"You...?" Garrat tried to speak, blood filling his mouth. He was strong, and his defenses were formidable. He was a favored shadow of the Grand Elder, and was usually able to dodge an ambush with ease. But...what was this?
As the youth withdrew his arm, Garrat stumbled, falling to his knees, head drooping, blood trickling from his lips as the black tendrils spread, wrapping around his body and creeping towards his face. His eyes dilated in terror.
Vandill waited, but Lucan and the ten Protégés sent out vanished without a trace. What had happened in the West? What could have happened?
The wild was home to nothing but bandits and Magi-Monsters. Such an anomaly was impossible.
Unable to bear it, Godfred, the vice-captain of the guard, spoke up, "Send out a hundred-man squad!"
This time, Vandill did not object. If there were trouble, it would serve as a good excuse to sacrifice some of his guards.
The squad assembled, cautioning each other, and quickly advanced westward in groups of ten. However, they didn't get far before they stopped halfway.
Approaching from the darkness was a group of figures, and upon closer inspection, it was Lucan.
"Captain!" They exhaled in relief. The captain had returned, followed by the Mallisters, who seemed shaken but unharmed.
"Where's Vandill?" Lucan asked. His squad guarded the Mallisters, with The Silent Blade absent.
"Still there. Captain, what happened just now?"
"I'll explain later. Go inform everyone and follow my orders," Lucan commanded as they reached the square.
"Lucan, what's happened?" Vandill was even more perplexed to see Lucan return. Lucan and the Mallisters weren't dead, so who was?
"Elder Vandill, are you surprised? I thought you had already received the news." Alavin approached Vandill, with the towering Lucan following closely behind, whose two-meter height and broad chest imposed a strong sense of oppression.
"A mere servant has no right to speak to me," Vandill said, his intuition screaming that something was amiss. Lucan had safely returned, the Mallister family members were present, and now Alavin had appeared—what was the meaning of the recent chaos? Where had the three hundred Cobalt Strike Protégés arranged by the Grand Elder gone?
"Whether I have the right or not, you know very well. Looking for those three hundred 'bandits?' Don't worry, I've taken care of them for you."
"What did you say?"
"Are you losing your hearing with age, or is your head filled with water? How come you can’t even understand plain speech?"
"How dare you!" Cobalt Strike Protégés scolded in unison. Most of them were unaware of Alavin's transformation, puzzled as to how he could have left the Cobalt Strike and how he managed to return here.
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