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Erin allowed herself a momentary respite and a fleeting sense of exaltation as she glanced at her level. She had gained another level from the Dregs she had culled. The end was nowhere in sight for the quest but she had already gained increments of three levels so far and she was raring to go. If it had been a few weeks ago, she would already be in a state of fatigue but her level was doing wonders.

As much as she admonished others for their over-reliance on levels, she herself was guilty to a certain degree of a such misdemeanour. It was the bane of this body of hers. Without the assistance of the System, she doubted she could even run without getting exhausted in just a single lap.

Her transient repose came to an end when a thuggish-looking man ran up to her yelling with a rusty sword raised. She lazily dodged the crude slash and sank her foot into the man’s abdomen, sending him tumbling and crashing through tables and chairs. She was sure she broke a few ribs with that single kick.

They had finally arrived at the innermost depth of the cave where some kind of intricate and large-scale production was at work. The vast room was laden with nearly all manners of unfamiliar and complex types of machinery, instruments, and apparatuses. It was a laboratory cum production facility, in short.

After the encounter with the Dregs, Erin and her small party of two had not chanced upon another Demoid. There were a few low-level bandits that tried to ambush them but they could only try. Aside from the Demoids and the Rune Drake they had encountered, there was no other form of security. They simply waltzed right into the room, shocking all those who were already inside.

Erin appraised everyone in the room. Most of them were non-combatants as their levels were not even twenty and they barely had any Combat Arts or Magic Arts. However, this didn’t mean they were innocent and collateral. The Spirits shunned them like the plague, which told Erin enough of their disposition. None of them was even under some enslavement spell. They were most likely working here of their own accord.

Currently, these non-combatants had retreated to the inner recess of the room where there seemed to be another room that functioned as a shelter in case of an assault on the facility, which there was.

Erin didn’t chase after them but instead took her time scouring every nook and cranny of the room they were in. She was disheartened to find out half of the facility had already been moved and cleared out as she could see many clear prints on the floor and tables. There were still quite a lot of things remaining but she couldn’t find any important documents that could tell them what exactly was in production here.

“They’re creating Demoids here,” Amyra said, tapping on a glass tank that was larger than her physique.

“How can you tell?” Nivia asked.

“This is clearly a very important facility considering the number of workers here and the heavy security. And Demoids are clearly their most important research. Unless of course, there’s something bigger than the Demoids.”

“I sincerely hope not,” Erin muttered, flipping and rummaging through the papers strewn all over the tables and floor. The contents were all gibberish to her and considering how they just leave these papers be, Erin wagered these documents must be of no consequence even if they were seen by outsiders.

“We’re too late,” Nivia said, glancing at a pile of ashes. She tousled the ashes with her short sword, picking out a few small pieces of unburnt parchments. “They have already burned the evidence. They knew we were coming.”

“Of course, they did. They have eyes and ears everywhere in the city.”

“If that’s the case, wouldn’t they have stopped us before we came here?”

“We don’t know their circumstances, Niv. They could have just heard we will be coming but not when and how.”

“So much for being sneaky. Should have just charged right in with the whole party.”

“That would be dumb, Niv. If the opponent was way stronger than we anticipated, bringing the rest along would have burdened m’lady.”

Nivia tutted. “I guess you’re right…” she admitted begrudgingly. “Erin, what do we do now?”

“Looks like we’ll be getting our answers from those workers instead.”

“Interrogation?” Amyra asked with a grin.

“Well, you look excited,” Erin remarked. “Are you fond of interrogation perhaps?”

She cracked her knuckles. “I enjoy seeing these dastards squirm and squeal in agony for all that they did.”

“Some priestess you are,” Nivia muttered.

“Well, m’lady, who will be the lucky one?”

Erin walked in a certain direction, kicked away the debris, and pulled a man to his feet by his arm. It was the same man she had kicked earlier and shattered his ribs. The man was feigning unconscious but Erin could tell he was awake through his breathing. The man groaned and moaned as he was forced to stand with broken ribs.

“God! Fucking… damn it!” the man cursed, clutching at his ribs. “Easy, woman! You’re hurting me!”

“I am not,” Erin said and twisted the man’s arm to his back. “Now, I am.”

“Alright! Alright! Let go! Fuck! Let go! I’ll talk!”

“Wow. That was easy,” Erin scoffed and released the man from her grip.

He stumbled forward but a wall in front saved him from a fall. “Go break your own ribs and have your arm crushed, see how long you can endure that.”

Nivia was about to lunge but Erin stopped her. “Another word that isn’t a good response to my question, I will let my dear friend here do what she wants.”

“I already said I’ll talk, didn’t I? So just ask me already.”

“What is this place?”

“A production facility…” the man answered without any hesitation.

“And what’s the product?”

“The Red Serum.”

“What is the Red Serum?”

“What else can it be other than the potion that turns people into half Demons.”

Erin narrowed her gaze.

“See?” Amyra said. “What did I tell ya?”

Nivia rolled her eyes.

“Where are these Red Serums now?”

The man chuckled weakly. “Long gone from here. We knew you were coming, Vixen. Everything of significant value has already been moved. You’re too late.”

“Then why the heavy security if there was nothing important here? It’s a waste of resources.”

“You’re not as smart as they say…”

Nivia raised her brows. “It’s a trap.”

The man snickered.

“Hmm…” Erin mused. “Nivia, can you use your wind spells to see if there were any signs of irregularity or inconsistency within or on the walls or floors?”

“I can,” Nivia said and began chanting the spell.

The man swallowed a lump in his throat and Erin noticed it.

“What about the ones in that reinforced room?” Amyra asked.

“Leave them be for now. There’s only one way in and one way out of that room. They’re not going anywhere. If there was a way out, this one right here would have already taken it.”

“True.”

“Y-you know you’re just wasting your precious time, r-right?” the man said. “You won’t f-find anything. If you don’t leave this place right now, you’ll regret it later.”

“You know your lie would have been more convincing if you kept your mouth shut.”

The man tutted. “B-but I’m not lying. You will regret it if you don’t leave right now.”

“It’s alright, I believe you,” Erin retorted dryly.

“I found it!” Nivia exclaimed and trotted towards an empty bookshelf that was placed far away from the rest of the bookshelves and it was the only bookshelf that didn’t have a single book on it.

The man lunged forward all of a sudden. He brandished a small spherical object from his vest pocket and tossed it at the bookshelf just before he was crushed under Amyra’s stomp. The sphere glowed brightly as it travelled across the room.

Erin moved in front of Nivia in an instant with Warp. She could easily batter the explosive sphere away but the explosion might still happen and cause a collapse. She could tell it would be a huge explosion, enough to destroy this entire facility and cave judging by the amount of volatile Mana within the sphere.

“Fuck it,” Erin cursed and grabbed the sphere with her bare hands as the sphere was already engulfed in the blinding glow. In the next second, the sphere disappeared from her hands as if swallowed by space. She stood motionlessly in silence for a few seconds before dropping to her knees with a huge sigh of relief. “Thank the Spirits… it worked.”

“What did you do?” Nivia asked. “What happened to the bomb?”

“I stored it away in Vault.”

“Vault? The Spatial Magic spell, Vault?”

“Yes, that Vault.”

“You can do that?”

Erin shrugged. “Apparently so.”

“My dearest lady, what shall we ever do with this filth?” Amyra asked, pouring more strength into her feet.

The man screamed and flailed.

“Nivia, he’s all yours.”

“It’s alright. Amyra can have the honours,” Nivia said and turned her attention back to the bookshelf.

“Jolly good,” Amyra laughed and shattered the man’s spine with her heel.

The man shrieked but it didn’t last long as the agony took away his consciousness.

“Well, that was no fun.”

“We’re not here to have fun, Amyra.”

“I know but there’s no harm in deriving some fun out of it.”

“Erin, I got it open,” Nivia called out as she gently swung the bookshelf open like a door, revealing a wall behind it with a block of stone that looked obviously out of place. Nivia gave a gentle press of the misplaced block while keeping vigilance of any trap.

Fortunately, there was none but there was an overwhelming sense of dread after she pressed the block. The block sprang open, revealing to be a lid of a small compartment. Within the compartment, there was a vial of red liquid with black residues meandering in the liquid.

“By the Spirits…” Nivia gasped and immediately moved a few steps away from the vial. “This is the energy essence of Demons, distilled. This might be the main ingredient in making the Red Serums.”

“The energy essence of Demons?”

“Demons’ Mana but distilled. It’s very potent. If I didn’t have the protection of the Spirits, my very being would have already been ruined. You best stay far away from this, Amyra.”

“No need to tell me twice,” Amyra said and took a dozen steps away.

“Destroy it then?” Amyra suggested.

“No,” Erin said. “Don’t touch it or move it. There has to be a reason as to why they didn’t transport such an important item first. Either there’s some extremely intricate security contraption in place or… the item itself is fragile and volatile.”

“Isn’t that all the more reason we should destroy it?”

“If we can destroy it properly without any dire after effects, then sure. But we don’t know that.”

“It’s better to keep the genie in the bottle,” Amyra mused.

“What?”

“Nothing. Just something milord had said.”

“Anyway, let’s finish our business here quickly. I have a feeling that trouble is imminent.”

“Right you are, Fae,” said a voice out of nowhere.

The three turned around and saw two Demoids walking out of a portal that promptly closed shut behind them once they stepped out of it. One of the Demoid was like a knight that had its armour melded into one with his body. The other Demoid had the appearance and physique of a reptilian ape with very long and thick arms. They were both above level fifty.

“The boss was right, Irvun,” chuckled the reptilian ape Demoid. “The Vixen sure is nosy. It’s a shame we have to hold ourselves back.”

“Be grateful, Fae,” the knight Demoid, Irvun, snorted. “We have orders to not kill you. Or else you would already be dead.”

Erin laughed. “Is that so? Do you all have a script prepared or something? Because that’s all that I hear from you Demoids… Honestly, it’s very pathetic. Or is it that you are unable to show it your actions and therefore, you make do what you can with just words?”

“Irvun, let’s kill this bitch. Fuck orders.”

“Calm down, Taric. We’ll give the Fae what she deserves but remember what we’re here for.”

“I know, Irvun. Say, we can kill the Augur, right?”

“She ain’t a Fae. I say we could.”

“Have at me then,” Amyra sneered, flourishing her cleaver-sword. “If you have the galls for it.”