Chapter 78 Aftermath
"What in the world happened here?" Edward looked at the large mass of flames at the center of a small plaza.
Around the flames, two city guards were standing and looking inside it. But the strange thing was, they had brandished their weapons and were aiming them at the flames.
Or to be precise, what was inside the flames.
Upon closer inspection, Edward found out that two humanoid figures were inside the fire and were screaming in agony! They desperately tried to get out of the flames, but the guards prevented them from doing so.
Edward hurriedly ran toward the guards and asked, "What the hell is happening?"
The guards panicked and turned around and pointed their swords at Edward. But when they saw who it was, they were elated. "Lord Edward!"
Edward didn't even greet them because what he was seeing was so bizarre. In front of him, in the flame, two people were screaming and burning. To his side, there were four unconscious residents of the city lying on the ground.
Putting two and two together, he was taken aback. He pointed at the flames and asked incredulously, "Don't tell me… those two inside were the ones who tried to abduct these residents?"
One of the guards replied while puffing out his chest, "That is right, my lord. Me and my friend here have succeeded in taking down two of these foul creatures."
"Foul creatures? What are they?" Edward asked.
"Eeek! It's coming out! It's coming out!" But suddenly the other guard screamed and poked the undead creature that was trying to escape from the flames.
The guard who was talking to Edward turned around and immediately assisted.
Edward's lips twitched when he saw what was taking place. After the two vampire spawns inside the flames had finally burnt to a crisp, he asked the guards, "Who shot the emergency signal? Was it one of you?"
One of the guards came forth and respectfully replied, "That would be me, my lord. I shot it just in case things got out of hand." Then, he scratched his head awkwardly, "But now it seems that I ended up wasting the emergency flare."
Edward shook his head. "No, you did good. It's always better to take precautions."
He then looked at the fire that was still burning and asked, "Those aren't ordinary flames. How did you come to acquire them? And what were those creatures inside the fire?"
The guards explained to Edward how Adam had given them the Potion of Explosion before leaving them. When the guards came across the vampire spawns abducting humans, they chucked all the potions at them.
Of course, they first separated the undead creatures from the innocent residents of the city.
"I see…" Edward nodded in understanding. He then looked at the two guards and gave them a thumbs up. "You both did a great job killing those undead creatures. You should be proud of yourselves."
The two guards were extremely flattered receiving the praise of a Magus.
Edward looked in the direction and saw that the sun was about to rise. The night was slowly giving way to a radiant morning. However, his expression was extremely solemn.
He clenched his fists and thought to himself, How many people were murdered tonight? And how many more were abducted?
…
In the administrative building, Count Hannes, Magus Emory, Magus Karl, Adam, Edward, Lisa, and a few of the Count's trusted subordinates had gathered.
All the Magi were sitting at a long table. No one said a word, the atmosphere was very gloomy.
Suddenly, an armored guard entered the room and handed the Count a piece of paper. The Count read the document and sighed. "Seventeen people were abducted from their homes last night. Among them were men, women, and children."
Hearing the report, Adam's fists clenched tightly.
The Count continued, "We now know that the culprit behind the disappearances is a Vampire Magus, as only such a Magus can create vampire spawns. The number of these spawns that were killed last night was seven. And thanks to Magus Adam who was able to capture one alive."
Lisa looked at the Count and asked, "Was anyone able to locate just where these undead creatures had headed?"
The Count shook his head with a bitter smile. "I'm afraid not. My guards tell me that these vampire spawns just vanished in the darkness."
Lisa nodded with a pensive look. "Well, they aren't wrong. Me and Ennea followed after one, but he simply vanished as well. Even I couldn't locate him. I don't understand what is going on."
The room fell into silence once again. Magus Emory and Karl refrained from saying anything at all. They had not contributed anything last night. One got injured due to his negligence, and the other due to not being able to control his emotions.
The Count was very disappointed in the two. Moreover, both of them had ended up being saved by the students of Clover Academy. If not for these kids, they might even be dead.
Suddenly, Edward asked a very important question. "Will those vampire spawns return tonight as well?"
No one answered, not even the Count. They could only hope that those foul undead creatures didn't show up tonight. After all, he had lost a lot of men last night. Close to a dozen. And he didn't know how many more he'd lose if more undead creatures showed up.
All of a sudden, Adam got up from his seat and left the room without saying anything. From the beginning till the end, he had not spoken a single word.
After Adam had left, the Count sighed. "He doesn't seem to be in a good mood."
Lisa also got up from her seat and nodded at the Count. "I'll go see what he's up to. Please excuse me."
"Of course." The Count nodded. I'll go to the underground dungeon and interrogate the vampire spawn that Magus Adam managed to capture.
Edward also excused himself and left with Lisa.
After the kids had left, the Count's face turned grim as he looked at Emory and Karl. "I've heard the battle reports from my subordinates. Just what the hell were you both doing? Instead of helping, you've become a burden instead!"
He got up from his seat and stormed out of the room. His words lingered behind. "If you have even the tiniest bit of shame left in you, then make yourselves useful in the coming days."
The two Magi didn't have the face to reply to the Count. They'd never seen him this furious before. But when they thought about it, it was justified. After all, the two were indeed a burden last night.
…
Lisa and Edward looked for Adam for a very long time, but still couldn't locate him. It was difficult to find someone in a city as big as the one they were in.
In the end, it was Aquila who had managed to find Adam after flying over the city and searching for him for over half an hour.
The two kids followed the griffin and finally found the youth who was sitting all by himself at the top of Hannes Lighthouse.
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