There was a reason as to why Emery couldn't sense the sign of Gennette's energy through his Spirit Reading before.
It was because there wasn't anything that could be felt from her anymore.
Gennette had gone from this world.
The sight of the beautiful girl who always greeted him with a smile and full of life was no more.
This realization quickly made Emery come out of his hiding spot within the shadows, and within a second, he had grabbed the serpent guard's hand, stopping the man from whipping another hit to the bound captives.
The guard whose hand got caught by Emery was very shocked to see a figure that suddenly came out of nowhere. Before he could shout and warn the others about the intruder, Emery had already landed a hard punch on the man's stomach.
BAM!
With the immense strength his 184 battle power provided, coupled with the tumultuous emotions he currently had, the poor guard was quickly sent flying a dozen meters away by Emery's punch and instantly fell into the abyss of unconsciousness.
So much for trying not to hurt anyone.
His not-so-quiet action was naturally noticed by another guard quite quickly, and the sound of a loud alarm could be heard echoing throughout the facility.
However, at this point, Emery didn't care about it at all. As if he had gone deaf, he simply walked towards the motionless body that was tied to a wooden pole. As he got closer and saw more clearly the torment she had been through, his heart felt conflicted and his emotions churned even more.
The half dying man, who was tied next to her and pleading for mercy earlier, struggled as he turned his bloodied head and looked at Emery with his droopy eyes.
"Mister… is sh… dead..? Genne… poor… girl…"
Emery just stood there as he spoke in a calm tone.
"Tell me… what happened."
With a gasping breath and weak voice, the man opened his mouth in response to Emery's question.
"We… we just did what we were asked… It's-" The man winced as the pain from his wound worsened. "It's my fault… I'm not careful.. I got caught…" Despair was evident on the man's face. "Ohh Gennette… I am sorry.. I'm sorry… it's my fault.."
The man cried like a little child as he said those words. It was clear that he blamed himself for her death.
On the other hand, Emery's face froze. He couldn't believe what he heard. There was no way that such a girl would be killed from probing an insignificant piece of information.
It was at this moment that Emery sensed the dozen or so saint-level figures, who were guarding the facility, approaching rapidly at his location. In fact, they were already close enough to see Emery's figure.
The shout from one of them was clearly heard by Emery's ears.
"Who are you?! What are you doing here?!!"
Emery, however, ignored their questions and the fact that they would arrive next to him at any moment. His mind was completely fixed at the figure of a lifeless girl in front of him. It was as if time had stopped in the area between the two of them who were already in different worlds - living and dead.
When one of the saint-level guards finally arrived and was about to come close, suddenly several dark roots the size of an arm emerged from the ground and entangled him from his feet. Panic and fear appeared on the guard's face as he realized he could no longer move.
"Magus!! Is he a magus?!!"
The abrupt display of almost instant casting immediately made the other saint-level guards wary about what the intruder was capable of. They quickly halted in their tracks and, from the gestures they showed, didn't seem to be planning on doing anything, which probably meant they were waiting for more reinforcement.
Meanwhile, Emery's attention was still on the figure of the young girl. Looking at the appearance of the lifeless corpse, he felt his heart ache. He couldn't help it; it was his fault, it was him who killed her.
Unable to accept such a situation, Emery approached the wooden pole where the girl's body was and pulled apart the rope that bound the girl. The moment he caught her falling body, he immediately cast [Nature's Blessing] at her.
It was the body of a mere mortal. Very fragile was the most apt description to describe it.
The girl seemed to have died because of excessive blood loss, which was caused by the bleeding from wounds all over her body. Her heart had obviously stopped beating a while ago, but Emery still continued to channel his spell to recover her body from the wounds. He wished to turn such torn body to the way they were, anything to pay for his mistake.
Then, as he was channeling the spell, Emery suddenly discovered an ounce of energy existed inside her brain. This, naturally, shocked him. His heart raced, it quickly gave him hope that she could be saved.
However, it was at this time that a figure dashed towards the courtyard where Emery was, a magus figure followed by another group of saint level individuals.
It seemed that Emery's previous Spirit Reading was mistaken, as he had not detected this magus figure earlier. Perhaps, the man was in an isolated space or possessed some kind of artifact that allowed him to evade detection.
It was a bald middle-aged man with Crescent Moon cultivation stage.
"Warden!" said the saint-level guards in unison as they paid their military respects to him. One of them then quickly stepped forward and explained about the situation.
The warden's expression darkened when the guard finished his explanation and he turned his gaze to Emery.
"Are you all idiots?! It's only one person! He's just a rank 8! Why are you all scared?!!" The warden berated his guard subordinates in a loud harsh tone.
Meanwhile, Emery was still ignoring the warden and the commotion he had caused. His entire attention was still focused on trying to save the girl.
The warden took a step forward and spoke to Emery. "State your identity, or we will take drastic measures!"
Emery took a deep breath and, while his attention was still on channeling [Nature's Blessings], said calmly without any aggression, "I don't want any trouble. Let me heal this girl, and I will turn myself in right after."
The warden, however, clearly became enraged by his answer.
"HUH?! A mere rank 8 intruder dares to talk big?!! Capture him!!!"
At almost the same time, five saint-level guards took action and pounced at Emery right after the warden gave the order. Not wanting to play around during such a critical moment, Emery responded to the aggression with his trump card and directly used his [Day Transformation].
[Battle power increased by 30]
[Battle Power 184 (214)]
[Day Wolf Form has increased your spell power.]
[Day Wolf Form has increased your magic resistance.]
Silver fur rapidly covered his arms and legs, while glowing green markings and a fang tattoo appeared on his chest and under his eyes respectively. The transformation finished at the same time as three dozen dark roots gushing out from the ground and covering the surrounding area, causing all the five saint-level guards to retreat.
"Wolf Bloodline!!" The warden exclaimed when he saw Emery's current appearance. "What are you doing here?!! Is this an invasion?!"
Emery shook his head when he heard the magus conclude that his appearance meant an invasion. This warden, although a magus, seemed to be a complete fool.
He simply looked sharply at the middle-aged man and said, "I am the princess's guest. Leave me alone at once!"
The [Day Transformation] came with a certain primal urge, coupled with his currently turbulent emotions, Emery almost lost all his patience at the warden's stupid attitude. Thankfully, with the magic enhancement the [Day Transformation] granted, Emery should only need seconds to heal and save the girl.
On the other hand, the warden seemed to have decided to stick with his assumptions until the end. Glancing at Gennette's body in Emery's arms, he sneered and said, "Huh! What princess's guest? You are definitely here for the human girl!"
The warden quickly gathered his spirit energy and cast a spell, manifesting several flame whips around himself which then burned all of Emery's dark roots to ashes.