One week later, in the outskirts of Academy City.
A man held a sword in his hand and looked at the caramel-haired woman in front of him as he panted heavily.
He was wearing a face mask that covered the lower half of his face and a black coat that hid his entire body, making it impossible to know his identity.
Right at that moment, blood burst out of several parts of his body.
"Ugh…"
Grunting, he jumped back, taking as much distance as he could from the woman with caramel-colored hair.
"How interesting. It's not every day I catch a demigod rat." Wave, the caramel-haired woman, smiled softly and looked at the sword-wielding man in front of her with a chilling look.
"Wave Golden…" The man murmured with a bitter look. He was not expecting to meet this legend here.
Five minutes ago, the legendary headmistress of Academy City had appeared in his base, killed all the people inside it, and gravely injured him.
The only reason he was not dead yet was that he was a demigod and barely managed to endure her attacks.
But even so, he knew he could not escape her.
However, he was not despairing.
Because he still had hope.
He just needed to endure until his reinforcements arrived.
But as though she would have read his mind, Wave chuckled.
"Do you truly think that reinforcement will arrive?"
"Huh?"
Before he could process Wave's words–
*Spurt!*
A slender hand penetrated his chest from behind.
"Gah!" Blood spurt out of his mouth and his mana weakened. The injury he received was fatal!
Shocked, he looked behind him, only to see a golden-haired fox girl staring at him with an expressionless look.
The man's eyes opened wide.
"B-Bloodstained… M-Moonlight…"
"I hate that name," Eve muttered with a frown and pulled her hand out of the man's body.
Immediately, blood flowed out of the demigod's wound like a river and he collapsed on the ground.
Vomiting another mouthful of blood, he chuckled with a despairing tone.
'It looks like today is my day, huh…'
Just at that moment, he caught a glimpse of the scene behind the fox girl.
There, he saw two people collapsed on the ground, both of them killed coldbloodedly.
The man's eyes opened slightly wide, recognizing the bodies as the other demigods that came with him for this mission.
"I-I see… S-So you killed them already, huh…" The man smiled bitterly. "W-Why are you here, Bloodstained Moonlight… I-Is Moonlight Glow supporting Academy City?"
"I'm not Moonlight Glow's Saintess anymore. I'm just Eve, Wave's friend, helping her to take care of the rats in her house."
The man smiled wryly.
Who would have expected this malefic start to help Wave?
Actually, the fact that Wave herself came to hunt them was already outside of their expectations.
They knew that Academy City would not stay quiet after they kidnapped a student, but they never expected such a swift and decisive answer. Their informants in the city did not even manage to warn them.
Most likely, the headmistress and the saintess of Moonlight Glow moved without telling anyone else.
And with two of the most powerful demigods in the entire world working together, it was impossible for his group to survive.
"Such a bad luck…" The demigod muttered self-deprecatingly and closed his eyes.
To never open them again.
When she confirmed that the demigod was dead, Eve looked at Wave.
"It's done. None of them survived."
"Thank you."
"It's nothing, but, are you sure it's alright to kill them? You could have left one of them alive to extract information."
"Why?" Wave asked with a smile. "You and I know who is behind this. If I catch one of them alive, I'll be forced to tear off all pretenses with them. It's not the time for it yet…" She then waved her hand, creating a flame that burned the bodies of the three demigods into ashes. "It's enough like this. It will serve as a warning to those covetous wolves and as an answer to the kidnapping case."
Eve did not reply, just sighing softly.
"You can't avoid the problem forever, Wave. They are becoming more and more brazen. Eventually, you will be unable to scare them off anymore."
"I know, but… I'm not strong enough yet… I still need more time. Perhaps… Perhaps I can make a breakthrough and bring an end to this problem."
Eve stared at her friend with a complicated gaze.
A breakthrough? At their level, it was impossibly hard. So hard that Eve only knew of three people that had managed to do it.
Unless she decides to become a god, making another breakthrough was close to impossible.
However, she could understand her friend's stubbornness.
At that moment, Wave put on a startled expression.
She furrowed her brows and took out a communication stone from a pocket, using her soul power to receive the information inside.
When she finished listening to the message, her expression turned ice-cold.
"Something bad?" Eve tilted her head expressionlessly.
Wave nodded.
"Let's go. The Queen of Alterna arrived at the city."