Why Are We Here?

"S-Stella, why?"

The silver hair maid did not reply. Instead, she eyed coldly at Herald before disappearing from her position.

One second later, that place was hit by a powerful attack.

*Boom!*

The Master Realm expert that was protecting Herald had finally reacted.

"Stella, what have you done! Do you know what this means for you!?"

Stella reappeared beside between Basically and Delirious and then snorted, "Of course I know. I'm betraying the Arcavdol family."

The entire place fell silent. Delirious and Marcel were dumbfounded by the sudden change.

"Ummm... Miss Stella, why?" Delirious asked.

Stella closed her eyes and replied, "Why do you two look so confused and surprised? I have been on your side since the beginning."

""Huh?"" The two felt clueless.

Stella sighed and looked at Basically, "Young master Marcel, do you think you would have been able to detect me so easily if I didn't leak my killing intent? I admit that your senses are pretty useful against me, but I'm two Realms above you. Moreover, I have already learned about the limitations of you and your froend's fighting skills and weapons that I witnessed in several battles. So I'm confident in injuring all of you if I go all out. Fortunately for you, Herald was my target since the start, but the guy beside him was too alert so I did not find an opportunity. I have to thank young master Delirious for that. His sudden arrival gave me the opportunity I needed."

The two boys were stunned. When Marcel thinks about it, he has always been able to feel Stella's faint killing intent during the battle.

To think she was leaking it purposely so he could avoid her attacks. He had to admit it was ingenious. However, he could not understand the reason yet.

Not only Marcel and Delirious were confused. Herald and his men could not understand either.

Seeing this, Stella smiled coldly and began to explain everything. 

"Let me tell you a story. Many years ago, there were two powerful families in this city. One was the Arcavdol family, and the other was the Soviel family...

Both families controlled the city. One of them had the position of the city lord, and the other controlled the underground. For many years, the two families were allies and worked together to keep the city in their grasp...

But twenty years ago, one of the families was no longer happy with the status quo...

The forces of the Arcavdol family, led by the current city lord, attacked the Soviel family in a bloody night. All the people of the Soviel family died, and their most loyal subordinates were killed. It was an incredibly ruthless and effective move that put the whole city in the city lord's grasp...

But unbeknownst to the city lord, two people survived that night. One 17 year old and a newborn were protected by the family's servants and escaped through a secret tunnel. They are the last two descendants of the Soviel family. Young master Herald, do you understand now?"

"...Impossible." Herald went pale. He vomited another mouthful of blood and staggered backward.

Stella snorted in disdain. "Ten years ago, I joined the Arcavdol family seeking revenge. Back then, I was still young and weak, but very talented. Count Liam noticed my talent and nurtured my talent and loyalty for the family...

I knew instantly it was my opportunity. So, I feigned my loyalty and before joining, I hid my cat ears and hid my killing intent, slowly gaining the city lord's trust until the day I could show my fangs and kill the city lord and his entire family."

"Wait a minute, so that means your...?"

"Yeah."

Taking her maid cap off, she revealed her cat ears to the world.

"You're a demi-human this whole time?"

Now it's Stella's turn to surprise, hearing his words, she couldn't help but think he was a fool.

"Holy shit, you don't really know for the past 10 years? It is so obvious that even a blind person could tell. You already knew my sister is demi-human and you don't really know I'm also one?"

"By the gods, how am I so blind?"

"Well, enough with the race reveal. Back to the story, everything seems to be according to my plan. But unfortunately, fate played a joke on me. One day, I learned that my sister was sick and the medicine she needed to continue living was very hard to find. Only someone of the city lord's status could get it easily...

And what made things even worse is that three weeks ago my sister got kidnapped making it both easy and harder...

Hahahaha, what a joke. I badly wanted to kill him, but I had to work for him to protect my only family. Is it not funny?" Stella's voice was brimming with hatred and unwillingness. For many years, she had badly wanted to take revenge for her family, however, her sister's illness and obstacles robbed her of that opportunity.

With Stella's current strength and her special talent to strengthen her stealth skills, she was confident in her chances of killing the Count if she made enough preparations. Unfortunately, her sister made it nothing more than a pipe dream.

"But I did not give up." Stella continued explaining, "I secretly started to search for ways to get the medicine my sister needed. I was very careful to avoid the city lord finding out about it and becoming suspicious. Unfortunately, it's hard for a bodyguard like me to ensure enough of my sister's medicine each month...

"Even now, I'm not sure how long I can manage." Stella said with a self-deprecating smile.

Herald's expression was twisted. He wanted to say something, but the pain in his body made him unable to speak.

Moreover, he could feel that his lower body was paralyzed.

The Master Realm expert examined his injury and realized that it had turned black.

"Poison." He said with wrinkled brows.

"It's Death Lily. But not the common one, the more rare and deadly one." Stella said coldly, "Unless you can find a healer capable of using 6th tier healing spells or an antidote in less than ten minutes or else Herald will definitely die."

Herald turned pale as his body shook and he laughed bitterly. "I don't understand, why now? You have had many opportunities to kill me, why now?"

Stella remained indifferent, "It's simple, my sister is in danger, and those buffoons were the ones that can save her."

"Huh? Us?" Delirious pointed at him and Marcel.

"Remember that dream? That is the answer."

Hearing her words, Basically understood instantly. He recalled Gracie's dream about the shadows or boogie man or something chasing her and them appearing to vanish them.

"Even if the possibility is slim, I have to do it. My sister's whereabouts are unknown, and the people guarding her are dead. So, I must bet that you will eventually save her." Stella chuckled bitterly.

Gracie was Stella's everything. Thus, when she learned Gracie was missing, she knew she had to do everything to find her.

Then, she remembered Gracie's dreams.

And if Gracie's dreams were true, she would need their help if she wanted to save her little sister.

Basically nodded with a serious smile, "We understand. Don't worry, we'll help you."

Delirious interjected at that moment, "Speaking of that, I met Gracie earlier. She was the one that led me here. Don't worry, she is in a safe place."

Stella smiled in relief, "That is good. As expected, my decision was right. Now, let's finish them first."

The two nodded with a smile. Then, they looked at the remaining people around them.

Now that the tables had turned, Herald was the one at a disadvantage. He was fighting Marcel, Delirious, Stella, and Xavier; two Rank 4 and two Rank 8. His side, on the other hand, had only less than nine Rank 5 experts and twelve other lesser rank practitioners.

It was easy to see who had the advantage.

Herald's eyes were filled with despair.

Meanwhile, back to our two members of the Minority Squad, Delirious patted Basically's shoulder to get his attention.

"I was wondering why we were in some people's business, you know."

Basically nodded, "I agree, this is a scene of some story we are witnessing and we are involved in it even though it's not our type of genre or even our business."

———

One kilometer away, in an abandoned house, a chocolate brown hair cat girl was resting in a chair with her eyes closed.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes. Without hesitation, she stood up and rushed towards the door.

But-

"So you were here, huh. We finally found you." A shadowy figure suddenly appeared in front of her.

The little cat girl's face changed. She looked at the shadow with a mix of fear and despair.

"The shadows. You caught up..."

"Mm? What did you call me?"

Gracie sighed. "Is fate so difficult to change? I wonder if this is enough."

Looking down, her eyes seemed to see through on something.

"Are you listening to this?"

The shadowy figure was confused about who she was talking to. But unbeknownst to him, a small device implanted by Moo long ago was in Gracie's pocket, she knew the device was on her the whole time.