Science/Magic

Several minutes later, six figures appeared in the underground facility.

They were Regina, Wave, Eve, Kallevang, plus Bloed and Eres.

The six of them arrived here following the traces of Number Eight's teleportation.

But when they arrived, they were surprised to not see the enemies that they were expecting.

Instead, the place was completely empty, without any sign of life.

"… I can't feel anyone nearby. This place is empty." Kallevang frowned.

The rest of the group frowned as well, but at that moment, Eve's nose twitched.

"… I smell blood." The foxkin demigod said.

The group was startled and put on solemn expressions. Then, they followed Eve's lead and got ready to fight at any time.

But when they arrived at the source of the smell, they were shocked.

There, the powerful enemy that they desperately fought against, lay dead.

"… He died?" Wave was surprised. "Impossible. His injuries were not that serious."

"Did anyone else killed him?" Eve tilted her head.

"But whom?" Wave asked doubtfully.

Regina frowned and looked at her master. She saw that Bloed was using his blue eyes to observe the situation with a focused expression.

Eventually, he spoke in a grave tone.

"It was just a person."

The rest of the group looked at him in surprise.

"Are you sure?" Wave asked.

Bloed nodded.

"You know that my eyes are special. And they told me that just one person killed him. Moreover, the dragon was unable to resist."

The expressions of the group turned serious.

They knew how powerful the dragon was. Even if he was injured, he was still a powerful powerhouse.

But now, someone killed that dragon without giving him the chance to resist?

How powerful was that person then?

At the very least, he was as strong as them.

Was that person a friend or a foe?

And if he was a foe, where was him? Why did he kill the dragon?

Wave's expression could not help but become grave when she thought about these questions.

This was her city, but now, she discovered that she knew it less than she thought.

First were the underground tunnels, then the fact that several powerful demigods infiltrated the city without her noticing, and now, she discovered that another powerful demigod was in the city, and she had no idea about his whereabouts or identity.

Wave could not help but feel vexed.

At that moment, she saw Bloed walking towards a room nearby.

The dragon headmistress was startled, but she soon realized that there was a powerful sealing array around the room.

The array was deactivated, but just its existence showed that this room was not simple.

The dragon headmistress furrowed her brows and followed Bloed. Then, her eyes narrowed.

"… So that was the purpose of the magic array, huh." She said while looking at the dead creature in the room.

A Blight, and judging from the slight aura coming from it, a very powerful one.

At least as strong as them.

Now Wave finally understood the purpose of the magic array around the city.

To feed this creature.

However, the Blight was dead.

Wave did not need to be smart to understand who killed it. It should have been the same person who killed Number Eight.

But why? Judging from his actions, this person did not seem to be a foe. Then, why did he not show himself to them?

But just then, she heard Bloed's grave voice.

"Something is wrong."

"Huh?"

"… Someone drained most of the mana inside that creature before killing it."

Wave and the others were startled. But quickly, they realized the meaning of Bloed's words.

"Do you mean…?"

"Yes. Whoever this person is, he waited until we weakened the dragon, then killed him and swallowed all his hard work. We were used by him."

Wave's expression became heavy.

"… Sigh, a trouble after another."

"Do you have any idea about who that person is, Bloed?" Eve asked, but Bloed shook his head.

Wave sighed in disappointment. Even though the dragon was dead, she could not feel relieved.

Quite the opposite, she felt as though a bigger danger was out there.

"… It looks like we can't lower our guards just yet."

"What is your plan now, Headmistress?" Kallevang asked.

"… For now, I'll try to see if there is any other undiscovered underground structure. I don't like having these things in my home."

She would have a bit of trouble finding them due to the magic arrays protecting them, but Wave was confident that she could discover all of them if she searched hard enough.

"I see. It looks like you don't need my help anymore then. It's time I leave." Kallevang nodded before bowing slightly to the headmistress.

"… Sorry for involving you in this, and thank you for helping me."

"It's our duty to erase the threats to the world, Headmistress. You don't need to thank me."

"Even so, I'm thankful. Also, tell Saintess Charise that I will go to thank her personally."

"I understand." With a nod, Kallevang left.

Just then, Bloed spoke up as well.

"Headmistress, we will leave as well."

Headmitress Wave looked at Bloed and smiled gently.

"I owe you one, Bloed. You are supposed to be my student, but instead of me helping you, you ended helping me to solve my problems."

"No, headmistress. You have helped me more than enough."

With these words, Bloed, Regina, and Eres left.

Wave looked in Bloed's direction with a complicated expression.

But what she didn't know was that as soon as Bloed's group returned to the surface, Bloed's expression became white and he started to cough blood.

"Master!"

"Brother!"

Regina and Eres became pale. They hurriedly rushed towards him, only to see him twitching of pain as blood flowed out of his nose.

"Master, what happened!?" Regina and Eres were anxious. Seeing it, Bloed wiped off the blood in his nose and forced out a smile.

"… I'm alright, don't worry. Just bring me to the tower quickly, please."

Regina and Eres nodded and hurriedly took Bloed to the tower.

"… It looks like I'm in trouble this time."

Bloed smiled bitterly to himself.