At first, it was an exceedingly small amount.
Like a single drop of blood spreading through water, the blood within the seal slowly seeped outward, little by little.
When the blood that had flowed out swelled to roughly the amount of a cup of tea, the source of the blood began to spew it forth like a beast awakening from sleep.
The overflowing feast of blood filled the floor, and then, from within that floor, something raised its head.
A humanlike build, crimson liquid covering its entire body, and tentacles surging out from all over it.
The Red-Blooded Demonic Beast.
A being far too familiar to me—no, one I could even call my own form.
‘What the hell is that?’
Even as doubt rose in me at the sight of that demonic beast, I immediately stepped between it and my companions.
I didn’t know whether that thing was hostile to us, but I couldn’t let it attack my companions, not even by chance.
In contrast to me, moving so cautiously, Sanguine gazed at the being that had risen from the blood with eyes full of rapture.
“Is it a trace left behind by the Saint? How wondrous.”
Kneeling on the floor filled with blood, he offered a prayer to the Red-Blooded Demonic Beast.
It silently looked down at Sanguine, who knelt beside it.
Just what was it thinking?
In its eyes, empty beyond even hollowness, there was not a single trace of emotion.
Slosh—.
Soon after, the demonic beast slowly turned toward Sanguine.
Its hand moved sluggishly.
The bloodstained hand of the demonic beast came to rest on Sanguine’s head.
Sanguine’s face grew wet with red, as if receiving a baptism.
“Ah, O Saint.”
The demonic beast stared into that face for a moment.
Sanguine looked up at it with eyes full of joy, but before long, his expression stiffened.
There was no emotion whatsoever in the demonic beast’s two eyes.
As if Sanguine did not even enter its sight.
“O Saint?”
The moment Sanguine, seeing that, tried to say something.
His body split in two.
There was no scream, no reaction.
Without even knowing what was happening to him, Sanguine was cleaved vertically into two pieces and died.
The demonic beast devoured Sanguine’s split body from the inside out, and his entrails floated atop the blood.
At that horrific sight, silence dyed the dungeon.
After completely consuming Sanguine, the demonic beast turned its head toward me.
For a brief moment, a red light flashed through the eyes that had been filled with emptiness until just now.
[I see. So you are the successor?]
It was the same voice as the Bloodlight Lord I had seen in the previous vision.
‘Is it something like the Bloodlight Lord’s lingering will?’
Even as I listened to the demonic beast’s voice, I did not relax my battle stance.
Fortunately, perhaps because it held no hostility toward me, it merely stared at me.
About ten minutes passed in an awkward silence, and the demonic beast slowly opened its mouth.
[You have yet to ripen. You are far too lacking to carry on the mission.]
The demonic beast had no expression, but its eyes were filled with disappointment.
[Let us meet again. At the very least, when you have reached the realm of a hero.]
With those words, as if it had lost interest in me, it turned its head toward the cultists.
Then the light in the demonic beast’s eyes went out once more.
The cultists, having lost Sanguine, simply stared at it blankly, as if in shock.
The demonic beast slowly walked toward them.
And then the festival began.
Crunch—.
One person, then another.
The cultists, who had no combat ability, were eaten by the demonic beast without even putting up proper resistance.
Some screamed.
Some tried to flee.
And just like that, they lost their lives.
“…Let’s get out of here.”
Taking advantage of the demonic beast’s focus on the cultists, I whispered quietly to the party.
“Is it… really all right to leave like this?”
When Senior Rena asked me in a trembling voice, I nodded.
“Now, while that thing has lost interest in us, is our chance. And those people… are paying the price for what they’ve done.”
They were opponents we had no reason to save in the first place, but even if we fought that thing now, we could not win.
Leaving the screams behind us, we hurried out of the dungeon with all our might.
The moment we stepped outside the dungeon.
From within it, I heard a sound like the demonic beast laughing.
**
After leaving the dungeon, we did not stop and continued on to the nearest village.
We were so exhausted that it was hard to move any farther, but everyone was desperate to prepare for the possibility that the demonic beast might pursue us.
The journey to the village took about an hour.
Fortunately, the demonic beast did not chase us until we arrived.
Had it decided there was no need to pursue us, or was it unable to leave the dungeon?
I didn’t know which it was, but I decided not to think about it.
Because the more I thought about it, the more my fear of that thing only grew.
After arriving at the village inn, we sat in a large room we had rented together and looked at one another without saying a word.
We had obtained the item we wanted inside the dungeon, but not a single one of us considered this a success.
While we ate the bland oatmeal the innkeeper had made for us in silence, Senior Rena was the first to speak.
“We’re… weak, aren’t we.”
At her words, everyone’s spoons stopped.
Cecilia looked at Senior Rena with a resentful expression.
“I don’t want to admit it, but yes. We’re still weak. We couldn’t even defeat that man Sanguine, let alone a monster. At this rate, we’re no different from the mediocre mages we used to be, are we?”
“I thought we’d gotten fairly strong. I didn’t expect this.”
Following her words, Brandon let out a sigh.
Since he had gone through hellish training to keep up with us since before the midterm exams, the shock must have been no ordinary one for him.
“I often saw knight-class opponents in the Order, but I did not expect the gap to be this great.”
Theodora murmured lowly with a bitter smile.
“At the end, there was nothing I could do but heal. Even if I was only a puppet, it is far too powerless for someone who was once called a hero.”
The more her thoughts continued, the more strength entered Theodora’s hands.
Senior Rena said nothing after being the first to speak.
But the helplessness in her sunset-colored eyes revealed exactly what she was feeling.
I watched the gloomy party in silence for a moment, then spoke in a calm tone.
“So are you all going to keep blaming yourselves for being weak?”
“What do you mean?”
Senior Rena turned her head toward me.
“Exactly what I said. We’ve learned painfully well that we’re weak. But that doesn’t mean this is the time for us to sit here deflated, does it?”
Looking into Senior Rena’s golden eyes, tinged with doubt, I smiled and said,
“Sanguine was stronger than us. The demonic beast was stronger than him. And perhaps there are many people in the world even stronger than that. As we are now, we wouldn’t even be a match for them. But you know, there’s no guarantee the future us will be the same, is there?”
“Ashen…”
“Once we return to the academy, let’s all focus on training for a while. It would be best if we can reach knight-class, but at the very least, we need to become strong enough that a knight-class opponent can’t take us down easily.”
When I finished speaking, Senior Rena burst into laughter.
“Haha. Yeah, that’s what a warrior does! You’re right. There’s no need for us to be discouraged.”
“I’m a mage, but I understand that you’re right. I can’t give up like this, not with the name of House Waitley on the line.”
Cecilia also lifted her head proudly, as if she had never been depressed at all.
Watching the two of them, Theodora smiled quietly.
“That’s right. We have to get stronger. I’m already used to hardship, after all. If it’s for the sake of carving out my own life, then I must do it even if it is harder than this.”
“Haha, you’re all amazing.”
Watching them, Brandon scratched the back of his head and moved his lips.
“Honestly, I’m not sure what I should say. But while you all are getting stronger, I can’t be the only one moping around. We’re companions, after all.”
“Well said, Brandon.”
Agreeing with Brandon’s words, I looked over the party.
Everyone seemed to have regained their confidence, their eyes now filled with fighting spirit.
Just then, as if remembering something, Cecilia clapped her hands and said,
“Come to think of it, we have to submit a report to the academy too, don’t we? I almost forgot.”
“Ah, that’s right! Ugh, I’m terrible at reports.”
At Cecilia’s words, Senior Rena pressed her palm to her forehead.
After confirming that everyone had returned to normal, I let a bright smile rise to my lips.
“Then shall we call it a night? We’ll be busy starting tomorrow.”
“I’m in favor!”
Starting with Senior Rena’s words, everyone voiced their agreement and lay down in their respective places.
To prepare for yet another journey that lay ahead.
**
A hill near the village where Ashen’s party was staying.
Ramsey smiled as he watched Ashen’s party through long-distance observation magic.
“Well now, I never thought they’d survive against Mr. Sanguine. Should I revise my evaluation of them?”
“No, that won’t be necessary. It seems Sanguine was defeated by the guardian left behind by the Saint.”
Behind Ramsey, a woman wearing the same robe as Sanguine stepped forward.
“Is that so? You must be saddened to have lost a comrade.”
“Not at all. If he died at the hands of the Saint’s legacy, then it was a blessed death. Something worthy of celebration. I would like to meet such an end myself.”
“As expected, those from the Blood Demon Hall think differently.”
“Better than you heretics.”
After saying that, the woman removed her hood.
When the hood came off, wine-colored hair, red eyes, and the dark skin characteristic of the Kurdan tribe were revealed.
“More importantly, the problem is the man who possesses the Saint’s relic. If Sanguine evaluated him so highly, there is a need to keep watch.”
“Does that mean you intend to follow me to the academy? Even I can’t get you admitted as an extra, you know.”
“No. For now, I’ll enter under the pretext of being your maid. The academy accommodates nobles’ convenience, so that much should be possible. And…”
“Yes, you want me to keep it a secret from Lord Joshua.”
Saying that, Ramsey looked at her with his usual smile.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t heard your name. If we’re going to act together, I think I should know it. Would you tell me?”
“My name, is it. I don’t particularly use one, but… very well.”
Through the magic, the cultist woman stared intently at Rena’s face beside Ashen, then slowly opened her mouth.
“Camilla. Call me that.”