[I found you.] The wolf grinned, and its voice sounded in Bloed's mind.
The next second, the monsters that had invaded the city stopped in their steps and turned their necks towards Bloed's at the same time.
Countless eyes fell in Bloed's group as the monsters stared at them intently.
"W-W-What…?" Liu Ying stuttered in panic. "W-What is happening?"
Bloed felt a shiver of terror running through his spine.
"… We need to escape," Bloed muttered with a solemn expression.
"Bloed?"
"We need to escape! Now! Regina, take us out of the city!"
Regina nodded immediately and wrapped the group in a bubble of energy.
She then flew up and brought them outside the city.
By this point, the rest of the group had realized that something was wrong. Although they did not hear the voice of the wolf, the strange behavior of the monsters was clear.
But that was just the start.
As soon as Regina took flight, the wolf's eyes narrowed.
Then, it let out a loud roar.
*ROAAAARRRR!!!*
Immediately, the monsters attacking the city rushed towards Bloed and the others.
Thousands of monsters rushed towards them like a flood of fangs and claws.
[Leave the Heart of the Forest behind!] The wolf bellowed.
The expressions of Bloed and the others changed.
"Regina, we need to get as far from this city as possible! Hurry!"
"Understood."
"Bloed! How does it know that we have the Heart!?" Princess Elwha asked in a panic, but Bloed did not know the answer.
He still could not understand what had just happened.
He was sure that the wolf knew who he was, but how?
He had never met it. Moreover, he was using a disguise now, and his disguise was close to flawless.
"Master, look at the energy coming from the wolf," Regina spoke up at that moment.
Bloed was startled. Frowning, he focused his gaze on the wolf's energy.
Soon, his bright blue eyes noticed a particular kind of energy coming from it.
"… Faith." Bloed spat out that word.
Regina nodded.
"And it feels similar to the demigods of the Church of Slaughter I fought before."
Bloed's expression became ugly.
The situation had taken a turn for the worst.
"Wait a moment. Do you mean that slaughter is possessing that wolf?"
"God's descent?"
Liu Ying asked in disbelief and Eres frowned.
Princess Elwha thought for a moment and shook her head. "I don't think it's god's descent but something like an oracle. Most likely, the god sent a wisp of his consciousness with information about us to the wolf. That is how it recognized us."
"Not just that wolf." Bloed's face was stern. "I hope I'm wrong, but I think that all the monsters that are attacking the human settlements are being influenced by Slaughter."
The eyes of Liu Ying, Eres, and Princess Elwha opened wide.
"Do you mean…?"
"Yes. Slaughter must have influenced them to attack the nearby human settlements just to find us."
Liu Ying, Eres, and Elwha looked at each other in disbelief.
They could not believe that a god had gone as far as to cause thousands of deaths just to find them.
"He is crazy…" Liu Ying muttered.
Bloed agreed completely.
At that moment, Regina frowned.
"How troublesome." She muttered while looking behind her.
Thanks to her very fast speed, she had left most of the monsters behind. However, the wolf was still chasing after them.
"Should we kill it?" Eres suggested.
Bloed thought for a moment and nodded.
"Regina. Do it."
"Understood."
The Valkyrie did not hesitate. She stopped flying and put the group on the ground. She then turned around to face the wolf.
[Are you not running anymore?] The wolf asked with a growl. [Where is the Heart of the Forest. If you give it to me, I promise to give you a quick death.]
"Just you?" Regina's voice was cold. "You are not worthy."
In the next instant, an enormous amount of energy was released from her body.
The energy was so overwhelming that it made the air tremble.
The wolf's eyes opened wide in astonishment. Then, the astonishment turned into fear.
It did not feel any powerful mana coming from Bloed's group before, so it thought that they were not that strong. But now, it finally realized that its enemies were much stronger than it thought.
Just Regina's energy was several times stronger than its mana.
Without any hesitation, the wolf turned around and fled.
Regina's eyes became colder.
"Do you really think that you can escape?"
With a thought, a greatsword appeared above her head. Regina grabbed it with her right hand before slashing in the wolf's direction.
In the next instant, the sword became several times longer, cutting everything in its path.
Before the wolf could react, a flash of energy cut the forest into two, then, its body was divided into two halves.
Just like that, a demigod was killed.
"Done, master."
Bloed nodded at Regina before looking at the rest of the group.
"I will change the appearance of our masks. Also, we need to leave this place immediately. The wolf shouted about the Heart of the Forest in the middle of the city. I fear that news about it will spread soon."
Liu Ying and the others nodded, but right at that moment, the communicator in Bloed's wrist flashed.
Startled, Bloed looked down, only to see that it was a call from Headmistress Wave.
Bloed and the girls looked at each other with solemn expressions.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Liu Ying said.
Bloed took a deep breath and answered the call.
"Teacher, what is wrong?"
[Bloed, tell me that you are not near Armero City.]
"What happened?"
[… I just got a piece of news. The Heart of the Forest appeared in Armero.]
"... Fuck." Bloed cursed.
[So it's true, huh.] Headmistress Wave's expression became grave. [Bloed, you must leave that place immediately. Get as far from there as possible before the churches find you.]
Bloed nodded.
But just then, Regina spoke to him.
"It's too late, master."
Before Bloed could understand Regina's meaning, his expression changed.
From the distance, he felt several powerful auras approaching.
And among them, there were at least four demigods.
....
Support me on P4TRE0N to read up to 20 chapters ahead...
P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels