Chapter 736: Run, Gray!

Heine hadn't misheard; someone was indeed calling his name.

His body, which had been sent flying by the roar, didn't fall to the ground but was caught by a small figure wearing a cloak.

It was Gray!

Ever since Heine left the room, Gray had been following him.

Due to her naturally low presence, Shinji's charm that blocked detection, and possibly the interference from various magical formulas of different origins and effects in the castle, Gray's tracking went unnoticed.

She watched as the young knight walked into the forecourt, entered the forest, and descended into the underground passage.

The obvious echoes in the passage made her worry about being discovered. As she hesitated whether to follow, the sounds of fighting came from inside.

Remembering her mission requirements, Gray no longer hesitated. She rushed into the passage at top speed and managed to catch Heine just as he was being thrown back.

Noticing the new intruder, the monster's eyes glowed crimson.

Then, Gray heard a voice.

Unlike the roar, it was hoarse, almost like the sound of wind scraping against something.

"—Answer me, the name of the angel."

"Is... is that you asking?"

Gray involuntarily widened her eyes, feeling as if she had discovered some great secret.

"Idiot, don't space out."

A pain shot through her right wrist—a reminder from Add.

"What should I do, Add?"

"Say anything. It's better than not answering."

"—Answer me, the name of the angel."

The question rang out again.

"M—Michael!"

Instinctively, Gray called out the angel name assigned to her on the invitation, which was also the nameplate on her room.

"—If you cannot answer the question, you shall be stripped away."

The darkness stirred restlessly, like boiling slime.

"I guess I got it wrong after all," Gray said, sounding a bit disappointed.

"It'd be weird if you got it right," Add mocked.

"If you don't want to end up hanging on an angel statue, run. It's about to attack."

"Ah, oh."

As they spoke, the beast opened its mouth once again.

As if awakened by that roar, the air surrounding Gray changed dramatically.

It was hot.

She felt as if she was in a furnace, her whole body seeming to melt.

Whether it was magic or some other ability, she didn't know. She only knew she had to escape at top speed.

Massive magical energy gathered at her feet at a rate several times faster than an ordinary magus, propelling her body swiftly across the ground.

This was a magical energy release control technique she had been practicing recently. Previously, Gray would only instinctively reinforce her body with magical energy, which was extremely inefficient and wasteful. After receiving guidance from Shinji, Gray gradually mastered targeted release methods, such as simply increasing arm strength, or accelerating like now.

The air changed drastically again, this time due to pure speed!

It wasn't just the beast that possessed speed beyond the limits of human dynamic visual acuity, but also this seemingly small and fragile girl.

In just a few seconds—mere seconds.

Gray, carrying the knighted Heine, had already rushed out of the underground passage and back into the forest of the forecourt.

Because her movement speed was faster than the speed of heat propagation, Gray no longer felt the intense heat. She carefully retreated to a relatively open area, her eyes fixed on the dark entrance of the passage.

That terrifying and powerful beast had also followed her to the surface, its red eyes likewise locked onto Gray, treating her as prey.

"Add..."

"Run, head for where there are more people. Now's not the time to fight, unless you don't care about this tin can."

"Mm."

Gray released her secretly clenched right hand, gathered magical energy from her entire body to her feet, and pushed her speed to the limit.

During the acceleration process, she didn't forget to crush the charm hanging around her neck, sending a signal to Shinji.

As Add said, she might possess combat ability superior to the beast, but she now had to protect the unconscious Heine and couldn't fight freely.

Gray's full-speed sprint was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, she had rushed out of the forest and crashed into the courtyard.

The beast's speed was a hair faster than the burdened Gray. The safety distance she had initially maintained had been consumed during the chase. It burst into the castle almost on Gray's heels, seemingly determined not to give up until its prey was thoroughly killed.

"Go to the second floor! Jump!"

As Gray was using all her energy to escape, Add took on the task of navigation.

Gray seemed quite accustomed to this arrangement. The moment Add's voice rang out, she leaped, jumping directly onto the balcony of the second floor.

"Confront it here!"

She had just landed gripped her right hand tightly and called out.

"Add!"

"Got it!"

The seal that had been hidden and fixed to her arm in a special way unfurled.

The phosphorescent light, hazy like ghost fire, instantly transformed into a new shape.

It was a shape everyone knew.

The form of the harvester.

The Grim Reaper's scythe.

As the phosphorescent light dispersed, Gray's magical energy also concentrated in her arm. She put Heine down, wielding the giant scythe blade, and swung it with all her might towards the rapidly approaching beast.

The scythe blade cut deep into the beast's body. An inhuman force that defied the difference in mass between them interrupted the beast's advance and knocked it back to the ground.

She lowered her center of gravity, seeming to prepare for a follow-up attack.

Unexpectedly, Add, now in scythe form, stopped her.

"Run now, I'm not ready yet."

"Ah, okay."

Gray quickly redirected her magical energy flow. With one hand holding the scythe and the other carrying Heine, she rushed deeper into the corridor, towards the guest room area where the summoned magi were staying.

Although the magi kept their angel names very secret and it wasn't known exactly which rooms they were in, if she made enough noise—

The scythe blade cut through the air, the wind pressure it stirred up wantonly ravaging the decorations in the corridor and the chandeliers on the ceiling, creating a series of piercing sounds.

"Please, anyone will do, take Sir Heine away!"

"What is that guy doing? Why hasn't he shown up yet? Didn't he say he'd come as fast as possible? With that guy's speed, he should be here by now even if he was on the other side. Forget it, if he doesn't show up at the next corner, we'll—"

"You'll what?"

A lazy voice sounded in Gray's ear.

"You! If you're here, hurry up and help!"

"No rush. Keep running, past the corner. I'll give it a nasty surprise there."

"Fine, I'll trust you this once. Gray, accelerate!"

Urged on by Add's voice, Gray bent her knees and rounded the corner at an almost 90-degree angle.

The monster, using the wall to perform three-dimensional maneuvers, stepped on the ceiling and thrust its claws—harder than diamond—towards Gray's back.

At that moment, a shoe suddenly appeared before its eyes.