Chapter 38: Rest is also very important~

The red glow vanished abruptly.

The goat-headed, human-bodied monster slipped from Cynthia’s sight.

She frowned, senses sharp but detecting no movement.
In a fleeting moment of distraction, it was gone.

“Who’re you talking about? That… red light?”

Ina, relieved after the undead were dispatched, scurried to Cynthia’s side, catching her murmur.
Lacking Cynthia’s night vision and standing farther back, she’d only glimpsed a red flicker and a vague shape.

“Yeah, a real monster,” Cynthia said, nodding, her gaze shifting to Lorena’s back.
“You okay, Lorena?”

Lorena turned, tears glinting in her eyes.
But she knew the true culprit waited deeper in.
No time for grief.
“I’m fine, Senior. Let’s move.”

“Hold on.”

Cynthia shook her head.
“What’s ahead?”

Lorena checked her map.
“With our direction and distance… we’re nearing the central city’s waterway. The largest purification plant in Bazerolle, at a sewer-supply junction.”

“…Let’s rest first.”

Cynthia stepped to a cleaner spot and leaned against the wall.
She saw exhaustion in Ina and Lorena’s eyes.
The trek had been relentless.
It wasn’t an issue for her vampire stamina, but for humans, it could be deadly.

“Finally resting?”

Ina’s eyes lit up, practically cheering.
Without hesitation, she plopped beside Cynthia, leaning into her.
In the dark, reeking sewer, Cynthia’s presence was her anchor.

“Must you cling like that?”

Cynthia’s forehead twitched with mock annoyance at Ina’s puppy-like attachment.
Why’s she so touchy lately?

“Just deal with it, or I’ll freak out!”

Ina doubled down, snuggling closer.
In this perilous, foul place, what was better than a sweet-scented, powerhouse girl?
Finding comfort in chaos was Ina’s specialty.

“Fine, whatever.”

Cynthia sighed, patting Ina’s head like an elder.
“Scaredy-cat Ina.”

“Skip the adjectives next time,” Ina huffed, nestled against Cynthia’s shoulder.

She noticed Lorena staring blankly.
“Lorena, not resting?”

“Huh? Oh… didn’t want to intrude,” Lorena stammered, eyes darting away.
She coughed, embarrassed, and sat against the wall.

Ina thought Lorena’s face looked flushed—maybe injured?
Concerned, she scooted over.
“You okay? Your face is red.”

“I-I’m fine! Too close, Miss Ina!”

Ina’s sudden proximity startled Lorena, who waved her hands frantically.
“I was just… watching!”

“Watching what?”

Ina blinked, confused.

Lorena gulped, glancing at Cynthia, who seemed to be resting with closed eyes.
She leaned to Ina’s ear, whispering, “Being… with the same sex is taboo…”

Ina’s face flared red.
She clapped a hand over Lorena’s mouth.
“Shush! I’m not… ugh, that!”

“But you were so clingy…”

“What? Hungry, Lorena? That’s serious!”

Ina, desperate to stop her, yanked dry bread from her bag with lightning speed and shoved it into Lorena’s mouth.
“Eat this!”

“Mmph?”

Ina’s lips twitched, a # ticking on her forehead.
“Say nonsense again, and I won’t be nice, little girl!”

“…I’ll shut up,” Lorena mumbled through the bread, voice muffled.
“Just… thought of my friends.”

Her mood sank.
“She shouldn’t have died… here.”

“Sorry…”

“No need,” Lorena said.
“Without you and Senior Cynthia, I couldn’t have given her peace.”

“We’ll find the culprit. Promise.”

Ina gripped Lorena’s hand, resolute.

“Thank you, Miss Ina…”

“No need.”

Cynthia, eyes still closed, cut in, startling Ina.
“Rest up, both of you. We won’t have time later.”

“Right…”

Ina slid back to Cynthia, leaning on her shoulder.
“I’ll nap. Protect me.”

“Sleep. I’m here.”

Ina’s breathing soon steadied, exhaustion claiming her.

Cynthia opened her eyes, stroking Ina’s head gently.
She caught Lorena staring.
“What’s with the staring?”

“Uh… thanks for the hospitality, Senior?”

“Huh?”

Cynthia roused Ina after some time.
“Yina, up. We’re moving.”

“Hm…? Going?”

Ina, bleary-eyed, let Cynthia pull her up.
She noticed Cynthia’s grave expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“Bad feeling.”

Cynthia’s reply was curt.
In her mind, she prodded the Blood Demon.

What’s this sensation?

[The Blood Crown’s been activated. No time to linger.]

The Blood Demon’s voice carried rare gravity.
[I’ll shield you from its effects as best I can, but you need a quick win.]

[Or all three of you will feed the Blood Crown.]

They couldn’t confirm how the corpses became undead.
Necromancers were the likely cause, but the Church’s ancient purge had nearly wiped them out.
An alliance with their foes seemed improbable.

To ensure No. 27 and No. 29 stayed down, Cynthia took action.
She snatched a fire crystal from Ina’s bag and ignited the mummies with a snap.

“You’re lighting a fire in a sewer?!”

Ina’s heart nearly stopped, fearing a methane blast.

“What’s the issue?”

Cynthia was unfazed—no explosion came.

“Huh?”

Lorena explained, “This purification chamber’s isolated. Workers rest here. Fire’s fine.”

“No waterways here, Ina,” Cynthia added, exasperated.
“Sewage is piped out after purification.”

Ina realized the waterway was gone.
“Oh… right…”

How’d I miss that? Blame those assassins.

“Let’s go.”

Ina glared at the burning mummies, tugged Cynthia, and marched deeper, dodging the topic.
But she paused, turning.
“Wait… Holy Slaughter Canon?”

As Borus’s Saint, her ignorance of this group was baffling.
Lorena, too, looked to Cynthia, intrigued by her knowledge.

Cynthia hesitated, then sighed.
“Church assassins. A covert group.”

Ina frowned.
Obviously.
“Why haven’t I heard of them?”

“You’re not Church,” Cynthia said, giving her a weird look.
“How would you know?”

I’m a Saint!
Ina bit back the retort.
“Uh… locked up in Borus so long, I’d know something, right?”

Locked up?
Lorena’s look turned odd but she stayed quiet, respecting Ina’s cover.

Cynthia didn’t press, adding curtly, “They’re main Church, not Borus. You wouldn’t know.”

Ina opened her mouth, but Cynthia covered it.
“Enough. I know you hate the Church, but not now. Later, okay?”

“Mmph…”

Ina nodded, relenting.
She’d ask another time.

She fixed her rumpled clothes.
“Let’s finish this and leave!”

Deeper in, the Corrupted Spiders and undead grew stronger.

Ina’s dark bullets now took two or three shots to fell a spider.
Lorena’s sword struggled, especially against undead—some familiar.

“Wei’er… how…”

Lorena’s eyes reddened, spotting clergy among them, including Wei’er, her face frozen in terror.

Anger shook her sword hand.

Cynthia’s touch steadied her.
“Calm. These are different.”

She stepped beside Lorena, spear ready, eyeing the undead—likely the lost A-rank team.

Her gaze fixed on a red glow behind them.
Predatory.

The red light stood out starkly.

A creature—goat-headed, human-bodied, with red eyes and black horns—loomed.
Its muscular frame dwarfed even Sarenda, with hairy legs and spiked back.
Red ripples pulsed from it, unseen by Ina and Lorena.

“The culprit?”

Lorena glared, itching to attack.

The undead, as if commanded, flashed red and charged with hoarse roars, some wielding old weapons.

Clang!

Lorena clashed with a knife-wielding undead, its strength pushing her back.

Cynthia, guarding Ina, couldn’t help.
Ina, barely coping with her undead fear, clung on.

“Ina! Help Lorena!”

Cynthia’s shout snapped Ina awake.
Trembling, she raised her staff, gathering dark elements.

“Lorena… hold on…”

When the elements peaked, she yelled, “Dodge!”

Lorena parried and sidestepped, exposing the undead.
Ina’s black meteors pierced it, toppling it.

“Nice, Miss Ina!”

Lorena followed, decapitating it with a magic-charged swing.

“Don’t relax. Cynthia’s got more…”

Ina trailed off, awed.
Cynthia held off a horde alone, many already down.
The few white-robed undead left were slow, despite enhancements.

As Cynthia moved to strike, Lorena stopped her.
“Senior… let me.”

Cynthia saw Lorena’s grief, stepped back.
“Fine.”

“Thank you…”

Lorena approached her fallen friends.
“Sorry, Wei’er… I should’ve known sooner…”

The undead growled, advancing.
Her glowing sword swept through, silencing them.

At the sewer’s heart—Bazerolle’s largest purification center—red mist hung heavy.

A bloodstone pulsed like a heart.
A blond man in a white robe caressed it, entranced.

Tap, tap.

Footsteps approached.

“Lord Luofengte… such power… exhilarating…”

“Intruders breached my monsters and undead,” the goat-headed Luofengte rumbled.
“Handle it.”

“No stranger will ruin our god’s return…”

The man’s blood-red eyes matched Luofengte’s.

“This bloodstone is a mere fragment of the demonic artifact. When our god rises, greater power awaits.”

“I understand…”

He clapped, grinning.
“Come, warriors of God…”

Paladins—former sewer guards—emerged, their holy light replaced by a tyrannical aura.

The monster—Luofengte—vanished from Cynthia’s sight.
She frowned, sensing no movement.
It was just… gone.

“Who? The red light?”

Ina, catching Cynthia’s murmur, hurried over, having missed the creature’s form, seeing only a glow.

“A true monster,” Cynthia said, glancing at Lorena.
“You okay?”

Lorena, tears in her eyes, steeled herself.
“Fine, Senior. Let’s go.”

“Wait.”

Cynthia asked, “What’s ahead?”

Lorena checked her map.
“Central city’s waterway. Bazerolle’s main purification plant.”

“Rest first.”

Cynthia found a clean spot and sat.
Ina and Lorena were drained—humans, unlike her, needed this.

“Finally!”

Ina plopped beside Cynthia, leaning close.

“Really gotta cling?”

Cynthia sighed at Ina’s puppy-like attachment.

“Deal with it, or I’ll panic!”

Ina nestled closer, finding comfort in Cynthia’s strength.

“Fine.”

Cynthia patted her head.
“Scaredy-cat.”

“No adjectives,” Ina grumbled.

She noticed Lorena staring.
“Not resting?”

“Didn’t want to intrude,” Lorena said, flustered, sitting down.

Ina, thinking Lorena looked flushed, checked on her.
“You okay? Your face is red.”

“I’m fine! Too close!”

Lorena waved her off, whispering, “Same-sex stuff… taboo…”

Ina flushed, silencing her.
“Shush! Not like that!”

“You were clingy…”

“Hungry? Eat this!”

Ina stuffed bread in Lorena’s mouth.
“No nonsense, or else!”

“I’ll stop,” Lorena mumbled, mood dipping.
“Thought of my friends… She shouldn’t have died here.”

“Sorry…”

“No need. You and Senior gave her peace.”

“We’ll get the culprit,” Ina vowed, gripping her hand.

“Thanks, Miss Ina…”

Cynthia cut in.
“Rest up. No time later.”

Ina snuggled back, napping on Cynthia’s shoulder.
“Protect me.”

“I’m here.”

Ina slept.
Cynthia, stroking her head, caught Lorena’s stare.
“What?”

“Thanks for the hospitality, Senior?”

“Huh?”

Cynthia woke Ina.
“Up. We’re moving.”

Ina rubbed her eyes, noting Cynthia’s grim look.
“What’s wrong?”

“Bad feeling.”

What’s this?

[Blood Crown’s active. No time.]

The Blood Demon’s voice was grave.
[I’ll counter it, but you need a quick win, or you three feed the Crown.]