A group of close to forty people rushed inside the cave right before the avalanche slammed against the entrance and covered it completely. No one was late to hide but they would have to uncover tons of earth and rocks if they wished to see the sun again.
The whole incident was viewed by Miss Black from afar and she was more than pissed off— she was fuming!
"Who?!" Miss Black yelled as black wings expanded from her back and she launched towards the sound of the explosion. It didn't matter who it was, she would kill anyone who dared endanger her little sister's life.
Miss Black searched from the sky and only needed a moment to find the culprits. Five people were flying away from the disaster but their speed couldn't compare with her own. She quickly caught up with multiple Soul Swords following by her side and ordered sternly, "Stop right there or die!"
The group chose to escape in five different directions which only cemented their death. "So you chose death! As you wish!"
Miss Black sent her flying swords after all five of them at the same time and it was only a few seconds before they were struck. She heard painful cries as the swords pierced their chests and four of them died on the spot before smashing into the ground from a high altitude.
The only target who survived the onslaught happened to be a lady in a black Academy uniform. It was no other than Liss who turned around with a hole in her stomach and she begged for forgiveness without hesitation, "Please, don't kill me! It was an accident!"
"An accident? You think I'm stupid?" Miss Black questioned with a glare as she prepared more swords. "Not only did you sabotage your own Academy's hunting team but you also endangered my sister's life who was together with them. You must be delusional if you think that I will let you live."
Liss was already pale from the loss of blood but she was conscious enough to grab any chance she had for survival. She quickly swallowed a healing pill and revealed, "Miss Black! It was all Number One! We wanted to kill him for what he had done to us!"
"Huh? What did he do?" Miss Black asked curiously as she paused the execution but she immediately lost interest in questioning. "It doesn't matter. He could have eaten your dog and I would still kill you."
Swoosh!
Close to ten swords shot at Liss like bullets and they pierced her torso all the way to the back. She died instantly the moment her heart burst open but Miss Black cut off the head just to be sure.
"Damn, this boy made me doubt my skills," Miss Black cursed under her breath as she collected Liss' Storage Ring and she finally sighed in relief as she watched the dead body fall from the sky.
Those five easy kills caused Miss Black to regain some confidence which was broken by Number One's resurrection. It turned out her Soul Arts had no issues and it was Number One who was the problem all along.
"What did he use to recover from such injuries then?" Miss Black wondered with a troubled expression and flew back towards the cave entrance. She didn't even stop to recover the other four Storage Rings as it was just a waste of her time.
———
"That's enough. We will focus on opening the entrance later." Captain Jack recalled his men back to the group as the work didn't seem to progress at all. "It's actually good for us since the Emerald Viper is now stuck in the cave. It will have to fight us until the very end and we will secure an easy kill."
"Or maybe we are the ones who are trapped here with the Emerald Viper…" One of the female students commented on what everyone else thought but Captain Jack acted as if he didn't hear it.
Everyone in the group was given a shiny crystal that acted like a flashlight and they proceeded further into the tunnel in a planned formation. Nothing really changed besides their exit route being cut off which forced them to move forward.
Number One seemed to be the only one who was completely unbothered by the sudden sabotage as he was busy hunting for treasures. If it was him a few days ago, he would pass by any rock without even thinking they could be worth a fortune. His attitude has flipped completely after learning Alchemy.
'Oh, another Earth Rank Ore,' Number One commented as he touched the wall with a grin. 'This place is just filled with hidden treasures that could be extracted and used to make pills. If only I was here alone…'
Number One could only mark this location in his mind and he sneakily returned to the middle of the group. He was able to explore by hiding his illuminating crystal but it seemed like it was finally time to focus on his task. The narrow tunnel they followed this whole time has reached its end and it turned into an open dark cavern with no sight of the other end.
The hunting team reacted immediately as they spilled out of the tunnel and someone fired a giant fireball at the ceiling. It flew up much further than anyone expected before exploding and illuminating the entire cavern.
All Number One heard was a series of gulps when they saw a massive green snake begin to unwrap itself before it rose up to the ceiling. It was so long that one could easily mistake it for a tower but no one cared about that. They were all focused on the shiny Green Soul Crystal embedded inside of its head and their eyes shone with greed.
SSSS!!!
The Emerald Viper hissed in warning as it displayed a pair of fangs to scare them away but it didn't attack immediately. That alone caused Captain Jack to snicker as he let out his last order.
"It's party time!"