In a few days, at dawn, they reached Hallelujah Island. At 5:30 a.m. they made landfall. The party from Eldoria included Liebe and Eldrie, while Gelda and Alysa were instructed to remain on the ships to make sure there wasn't any funny business. Licht had a one-way communication line with Liebe and was told to watch over the island from the skies and be prepared for anything. "If I say 'destroy the Z-jammers,' in case — be at focus," Liebe said. Licht replied, "Understood."
The representatives from Baledia were Zared. The representatives from Aldia were Werner and his sister Mey. The representative from Weibe Alder was Hwang Lee, among others. As they were ascending the mountain toward a small town, the ground began to shake; because of the recent rain the soil wasn't stable and a landslide occurred. Mey fell.
Liebe dove after her and, as he caught her, he said, "Dark magic — dark wings." But his magic wasn't working. Eldrie said, "Ice magic." Yet nothing worked. Liebe and Mey fell from a height of more than five thousand feet. Warner dived down with his wings; as he flew he couldn't see anything. Others shouted to stop and search for them, but the man from Valtia said it wasn't possible — the zone was high risk.
Eldrie walked up to the representative of Valtia, Herald, grabbed him by the collar, and demanded, "Answer me! If this is such a danger zone, then why the hell can't I use my magic?" Meanwhile, on the ships, Vanessa's communicator crackled a few minutes earlier. Vanessa asked, "What happened?" A voice replied, "Initiate Plan 7D — we are under attack from magic beasts." As the Z-jammers were activated, they couldn't use magic.
Werner shouted, "Shut up, asshole — I have to look for her, even if it's a danger zone!" The others descended to the mountain. Warner spent hours flying over the area looking, but couldn't find the bodies of Liebe or his sister. Mey's tracker appeared to have been damaged; he couldn't locate her. Because she couldn't speak, she couldn't call for help.
When they reached the evacuated town above and stopped to rest in an abandoned building, they were suddenly attacked from an unknown direction. Demonic beasts using venom assaulted them; the building began to melt. They all rushed outside. Warner flew up to survey the scene — the representatives from Weibe and Baledia were injured, and Eldrie had suffered minor acid burns.
Back aboard the ships, Warner demanded answers. "What the hell happened there? Why wasn't our magic working, and who gave permission to use the Z-jammers?" Herald answered, "Sir, I did. After those beasts attacked us, I ordered it — otherwise we would have died." Warner snapped, "Whatever game you're playing, I don't want a part of it. It's because of you my sister is missing." Herald said, "This zone is too dangerous — we should withdraw." Gelda and Eldrie answered, "Like hell we will. If something happened to Liebe, we will burn down your entire nation. If Lilith finds out that because of your carelessness Liebe is now MIA, there will be nothing but a pile of ashes where Valtia used to be."
They couldn't understand who had permitted the use of the Z-jammers before they even reached the town. Later that night, Warner and Licht flew out to check the island. Licht couldn't go down himself, but Warner tried and failed. Around 3 a.m., Warner was on the bridge of his ship when Licht approached.
"Could we talk?" Licht asked.
"Sure," Warner said as he lit a cigarette.
"You smoke?" Licht asked.
Werner replied, "When I'm stressed or worried — and right now it's more than ever. Want a stick?" Licht said, "I don't smoke. For the record, a few hours ago the Valtian government declared Liebe and Mey deceased." Warner said, "I don't care — I will still keep looking until I find her remains, at least."
"But didn't your leader just die? How are you so calm?" Licht asked.
"I know Liebe is alive," Warner said. "Hallelujah Island is supposed to be impossible to survive; you didn't see what we saw. I doubt even if he survived the fall he could survive the monsters — it's impossible."
"Is that so?" Licht said. "Then I think I will take a stick."
"Why change your mind after hearing the truth?" Licht asked.
"No — you don't know Liebe like we do. I'm lighting a stick because it's a special occasion: Liebe will emerge tomorrow, the man who survived Hallelujah Island, and he will bring back Mey." Hearing this finally caught up to Warner; he allowed himself to hope that his sister might still be alive.
Meanwhile in Eldoria, Stal arrived at the Faust estate and rushed inside with his shoes still on. He burst into Lilith's room. "Ma'am, there is trouble." Lilith asked, "What could it be at this time of night?" Stal said, "We have a letter from Valtia. It claims Lord Liebe is no more." Hearing this, Lilith began to weep. She contacted Vanessa. Vanessa picked up.
"Vanessa, please tell me it isn't true," Lilith pleaded.
"What is it?" Vanessa asked.
"That Liebe died?" Lilith demanded. "Vanessa, I don't know what to say. Vanessa, tell me — is he alive?" Vanessa replied, "We are looking into it, but so far nothing. Don't worry — I will personally look into it." Lilith sobbed, "Don't worry, don't worry — goddamn, don't worry. Do you know how painful it is, as a mother, to be told your beloved child is no more?" She finally broke down, shouting, "Please save him. I want to see him again!"
Lilith gathered herself, then said, "Give the communicator to Valtia's chief warrior." Vanessa passed the phone to Aldo. Lilith said, "What happened today I don't know? what's inside that island I don't care. Unless Liebe is found safe and sound in the next forty-eight hours, there won't be any nation named Valtia on the world map." Aldo asked, "Ma'am, are you threatening us? Valtia is under the protection of the Empire — attacking us is illegal according to the peace treaty." Lilith snapped, "If Liebe isn't returned safe and sound, the I will wipe Valtia from the face of the world. Every man, woman, and child will die a death like no other. This is not a threat — this is an official statement from the 20th Prince of Purgatory, Lilith Faust. Your time starts now. Even groveling before the Empire won't stop me from burning your nation to the ground."
A few hours later, inside the Grand Empire's capital of Meloria, in the office of the Knight of One, Geno, Aime rushed through the door and Geno's card tower tumbled. "Dude, I was just about to break the world record for the largest card tower at 350 floors!" Geno exclaimed. Aime said, "There is trouble, sir. Liebe Faust is MIA from the Hallelujah Island inspection and has been declared deceased." Geno said, "Oh — Lilith's boy. That's quite unfortunate." Aime continued, "That isn't all. Lilith Faust has stated over an official line that if Liebe isn't found safe and sound within forty-eight hours, she will turn Valtia to dust while painfully killing every man, woman, and child within its borders. What shall we do, sir? Should we deploy our ships near Eldoria and tell them to surround it?"
Geno replied grimly, "The best we can do for Valtia is pray. If Lilith said she will do it, I promise you she will. That woman terrifies me like no other. Looks like there are going to be major changes on the world map soon."