Chapter 102

Elysia glanced around with expressionless and lifeless eyes.

The entire entrance to the temple was covered in dark red blood, and the smell of blood that made her dizzy was scattered all around.

She raised her hand and wiped the bloodstains from her face. Even though she used half of her magic and cast large-scale magic, it was to no avail unless it had been decapitated, so she had to wrap it all up.

“Huu…”

She thought this was just trying to distract Cassian, but the entire Isbel Empire’s army turned into vampires. She was at a loss for words at Peloit’s cruel nature. Even though she would have tried to stop it if she had known ahead of time, what could she do…?

She had no reason to feel guilty.

Elysia snapped her fingers and burned them all. A high flame erupted in the temple.

She was supposed to find Peloit. Where is he really?

Would he go straight to where the Emperor was, or would he find her first? The things that he had already prepared were useless, and all he could do was face it head-on. Because of that, she was worried that he might sense defeat and run away.

The next moment, Elysia could see Cassian approaching her.

“It doesn’t look like he’s nearby.”

Nodding her head at his words, she frowned at the screams emitted from inside.

“Kyaaak!”

A little farther away, a lady was stepping back and fell. And, in front of her was the Isbel Empire’s army.

“Cassian.”

“I’ll…”

She cut off Cassian’s words.

“I’ll be back.”

He could finish it much faster than her. Besides, she would be fine wherever she was in his field of vision anyway.

Cassian pursed his lips in disapproval and nodded his head. Seeing that, she then hurried to the place where the lady was. However, before she arrived, the Lady had already raised her body and ran into the temple.

“Huu…”

If that was the case, shouldn’t she be forced to run?

Elysia ran, ruffling her hair wildly.

Running past the corner of the building, she could see the lady disappearing and Elysia chased after her rapidly. The next moment, she felt something strange. It wasn’t the brunette girl she was pursuing, but she found Lady Aiden.

…Lady Aiden should be locked up in the mansion. Restraints were in place, so how could she be here?

Did something happen to the mansion?

“Greetings, Duchess.”

She spoke, gently holding up the hem of her dress.

It was the perfect posture.

Come to think of it, she had erased Rania’s memory, so when she came to her senses, Rania would have been imprisoned, not knowing the reason at all. Without even knowing the situation, she seemed to have escaped immediately, thinking she had made mistakes.

Her bright smile didn’t match the blood stains on the hem of her dress.

“Lady Aiden…”

Elysia turned her head to the smell of blood. Behind Lady Aiden, she saw the brown-haired girl lying on the floor. There was blood on the ground so much that she knew the lady was dead without even having to check.

She took one of the purple jewels from her arms.

“Why was I locked up in Duke Esteban’s residence?”

Elysia frowned in fatigue.

If she was going to run away, she should have done it later, so why today? In addition, what was the jewel that she was holding in her hand?

“I can only use movement magic twice in an emergency, but thanks to the Duchess, I used it all.”

…There was no way they could have locked her up without taking the magic tools. Was there something else in here?

Rania smiled broadly at her puzzled gaze and wiped the blood from her hands on the dress.

“It can be used without magic. It doesn’t exist in this world.”

Hearing that, she realized where the magic tools came from.

Rania’s gaze turned to Der, who was hanging from her shoulder. As expected, it seemed that she had come all the way here even after running away because of Der.

“I think that’s really the guardian cat. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have done anything to get myself caught.”

“Let’s get you some sleep.”

Elysia quickly approached her and slapped her on the back of the neck.

“Kyak!”

She thought she said Ryan hit her too hard the last time, so Elysia adjusted her strength. However, Rania grabbed her neck and stared at her.

“Was it too weak?”

* * *

Cassian accelerated his sword swing.

The good news was that the end was in sight.

“Sir Ryan.”

He was concerned that Elysia was coming back later than expected. Seeing her fade away, he wondered what had happened and panicked.

“I will finish it. Please, go to Lady Elysia.”

“Please.”

Ryan nodded his head.

At that, he left the entrance to the temple in search of Elysia’s presence.

Feeling nervous, he took a long breath. Even in the same mansion, when Elysia was not in sight, his heart would flutter. She was supposed to signal to him with magic if something happened to her, that mean that she should still be fine.

Although the temple was enormous, it wouldn’t take long to look around.

He thought so, and as he headed to the temple’s garden, someone appeared as if they had been waiting for him.

“Duke, long time no see.”

It was Peloit.

The Isbel Empire army was thrown as bait, and he came straight to the temple. Seeing that there was still no report from where the Emperor was, he seemed to have come to him right away without going there.

Cassian raised the corners of his lips.

Elysia should never be kidnapped by him again, and there were no other signs around him, so he was feeling relieved. Nonetheless, he was more comfortable facing him without her.

“Where is Elysia?”

Saying so, Peloit peered behind him, trying to look for her. Even him calling Elysia’s name sounded dirty.

And, he looked like he didn’t like Cassian.

Dozens of attack magic that had pierced his shoulder in the past floated in the air.

“I’m not going to kill you right away.”

“Who’s saying that?”

Cassian felt confident that he could easily beat him.

While he didn’t know why, it felt like Peloit was far below him. Was it because he kept swinging his sword? He frowned lightly and swung his sword lightly. It was not difficult to get close to Peloit while breaking the spells that were casted.

It was so easy it was frustrating.

“Kugh, Duke… what the hell did you do?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Peloit cast all sorts of magic and eventually pulled out a sword.

“Were you like this?”

Hearing his murmur, Cassian smiled low and gave strength to his hand holding the sword.

He was right.

Breaking the magic that was casted was a little different from breaking the magic circle. Cassian thought that maybe he would not be able to break it because he was barely blocking five or six attacks, though it was surprisingly easy to break even though he only used a sword. He could feel the swords touching each other, trembling due to the difference in strength.

As he laughed bitterly, Peloit soon dropped his sword and distanced himself from Cassian.

“That’s great. It was certainly impossible for me to deal with the Duke by myself. So, I have prepared something for you.”

His sword crossed Peloit’s chest.

He cried and blood leaked out, although Cassian didn’t even cut him deep. It was when Peloit’s blood fell to the ground that the magic circle prepared in advance on the ground started to work. Cassian immediately tried to destroy the magic circle, but it did not work.

“The summoning magic circle cannot be destroyed once it has already been activated. Oh, of course, in the case of a special summoning target.”

He could feel the air surrounding the temple changing.

The magic circle radiated red light, and Peloit laughed like crazy. Although he didn’t know what Peloit was going to summon, if he couldn’t break the magic circle, shouldn’t he just attack the summoner…?

“Let’s do that.”

As he wiped the blood off his sword with an annoyed look, he then approached Peloit. The Emperor wanted him to be captured though it was no good to keep him alive. Avoiding the attack that flew at him, Cassian approached him and stabbed his sword.

No, if it hadn’t been for a hand sticking out from behind his back, he would have stabbed Peloit.

“Ah—wait. Killing the summoner might be a little troubling.”

A terrifyingly low voice came from behind him.

The moment Cassian stabbed the sword, the owner of the voice grabbed his sword with his bare hands.

Cassian’s eyes widened.

He never felt the presence of someone approaching. And now, even at this moment, he still couldn’t feel anything standing behind his back. No matter how hard he strengthened his hand, the sword in that person’s hand did not move.

He then clicked his tongue briefly and twisted his body away.

The person had black hair, a long split pupil, and a reddish eye similar to that of Der.

He thought that while floating in the air, it made the person look like a ghost. Meanwhile, the person raised his hand and ruffled his hair before frowning.

“You summoned me from an annoying place.”

In an instant, an opaque film appeared as if the surroundings and space had been separated by the energy emanating from him. Now, he could not see anything outside the back of the temple. The divine power that was subtly laid on the temple itself disappeared.

The gleaming eyes turned to Cassian.

“Something is strange.”

“…Are you a demon?”

Cassian muttered a little.

“Call me Hail.”

He thought the modifier ‘Great’ was attached to the name Hail, but he must be mistaken. Cassian then sighed at the thought that only more and more troublesome things were happening. At the same time, Hail walked up to him with a grin and put his forehead against him.

Cassian took a step back with a blatantly displeased face.

“There are many things that are trying to kill the summoner.”

Hail stared straight at a point. Licking his lips with his tongue, he grinned and walked over to Peloit and asked.

“Let’s start from here. Are you calling me to kill him?”

Contrary to the frivolous tone of voice, Peloit, who had barely sat down with his hands on the ground, lifted his head in the sense of intimidation that Hail emanated.

Hail, who approached him, tilted his head.

“No.”

He was staring at Peloit with a strange look.

Cassian, who picked up the sword again, was trying to destroy the magic circle that Peloit had used to summon Hail. The light was still shining, so he could see that the role of the magic circle wasn’t over just by summoning Hail.

Hail, who had been watching Peloit for a long time without saying a word, stood on the ground with a cold expression.

Cassian suddenly picked up his sword and took his stance.

“You’re doing something cute.”

However, Hail appeared in front of him in the blink of an eye and grabbed his sword. It was an overwhelming difference in power. As he released Cassian’s sword, he launched his fist, but it passed through Hail.

“Physical force doesn’t work on me.”

Hail laughed out loud.

“It’s no different than a ghost.”

Even though he hadn’t actually seen one, Cassian just knew it.

Hail made a shocked face when he heard the mention of ghosts as if in disbelief. He, who had a blank look for a moment, flashed his eyes before opening his mouth.

“What is this?”

He then grabbed Cassian by the shoulder and buried his face in the nape of his neck.

“You smell very sweet.”

Cassian frowned, displeased.