“You’re even more ruthless than I thought!”Irving ground his teeth together.He had expected Maeve to be stronger than before.What he hadn’t expected was that she had already summoned her Familiars without anyone noticing.When did she do it?Not a single person on his side had sensed it.Maeve looked at him without the slightest hint of guilt.“Ruthless?”A faint smile appeared on her lips.“That’s a strange thing to hear from you.”She had prepared everything long before Irving stepped onto the road.Even her illness had been part of the plan.She had deliberately allowed word to spread that she was in poor condition, knowing it would tempt him into making his move.And just as she had predicted…He walked straight into the trap.While everyone focused on the confrontation, another change quietly unfolded around them.A thin mist drifted out from the forest to their left.It spread slowly across the battlefield.At first, nobody paid attention to it.Then…The pale fog gradually t

Boom!The blood bats exploded all at once.A crimson blast swallowed Maeve’s figure.Irving couldn’t hide the smile spreading across his face.There was no way she could defend herself from an attack like that.Even if she somehow survived…She had to be injured.The blood mist slowly drifted away.Then Irving’s smile froze.Maeve was still standing exactly where she had been.Not a single wound could be seen on her.A layer of Mana wrapped around her body, and beneath it, several enormous skeletal ribs curved around her like a protective cage.“…!!”Irving stared in disbelief.“What is that?”He could clearly feel the dense concentration of Mana flowing through those bones.More terrifying was the precision.Every strand of Mana had been controlled so perfectly that the construct looked almost alive.Maeve calmly lowered her arm.“You spend too much time talking.”She looked at him with complete indifference.“You’ve fought far more battles than I have.”“Yet somehow…”“You still hav

Irving couldn’t understand what had gone wrong.Argon should have appeared long ago.The assassin leader had been the centerpiece of this entire plan, yet he was nowhere to be found.His mind raced through every possibility.Did Maeve see through the trap from the beginning?Did she secretly bring reinforcements?Did she send someone to eliminate Argon first so she could deal with me herself?The more he thought about it, the less sense it made.He had investigated everything before acting.Maeve hadn’t asked Mirova for help.The Dragon King remained in the city.The other powerful figures who could have protected her had never left either.Even the principal was still inside the academy.As far as Irving knew, Maeve had walked straight into the trap he had prepared.There shouldn’t have been anyone capable of interfering.Unfortunately for him…He had overlooked one person.Rhys.Irving had no idea Rhys had become involved with Sleeping Garden.Because of that connection, Rhys had qu

Maeve’s expression never changed.It was almost as if she had expected Irving to sacrifice everything for a chance to escape.Not far away, the Centaur had only just managed to steady himself after being blasted back when a familiar voice drifted in from behind.“What a troublesome Familiar.”Risa’s tone was calm.“If you think sacrificing yourself will help your Beast Tamer escape…”“You should give up on that idea.”She smiled faintly.“You have to survive first.”“…!!”The Centaur spun around and swung his broadsword with all his strength.He never reached her.Several blood spears shot through the air and pierced straight through his body.“Cough!”Blood spilled from his mouth.His knees buckled.He tried to lift his head, but realization struck him before he could.The plan had never been for Irving to save them.It was the opposite.Just as they had intended to buy time for Irving’s escape…Irving had abandoned them without hesitation.The remaining two Vampires had already been

“What did you just say?”Alan shot to his feet.A terrifying aura burst from his body, filling the room with overwhelming pressure.Everyone present instinctively lowered their heads.Jakaria swallowed hard before forcing himself to continue.“Yes, Master.”“The Chaotic Cat Organization has been destroyed.”Alan’s eyes narrowed.Jakaria kept his head lowered as he delivered the report.“Based on the information we’ve gathered, they were attacked by an unknown organization.”“The enemy had several Beast Tamers who were at least as strong as the Tyrants.”“The person who killed Chaotic Cat’s leader was reportedly at the same level.”“The battle lasted for more than twenty minutes.”He paused briefly.“When everything was over…”“The entire base had been cleaned out.”“Every record they kept disappeared as well.”Alan’s expression darkened.His hands slowly clenched into fists.“Who did it?”His voice was calm.That only made it more frightening.Jakaria lowered his head further.“We’re