Chapter 289: Telling
What is happening now?
The fake and the real have collided?
It wouldn’t be a big deal since Alna is aware of this matter.
However… Kurei has already formed a preconceived notion and responded to the “fake product.”
In the not-so-spacious apothecary’s back room, the lively Undead fire seems ready to burst out; this guy… has been planning to go all out from the beginning!
If he releases the Undying Flame of Heaven, Alna absolutely wouldn’t be able to withstand it, which would lead to consequences that can’t be reversed. Moreover, the excessive noise would attract Thorn Blade… Kurei himself wouldn’t meet a good end either.
“Wait!” Zane hurriedly stood in front of Kurei and grabbed his sword-wielding hands.
“Little girl, what are you doing!? As long as we deal with this fake, everything will be over, and we won’t have to worry like before. The general will be able to return safely…”
“No, she’s not that Demoness; the real Demoness is someone else!”
“Even so, by impersonating the young lady, she must have ulterior motives. She must be eliminated immediately!” Kurei said, forcibly breaking free from Zane’s grip with overwhelming strength.
No, the gap in power is too big!
“Kurei!!”
“… The Vice Captain was stunned and stopped his actions.
“Actually… actually, the person below is…”
“Who…?”
“Is a friend I met in the underground passage.”
The underground passage…?
Ah, Kurei remembered.
The young lady was once imprisoned in the underground passage and suffered inhumane treatment; she had only recently returned.
Her successful return relied on two exceptionally brave adventurers, but unfortunately, he couldn’t confirm the appearance of those two individuals with his own eyes.
The scorching air dissipated in an instant, and Kurei took a deep breath. Is it that Undead friend he met? If that’s the case… looking at the Undead fire sword in his hand, he no longer hesitated.
However, the golden-haired loli in front of him had already vanished.
Looking down, he saw two little girls, looking like twins, holding hands and running deeper.
“Kurei, wait a moment! I’ll talk to her. Absolutely don’t come down!”
“…”
Zane was shocked; taking advantage of Kurei’s distraction, he hurriedly ran downstairs.
Seeing another self is something Alna has somewhat grown accustomed to.
Especially with the iconic skeletal armor, it was easy to recognize who this was.
“Brother Zane? What are you doing here?”
“Let’s talk about that later. Are there others here?”
“No… everyone else is busy preparing; I’m the only one here right now.”
“Alna shook her head.
“That’s great!” Zane replied.
Then he grabbed Alna and ran deeper.
Transformation!
With a flash of white light, the slender and graceful figure of a girl replaced the original golden-haired loli.
This is when Hedy should make her appearance!
“Brother Zane… you’re going to deceive another girl again!” Alna pouted, looking at her angrily.
“Hey… don’t mind these details; just give me the clothes you’re wearing.”
“… To confirm if she was hearing things, Alna asked again, “What did you say…?”
“Just give me the clothes you’re wearing.” The black-haired girl honestly repeated, adding, “If you don’t change clothes, you’ll be recognized at once… ah, ouch, ouch!”
Oh!
How can this guy seriously ask a girl to take off her clothes?
Alna felt her head filled with black lines.
……
When Kurei went downstairs, he noticed that the two who had come down earlier had changed.
First, there was the girl in the black cloak, with black hair and eyes, emanating a mysterious aura.
Moreover, she constantly exuded a dark atmosphere.
Just as he had thought, the friend in the underground passage must be this kind of person.
And the young lady had also changed her outfit, no longer wearing the eerie skeletal armor but instead donning a light blue loose dress.
Additionally, her demeanor had become much more refined, lacking the previous boldness.
By the way, even though the boss didn’t quite understand what was happening, he still tried to maintain his composure.
“Standing faithfully at the counter to watch the shop.
How strange… Kurei felt that something was off, but he couldn’t pinpoint what it was.
Thus, the three sat in silence for a few minutes.
According to Zane’s setup, Alna’s good friend, Hedy, who liked Aijue, secretly transformed into her own appearance to accompany Aijue to the Imperial City.
However, a series of unfortunate events unfolded, coinciding with the chaos caused by the Demoness in the Imperial City, leading her to be treated as a scapegoat, ultimately ending up in a dire situation.
Although it was a stretch, the evidence lay before him, and he couldn’t deny it.
Of course, since he hadn’t actually experienced those events, being exposed was only a matter of time, but this wasn’t the time for fighting; Zane planned to find a suitable opportunity to discuss it.
Next, Hedy began to explain about the situation in the Imperial City, with occasional contributions from Alna.
This had been agreed upon earlier.
……
Miroi and Makar ambushed them on the inevitable path to the Imperial City.
It was a battle from which they couldn’t escape without killing them.
Both had reached platinum level; although they seemed a bit unsteady, the power they possessed was real.
“Ah… my life was threatened, in the end, I had no choice but to kill those two.”
Coincidentally, this scene was witnessed by Thorn Blade.
After entering the Imperial City, he reported this incident to the Council Hall, but they instead wanted to send personnel to detain the two.
Meida felt that after this incident, he had angered those people by blocking them early.
Ultimately, they ended up in their current situation, having to hide temporarily in the dark passages beneath certain shops—this was a precautionary measure Meida had left in advance, and it unexpectedly proved useful.
As for the Demoness, based on current information, it was highly likely that it was the doing of the Council Hall.
The appearance of the Wishcaster was just right to take the blame for their reckless actions.
Aijue had witnessed multiple fatalities of civilians in the alley; before each occurrence, he could almost always find traces related to the Council Hall.
The tragedies generally occurred late at night, in various locations.
Yalan and Yud, Meida’s trusted subordinates, disguised themselves to go out with Aijue, aiming to make more preparations before nightfall.
Although they hadn’t achieved much in the past few days and could only hide, they had grasped certain patterns.
After nightfall, approximately two hours prior, terrible screams would come from some location.
Either male or female, the locations varied, and sometimes there were no traces left behind.
Such actions would last from one hour to three hours.
“Tonight, my brother will definitely catch someone.” Alna clenched her small hands, her eyes shining brightly.
“I want to help too.” Kurei suddenly said.
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