axe, Madison took the initiative and dashed towards Asphil.

Narrowing her eyes, Asphil also charged towards Madison as she activated one of her skills and increased her speed.

Appearing in front of Madison in an instant, she swiped up with her hand.

Surprisingly, Madison was able to dodge to the side just in time as the space rippled at the stop she was previously at without being able to hit their target.

Shocked at the fact that Madison was actually able to dodge the first strike, Asphil tried to step back to make some distance but Madison was faster.

Swinging the pommel of her axe up, she slammed it against Asphil's chest.

*CRACK CRACK!!!

Gritting her teeth, Asphil could feel her ribs cracking at that single hit which shocked her as her power was far higher than what she had expected.

However, seeing a red glow on her body, she realised that Madison had used a berserk skill.

'At the start?! Is she crazy???' Asphil thought to herself since berserk skills only last a short while and after that moment, they would be severely weakened. All she needed to do was avoid Madison for a while and victory would be in her grasp.

While she understood what she needed to do, it was rather hard with Madison's agility. She was able to heal her broken ribs with one of her self recovery skills but there was a limit to what she could do.

Slamming her hands down on the ground, a shockwave exploded out as Madison dismissed her axe and summoned a shield.

*BANG!!!

Clashing against the shockwave, Madison was pushed back by a few steps but she held on strong.

Stomping down heavily, she charged forward like an unstoppable force of nature.

Widening her eyes, Asphil wanted to dodge to the side but Madison's shield seemed to be magnetised to her body.

*CRACK!!

Feeling the weight of the heavy shield slam into her, Asphil gritted her teeth and tried to absorb the strike with one of her spells.

The space in front of her started rippling as Madison felt danger. If she was to continue, she would definitely be harmed.

Letting go of her shield, she used it as a cover before stomping down.

*BANG!!!

A spider web of cracks exploded out as Asphil immediately lost her footing.

Jumping up in the air, Asphil wanted to get away when Madison grabbed her ankles and slammed her back down.

Gritting her teeth, Asphil understood that she also needed to activate her berserk skills if she wanted to win.

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