To be honest, Bloed hesitated slightly about if to help Elwha or not.
It was not that he was cold-blooded or something like that. He simply was pragmatic. He could imagine that helping Elwha would mean getting embroiled in a whole lot of trouble; trouble he did not want anything to do with.
Plus, Elwha was not even a friend; at most an acquittance. They shared a connection, right; but even then, she was just an acquittance.
However, Bloed underestimated how strong the connection between them was.
Just thinking about letting her die was enough for Bloed to be filled with anxiety and fear, as though he was about to lose something important.
Moreover, he could feel the despair and fear Elwha was feeling as though it was himself.
Her feelings were so overwhelming that Bloed felt a weight on his chest. He got the feeling that if he let her die, he would regret it deeply.
Hence, he decided to save her in the end.
Locating her was easy. He just followed their connection and it guided him to her. However, when he arrived at the place, he discovered he could not continue forward for some reason.
Moreover, something about the place seemed to suggest him to go away.
Such a strange feeling was enough for Bloed to know that something was wrong. Thus, he activated all the functions of his eyes, discovering a strange layer of energy surrounding the place.
'A barrier.'
The barrier was very strong. Enough to keep an A-Rank practitioner trapped inside for a long while.
Anyone else would have needed to spend a lot of time to break through it. But Bloed was different. He could be considered the natural enemy of barriers.
His eyes lit up with a blue glow, searching for the weakest part of the barrier. And once he found it, he filled his saber with psychic power and brandished it.
*Swish!*
With a sound as though cutting through paper, he tore a hole through the barrier.
Then, he jumped through it.
Landing precisely in front of Elwha.
"It seems like I arrived on time."
Bloed's voice reverberated inside the barrier, stunning the men that were about to caught Elwha.
"Mr. Bloed!" Elwha exclaiemd in surprise.
"Princess. It's good that you are alright. I almost did not recognize your new face, though."
"Thank god you are here... Thank god..." Elwha smiled in relief. Her body immediately lost strength, and her legs gave him, making her fall seeted on the ground powerlessly.
She did not know why, but when she saw Bloed arrive, she got the feeling that everything was going to be alright.
It was a strange confidence, but for some reason, she did not doubt it.
And Bloed did not plan to disappoint her.
"Who are you!?" The bulky man looked at Bloed with a wary expression.
He could feel that Bloed was just a B-Rank practitioner. But when he saw how Bloed broke through the barrier so easily, he knew this young man was not normal.
However, the situation turned more complicated at the next second.
Two more people jumped through the hole, landing at each side of Bloed.
"Master!"
"Bloed!"
Regina and Liu Ying stared at the enemies surrounding them warily. They did not take long to notice Elwha, but due to her disguise, they did not know who she was.
"It's Princess Elwha," Bloed explained.
Regina and Liu Ying were startled. Quickly, though, they understood the gist of the situation.
Meanwhile, when the bulky man saw that another two people appeared, his expression turned stern.
For a brief instant, he considered leaving and waiting for another opportunity to get the girl. However, when he thought about everything they invested to create this opportunity without the city noticing, the bulky man gritted his teeth and decided to proceed.
"End them! They are just three people!"
Immediately, the people surrounding Bloed and the others rushed towards the group!
As for the bulky man, he charged towards Bloed.
Unfortunately, the bulky man forgot about something.
In this world, there are some people that don't care about numbers.
"Regina, Liu Ying. You know what to do."
"Understood, master."
"On it~"
With an indifferent expression, Regina created two energy blades on her hands and rushed towards the enemies.
As for Liu Ying, she released her aspect, and clenched her fist, rushing towards a B-Rank opponent.
Meanwhile, Bloed took a step forward.
He watched how the bulky man rushed towards him with a calm look. Then, when the bulky man was less than ten meters away, his eyes lit up.
Psychic power surged out of his mind, turning into a powerful battle intent that filled the surroundings.
Then, that battle intent converged upon the bulky man.
[King's Aura]!
The bulky man's expression changed. All of sudden, he felt as though he was not facing a young man, but a giant.
Bloed's blue eyes seemed to become bigger and bigger, staring at him as though he was just a mortal in the presence of a god.
At the same time, a powerful aura of destruction suppressed his body.
If not that the bulky man was an experienced A-Rank, he would have kneeled on the spot!
The bulky man reacted instantly. Mana erupted from his body, pushing away the pressure and allowing him to recover.
But by that point, the blue-haired young man was already in front of him.
His saber flashed, creating a line on the air as it sliced the bulky man's body.
Then–
*Spurt!*
Blood spurt out of the bulky man's abdomen, dying the ground red.
The bulky man opened his eyes wide, surprised by the fact he was defeated so easily.
If not that he moved his body aside instinctively, he would have bisected, dying instantly.
However, he knew that although he survived, his situation was no good.
He tried to put strength on his legs. However, his legs gave in, forcing him to kneel on the ground as blood flowed out of the wound on his waist.
Coughing a mouthful of blood, he looked towards his surroundings. He then realized that the two girls that arrived with the boy had killed most of the others.
Especially the silver-haired girl. She left a trail of corpses behind her as she brandished her blades.
By this point, his last bit of hope disappeared.
"… Monsters." He spat out with a bitter look.
Bloed stared at him coldly and snorted.
"I think that the ones that relied on numbers to bully a frail girl are much worse. I never thought Slaughter's minions were so cowardly."
"All is for the glory of our god... Cough..."
With a cough, the bulky man took out a dagger of his clothes.
Then, before Bloed could react, he stabbed his own heart, dying instantly.
Bloed could not help but wrinkle his brows when he saw that.
"How ruthless."
This was the third time Bloed crossed paths with Slaughter's people.
And once more, he realized they were crazy madmen.