At that moment, everyone was struck by a realization. As a statue gallery, there shouldn't have been only the two statues before them; there should have been many more. So, where were the others?
"There are many more statues. They left earlier. Didn't you encounter them on your way here?" Gray spoke rapidly, sharing what he knew. "These statues seem intent on killing anyone who discovers them. I'd wager they went to silence the people who passed by earlier."
He explained that a group of young people had passed by earlier, seemingly on their way to the Late-Night Tavern. They had stopped to look after hearing the commotion in the gallery. At that time, the statues were fighting him and couldn't hide, so they were spotted.
"Those young people fled in different directions. Some were injured. Now... some might have already met with disaster."
"Damn it," Ronan cursed under his breath before immediately issuing orders. "The rest of you, get out there now and find those statues. Don't let them run wild. Gray, you go deal with them too."
Gray looked surprised. "I'm going too? Then these two..."
"Leave them to me, obviously!"
Ronan slammed his fists, clad in red gloves, together. Magic power surged around him, and his eyes grew sharp.
Gray didn't argue. "Understood. We'll handle the statues outside first. They aren't as powerful as these two, so we should be able to finish them quickly. Hold on; we'll come back to help as soon as we're done."
The two statues before them possessed formidable combat strength. Even if they all attacked at once, they likely couldn't defeat them quickly. That delay would be enough time for the other statues outside to create a series of bloody tragedies.
Thus, the group moved with great speed, quickly exiting the statue gallery and leaving everything there to Ronan.
They could only trust Ronan now!
"Ladies and gentlemen, let's split up. The statues outside are indeed much weaker; I can confirm that. You are more than capable of handling them individually. There's no need to stay together."
After saying this, Gray immediately sprinted off in one direction.
Seeing this, Olivia said, "I'll take the path we came from."
Raymond and Rocas had no objections, each choosing a different direction.
As for Vanessa, she had to stay in the gallery. The injured clergy members could still be saved; if she left, their conditions would destabilize and worsen, leading to a grim outcome.
Additionally, her presence served as a form of combat support for Ronan.
...
The crimson moonlight bathed Baker Street, lending a strange and eerie feel to the roadside houses and trees.
Olivia pressed one hand against her wide-brimmed hat while the other lifted her high-waisted long skirt as she ran, her mind racing with a question.
Since those statues were hunting down anyone who saw them, why hadn't they encountered any on their way to the gallery after rescuing the young man?
Could the statues be intentionally avoiding them?
'It's not impossible. Now that the statues have "come to life," they might possess human-like traits. Their desire to silence witnesses suggests as much,' Olivia whispered to herself.
Thinking of this, she immediately used a Lightness Talisman on herself, making her body lighter. This ensured that even in the quiet environment, her footsteps wouldn't be overly audible.
She stopped running openly down the street, instead moving to the side of the road, using the shadows of houses, trees, and crates as cover.
Before long, she spotted the young man from before. He was sitting by the roadside, having not yet left. Clearly, even with Vanessa's treatment, his mobility was still limited.
'No statues have attacked this man? Or is it that the statues don't want to be noticed by more people?'
Olivia looked up at the houses on both sides. Because of the young man's earlier cries for help, people in nearby buildings had been startled awake. They had been peering out their windows for a while, and even now, some had yet to look away.
'His emotions seem relatively stable for now. Is it because he received medical attention and saw that Ronan and the others are transcendents, making him feel the gallery situation will be resolved?' Olivia wondered.
She observed the surroundings. Assuming a statue was watching the youth from the shadows, waiting for the attention on him to fade before striking, there were actually very few places it could hide.
Olivia moved slowly through the shadows. After a short while, she paused, a look of "just as I thought" appearing on her face.
In front of a house facing the street, several trash bags were piled high by the door.
In the shadow beside the trash bags, a human-sized statue stood silently, watching the young man, looking ready to pounce at any moment.
Everything was exactly as she had guessed.
Olivia pulled the Cross Grace from her necklace, silently enlarging it, then crouched low as she slowly approached.
She didn't get too close. Once she felt the distance was right, she lunged forward, thrusting the Cross Grace violently into the statue's body.
The statue's head snapped around to look at her. Its stone face was expressionless, but the sudden twisting motion in the dead of night felt absurd and terrifying.
It raised its arm, swinging its heavy stone sword down. Before the heavy blade even reached her, it brought a crushing sense of pressure.
Olivia was not caught off guard; she leaned back, narrowly dodging the attack.
She had known from the start that since the target was a statue and not a living person, there was no such thing as a one-hit kill via vital points. It would require more extensive damage.
She gripped the Cross Grace and slashed diagonally. The statue's arm holding the stone sword was severed on the spot. With a few more swift strikes, she hacked off its other arm and both legs.
Finally, Olivia delivered a vertical cleave, splitting the statue in half from head to toe.
The sharpness of the Cross Grace was displayed to its fullest extent!
All of this was completed in a very short time, without making much noise. Even the young man in the distance didn't notice the commotion.
"That's dealt with, then?"
Olivia stared at the shattered statue for a few moments. Relying on her spiritual intuition, she felt that the sense of "life" within the statue had dissipated. Only then did she put away the Cross Grace and hang it back on her necklace.
She turned to leave, intending to help the others. Just because there was only one statue on her end didn't mean the others were so lucky. There might be more elsewhere, and Raymond or Rocas might not be able to handle them alone.
At the same time, Olivia asked in her mind, 'Magic mirror, magic mirror, I'm going to tell you what I've encountered. Based on the information from the monastery and the Daylight Cathedral, analyze what exactly is going on. It's like this...'
She quickly summarized the situation at the statue gallery. As soon as she finished, the magic mirror provided an answer.
【The highest probability is that this is related to the awakening of an uncontrolled-grade forbidden artifact, the Seed of Awakening.】
Rate on N.U.
