Bloed was not an idiot. Quite the opposite, he was very smart. Normally, his thoughts were already one or two steps ahead of the situation.
Then, how could someone like him not to think about Liu Ying's safety when he knew the city lord was plotting against them?
Liu Ying did not know it, but Bloed had left a small trick in her armor. It was a program that sent Liu Ying's life signals to him. Of course, Bloed didn't put it on there to spy on her. Instead, it was a measure to know if Liu Ying's life was in being threatened or not and her approximate location.
Furthermore, Regina had left a small bit of her power on the armor too. It was set up to activate when Liu Ying's life was in danger or when she was unconscious, and could protect her for one minute. Enough time for the SS-Grade Regina to move tens of kilometers and rescue her.
In other words, while Liu Ying was in the city and if she did not face a demigod-ranked powerhouse, Regina could always rescue her if she was in danger.
That was the reason why Bloed was not worried about Liu Ying and did not insist when she said she wanted to leave. Bloed was confident that nothing was going to happen to her, and even if something happened, they would have enough time to react.
So, the first thing Bloed did when Erika told him that someone had kidnapped Liu Ying was to check on her life signals. And according to her life signals, Liu Ying was currently in a pinch but she was not in danger.
Moreover, Regina indicated that her protective measure had not been activated; thus, Liu Ying's life had not been threatened and she was not unconscious. Knowing Liu Ying's personality, Bloed could not think of a way they could kidnap her without meeting these requirements.
Bloed recalled the time when he met Liu Ying. She was fighting bravely even when death was before her, not giving to despair. Liu Ying was that kind of girl. The kind that would fight until the end even if she did not have a chance of victory. How could she allow herself to be kidnapped without a fight?
In other words, Gerald's plot was destined to be useless. Even if Gina did not take Liu Ying away, Gerald would have been unable to kidnap her and instead would have told Regina and Bloed about his intentions.
Of course, neither Gerald nor Gina knew it. In the end, Gina's [Precognition] was still inactive, so the things she could see were rather limited. The fact that she managed to piece together as many pieces of the puzzle was already amazing.
Bloed and Regina looked at Gerald with a mocking gaze. It was as though they were looking at a fool that overestimated himself.
Gerald's expression fell. Unconsciously, he took a step back.
However, he was the son of the city lord. He quickly managed to get a grasp of his emotions.
Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth.
"I don't understand. If you already knew, why did you come?"
Bloed shrugged and a bit of killing intent leaked from his eyes. "Of course, to see what your father and you were planning this time. Besides, I thought this was a good opportunity to take care of you. If you are killed now, most people will suspect the beast wave instead of a nameless young man like me. Such a shame your father is not here, otherwise, our work would have been easier. Well, now that we have come this far, I'll have to find a way to kill him so as to avoid future problems."
Gerald paled. Not only him, but even Erika who was behind him turned ghastly white. A feeling of fear and horror was born in their hearts. The fact that Bloed spoke of killing them so lightly was chilling.
Plus...
"You… You knew since the start?" Gerald asked.
Regina snorted. "Do you think we are fools? Your greed could not be more obvious. We simply played along because of a certain reason. Otherwise, I would not have minded killing your entire family long ago."
Regina did not bother to disguise her killing intent. She let it loose completely, drenching the two siblings and the black-dressed men around them.
The killing intent of an SS-Grade ESPer was overwhelming. It was as though the air itself was frozen, making her enemies unable to move.
"I wonder." Regina narrowed her eyes while looking around indifferently. "I can't feel anyone stronger than B-Rank here. Are you planning to use this group of riffraff to take care of us?"
Gerald's expression turned unsightly. He could feel the disregard Regina and Bloed had towards them. Since the start, neither the master nor the servant had treated the city lord's family as something of concern.
However, he was going to make them regret.
With a voice of anger, he pointed his finger to them. "Attack!"
Instantly, the black-dressed men moved. Tens of black-dressed men attacked the pair simultaneously, moving like a surging wave of blades.
Bloed unsheathed his saber, and Regina snorted. Two energy blades appeared on her hands, glinting with electric light.
Regina narrowed her eyes and stepped forward. Her body spun in place, moving her blades through the coming wave of people and cutting the coming black wave into two.
Blood spurted out instantly. Her blades gutted the stomachs of the approaching enemies. At the same time, her body moved skillfully, avoiding the coming blades by a hairbreadth and dancing between the enemies like a graceful swam.
Regardless of rank, the black-dressed men were unable to take even one blow of her. Even one B-Rank black dressed man was killed instantly.
Now that Regina had released her power up to the peak of B-Rank, nobody below A-Rank could even dream of resisting her.
The scene was incredibly bloody, making Erika vomit and Gerald pale. Bloed and Regina, however, remained unaffected. For them, blood was something they had gotten used to.
At that moment, though, Bloed realized something unusual.
Gerald was calm. Too calm for someone in his situation.
Then, he noticed something.
"Regina, careful!"
But it was too late.
A glow appeared below Regina's feet. The magic circled expanded quickly, covering her in an instant.
Regina quickly found the source of the spell and killed a black-dressed man, but it was useless. The spell had been activated using a scroll, and unless Regina could destroy the magic circle, it was unstoppable.
But although Regina's strength was enough to destroy the magic circle if she would have tried, she committed a mistake.
Instead of destroying the spell, she opted for the less consuming strategy. Creating an energy barrier to protect herself.
Normally, that would have worked. But this time…
"… Regina, it's a teleportation spell!"
Bloed's words came an instant too late.
In a flash of light, the magic circle lit up brightly and swallowed Regina.
And then, Regina disappeared from the alley.
Bloed was stunned. The change was so sudden that he was unable to react in time.
But at that moment, his eyes detected something.
Bloed hurriedly jumped aside. Almost simultaneously, a dagger appeared in the place where he was just one moment ago.
*Swing!*
With a sharp sound, the dagger cut through the wind, barely missing him.
Bloed clicked his tongue. "… Sara, huh."
The black-haired girl frowned. She stared at Bloed in surprise as though she could not believe he managed to avoid her attack. Then, she disappeared again.
Gerald laughed at that moment. "You were not expecting this, right Bloed? Father asked for a favor of the A-Ranks in this city to get this teleportation scroll! I'm sure that your Regina must be enjoying being in the middle of the magic beasts now! Of course, you are not in a position to worry about her! Unfortunately, father cannot leave the defensive line with the demigod nearby, or he would have loved to see your expression of despair!"
Erika's face turned pale. "Brother! You tell me that–"
"Shut up, Erika! I was lying, okay? Father will never allow such dangerous enemies to continue living! Someone, take my sister away!"
Erika's guards nodded and grabbed her shoulders. "Young miss..."
Erika was stunned. Aware that she could not resist, her face turned pale and she looked at Bloed with tears in her eyes.
But contrary to her expectations, Bloed did not seem worried.
Instead, he was looking at Gerald with interest.
"Good move, Gerald. Mm, I'll take this as a lesson to never underestimating my enemies. Fortunately, the number of enemies is still manageable or I would have been in trouble... Now, why don't we fight a bit more seriously."
As soon as his words ended, the silver wolf behind Bloed turned into metallic sand.
Then, an energy gun appeared in Bloed's hand.
"… You already showed me your trump card. Now let's see if you manage to make show mine."
And his body was engulfed by the sand.
...
P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels