798 Mutated Demonic Creature
“Ah, this reminds me of why Ellie is renting a temporary house when she can stay here with me? Is it because she doesn’t trust me at all?” Erina muttered while looking down. She felt a little lonely as the thought crossed her mind.
“I believe it’s because of the prey marker that Elysia-sama talked about. She was about to confront those assassins and trap them while she and her organization hunted down the bad guys.” Mio summed up the conclusions she believed more in.
“Oh~ I almost forgot about that. However, is that okay? We just sent a team to monitor the house, right? What if someone blows up the place while Ellie is resting at night?” Erin was worried.
“That’s impossible because Elysia won’t be staying there. The place is bound by something like a barrier. Perhaps, she did set some traps there for those assassins.” Kenji shook his head.
“Mio, when was the last time Ellie was seen there and she was with anyone? What about her powerful bodyguard?” Erina still didn’t feel calm. She had never seen Elysia’s true strength, but Sylvia could be relied on more to ensure Elysia’s safety.
“Sylvia-sama? You need to see this, Erina-sama. This photo of a group of ladies caught on camera shopping around Tokyo Midtown. An anonymous person caught this and posted it on social media because he thought it was a group of gorgeous ladies in cosplay.” Mio tapped her tablet and then placed it on the table with a picture on the screen.
Mitsuzuka and Kenji reflexively glanced at the photo out of curiosity.
“Could it be… They’re Ellie’s group? They’re so beautiful and elegant. It’s as if they don’t come from this world.” Erina muttered softly while admiring the photo. “Ah, this is Ellie. She looks embarrassed and annoyed when someone bothers her, hehe…”
“But Elysia has purplish-blue eyes, and this girl’s eyes are red. Is this just a camera effect due to the sunlight’s reflection?” Kenji felt it wasn’t the Elysia they knew, but he wasn’t so sure.
“That could happen. So, she came to Japan with eight people. Apart from Elysia, there are seven girls. If they are on Sylvia’s level, then it is a dangerous group with combat power equal to or higher than a whole military strength of a superpower country.” Mitsuzuka stroked his beard while considering something.
“We’ll be friends with them, right?” Erina asked innocently.
“Yeah, it’s suicide if our country has stupid intentions towards them. However, photos like this shouldn’t be on the internet.” Mitsuzuka immediately ordered his intelligence team to delete the photo of Elysia’s group from the internet.
“It’s almost lunch now. Shall we have lunch together?” Erina put her hands together with a pleasant proposal.
“It’s about time, huh… Yes, we need to eat balanced nutritious meals on time to speed up our body’s recovery.” Kenji nodded in agreement.
“En~” Erina nodded with a radiant smile. Since Elysia’s arrival, her family’s relationship has become much better. Her father and grandfather spend a lot of their time with her.
She no longer needed to worry about accidentally turning a person or thing into gold unless she was nervous or frightened. However, there was still something missing because her friend wasn’t there.
After that, Erina had another lunch with her father and grandfather in the dining room.
On the other side of the world, the night sky full of stars has already covered the western continent. Two girls in black robes with shadow masks were monitoring a tall hotel building in front of them.
“…” Rhea checked the current time. It was already past three in the morning local time.
“It’s still four in the afternoon in Tokyo, Japan.” A floating lightning spirit muttered.
“It’s almost time for us to head back, Stormy. Two more hours and we should be back.” After saying that, Rhea shared some things via mind sync with Elysia and Elena.
She felt pretty uncomfortable being away from them even though she had only been apart for half a day with them. However, she tried her best to obtain the best possible result within the time limit before dinner.
“Our current target is a demonic practitioner in the third hall, floor nine. That person is a bit tricky because he is a mortal with the power of fifteen chess pieces. He swallowed his other comdares and made himself a powerful entity that approaches Godhood. That evil deity absolutely crazy to do that.” Stormy pointed in a direction on the ninth floor of the hotel building.
“…” Rhea just nodded slightly in response. She then glanced down.
There were several police cars, military trucks, and some uniquely shaped vehicles. The authorities have deployed more than a hundred fully armed personnel to eliminate that mutated demonic creature. However, they seemed overwhelmed despite being there from dusk.
“We deliberately ignored that demon this evening. Are we going to deal with that demon now, milady?” Lynn asked in wonder. She didn’t understand why they were just observing the situation here.
“Let them do their job first and see what happens after that. We will observe the situation in its entirety before going into action.” Rhea replied in an indifferent tone.
“They would die, just like some squads that had failed. My apologies to say this, but why are you so cold and apathetic? We’re hunting down the participants and the evil deities to avoid more casualties and the spread of chaos, right?” Lynn pursed her lips with dissatisfaction.
She could not understand what the Goddess of Nature was about to do. Everything was fine when Elysia was around, but the situation was different now.
‘Unfounded accusations. You seem to have misunderstood something or even the whole order, Lynn. Tell me, what kind of requests do we receive? What did Ely and her master tell us before leaving?’ Rhea glanced back. She felt this soul fox girl needed to be disciplined as soon as possible.
‘Avoid casualty as much as possible and be careful in this operation.’ Lynn widened her eyes. Was she the one who misunderstood their situation and accused the other due to discontent?
‘Yes, we shall avoid casualty in our missions, but that doesn’t mean we will do the same to third-party troop operations. Tell me… What would you do if the unrelated individuals were in an unsalvageable situation? Rhea asked with implied meaning.
‘I will try to save them.’ Lynn was feeling a little nervous. This was the umpteenth time she received a psychological question from this Goddess.
‘It’s just your intention to do something, not your determination to do anything. Lynn, we can’t save everyone and we have to follow the rules. We can only focus on our group and the people around us first for broader results. Many people could be saved, but a certain thing was inevitable. It had to happen for a reason. Therefore I am very careful in making every decision. You could die in battle.’ Rhea clasped her hands behind her back.
“…” Lynn contemplated a few things.
She apparently misunderstood the Goddess of Nature because of her silly idealism. They could be dealing with a powerful deity and a deadly trap. This was still a dangerous mission even though she was protected by a divine being.
The Goddess of Light carefully considered the division of everyone into teams with all plans and precautions. So there were casualties in their group during the mission as executioners.
‘Please forgive my ignorance and impoliteness. I failed to realize your implied intentions. I am ready to accept the punishment for my impudence.’ Lynn bowed apologetically.
‘Lynn… Did you realize, you are someone with the lowest level of trust and faith in our group? If you want to stay in our group for long, you have to improve your relationship with the others as soon as possible. I assume soul fox is sincere and honest about relationships. You stay with us because of whom and for what? What did you get and what was your goal? What will you give everyone in return?’ After saying that, Rhea observed the whole situation inside the hotel building with her magic eyes.
‘…’ Lynn fell silent and pondered those questions in her mind.
It didn’t take a genius to realize the facts behind that statement. She was indeed lacking in attachment to others. Even though she was close to Yuuki, it didn’t guarantee anything. It was so much fun to spend her time with everyone.
So, if she wished to stay in the group for long, she must improve her bond with everyone and put her faith in someone. But, to whom? Elysia was a perfect candidate for it, a Goddess candidate in training.
While Lynn was busy with her train of thought, several squads of fully armed elite soldiers had just blocked the doors of the third hall on the ninth floor. They were ready to kill the demonic creature inside.
“Vanguard One is in position. The east door is sealed and blocked. Waiting for permission to bombard the demon.” The squad captain reported their position.
“Vanguard Two is ready to fire.”
“Vanguard Three is on standby at the west door.”
The other squad reported their position via the walkie-talkie. The authority outside the hotel building looked up. “Permission granted. Destroy that demon and avenge the death of our fallen comrades.”
“Roger!”
The three Vanguard Squads answered in unison and broke through the entrance to the hall. They immediately formed an offensive formation and unleashed a barrage of gunfire and explosions at the giant demonic creature in the hall’s center.
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Boom!*
“Roar!” The demonic creature roared angrily and took a defensive stance to protect his body. He spewed a dozen snake-like tentacles from the giant mouth on his back and attacked the armed forces around him.