"Have you seen Althea? She was just there a moment ago!"
Hiraya fell in distress at the sudden disappearance of Althea. She was just talking to her a moment ago and in a blink of an eye, she disappeared.
Having scanned the surroundings only to fall into deeper anxiety as she couldn't find Althea, she ran towards Minokawa who had halted rolling on the ground as he seemed to realize the disappearance of Althea.
"Minokawa, where is she?", Hiray asked as she felt her heart throbbing, looking at Minokawa who glanced at her in a daze, tilting his head as if he didn't know what happened as well.
Looking at the concrete floor where Althea stood, Hiraya saw a burned floor underneath the [Light Convergence Staff] that Althea was carrying. Her eyes quivered as she didn't understand anything.
"These burns, she was just here a moment ago, what happened?!", she fell on her knee as she took the staff that still had a trace of palm sweat of Althea.
Not knowing what to do, Lily walked toward Hiraya and pulled her out of her misery.
"This burns, I'm afraid the "Mad Scientist" has taken a liking to her.", Lily uttered in a low voice as she felt pity towards Althea.
Hearing her words, Hiraya gazed intently at Lily as she opened her mouth frantically.
"Mad scientist? Who is he?! We should go and take Hiraya, now!", she exclaimed as she held Lily's hand and shook it, pleading to inform her more of Althea's potential abductor and save her.
Lily, lowering her head as she met Hiraya's eyes that were on verge of overflowing with tears, shook her head lightly as her mouth curved downwards.
"It is futile, no one knows where he lives nor any of his victims survived to tell anything about him. We just know that at times, in the Tutorial, he would abduct players that he has taken a liking to, leaving these burns on the floor.", she uttered as she looked at the helpless Hiraya who had loosened her grip on her hand.
Looking at another area where a burn mark was also dyed on the ground, Lily felt nostalgic as shook her head and uttered.
"I'm sorry but, it might be best for you to stop looking at her. She is good as dead by now.", she muttered as she felt Hiraya's grip escaping her hand, shifting her gaze, she saw Hiraya concealing her face as a spring of tears fell on the ground.
And it was at this moment that Hiraya palpitate as grief overwhelmed her, a silhouette of a boy started integrating into the Resurrection Hall.
Appearing with bloodied clothes, Alab emerged from the Resurrection Hall as his sight first landed on the weeping Hiraya. Worried as to what happened, Alab strode at her as he tapped on her dazed shoulder.
In a low worried voice, he muttered.
"Hiraya, are you okay? And where is Althea?"
Pulling her out of her misery, Hiray heard Alab's voice as she felt her heart skip a beat. She didn't know how to tell him that Althea disappeared under her watch.
Concealing her face more, Hiraya lowered her head as with a shaky voice, tears fell from her eyes, and her lips trembled as she muttered.
"Al— Althea, she disappeared…", she muttered as she finally raised her head and looked at Alab, meeting his eyes that started to burn with rage and grief, with a reluctant voice, she mumbled under shaky breath.
"Th--this, I don't know what happened. She was just there a moment ago and when I chased after that guy, she— she disappeared.", losing breath from her erratic babbling, Hiraya paused as she touched Alab's shoulder, her head dropped on his chest as she wailed in pain.
"Th--this, Alab, I don't know what to do", she muttered as she wailed, her chest tempting to escape her chest as her eyes became swollen from a sea of tears.
Resting his hand on Hiraya's back, Alab ruffled her back as he calmed her. His heart was burning with emotions right now as his mind was clouded by rage. Still, he couldn't discern just how much guilt Hiraya was carrying as Althea disappeared under her watch.
Alab decided to brush his worry and rage for a later time as he comforted Hiraya. Under the inquisitive and contemptuous eyes of the onlookers, Hiraya and Alab stood as a depressing demeanor embraced the area.
However, they weren't given much time to relieve their grief as mumbles from the spectators resounded throughout the area, overcasting their bleak ambiance.
"Hey, that coffin, that c---cant be…"
"Th--this, we can't have another Necromancer in this Tower! We should kill him right here"
"This brat, the audacity to bring a skeleton into the Tower! Kill him now!"
The players erupted with fury as they witnessed a dark coffin appearing behind Alab. His F-grade reward, the corpse of the "Forbidden Lich", brought shivers down the spine of the onlookers.
They couldn't help but reminisce about the horror of having a Necromancer in the Tower. They couldn't let the same thing happen once more.
As Mordred was close to the exit of the crowd, he heard the commotion that spread like a wildfire. His ears perked up as without notice, he vanished from the area and appeared in front of Alab, his sight raging with madness as he glanced at the coffin behind Alab.
Similarly, behind Hiraya, Lily felt his ears pricked by the mumbles as with her widened eyes, she peaked at the coffin behind Alab. The dark coffin made a horrifying memory resurface in her mind as she raised her hand upward and in trance, she summoned a wild [Hydra] that materialized behind her, its fangs brandishing towards Alab.
She had to kill him, right at this place before he brings demise to the Tower - she thought.
Mordred, pulled his sword out of its scabbard as he dashed towards Alab. He knew that he had to kill this boy right at this moment.
With two attacks hurling at Alab with unprecedented speed, he was caught off guard as his eyes widened in disbelief.
He just arrived in the Tower and what welcomed him was two attacks from Captains of large guilds!
It was to no avail that the newbie Alab couldn't respond as the attacks reached his body… or so ought as without notice, his body alongside Hiraya vanished from that spot as the space around them fluctuate.
They felt their headache a little as their body got transported meters away from the scene.
Beside them, a man in a black coat stood. His eyes roared furiously as he gazed at Mordred and Lily. With her enraged voice, he exclaimed.
"I wonder where you took the guts to attack the future leader of our Guild, Mordred and Lily", the man in the black coat shouted.