“Research records on the ‘Grimmlin’—Sels.”
In the dim stone room, Lily trembles as she reads the contents of the notes left by her father.
According to the records, the Imperial Union is secretly investigating a phenomenon called “Emergence”—the frequent appearance of the Demon Race in areas outside the Labyrinth.
These fluorescent floating fish, named “Grimmlins” by Sels, were simply and crudely classified by the Military Department as a newly appearing type of low-level Magic Monster.
However, he firmly believed that they were not merely monsters that lived only to kill.
Because they contained extremely high-purity natural Lightning Element and never showed him any ill will, there was even a possibility of communication with Humans.
If communication could be successfully established, the energy crisis currently faced by humanity, which relied on expensive Magic Conductive Batteries, might be completely resolved.
But the Military Department, known for its iron-blooded nature, would never consider the “naive fantasies” of a scientist on such a matter.
Under the purge order, Lily’s father could only watch helplessly as those Grimmlins were slaughtered.
It wasn’t until half a month ago, when he discovered traces of these creatures near Knox City again, that he came here, ecstatic and carrying his last hope.
However, just as his research was starting to show results, mysterious assassins from an unknown source came to silence him, and his research findings were burned to ashes.
Fleeing to Knox City, Sels saw the “wanted” poster for himself on a roadside bulletin board and didn’t know where to go.
He originally wanted to find Lily, but he feared that his irresponsible fatherhood would implicate his daughter.
Thus, he took the last few Grimmlins he had and hid in the cave.
But the result…
“Aside from the bodies of a few Imperial soldiers who died in traps along the way, we didn’t see any sign of your father.”
Katy voiced her doubt.
Lily closed the notebook, her eyes dimming as she shook her head.
“I’m not sure either… perhaps before we arrived, Father had already fled elsewhere with the rest of his research data.”
Gray comforted her, saying that “no news is good news,” but Katy’s eyebrows were knit together in frustration.
Her mind was filled with the noisy chatter of these small fish crying “friend” and “so hungry.”
‘So noisy…’
Katy wailed internally.
Gray was unaware of the torment the girl was experiencing.
He carefully studied the creatures swimming up and down in the air.
As a Warrior proficient in the Lightning Element, he could indeed feel a surge of active lightning magic from within their translucent bodies.
Strangely, however, this energy was not like the violent magic found in nature or within Magic Monsters.
Instead, it gave him… a strange sense of familiarity.
It was almost like… a man-made object he had seen somewhere before?
“Sister Lily, what do you plan to do next?”
Enduring the noise in her head, Katy looked at Lily, who was leaning against the wall and looking unsteady.
“You can’t stay here forever. How about we scrape some money together so you can hide in another city?”
Gray’s brows were tightly furrowed, his expression solemn.
Unlike Katy, he was far too familiar with the Military Department’s style.
Those rigid and cold-blooded madmen would never allow Lily to return to her daily life so easily.
To them, Sels must be found, dead or alive.
Since his current status was unknown, they would treat him as deceased and naturally seize his daughter, Lily, for interrogation.
He had seen prisoners who were fortunate enough to walk out of the Military Department’s special intelligence agencies alive.
Some cowered at the sight of anyone, while others had fingers twisted from being broken.
“It’s not that simple, little Katy. To the Military Department, Lily is already their designated prey. Unless someone from the Church intervenes… That’s it!”
His eyes suddenly lit up, and he slammed his right fist into his left palm.
“I’ll go find Lobelia! If she puts pressure on the Military Department, there might still be a chance!”
“…”
The air froze for half a second.
Katy instinctively wanted to refuse.
Was he joking?
That pink-haired madwoman had wanted to send her to the stake just a few days ago!
But on second thought, Lily was indeed at a dead end.
She forced herself to swallow the rejection on the tip of her tongue.
The Grimmlins circled around the young girl.
Aided by the fluorescence from their bodies, Gray saw the flicker of emotion on Katy’s face and realized the mistake he had made.
“Ah… actually, we don’t necessarily have to find Lobelia. In the end, she’s only an Apprentice Cardinal; her influence might not be enough.”
He quickly waved his hands, rushing to patch his suggestion.
“I’ll write a letter to the Saint. I hope she sees it soon.”
Just as Gray was scratching his head, wondering how to start a letter to an old teammate who he hadn’t seen in a long time and who had now achieved great success, the cave suddenly began to shake.
Debris fell from the ceiling.
Katy was quick to steady the nearly falling Lily, while Gray immediately stabilized his center of gravity, his gaze piercing toward the cave entrance like a hawk.
“Someone’s coming. Hide.”
“Can Mr. Gray handle it alone?”
Katy wanted to say more, but she was pulled to hide behind the heavy steel door of the stone room.
“We have to trust him at a time like this!”
Although Lily’s face was pale, she forced herself to stay calm.
At the same time, the few Grimmlins seemed to sense danger as well.
They began crashing around the stone room like headless flies, screaming, “Scared! Ow!”
To avoid revealing their position, Katy could only lower her voice when Lily wasn’t looking and scold them in the Demon Language.
“Shut up! If you keep making noise, I’ll skewer you and swallow you whole!”
***
Outside, in the passage.
Gray stared solemnly into the darkness, his right hand tightly gripping the hilt of his blade.
The ringing of clashing metal drew closer, reminding him of the scene where Noctiluca slowly walked toward him in the depths of the 13th Dungeon.
He took a deep breath.
Then, he saw a glimmer of light ignite in the darkness of his vision, growing brighter and brighter.
Yet Gray did not find the light dazzling.
His pupils, which should have constricted, were now gradually dilating, and his grip on the blade began to loosen.
Such soft light.
It made one instinctively want to draw near, to pour out one’s heart, even to worship…
—No!
A surge of revulsion for the light before him suddenly welled up from the depths of the youth’s blood.
He fiercely bit the tip of his tongue, breaking free from the hallucination haunting his mind, and drew his blade from its sheath.
Blinding Lightning Light tore through the remaining darkness, striking toward the light source that shone like a nova.
Boom—!!
Lightning and Holy Light collided in the narrow passage, and the resulting shockwave sent the stones on the ground flying.
Inside the stone room, Katy and Lily covered their ears tightly, feeling as though their eardrums were about to shatter.
Once the commotion quieted down slightly, the bold Katy peeked her small head out from behind the door.
She had to see if Gray could win.
If he couldn’t, she would have to consider how to escape with these two without exposing her identity.
…Oh right, she was a Priest.
She could give Gray protection, and if all else failed, she could just stack ten Strength Blessings on him.
Katy focused her gaze and saw a Warrior with a long blade sparking with electricity on one side, and a knight fully encased in white heavy plate armor on the other.
That armor was so white it was blinding, without a single scratch or stain.
His entire body radiated the kind of Holy Light that made Katy frown.
In his hand, he held a massive knight’s lance, its shaft covered in densely engraved scriptures.
Stemming from her instincts as a member of the Demon Race, a surge of hatred for that light rose within her.
She desperately wanted to go over, crack open his “can,” and throw him out.
The girl took a deep breath, trying hard to keep her pupils from turning into slits.
At the same time, Lily, who had also peeked out, covered her mouth in shock the moment she saw the newcomer.
“The Pale Paladin!?”
‘What an edgy name.
The person inside must be a total brat,’ Katy thought.
Perhaps because she was too shocked by the white knight’s appearance, Lily didn’t notice the sour hostility in Katy’s voice.
She lowered her voice and introduced him with a tremble.
“That is the ‘Pale Paladin’ Ingram. He is one of the most prominent knights in the Church’s Order of Holy Knights’ younger generation—you could even remove ‘one of’!”
Lily bit her lip and looked at Gray’s back.
“He is also… the former vanguard of Dawn Blade, and Gray’s former teammate.”
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