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Did a small organization really have the manpower, resources, and time to build something like this just to use it as a decoy or trap?

As the ground stopped shaking, Zeng and Astrid emerged from under the rocks and stood beside me in front of the entrance to the clearing, which was now blocked by rocks.

While Zeng was happy to follow instructions without asking any questions, I could tell Astrid had plenty of questions for me as she tapped her foot up and down anxiously.

Thankful that Astrid was keeping her questions bottled up for now, I broke the silence by saying.

"Well, let\'s check the damage."

As I began clearing the rocks blocking the entrance to the clearing, Astrid stood behind me with her wand in hand while Zeng simply placed one hand on his fedora.

After making a hole big enough in the rocks for the three of us to fit, we entered the clearing, which was in shambles.

The gigantic board on the wall had fallen and shattered due to the walls\' rumbling, and the previously polished floor was now covered with debris and rocks.

Using my eyes, I immediately surveyed the room for the two villains. The broad-sworded individual was lying under a rock, only his legs visible from beneath it. While I couldn\'t find the other, I noticed a peculiar bright red light.

Stepping onto a rock to gain a higher vantage point, I stared downwards and saw the blood-sword individual, surrounded by rocks, with his sword in hand.

Staring at the broken pieces of rock and debris under the blood-sword figure, I realized that he must have somehow survived by just swinging his sword at every rock that came near to him.

Noticing the light of the blood-red sword from a distance, Astrid asked.

"What... is that?"

"It\'s one of them; be ready."

Heeding my warning, Astrid immediately cast an energy ball, but instead of using it, she let it float idly over her head.

After a moment, the entire figure of the blood-sword individual was visible as he climbed out of the hole and up onto one of the rocks.

Riddled with countless bruises and blood, the figure\'s red sword illuminated the entire clearing, so he was able to spot us after a moment.

Summoning my bow and arrow, I immediately sent an arrow flying right at him while Astrid sent her energy ball hurling toward him.

Standing still, the figure simply swung his blood-red sword, causing an inferno of flames to appear right in front of him, completely melting the incoming energy ball.

My arrow managed to get through the wall of flames, but it was slowed down enough that the figure could easily dodge it.

Not concerned about the loss of corruption from my arrow in the slightest, I stepped back in shock and confusion.

...those flames were the exact flames in the suite back at the coliseum. My eyes were never wrong, and they were telling me those flames were the same.

But... then the blood-red sword had caused it all... but who had the blood-red sword in the previous timeline?

Zeng...I had given it to him to take back to the subspace.

Calming myself down, I decided to first focus on the task at hand as I used my remaining corruption to summon my two daggers.

Swinging the two daggers in the air, I sent two night-black elemental slashes hurling towards the figure while Astrid cast two more energy balls.

Activating my dash, I hid in the shadows of the energy balls as I silently sprinted toward the wall of the flames.

Watching my slashes and Astrid\'s energy balls enter the wall of the fire, I used to dash, instantly propelling myself through the wall of fire and toward the defenseless figure.

Since the dash wasn\'t teleportation, I had basically run through the wall of the fire, so my hands were slightly burned, and the bottom of my pants was painted a dark black.

Reaching the defenseless figure, I didn\'t hesitate as I lunged towards him with my dagger aligned with his heart.

Unfortunately, it seemed like he had enough time to react as he pulled his blood-red sword up, deflecting my dagger and sending me stumbling back.

Swinging his sword in the air, he sent a crimson fiery slash right at me, and like him, I stood still, facing the slash head-on.

Holding my daggers in the X formation, I met the slash head-on without falling back, and for every second I held on, it became much easier to continue holding on.

After a few more seconds of holding my daggers to the elemental slash, I felt my control over it grow, so without any hesitation, I sent the slash right back at the figure.

Activating the usage period of the dash, I also sent my own night-black elemental slash right at him, trailing behind the fire slash.

Injecting mana into my daggers, I created a holographic dagger that floated right in front of me before using dash.

Appearing in front of the battered and exhausted figure, who had been barely able to hold off the two elemental slashes, I swung all three daggers right at him.

As my right dagger plunged into his body, the figure slumped down on the crowd before completely collapsing and finally releasing his grip on the blood-red sword.

Staring at the blood-red sword on the ground, various thoughts came to mind, almost all of them telling me to get rid of it now.

As Zeng and Astrid approached me, I instinctively stepped in front of the sword, blocking their sight of it.

While it was possible that someone had stolen the weapon from Zeng when he was returning to the headquarters, there was still a chance Zeng had done it.

Dismissing my daggers, I manifested a midnight-black sheath before carefully placing the blood-red sword into it, ignoring the sudden surge of exhaustion.

Putting the sheath on my waist, I stood back up and headed to Zeng and Astrid, who were standing in front of the broad-sword individual\'s legs.

"We should interrogate him."

Nodding our heads at Astrid\'s words, Zeng and I both pushed the boulder off the villain, revealing his full body, which was somehow less battered than his teammates.

Waking up the villain with a sharp slap to the face, I saw his eyes flicker open for a moment before immediately closing after he saw us three standing in front of him.

Seeing Astrid turn to me, I started the questioning.

"What is this place?"

"..."

"Not talking, are we?"

If this organization wasn\'t as small and weak as I originally thought, there was the possibility that the organization had forced him to sign a mana contract, preventing him from disclosing any information about their group.

Fortunately, Astrid seemed prepared for this kind of situation. She pulled a small green vile out of her bag and handed it to me.

A Truth Serum.

If there was a contract, he would die upon consuming the potion and being asked a question, as the mana contract would kill him for disclosing information.

And if there wasn\'t, he would be forced to answer our questions.

Of course, there were ways to negate the truth serum, as you could technically tell a lie by only partially revealing the truth or mixing the lie with the truth. But how would some third-rate villain like this guy know that?

Opening his mouth, I poured the green liquid in, ensuring that he drank it all and didn\'t spit it out.

"One more time! What is this place?"

"i-its w-was a research headquarters b-but boss abandoned it a week ago."

Getting straight to the point, I asked.

"What is your plan to take out the prince?"

"I-i d-don\'t know."

Whether he knew it or not, this guy was actually counteracting the truth serum by only revealing part of the truth.

"What did your boss tell you?"

"h-he just said t-to distract people searching and leave the rest to him."

Looking at Zeng\'s expression for a moment, I walked up to him and straight-up asked him.

"Zeng, answer truthfully. Do you have any intentions of attacking the academy?"

"w-what, of course not, boss! Well, unless you say so."

He can\'t lie because I ordered him to be honest, so he wasn\'t the one who attacked the academy with the sword...

The only possible scenario then is that Zeng was attacked while transporting the sword.

This person then stole the sword and used its immense power to blow up the royal family\'s suite.

But for this person to have known about the sword, they had to be related to this broad-sworded individual and the sword\'s original wielder.

This person also has to be aware of the actions and locations of these villains, which means that their boss did it all.

That begs the question, though, why didn\'t he just take the blood-red sword in the first place instead of giving it to his subordinate?

He couldn\'t, but why?

Recalling the fatigue I felt when I picked up the sword, I realized that it might have something to do with wielding the sword too long, making you weak.

Shaking my head, I left the clearing and headed back to the ladder with Zeng, leaving Astrid alone to ask whatever questions she wanted to.

I had already done enough by preventing the blood-red sword from falling into the hands of this boss figure.

Exiting the cake shop, I sent Zeng back to the headquarters and headed to the academy, as it would be safer to store the sword there.

Ensuring that no one was following me, I stepped onto the academy bridge before heading through the front gates and entering my dorms.

As I laid down on my bed, still studying my situation, a thought suddenly came to me.

There was no plan or infiltration mission or anything, so how did this boss get into the academy?

How did he get all the way to the royal suite without anyone stopping him? Security guards and teachers were the only ones allowed into that area of the coliseum.

The High Dominion handpicked the guards, so then that leaves the teachers...

Teachers can\'t usually bring swords or weapons onto the academy grounds, but for the festival, a certain group of teachers can... those chosen for the battle royal event.

The villain\'s boss was then a teacher--not just any teacher, a teacher prestigious and powerful enough to be chosen to participate in a battle royal event.

Was the academy safe for storing the sword, then...?

*THUD-THUD*

[A/N: I think I\'ve caught up on gift extra chapters, so I might go back to doing 9-10 chapters/week.]