The heroes did what they could to try to stop the kid from running, but they werenât able to stop him.
Their attacks just didnât have the same effect that Percivalâs did.
However, Percival also didnât release a second attack as he just watched the kid disappear.
It wasnât that he didnât want to, it was that he wasnât able to do so.
There was a limit to his attacks and he had to recover first before he could release a second attack. Which was why he had no choice but to watch as that kid disappeared into the ground.
"When the time comes, I will take my revenge."
That was the last thing that was said as the kid sunk into the ground.
When it was all over, the heroes continued purging all of the black ooze that was left behind.
Even though the kid disappeared, the black ooze that he had sunk into remained there. Which was why they did all that they could to make that black ooze disappear.
Only they knew that this was just remnants that were left behind by whatever power the kid had used to escape. The black ooze didnât even try to fight back as it just took all of the hits from the heroes.
The one thing of note was that it was quite tough as they had to rain attacks on it for quite a while before it finally disappeared.
From this, it really seemed like the black ooze had stayed behind to make sure that they wouldnât be able to find a single trace of where the kid went.
"Weâre heading back to the village." Percival said when he finally recovered.
Even after the glow had disappeared around him, it had taken him a while before he had finally been able to recover from whatever trump card he had pulled out. It was clear that this trump card was something that drained a lot of energy from him.
Though they were rival heroes, the others still looked at him with worried looks.
They knew that this power was the reason why he was the number one hero.
As the number one hero, it was important that he was in good condition for the sake of humanity.
The Black Tide was a threat that everyone faced and they knew that without Percivalâs power, it would be hard for them to face this new threat. Whatever the kid had done, it had created a threat that even they as heroes didnât have confidence in facing.
Since Percival had given the order, no one wasted any time in heading back to the village.
Though they made sure that no one noticed that they had been gone from the village.
This was mainly due to the power of one of the heroes which was to create illusions.
Once they were back, Percival brought Ikki out on a trip.
Ikki was confused why Percival dragged him out until he saw who they were looking for.
It was the kid who had been friends with the one that had fallen to the Black Tide.
Seeing Ikki, the kid immediately ran over and asked, "Hero, did you find my friend?"
That put an even more awkward look on Ikkiâs face as he really didnât know what to say.
After all, the friend that he had been looking for had turned out to be an enemy and had been taken away by the Black Tide.
Percival was the one that came forward and with a shake of his head, he said, "We still havenât found your friend yet, but weâre not going to give up."
The kid was surprised by Percivalâs firm tone of voice, almost as if he couldnât believe what Percival was saying. But in front of the firm expression on Percivalâs face, it seemed like the kid didnât know how to react.
So in the end, the kid just gave a simple nod in response.
"Before that, we need more information about your friend. Anything that you can give us will help us with our search."
This time, there was an awkward look that appeared on the kidâs face.
It seemed like there was something that he didnât want to say when he revealed this expression, but once again he couldnât do anything when Percival came at him like this.
So in the end, he told the story of the kid that had fallen to the Black Tide.
"So he was an orphan that was an outcast."
In villages like this, orphans were usually ignored by most of the people living there. Though they did take care of the orphans to a certain extent since they were part of the future working force, they didnât really care enough that they gave him more than what was needed.
Which was why the kid didnât have any friends other than this one kid that asked to look for him.
Even then, it was because this kid also didnât have any friends.
It was only because no one else wanted to play with him that he played with that one kid who fell to the Black Tide.
"Thereâs something else that youâre not telling me."
The kid was surprised to hear this, but then he shook his head to say, "I really donât know anything else." Though after a pause, he did add, "But thereâs something that the adults might know. They hide it from us kids, but it seems like theyâre wary of him..."
At this, Percival gave a nod.
He was certain that the kid had told him everything that he knew at this point, so there wasnât anything else that he would be able to get from him.
Instead, he decided that it was better for them to...
"Weâll find what we need from the villagers, but we canât let them know what weâre trying to find. Letâs call the others back and see what we can get out of them."
Ikki had a strange feeling seeing Percival act like this, but he didnât stop him since he also wanted to know what happened.