Three and a half months later.
"Haa... Weāre finally back!" Bella yawned while stretching her body. "Iām exhausted."
"Same. Weāve been pushing ourselves a bit too much in the last couple of weeks." Melissa nodded. "I have never worked this hard before."
"You two need more discipline." Vivian added.
"Shut up, Vivian. Iām so tired that I will bite anyone who stops me right now." Bella narrowed her eyes.
Nathan was right behind her. He was tired as well, but he had already gotten used to the schedule.
In fact, this was how he usually operated, so there was no problem for him in continuing.
Every week, they would destroy several nests and absorb the cores every weekend. As a result, they practically had no way of relaxing.
Nathan had grown so accustomed to such a schedule that he could relax for a bit while refining the cores.
Meanwhile, the rest seemed to have never made such a compact schedule.
In the end, they managed to clear all the nests that had been stated on the map two weeks ahead of the schedule.
There were only two options back then. The first one was to continue and find another nest that they didnāt know yet.
Unfortunately, all of them seemed to prefer the second choice, which was to use the remaining time to consolidate their power and to make sure they mastered this new power.
Nathan ultimately agreed with their request because he could also prepare the plan for the upcoming assault.
The Death Society should become a bit restless, as they were anticipating their attacks. It would be good to change up their approach and make them anxious.
Thus, they returned to their best.
"It looks like all of you have returned safely." Evelyn appeared out of nowhere.
"!!!" Vivian and the others were shaken because they couldnāt even sense Evelyn coming.
They thought they had gotten stronger, but for some reason, they couldnāt grasp Evelynās current strength.
"Senior! How did you..." Melissa instinctively took a step back.
Nathan squinted his eyes and asked, "Have you mastered the power of rules?"
"!!!" The three women were already aware of the power of rules. They never thought that Evelyn was able to grasp that power in such a short time.
"Itās only one, though." Evelyn nodded. "By the way, Luna has gotten her second rule. Apparently, she is planning to have a total of four rules before forming her godhood. Iām probably the same."
It was amazing that they could reach this stage so quickly. This was what they needed to fight against the Death Society.
"How about you guys? From the looks of it, the progress you have made is quite big." Evelyn assessed them. As expected, Bella, Melissa, and Vivian had 10 million ena in their bodies.
As for how many familiars had reached the same stage, she didnāt know yet.
On the other hand, Nathan was much more peculiar. He had so much ena in his body, to the point she wondered what he planned it for.
"Have you guys reached your objectives?" She asked.
"Y-Yes!" Melissa nodded. "Although itās much harder than I originally expected, I have accomplished mine. Iām now a world class summoner as well as a crystal fusion stage summoner. Thanks to Nathanās medicine, I could skip the second part."
Bella shook her head helplessly. "Almost. Well, I can be considered a crystal armor stage summoner, but the number of familiars I have doesnāt really match up to that of a world class summoner. I have to rely on someone else if I want to stand a chance.
"Still, I have accomplished my original objective, so this is just a bonus. At least, I wonāt be a burden to everyone."
Vivian explained, "I have reached my goal. Iām going to kill Soul Eater."
"Thatās good. Since you are tired, get some rest first." Evelyn smiled. "I will discuss the rest with Nathan."
They could only nod their heads.
Nathan shook his head helplessly. "I guess thatās the situation right now."
"Did you push them too much?" Evelyn asked. "I know how hard they usually work. This is the first time Iāve seen them so defeated."
Nathan shrugged. "Selena and the others have experienced it as well. So, you donāt have to worry about that."
"Really? Are you still doing that kind of training?" Evelyn asked, recalling the time they trained together.
Back then, there was a huge gap between them, so Nathan was the one having a hard time keeping up.
Now that Nathan had reached the same level, she could imagine how hard he pushed them.
"It canāt be helped. We have a deadline to meet. Iām merely testing whether they prioritize their exhaustion or revenge."
"You can be cruel from time to time." Evelyn facepalmed. "Well, it canāt be helped. So how about your progress?"
"Iām good. There are a few things that havenāt been settled yet, but I can finish them in the next two weeks. During that time, I need you to do a few things."
"Alright. We can talk about it inside." Evelyn agreed and started dragging him inside while taking off his coat. She simply pushed him to the couch so he could discuss it with minimal energy.
Of course, she didnāt forget to brew some tea for him to warm himself.
"For now, we should proceed with the intense monitoring and start moving our people to the border. Itās better not to use the space portal this time."
"Why not?"
"We donāt plan to launch a sneak attack, so itās better to announce our presence there to make them know we are coming."
Evelyn pondered. "So, this will make them not leave that place but rather prepare for one last stand?"
"Yeah. This will also let the people familiarize themselves."
Evelyn understood his intention. "If thatās the case, Iāll ask Regina to handle the matter as well. With both sides approaching, they will be locked inside."
"Make sure not to corner them yet."
"Donāt worry. I will remind them to send one crystal fusion stage summoner at a time to gradually surprise them." Evelyn waved her hand.