Chapter 458: 424 It, has been here
At the same time, a commotion in the Bessary training grounds was growing larger and larger, filling the area with noise and disorder.
"Did you search over there?"
"Already did!"
"Still nothing?"
"We must find it! Keep searching!"
Knights scattered in every direction of the training grounds under the furious shouts of Kazi, Axel, and Diego, venturing deep underground as they conducted a thorough search.
The originally grand and exquisite training ground had been transformed into a huge pit leading into the earth, filled with countless rocks and debris—now just a ruin. To the uninformed, it could be mistaken for an abandoned place, presenting such a desolate scene.
The magic barrier of the training ground had long been lowered, allowing knights to come and go, some running within the pit, shouting toward the surrounding area; others were turning over piles of stones and rubble, digging in earnest, while some held high their magic wands, casting spells as if detecting something.
Without a doubt, they were searching for someone—specifically, the two powerful Sword Saints who had recently dueled here and turned the place into its current state.
Unfortunately, this task was evidently not going smoothly.
"Nothing... nothing... there’s nothing everywhere!"
"How could there be nothing?"
Axel and Diego had already fallen into a state akin to madness.
Even the usually composed Kazi seemed quite unsettled at this moment, his face stern and fists clenched, his emotions fluctuating intensely.
"Master!"
Liz, on the other hand, was searching in a different direction, aimlessly wandering about while calling out with a cry-like voice.
As for Nipede, he was holding a magic crystal in his hand, eyes closed, using a magic artifact with a detection capability, yet it seemed he too had come up empty-handed.
Seeing Nipede like this, Kazi couldn’t help approaching him.
"Master Nipede, have you found anything?"
Kazi asked with a heavy tone.
"...I’m sorry to disappoint you," Nipede opened his eyes and spoke with a hint of distress: "I’ve found nothing either. The magic artifact that can detect life signatures nearby shows no reaction at all. This either means something is interfering with the detection, or those two people simply aren’t here."
"But how is that possible?" Kazi asked with an ugly expression: "Why would those two just vanish into thin air all of a sudden?"
"I’d like to know that myself," Nipede furrowed his brows deeply and said: "Even if those two encountered some misfortune and their life signatures have completely vanished, there should still be bodies left behind. Yet, we haven’t even found a single body—it’s too strange."
"Could they have been blasted somewhere else?" Kazi racked his brains imagining various possibilities, and said: "The last collision between Father and Lord Brillhaut was terrifying. Even this tactical-level magic barrier-protected training ground could only maintain its shell against such an aftermath, with the interior collapsing like this. So, could it be possible that the blast from that aftermath flung the two of them to some other place?"
"It’s highly unlikely," Nipede shook his head and said: "As you’ve mentioned, this training ground is protected by a tactical-level barrier. The force of the last collision was mostly contained inside. If the barrier was still active, how could those two possibly have been flung through this barrier to another location?"
"Then what else could have caused the disappearance of those two?" Kazi said with extreme irritation: "It can’t be that both of them turned to dust in that last impact, right?"
Nipede fell silent at that moment.
A dread crept into Kazi’s heart.
Could it be?
Could they really not find the two of them just because of that?
The last clash of those two was indeed shockingly powerful and terrifying. An average person would likely disintegrate into nothingness under such a force, not even leaving remains behind—but those two were not average. They were Sword Saints, among the strongest on the continent. It seemed unreasonable that they met such an end.
While Kazi comforted himself with these thoughts, Nipede spoke again, offering him a much-needed reassurance.
"Don’t overthink it. Raven has the Monis Armor on him; it’s impossible for him to just disintegrate," Nipede said: "And as for Lord Brillhaut, Miss Liz has told me their contract remains intact, which proves that Lord Brillhaut has not perished."
"Is that so?" Kazi felt relieved. Then, as if suddenly struck by a thought, he quickly said: "Right, since Miss Liz is Lord Brillhaut’s attendant, and there is a contract between them, can’t she trace her master through their contract?"
Kazi’s hopeful query was promptly dashed by Nipede.
"Why do you think Miss Liz is still searching aimlessly around here?" Nipede said with a bitter smile: "She’s already tried to sense Lord Brillhaut’s location. But for some reason, the contract link between Lord Brillhaut and Miss Liz has become very obscure, making it impossible for Miss Liz to pinpoint the exact location of her master."
"Why, why would that be?" Kazi said in anguish: "I remember reading that attendant contracts are generally stronger than ordinary ones. The first magic contracts were attendant ones, and the rest evolved from that, right?"
"There is such a thing," Nipede explained: "But regardless of the contract type, its strength ultimately depends on the capability of the magician who conjures it. If the magician’s abilities are too low, then the strength of the attendant contracts might still be weaker compared to more coercive magic contracts like enslavement."
"Isn’t that even more bizarre?" frowned Kazi and said: "From what I know, aside from being a Sword Saint, Lord Brillhaut is also a tactical-level magician. As unbelievable as that may sound, if the rumors are true, then it means that Lord Brillhaut is a highly capable magician. The strength of the attendant contract he conjured should be substantial; it shouldn’t be so easy to malfunction over something minor, right?"
"...This only indicates one thing," Nipede’s voice grew lower, almost as if speaking to himself: "He’s not facing a minor problem."
Kazi’s expression changed.
It was then that Nipede turned to Kazi and made a statement.
"This is just my conjecture," Nipede started, "I believe, Lord Brilliant and Sir Raven might have entered a very peculiar location."
"That place has quite powerful interference, so whether it’s our magic used for detection or Miss Liz’s sensing based on the Attendant’s pact, both have become unstable due to this layer of interference."
"Regarding this, I have two speculations."
Nipede held up two fingers.
"First, during that last encounter, Lord Brilliant may have sensed something amiss and used a space-transferring magic spell, intending to leave the collapsing battlefield. However, due to the residual forces at the scene or Sir Raven’s excessive absorption of external forces through his Ulan swordsmanship, a certain degree of distortion occurred in this space, resulting in both of them being swept into an uncontrollable transfer phenomenon, with no knowledge of where it took them."
Nipede’s words caused Kazi and the people around him to be taken aback in surprise.
"Are you saying, Thunder Light Sword Saint Reiger Brillhaut can use space-transferring magic?" Kazi asked subconsciously, "Isn’t that a spell only magicians with Empty-Air affinity can learn?"
There was only one reply to Kazi’s question from Nipede.
"What I mean is that Lord Brillhaut is exactly such a magician," Nipede sighed, "Otherwise, how do you think he managed to drive a carriage through the Meipros family’s heavy security and magic defense systems and directly barge in?"
Kazi was at a loss for words.
He was both suddenly enlightened and shivered with fear.
The enlightenment came from finally understanding how Reiger had managed to barge into the Meipros family’s main residence with a carriage.
The shiver was because, with such an ability, Reiger had never once used it in his duel with Kazi’s own father.
Space-transferring magic was, without a doubt, an extremely powerful spell.
Reiger Brillhaut had pushed his fully-armed father to such extremities and even nearly defeated him without using this magic, what if he had used it?
His father, whom Kazi took pride in, had not managed to force his opponent to fight with his full strength, and this realization was a heavy blow to Kazi.
Of course, this was not the time to be concerned about that.
"What about the second one?" Kazi adjusted his mindset and asked, "What’s the second speculation?"
Nipede didn’t respond immediately but closed his eyes for a moment.
After a short pause, Nipede reopened his eyes and spoke slowly.
"Previously, Miss Liz was attacked by unknown mysterious individuals while in the wilderness."
"Based on the information obtained at that time, I have come to roughly understand the cause of the frequent disappearance cases in the Meipros territory."
"And now, Lord Brilliant and Sir Raven have also suddenly vanished mysteriously, which is very likely related to those individuals."
Nipede then relayed everything about the heartless attackers and the matter of Ophelit, informing Kazi of it all.
Upon learning the whole story, Kazi’s complexion went through several changes, finally settling into a sheet of iron blue.
Suddenly, an exclamation rang out.
"There’s something strange here!"
Once this was said, everyone’s attention was instantly drawn to it.
Liz was the first to snap back to her senses and quickly ran over.
Nipede and Kazi, along with others, did the same, rushing towards the direction from where the voice came.
Before long, they all arrived at a very dim corner of the underground.
In that corner, for some reason, there were conspicuously no broken stones or rubble; instead, it looked as though it was soaked, presenting an oddly colored muddy state.
Seeing this scene, the pupils of both Nipede and Kazi’s eyes involuntarily contracted sharply.
They immediately thought of a creature that could cause such a phenomenon.
"The underground beast, Yarakulon!"
The two of them exclaimed in unison.
"It, has been here!"