Chapter 82: A Strange Situation

Chapter 82

A Strange Situation

However, the true essence of what Jayden wanted to convey was not to extol the virtues of the former family head, but to remind Steven to reflect on the past. The appearance of the demonic beasts was too peculiar. Suddenly, 2 demonic beasts headed straight for the Setter family, even though the natural occurrence of demonic beasts was extremely rare. Unless it’s a place densely filled with the toxin of malicious demons, creating a demonic miasma, it’s highly unlikely for a creature to mutate into a demonic beast.

At that time, the Setter family didn’t consider that demonic beasts could be created by humans. They didn’t investigate the incident further, assuming that the Setter family was simply unlucky. But if, in truth...there was more to the story than just bad luck, it would imply that someone intended to destroy the Setter family, wouldn’t it?

The incident where the Setter family abruptly lost their family head caused great turmoil. Fortunately, the previous family head was able to rise and become a strong family head. Although there was much bloodshed among several families due to internal conflicts, and those conflicts have persisted to the present, the greatness of the Setter family was not easily achieved.

If someone truly intended to make the Setter family suffer, shouldn’t they retaliate? How could they let those who harmed the Setter family go unpunished!?

“Father, you mentioned this because you’re thinking that Great-grandfather had to sacrifice his life because of someone else’s scheme?”

“That’s very likely. If only one demonic beast had appeared, it wouldn’t have been strange. But back then, 2 demonic beasts appeared simultaneously. It’s possible that they were created by someone powerful.”

“If Lady Ellie says that 10 demonic beasts were created this time, it proves that humans can indeed create demonic beasts,” Jayden affirmed.

“If someone dared to strike against the Setter family, I will find them and punish them! Their entire family’s blood will be used to honor my great-grandfather!” Aman declared angrily. Investigating an incident that happened over 30 years ago would be difficult, of course. However, Aman believed that as long as they started the search, it might yield some clues, which was better than letting the perpetrator remain free.

“Mmm, I will not let this matter rest easily. But for now...the most important issue is how we deal with these 10 demonic beasts,” Steven sighed heavily. Despite his anger, resolving the current situation was the priority.

The 10 demonic beasts were no small matter. While they had some weapons powered by Owen to suppress the beasts, they didn’t have enough for all 10 This meant they could handle some, but the rest would still be a problem.

"I can track and locate the demonic beasts. As long as we avoid encountering all 10 of them, we will be safe."

"That’s a very good option. However, if the Setter family doesn’t take action to help deal with the demonic beasts, it won’t look good. People might later say that we ran away to save ourselves."

"I have a solution. We have weapons that can deal with the demonic beasts, but these weapons should remain a secret within the Setter family. So, if we pretend to sacrifice one person to deal with a single demonic beast and say that someone from the Setter family has committed suicide, it will seem like we did our part, wouldn’t it?" Aman suggested.

"With my ability, we can track a path where only 1 demonic beast appears," Ellie supported the idea enthusiastically. Seeing both of them agree, Steven smiled faintly.

Initially, he wanted Koross to explain the relationship between the two children, but now it might not be necessary...Steven felt that Aman had indeed found a trustworthy friend as he initially thought. This girl not only wasn’t afraid of Aman but also quickly understood his plans.

Moreover, the girl didn’t think Aman’s idea was strange. His son intended to leave everyone else to deal with 9 demonic beasts while the great Setter family would handle only one. Others might think the Setter family was selfish or that Aman was cruel, but Ellie cooperated perfectly instead.

"But didn’t you say that they would release the demonic beasts one by one, Lady Ellie? How can we ensure others join the fight?" Jayden asked, to which Ellie had a good answer.

"Don’t worry about that. If you don’t want the demonic beast creator’s plan to succeed, I can release all the demonic beasts right now." The girl smiled. The Setter family knew that Ellie had more abilities than just tracking targets. Koross had seen her decompose students’ clothes or trees near the dormitory, so decomposing the cages wouldn’t be difficult.

Steven, Jayden, and Aman looked at each other, feeling reassured that Ellie was on their side. If she were an enemy...it would indeed be difficult to carry out any actions.

"Alright, I will inform everyone in the family about this first. As for releasing the demonic beasts...I will signal Lady Ellie later," Steven decided. This matter had to be handled, and they would not let the creator of the demonic beasts go unpunished.

During the ensuing chaos, he would have the Setter family apprehend the perpetrator. The fact that humans could create demonic beasts should remain a secret within the Setter family, at least giving them some advantage from then on. While others believed demonic beasts occurred naturally, the Setter family would have superior knowledge.

Most importantly, the Setter family could pretend to be ignorant to catch the real mastermind. The person plotting against the Setter family would not be cautious, thinking they were unaware. If the Setter family showed they knew too much, the culprit would cover their tracks meticulously, making it harder to catch them.

The head of the Setter family left Ellie’s small tent, leaving her alone in her lodging. Ellie did not leave the tent either. Within the next 2 to 3 days, she planned to advance to a level 3 magician. This increase in strength would allow her to bond with other types of plants as well.

The more dangerous her situation, the more it motivated her to improve herself.

Fortunately, this time she was on an external mission with others, and encountering demonic beasts was beneficial for her. Ellie’s ability to absorb life force had been working exceptionally well recently. Various herbs in her dimension were thriving because she absorbed life force from the surrounding trees, pretending that they were affected by the demonic beasts.

The movements of the demonic beasts poisoned and slowly made the trees dry up. Even if Ellie didn’t absorb the life force, the trees would die from the demonic toxin. Rather than letting the life force go to waste, why not transfer it to the herbs in her secret dimension?

One large tree provided enough life force to make the Sapphire Dragon Scales ready for harvest. Initially, Ellie had been gradually enhancing them, but using the life force from two large trees would significantly boost the growth of the Sapphire Dragon Scales from mere seeds to harvest-ready plants.

At first, Ellie had only 1 piece of the Sapphire Dragon Scale. Using her extraordinary powers, she decided to chop it into tiny pieces and gradually spread them out. Initially, she managed to coax 50 plants to sprout from the fragments. After the first harvest, she planted the Sapphire Dragon Scales again. She aimed to cultivate 200 holes of them in her secret dimension, which required life force from nearly 400 large trees to ensure all 200 holes would grow.

Although collecting life force from 400 trees was challenging and could draw too much attention if the trees suddenly withered, the current situation was different.

Before the institute arrived, several plants had already been poisoned and dried up, while small animals had fled elsewhere. Therefore, it wasn’t alarming if the large trees started to wither. Nevertheless, the increasing severity of the withering trees began to worry many people.

Rumors about demonic beasts spread, initiated by the Setter family. Having experience fighting demonic beasts, they noted that when they encountered such beasts, the surrounding area became barren and poisoned similarly.

Ellie’s ability to absorb life force remained a secret, even from the Setter family. Thus, they believed the withering trees were part of the demonic beast creator’s plan.

The fake Camp Leader was also surprised by the situation. He hadn’t even begun releasing the demonic beasts from their cages, yet rumors persisted. However, this wasn’t bad news for him, as he wanted the camp to descend into chaos and suffer significant losses!

What puzzled him was why the demonic beast toxin was lingering around, causing the trees to dry up.

As time passed, people talked more and more about this. All the trees around the camp had dried up, increasing the people’s fear. Even the professors were on edge.

One night, under a full moon, a soldier’s scream suddenly pierced the night from the front of the camp. The alarm rang out, signaling a terrifying event that was about to become a disaster for the camp’s inhabitants.

Ellie’s eyes sparkled in the night as she stood among the students from the institute. By her side was Wint, who remained her steadfast guardian. Next to Wint, Nara was looking around as if searching for someone.

Ellie believed Nara realized that standing next to Wint wasn’t 100% safe, given the previous battle where Wint hadn’t protected her at all. If she hadn’t forced herself towards him, she might have died then. So, Nara was likely looking for the young man she had developed a good relationship with over the past few days.

Unfortunately, that man probably wouldn’t show himself to Nara again. While he had been using Nara as a tool to gather information, Ellie had used that chance to eavesdrop on all their conversations, gaining much from Nara’s efforts on inspecting someone. However, there would be no more such opportunities, as the Setter family would not let a criminal like the demonic beast creator walk free.

"Are all the students here? Check if your friends are present," Professor Gwen said with a serious expression. Some students raised their hands to report missing friends. Professor Gwen acknowledged this, knowing that the missing students were mostly from the 4 families that had arrived. They had likely joined their own families.

"The situation is very dangerous now. I won’t force anyone to join the fight, but those who do will receive extra credit, regardless of their performance. However, I advise against participating, as the enemy you will face now is not just any ordinary beast, but...a demonic beast!!"

As soon as Professor Gwen said this, the students murmured anxiously, their faces filled with fear. The term "demonic beast" was one they knew well.

Most families taught their children to flee immediately upon encountering a demonic beast. Even if they fought and won, the aftermath would be more brutal. Hearing this, many students felt disheartened and decided to give up.

"I won’t fight. I don’t want to fight a demonic beast. My father said that if you encounter a demonic beast and kill it, you’re doomed to die eventually. But if you don’t fight, you’ll be hurt by them and die anyway. So...I don’t want to encounter a demonic beast at all."

"Me too. I won’t fight either."

"Professor! I apologize, but I don’t want to fight.""Professor, if given a choice, I don’t want to fight either." Many students voiced their intentions. Although Professor Gwen was a bit disappointed, as over 50 students had already withdrawn from the fight, more were expressing their desire to do the same.