Shortly after Vaan's group returned to the town's center, they discovered the Fog Beasts had returned to the feeding ground.

It was the same group of Illusory Liondrakes that had previously fled after a dozen of its kind were slaughtered by the three ladies.

If it weren't for the wounds on their bodies that were still fresh, Vaan and the others would have mistaken them for a new group of Illusory Liondrakes.

"These Fog Beasts are back already?" Aeliana furrowed her brows and wondered, "Do they have short memory retention or something?"

"That's what most people around the Thousand Fog Mountains have assumed," Astoria casually answered.

"Don't worry about me. Quickly eliminate the Fog Beasts. There may be other survivors in town. The sooner we eliminate the Fog Beasts, the safer they will be," Vaan stated.

Nevertheless, his mind wasn't completely with them.

He was still thinking about the Great House of Caelestis they had previously discussed, but for a different reason.

Given it was a powerful household comprised of space-attribute members, there was a high chance that he may have related to them.

After all, he had caught wind of news that the Great House of Caelestis also participated in the Third Great Expedition and had a few important members killed during and after the expedition.

Nevertheless, the Great House of Caelestis was situated in the Scarlet Flame Kingdom.

He could only look into his family's origins after he settled his matters in the Black Rose Kingdom.

After Vaan put aside his thoughts on the Great House of Caelestis, he studied the fog with Omni-Sense.

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He had a feeling that it wasn't normal fog, and as it turned out, it wasn't.

There were traces of magic in the fog.

'Perhaps the entire fog spanning across the Thousand Fog Mountains is invoked by a grand magic spell,' Vaan thought before he wondered, "In that case, who set it up? And for what reason? What is hidden in the mountains?'

While Astoria and Hester went to deal with the Illusory Liondrakes, Aeliana remained by Vaan's side.

Even though he said their protection wasn't needed, they still didn't feel assured unless they had at least one of them guarding him.

"My Lord, stick close to me. No harm will come your way," Aeliana spoke earnestly, but she took that chance to hug his arm intimately.

Furthermore, she couldn't wipe the smirk off her face; she was truly enjoying the present situation.

However, only people of her level could take it easy in the fog-filled town overrun by Fog Beasts. Others would be too nervous and on edge to even be thinking of taking advantage of the situation like she did.

Vaan was a little speechless.

Aeliana was a little too obsessed with himNot that he minded the two soft cushions pressing against his arm.

Nevertheless, Astoria and Hester quickly finished off the remaining Illusory Liondrakes in the town's center. Especially Astoria, who took the chance to adapt to her new greatsword.

Each Illusory Liondrake was cleanly cleaved in half by her; the Fog Beasts didn't stand a chance with her as their opponent.

On the other hand, Hester didn't give her foes any chance of retaliation either. She skewered them all with black iron spikes.

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It was clear that she had many black iron spikes stored in her Magic Domain.

"This place has been cleared. Let's move on to the next area," Astoria suggested before she added, "I doubt these are all the Fog Beasts in Misty Leaf Town."

"Probably not," Vaan acknowledged and said, "However, it's a little abnormal that we've only encountered Illusory Liondrakes. After all, Illusory Liondrakes aren't the only type of Fog Beasts in the Thousand Fog Mountains."

"Furthermore, they are on the rarer side. And yet, we've come across more than two dozen already," Vaan added.

"Perhaps in the middle region, they are rare. But in the upper region, they might be more common," Astoria thought.

"That would mean there's a chance that the space-attribute High Witch opened a spatial portal directly to the upper region," Hester mentioned before she added, "That also means that the Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon might really be here."

Roar!

Right after Hester spoke, the dragon roar resounded in the thick fog above them again.

In that instance, Vaan immediately swept out with his Omni-Sense. Although he failed to locate the source of the dragon roar, he found its general direction.

"That's the dragon roar. Let's follow it," Vaan urged.

Without waiting for the three ladies to respond, he dashed ahead. That prompted them to chase after him.

"Teacher Raphna, wait up! It's dangerous for you to run off on your own! We're talking about a potential Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon here!" Astoria warned.

"You seemed to have forgotten what I am capable of, Headmaster Astoria," Vaan coolly replied before adding, "I know how to take care of myself."

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He was doing before she found him, and he will continue to do finewith or without her.

That said, he did not mind her protectiveness, but he needed to draw the line where her protection was warranted.

Over-protectiveness would become a hindrance in the Thousand Fog Mountains, a place where each of them definitely had to pull their own weight.

He couldn't keep sitting back and letting the three witches handle everything.

Perhaps the witches were used to being in charge and taking care of things because it was a matriarchal society.

However, they had to understand that things were run differently with him around; he was the party leader.

"Sorry, Teacher Raphna," Astoria apologized.

"Don't be," Vaan shook his head and earnestly said, "Your concerns are appreciated, Headmaster Astoria."

Nevertheless, after the three witches followed Vaan's lead, they soon found themselves exiting the town's northern gate.

With Vaan far in the lead, all the Illusory Liondrakes encountered along the way were swiftly dealt with by him using the Rank 4 Black Sword in his possession.

Astoria was startled by his physical prowess.

However, she didn't have time to dwell on it before everyone had their attention drawn to the creature flying northward in the open sky after it flew out of the town's fog.

"That's a True Dragon!" Hester exclaimed with widening eyes.

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