The ground rumbled roughly for another minute, before it settled down completely. They were outside, which allowed them to hear many sounds from their surrounding, but Kuzo felt like a deafening silence had just descended upon the world.
The mood surrounding Basil was solemn and heavy—it was as if he was disappointed and angry at the same time. Kuzo silently looked at that Basil, and gulped nervously at each twitch Basil's fingers made.
By the time Basil suddenly turned his back on the destroyed village, Kuzo, who was keenly observing Basil, was terrified. Luckily, due to his professionalism, he could somehow prevent his body from jumping back in horror.
"Can you proceed to your next mission?"
"A-Ah, next mission?" Receiving Basil's deep and cold gaze, Kuzo couldn't help sweating coldly. "Y-Yes. I can herd some of the Monsters to destroy the mansion of the late Baron Raneil."
"That is needless. I want you to find the other two students who managed to avoid my Teleportation Circle."
Kuzo frowned lightly, before recalling the face of Rose and Elaine who were also a part of Eugene's team. He couldn't help shaking his head bitterly after recalling their face, as he knew what Basil would order him to do to them.
Gulping nervously, he looked at Basil as straight as he could. "To engage in a fight with both of them will be impossible for the current me, Master. I suggest that—"
"I am not telling you to fight them head on. I want you to face them the way you are most skilled at." Basil's eyes flashed coldly. "They haven't figured out your identity yet—use that to your advantage."
"But they are..." Just two innocent girls, is what Kuzo wanted to say, but upon seeing Basil's look, he quickly widened his eyes. "As you wish, Master."
He had momentarily forgotten his status as Basil's slave, and he was no longer living with his principle: to never kill newly bloomed flowers. He was sorry because of that, and he was grateful Basil didn't kill him for his impudence.
"No one is born innocent because of what they will become. Once you spare someone, it will be hard for you to stop sparing ... You are an Assassin—don't forget about that."
Kuzo bowed his head respectfully at Basil. "Understood, Master." Basil gave Kuzo a low hum as a response, before dashing towards the east, leaving him alone with his thought.
"Once you spare someone, you can't stop sparing, huh?" Kuzo looked at the disappearing back of Basil, and shook his head bitterly. "Just what kind of a life you have gone through at such a young age, Master?"
Unaware of Basil's past life that was nothing more than a tragedy, Kuzo took off to look for his target.
...
Just a few kilometers away to the west of the small village, Alexandra, Sylvia, and Effie were still in a battle with the Demons.
Although they had killed all of the Low Class Demons, they still couldn't heave a sigh of relief since there were still 13 Middle Class Demons, including the rampaging Minotaur Warrior, they had yet to kill.
Boom!
"Gah! This Minotaur just broke my ankle for the seventeenth time by merely smashing its hammer to the ground!"
"What about dodging it instead?!"
Alexandra looked weirdly at Sylvia, who had been counting how many times she had her bones broken by the Minotaur. Although she was aware Sylvia could shrug off that kind of injury due to her Aura Ability, Alexandra couldn't still quite wrap her mind around it.
Effie, the oldest and also the strongest person of the trio, didn't join the exchange between the two, but she had never scolded them for talking in the middle of a battle. She was aware they did that to ease the anxiousness they were feeling.
They had been fighting the Demons for slightly more than an hour; they were really close to their limit, but there were still quite some Demons remaining. Anyone who was faced with that situation would be anxious—that is normal.
"[Archer of Doom: Chaotic Arrow]!"
Effie pulled the string of her bow, and a dark blue arrow made from her Qi materialized in the next moment. The air surrounding her was immediately overwhelmed with her Qi, and she let it go after aiming it at an Orc Warrior.
Swish!
The arrow traveled in the air so fast, it left a light trail. The Orc Warrior, who was seeing the arrow coming at it, merely flashed its protruding fangs as it fully intending to take it head on.
Boom!
Needless to say, it made a splendidly stupid choice by doing so. One might have expected it to be a little bit smart considering how big its forehead—its brain volume—was, but appearance is often deceiving.
Upon piercing through the chest of the Orc Warrior, Effie's arrow landed on the ground, then exploded. It didn't produce a fiery explosion, but an explosion of arrows.
p
Not stopping there though, the small arrows also exploded like the first arrow. The process was repeated, until the arrows were all as big as needles.
By this time, the unfortunate Demons, who couldn't dodge the arrows, had many holes covering their entire body. Blood was leaking out of the holes in their body, but it didn't take their body long to close the holes.
"Three down—that is good."
Despite so, Effie was still satisfied with the outcome of her attack. From the very beginning, she didn't have any intention to kill all of the Demons; she wasn't that naive to believe that her power could achieve that.
She had used the Qi consuming Technique because she wanted to lessen the burden of the two girls. She had told them to kill all of the Low Class Demons so they didn't disturb her fight with the Minotaur Warrior, and the girls had done it splendidly.
Normally, a few hundreds of Low Class Demons was not much, but it was a different story for a pair of Middle Rank Knight and a Senior Mage. Unless they were really talented, they could lose their lives easily.
Added by that fact, the two girls had also killed some of the few Middle Class Demons that should've been Effie's job. Compared to them, she hadn't done much, so lessening their burden, even slightly, was the best thing she could do.
Seeing that the situation had somehow calmed down, Alexandra took the limping Sylvia in her hands, and brought her away from the other Demons with her Transportation Artefact.
"Let's go, masochist girl!"
"Hey, who is a masochist?!"
"You are literally seeking for pain, girl. Don't say otherwise!"
"What do you think I am? A Pervert?!"
They bantered comically in the way, but it was apparent from their face that they were really exhausted because of the battle.
Alexandra had already tired out her Magic Circles, and even activating the Rune on her Transportation Artefact was painful for her. On the other hand, Sylvia was trying her best to suppress the pain she was feeling, since her Aura Ability had deactivated itself long ago.
"Take cover behind me!"
Upon arriving in front of Effie, who was fighting far away from the Demons, unlike them, she motioned them to take a rest. Alexandra was grateful for it, and she nodded her head with a small smile on her face.
"Thank you for the assistance!"
Effie merely smiled bitterly at the relieved smile on Alexandra's face, but said nothing about it. 'Even a Mage can also make that face, huh?' She couldn't help musing over the fact of how helpless their current situation was.
Boom. Boom.
The rampaging Minotaur Warrior Effie had tried so hard to distract was running towards them. Her mouth turned into a thin line upon seeing the scene, as she honestly didn't know what she should do.
"If I exhausted my Core, there is a possibility that I could defeat it in one shot. However..." Glancing behind her, she could see Alexandra and Sylvia were lying on the ground while recuperating. "... There will be no one to protect them."
Clicking her tongue in irritation, Effie drew the remaining Qi she had in her Core, and pulled the string of her bow once again. As her Qi overwhelmed the surrounding air, one could see the atmosphere faintly distorted.
A dark blue line appeared in the middle of the string and the bow, and a destructive aura could be immediately felt. Her hands trembled due to the burden the Technique was giving to her body, but her eyes remained still; they were planted solely on the Minotaur Warrior.
As the dark blue line between the string and the bow was getting denser, a small orb of dense Qi belonging to an Early Stage Blue Core Knight appeared in front of Effie's bow in the next moment.
Exhaling lightly, she let go of her bowstring. "[Archer of Doom: Last Day]!"
Her Technique was unleashed, but the Minotaur Warrior still ran straight to it; she could even see the savage grin on its face. It was as if the Minotaur Warrior was thinking that her Technique would never be able to beat it.
Knowing full well of what her Technique could do, Effie, of course, smirked at that scene ... At least, she could still smirk before the Minotaur Warrior skillfully dodged her Technique.
Whizz!
As the grin of the Minotaur Warrior became even wider, Effie's Technique hit the other Middle Class Demons behind it instead.
Boom!
"Ah, I have failed. I am too tired to aim properly."
Effie was well aware that her Technique could kill most of the remaining Middle Class Demons and immobilize the rest of them, but she didn't care about them, because the Minotaur Warrior was left unscathed, and it would bring end to them.
She didn't have anymore power to fight, and their fate was sealed. Quickly turning her back on the Minotaur Warrior, Effie quickly embraced the two girls lying on the ground.
She wanted to, at least, lessen the impact of the Minotaur Warrior's attack on the two girls that had yet to come with her sturdy body.
She shut her eyes tight, waiting for the impact to come, but it never came. Full of curiosity, she turned around, and bewilderment is what she got.
"H-How?"
The 6 meters tall Minotaur Warrior had died while standing. In addition to that, there was also a mysterious hole in its solar plexus.
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