historical

It was a pure massacre.

Kiara's team had managed to purge all the demonic rankers thoroughly. The only casualties on their side were the guards who had gone overboard to clear their names.

However, the guards' overzealousness allowed Kiara's side to gain momentum and build pressure on the demonic rankers. Without them, the rankers would have casualties in their hands.

Roald realized that this was what Kiara had wanted to achieve all along. She had used the guards' involvement with the demonic rankers as leverage to have no casualty on her team.

Roland wasn't in a position to complain about how Kiara had handled things anyway. If anything, he admired her for putting personal vengeance aside and using the guards to her advantage. This was the quality of a true leader. Something he always wished for.

The rankers started wrapping things up on site. The place started getting thoroughly searched for any kidnapped townspeople that had miraculously survived the event.

Bulal's base didn't have any resource of value that rankers could seize for themselves. So the operation was carried out easily without any conflict. They managed to find and rescue fifteen townspeople.

"Captain Miranda.."

Reece approached Miranda with stressed expressions. The latter knew what the green-eyed girl was thinking about. She shook her head and sighed before responding.

"I know Reece. But we can't do anything until the isolation array gets dispersed. We'd have to trust in Eren surviving by fleeing from Bulal Blood till then."

At this point, everyone knew about Eren's misfortune. They could only blame his luck for being present at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Don't worry. I'll personally lead the effort to locate Eren and that bastard. We wouldn't be able to call this mission a success if we didn't get rid of Bulal Blood for good."

Kiara approached the two rankers from behind and announced. She wanted to end the mission on good terms after all. Kill Bulal Blood without any casualties. This would be an apt conclusion to the kingdom-level mission.

This type of result would assure that Stardust guild gets a three-star rating. It would also make Kiara and Miranda a valuable asset to the guild, giving them additional perks.

The isolation array was dispersed after some time. Just when Kiara was about to launch her search operation, it ended abruptly as the target of the search was seen approaching the site.

"Eren!"

Reece quickly approached Eren before embracing him in her bear hug. If Eren hadn't anticipated the scene beforehand, he would have thrown off his balance because of the sheer force of the impact.

"Hehe. I survived."

Eren chuckled before caressing Reece's back. He then separated himself from her before looking at the rankers who had surrounded him at this point.

Miranda and Kiara were standing in front of Eren. The fire-element ranker smiled at Eren before speaking up.

"It's fortunate that you managed to survive, Eren. I have targeted that old demon's legs the most during our battle.

Thus, I was confident that you would be able to run away from Bulal."

Eren smiled cunningly at Kiara's words. He stepped forward before removing something from his storage.

In the next moment, Kiara saw the decapitated head of someone lying in front of her. She and others around her took a while to realize who it was.

"Bulal Blood!"

Roland exclaimed in utter shock as he identified the decapitated head. The demonic ranker that had terrorized his town was no more. That realization put an unmasked smile on his face.

However, he couldn't believe that a Meta Ranker had managed to kill someone of Bulal's caliber. An old demon who was close to achieving an Arch rank.

"How?"

Kiara asked Eren with an incredulous expression. This was the question that occupied everyone's mind. Eren had the answer ready in his mind.

"It's all thanks to you. The injuries you gave Bulal were too severe for him to just brush them off."

Eren said and described the events between him and Bulal after they were sent to a different location by the red runic array. He mixed a bit of truth in his lies to concoct a believable story.

It was indeed true that Bulal had sustained severe injuries in his battle against Kiara. But what had killed him was Eren's seemingly inexhaustible barrage of spells.

Kiara found Eren's story believable. However, she was still amazed that a Meta Ranker had dared to try his luck against the old demon.

"So will I get a reward for killing Bulal?"

Eren asked while scratching the back of his head with an innocent smile on his face. The other Meta rankers couldn't believe that someone like them was planning to claim a large sum of bounty for dealing a final blow to their mission's main target.

One of the Meta rankers who originally belonged to Kiara's team couldn't accept this. He came forward from the crowd and pointed a finger at Eren before speaking up.

"Captain Kiara, I don't think this guy deserves a reward for something you have worked and fought hard for.

Bulal was already a goner when he.."

Kiara interrupted the guy's words before he could finish them.

"Hector, that's enough. Bounty rewards aren't based on effort or involvement in the hunt. The only requirement it has is someone killing the person who has a bounty on their heads.

Eren, you will have the bounty reward for killing Bulal Blood all to yourself. I assure you."

Kiara said with a frown on her face while looking at Hector. It seemed she didn't like a Meta Ranker lobbying for her to oppose someone who had managed to kill Bulal.

Ulag wasn't happy that he was made to shut up by Kiara. He directed his anger at Eren, looking at him with clear signs of suppressed fury. Eren just ignored the guy who he thought was too much of a bother to engage with.

Miranda was also happy that someone from her team had managed to kill Bulal. She looked at the decapitated head before asking what she had in mind.

"By the way, Eren. Where is the rest of Bulal?"

Eren pursed his lips a bit before answering casually.

"I shall destroy everything that tries to destroy me."