"Yes. everyone is safe," William said via telepathy. The gem on his chest glowed softly as he communicated with Ashe, who was still at the Academy, waiting for him. "Take everyone to the location of the dungeon, and bring Soleil with you. I will be there after I finish my business here."
"Understood. We'll wait for you at the Dungeon of the Horde," Ashe replied.
After a few more words of assurances, William ended the long distance communication and looked around him.
The entire forest was gone, replaced by a giant crater and scorched Earth that extended for over a mile.
'In the future, this area will become a lake, and give birth to new life,' William thought. 'I better return these girls back to their villages, but first I need to ask Charmaine and the others to give them some clothes.'
When William used the Flames of Purification to burn the Dryad, he hoped that the flames wouldn't hurt the townspeople. Fortunately, his fears didn't come to pass and all the girls had been saved.
It was quite unfortunate that the men had all been killed by the Dryad to use as fertilizer, so there was nothing that William could do about it.
He just hoped that after this incident, the town of Willowdale still had the strength to be able to move on.
"You there! You're a student from the academy, right?" a woman who seemed to be in her early thirties asked from a distance.
William recognized her because she was one of his teachers in the Academy. The pretty woman with long brown hair was one of the combat instructors in Hestia Academy, Professor Megan. She was tasked to supervise the students on this mission, alongside Professor Garen, and ensure their safety.
Since a Professor had already accompanied Princess Eowyn's group, Professor Megan accompanied the others in search of the clues for the latest disappearance.
The moment she felt a powerful fluctuation in the distance, she immediately ordered the students to return to the town, while she went to investigate.
When she arrived at the scene, she was immediately shocked at the battle that unfolded. Professor Megan saw William fight against a Myriad Beast until the battle was concluded, and she still couldn't believe what she saw.
If not for the fact that she recognized William's robe, that marked him as a student in Hestia Academy, she might have thought that he was one of the hidden Saints that was under their Headmaster's personal command.
"Professor Megan." William nodded his head in greeting. "Can you please send some people to help these ladies? They are very weak and unable to stand on their own. They are in dire need of rejuvenation potions to help their recovery."
"U-Undertood!" Professor Megan replied. "I'll go back to the town and ask our students, and the townspeople that we have located the missing people. Please, watch over them until I return!"
Professor Megan didn't even wait for William's reply as she left the scene in haste. Since she was a martial master, it wouldn't take her a long time to reach the town and get some help.
'Optimus, are you sure that she wasn't able to escape during our last clash?' William asked.
< The marker that I placed on her body disappeared completely after the explosion. Although I am not a hundred percent certain, the probability of the Dryad surviving that attack is very low. >
William sighed in relief because the Dryad was a very troublesome enemy. Her ability to escape by swapping her main body with a substitute was quite annoying.
Without the System's help, their target might have escaped somewhere else, and continued to terrorize innocents after lying low for a while.
'Now, I just have to deal with the unconscious people in my Domain,' William thought. 'I'll just wait for Professor Megan to arrive before I deal with them.'
——
When Princess Aila opened her eyes, she found herself lying on a bed in the room that she had slept in the day before.
Magic crystals illuminated the room, and the darkness outside her window told her that it was night time.
She was still half asleep, and the gears in her head had just started to turn. The Myriad Beast's poison had a very strong paralyzing effect and a weakening effect on its victims. This deadly combination prevented the Dryad's prey from ever mounting a resistance against her, as she slowly absorbed her victims inside her body.
A minute later, the images of what transpired flashed in her memories. All the drowsiness in her head disappeared when she remembered the bloody scene that broke her heart.
"Conan!" Princess Aila immediately tried to get out of bed, but her legs collapsed under her.
Just as her body was about to hit the floor, a powerful breeze swept under her, catching her in place.
"It's good to see that you are awake already," William said as he stood on the doorway, carrying a tray of food. "Sorry for not knocking, but I heard you shout Conan's name when I was about to knock on the door. I thought that something had happened so I opened it without permission. Are you alright, Aila?"
William moved his hand and Aila floated back on the bed.
"Sir William, what happened to Conan?" Princess Aila inquired. William could sense the anxiousness in her voice, so he decided to tell her the truth.
"Conan died," William answered. However, after seeing Aila's broken hearted expression he hurriedly continued his explanation. "But, you don't have to worry. He just needs to rest for a bit then I can summon him again before noon tomorrow."
"Are you telling me the truth?"
"Yes. So, wipe those tears on your face. Conan will be sad if he heard that you spent the night crying because of him."
William was truly surprised by Princess Aila's concern for Conan. He never thought that he would see someone react that way to the Little Devil's death.
'You've found a good friend, Conan,' William thought as he placed the tray of food on the table.
He then grabbed a chair and placed it beside Aila's bed in order to check her condition.
"Have you run a diagnostic spell on your body?" William inquired. "I did it while you were sleeping, but I didn't find anything wrong. I think it is best that you check your body first, and tell me if something seems amiss."
After William's reminder, Princess Aila closed her eyes and her body glowed briefly. Several minutes passed before a sigh escaped her lips.
"Aside from feeling a bit lethargic, everything is fine," Princess Aila replied. "This must be the after effects of the Dryad's poison."
William nodded. Optimus and him had come to the same conclusion. Princess Eowyn, Lilith, Kenneth, Pearl, and Professor Garen were in the same boat, but all they needed was rest to completely recover.
After finishing her diagnostic scan of her own body, Princess Aila stared at William with a confused expression on her face.
"Sir William, why are you here?" Princess Aila asked. "Aren't you supposed to head to the Dungeon of the Horde? Did you change your mind and choose the same mission we did?"
Princess Aila was aware of the mission that William had chosen for the Academy's Quarterly Exam. The dungeon he was planning to challenge was three days away from the academy by flying carriage, and was in the opposite direction of their mission.
She found it strange that the Half-Elf had suddenly appeared in Willowdale, just in time to save all of them from harm.
"I-I'm not saying that I am not grateful that you appeared to save us." Princess Aila panicked when she realized that she was interrogating their savior. "I am really thankful, but, could you have arrived earlier? If so, Conan might not have suffered so much."
The corner of William's lips twitched because he could sense the traces of complaint in Princess Aila's tone.
Even so, he also wished that he could have arrived earlier. If he did then his Little Devil wouldn't have had to suffer like he did.
"Eat first," William said as he took the tray from the table and placed it on her lap. "You will need to regain your strength before I summon Conan tomorrow."
Princess Aila nodded her head. Deep inside she was feeling guilty and ashamed. She didn't know what came over her, and said those things to William.
She was about to apologize, but William shook his head as he pointed at the food on the tray.
"Eat. if you don't, I'll tell Conan that you are not taking care of yourself."
"… Sir William, you're a bully, aren't you?"
William rolled his eyes at the Princess who was slandering his good name.
After the Princess finished eating, William left the room and sighed. He remembered what Optimus' had said about Conan's state when they arrived, and he hoped that the System had just made a mistake.
'I'll know when morning comes,' William once again sighed internally. 'Conan. You really did your best. I just hope that you will not take a gamble like this again in the future.'
Even if Familiars died, they could easily be summoned again after a twenty four hour cooldown. Just like the Angray Birds, they could resurrect over and over again.
However, there was an exemption. If the Familiar used 100% of its true power, they would gain great strength, but after that power faded, they would die permanently.
Even Chloee would only use 70% of her powers during battles, and would not exceed that mark.
Unfortunately, Conan had crossed that line. Although he didn't use a hundred percent of his powers, according to the System, he had used 80%. This was the thing that worried William.
He hoped that his honest and straightforward familiar would not suffer any kind of extreme backlash from going past his limit when he summoned him the next day.
