Shortly after I received the arrows from the core, he began to explain to me several tactics to aid in hunting Martial Spirits. Only after those lessons ended did I leave the dungeon, and begin to once again make my way to the town.

My pace was quick, but I made sure to keep my stealth items equipped while I ran. Even if they did not work against Loren, they would serve their purpose against normal people. There was the chance that she might have put a warrant out for my capture at this point, so it was better to play it safe than sorry.

More importantly… I had a time limit. While I couldn’t be sure exactly how long said limit was, it was only a matter of time until the news reached the First Blood. By my best guess, once that news had arrived, it would take her at least four hours to reach this location, unless she knew a druid capable of bringing her here quickly.

That timeline was based on our distance away from the nearest trade hub, which was where the elven gates were located. Even a massively powerful monk would need at least a few hours to make the run to this city.

That being said, it did still take me a solid fifteen minutes to return to the city myself. To my surprise, there were no extra guards out on patrol, no sign that anything had changed. Despite the fact that it had been almost an hour since I had been spotted at the mansion, Loren had not made any moves to condemn me publicly.

Maybe she’s trying to cover it up. I mused to myself, hopping over the city’s wall in order to avoid the normal checkpoints. If I wanted to perform this attack, I had to strike while I had the chance. That meant sneaking back onto Loren’s property and finding her again…

As I thought that, I looked down from my perch atop the wall and saw a bustling crowd in the streets below, my brow furrowing. The crowd below gave the appearance of a busy city at midday, and yet it was the middle of the night. They were chatting merrily, walking into shops that should have long since closed, and buying goods as if everything was perfectly normal.

That, in and of itself, was not normal. Most of these people should have been fast asleep, waiting to start their day in several hours. Out of concern, I even activated my karmic sight, ensuring that these were not the same type of puppets I had seen in the manor. And sure enough, everyone’s karma still appeared normal.

And that was when I heard it, a scream echoing from the direction of the Guild. The people below did not appear to react heavily to the scream, but I noticed a few eyes glancing in that direction. Those that did had their health bars immediately appear above their heads, drawing even more questions.

The simple act of looking in the direction of the scream had caused them damage… well, naturally I was going to go straight for the source. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop was an easy feat with my dexterity, and it only took a few moments before I arrived across the street from the Guild. Down below, I saw a familiar crowd standing guard in a semi-circle before the door.

This crowd was composed of the same group of guards that I had noticed earlier as working at Loren’s mansion. However, now… each of them had trembling hands as they held their weapons, their health bars above each of their heads.

“Come out, Priestess.” The words sent shivers down my spine. They did not come from inside the building, but rather from a cacophony of voices. Some were among the guards below, while others were simply civilians walking along the street. However, without exception, everyone had spoken those words at once.

“Don’t you want to play with me? It’s been so long since I had a fun toy. These people, so easy to use. One little drop, and their bodies are like dolls for me to play with.” The voices continued speaking, some trembling as they struggled to regain control of themselves. “Oh, aside from this one. She was quite durable. How unfortunate, but the blood didn’t work on her.”

“But, we all know what happens when your toys break. You get rid of them~. Now it’s just you, me, and me and me and me.” As the voices spoke, I quickly began adjusting the rings on my right hand, trying to pinpoint Loren’s location. Given the scream, she should still be in the Guild, but I couldn’t be sure exactly where within the building.

It didn’t take me long to find her, sitting at the desk of the local Guild Master. The Guild Master’s body had been thrown against a nearby wall, joints bent at odd angles and her neck snapped back. It was… obvious that she was already dead.

As per the words of the dungeon core, I did not let my sight linger on Loren for more than an instant. Martial Spirits were capable of sensing when they were being watched, and trace that sense back to their observers. That was how she had found me earlier, coupled with the ‘scent of blood’ on me.

And, as it turns out, this was also why I had been given far too many arrows. The core was not trying to tease me about my skill as a marksman, but rather was aware of the difficulty in hitting a target that you were not looking at.

Thankfully, for the moment she seemed to be stationary, content to taunt me with the voices. “Come out and play, Priestess. I can feel that you’re here. So very close. Should I start throwing out my toys to get your attention?”

I didn’t want to wait to see what she meant by that. One of the dozen bloodslayer arrows flashed into existence in my hand, and I immediately nocked it on my bow. To prevent her from locking onto my position, I closed my eyes and visualized the scene I had witnessed. “Void Arrow…” I gathered mana at the tip of my arrow, forming the spell I wanted to imbue it with.

“Black Tempest.” Nearly a quarter of my mana vanished as I completed the spell, letting loose the arrow from my bow. No sooner had it started its flight than I saw it vanishing into a black circle. From the calculations I had set up, dozens of similar circles should be appearing within the office of the Guild Master.

Black Tempest was an advanced archery spell to maximize the chance to hit against agile opponents by trapping them in a field of portals, and firing a high-power projectile into that field. Unless they were able to physically block the projectile, they would need to continue dodging until it has exhausted its momentum.

Judging by the unholy scream that erupted from the Guild… I was guessing that Loren did neither of those things. In fact, the lapse in concentration seemed to be enough that the guards outside staggered, free of her control.

“Evacuate!” One guard called out, and the civilians seemed to realize that they were no longer under Loren’s power. All at once, chaos erupted in the streets as people began to flee in every direction.

“That hurt!” Loren exclaimed loudly, a burst of energy pulsating out from within the office. With a loud crash, the wall of the building shattered, debris falling to the street below. When I saw Loren again, she had only one arm, the other ending in a jagged mess at her shoulder. If I had to guess, my arrow must have hit around there.

Not only that, but her health bar was visible, a solid third of her life drained away with that attack. However… I definitely had her attention now. There would be no more sneak attacks.

“Here I thought I’d put on a little show for you, after I caught you sneaking around my home. I’d have some fun, enjoy a nice meal, and then move on. But now… now I’m mad.”

As she said this, she stepped out of the Guild building, her feet landing on nothing but air. At first I believed it to be the normal ki technique of walking in midair, until I saw the blood red wings sprouting from her back. Her fair skin shifted, stained crimson as she grew larger and larger.

Perhaps the most upsetting piece of news about all of this wasn’t the change in her size. No, that just made her an easier target. What really upset me was the fact that her arm grew back. Her health didn’t recover, but… I was really hoping she’d only have one arm for this fight. Or no arms. No arms would actually work even better.

As I nocked my next arrow, I began to realize the purpose of her shift, and my expression paled. The arrows worked by releasing pulses of mana to detonate her energy. The more densely packed her energy, the more damage it caused. By growing into this larger form, she could minimize the damage I inflict with my arrows.

“I can smell your fear.” The bloody giant said, looking towards me with dark, empty eyes. “So sweet. Did you think we haven’t seen these toys before?”

From Loren’s sides, six tendrils shot out, three to the left and three right. Following a wide arc, they then turned and honed in on my general position. Of the six, only two were aimed at my true location, showing that she didn’t know exactly where I was.

Thinking fast, I held my hands out to my sides, and clenched my fists before pushing outwards. Distortion fields, much like those I utilized with my distortion arrows, appeared on either side of me. They weren’t particularly large, only the size of my fist, but they represented a segment of warped space. When the tendrils impacted them, they continued ‘in a straight line’. This ‘straight line’ within the distortion sphere caused the tendrils to abruptly turn and miss me.

“There you are.” Loren’s voice echoed ominously as the other four tendrils pierced into the roof around me. Thorns began to sprout along their surface, and I knew it was time to move. Jumping into the air allowed me to only barely avoid being pierced through the front and back both, even if it left me open.

“I should say the same to you.” A new voice spoke from behind Loren, catching both of us by surprise. I didn’t even manage to recover my senses in time to properly catch myself from my jump, causing me to tumble off to the side. To my surprise, Loren didn’t press her attack. Instead, she seemed to be… shaking.

“Indigo, wasn’t it?” The voice spoke again, and I finally managed to catch sight of the speaker. Standing behind Loren, within the office of the Guild Master, was another woman with strikingly red hair. She had a voluptuous figure, standing just shy of six feet, and… pure red eyes. She wore a red dress that tightly hugged her body, and moved with a wholly unnatural grace.

“E-Empress…” Loren, or rather Indigo muttered, slowly turning to face her. This was the First Blood, the ruler of all Martial Spirits. But… how did she get here so fast!?

It took me a moment to realize that Indigo was not moving of her own power. Rather, much like she had done with the townspeople, she was now being controlled by the First Blood.

“You know our laws.” The blood red queen spoke coldly towards Indigo. “After completing the pact, you return home. Instead, I find that you have been gallivanting as your host, and have even been robbing the lives of the people.”

“H-hear me out, Empress, please.” Indigo begged, her giant form trembling.

“Enough. I have already learned all I need to from this encounter. Your essence has polluted the town, and I can feel it in almost every creature present.” The First Blood raised one hand, and I could hear distant gasps echoing out. Drops of blood flew through the streets to congeal in front of her hand. “Or do you wish to deny the evidence before you?”

“N-no, but I-” However, Indigo was unable to finish her words, her mouth closing before she had the chance.

“I have made my decision, Indigo.” The First Blood declared coldly.