The Dark Extra: Awakening of SSS-Skill Demon Emperor Legacy
Chapter 120: Celestial Vanguard on Mission

Chapter 120: Celestial Vanguard on Mission

[DING! Congratulations, Agares! You’ve completed the Saber Knight Trial]

[Second Knight Saber Trials]

[Trial: Endurance]

[+30000exp]

[EXP: 562500/650250][+30000]

[Reward Item:]

[100x Gold Coins]

[25x Low HP Potions]

[25x Low Mana Potions]

[1x Fragment Lumen Astra]

[1x Set of Five Affinity Gems (High/Rare Quality)]

Unlike before, Agares received a full set of affinity gems, all with high/rare quality. He lay silently, flat on the ground.

The man in front of him vanished, leaving behind a letter that fell onto Agares’ body. Slowly, Agares’ body started to recover—his wounds began to heal bit by bit, his stamina and strength coming back too.

That was just his body. After that, his shirt and light magic armor reappeared on him. He sat up on the city street.

In a blink, the forest city scene shifted back into Thornwatch City. The grassy, thorny roads turned into neatly paved blocks. The roadside trees vanished and were replaced with the soul fragments of townsfolk.

The magic dome disappeared. Aoi saw it and instantly ran in to meet Agares. She’d seen all the suffering he went through. She didn’t want Agares to go through it alone again—Aoi wanted to stay by his side and help.

Agares smiled. He stood from the ground and gestured for Aoi to hop back on his shoulder. Aoi happily agreed.

"Two Saber Knight Trials, two island floors. Maybe I should take a break?" Agares asked.

"Totally! You’ve just gone through hell—it’s best to rest and sleep a bit," Aoi replied.

Agares gave a slight smile. He tapped his magic pouch and summoned two items: a food ration and a knight token.

The food had been prepared by Milenia for Agares’ meal, while the Knight Token was used to check his floor access.

With the token in his right hand, he found that he had access up to the 83rd floor. Still, the forest outside Thornwatch was a pretty chill place to relax and rest up.

Aoi was right—Agares couldn’t push himself too hard. The two trials were insanely tough and life-threatening.

He needed a break.

***

The Kingdom of Caer Vireth

The chaos in Berdiver City had caught the attention of Caer Vireth Kingdom. They sent royal troops to reclaim Berdiver and its surrounding areas.

Yep! A monster invasion was spreading beyond the city’s borders. Not many adventurers could stop it due to how fast the monsters reproduced.

Even so, Caer Vireth’s proposal to summon the hero Lux was completely rejected by the six knight halls. They saw this whole mess as the kingdom’s problem—the Grand Empire wasn’t affected at all.

Currently, the Celestial Vanguard team was being deployed to the southern Red Line. The monster concentration there posed a serious threat to the border.

That situation was way more critical than what was going on in Berdiver.

"Mage Skill: Ocean of Swords!" Silva declared.

She stood on the border wall, holding her staff in one hand, long mage cloak flowing. Her eyes glowed gold as she pointed her staff forward.

A giant rune appeared behind her, followed by hundreds of small portals that started summoning golden swords. With a wave of her hand, Silva directed the swords to launch forward, supporting the attack.

Joe and the others were locked in battle with level 7 monsters down below. They fought in sync, trying to push back the wave of wild beasts. This kind of aggression wasn’t normal for wild monsters.

"The intensity’s different from before," said Quillen as he arrived after scouting.

"What did you find?" Jonathan asked.

"I handled all the monsters over there. They’ve retreated."

"Delvin, how are you holding up?" Joe called out, looking toward Delvin at the front line.

Joe and Quillen saw Delvin swinging his massive mace like it was nothing, taking out monsters with sheer brute force.

Silva’s sword barrage helped big time. The monsters got impaled and badly wounded. The battlefield in front of the border finally started to calm down.

The wave of monster attacks stopped—they pulled back fast. The southern border threat was gone.

"Alright, let’s head back."

"Wait, Joe."

Jonathan and Quillen stopped in their tracks when Delvin stepped in front of the path that led to the red-soiled land of Athanor. With his mace resting on his shoulder, Delvin pointed ahead.

"With our strength, we could totally break through there, right?" Delvin asked.

"No. Our orders were clear: eliminate the threat at the southern border," Jonathan answered.

"We’re not strong enough to push into the cursed zone yet."

"Come on, let’s go back."

"Alright."

Nana and Nolan walked over to Silva. Nana quickly started healing Silva, who was running low on mana.

"Thanks, Nana," said Silva.

"Of course. You don’t have to worry about that."

Ever since Silva returned from floor 55, she hadn’t been able to hide her sorrow. She never smiled anymore. Her eyes always looked sharp and distant. Her answers were short and firm.

It was rare to see her laugh or be lighthearted. Agares’ death had hit her hard—no one knew when she’d recover.

"I know this is hard, but you’ve got to try letting go, Silva."

"Agares was my close friend. He always helped me in college, he was always there. I honestly don’t know how to act now that I’ve failed to save him."

"Don’t worry. Look at it this way—you’ve saved so many people in the future."

Silva nodded and took a deep breath. What was said made sense. She had to set aside personal feelings and focus on saving lives.

Maybe Agares was dangerous. So, what she did now might have saved a lot of lives down the line.

Jonathan and the others joined them atop the border wall. They met up with Silva, Nana, and Nolan.

Joe already knew everything. He’d heard it all—Silva’s story, her connection to Agares. But Joe didn’t react at all. He didn’t really care, even though Silva was a mage in the Celestial Vanguard.

As long as Silva didn’t cause any trouble for the team, Jonathan wasn’t going to make it an issue. Still, it was a shame Silva was still grieving for Agares.

Jonathan felt nothing when he heard Agares had died. That’s because the mage had erased his memories.

He didn’t remember who Agares was or what kind of person he used to be.

But one thing was clear—Jonathan wasn’t Agares’ friend.

Honestly, he felt relieved and kind of glad to hear Agares was gone. Joe, too, felt like a heavy burden had been lifted.

Now, their only focus was stopping the monsters beyond the border.

"Our mission’s done. Let’s head back," said Jonathan firmly, clad in gold armor and carrying a golden spear.

Silva and the others nodded and exhaled. Their mission at the southern border was over. Time to rest up before heading back to Solaris.