Aequus and Milers finally returned to the Marine Base after spending their time out catching pirates and accumulating military merit.
Yet the two, who had come back laden with achievements and brimming with satisfaction, fell into an unprecedented gloom upon their return.
Hunting pirates out at sea was excellent training.
Aequus and Milers felt that all their grueling experience had made them considerably stronger.
So they thought they had what it took again.
And once they thought they had what it took, the natural next step was to challenge Randall again.
Of course, it was still two against one.
It wasn't that they underestimated themselves, but that Randall had left far too deep a shadow over them before.
The last time they had met, Randall had already possessed the strength of a Vice Admiral.
Even with their newfound confidence, they knew they wouldn't stand a chance, even if Randall hadn't improved at all.
Their challenge this time wasn't about winning. They simply wanted to see how large the gap between them and Randall was.
But at the same time, Aequus and Milers harbored a faint, unrealistic hope.
With their current strength, the two of them together could put up a fight against even some Vice Admirals!
If their opponent let his guard down, victory wasn't entirely impossible!
Unfortunately, their hopes were lovely, but cold, hard reality dealt them a crushing blow.
During the fight, they discovered to their shock that defeating Randall was out of the question—they couldn't even break through his defenses!
When Aequus discovered that his strongest punch couldn't even knock Randall's face to one side;
When Milers discovered that the most brilliant sword strike he had ever delivered, surpassing even his usual limits, couldn't so much as cut Randall's clothes;
They completely broke down.
"I just want