"You are awake."
General Phorus spoke as he glanced at the man who was lying on a bed.
"I-I did…"
Keeve turned towards Phorus and replied.
"Why are you two here?"
He questioned.
"Well, we just wanted to check on you all."
Iria answered.
Keeve then turned around and realized all the other 5 King Stage Cultivators of the Shadow Unit were lying on different beds as well.
A wry smile appeared on his face,
"We really lost huh…"
"Don't be too hard on yourself. That man is simply a monster." Phorus, who understood what Keeve was thinking about spoke. Iria, who was standing behind him nodded as well.
Keeve chuckled,
"I know that. I had a first-hand experience."
"I had a few questions that I wanted to ask. I would be grateful if you could answer them, of course, I can come later if you are tired and don't want to answer them right now."
Phorus spoke.
"Is it about the fight?" Keeve questioned.
"Yes, that is correct." Phorus nodded.
"I also wanted to talk to someone about this battle, so please ask." Keeve smiled.
"Why didn't you attack him?" Phorus questioned.
A frown appeared on Keeve's face as he questioned back,
"What are you talking about?"
"The time when he was knocking out all your subordinates, why didn't you attack him? Were you going easy on him? Why were you acting as if you could not see him?"
Phorus questioned and Keeve's frown deepened,
"I have no clue what you are talking about. I admit, I was thinking of going easy on him at first, however, when he took down the 3 King Stage Cultivators at the start, I gave up on that idea."
"…"
General Phorus turned silent and frowned.
He didn't understand what Keeve was saying.
Suddenly, Iria stepped in and questioned.
"You remember when you all came out of your tents and started looking for him?"
"Yes, I do."
Keeve nodded.
"That man was attacking all your subordinates, why didn't you attack him?" Iria questioned.
"Hah? Do you think I didn't want to? I just couldn't do it because he was moving around sneakily and we couldn't find him!"
Keeve retorted.
Iria and Phorus frowned.
Seeing their reaction, Keeve frowned as well.
"Why are you two acting like that?"
"He… he was right in front of you…"
Iria revealed.
"What the hell are you talking about you?"
"It is not just you, he even passed by Reeve and Wysten, but all of you acted like you couldn't see him. You were not alone, even the other members of the Shadow Unit were acting strangely.
They were running around, trying to find him, when he was walking by right in front of them. He just simply follow the people who entered the tents in order to 'find him' and knocked all of them before coming out as if nothing happened."
"I don't understand…"
Keeve thought that the two of them were trying to make fun of him, however, seeing their serious expression, he realized that it was not the case.
"So you are telling me that you couldn't see him?" Iria questioned.
"No, we couldn't, in the entire battle, we only saw him when we used formation O, before that, we were helpless."
"Then… how could we see him…?"
Phorus questioned out loud.
"Was it just an illusion?"
Iria, however, shook her head, "No, that was an illusion. I am sure of it. Whenever he came out of the tent, the soldiers inside were knocked out, an illusion can't do that."
"…" Keeve didn't know what to say.
In his mind, the images of him going against that man, and how he effortlessly defeated them continued to run.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
They, the Shadow Unit, the strongest Unit in the world… were played around like they were some bugs and that too, in front of the women they all respected so m-
Wait…
"Where is Lady Astaria?"
Suddenly, Keeve questioned.
"She is with that man."
Phorus replied.
Keeve clenched her fists and then smiled weakly,
'She wouldn't bother to meet the losers, would she?'
"He passed out after the battle, it seemed more serious than your case, so she looked a bit worried," Phorus explained.
"He… he passed out?" Keeve questioned.
"He did." Phorus nodded.
Hearing that, for some reason, a smile appeared on Keeve's face.
'At least we didn't lose that badly, even he had to use all his strength and overexert himself to win against us.'
And as if sensing what he was thinking about, Iria spoke,
"Yes, after he seemed to have overexerted himself when he was fighting against Lady Astaria and passed out."
"Huh? H-He f-fought against Lady Astaria?"
Keeve's eyes widened in surprise.
"He did…"
Phorus's expression turned serious.
"W-What was the outcome…?"
Keeve questioned.
"Do you even have to ask that?" Iria questioned back.
"Ha… Haha… hahaha… that's true, I don't have to ask… of course Lady Astaria won… didn't she? It must have been an easy battle for her.
There is no way that man could have fought against her…
So how long did he last against her?
5 Seconds? 10 maybe?"
Keeve questioned.
"…"
Phorus and Iria turned toward each other and didn't answer.
Seeing their reactions, Keeve's eyes widened in surprise as he thought about an absurd possibility.
"H-Hey, you are not telling me that he w-won, right?"
"Huh? Of course not! Lady Astaria is the strongest being in the world, how could she possibly lose against that man? Don't be ridiculous!"
Phorus retorted.
"R-Right, my bad. I… my mind is currently a mess. I apologize."
Keeve nodded with a relieved smile on his face.
"However,"
Suddenly, Phorus's face turned solemn as he revealed,
"That boy still managed to make her puke blood and fall on her knees."
"WHAT!?"
Keeve's eyes widened in surprise.
"Y-Y-You are lying, right?" He questioned with a hopeful look on his face.
Phorus smiled wryly as he replied,
"I wish I was… but...
I am sorry to tell you Keeve…
The truth is,
That man held back when he fought against you guys."
