Splitting Up

The early hours of the morning.

Dark clouds obscured the bright moonlight, leaving only scattered starlight to illuminate the way ahead. Under cover of darkness, three figures appeared silently in front of a manhole cover.

They were Yuri, Erza, and Sonia, who had removed her tightly wrapped veil and headscarf.

The three stood before the open manhole and exchanged a silent glance. Clearly, they hadn't come here in the middle of the night just to steal a manhole cover.

Earlier, Sonia had finally managed to stop Yuri and Erza's endless quarrel... though, rather than a quarrel, it would have been more accurate to call it Yuri teasing her one-sidedly.

After all, how to put it? Mr. Yuri might have been a good man with a cold exterior and a warm heart, but his personality really was rather nasty... at least, that was how Sonia saw it.

Fortunately, neither of them had forgotten why they were here. After Sonia suggested discussing their plan, they tacitly agreed to a truce.

"So Qliphoth is in the sewers?" Erza asked bluntly.

"No, Qliphoth's main body has been in the church all along..." Sonia explained in detail.

Although Qliphoth's main body wasn't in the sewers, its roots and branches filled them.

They formed both a surveillance and containment network to prevent people from escaping and a source from which it drew power. There was no getting around them if they wanted to destroy Qliphoth.

Sonia had studied the history of Cain's battle with Qliphoth in depth. She believed that a large part of the reason Cain had been unable to deal with Qliphoth was the vast magic power it drew through its roots in the earth.

So cutting off its supply of magic power was a crucial step toward destroying Qliphoth.

They therefore needed someone to draw Qliphoth's attention while destroying as many of those branches as possible, weakening its power.

The other team could then take the opportunity to infiltrate the church and destroy it while it was weakened.

That was Sonia's plan, and also why she had insisted on getting help from both Erza and Yuri.

But once the plan was laid out, another question naturally arose: who would serve as the bait, both "drawing fire" and "cutting off the supply"?

Given how enormous Qliphoth's magic power was, the branches spreading underground were presumably countless. Whoever acted as bait would inevitably face a suffocating encirclement and wave after wave of attacks.

Otherwise, there would have been no need for them to destroy those roots.

Moreover, plans could never keep up with changes. How much of the task had to be done before it was over depended entirely on the other team's progress.

If they couldn't take down Qliphoth for a long time, the "bait" would most likely be trapped inside until they died, without even a chance to escape.

It was no exaggeration to say they would be entrusting their life entirely to someone else.

But whether it was Yuri or Erza, none of them had known one another for long. Clearly, there wasn't much trust between them.

Sonia hesitated, unsure how to bring it up. After all, it wasn't fair to either of them.

"In that case, I'll do it." While Sonia was still hesitating, Yuri suddenly spoke up and took on the heavy responsibility.

Sonia froze for a moment and asked worriedly, "Will you be all right, Mr. Yuri?"

Yuri shrugged and spread his hands. "There's no helping it. We can't very well leave such an important task to a half-baked amateur, can we?"

Erza knew Yuri was talking about her, and a vein bulged on her forehead, but for once she didn't snap back. She simply gave Yuri a long look. "We'll destroy Qliphoth as quickly as we can. Until then, stay alive."

"Don't worry. My schedule's packed, and I don't plan on dying here just yet," Yuri replied with a smile.

Erza wasn't one to drag things out, so after receiving Yuri's affirmative reply, she left with Sonia without looking back.

With that, the two teams parted ways.

The sunless sewers were a favorite paradise for gutter rats.

Not only because they were pitch-black, but also because they were secluded enough to make an excellent hiding place.

Yet in this place, which saw hardly a soul year-round, the sound of a conversation could now unexpectedly be heard.

A large bird shimmering with blue light flew through the air, complaining nonstop:

"Hey, buddy."

"I hardly ever get to make an appearance. Couldn't you pick somewhere with a little more atmosphere before bringing me out?"

"This lousy sewer is filthy and stinks. What if I get my feathers dirty?"

"Oh, I can't even stretch my wings in this godforsaken place. I can't stand another second of—"

"Shut up, Griffon. I didn't bring you out here to listen to you complain." Yuri deftly pinched Griffon's beak shut, putting an end to his chatter.

After watching the two girls leave, Yuri had entered the sewers alone.

That was why he had summoned Griffon, using the blue light radiating from him to carefully examine their surroundings.

Countless pitch-black plants sprawled around the man and bird, like extra-long, extra-thick thorns, each at least three meters long.

Their bodies were covered in fine, dense spines, and at the very tip of each grew something resembling a mosquito's mouthpart magnified countless times. They glinted faintly and coldly, sending a chill down the spine.

One careless hit from those things would leave an arm-sized hole in his body for sure.

Fortunately, they seemed to still be dormant for now, each hanging its head without waking.

"Those are a lot bigger than the needles they use at hospitals." Griffon broke free and perched on Yuri's shoulder.

"Too bad there aren't any nurses in sexy little skirts." Yuri rubbed his chin and leaned closer to examine them with great interest. "These should be the smallest ones. Qliphoth's main body is probably much bigger than this... Come to think of it, this thing feels really familiar, but I can't remember where I've seen it."

As Yuri spoke, his brows knitted slightly, as though a wad of old phlegm were stuck in his throat and he couldn't cough it up.

His thoughts circled through his mind again and again, but he still couldn't remember where he had seen this thing.

"If you can't remember, forget it. Let's pull out these weeds in front of us first. Strawberry Girl and the others are probably almost at the edge of town by now," Griffon reminded him at just the right moment.

"All right, then... time to get to work!"

Yuri stopped dwelling on that sense of familiarity and loosened his nearly rusty neck and wrists, looking every bit ready to get started.

"Need a hand, Yuri? I'm guessing you need a gardener, but I didn't bring any gardening shears or anything." Griffon flapped his wings, looking a little excited.

Perhaps being cooped up without a chance to get out for so long had left him uncomfortable, putting him in especially high spirits now.

"No need."

Yuri refused mercilessly, but then suddenly thought of something. He shot him a mysterious glance and said, "There is something else I need you to do, though..."