Descending Into A Novel-Chapter 110:City of Creatures(8)

Seeing the same individual they were previously tailing, both Raymond and Ellen immediately focused. They still had a few more days before they left the city, but any time saved was always a good thing. Neither of them had even yet to actually explore the city as tourists and not for their mission. Considering the city was one of the most iconic tourist hotspots in the world, he really didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

In the previous timeline, upon seeing that the mission was completely normal without any secret undercurrent whatsoever. He hadn’t even included it inside his novel!

Stuff like this was just too boring to include after a point.

Especially the daily life of Zachary. The guy may have been the main character, but his daily life was unbelievably boring.

Wake up, eat, train, class, eat, train, train, train.

All he ever did was train! If one described his daily routine, it would make the word train sound weird in their heads.

Raymond would rather crawl under Ellen’s bare feet then live such a dull and boring life, in fact. Making sure his life wasn’t boring was one of the few things that still kept him sane with how long he had lived. It preserved his humanity and emotions better then anything else. Compared to someone like his father, who had practically lost all that kept him human as a consequence of chasing his goal. Raymond always made sure to take steps to never turn into someone like him.

Plus, throughout their five years at the academy. The entire group undertook loads and loads of missions. Unless it was interesting or memorable, Raymond never included it in his novel.

But to think this was the first mission where Ellen was finally making use of her regressor knowledge, after spending a year at the academy already.

Raymond let out a tsk, wasn’t the whole point of going back in time to fix all your past mistakes and get a better life?

---

"Ellen, why don’t you use your future knowledge to like...invest in stocks or something?"

She raised an eyebrow, "I’m already rich?"

"..."

Ignoring the brief pause, he continued. "Then what about finding secret weapons or elixirs?"

"I already have the Kairos bow and arrow? Besides, you think I haven’t consumed any elixirs as a kid?"

Most elixirs lost their effectiveness after the first. So children from families like Ellen had practically consumed every elixir they could as as kids to boost their talent, mana and body.

"Then what about dealing with threats in advance?"

"You want me to go fight them at my current level?"

Most notable threats were those who had achieved their strength decades ago and quietly hid. Not everyone could be like the group and reach the SS-rank in only two decades.

---

Raymond remembered why she never used her regressor knowledge now.

Jumping down from the rooftop, both of them grabbed hands midair as he casted an invisibility spell on them. As well as several other spells to make sure they wouldn’t be spotted—scent removal, sound removal, presence removal. Everything he could think of. Even Audrina would be impressed at their current stealth (even if it was all magic).

The two, now invisible. Landed on the bustling streets silently, without a single thud despite the massive drop.

Even if there was a sound, the ambient noise would have easily drowned out their falling. Countless animals constantly barking, mewing and everything else. With all of the animals, the city was quite loud.

"What the?"

"Sorr- huh..?"

Amidst the crowd of people, the two invisible presences made their way through. Weaving and pushing through the occasional pedestrian as they followed the ordinary brown haired woman. Which caused quite a bit of confusion for the few they bumped into.

Raymond, who was leading. Stopped walking, the two of them now only a few feet away from the individual they were tailing.

Since they couldn’t speak they communicated via morse code, tapping on each others palms since they were holding hands to prevent them from losing each other.

"Rdy?"

"Y"

Since Morse code was slow, they resorted to short form of the words. Besides, if the meaning got through, then that was good enough.

Taking a step closer, Raymond was only a foot away from the individual now. As she opened the door to the suspected building, Raymond immediately slid inside after her, followed by Ellen doing the same.

As the door naturally closed, without her noticing. Two invisible presences had just followed her through.

Right when the door clicked close, Raymond immediately felt the familiar sensation of being teleported. His entire body going weightless for a brief second before being subjected to gravity once more.

Looking around, Raymond found himself in a decontamination room. With the smooth white tiling, reflecting lights bright enough to blind him. The entire place practically screamed ’se ret laboratory!’

The intense smell of disinfectant and hand sanitizer as well stung his nose. The faint floral scent doing barely anything to hide the smell of chemicals. How these people managed to keep a still face was beyond him.

Raymond felt a small tug on his hand, pulling him towards the woman they were supposed to be tailing while he was still busy looking around.

"Flw."

Slipping in through the airlock doors after her, Raymond blocked his nose with one hand as the intense smell of disinfectant hit him once more.

As the sealed doors on the other side opened, Raymond let out a small breath.

This place was massive.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise, stronger monsters tended to be on the larger side after all. The space required for their containment would naturally quadruple.

But this was insane, it was like a massive underground warehouse. Powerful lights overhead beaming down, illuminating everything. Heavy-duty fans and ventilation systems kept the entire place with fresh air.

From here, Raymond could see that the place extended even further downwards and sideways through smaller tunnels.

It was like an enormous underground zoo.

"Hey Colleen. You’re pretty late today aren’t you?"

A man, wearing a white lab coat with rectangular glasses greeted the individual they were following.

She nodded,"The place I usually go to for breakfast was packed that day. Anything important happen?"

"Not much, RD’s been acting up lately so you might have to go calm her down. You should probably change first."

"I’ll go get the candy then. Anything else?"

Seeing the two engaged in conversation. Raymond and Ellen moved away, searching the laboratory was their priority right now.

Along the way, Raymond made sure to take as many pictures, videos and recordings of everything. He needed proof to convince Zachary and the others after all.

Just a simple recording showing the illegal activities would be enough for Zachary’s heroic character to immediately shine through, no system required. Although it would almost certainly issue a quest.

But Raymond was looking for something different. He needed evidence that demons were involved in this somehow. Whether as experiments or experimenters. Then Thomas would also follow along, and they would have justification to not involve the authorities. So instructor Sienna wouldn’t be mad at him as well.

Such a massive lab, with so many rare specimens and talented researchers. There was no way the Mercia Family was blind to it all.

Making their way through the maze of glass cages, Raymond mentally made a map of everything. For when they returned.

Just as they were about to walk past another cage, Raymond’s eye caught a strange purple mass in one of them.

He paused, making Ellen stop as well as he looked at the purple creature up and down.

The best way that Raymond could describe this animal was a purple horse with armour made of fire. Sharp and jagged protrusions with a mane and tail of purple fire gave it an extremely intimidating look.

But that wasn’t the main issue. The issue was that Raymond and Ellen recognized this specimen very well!

Night Blazing Horse.

An extremely rare creature that had the potential to grow to the SS-rank. It was a mount that any awakened would be lucky to own. It was a steed that couldn’t be bought with money or power. The last time such a steed was ever in the free market, it caused a crash so bad that the government had to step in. As so many Families were selling off so many assets in order to try and obtain it.

The problem was that these monsters only ever came in a black colour! Hence the name ’Night Blazing Horse’ as they were nocturnal and it helped them to blend in more. Such a rare purple mutation had only ever been seen once!

There was only ever one recorded instance of a purple Night Blazing Horse.

In the previous timeline. The purple Night Blazing Horse was owned by Lucy. One of her most famous beasts aside from her Ashen Wolf (Cador).

"Ws Lcy hr?"

It was very obviously the one Lucy would soon own in the future. One of her few bonded beasts and not just a casual pet.

When the Bloody Fang Dragon broke out, the rest of the animals likely escaped as well during the chaos. Which meant Lucy likely managed to obtain it afterwards.

Raymond, using his free hand. Quietly drew a tracking engraving on the glass wall.

He and Ellen had no use for such a thing. But Lucy would definitely appreciate it, since she had joined the academy this timeline. Her future had drastically changed. It was unsure whether she would be able to obtain this particular Night Blazing Horse in this timeline. Same thing with her other bonded beasts, it was unknown whether she would be able to obtain her wyvern and griffin in this timeline.

An intricate circular engraving soon pulsed in a dim blue glow, before turning clear. Hiding its own existence.

Lucy would be more likely to help them out now as well. The chances were high previously, but this would seal the deal.

After all, just like Arthur was. Lucy was also considered a pseudo-hero. Meaning she was still a good person who contributed to humanity massively. Even if she almost became a demon contractor.