Chapter 3015: Chapter 3016: Guild District
Angel saw Sherlock with a confident face, as if everything was under control. Initially, he thought he had met The Sage. However, Sherlockâs reasoning was wrong from the start.
Still, this wasnât entirely Sherlockâs fault.
After all, most of the Wizards of the Birlos Family went to The Garden Labyrinth ruins, a fact hidden from the public. The outside world was in chaos, and the reason why the Birlos Family had no large force to intercept was that they werenât in Bilun Tree Court at all.
Without knowing this, looking at the outside attacks again indeed feels shrouded in mist, misleading the reasoning process.
So, you canât blame Sherlock. Itâs just information asymmetry leading to completely wrong subsequent deductions.
But then again, whether itâs Sherlock or the monk-garbed man, some of the reasoning is correct.
Firstly, attackers didnât intend to go all out against the Birlos Family, which is probably right. Also, even though the Birlos Familyâs main force went to The Garden Labyrinth ruins, some Wizards must have stayed behind. These remaining Wizards not showing themselves openly is also somewhat problematic.
Angelâs guess is that either the Wizards staying behind fear the "luring the tiger from its mountain" possibility and worry that appearing would leave the core area vulnerable to attackersâ schemes, or they have other matters at hand, like... they discovered the masterminds behind the attacks.
The attack by the blue gorilla is certainly not coincidental; there are planners behind it.
According to Buru, this planner comes from the Star Street District. The Wizards staying behind might have noticed this and are confronting the planner.
As for the monk-garbed manâs guess that the attackers and the Birlos Family are on the same side?
This seems unlikely. Even though the Birlos Family doesnât have much control over the guild area and the arena, both are part of Bilun Tree Court. Unless the Birlos Family wants complete control, thereâs no need for such ruthless actions.
Does the Birlos Family want sole control over Bilun Tree Court? Yes, but itâs impossible to achieve.
Because various Witcher Organizations have outposts in Bilun Tree Court. If the Birlos Family truly wanted absolute control, they would have to directly confront all Witcher Organizations, is this feasible?
Not necessarily, and with all these Witcher Organizations here, Bilun Tree Court is safe to some extent.
So the guess that the attackers and the Birlos Family are on the same side is absolutely impossible.
But... might certain Birlos Family members collude with the attackers? That is possible.
After all, the Birlos Familyâs large force just left, and then the attack came. This is too coincidental. Clearly, there are internal problems within the Birlos Family. Even if there are no traitors, there must be opportunists, otherwise, how could the news of the large force leaving be leaked so quickly.
The monk-garbed man also guessed one thing: the Birlos Family orchestrated this to find the Star Street District.
This is nonsense.
Angel believes most members of the Birlos Family do not know the entrance to the Star Street District; but Angel is also certain that the Birlos Family knows there is a Star Street District in their Wizard Market.
After all, the affair of the Didia Family in the Wizardsâ Realm, especially in the Gumman Kingdom, is not a major secret. Bilun Tree Court has been deeply cultivated here for years; how could they not know about Didiaâs affair? Impossible.
Therefore, Bilun Tree Court should have tacitly allowed the Star Street District to "settle" here.
Of course, behind this, the Birlos Family certainly negotiated with the Didia Family.
To sum it up, the Birlos Family knows about the Star Street District. After years of coexistence, they have not had direct conflict with the Star Street District; why would they harm themselves just to find the Star Street Districtâs entrance?
Angel even doubts if Buru got the news so quickly because the Birlos Family passed it to him.
However, this attack does have something fishy about it; that should be indisputable.
Angel was bewildered as to what the attackers were after. Surely an attack has a purpose? What exactly is the attackersâ objective?
Angel shook his head, putting aside the chaotic thoughts for now. The most important thing was finding Kaier.
...
Angel soon arrived at the entrance to the outside worldâs Star Street Districtâthe cleaning room of the logistics support department.
At this time, the cleaning room was no longer as tidy as it initially was; it was a mess everywhere, even the doorstep had been trampled to pieces.
It can be seen how chaotic it was when everyone rushed towards the Star Street District earlier.
Honestly, even without this attack, Angel didnât think the cleaning roomâs location was safe. Itâs possible the Birlos Familyâs higher-ups knew of the cleaning roomâs existence and just turned a blind eye.
Leaving the messy cleaning room, Angel arrived at the small forest outside.
Upon entering the small forest, he saw a broom on the ground not far away.
The broom was exquisite; the handleâs tip was designed like a small crescent, and a bell hung on the crescent...
From the pheromone residue of the broom, Angel sensed the scent of the young apprentice he encountered before. It seems this is the broom she hurriedly left behind.
This broom isnât valuable, just a Witch apprenticeâs vehicle. Angel glanced it over and then moved towards the depths of the forest.
Although the Star Street Districtâs entrance is boldly positioned, directly backing the official building, the location is remote, at Bilun Tree Courtâs edge, some distance from its center.
Angel walked towards Bilun Tree Courtâs center while sensing the lingering pheromones around, searching for Kaierâs scent.
During this process, Angel encountered many apprentices fleeing from the center; without exception, their faces carried fear.
From them, Angel faintly sensed a violent pressure.
Such ferocious and unbridled oppression doesnât seem like a Wizardâs doing; probably from the blue gorilla?
Angelâs previously casual attitude shifted to seriousness.
Though he trusts Kaierâs caution, thinking he wouldnât get caught in this unwarranted disaster, you can never be too sure.
With this mindset, Angel quickened his pace.
Among many fleeing persons, Angelâs counter-current movement stood out, attracting some attention. Despite their doubts, everyone was too occupied with escaping the looming disaster to pursue their curiosity.
Soon, Angel arrived at the area closest to the small forest, the guild area.
As described by those fleeing, it had become ruins.
Whenever he looked, he saw damaged buildings everywhere.
Though almost every building here was damaged, the ones receiving truly destructive blows were only a few. Others only suffered minor damages.
Nevertheless, the few buildings that were completely destroyed were the main guild buildings in this area, occupying the largest plots. When they were destroyed, the area looked like "ruins."
Surveying the scattered debris, abandoned structures, and fleeing crowds, Angel pondered, then quietly called out, "Speedy, search for Kaierâs scent. Earl Mi, conceal my presence."
Speedy, always transformed into the wind, silently swirled around Angel. Hearing Angelâs command, without hesitation, responded with the sound of wind, then dispersed as thousands of breezes, spreading in all directions.
Earl Mi didnât reveal their true form, just made Angelâs shadow froth continuously. Soon, that frothy shadow completely enveloped Angel.
Transformed into Ghostly Shadows, Angel merged into the night.
With a few leaps, Angel arrived at several places within the guild area where cries of distress were obvious.
The source of the wailing was mainly those people hit by damaged buildings, most of whom were ordinary people. Even if a Transcendent were hit, they could find a way to escape, but ordinary people often found themselves helpless.
Angel controlled the Hand of Magic to rescue the ordinary people trapped, then he provided some healing depending on their condition. At the very least, he ensured they had basic mobility.
The rescued people, although unaware of who saved them, felt their bodies healing and naturally understood that a Transcendent was secretly aiding them, so they all thanked the air.
However, Angel had already left by the time they were expressing gratitude.
Angel continued forward, assisting those in trouble along the way. As he ventured deeper into the guild district, he discovered something puzzling.
There were not as many people asking for help as he had anticipated. Initially, Angel thought many might have perished in the ruins.
But as Angel released his spiritual power and carefully investigated the surrounding ruins, he realized that very few had been crushed to death in the ruins.
Or to be precise, aside from the buildings of the head guilds, other damaged structures hadnât actually killed anyone. At most, a few ordinary people had been struck, much like what had just happened.
As for the head guild buildings, such as the Shark Star Pureblood Society, Aex Alchemy Bureau, and the Magical Creatures Symposium, they suffered the most casualties.
Among them, the Shark Star Pureblood Society was the worst hit.
In the buildings of the Aex Alchemy Bureau and the Magical Creatures Symposium, only those near the Shark Star Pureblood Society were completely destroyed, whereas the other structures werenât entirely wrecked; at least cries for help could still be heard. However, multiple buildings of the Shark Star Pureblood Society had collapsed, and these collapsed ruins were eerily quiet.
In Angelâs probing, the below space was not devoid of people, but those buried had all died.
This strange situation compelled Angel to kneel down, probing the ground with elemental ripples.
The ground, under the oscillation of elemental ripples, started to soften from its hard state, transforming into something akin to a swamp.
Before long, two corpses floated up from the "swamp".
The original forms of these two corpses were Third Level Apprentices; given their strength, they should have held quite significant positions in the Shark Star Pureblood Society.
Angel carefully examined the two bodies and reached a predictable conclusion.
Neither of these two died instantly. In other words, although the blue ape damaged the building, it hadnât reached the level of certain death.
The cause of their deaths was that someone finished them off.
There was no visible sign on the surface, but internally, they were irreparably damaged. What caught Angelâs attention the most was that their blood was nearly drained.
It was just like the legends described, resembling corpses drained by a vampire.
"As expected, the blue ape was merely a superficial attack; in truth, there was a hidden element involved in finishing them off."
Who was this hidden hand finishing them off? Was it, as Buru mentioned, someone who emerged from the Starry District?
At present, Angel could not ascertain this. However, from the current situation in the guild district, one doubt of Angelâs was resolved.
Previously, from the accounts of other refugees, Angel did not pick up on the attackersâ intentions, only that they seemed to result from a chaotic assault, striking with bad luck.
But now, it appeared that the attackers had a purposeful action, with their primary target actually being the Shark Star Pureblood Society.
As for why they wanted to utterly annihilate the Shark Star, Angel wasnât certain. Could it be that the Shark Star Pureblood Society had offended the attackers in the past? Hence, for revenge, they created such a commotion?
The specific circumstances might only be revealed by finding survivors from the Shark Star Pureblood Society. Or possibly, when these dead Transcendents become Undead, knowledge could emerge.
However, no one knows when these might transform into Undead.
Furthermore, these Undead might not even withstand the Soul Tide, being sucked into the Quest World before emerging. Itâs unwise to wait aimlessly here.
Angel gave a deep look at the bodies on the ground; with a flash, he vanished from the ruins.
By the time Angel reappeared, he had reached the commercial district.
This area was not like the guild district, appearing completely untouched from the outside. The protection measures of the stores were still active. However, almost everyone here had fled; the streets were deserted, resembling a dead street.
Angel had come to the commercial district because it served as the route to the arena.
After the blue ape left the guild district, it directly made its way to the arena, inevitably passing through the commercial district.
And indeed, that was the case...
On the streets of the commercial district, Angel spotted the enormous footprints sunken into the ground.
There was no doubt these were the footprints of the blue ape.
Interestingly, these footprints were right in the middle of the road, avoiding the stores on either side.
This also indicated that the attacker wasnât randomly destructive, having a very clear target. They went to the guild district for the Shark Star Pureblood Society, while other places merely got caught in the crossfire without facing destruction.
Considering the commercial area, not a single building was destroyed, clearly indicating an intentional control.
However, speaking of intentions, the attacker had a clear goal in the guild district; what was their objective in going to the arena?
Could there be members of the Shark Star Pureblood Society in the arena as well?
While pondering, Angel quickly moved to the center of the street where the footprints were.
The footprint was gigantic, requiring four or five grown adults to fill it if they lay flat inside. From this, it was evident the blue ape truly had a mountain-sized form.
Simply from the shape of the footprint, Angel couldnât deduce the origin of the ape.
However, near one of these footprints, Angel found some clues.
Near this footprint, there was a chaotic mix of pheromones, and the ground bore several other depressions, indicating footprints of two individuals and a few handprints.
Gazing at the various imprints on the ground, Angel couldnât help but imagine a scenario.
Someone was fleeing, tripped and fell, and inadvertently left a shallow handprint on the ground. As they were about to get up and continue running, they noticed the apeâs foot descending towards them.
In this critical moment, someone stood up, using some tool to briefly halt the apeâs foot, and pulling them away from beneath the impending step.
Since the other humanâs footprint was deeply embedded in the ground, they clearly bore some significant force, likely from attempting to halt the apeâs step. The ground also had a drag mark, probably left during the rescue.
This imagined scene reminded Angel of the monk-like man he encountered in the Starry District who recounted a similar experience.
He seemed to have almost been crushed into a patty by the ape when someone named "Aex" intervened and saved him.
So, could these be the marks left by Mr. Aex during the rescue?
Angel was unsure whether his speculation was correct, but it wasnât crucial. His reason for being here wasnât just the discovery of these imprints, but also, he found a strand of hair here.
A blue strand of hair.