Science/Magic

This is the fifth chapter of last week. Another chapter coming tonight...

...

"We should rest here," Bloed said while looking at the setting sun. "We will continue moving tomorrow."

Liu Ying, Eres, and Elwha nodded. The group then got ready to camp using the portable home that Bloed carried in his storage device and activated the optical camouflage to avoid being found by the magic beasts.

Because the situation was not suitable to cook, they opted to eat preserved food that they had prepared for the trip. It was not as good as recently-cooked food, but it was good enough.

When it was time to sleep, the group decided to take turns to keep watch, just in case something happened.

Eres took the first shift, followed by Liu Ying, Elwha, and finally Bloed.

However, Bloed could not fall asleep.

"… Are you worried about Regina?" A voice came from beside him.

Bloed turned around only to see Liu Ying snuggling on him.

"A bit." He said while hugging his demon girlfriend. "She told me that she is alright, but even so, I can't help but be worried."

"Nothing will happen to her. Regina is strong after all. I can't imagine someone defeating her." Liu Ying said with a smirk.

Bloed smiled and nodded, but inwardly, he was still worried.

He knew that although Regina was strong, this world was not short of people stronger than her. Any of the gods could put her in a difficult situation.

Plus, he had an uneasy feeling in his chest, as though something bad was about to happen.

This feeling did not disappear when they were discovered by the beast but continued becoming stronger. Bloed was certain that the greatest danger had not arrived yet.

He even considered throwing away the Heart and leaving this place, but the heart was too important for his plans. He did not want to do that unless there were no more options.

At that moment, Liu Ying put a hand on his cheek and turned his face towards her.

"Don't worry, if something happens, we will be here to help you."

"Thank you," Bloed said and kissed his girlfriend briefly. "Now sleep. Your shift is next."

Liu Ying nodded and snuggled closer to Bloed before falling asleep.

Listening to the soft breathing of the beautiful demon girl, Bloed also fell asleep.

A while later, he felt someone shaking him.

Bloed opened his eyes only to see Princess Elwha looking at him.

"Is it my turn?" Bloed asked.

The elf princess nodded.

Bloed yawned and stood up while being careful to not wake up the demon girl hugging him.

"Hey, Bloed." Princess Elwha suddenly called his name.

Bloed was startled and looked towards her, only to see a heavy expression on her face.

"… Bloed, If… If the situation turns dangerous, just give up the heart. You don't need to worry about me. I don't want to see you guys injured due to it."

Bloed smiled wryly.

"Are you worried about that? Don't worry, I know what to do."

Elwha looked at him and sighed with a relieved expression on her face.

The truth was that she was afraid. She was afraid of Bloed and the others dying to protect the Heart.

She had already gone through that once, she did not want to go through it again.

Bloed was the man she loved, and Regina, Liu Ying, and Eres were her friends. If they died because of the heart, Elwha would not be able to forgive herself.

Understanding her thoughts, Bloed grabbed her hand.

Next, he caressed her beautiful white hair and looked straight into her silver eyes before kissing her lips.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen to us. We will bring the Heart to the Boerner Forest successfully."

Elwha forced out a smile and nodded.

Bloed then talked to her for a while until she fell asleep.

When he was sure that she was asleep, Bloed shook his head with a wry smile.

"Liu Ying comforted me, and I comforted Elwha. We sure are troublesome lovers."

He then focused on keeping watch until dawn.

Even though he was keeping watch, it was mostly Oculus who was doing the work. He just sat down in a meditative position and closed his eyes to train his psychic energy and occasionally analyzed the images that Oculus sent to him.

But less than one hour after he started his shift, he heard someone approaching him.

Opening his eyes, he saw that it was his sister, Eres.

She was looking towards a part of the forest with a frown on her face.

Bloed immediately got a bad feeling.

"Sister, what is wrong?"

"… I don't know. It's just that I got a bad presentment while I was asleep."

Bloed furrowed his brows. He immediately checked with Oculus to see if any beast had approached, however, he noticed nothing wrong.

However, instead of feeling relieved, he felt strangely uneasy.

'… Now that I think about it, no beast has approached this place in a while. That is strange.'

The beasts should be searching for them, but he had not seen any since he started his shift.

He did not think much of that before, but now, he realized that it was weird.

At that moment, Eres's gaze sharpened.

The black-haired girl suddenly kicked the ground, rushing towards the forest at full speed.

Before Bloed could understand what was happening, she attacked a tree.

*Bam!!!*

The tree broke instantly, but before it fell to the ground, Bloed saw something jumping from it to another tree.

A small mantis-like insect no longer than a palm.

Bloed's pupils shrunk.

Because when he observed the insect with his blue eyes, he noticed that its mana fluctuations were equivalent to a B-Rank practitioner.

"… A magic beast." Bloed spat out.

Liu Ying and Elwha left the portable house after hearing the commotion. They were about to ask what was happening, but all of sudden, they heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

The group immediately looked in the direction of the footsteps, only to see a familiar average-looking man walking towards them.

"Long time no see you. It looks like you discovered my little pet."

The man talked to them with a smile on his face. He seemed like a completely normal person, but his shadow was anything but normal.

It was squirming creepily, as though there were countless creatures living in it that were waiting to be released.

Bloed's eyes became cold.

"You again."

"Yes, it's me." The man chuckled.

He was the Saint of the Church of Slaughter.

....

P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels