Chapter 259 Joining The Fray
Woof!
"There are Monsters here!"
Deacon, as a Magic Beast, was very uncomfortable with the aura full of malice overwhelming the air. Although technically the library was free from any of its influence, his strong senses could still detect it.
He, like Iliana, didn't know how the Demons could arrive there, but he knew that for the Demons to arrive at Braxtein, something bad was going to happen and must have happened. There was no way such a highly secured city as Braxtein let this just happen.
Having the same thought as Iliana—it wasn't the time to dilly-dally—he immediately turned his head to his Master along with her. They were about to urge Basil to move, but they turned silent the moment they looked at his calm smile.
'Master... He knew it was going to happen.'
'This guy...'
They were sure that Basil didn't make what happened happen, but they couldn't help shaking their head at the fact Basil had even known it first-hand. After all, he could have helped many people if he had informed them something like this would happen.
Of course, they didn't blame Basil for his decision to keep everything to himself. They were aware even if he had been kind enough to warn the people, no one would believe him as he had no solid proof.
"Let us head to Woster County," Basil said calmly as he looked at Iliana. "The Royal Army will be concentrated here soon, so they will definitely abandon Woster County. We can't just let the County fall that way."
Iliana looked sceptically at Basil. "Are you saying that you care about the County?"
"No, but I do care of the lives of my friends. Xiu Li and the others must have been already fighting there by now, and I don't want to let them die."
"You know, for what you have done, I can hardly take your word as it is." Iliana signed softly. "Tell me, do you have anymore plan to execute?"
"I just want to train myself by killing Monsters. Also, I haven't used my full power for a while—it's frustrating."
Iliana was still sceptical of Basil's answer, but shook her head in the end. The situation had developed into the direction she had never thought of, and it wasn't the time to think about Basil's hidden intention.
Turning her back on him, she rapidly walked towards the exit of the library. Funnily, she made sure to bring Deacon with her, leaving said Beast in a dilemma of whether to choose his Master or the person his Master cared for.
He knew that his Master was fine with it, but he felt just wrong doing it. On the other hand, he didn't feel it would be right if he left Iliana for Basil because she would feel hurt if he did that.
Looking at Basil with his sorry eyes over Iliana's shoulder, in the end, he chose Iliana. Basil, who was left behind by Iliana, merely smiled faintly then caught up to her in just a blink of an eye.
He knew Iliana wasn't particularly mad at him for what he had done—although a softy, she wasn't that caring towards other people. He was aware that she was just disappointed he didn't tell her anything about it.
He could understand her feeling well—coming from the same Clan that was close to be wiped out, it was normal for her to feel his secrecy was unnecessary. After all, she would never do harm towards someone who came from the same Clan.
Learning from his past, Basil understood well Iliana was the only person in the world who would never betray him, however he still couldn't tell anything about his plan to Iliana.
His plans were about the possible events in the future that hadn't happened yet, and telling her about them had a risk of changing the future even more.
Just by meeting her this soon alone was enough to alter the future this much—he didn't want to deal with any other unpredicted events in the future.
Having come this far, Basil had learnt that a slight difference in the presence could cause a huge difference in the future. Just a flap of a butterfly's wings in the current time could cause a typhoon in the future.
He didn't want to take risk, so he kept everything to himself.
Roar!
"AAAAHHHHH! Somebody help me!"
"No! No! No! Go away! AAAHHH!"
"These goddamn Monsters! How did they enter the city?"
"Darn it! Hold these accursed Monsters back for as long as you can!"
Basil, Iliana, and Deacon had just gotten out of the library, but they were already greeted by a chaotic scene that happened not far from them. This means a bad news, since the area around Arthan Library should be one of the safest areas in Randalvine.
They could see people, mostly merchants and rich civilians living in Braxtein were running their way, leaving the group of Mages and Knights behind to deal with the Demons. The people also saw them, and they looked glad upon seeing the two.
"Let's leave this place." Basil immediately ran down the stairs.
"Aren't we going to aid them a little bit?" Iliana asked as she caught up to him. "I believe you can also train using the Monsters here."
"It won't do," Basil immediately replied. "I don't want to let anyone know that we have been here.
"I am pretty sure there are many people who have seen us."
"That is correct." Basil stopped in his track, then turned his gaze to Iliana who was beside him. "That is why, I am going to let them die. Look at the situation—you should know how chaotic it must be in the Capitol's area."
Since the Demons had arrived at one of the safest areas in Randalvine City, it was correct for Basil to say that the situation in the Capitol's area that was right in the center of the city was helplessly chaotic.
Being in the center of the city made the Capitol as the last line of the defense. If the Demons had managed to get to the area around Arthan Library, that means, the last line of defense of the city was already overwhelmed.
"You... There is no need to be that heartless. You are a human too! Don't you feel uncomfortable seeing your kin get slaughtered by those mindless creatures?"
"Why would I? Aside from being my fellow humans, what relationship do they have with me? My family? No. My lover? No. My friend? No. Do you think it's worth to spill your blood for them?"
"Basil—"
"Hey, you there! Don't just stand there, and go help the Mages!"
Iliana, who was about to "knock some sense" into Basil's head, was cut by the merchant who had just arrived in front of them. The merchant was panting heavily while clutching his beer belly.
Merchants were the only group of civilians who dare to look down on Mages and Knights, because they had money to move the Mages and Knights that were afraid of the Kingdom's law. In other words, those who didn't flaunt their power.
For the sake of not getting punished by the Kingdom, instead of having their way with anything they wanted, the Mages and Knights formed a good relationship with merchants.
That way, they would have money to do their research or buy higher quality equipments. This is the reason why the merchant who had just arrived in front of Basil and Iliana had dare to talk like that to them.
"We are already assigned to another post. We can not—"
"Who cares?! Isn't protecting civilians your job? Go help your friends!"
Iliana clicked her tongue as she had been cut by the merchant once again. The merchant genuinely felt entitled enough to order them around, and it irked her to no end.
Slash!
Of course, no matter how irked she was, she wasn't as bold as Basil who had just cut the merchant's head off. It happened so sudden—the merchant's look of bewilderment was still even plastered on his face.
Thud!
"Hmph! Not even my family feel entitled to order me around." Basil snorted disdainfully towards the merchant's head, then turned to Iliana. "Are you saying that I should spill my blood for this kind of people?"
"That is..."
"I get that there is always a white grain amongst the thousands of black grains, but looking for that white grain takes too much time. Rather than looking for random good people, I prefer ensuring the safety of the people I care about."
This time, Iliana couldn't return Basil's words. She couldn't find fault in Basil's logic since that what she had been doing for all this time: she didn't actively look for good people, but she would help them when she encountered them.
"This... What is this?!"
"Oh my God! What happened to Mr. Boris?!"
As more civilians arrived in front of them, their surrounding became rowdier. All of the civilians were shocked at seeing Boris, the merchant's headless body.
They were immediately looking at Basil and Iliana with suspicion and anger. Being merchants, they felt they would be able to punish the two heavily when their words got out.
Slash! Slash!
Unfortunately for them, it was nothing but their delusion. Basil's wind blades were fast enough to cut their head even before they could utter a single word.
Iliana wasn't surprised this time, unlike the last time, but she shook her head helplessly nonetheless. She was simply astonished at Basil's decisiveness.
"There are 3 Third Circle Mages and 4 Peak Yellow Core Knights there." Basil pointed to the group of people fighting the Demons ahead of them. "Who do you want to deal with? The Mages or the Knights?"
"... I don't think—"
"Indeed. I also think you shall not partake in this horrific act of mine."
Iliana had actually wanted to say there was no need to kill the Mages and the Knights. Basil knew it, but he still decided to "misinterpret" her unfinished sentence by concluding that she didn't want to join his evil deed.
[Master of Weapons]!
Activating his Aura, Basil took out all of the bladed weapons he had in his Spatial Ring and Spatial Bracelet. He sent all of them towards the fighting Mages and Knights, striking them right in the middle of their chest.
Due to their bewilderment of being attacked suddenly, they became prone to the Demons' attack. That way, all of the people who had seen Basil in front of Arthan Library were eaten by the Demons.