Chapter 272: A Savoir

It was only for a second, but I was positive that the heat signature I saw belonged to Sylvie.

[Congratulations, you have ascended to level 65]

Just then, another notification popped up, notifying me that I had leveled up. Time had been a bit hazy since I entered the dome, but I figured at least a few hours had passed. I was right on track to evolving at level 75; I just needed to wait a little longer.

Putting my evolution aside for now, I rushed off after Sylvie, dragging Selthia along with me.

“Kikiki”

Just then, as I rushed off, I turned around to the sound of laughter behind me. It was Selthia. For some reason, she was giggling to herself while cutely trying to hide it.

I wondered why she was laughing.

Maybe it was because we were running around in the darkness like two idiots, and now we had Sylvie joining in the mix.

Thinking about it, I couldn’t help but crack a smile too. Since Sylvie was traveling along the rooftops, it was hard to keep up with her. After a while, I was no longer certain about where she was.

I had lost her.

“Well, at least we know she’s fine,” Selthia said in an effort to comfort me, but just then I felt something sharp dig into my lower back.

It happened in an instant, but it felt as if I had been scratched by something. The wound wasn’t deep. In fact, it was like a paper cut. I turned around instantly, but whatever it was had already gone. Then it dawned on me.

Selthia!

Sensing Selthia’s life was in imminent danger, I immediately pulled her into me. A claw tore through the air, aimed for Selthia’s throat, but it missed by a small margin as I pulled her away just in the nick of time.

This time, though, I was able to get a glimpse of what attacked Selthia.

It was Sylvie.

She clearly didn’t know it was us. But how was she moving around and even fighting with all her senses obstructed? Was she acting purely on instinct?

I was honestly impressed.

In this darkness, if I waved my hand in front of my face, I wouldn’t even see a thing, and sound didn’t travel for more than a foot before it was distorted. That is why Selthia and I always stood close to one another whenever we spoke.

Sylvie had managed to overcome these to some degree using her natural instincts. This wasn’t something that I could even do. Without my thermal vision, I would be as lost as everyone else.

Sylvie crept down low, summoning all the energy she could from her feet, then launched herself at us. I opened my arms wide, intending to embrace her, while she raised her claw, intending to kill whatever that was in front of her.

It was a simple task to move out of the path of her claw and catch her in mid-air. For a moment, it seemed as if she was going to panic, but instead she sniffed my face before I felt something cold and soft on my cheek as her tongue licked across it.

“Lee!” she shouted excitedly and wrapped her arms around my neck. I returned her embrace and stroked her head tenderly.

After that, Selthia explained that she was looking for Mariah since she was the only thing keeping Damian here. If he found her, then he could easily kill her and escape, making all of this meaningless.

She was right, but my priority was to find everyone, not just Mariah. I would prefer that no one gets killed by Damian.

When she was done explaining, I raised my hand and flicked her on the head with my finger.

“Eee!”

She let out a cute noise as she grabbed her reddened forehead.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay with Kaguya?” I scolded.

“But Lee… Sylvie has something to tell you. She wanted to make sure Lee didn’t die so she could tell him. Sylvie will always protect Lee even if Lee scolds her!”

Sylvie was the type to throw herself in danger to save my life with zero regard for her own life. Out of everyone, I wanted her here the least.

I shudder to think what she would do to herself if I wasn’t around. It was a strange feeling. I felt it in my gut that if I were to die, then Sylvie would die along with me.

This wasn’t normal…

But then again, we were fated mates. Maybe I was wrong for pushing her away again, even if it was to protect her. Our fates were tied, so we might as well face danger together.

“I’m sorry, Sylvie. Thank you for showing up to help. I’m really lucky.”

Sylvie smiled happily as her hands tightened around my neck and her legs tightened around my waist.

Having found Sylvie, my plan was to find Isabella, Kumo, and Mariah and formulate a plan from there on how to keep Damian distracted.

[Congratulations, you have ascended to level 73]

Things didn’t work out quite as I had expected. We ended up spending hours searching for the remaining girls, but we still hadn’t found them. Part of the reason was Damian’s fog.

We had to be careful not to be caught by it, even though we nearly were quite a few times. We sat inside what I guessed was some sort of store as we contemplated our next move. I had Sylvie sitting in my lap as I stroked her hair, and Selthia leaning against me.

Now, my rank was only two levels from evolution.

Even though I was worried about the others, I couldn’t shake my excitement. I had been wanting it for so long, and now evolution was so close.

BOOM!

Just then, a thunderous explosion echoed from outside. It surprised us since sounds were limited here. Jumping to our feet, we rushed outside the store. Exiting the building, what I saw when I activated my thermal vision was the sight of buildings being toppled.

“What is that thing?” I wondered as I gazed up in awe.

What lay before my sight was a giant that looked exactly like a shadow. It was off in the distance, further from where we were, but with my sight I could see it clearly.

Moreover, the giant shadow was in a heated battle with Damian.

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