[Mountain Piercer]!
Basil threw his shining spear at the stunned Hog Orc. It split the air like a lightning, and it easily pierced the armor that was protecting the Demon's chest.
BOOM!
An explosion of dense dark green colored Qi covered Basil and the Demon like a dome. Although it wasn't as strong as [Synchronization], the shockwave it produced was enough to knock the Low Class Demons that were away from it off their feet.
Upon seeing that display, the Mages, who didn't know that Basil also practiced the Knight Principle, were made aware of this fact. On the other other hand, the Knights were simply pondering about how ridiculous the scene they were witnessing.
'Just how much Qi can he contain inside his Core?!' They even ignored the fact that Basil had advanced to Green Core Stage in such a short time.
It took a few seconds for the dense Qi to dissipate, and when it did, Basil and Deacon were nowhere to be found. All they could see was a new big and deep crater with a spear in the middle of it, and the lower body of the dead Hog Orc that was slightly away from the spear.
Everyone looked around in confusion that was mixed with bewilderment to look for Basil, but they soon noticed that Basil and Deacon weren't the only who were gone. The gigantic Silencer had also vanished from their view.
They became even more bewildered, and quickly looked around to quickly locate said Demon until Cray found where it was.
"There it is!"
Everyone turned their head at the direction Cray was pointing to, and they could see the gigantic Silencer was chasing something to the east. Upon closer inspection, they found that it was chasing a 6 meters tall King Saberwolf that was no other than Deacon.
"I will help—"
"Wait! Look at the other Demons!"
Cray stopped in his track, then looked around to see what Whitney was talking about. His intention to help Basil immediately disappeared upon doing so, and he couldn't help clicking his tongue in irritation.
"Darn it! What should we do?" He turned to Whitney. "They are heading to where Iliana took the civilians to!"
He wouldn't be afraid if it was before, but now that such a ridiculous amount of Demons were chasing Iliana, he was sure it would be hard even for someone like Iliana to survive.
"We will also go there obviously," Whitney replied Cray surely.
Cray didn't show any indication that he heard Whitney, but he immediately chased the Demons that were heading to the secret entrance of Death Howl Dungeon, leaving everyone behind.
For once, Whitney didn't feel like scolding Cray on his uncoordinated action; he, too, was agitated about the fact that their friend was in danger. He had known Iliana long enough to know what she would do if the Demons caught up to her and the civilians.
'That stubborn girl will definitely do her best to "accomplish her mission." She will never leave behind the civilians!'
Turning to Alexandra, Jocelyn, and Robert, who had just arrived, Whitney immediately opened his mouth. "Basil is a capable Mage, and so is Iliana. However, I want to prioritize Iliana over him in the current situation."
"I get what you want to say, Mr. Whitney." Robert quickly nodded his head in understanding. "I will aid Mr. Pacifer. I will fight the Monsters that are chasing him together with him." He turned his gaze to the tens of Middle Class Demons running behind the gigantic Silencer.
"My Spells make it impossible for me to use them in an enclosed space unless I want to hurt my allies too, so I will chase the Monsters that are heading to the southwest," Alexandra stated calmly.
"Will you be okay alone?" Jocelyn looked at Alexandra in worry.
"I'm fine. Besides, I don't feel we are in this alone..." Alexandra turned her gaze to the Knights of Hauler that were approaching them.
"I will join Miss. Alexandra in her endeavor." Effie looked at Alexandra with a smile. "Do you mind if I join you?"
Alexandra shook her head. "No, I'm grateful even."
"I hate an enclosed space, so I will join you too!" Sylvia remarked. Her armor was covered with Demon's blood from head to toe.
Alexandra smiled awkwardly at her unladylike appearance, but still nodded her head. "The more the merrier." She took out her Transportation Artefact, then activated it. "Kuhum! Then, off we go." With her in lead, the three ladies headed to the southeast.
Whitney turned his head to Thompson as if asking whether he was okay with how things were developing, and the latter merely nodded his head with a smile.
"Basil's friends are also ours," Thompson said courteously.
"I thank you for that." Whitney bowed his head in gratitude.
When Whitney raised his head, Robert nodded his at him. "Then, I will be taking off, Mr. Whitney." He appreciated the heartwarming courtesy the Knights were showing, but he didn't have the time to admire it. 'Mr. Pacifer is already far away!'
"Ah, wait! I will be coming with you!" Jake shouted at Robert, who had already taken off urgently. Scratching his head awkwardly, he muttered, "I guess I will just follow him from behind." Then, he ran as fast as his Middle Stage Green Core allowed him to.
Only four people were left behind, and they were all the people who were going to enter the secret entrance of Death Howl Dungeon, which they didn't know was one.
Thompson looked at Whitney, and awkwardly said, "It might sound impudent, but can I take the lead?"
"Being in the front line is a Knight's job." Whitney unhesitatingly nodded his head as he understood what Thompson meant.
Thompson smiled in relief, then nodded his head. "I am grateful you know what I mean." Turning to Steven, said Knight immediately nodded his head. "Then, here we go."
Utilizing their Movement Technique, they dashed toward the secret entrance of Death Howl Dungeon like a bullet. Whitney and Jocelyn also didn't stay idle as they caught up to the two Knights with their Transportation Artefact a couple of seconds after.
They encountered some of the Demons in their way, but none of them could block their way as Thompson and Steven were doing a good job eliminating them.
Even when they found that the entrance was blocked by the Demons, the two Knights quickly blast the Demons with their attack, thus allowing them to pass the entrance without a fuss.
Upon passing it, they were greeted by the sight of a wide tunnel—contrary to the size of the entrance—that was currently filled with running Demons that were ignoring their presence entirely.
None of them understood what caused the Demons to be that eager to enter this place, but aside from Jocelyn, all of them felt the tunnel was giving off a familiar feeling. It was so familiar, it felt like they were relieving a nightmare.
"This aura..."
"It is the same as that time."
"Death Howl Dungeon!"
Right after Whitney's exclamation that was full of bewilderment, the ground rumbled briefly, before the entrance was closed, thus making it impossible for the Demons that were still outside to enter.
Although it didn't change the treatment the Demons that were already inside were giving the four people, none of the people who had entered Death Howl before could rejoice, including Cray that was ahead of them.
'Basil, what are you planning?!'
...
Basil was standing in front of the tree that was 60 meters away from the now blocked secret entrance of Death Howl Dungeon with his hand on the Sealing Sword. He was looking at the entrance, and the confused Demons in front of it coldly.
"If they die, their incompetence is to be blamed. However, I am sure they won't." Turning his body to the southwest, Basil dashed forward. "They have her who always protects her family, after all."
Looking ahead, Basil's eyes gleamed in a suppressed excitement. "Your time is close, Eugene. You shall be grateful I do this much work to take your head."
He had made the illusion that he was now traveling to the east with Deacon, while in truth he had merely infused his Mana Signature and Qi Signature inside a doll that was dressed like him, put it on Deacon's back, and hidden himself behind the tree.
The dense Qi explosion had been a perfect way to distract the people from noticing the process, and masked the faint presence of his that the doll was giving off.
He had fooled everyone with his scheme—he had made everyone dance on his palm—just to kill one person. He had concocted such a complicated scheme to make everything look like a coincidence, just so he could be free from any doubt.
Killing Eugene was extremely easy for the current him; he wasn't even that worried about the ten Paladins that were escorting Eugene. However, he knew more than anyone that what made things complicated was what happened afterwards.
This is why he had concocted such a complicated scheme: just to make everything looked natural. He was aware of the power he currently had, and he was sure he wouldn't be able to face the Church head on yet.
"Dying in disaster is considered natural too, no?"
It wasn't that hard to think of such a scheme, but he had to do many things to properly execute it. It was slightly bothersome, but it would pay well in the end.
"Why are they so slow?" Basil could already see the three girls that were going in the same direction as him, and he couldn't help but frown lightly.
Although he was running in high speed, he was sure he wasn't running in his top speed. Therefore, he had expected the girls to have been already far away from him since he had also given them quite a lot of time.
"I should've expected this."
Basil sighed to himself, and slowed his speed down. Although they weren't actually heading toward where Eugene was—the place he was heading to—he had to hide his presence from them until they separated ways.
He didn't want a single soul to witness the deed he was about to do, and he didn't want to kill unrelated people just to fulfill his selfish desire this soon.