Endless Journey: Infinite Realms

Chapter 604 It“s the Killer!

With the other Returners already making their departure, the only ones who witnessed the Grandmaster’s plight was Alex, Queen Mother, Professor Frances, and Teacher Kuro.

Except for Teacher Kuro, Alex and his companions all stared at the Grandmaster with slight surprise, as they seem to not expect what they were seeing.

"Alex, w-what is happening to him?" Professor Frances croaked out as her beady eyes widened from the torturous sight in front of her. "Why is-"

"Professor Frances, just like what I said earlier, we will already leave! If you want your questions answered, just ask those once we’re back to our home base!" Alex ignored the question asked by the professor as he began kicking the door out of his way. "Tsk, as expected, this place is a trap!"

Without waiting for any reply from the two, Alex continued pulling them away, this time for good.

"...." Both Queen Mother and Professor gave no resistance at Alex at this point, as both realized from the Grandmaster’s plight that the situation was indeed bad.

However, their compliance did not make them less doubtful of the situation.

Instead, Alex’s actions just filled their minds with more questions.

Why would Alex suddenly leave this place when he realized that the Crimson God was sneaked attack by a much more powerful person? With the amount of Returners present here earlier, shouldn’t this place be safe enough?

If Alex and the other Returners banded together inside the room, there should be no problems against someone sneak attacking them. But instead of doing that, all of them actually decided to leave!

And Alex did the same thing too, which infuriates his companions!

"I know that you two are confused. But just as I said, now is not the time to explain things." As if the doubts on their faces were obvious, Alex was forced to explain himself to the two women again. "We need to be in a safe place first before we discuss everything. So for now, please just keep quiet, ok?"

"...."

"Oh, you’re leaving already? That’s too bad, hooman. And here I thought you would want to watch what happens to the Grandmaster..." Unlike Queen Mother and Professor Frances, who were both worried by the turn of the situation, Teacher Kuro did not look anything like worried.

Instead, Teacher Kuro seemed to be like her same self earlier, with her hands crossed casually and her aura relaxed.

Even in the presence of the tortured Grandmaster, Teacher Kuro did not flinch even by a single bit. She did not do anything or even react upon seeing the Grandmaster’s swelling head, and the panic expected from her did not appear.

She just floated on her spot nonchalantly, with her bored face showing that she was treating the whole situation like it’s just a casual moment.

It was as if she was not surprised with what she had seen, something that made Alex feel suspicious of her.

"Teacher Kuro, you seem to know something about the Crimson God’s death and on what is happening to the Grandmaster. Care to tell it to us?" Alex suddenly asked, with his head now poking out of the door. "You know, I really hate it when someone does not tell the whole truth to me. So please, just tell it to me. Oh, and don’t try denying yourself. It’s obvious from your actions that you know the cause of the Grandmaster’s sufferings..."

"...You really are intelligent, just like what Asteria said in her reports. If you were just working under me, then both of us could have achieved a lot of things together..." Teacher Kuro’s expression stayed neutral even in face of Alex’s accusations, making it seem as if she had expected this too. "But even if I am impressed with you, Alex, I cannot tell you what you want to hear. If I tell you, everything will be boring already."

"Hah? What nonsense is that?"

"Well, I am the Custodian, so whatever I want to say will happen. As for what I don’t’ want to say, nobody present here can make me say it. And that includes this incident..." Teacher Kuro said with a giggle. "So if I were you, I would just do what I am supposed to do...."

"Tsk, what a pesky fairy. If you are adamant on hiding the details about this, then fine! Suit yourself!" Alex appeared to be trying to rein his temper in as he gave this reply, which made him look like someone who ate a whole sour lemon. "But remember this! Once I am done investigating, I will make you reimburse me for your actions here!"

"Reimburse? What a big word, Alex. I hope you have enough power to do that."

"Tsk, just you wait!"

This time, Alex did not let himself be stopped by any more distractions. At the very moment that he gave his parting words to Teacher Kuro, he began to resume his attempt to leave the room.

He already ignored the suffering Grandmaster on his side, as he focused on getting himself out as fast as possible.

But for the third time this day, Alex’s actions were interrupted once more.

"Splat!"

With a sound comparable to that of a popped balloon, the Grandmaster’s head suddenly burst open, spraying his blood and organic matter inside the room.

The bed, the ceiling, the walls, and all the other furniture was covered by the blast, instantly turning the whole room into a blood-stained place.

Alex and his companions were not spared too, with their bodies instantly getting drenched by the Grandmaster’s burst blood.

As for Teacher Kuro, she used her dodging skills to avoid the blood, leaving her clothes and body pristine clean.

"...."

Once his destroyed head had done its job, what remained of the Grandmaster, which was obviously his headless body, started to fall down like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Spurt spurts spurt..."

Blood continued to trickle out of the Grandmaster’s twitching body even when it’s already on the floor, which turned the floor into a darker shade of red.

"...."

Nothing else noteworthy happened after that, as Alex and the others were left silent while they stared at the now cold corpse of the Grandmaster.

"...."

Alex and his companions found themselves frozen at that point, as they found themselves unable to find a proper reaction to what had happened.

"Oops. So the Grandmaster was the 2nd victim. That’s too bad, I always like his plans. Now, I don’t get to see that anymore...." While Alex and his companions were unsure on what to do, Teacher Kuro showed how cold she really is by saying these words. "Well, at least the number of the competitors are now reduced. What do you think about this, Alex? Are you feeling happy now?"

"..."

"Aw come on, hooman. Can’t you even give me even just a small reply? I’m getting bored here already..."

"...Queen Mother and Professor Frances. Activate your Keys already." Alex slowly said, with the tension on his eyes replaced by a great calm. He ignored what Teacher Kuro was saying as he just focused himself on his companions. "I want you to do it within 5 seconds, without any delay. Quick, do it now!"

"What Alex? You want us to activate the Keys? But why?" Professor Frances blurted out as she wiped the blood off her glasses." Aren’t we conserving its energy-"

"Don’t stare at me like that! Just activate the Keys of the Legacy Weapon! If you don’t, then we’ll die here!" Alex suddenly bellowed, with his voice booming all over the two women like a bomb. "Do you want to die? If you don’t, then bring out those keys!"

"Hah? Are you really sure about this, Alex-"

"Argh! Can’t you get it? The one who killed the Crimson God has just killed the Grandmaster, and now its aiming for us three! With its proximity to us, there’s no way that we can run!" Alex added shrilly, which made the two back away from him a little. "The only way that we can survive this... is by using the Legacy Weapon!"

"!!!"

"This hooman is right. Now that the Crimson God and the Grandmaster are dead, their killer will now look for its newest target. Since it’s you three that are the nearest, then the killer will target you all." From behind Alex, Teacher Kuro gave this ’helpful’ hint, which did not really help matters.

"..."

"Tsk, don’t listen to Teacher Kuro anymore and just follow my instructions!" Alex seem to be tempted to slap Teacher Kuro away, but his current situation did not allow him to do so. After all, one of his hands was holding his weapon, while the other one held a large Key. "You there, Queen Mother, hold the Key on your right hand! As for you Professor Frances, place it on your mouth!"

"...."

"...."

With all the things that had happened, both Queen Mother and Professor Frances found it hard to keep track on what they should really do. But even with that confusion, they managed to follow Alex’s instructions.

Queen Mother dutifully held her Key on her right hand, while Professor Frances carefully bit hers.

"Good. Now, activate those keys instantly with all your powers." Seeing the quick actions of the two made Alex nod his head slightly, although he quickly ended it by giving more instructions. "Don’t stop even if the key is sucking your powers. Give it all to the Keys, even if it will kill you!"

"!!!"

"Argh! With my Conqueror’s Aura, I can sense the killer looking at me! Quick, you two! Do what I said already!"

"!!!"

S**t! I can feel it coming closer! S**t s**t s**t!"