When Ulu heard that, she looked at her daughter pulling away from her, at the resentment in her eyes, and felt a pang of pain. But beneath the hurt, anger rose. Ulu was no fool. The more she thought about it, the more certain she became that the research institute was involved.
Not long after Ren returned to the castle, someone slowly emerged from the battered forest in the distance.
Dressed in casual clothes, the person faced the ruins of the town and said, "Sir... that's all the intelligence I gathered. May I go back now?"
A mysterious voice came faintly from the Magic Crystal Ball before them. "Then withdraw at once."
With that, the person vanished into the forest.
Elsewhere, aboard a huge airship, a shadowy figure examined the report. "Lord Hades... the intelligence has arrived! Deliora has been destroyed, and he was slaughtered!"
The figure played the footage that had been collected. It showed Ren slaughtering Deliora. The camera had been far away, though, so the images were blurry.
Hades watched the fight, his brow furrowing. "Is this all the footage?"
"Lord Hades... we were lucky to get even this much! I don't know what special magic that mysterious man has, but his surveillance covers an enormous area. Anyone we sent within ten kilometers of the castle was killed. In the end, we had no choice but to recruit a mage from a nearby town before we could get any news. It seems he filmed this for us."
"I don't want excuses," Hades said, shaking his head. "From today on, investigate this mysterious man thoroughly."
His expression grew grave. Watching the battle stirred something in him. Powerful Deliora had been slaughtered by Ren.
And when he saw Ren knock Deliora down with his bare fists, envy filled