The temporary camp on the other side of the river was in a state of complete chaos.
Lilian leaned her back against a fallen ancient tree, her pale golden hair messy against her pale cheeks, and those eyes that were always gentle and smiling were now like tempered ice, staring intently at Professor Maureen standing not far away.
“Explanation.”
“I need an explanation, Professor Maureen.”
The other students in the camp all subconsciously lightened their movements, and even the groans of the wounded were lowered; no one had ever seen this little imperial princess, known for her gentleness and weakness, show such a cold expression.
Professor Maureen opened her mouth, her face a mix of fatigue, guilt, and a hint of difficult-to-mention embarrassment.
“Your Highness, I…”
“I do not want to investigate the academy’s dereliction of duty, I only want to ask you one question—where did that fellow, the Academy Head, go? Why has she still not appeared until now?”
Lilian took a step forward, her voice suddenly rising.
The camp fell completely silent.
Everyone looked at Professor Maureen, waiting for an answer.
The professor’s face became even paler, she hesitated to speak several times, and finally slumped her shoulders dejectedly.
“I… I cannot say, this is the academy’s highest secret, only a few professors and…”
“Secret?”
Elena’s cold laugh interrupted her defense.
The blonde girl leaned against her guard, a claw mark deep enough to see bone on her left shoulder; although she had already used Healing Magic to temporarily stop the bleeding, the pain made her face equally unsightly.
“It has already come to this, and you are still talking about some secret? Camilla and Ophelia were separated from us to cover our retreat, and now their life or death is unknown! You still want to use ‘secret’ to put us off?”
In her violet eyes burned the flames of anger, and within those flames was even a trace of anxiety that she herself had not noticed.
After all, if Camilla died,
“If the Academy Head were here, that monster could never have been released! The Dark Demonic Beast Legion would never dare to be so arrogant! Tell me, where exactly is she now! Wasn’t she still giving us a speech this morning?”
Professor Maureen’s lips trembled, but she could not say a word.
Just then, a deep and tired voice sounded.
“Let me say it.”
The one who spoke was Elena’s middle-aged female guard; there was a shocking through-and-through wound on her chest, and although it had been temporarily stabilized with secret medicine, her aura remained weak.
“Miss, and also Princess Lilian… Regarding this matter, Duke Bardia left instructions for me before he departed, saying that if an accident occurred at the academy and the Bardia Estate failed to provide timely support, I could inform you of part of the information.”
She took a deep breath, her gaze scanning the students in the camp.
“Three days ago, the Chaos Cult performed a large-scale Blood Sacrifice Ritual at the Eastern Border of the Empire, attempting to summon some kind of ancient evil. The Imperial Council urgently mobilized seven Ninth-Rank Experts, including Academy Head Korova, Duke Bardia, and Lord Divine Dragon, to go and suppress it.”
“What?!”
“Seven Ninth-Rank Experts…”
“Has the Chaos Cult gone mad?”
Exclamations rose one after another.
The guard continued, her voice becoming increasingly heavy.
“I do not know the outcome of that battle either, but what is certain is that the Chaos Cult’s plan likely failed; however, for unknown reasons, those seven Ninth-Rank Experts have still not returned.”
She looked at Professor Maureen with a complex gaze.
“This news was classified as the empire’s highest secret, known only to a very few people. As for the Dark Demonic Beast Legion… either an insider leaked this information to them, or it was a coincidence, and they just happened to choose this weakest point in time to launch an attack.”
The camp fell into a deathly silence.
Lilian closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, and when she opened them again, the anger in her eyes had been replaced by a cold rationality.
“So, we cannot count on reinforcements from the academy now, correct?”
“…Yes.”
Professor Maureen admitted in a low voice, her tone carrying a hint of exhaustion.
“The battle inside the academy is still continuing, and the other professors are likely still fighting that leader of the Dark Demonic Beast Legion. In the short term, we can only rely on ourselves.”
“Rely on ourselves?”
Elena sneered, but there was no mockery in her laugh, only a deep sense of powerlessness.
“Relying on us students who are at most third or fourth rank, and a few guards of the sixth or seventh rank, to confront a Ninth-Rank Magic Beast and its endless beast tide?”
No one answered, because the answer was obvious.
Just then, Emma, who had been silent, suddenly spoke in a small voice.
“Then… then shouldn’t we go find Camilla and Senior Ophelia? They were separated from us to cover our retreat…”
“Of course we must go!”
Elena answered without hesitation, she struggled to stand straight and looked at her guard.
“Can you still fight?”
“Miss, your injury…”
“I asked you if you can still fight!”
“…I can.”
The guard gritted her teeth and nodded.
Lilian also looked at Ray and Frost; although the two attendants were covered in wounds, they both straightened their backs.
“Your Highness, please give the order.”
Salina had walked to their side at some point, her crimson eyes flickering with a certain dangerous light.
“Those two… especially Camilla, I have a grudge with that fellow. Before that is settled, no one can touch her.”
Shana also walked over, her face pale but her gaze firm.
“Senior Ophelia has guided me, I cannot leave her behind, and besides, Miss Camilla just saved my life, right, Blood Wolf!”
“Awoo!”
The Blood Wolf howled excitedly twice in agreement; it was still thinking about seeking revenge on a certain slime.
Lyudmila did not speak, but silently tightened her grip on the greatsword in her hand, showing her attitude through action.
Several people from Tom’s squad also struggled to gather around.
But just as this temporarily assembled “rescue team” was preparing to set out, the sky darkened without any warning.
It was not dark clouds obscuring the sun.
It was that massive, distorted figure, which had hovered over the camp at some unknown time.
Dark Chimera.
Six pairs of compound eyes looked down coldly at the tiny humans below, tentacles swaying slowly at its sides, each tentacle tip dripping with dark purple slime that made a “hissing” corrosive sound upon hitting the ground.
Everyone froze.
Professor Maureen’s face was as white as paper, her hands trembling as she tried to form seals, but her mana was almost impossible to mobilize under the pressure of the Ninth-Rank Magic Beast.
The guards blocked in front of their respective masters with all their might, but everyone knew this was meaningless.
As long as the Dark Chimera was willing, it could raze the entire camp to the ground within three seconds.
Time passed second by second.
Ten seconds.
Twenty seconds.
Thirty seconds.
The expected attack did not arrive.
The Dark Chimera just hovered there, its compound eyes turning, seemingly… searching for something?
Its gaze swept across everyone in the camp—Lilian, Elena, Emma, Salina… when it swept over Frost, it paused for a brief moment, but quickly moved away.
Finally, its six pairs of compound eyes simultaneously turned toward the southeast.
That was downstream of the river, the direction in which Camilla and Ophelia had drifted away.
In the next second, under everyone’s unbelievable gaze, the Dark Chimera’s massive body slowly turned, its eight limbs slicing through the air as it flew away toward the southeast without looking back.
Only leaving behind a group of dumbfounded people in the camp.
“It… it left?”
Emma’s voice trembled, clearly unable to understand the other party’s actions.
“Why?”
Lilian’s brows furrowed tightly as she tried to speculate on the Dark Chimera’s thoughts.
“It clearly could have easily destroyed us just now…”
Elena stared in the direction where the Dark Chimera had disappeared, her face suddenly becoming extremely unsightly.
“Wait, no! That direction, that direction is… it’s Camilla and the others…”
Before her voice could fall, everyone’s expressions changed drastically.
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