Yuri didn't think Lakis would stop his attack just because a civilian had been brought into the equation. Rather, wouldn't it be more likely for the king of the dark world to deal with obstacles or witnesses as easily as possible?
In front of her, Anne-Marie was still staring at her with her eyes wide open.
If a new episode had begun because the heroine's first meeting with the sub-villain misfired at Yuri, then this situation might not be a death flag.
But if that wasn't the case, then the heroine might suffer a life crisis under the hands of the ruthless villain. Unlike in the novel, the current Anne-Marie was not Lakis' benefactor after all.
'Wait, then is it my fault for retrieving him instead of the heroine?'
Yuri groaned a little. At any rate, she couldn't let Anne-Marie get caught up in danger. She didn't even have time to think for long.
"I said sto…uk?!"(Lakis)
Yuri stretched her hand to where Lakis had just appeared. Hundreds and thousands of sharp threads, as hard as iron, shot out like beams. They swiftly enveloped Lakis like a net.
"Oh my god!"
Anne-Marie screamed.
Just in case, Yuri sent out several more layers of attacks.
"Ahh!"
While there was a cloud of dust in the air, Yuri carried Anne-Marie, jumped and quickly left the area.
–
After a while, Lakis emerged from the dusty air.
"Hah."
A fake laugh left his slightly parted lips.
Even though that attack displayed considerable destructive power, his body didn't have a single scratch. The bars that flew at him didn't attack him directly, they only sealed his movement.
—Lakis, you okay? Like I thought, they also have the ruin's power!
The bug barked loudly in his head.
Because Lakis had also released his power in case of an unexpected situation, a surge of red blood from his palm was covering his body as if protecting him. The next moment, Lakis willed it and it all crept back into his palm again.
—But this is an unusual weapon, isn't it? Can thread be used like this?
Once the red blood covering their view vanished, the cage-like thing was clearly revealed as it glistened white under the moonlight.
Lakis was currently trapped between a wall and some unidentified pure-white bars. Of course, some of it was broken by Lakis a few moments ago.
Like the bug said, the iron-bar-like thing looked like hundreds and thousands of sectioned threads. But they felt too strong to be called threads.
Lakis raised an arm and ran his finger on it. Immediately, his skin was cut on the sharp surface and began to bleed.
'There was no murderous intent as expected.'
With this, it was very possible to attack and wound Lakis fatally instead of merely confining him, but the white mask did not do that. Hence why Lakis did not retaliate. In addition, even though he could pursue much further, he decided to just stop the chase here.
Earlier, he thoughtlessly tried to catch the white masked person, but he hadn't yet decided what to do if the white mask turned out to be the person he was thinking of right now.
Lakis smashed the cage in front of him and stepped out.
'They are a wielder of the ruin's power, and they also had a ruin's fragment.'
His sharp blue eyes moved to where the white mask had leapt off in the murky trail of dust.
"You, go check there!"
Then at the incoming voice in the alley, Lakis jumped back onto the roof.
"Is anyone there?"
"Not a single soul!"
"Strange, I could've sworn I heard something?"
After a while, a group of people appeared in Lakis' sight. They seemed to be looking for someone in the alley. Upon seeing the masks on their faces, something flashed through Lakis' eyes.
"Dammit, I don't know why we're the only one being screamed at. Where the hell are we supposed to find some suspicious person?"
"Ugh, you read my mind. I mean, if this philosopher's stone or whatever is so precious, they should have given it stronger security in the first place."
Lakis' eyes took on a cold gleam.
The philosopher's stone being talked about and the masked people. This was a composition that had something in common with the white masked person carrying the ruin's fragment.
"Hey, let's just go back!"
As the people turned around, Lakis trailed behind them like a shadow. He had figured out the targets to track in order to find the source of the item, instead of going after the white mask.
* * *
Yuri escaped with Anne-Marie in her arms. Fortunately, Lakis was no longer chasing after her. She hadn't attacked to kill so Lakis probably wasn't very hurt.
Of course, even though the purpose of the attack was to bind him, it was capable of killing him if he took one step to the side. But because her opponent was Lakis Avalon, she had a strange sense of belief.
"W-What is this…"
Anne-Marie blankly stared at the white mask, dazed by the sudden set of events then she suddenly came to her senses.
"Ah, Hestia…!"
Yuri stopped walking when she heard the cry from Anne-Marie's mouth.
'Hestia? Was she in that alley?'
Suddenly, a chill passed behind her. Immediately, the thread attached to Hestia tracked her location. Actually, in preparation for today's festival, Yuri had made transparent threads in advance and attached them to Anne-Marie and Hestia.
The thread couldn't be seen with the naked eye and it could increase almost infinitely so it was very efficient. So even now, she had a general idea of where Hestia was.
Fortunately, Hestia was quite far from the alley Yuri and Anne-Marie had escaped from.
"P-Please put me down."
Anne-Marie struggled, her face had grown even paler at some point. It seems she was frightened by this situation after slowly regaining her senses.
Yuri did a double take once she felt Anne-Marie stiffen.
She had been in a hurry to get away from Lakis that she failed to look at things from Anne-Marie's perspective.
Not only did a random masked person suddenly appear in a dark alley, they even used some strange power to attack someone else, it must seem very suspicious. And now, she was even being kidnapped by that suspicious person.
Of course, Yuri did it to protect Anne-Marie but there was no way Anne-Marie would know that.
"Sorry, I'll take you to your sister," Yuri spoke in a slightly altered voice.
Instantly, Anne-Marie's gaze froze on the white mask.
'Huh…? This voice is somehow…'
Suddenly, she felt like she saw red, gem-like eyes beyond the white mask. But at the same time, the masked person began to move again holding her, so Anne was unable to properly see the irises visible through the mask's holes.
With how fast Yuri was running, the speed of their movement wasn't human, and the passing sights changed in a flash.
"Go right."
Yuri curtly said a while later, after putting Anne-Marie down. Then she leapt off the floor and quickly disappeared from Anne-Marie's sight.
"Ah…"
Anne-Marie chased after Yuri's trace with wide eyes.
'Who is that? It's definitely not a strange feeling.'
Even their voice was oddly familiar. What's more, she wasn't sure if she saw wrong or not…but the eyes she saw for an instant looked red. And the long hair flying behind the white mask was black.
However…
'Wait, this isn't important right now.'
Anne-Marie tossed her confusion behind and hurried to the right where the white masked person had indicated.
"Hestia…!"
And she really found Hestia there.
"Unni!"
Hestia couldn't find Leo in the end and ended up wandering the alleys, lost then she heard someone calling her name and looked back. Anne-Marie rushed straight to Hestia and hugged her tight.
"How could you just run off on your own like that! I've been looking for you!"
"Sorry…"
Right then, colorful, bright lights boomed in the sky over their heads. The fireworks display had started.
"Ah, the clock-tower…"
Anne-Marie suddenly remembered something. She took Hestia and hurriedly left the alley.
* * *
Yuri quickly changed into the clothes she had hidden in a dark alley.
She wore a bland white shirt under her jacket, so she only had to take off what was on top. Then she wore a skirt over her trousers. The skirt was long so no one would know she was wearing pants under unless they deliberately lifted it up. She also tidied up her disheveled hair.
Now, the problem was this ruin's fragment…
Yuri had already fastened the glass box containing the item to herself so it wasn't lost during the struggle with Lakis.
When she recalled what happened earlier, she felt even more mentally exhausted. Since when did the bland spring festival become so complex and eventful?