After the red bridge matured opening a passage to the now Isola Bella, the red bridge monsters and the others in their territory made their way into the Cradle. But they were not the only ones. As time went by, even creatures from the neighboring territories were drawn to the red bridge, and among them were creatures known as the Girtablilu or Aqrabuamelu.

These were creatures that were a mix of scorpion and humans, hence the name scorpion men. The adults even had full human torsos attached to the lower bodies of scorpions and were known for their ability to use poison magic.

Of course, these tidbits of information were something that Leon had researched prior to approaching them. For all his arrogance, he was not one to dive into a situation without being fully prepared. After all, one of his mottos was: "Arrogance is a privilege earned through preparation."

Seeing the scorpionlings now at a fair distance from him, he brought down his hand and muttered.

"Judgement..."

A massive arrow of light whistled through the air as the mirage of the archer suddenly let go of the bowstring. At the same time, all the arrows which had been floating around her suddenly shot forward towards the horde of approaching creatures, slamming into some of their front ranks.

But frustratingly, these creatures were nimble on their feet. While some were caught in the sudden explosion of light that pinned them to the ground, others managed to dive out of the way.

One leapt to a nearby boulder, then leapt to another, before leaping to the ground again to continue closing the distance. Another managed to quickly scurry to the side, and only had half of its side torn off by the descending blow.

However, Leon’s ability was known to be very persistent once a judgment for death had been declared upon a target.

And so, the mirage holding the greatsword raised it and slammed it into the ground. In the next instant, the sky tore open and massive greatswords descended, slamming down onto the creatures who had managed to escape the initial strike.

"Goldie, mask." Leon opened his palm and in the seconds that followed, what looked like a golden gas mask appeared in his open palm.

He then placed it onto his face, and the mask attached itself seamlessly to his skin.

"Uriel, great-sword!" Leon yelled as he reached out his hand to the side. In response, a great-sword flew through the air into Leon’s grip. The width of the blade was extremely large, yet such a weapon felt perfectly light in his hands.

He grinned, and his eyes, which were now golden glinted as he crouched in preparation to lunge into the hoard. In the next instant, the ground beneath his feet cracked as he finally lunged himself forward with incredulous speed.

When he was almost upon the front ranks, the leading creature reached out with its pincers, but before it could claw him, Leon leapt into the air and a golden platform manifested by his angel appeared right under his boots.

At that moment, the claws snapped shut loudly as the creature passed through the exact space where Leon had just been. But then, Leon had already used the platform to spring even higher, spinning midair before descending like a meteor onto the creature right behind the first one, slamming it brutally into the ground.

Then, without looking, Leon yelled:

"Judgement!"

Suddenly, ten spears made of light descended from the sky around him at the creatures who were now approaching him in a ring, slamming into them with enough force to pulverize huge chunks of their bodies.

Leon then hurriedly took out his massive greatsword from the corpse of the creature, and immediately jumped out of the way. Just then, a large spray of acid poured from the jaws of a nearby creature, melting the corpse of the creature he was standing on top of.

Leon rolled after landing on the ground, and without wasting a second, he lunged at the creature, closing the distance in a flash.

The creature, seeing him approach also moved to attack, but then, Leon dropped low into a slide right beneath its massive chassis, raising his blade upward. With a heavy, tearing heave, he dragged the edge of the greatsword straight down the center of its soft underbelly, spilling its innards across the dirt before sliding out cleanly from behind the creature.

He then stood up looking like a butcher drenched in gore, but a frown creased his brow as he suddenly noticed that a choking green mist had already covered the ruins around them.

Fortunately, he was wearing a mask so he did not have to worry. He had already known that one of the worst traits of the Girtablilu was that upon their death, they released a post-mortem toxic cloud that killed the being who killed them before the being even knew what hit them.

The poison could not be neutralized, and after it had been inhaled, the victim suffered excruciating pain during the final minutes before their death. If Leon had not known this before he attempted this hunt, he would have already suffered a most agonizing end by now.

He tightened his grip on his blade as he prepared to defend against or dodge the pincers of one of the creatures that had already reached him.

At the same time, even his summons who were also actively engaged in the battle had masks on their faces.

At the moment, Goldie could be seen flying high above with her hand casually pointed at the battlefield. All around her, what looked like chains with sharp spikes at the tips were bursting out of golden ripples in the air, descending onto the battlefield below.

The chains pinned down some of the scorpionlings, while some, nimble as they were, managed to dodge the descending metal.

However, those who successfully evaded the chains were suddenly met by spears of ice that descended swiftly from above, skewering them to the earth. Of course, those spears of ice were controlled by Princess Aurora — or rather, Blanky, who was currently donning her identity.

Currently, she could be seen seated atop an archway not too far away from the main skirmish. She had a wide grin on her face, which looked completely uncanny considering the elegant face she was currently wearing.

In her hands, she was currently molding a piece of white clay. She was sculpting the clay deftly, and it quickly took the shape of the very creatures that they were fighting against.

At the same time, she kept muttering something to herself while chuckling occasionally like a crazy creator.

"Poison, not bad, haha! Yes, extra chitin here, a pinch of toxic residue there... oh, the way the human head fuses with the thorax is simply beautiful! Growl, snap, spit! Let’s replicate that!"

A few seconds passed, and then, she raised the clay figurine up, admiring her work of art.

"Beautiful!"

She smiled exaggeratedly, then threw the model forward onto the battlefield before yelling:

"Manifest, Girtablilu!"

The tiny sculpture whistled through the air, then all of a sudden, it expanded rapidly into a massive, full-sized monstrosity that slammed heavily onto the ground and let out a piercing screech.