The fall of the doors could be seen from the entire city. Commoners and practitioners witnessed how the city's doors were breached and heard the joyful roars of the monster.
Everybody understood what had happened.
The defenders had failed.
Bloed was not the exception. As soon as the saw the doors fall, he knew that hundreds of monsters were about to invade the city and massacre the commoners.
His first reaction was to hurry towards the doors. Bloed wanted to kill as many monsters as possible such that more people could survive this disaster.
Bloed felt partially responsible for this monster wave. Although he was not sure he was the reason behind it, he was seventy percent certain that he was the one that led the monsters here.
Of course, there was a high likelihood of the monster wave occurring eventually even without his intervention. However, such a situation probably would have taken a few years to occur.
So, Bloed wanted to do his best to kill as many monsters as possible.
But when he was about to hurry towards the city lord, someone called out at him.
"Bloed!"
Bloed was surprised. He looked back and saw Erika rushing towards him followed by two guards.
"Erika, what are you doing here?" Bloed asked suspiciously.
Erika stood before him and panted briefly before speaking. "B-Bloed, it's Liu Ying. S-She is in danger!"
Bloed frowned. "Liu Ying? Are you sure?"
"Y-Yes! S-She was kidnapped by the black-dressed men!"
Bloed frown became deeper. He closed his eyes for an instant before opening them. Then, he stared straight into Erika's eyes deeply.
"Are you sure Liu Ying is in danger?"
"Y-Yes!" Erika replied after stuttering slightly.
"How do you know?"
Erika was stumped. However, she did not take long to answer.
"O-One of dad's men was nearby when it happened! H-He had seen Liu Ying before in the mansion, so he told me about it! I-I hurried here as soon as I learned about the situation!"
Bloed wrinkled his brows. He looked at Regina as though asking for her opinion and Regina nod.
Thus, he turned to Erika.
"… Take me there."
Erika's expression turned complicated for an instant before she nodded.
However, that did not escape Bloed's sight.
"… Even you, huh." Bloed muttered softly.
Erika was startled. "Huh? Did you say something?"
"No, nothing."
Erika tilted her head. For some reason, she felt as though something bad was about to happen.
However, she had already made her choice.
…
Erika led Bloed, Regina, and Leto to a deserted part of the city. Even although Bloed knew that Liu Ying was supposed to be in the city walls, he said nothing. He simply followed silently behind Erika.
Finally, when she arrived at an alley, Erika stopped.
"… Bloed, sorry."
"Stop. Don't apologize. I don't want to hear it."
Erika bit her lips. She wanted to say something to excuse herself, but she did not know what to say.
In the end, she could only look down and grab the hem of her dress.
"… Don't worry. Brother promised me that he will not hurt you."
"Yeah? I must make sure to thank him later then." Bloed smiled mockingly.
Erika heard the sarcasm in Bloed's words; however, she did not know what to say. For some reason, though, her heart felt very painful.
At some point, the alley where they were had been surrounded by a group of black-dressed men.
Bloed and Regina looked at them with an indifferent face, not even a bit worried. The pair had already checked their strengths, and none of them was in the A-Rank.
At that moment, a voice came from the other side of the alley.
"Erika, come here."
"Brother…"
Erika's expression turned complicated. She wanted to say something, but when she saw her brother's severe expression, she nodded meekly and walked towards him after giving one last apologizing glance to Bloed.
Bloed remained indifferent, though. He did not seem surprised due to Gerald's presence or the men around him. Instead, it seemed as though he was already expecting this.
Gerald frowned when he saw his expression. However, when he looked at the people around him, his confidence came back.
"I'm sorry about meeting you this way, Bloed. However, I don't have more options."
Bloed shook his head. "Stop, stop, stop. I don't want to hear your hypocrisy. Just speak quickly and don't waste my time."
Gerald's expression darkened. A trace of anger appeared on his face, but he quickly took a deep breath and calmed down.
"Then I will not be polite. I hope you can give me your saber."
"Oh? This?" Bloed lifted his saber calmly and showed it to Gerald. "I'm sorry, but this is my weapon. I can't give it to you."
"It looks like you don't understand your situation. We have miss Liu Ying in our hands. If you don't give me the saber, she will die!"
Bloed stared at Gerald as though he was a fool. Both he and Regina curved his lips in mocking expressions.
"I see. Then kill her." Bloed said calmly.
Gerald was startled, but when he saw Bloed's expression, he understood.
"So you know, huh."
Bloed did not reply. Instead, he just continued looking at Gerald mockingly.
Yes, since the start, Bloed knew that Liu Ying was alright.