"Die, beast!" The city lord slashed towards the worm.
*Boom!*
A thunderous sound resounded. The shockwaves of the clash between the city lord's sword and the worm's spear-like spiked tail forced Sara, Gerald, and Erika to take a few steps behind.
*ROOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!!!*
The worm roared in pain. An enormous cut appeared on its tail, and green blood flowed from its wound.
At the same time, the city lord took a few steps back and spit out a mouthful of blood.
The worm continued roaring in pain. It trashed in the ground fiercely before finally burrowing in the ground.
The city lord frowned. He could feel that the worm was still nearby, waiting for the perfect moment to attack.
He then looked in Bloed and the others' direction. When he saw Bloed's saber, a flash of killing intent appeared in his eyes, but it disappeared quickly when he felt Regina's gaze.
In the end, he just nodded to Regina and the others and grabbed Sara and his two children.
"Let's go!"
"But dad! what about Bloed!"
"Don't worry about them, Erika. They can escape for themselves." The city lord smiled at his daughter and put her on his back.
Once Sara and his two children were secured, he looked back at Bloed and the others one last time before leaving.
Making use of his A-Rank abilities, he quickly escaped the monsters' encirclement and rushed towards the city.
The worm did not chase after him. It knew the city lord was as powerful as it, and without the help of the other monsters, it probably would lose.
Instead, it focused on the other group escaping.
Regina frowned. She looked at the ground and instantly warned Bloed.
"Master, we need to leave quickly. I can feel that the monster is quickly approaching."
Bloed nodded. "Leto, you know what to do."
With a nod of the wolf, its body changed, turning into a shape more suited for flight.
One second later, the anti-gravity engine was activated, and the wolf took flight.
In seconds, the group was fifty meters up in the air.
Bloed looked down at the forest. He could see the two remaining B-Rank black-dressed men still fighting against the beasts, trying to escape the encirclement to survive.
However, the number of monsters was too great. No matter how many they killed, more were there to take their place. The two black-dressed men were soon covered in injuries and filled with despair.
Less than five seconds later, Bloed saw one of the men being swallowed alive by the wave of monsters.
As for the last black-dressed man, it was bitten into two by the giant worm that burst from the ground.
"… This is horrible." Liu Ying said from beside Bloed.
Bloed nodded. "… Yes, it's… Regina, could these monsters be…"
Regina fell silent for a few seconds. She then looked at Bloed and sighed.
"It's just like master thinks…"
Bloed fell silent.
Looking at the countless monsters filling the forest, Bloed felt a rush of complicate emotions filling his body.
"… Master, it's not our fault."
"Do you truly believe it?" Bloed smiled bitterly. "Do you truly think it's a coincidence?"
Nither Regina nor Liu Ying replied. None of them were fools, they could easily make the connection between this wave of beasts and the black mass-like thing they killed when they were leaving the exiled lands.
Bloed sighed. "Let's go home. I'm tired."
Regina and Liu Ying nodded.
…
Later that day, in the city lord's mansion.
Gerald was standing across his father with a serious look.
"… We failed." The city lord sighed. "Even worse, we lost almost half of our forces in the two operations against them, and despite it, we did not get any result."
Gerald bit his lips. He could not help feel slightly frustrated, and afraid, after today's events.
"… Father, I don't understand. You could have killed them earlier when you appeared! We could have said that the beasts killed them and nobody would have suspected us!"
The city lord shook his head. "You don't understand. I wanted to, but I could not."
"Huh?"
"… That silver-haired girl, Regina, she is definitively not a C-Rank combatant. No, when she punched the A-Rank monster away, her mana waves were equivalent to the peak of B-Rank, maybe even stronger. I fear she is probably just a bit weaker than me."
"Impossible! She does not look older than eighteen!" Gerald's eyes opened wide.
The city lord sighed. "Yeah. Can you imagine it? An A-Rank younger than twenty-years-old. Simply the prospect of that is terrifying. Of course, I'm confident that I can win if we fight."
"Then–"
"But if I fought her, you and your sister probably would have died under the claws of the beasts… Gerald, even if a Demigod artifact is very attractive, I will not exchange it with you and your sister's lives."
"… Father…" Gerald lowered his head. "Then, are we going to give up?"
The city lord thought for a moment. "Let's see what happens. If an opportunity presents itself, we will act. If not, then there is no need to force things. Just keep the surveillance on them."
"I understand."
At that moment–
*Bam!*
– Someone opened the door with a slam.
"I knew something was wrong…" Erika said while looking at the ground and clenching her fist.
"Erika?"
"It was obvious. I have met Harold before, and he is never like that. And the men in black, they were your men, right dad?"
"… Erika, that is–"
"Shut up!" Erika shouted in fury with tears in her eyes.
The city lord sighed and looked at his daughter.
"Dad, he saved my life! I don't know what would have happened if he would have not risked his life to save me!"
"… I know." The city lord sighed again.
"Then, why did you–"
"But the interests of the family are over everything."
Erika bit her lips. She looked at her father with a gaze full of sadness and disappointment. She was not expecting her father to say something like this.
"… Dad, I like him."
The city lord's expression turned complicated.
"… Erika, if you help us, I promise we will not hurt him."
Erika's eyes opened wide. She then looked at her father as though she could not believe his words.
An instant later, she turned around and ran out to her room while crying.
The city lord sighed again and shook his head. Now he was feeling like shit.
"… Dad, if Erika likes him, perhaps we can…"
"… One of the dukes asked me to marry her to his son one month ago." The city lord simply said.
The empire had three dukes, and each one was very powerful. It was said that every dukedom had at least a demigod behind them.
Gerald sighed. Those words were enough for him to understand.
It seemed like the first love of his sister was destined to be fruitless.
"Let's not think about that now." The city lord exhaled tiredly. "Instead, focus on the beasts' that attacked today. The fact that so many different species of monsters cooperated to kill people is not normal. I fear there is something strange behind it."
...
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