227. Tutril Incident ⑤ Encounter
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— Tutril: Near the "Night Sky Silver Rabbit" Headquarters —
"Kh...! A discarded test subject dares to defy me?! Minotaur, crush that thing at once!"
The man, cloaked in red from head to toe, barked out his order in frustration, directing his voice toward the Minotaur, which had grown to nearly twice its usual size.
At his command, the Minotaur clasped its massive hands together and raised them high above its head.
"Carol!"
Seeing this, Sophia called out to Caroline.
"No problem! That attack is way too slow for me now!"
Activating the earring-type magic tool she had received from her elder siblings in Dal Ane, intricate magic circles flickered to life in Caroline's eyes. At the same time, a shimmering, emerald-green aura, like flickering flames, began to radiate from her entire body.
The Minotaur brought its interlocked fists crashing down toward Caroline.
But with her heightened senses and enhanced dynamic vision, the attack was painfully slow in her eyes.
Caroline slipped beneath the descending fists, dodging by the slimmest of margins as she passed between the Minotaur’s legs.
As she darted past, she slashed at its Achilles tendons with the twin daggers in her hands.
Maintaining her momentum, she swiftly retreated from the spot.
As the Minotaur lost its footing and stumbled—
"—Explode!"
Sophia unleashed her attack magic without a moment’s hesitation.
"Tch, you little brats—!?"
The red-cloaked man cursed, about to make his next move—only to realize he couldn’t move at all.
Unbeknownst to him, at the same time she had attacked the Minotaur, Sophia had used Telekinesis to restrain him.
"—Reflective Wall."
Having kept her distance, Caroline cast a spell.
A translucent, emerald-hued wall materialized behind her. She kicked off it, closing the distance between herself and the red-cloaked man in an instant.
"Kh…!"
The man hastily conjured Thunder Javelins, hurling multiple lightning spears at her.
But Caroline dodged them all with uncanny ease, as if she had known their trajectories before they were even launched.
"Let me make one thing clear—I'm not some test subject. I'm Caroline Inglot of the Night Sky Silver Rabbit!"
With a fierce declaration, Caroline stowed her daggers, clenched her fist—
—and drove it straight into the man's solar plexus with pinpoint precision.
"Carol, are you okay?"
Sophia called out, her voice tinged with concern.
Having finished restraining the red-robed man, Caroline responded with her usual bright smile.
"I'm totally fine! Thanks for worrying about me! …But why would someone from the cult attack us?"
Sophia and Caroline had been strolling through the city of Tutril, enjoying their day off, when they suddenly received an emergency telepathic message from Selma.
Without hesitation, they had set off toward the Night Sky Silver Rabbit headquarters to regroup with Logan and Luna.
But along the way, they were ambushed by three figures cloaked in red.
And yet, the two of them had managed to fend them off on their own.
A year ago, during the Instructor’s Expedition, Sophia had only been able to cast high-tier magic at best.
Now, she had mastered special-grade spells and could wield her supernatural abilities with far greater precision.
Caroline, too, had enhanced her combat skills significantly—not just through physical reinforcement via Qi Activation, but also thanks to the magic tools she had received from her elder siblings.
"The Empire's behind the guild attacks and the dungeon outbreaks, right…?"
"Mm, but something’s been bugging me about that. The way the dungeon outbreaks are happening—it feels more like the cult's doing. …Maybe the Empire is actually working with them?"
"If that's true, then this is a seriously dangerous situation…"
"It's just a theory, though. More importantly, we need to hurry back to headquarters! We have to meet up with Log and start evacuating everyone!"
By standard protocol, all B-rank and higher explorers in Tutril were responsible for dealing with monsters emerging from the dungeons.
As an A-rank party, Twilight Moonbow was also expected to handle these situations—but when emergencies arose, their primary role was to assist in evacuations.
"Yeah, you're right! I just hope Lu-nee is at headquarters too."
"She said something about urgent business earlier, didn't she? If she left the city, regrouping might be tough."
"Where is she now, anyway? I really hope she's safe…"
"She'll be fine! She is an S-rank explorer, after all!"
"Yeah, you're right—wait, what is that…?"
As they rushed toward Night Sky Silver Rabbit headquarters, Sophia suddenly let out a confused murmur.
"Hmm? What’s wrong—wait, what?!"
Hearing the unease in Sophia's voice, Caroline followed her gaze—and gasped in shock.
Their headquarters lay ahead.
But now, surrounding it was a massive, dome-like barrier—a translucent, crimson structure, shimmering like glass.
"That wasn't there a moment ago, was it?!"
"No way we would've missed something that obvious!"
"Either way, we need to move—now!"
Shaking off their hesitation, the two girls sprinted toward headquarters.
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"Log?!"
Caroline called out in alarm.
As she and Sophia dashed up to the barrier’s edge, they saw Logan fighting alone against a horde of monsters.
Using his Shadow Manipulation ability, Logan had summoned various shadow beasts—dogs, birds, even massive creatures like elephants and bears—to fight by his side.
Any high-ranking explorer would have struggled against such overwhelming numbers alone.
Yet Logan held his ground without faltering.
In fact, he looked like he had the upper hand.
"Let’s back him up, Carol!"
"Obviously! — Viridescent Mantle! "
Responding to Sophia’s call, Caroline activated her earring-type magic tool.
Magic circles flickered in her eyes, and an emerald-green aura, like flickering flames, enveloped her entire body.
Without hesitation, she charged into the horde.
"—Fire Javelin!"
Sophia unleashed a barrage of fiery spears, streaking through the air alongside Caroline as she rushed forward.
"You two!"
Logan, his expression tense as he faced the swarm, brightened at the sight of their reinforcements.
And in the blink of an eye, the three of them wiped out the monster horde.
"Annihilation complete!"
As the last of the monsters dissolved into black mist, Caroline stretched her arms with a satisfied grin.
"You really saved me there, you two."
"We're comrades. Of course we’d help… But more importantly, what is this glass-like thing?"
Sophia frowned as she studied the crimson barrier encasing the Night Sky Silver Rabbit' grounds.
"…I don’t know. It appeared out of nowhere."
"Hmm, I have a bad feeling about this. Hey, Log, are the non-combatant members still inside?"
"Yeah. Most of them are. My shadow travel seems to work beyond the barrier, so I was planning to thin out the monsters before evacuating everyone."
"Then we should hurry—"
"—Oh, that’s right. You possess the ability Shadow Manipulation, don’t you? A trivial detail—I had forgotten."
Just as Caroline started to speak, an unfamiliar voice cut her off.
"—?!"
The three of them tensed.
Even while talking, they had remained alert to their surroundings.
Yet this presence had slipped past their vigilance unnoticed.
Their training under Orn and Luna had ingrained instincts deep into their bodies—
So without hesitation, they kicked off the ground, leaping in the opposite direction of the voice to create distance.
"I had assumed causing such a commotion would bring him running immediately. But… could it be that Orn Doula is not in Tutril?"
As they landed, they turned toward the source of the voice.
There stood a man exuding an air of nobility—
Stig Strem, the "Rakshasa."
Wearing his usual harmless, gentle smile, he stood there as if he had been waiting for them all along.
——.