Chapter 31: We meet again, Sanguis

After checking around for anything useful, Flora and Ray left the village to search for the cult. They didn't get the precise destination and objectively speaking that priest would've probably feigned ignorance. For Ray, searching for the headquarter alone would be better so killing him was the only option.

Contrary to when they came to the village, it barely took them 30 minutes to cross the plains that separated the forest and the town.

"So, how are we gonna find them?" Asked Flora while looking ahead. The night was still young and the moon barely illuminated the beautiful green plains. All of this beauty was the opposite of the forest that was engulfed in gloomy darkness and inside that darkness, a danger unbeknownst to anyone was lurking far from the human eye.

"Follow me. I will show you something that I saw a few days ago." Responded Ray calmly while having his own train of thoughts.

He remembered the bloodstains he saw the other day, Sanguis told him it was that of a human. That blood could lead them to the cult. Someone might ask: What if it was just a coincidence? Well, Ray didn't think so. The reason? No one dared to enter the forest without being a licensed adventure.

How did he know that? When he asked the merchant about a good inn, he also asked him about the forest. He was told it was called 'The moonless forest' and it was prohibited for anyone to enter it without permission. He also learned that there was an adventurers guild in this world. It's a place where warriors work to gain money by doing missions: Hunting monsters was one of them.

Adding all of that, there were only two possibilities: either an adventurer was injured and probably killed while fighting one of the monsters or someone was pulled there by force. Ray was inclined towards the latter possibility. Taking into consideration the power level of this world, an adventurer entering the forest alone was near impossible and also the blood he found belonged to the same person.

After crossing the grassy plains, they found themselves in the heart of the forest. The atmosphere was eerie and the air was heavy.

'Sanguis, can you lead us to that bloodstain?' Ray sent a message to his grimoire.

'Give me a second. It's not easy.' Answered Sanguis with a bored voice.

A few seconds later, Sanguis spoke again 'I will send you the coordinations. Deal with the rest. I'm going to sleep. Don't bother me or I will fucking kill you.'

'Thanks, partner.' Ray thanked the book briefly. But he didn't get an answer, he only felt something invading his mind. It wasn't as painful as when he got his first spell but it was still uncomfortable.

A few seconds later, a detailed map of the forest appeared in his mind. A red mark was visible in a particular place of the forest. Ray assumed it's where the bloodstain is.

Ray was kinda impressed with Sanguis ability. 'This book has many secrets' he thought. Honestly, he didn't think Sanguis will remember where it was but he still asked nevertheless. This will save him a ton of time he could've wasted searching for a bloodstain.

"We need to hurry. The place is far. At our speed, we could reach there in a few hours." Said Ray while smiling slightly. Flora nodded sharing the same smile with him.

Then both of them vanished inside the forest like two ghosts.

*************

At the same time, somewhere else. A big door was opened by a woman. The door was at least 20 meters tall made of durable wood. It was located at the end of some tunnel.

The woman was average looking with nothing noteworthy except her black clothes that looked like those of ninjas. They made here blend with the dark surroundings like a lizard.

"Master, I'm back." After opening the door and walking inside she kneeled respectfully in front of a throne. The throne was made of pure gold with extravagant decorations covering it. Except for a few torches that barely illuminated the room, nothing could be seen, even the face of the man sitting on the throne.

"Continue." Said the man with a cold voice.

"The chimaera we sent to the village was...eliminated along with Iblis who summoned it." The woman hesitated to speak but she still couldn't hide anything from the man sitting in front of her. He was resting his head on his right hand and his legs were crossed making him look like a king.

"Who did it?" Asked the man with the same neutral voice that sent chills down the woman's spine.

"A young man and a girl killed it. The young man was using a weird red liquid. I wasn't able to see clearly but I think its blood." The woman reported.

Finally, the expression on the man's face changed for that of slight surprise.

"Blood?.....Very interesting. You may leave." The man muttered quietly before ordering the woman to leave the room.

After she left, he stood up, left his throne and walked to a corner of the room. There, he stood in front of a big mirror. He looked at his silhouette in the mirror deep in thought and then spoke "Who thought? I guess we meet again, Sanguis." He said with a weird, creepy smile.