The monster attack finally came to an end.

What was once a beautiful vacation spot was covered with blood, and there were several places that were destroyed by the storm.

Ugh! These goddamn persistent bastards!!!

Flames coiled through the sky like a living being.

Two monsters that were struggling to run away were swallowed by the flames and turned to ash.

Huff, huff, huff.

Ha-eun caught her breath while leaning her back against a wall.

The fight no, the one-sided massacre had lasted for hours.

Im so fucking tired

Even if she was able to sweep hundreds and thousands of them away at a time, a long time was required to finish them off because there were too many monsters that participated in the attack.

It wouldve been even harder if the monsters didnt suddenly weaken.

Ha-eun had no idea what Ohjin did, but she noticed that their movement abruptly dulled, and it seemed like they lost their boiling energy.

Thanks to that, she was able to take care of the monsters in a way that was more like crushing ants rather than fighting.

Due to their massive numbers, it still wasnt easy.

God, its finally over.

She couldnt do anything about the ones hiding in buildings, but she finished taking care of the ones that she could see.

Ha-eun swept back her sweat-soaked hair and opened her pack of cigarettes.

She shook the pack, but unfortunately, there was nothing that came out besides crumbs of tobacco.

Fuck.

Irritated, she kicked the empty pack away.

She walked down the street that had become a complete ruin by herself.

Vega and Riak had already been forced back to the sanctum after using up all their energy in the fierce fight against the monsters.

* * *

Translator - Maccas

Proofreader - ilafy

* * *

While she was walking down the desolate street

Hm?

she discovered Ohjin walking back from the distant shore.

It appeared that he also had his fair share of fighting monsters since his entire body was soaked like a drowning rat.

Ohjinnnnnn!

Ha-euns eyes sparkled, and she sprinted towards him and jumped into his arms.

Wheres Vega and Riak?

They returned to the sanctum because they used too much strength.

I see. Are you hurt anywhere?

Hehe. Do you really think that Id get hurt by those mutts?

She shrugged with a smug expression on her face.

Where were you in the meantime?

Under the sea.

What?

Ha-euns eyes widened and her mouth fell open like she was a surprised rabbit.

Y-You went down there?

It was hard to imagine someone going down there alone when there were an uncountable number of monsters gathered at sea.

She fumbled all over his body with a worried look.

It doesnt seem like you were hurt anywhere hm. This area is fine, as well.

Rub, rub

Hey, where do you think youre touching?

Ehehe! Unlike your insolent mouth, your body is honest!

What on earth is this woman talking about?

Fortunately, it appears you werent hurt hm?

Her eyes suddenly widened while she was checking every area of his body.

The stigma of Lyra engraved on his chest stood out to her. The eight flicks next to his stigma, to be exact.

E-Eight? Ohjin, you became an 8-Star Awakener?

Yup.

W-Wow! Damn! Youre an 8-Star already? It hasnt even been that long since you became a 7-Star!"

Ha-eun jumped up and down in joy like she was the one making progress.

Her eyes shone like stars, and she held his hands tightly.

"You only have one step left until you become a 9-Star!"

There was a special meaning behind '9-Star' for Awakeners because your body would go through reconstruction and grant you immense power that couldnt be compared to before.

'Ohjin took down 9-Stars as a 7-Star Awakener If he becomes a 9-Star'

Gulp

Just imagining it sent shivers down her spine.

"I only just became a 8-Star. There's still a long way to go until the next step."

"You always say that and get promoted in the blink of an eye."

"Well"

He did, in fact, have an abnormal growth rate.

"In any case, lets talk about that later. How's the situation near the town?"

"I've cleaned up this area for now; I'm not sure how things are going over there."

Ha-eun indicated towards the opposite side of where she had defended with Vega and Riak, to a road that led to another town.

I hope the monsters didnt make it through to that area.'

Ohjin clicked his tongue as he looked toward the opposite end of town.

He wouldve taken Ha-eun over there at the beginning if he was familiar with the area, but since it was his first time there, he had no choice but to prioritize defending where he knew there were a lot of people.

'Well, we've still done enough with this.'

Though he couldnt say that they flawlessly defended the town from the monsters, they had done more than enough as people who weren't responsible.

"Lets head to the other side and take care of the remaining monsters."

"Okay."

When Ohjin and Ha-eun were about to head over

"We've taken care of that area."

Isabella walked towards them from the other side of town.

Her white one-piece dress was drenched in blood, and the way she was having difficulty walking and breathing made it seem like she was on the verge of collapsing.

"Isabella!"

Ohjin quickly approached Isabella and supported her.

She put on an exhausted smile and looked up at him.

"Our employees blocked the roads so that they aren't able to go to the other towns."

""

Her voice was weak and sounded like it would cut off at any second.

'Is it the influence of the curse?'

It didn't seem so severe before.

He furrowed his brow and helped Isabella to a nearby bench.

"Just what were those monsters?"

"I don't know."

Isabella shook her head and bit her lip.

"The gate should have been thoroughly managed by us"

She gripped the hem of her reddened dress with a confused expression on her face.

Ohjin wondered if he should tell her that someone intentionally stimulated the dragon vein, but he soon closed his lips tight.

'Not yet.'

Not only did he have no answer to the question of 'how did you calm the dragon vein?', but there was also something he personally wanted to confirm.

"I'll return to the residence for now. I need to have a talk with Uncle Guilford."

Her eyes turned cold as she looked towards the mansion.

It appeared that she wanted to interrogate Guilford on the matter because he was in charge of managing San Fruttuoso.

Ohjin nodded his head and gently carried her off the chair.

"O-Ohjin?"

"I'll take you there."

He couldnt leave her behind when it looked like she was having trouble walking properly.

"Ah Th-Thank you."

Isabella's cheeks reddened, and she lowered her chin with embarrassment.

"Ugh."

Ha-eun clutched her forehead when she saw that.

She would have butted in and separated them if she could have it her way, but she couldn't bring herself to do it when she saw the trouble Isabella was having with breathing.

"Let's go."

Ohjin headed to the mansion with Isabella in his arms, passing countless monster corpses in the streets before finally arriving.

"N-Next matriarch! Are you unharmed?!"

Guilford's chubby belly shook while he quickly sprinted to Isabella.

Isabella coldly slapped away Guilford's hand before he could touch her.

"Explain."

"Th-the thing is I don't know."

"You don't know? Aren't you responsible for managing San Fruttuoso?"

"Th-thats true, however" Guilford mumbled with a nervous expression.

Anxiety and fear filled his eyes.

"Sigh."

Isabella sighed deeply and glared at him.

"A disciplinary committee will be opened as soon as the situation has been resolved. Don't think that we'll overlook this matter."

"W-wait! Next matriarch?!"

Isabella passed Guilford, who was urgently calling her, and walked into the residence.

Ohjin observed him desperately following Isabella and narrowed his eyes.

'Was it his doing?'

Messing with the dragon vein would be easy as the head manager of San Fruttuoso, but it didn't seem like he had the competence to stimulate the dragon vein considering how he trembled in fear without being able to meet eyes with Isabella.

'Even if he could, theres no reason for him to do so.'

Why would he make the dragon vein go berserk when he would obviously get kicked out of the family the moment monsters started rushing out of the gate?

'Someone who has the authority and power to mess with the dragon vein but is also able to avoid suspicion'

There was only one person that came to mind.

Ohjins gaze headed to Isabella.

Couldn't she easily disrupt the dragon vein?

Even if there were huge casualties because of it, wouldn't she be able to push all the blame onto Guilford?

'No.'

He shook his head in the middle of his thoughts.

With nothing to gain from the incident, Isabella was in the same position as Guilford.

Then just who?

While Ohjin continued contemplating

Ttututututututu!!

a helicopter flew from over the horizon, buffeting them with gusts of wind.

Ugh

Isabella frowned and looked at the helicopter that landed on the helipad located next to the garden.

The helicopter door opened, and a middle-aged man with slicked-back light-blond hair exited.

He had handsome looks and a solid figure that would fit the main character of a noir film.

Paulo Colagrande.

The middle-aged man was the family head of the Colagrande Household and also Isabellas father.

Paulo emitted charisma that made just looking at him suffocating as he approached Isabella, however

Ahh! My lovely baby! Were you hurt anywhere?!

As if the charisma he gave off was just an illusion, he neared her with frivolous movements.

Jerk!

Paulo roughly pulled in and hugged Isabella.

I heard all about it! You mustve gone through a lot!

He frowned while looking at her one-piece dress that was drenched in blood and glared coldly at Guilford, who was looking away and shivering.

How dare you cause my princess to get injured! I recommend you prepare for the worst.

It it wasnt my doing!

Isnt your lack of management the reason this incident happened?

Th-that is

Guilford lowered his head with a perplexed expression on his face.

Dont worry, father. This isnt my blood, Isabella said, smiling brightly.

That truly is a relief!

Paulo shed tears and increased the strength in his arms, squeezing Isabella.

Father, huh?

Ohjins eyes shone.

He did think their faces looked a bit similar, but he hadnt expected him to be her father.

I thought that they had a bad relationship based on what I heard from Isabella last time.

His initial thoughts appeared quite distant from the truth when he considered how her father flew on a helicopter to check up on Isabella as soon as he heard the news.

The way Isabella smiled and comforted him by saying that the blood on the dress wasnt hers made him think she was also a good daughter.

You reek of sweat. Cant you do it in moderation and get lost, father?

Or not