Science/Magic

Two minutes later, a four-meter-tall metallic wolf was rushing through the streets of Academy City with four people on it.

Bloed, Liu Ying, Eres, and Aya.

Headmistress Wave, Eve, and the other demigods had left Academy City chasing after the two mysterious attackers. Meanwhile, Bloed and the others were chasing after the three abominations and the other person that escaped.

[Genius Society], the second strongest club of the city, was following after one of the abominations with Isabella Castor, the second strongest student in the city, leading them. Thus, Bloed's group decided to chase after another abomination.

Fortunately, Aya realized that one of the abominations was traveling together with the other person that escaped, so Bloed's group had decided to chase after them.

However, Bloed was starting to doubt if chasing after them was the right choice.

Looking behind him, he could see a pale-faced Aya seated on Leto's back and doing her best to follow the traces of the abomination.

"Are you alright? Should we stop?" Bloed asked.

"… No. I'm alright."

Bloed furrowed his brows and looked at Aya fixedly.

Anyone could see that Aya was not alright. Right now, her face was completely pale, and her body was shaking slightly.

These were the effects of mana depletion.

When she was fighting the abomination, she had made contact with one of the abomination's tentacles, and it had used that opportunity to drain most of her mana. That was the reason behind Aya's symptoms.

Bloed knew how dangerous that was. After all, their energy-devouring trait was what made the abominations so dangerous.

They were known as Devourers, and in this world, they were called The Blight.

Creatures that devoured energy and used it to grow, evolve, and become stronger. They were a terrible species that brought the powerful Human Confederation to the brink of extinction and killed billions of human beings.

If Bloed and Liu Ying would have not noticed that Aya was in danger and rushed towards her immediately, the cat girl could have shared the same fate.

"… Sorry… it was my fault…" Aya murmured suddenly.

Bloed and the others were startled. They looked towards Aya and noticed that the black-haired cat girl was biting her lips and looking down with an ashamed expression.

"… If I don't fail to stop the monster, Liu Ying and you would have not had to rescue me, and the two of you would have been able to stop the monster from escaping."

Bloed looked at Aya for a moment before sighing.

He then looked towards Liu Ying, who was smiling wryly and shaking her head.

"It's not your fault, Aya. That monster was stronger than you. Moreover, its ability to absorb mana is very dangerous. I was also caught off guard the first time that I faced that kind of monster, and only survived because Bloed and Regina were nearby."

Bloed smiled wryly and nodded to Liu Ying's words.

Actually, this was partially his fault.

In his hurry to stop the abominations, he forgot to tell Aya and Eres about the creatures' ability to consume mana. Otherwise, Aya would have not suffered such a loss.

Even if she would have been unable to defeat it either way, at least, she would have been able to endure its attacks for a longer time.

The Devourers' ability to consume energy was the nemesis of exceptional abilities. Both mana and psychic energy could be consumed if the creature touched you.

That was what made the creature so dangerous.

Thinking about it, Bloed could not help but look at his sister.

Just like Aya, Eres had also faced a Devourer for the first time today. However, she managed to suppress it completely, even cutting several of its tentacles.

Bloed could not understand how she did it.

Seeing Bloed's expression, Eres shrugged indifferently.

"It was hard at the start. But I then realized that it could not consume the mana of [Skysword] and [Skyflames], so I decided to attack it with them and it worked."

Bloed nodded in understanding.

Right, techniques like these existed. Techniques designed to face the energy-draining trait of the devourers.

Just like Liu Ying's [Silent Touch] or Regina's [Positive-Negative Energy Conversion].

Perhaps [Skysword] and [Skyflames] were like that as well.

"Anyway, you don't need to worry about what happened." Bloed patted Aya's head with a gentle smile. "If you want, I can ask Regina to teach you a technique to go against the Devourers when we return. That way, you will be able to face these creatures when you meet them again."

Aya thought for a moment and nodded. However, her expression was still downcast.

Apparently, she was still blaming herself for the creatures that escaped.

Bloed sighed silently and shook his head. He could do nothing about that. He could only wait until Aya recovers by herself.

"By the way, brother. You seem to know about those abominations. Can you tell us about them? I don't want to be caught off guard if we fight them again." Eres suddenly asked at that moment.

Bloed thought about it briefly before deciding to explain to them what he knew, including information about the Devourers/The Blight.

When Eres and Aya learned about the identity of the creature that they fought, their expressions turned pale.

"What!? Who is so crazy to experiment with something so dangerous!? Are they not afraid of creating another disaster like the one one-hundred years ago!?"

Bloed smiled bitterly at Eres's words. He wanted to know the answer to that question as well.

At that moment, Aya's nose twitched twice.

"... Bloed, they are nearby."

At the same time, Bloed heard a voice sounding in his mind.

[Master, I think you should know about this.]

[Regina? What is it?]

[The two people that you are chasing entered the area covered by the security network.]

Bloed was startled. But in the next second, his lips curled up in a playful smile.

"It looks like they are destined to be caught by us this time."