As if two voices were overlapping, Alicia quickly turned around at the chilling voice and stepped back.

“Long time no see, miss.”

“You[—].”

Alicia, with a wary look, glared at the man in the black robe, who seemed intrigued, and tightly pressed her lips together.

The familiar red glow from the ring on his finger immediately captivated Alicia’s eyes.

‘That’s the guy who kidnapped me.’

Alicia, instinctively wary, took a step back, but her gaze remained fixed on him.

With a chilly look from Alicia, the man in the black robe swept his chin, as if finding her interesting.

“Oh. Did you notice? But aren’t you afraid of me? Do you know what I’m capable of?”

“The one who kidnapped me back then was also you.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Because I owe you, don’t be too scared. I won’t do anything this time.”

“······.”

“Well, back then, I couldn’t do anything either.”

As Alicia took another step back, the man in the black robe grinned, seemingly amused.

“Hmm. Is this a bit disappointing? Are you not scared of me?”

“It’s not that I’m scared; it’s just unpleasant.”

“Oh, is that so? That’s a bit disappointing.”

“You, are you a wizard? Did you create the monsters?”

“Yeah. To be precise, I created a spell that conjures monsters.”

Admitting it straightforwardly, Alicia looked at him with a suspicious expression.

“That’s true, but you’re not a wizard who has gathered his power properly yet. Honestly, if you’re strong enough, you could probably kill me now.”

“What did you say?”

“Wanna try? Do you even know how to use magic?”

“Are you playing with me right now?”

Alicia’s piercing gaze didn’t seem to make sense to the man as he tilted his head with a grin.

“I’m not playing around. It’s something that doesn’t make sense.”

?”

“Shall I check for you?”

The man in the black robe reached out towards Alicia.

Entering the museum, Eric began to defeat the monsters inside.

After a while, explosions echoed one after another from outside, and no more monsters entered.

It seemed Princess Valeri diligently followed his instructions.

‘I should find that guy in the robe first.’

After dealing with all the monsters that had entered the atrium in front of the museum entrance, Eric took a few more steps inside.

The sound of Eric’s footsteps echoed loudly on the quiet marble floor due to the high ceiling.

As Eric tensed up in the silent atmosphere, the moment he readjusted his sword, a bizarre voice was heard.

It was a strangely chilling voice, as if two voices were combined.

“I thought I hid properly. How did you know?”

“The movement wasn’t bad. But that robe.”

“Ah.”

The man in the black robe, who had been sitting on the museum exhibits, looked down at his robe and sighed.

“Even he said the same thing every time, complaining about how clumsy it is.”

“He?”

In the end, it meant that there were more than one person acting as the leader.

“What’s your purpose?”

“I’m not obligated to tell you.”

“Then I’ll have to make you talk.”

Swinging his sword widely, Eric smashed an old-looking sculpture exhibit that the man was sitting on.

“This, isn’t it an important cultural heritage for you guys?”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s genuine or not.”

Replying calmly, Eric swung his sword again.

Although narrowly avoided, the man’s robe got torn.

“Oh, darn it.”

The man grumbled with a frowning face.

Using magic would be simple, but it was inconvenient for the place to be destroyed in an undesired direction before achieving the goal.

As the man continued to mutter at the entrance, Eric also noticed and casually asked to get a glimpse.

“Do you have the luxury to daydream? Your pride is hurt. Or are you waiting for someone?”

“What?”

As the man was about to answer, Eric’s sword narrowly passed right in front of him.

‘This guy, always causing trouble.’

Thinking faster than expected, the startled man muttered to himself.
Facing Eric with sheer physical strength was disadvantageous, so the man was defending himself with magic. However, as they collided, Eric became increasingly familiar with the magic implementation patterns, and gradually, his sword became more threatening.

“Where are you doing this, anyway? We don’t have time.”

Muttering to himself, the man glanced at the entrance for a moment, and at that moment, Eric’s sword appeared right in front of him.

The man had no time to evade, and Eric’s sword quickly slashed across his face.

The robe covering his face tore, and blood dripped as the hood fell.

“Thanks to that annoying robe, it seems like you saved your life.”

In response to Eric’s mocking tone, the man, with wounded pride, covered half of his face with one hand and glared at Eric.

Blood streamed between his fingers.

“You, you [—].”

With the robe cut, it became challenging to conceal his identity, and now, he had wounds on his face.

Fueled by wounded pride, the man gritted his teeth.

If only he could use magic properly, he could easily eliminate someone like Eric.

However, the tracking they were doing could only be performed by that person.