Swoosh.

Kalian’s slightly disheveled hair shook softly from the wind blowing through the window. His sharp, ice-cold silver-grey eyes immediately locked on Yuri’s figure standing by the window.

“Just as I thought, you’re a heretic.”

Yuri and Odin were currently using their abilities and perhaps Kalian could sense some kind of energy because he quickly deduced Yuri’s identity while she was draped in the curtain. Even so, the fact that he could perceive such a weak ruins energy meant his instincts were just as good as Lakis’.

“Are you the one who placed the explosives in the building?”

Of course, he completely missed the point here…

Did she place the explosives, he says? It was actually the opposite.

“This prick, what a complete waste of time. Who the hell does he think he’s accusing right now?”

Odin ground his teeth and the veins on his forehead popped out.

Yuri understood what Odin was feeling.

Afterall, he did a good deed for the first time in a long while and for free too, yet he was actually being treated as a criminal like this so he felt wronged and it was enough to make him lose his temper.

Fwip!

The very next moment, a sudden attack flew at her and Yuri reflexively hit it away.

Clang!

She increased the strength in her spider-web to block the weapon aimed at her waist and as it hit the metallic material, a blinding light flashed from the resulting friction.

If she hadn’t tied the curtain over her head after getting a foreboding about Kalian’s appearance, her identity might have been exposed.

‘So he just attacks first when he feels suspicious. Somehow, I’m getting déjà vu…’

She couldn’t help but remember when he attacked her with his sword at the slave market the other time. Of course, Kalian couldn’t remember what happened back then.

But maybe he also felt a sense of déjà vu because his gaze instantly grew strange.

Bang, bang!

Yuri sent threads sharped than a knife at Kalian. And while Kalian was blocking them, she moved to get away from here.

“Where do you think…!”

Of course, Kalian stubbornly followed after Yuri. The weapon he used to attack Yuri last time at the slave market seemed abnormal, and the weapon he was holding now was the same.

‘Did he get a new sword after Lakis destroyed the other one?’

Kalian’s weapon was not dented at all even after cutting through Yuri’s threads which were imbued with the power of the ruins. After experiencing two battles against Kalian, she figured his weapon was infused with a special function through alchemy.

Either ways, it was very annoying for Yuri. She shot out some threads to try and neutralize Kalian’s weapon, but it was impossible. Kalian moved his hand fluidly and cut down all of her threads.

Yuri knew the best action to take was to get away from here, so she shot a thread to the ceiling.

Slash! A sharp blade flew past Yuri’s back as she lifted from the ground, missing her by a second. The chilling luster of the sword cut through the bottom of the curtain. Due to Kalian’s attack, her control of the threads slackened for a moment and right then…

Boom!

There was an explosion in the area where people were gathered.

Yuri’s eyes narrowed in a frown. Kalian’s eyes also shot in the direction of the sound. Right after, he turned to face Yuri with a gaze much more piercing than before.

“What are you trying to achieve? How many more casualties do you have to cause before you’re satisfied?”

Kalian yelled and attacked Yuri with even more intensity than before.

“If you don’t stop the explosion right now…”

“You idiot! It’s the opposite, ok? You’re the one stopping me when I’m trying to get rid of the explosives right now!”

Odin couldn’t bear it anymore and screamed.At that, Kalian’s face hardened menacingly.

“What game are you playing? You want to say you’re not the one behind this at this point?”

Odin was still hidden in Yuri’s pocket under the curtain so Kalian could not see him. So Kalian seemed to mistake what Odin said as Yuri speaking.

Clang!

Even while they spoke, Kalian continued to attack Yuri and Yuri continued to avoid it.

“There’s no game, we’re not the ones behind this…!”

“We? Like I thought, you have an accomplice…”

“Ugh, what a frustrating prick!”

Yuri left Odin to deal with Kalian.

“Those threads, did you use them to trigger the explosion just now?”

Kalian saw a thread hanging in the air around Yuri and tried to cut it off.

Clang, Bam!

But Odin’s black feathers flew out like a dagger and stopped him.

Bang, Bang!

While Kalian’s focus was a little scattered, Yuri counterattacked and succeeded in leaving the hallway.

“Wow, what kind of person is this? We can’t communicate.”

Odin harped on irritatedly.

Yuri went out of the exhibition room which was filled with a cloud of dust. And as soon as she got outside, she threw away the torn piece of curtain that barely covered her face. At the same time, she used her thread to pick up the head of the decorative armor in front of the door and wore it.

And after that, Yuri confirmed the location of her threads once again. Judging by the wave transmitted from the threads attached to Anne-Marie and Hestia, the both of them were thankfully safe.

“Arachne! Where are you going?”

“For now…”

Clatter!

However, Yuri couldn’t finish her sentence because she was attacked by Kalian as soon as he caught up.

“This freaking cockroach! You’re really persistent!”

Odin yelled, already sick of it. He wanted to call his crows over to attack Kalian right now but he was holding back because Yuri told him to remove the explosives for now.

At this point, even Yuri was a little annoyed.

“Kalian Crawford.”

She avoided Kalian’s attack and opened her mouth.

“The explosion just now happened because of you.”

“What?”

Kalian paused at the voice which was different from what he heard earlier. That said, the sound echoed because of the helmet so it came out sounding a little different from Yuri’s usual voice.

“We were getting rid of the explosives but because you interfered, they went off.”

Yuri stepped on Kalian’s sword as it slashed sideways then she jumped over his shoulder.

“Lord Crawford!”

Right then, the guards rushed in from both sides of the hallway.

Yuri and Odin were surrounded.* * *

Boom!

“Kyaa!”

“Hestia!”

Anne-Marie hugged Hestia and quickly fell to the ground. Her sight was covered with dust and she couldn’t even see an inch in front of her. The musty smell was mixed the stench of blood, paralyzing her sense of smell.

Just a second ago, her surroundings were loud and noisy with the sound of people screaming and crying but now, it was as quiet as a graveyard.

No. That wasn’t right.

It wasn’t her surroundings that were quiet but Anne-Marie’s ears that were not functioning properly. The sound of the explosion nearby had deafened her.

“Argh…!”

“S-Someone please help me!”

And then suddenly, all sorts of loud noises dug into her ears at once.

“U-Unni…”

She could hear Hestia sobbing from under her. It was only then that Anne-Marie came to her senses.

“Hestia, are you okay?”

Anne-Marie hurriedly asked, and Hestia nodded tearfully. She quickly checked Hestia’s condition and thankfully, Hestia didn’t seem injured anywhere. Only then was Anne-Marie relieved.

“As expected of the East. What a mess.”[1]

Right then, a cool voice came from above her. Anne-Marie unconsciously followed the sound and lifted her head. Then she saw an old lady who seemed to be a noble, standing upright like a bamboo tree even when the situation was so chaotic.

She felt Anne-Marie’s gaze on her and looked down.

“Are you hurt, child?”

It was a strange tone that seemed both cold and caring. Still, her words were certainly kind.

The old lady was holding a cane in her hand and she was covered in a transparent film which was coming from the cane. Seeing how there were broken pieces of the wall and blood stains around it, it was likely an alchemized item with protective functions like what Bastian had the other day.

Anne-Marie and Hestia were currently within the protection range of the device.

“Th, Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. You were just lucky.”

The old lady replied to Anne-Marie like it didn’t mean much. She didn’t deliberately try to help Anne-Marie and Hestia but the two of them just happened to be within the range of her shield.

Still, the fact remains that the old lady had helped Anne-Marie and Hestia.

“Ng…”

“Ah, it hurts…please help me…”

Anne-Marie suddenly turned her head at the sound coming from the side. Then she was greeted with an appalling sight.

Earlier, she had no time to think so she couldn’t look around but there were many people injured at where the explosion hit. Anne-Marie reflexively hugged Hestia tighter and blocked her vision.

Nevertheless, the white threads still hanging in the air like a flowing stream were also covering the front to some extent.

Only

Caw, Caw!

The crow that turned into black smoke and disappeared also appeared again.

“Now that I’m old, I see all sorts of things.”

The old lady picked her cane, frowned and mumbled to herself.

Translator’s Corner.

[1] She literally says, ‘as expected of those eastern bastards, the handling is so sloppy.’ Just putting it here for more context or something.