Chapter 109: Everyone Report (1)
Reinhard nodded his head. "But this information at least helps us realize there’s a chance the Beast that Phineas is trying to summon might still descend from the Throne of Myth even if he doesn’t sacrifice 100,000 souls."
The others nodded slowly, understanding settling over them.
Vanna sighed. "This is troubling. I’m tempted to have the Professors intervene, but after hearing everything, I realize Phineas really might just cancel and go into hiding."
Roana’s frown deepened as she rubbed her head. "And if he does, then we would have lost a lead on the Sinners."
Gran sighed heavily while covering his face with both hands, and his fingers pressed against his eyes. "More importantly, it means he can just do this performance in another city. And this time, he would know not to involve students from Memento Mori Academy."
Scáth scoffed as her wine-colored eyes shined with anger and annoyance. "Meaning the bastard would be able to fully summon the beast and destroy the city."
Reinhard caressed his chin as he said. "He might even try to go bigger by using more souls... Or multiple cities."
Every expression in the room grew worse.
Marie’s face went pale while Joseph looked down, Nikki furrowed her brow, and Gran leaned back in the chair with a sigh.
Vanna nodded her head with a slight frown. "It’s obvious he knew you would report to the Academy and is basically using the fact that he can disappear as a threat to us. Normally, we wouldn’t care, but the Sinners have consistently been able to escape the Empire’s and other Kingdoms’ grasp."
Reinhard furrowed his brows, confusion mixing with concern. "Just how big was the force that was sent to try capturing them before?"
Vanna’s voice came blunt and flat. "Ten First Class Beast Masters and one hundred Second Class Beast Masters."
Reinhard’s eyes widened in shock as he froze before staring at Vanna in disbelief, while Marie blinked repeatedly before she furrowed hers.
Scáth’s eyes shone with excitement, and she muttered with barely contained energy. "Man, it must have been an amazing fight if they could escape from those numbers."
Vanna sighed as she said. "It was. The damage led to the destruction of an entire city, and most of the forces were injured while the Sinners escaped." She paused as she crossed her arms and continued. "And that’s only when the Sinners stayed to fight. There are times the Empire knew where they were, but the Sinners simply vanished once forces burst into the area. And the other continents, such as Frontair and Binah, aren’t having any easier time."
Silence fell over the room.
Reinhard sighed, but a part of him wasn’t that much of a surprise. Phineas himself is one of the Sinners and a weaker member at that, but his actions right now.
It would be enough for the Empire to send a majority of its forces to hunt him down.
But he was surprised that the Frontair continent having trouble was particularly shocking. Since they had the most Beast Masters in the world, they should have been able to use their numbers to find them.
It made him wonder if the Sinners’ escape method was similar to how Phineas had vanished with Anasha. Or did they have another member who could create a portal to take people away?
Reinhard then straightened slightly. "Let’s move on from that, since we already understand the stakes."
Everyone nodded, grateful for the redirect despite the weight of what they’d just learned.
Reinhard began describing the files on Beast Blood from the experiments, the healing properties, and the potential for granting abilities beyond normal Beast Master capabilities.
He detailed the compatibility requirements, the dangerous reactions when blood types didn’t match, and the theoretical applications that researchers had documented.
Everyone’s eyes widened in shock, with their mouths open and their bodies leaning forward with increased attention.
Niki tilted her head, crimson hair falling across one shoulder. "That sounds both amazing and insane... If it could really become a thing, then most wounds wouldn’t be a threat."
Roana nodded slowly, but her frown remained. "It would also mean people would become more reckless." She pointed directly at Scáth. "Like that one."
Scáth shivered with delight, her entire body trembling with anticipation. "This means I can be more daring in what moves I can do and hunt even better Phantasm Beasts!"
Roana sighed heavily. "See?"
Joseph chuckled despite the gravity of their situation. "But its ability to cure diseases and sickness would easily raise the life expectancy of the entire Hesod continent. No, the entire world."
"That’s true." Roana nodded with a sigh.
Gran leaned back in his chair, his expression growing more contemplative. "It’s more than that. It could give everyone healthy bodies, which is a good thing at first... But it also means increasing the size of organizations as the number of Beast Masters will definitely go up."
Niki blinked, realization dawning across her features. "Wait a minute... Wouldn’t this lead to those organizations hunting down Phantasm Beasts more frantically?"
Vanna nodded, her projection shifting to face Niki directly. "It wouldn’t just be them. Imagine towns, cities, empires, and kingdoms all working together to hunt down Beast Blood."
Everyone trembled at Vanna’s words, the implications crashing through their minds like falling dominoes.
Reinhard spoke slowly, working through the logic even as horror built. "It would lead to a war between Phantasm Beasts and humanity... Wait. A war?"
Vanna nodded with slightly narrowed eyes. "Yeah, it’s as you imagine. A war would produce enough souls for Phineas or the Sinners to summon any Beast they want from the Throne of Myth."
Reinhard sighed, his shoulders dropping. "If that really was another one of their plans, then it’s a pretty good plan, all things considered."
"Not for us." Roana said flatly. "But for them? Absolutely."
Vanna’s projection flickered slightly. "I will report this to the Medical Institute, and then we’ll see what should be done about it next. The only thing I can recommend now is that you make sure it doesn’t succeed."
Reinhard and the others nodded, with Scath slightly pouting at the loss of her beast blood injection.
Reinhard took a breath, then continued. "There’s one more thing. While I was investigating, another Phantasm Beast began wreaking havoc after escaping its cage."
Multiple eyes snapped to the wounds visible on his arms and face, suddenly understanding their origin.
"Based on what I saw in the files and what I experienced fighting it, I believe it was most likely summoned from souls being sacrificed. It wasn’t a naturally occurring Phantasm Beast, but it was something brought down from the Throne of Myth, probably as an experiment to test the summoning process."
"They’re practicing? Testing their methods before the main performance?" Marie asked.
"It would make sense. You don’t attempt something on that scale without smaller trials first." Gran said as he caressed his chin with a frown.
Scáth stood abruptly, energy crackling through her posture. "Then we need to find where they’re doing these experiments. If we can disrupt their testing, maybe we can prevent the main summoning."
Roana shook her head. "Or we alert them that we know too much, and they accelerate their timeline."