"So, what are we doing now?"
At Cray's question, Whitney and Iliana turned to him, then turned their head at Basil. Basil, whose gaze was planted to the front, glanced at the three students with raised eyebrow upon receiving their gaze.
"Are you telling me to make a decision or are you going to wait me until I move?" Basil asked to the three people without even turning his head.
Upon receiving that answer, Whitney and Cray turned to Iliana. "I am going to escort Basil back to Randalvine Magic Institute so he can deliver his report. So, I am going to wait for him," was Iliana's immediate answer.
Whitney and Cray looked at each other, before turning their gaze to the horde of Demons that were ceaselessly pouring out of the four cavities in the ground and the Dungeon entrance. With a shrug, they quickly decided their answer.
"I'll wait for Basil," Whitney said. "We can't risk getting our butts chased by these Monsters again, after all," Cray added.
Even though they could just go back to BA-22 by themselves, they didn't want to do that; they knew it would be counterproductive.
The Demons, as they were currently seeing, were heading to Raneil Barony and a few other places; none of them were heading to BA-22. Therefore, BA-22 was pretty much safe from the Demons' threat.
But still, their main reason not going there was Iliana; they were secretly hoping if they followed Iliana, they would eventually be pardoned of their punishment. Leaving the place one had been stationed at couldn't be easily forgiven, after all.
"I am leaving now."
At Basil's sudden declaration, everyone turned to him in slight surprise. "We don't have to wait until these guys stop pouring out of these holes?" Cray asked in puzzlement. He had thought the only reason they weren't attacked was the spot they were standing on.
"No," Basil shook his head faintly, "the deal I made with them guarantee my safety and anyone I know. That's why," he gestured at the Demons, "none of these creatures attack you."
Whitney and Cray exclaimed, "Oh," in understanding. Then as if remembering something, Whitney asked, "Hey, what about the Kinslayer inside the Dungeon?" Basil glanced at him once, before shortly saying, "He's dead."
The three students blinked their eyes in surprise. "He is dead?" Iliana asked. "Did you kill him?" She said sceptically. "He died of old age; two thousand years living in a crippled state, and letting lose once was enough to kill him," was Basil's immediate answer.
By letting lose, he referred to Caesar's "fight" with the Exploration team.
"Well, that's anticlimactic to be honest; I was expecting him to suddenly pop out of the Dungeon, and rule over the world once again!" Cray commented. Turning a bewildered gaze at him, Whitney retorted, "You are really nuts when you want to be, aren't you?"
Shrugging once, Cray turned to Basil. "So, where are we going, captain? You got many things to report, and I bet you are not that fond of that idea. So, I am pretty sure you are not heading back to Randalvine."
As they turned their head at Cray, Iliana and Whitney were a little bit surprised at Cray's rare moment of brilliance. However, they quickly erased that thought as they remembered what he usually did: he always returned late whenever he made a mistake!
Although Basil didn't commit any mistake, he must be not eager to be questioned about what had happened in two months of his disappearance. Therefore, Cray, who was often in his position, could reach that conclusion.
At their analysis, Whitney and Iliana nodded their head in understanding. Cray realized that, but opted to not question it; he knew even if he pursued the matter, the two of them would just thwart him off.
"I will head to Raneil Barony to look at the situation." Gesturing at the Demons, he continued, "It has been six hours since these creatures start pouring out of the Dungeon; with their traveling speed, some of them must have arrived there."
Everyone nodded their head at that. Raneil Barony wasn't really that far from Lone Plain. With a regular carriage, they could arrive there in three days, and it would only take a day for a luxury carriage that was powered by two exceptional Hexapod Horses to get there.
It was a common knowledge how crazy Demon's natural strength and stamina were. Supported with the Demonic Mana that was released to the air by the Obelisk of Goap, their power was, at least, doubled. Therefore, reaching Raneil Barony in 6 hours wouldn't be a stretch.
"We will follow your lead, Basil," Iliana said lightly.
Basil didn't nod his head, nor did he show any indication of hearing her word. He merely kicked the ground, flew to the air for a few seconds, before landing on the ground a hundred meters away.
Iliana merely smirked at that, and channeled her Mana to her feet. Kicking the ground once, and landed right beside Basil, successfully imitating his feat. Cray's eyes lit up as he turned to Whitney, but Whitney shook his head immediately.
Shrugging lightly, Cray casted a Wind Element Spell on his feet. Wind quickly gathered around them, and it propelled him to the air in the next moment. When Cray arrived beside Basil, he looked at Whitney from afar expectantly. However, the latter merely ignored his stare.
Casting [Earth Board], Whitney's earthen sliding board was once again revealed to the world. Riding on top of it, he "slid" to the ground swiftly; ff one were to look carefully, the ground below was the one moving his board.
Soon enough, he arrived beside the three people.
"Alright, we are good to go," Whitney said. Basil turned to him, and gazed briefly at the others. "I will remind you that you have not the need to follow me ... You will not like what you will see," Basil calmly said.
No one gave a response to show that they really didn't care of what they would see. A sea of blood? A mountain of decapitated human corpses? They were used to all of them; they didn't care about other people that much—Mage were naturally individualistic.
Furthermore, they wouldn't be idling here if they had that much care about other people; they would be hot on their way to Raneil Barony to save the residents.
Seeing that no one budged, Basil turned his gaze back to the front. 'Guide, what is the situation in Raneil Barony?'
[Ding!]
[Guide To Omniscience has been successfully upgraded. The new function: Visualization is now unlocked!]
[Initiating Visualization to solve the Host's puzzlement; target: Raneil Barony...]
As soon as the function was activated, Basil got the full view of Raneil Barony. He could see Familia Hotel, and even the entire Barony from his vision. The residents were going on their activity as usual—unaware of the incoming tragedy.
The Demons, coming from the south gate, were already a few kilometers from it, and none of the people took notice of them; also as usual, the guards of that particular gate were lax on their job.
Basil knew none of them were told of the incoming horde to avoid uncontrolled panick, but the security system's lax was enough to irritate him. Then again, it was all due to Anthony's incompetence to make a good decision.
When the guards took notice of the Demons, they were already a few hundreds meters away from the Barony. Even Basil, who was well aware of people's stupidity, was irked at how long it had taken them to notice the Demons.
Just as they were busy ringing the bell and closing the gate, the first Demon had arrived in front of the gate guards. Swinging its gigantic axe, the three meters tall Minotaur bisected the unfortunate Orange Core Knights who were fulfilling their task as a guard.
The bell was rung, and the residents were notified. Still, getting up late will never make one come early; late means late—that's the end of the story. The Minotaur that had arrived first utilized its boosted strength, then hit the gate with all it got.
The gate was split in two, and the Minotaur barged in. While the civilians inside were panicking, some local Knights were ready to stop the Minotaur. Alas, what could a bunch of Orange Core Knights do to a Minotaur? They were helplessly butchered.
A few seconds passed, the other Demons also arrived at the scene, quickly entering the Barony. Many Knights staying there came out to slay the invading Demons, but their amount was not really helping. In the end, a nightmarish chaos was evoked.
Basil ended the Visualization, and his vision returned to normal once again. Ever since he had unlocked the Visualization function, he had instantly got addicted to it. Being able to see everywhere whenever he wanted to was undoubtedly a perfect aid for him.
With that, he could really supervise his plan, and make sure everything was going alright. Aside from providing him with the knowledge he hadn't known before, the Guide really helped him by giving this particular function.
Of course, it didn't mean he was going to depend on it too much. The hammer in a cook's hand will not be as useful as the one in a Blacksmith's hand; a tool is a tool, what makes it great is the one who utilizes it.
"We will be moving." At Basil's word, the three people nodded their head.
Basil didn't actually feel the need to say anything, but the curious gaze he was receiving from the people forced him to do so; he was aware they must had been weirded out by his one minute long of staring into nothing.
Channeling his Mana and Qi, Basil utilized his Art: [Frictionless], and activated his Movement Technique: [Feather Step]. Since he was a Mage and a Knight, he would travel using both Principles.
Kicking the ground once, he reappeared 200 meters away from the three students a few seconds after. Not stopping in his way, he kept running so fast, he seemed to be sliding on the ground.
The people blinked their eyes in surprise once again; not because of Basil's speed, but his step—it was silent. Also earlier, when he had propelled himself forward, none of them had felt the aftermath wind. It was as if the wind had entirely opened a way for him to pass.
When they got how Basil did that—even though they didn't know his [Frictionless]—they were amazed at how much control Basil had over Wind Magic. However, it was also at that moment they realized Basil was already far away.
Quickly utilizing their Mana, they immediately took off to catch up to Basil.. Little did they expect, the time for them to stop in their way wasn't that far ahead.