"No need to mention it," Alesia answered with a slightly annoyed tone. But she calmed down already and actually didn't mind helping Arthur as this cult would definitely affect her plan if left alone. "Step back slightly. I will use a slightly big spell."
Tris nodded and stepped back to the corner obediently. She also gestured for Eli, who had recovered, to approach her.
Tracing magic was difficult. It needed deep concentration and sensitive control over Mana so the other party wouldn't notice that they were traced.
It was one of the most difficult kinds of magic to be used perfectly.
Even Alesia, the Elf Mage, would be found out if she made a mistake in her magic. However, she was confident that it wouldn't happen. She just wanted to erase such a possibility while asking both girls to stay away from her so the Mana wasn't disturbed.
Five blue magic circles appeared around Alesia as she activated the counter for the <Clairvoyance> skill. It was part of a <Space Magic> and <Trace>. She combined many skills at once to make sure that she could find the <Clairvoyance> user and stayed anonymous.
The coordinate was underground, and there was only one person using <Clairvoyance>. Alesia's eyes glowed as a small magic circle appeared in front of them. Her vision changed to the dark underground covered in red magic circles.
Two people were fighting, one wearing gloves while another one was wearing a cape and holding a glowing sword. The latter noticed her intrusion and glanced at her with a smile.
"Cocky student," Alesia commented as she realized that it was Arthur. She ignored him and traced the Mana she felt at the ceiling, more specifically at one corner of the clearing.
It extended out far in the distance. With her <Mana Sense>, Alesia managed to grasp the user's location and actually spied on him.
In her vision, she saw a person sitting in a dark room. His face was unclear, but he was skinny and looked at a crystal ball that showed the image of the clearing. He was wearing a long robe, and the room had many strange decorations.
Alesia was sure this was the person who spied on Arthur. From the robe and everything in the room, she also deduced this person was connected to the Hell's Cult.
Using the counter spy spell for too long would be dangerous. As she had gotten what she needed, she decided to stop the spell and looked at the blonde girl who looked similar to her niece in the corner.
"I found him. The one spying on student Arthur is hiding in a room located in a certain ruin a bit away, around 30 KM from his location. Tell him that."
"I will." Tris nodded and sent [Love Letter] back to Arthur. She looked at the Headmistress and bowed, "Thank you for your help."
Eli followed suit and also thanked the headmistress.
Alesia didn't look impressed, but nodded nonetheless.
"No need to thank me." She said with a flat tone, "Now, leave my office and return. No one is allowed in the main building past midnight. Especially a student." She looked at Eli and narrowed her eyes slightly.
Eli raised her head and scratched her cheek. "Hahaha."
Both girls then left after finishing their business. They weren't even worried about Arthur, as they knew he would be fine.
As for Alesia… She sighed tiredly as she knew she would be busy now.
"A troublesome group started to move." She muttered with an annoyed tone as she looked out the window at the moon hanging on the horizon. "I guess I need to find their hideout so we can deal with them fast enough before Eve's coronation."
***
"Is this it, church's slave?! Is your sword only used to defend? Attack me!"
In the underground clearing, Colten swore loudly. Sparks flew everywhere as his gloves met with [Caliburn]. Slowly but surely, the damage accumulated from our clashes, but it seemed like this guy didn't even realize it.
'He's too focused to beat me and underestimated me.'
I'd like to beat him immediately, but I needed to wait for a few more seconds. Earlier, I felt another person using <Clairvoyance> to spy on us. The user's level was way higher, and I only detected it because of my heightened sense.
From that, I knew that it was Alesia's and Tris' reply should arrive soon.
"Come on! Look at me!"
Colten rushed toward me and attacked fiercely. His swing was big and contained a considerable force behind each attack. Yes, a considerable one.
'His STR isn't as high, but how can he be this strong? It's like he has 40 or 50 STR.'
While it was strange, I didn't need to think about it too much. Because…
Ding!
…Tris had sent me the reply.
My lips tugged up in a smile. I put more force in my swing and pushed Colten back. His face was wrapped in surprise, his eyes widened, and his jaw dropped.
"Wha?!"
He couldn't believe that I just pushed him back.
"You want me to come to you?" I muttered as I tightened my grip. "Alright then."
If that was what he wanted, then I would give him. I lowered my stance slightly and leaped forward at once, swinging my sword as I passed him.
As I stopped and recovered my posture, three golden flashes appeared behind me and slashed Colten in the neck, upper body, and lower body, cutting him apart without allowing him to scream.
A fountain of blood sprayed around, covering the magic circles on the ground as his body parts fell one by one. Jonathan's expression morphed into anger as he gritted his teeth, and the person spying on us earlier was already gone.
"How dare you!"
"How dare what?" I asked him calmly as I walked toward him.
"How dare you disturb our ritual!" He shouted crazily, his saliva sprayed out of his mouth uncontrollably. "But it doesn't matter. I have 10 sacrifices for our God to descend! You will feel his power!!"
"Sacrifice?" I chuckled playfully as I stopped. "What sacrifices?"
"Are you blind? These sacrfi–"
Before he finished his sentence, he realized that the ten unconscious sacrifices were gone. He was too focused on me that he didn't realize the magic circles appearing around him earlier.
'Alesia did a good job.' I praised her in my mind as I chanted to activate <Sanctuary>. The cooldown had ended a few seconds ago.
While doing that, I used <Blink> to appear behind Jonathan and thrust [Caliburn] through his heart. He looked down stiffly, muttering for the last time.
"A-Aaaah! L-Long live our God!"
"Your God doesn't exist." I pulled my sword and split him in half. His blood sprayed on me, and I immediately used <Purification> to clean my body.
"Now then." As the warm light bathed me, I looked up at the purple fissure that exuded the dark cloud, the Hell's entrance. "What should I do with that?"
[Leave that to me, my beloved Paladin.]
Just as I was wondering what to do, the Goddess sent an <Oracle>.
'Leave it to her, huh?'
"Thank you, my Goddess," I said as I walked out of the clearing. I needed to catch that guy spying on me before he could run away.
