"How is it?" Clovis asked Kanaria, who was looking at the area around the tower. They were hiding in the darkness, but they still had to be careful because there was a high chance the beasts would notice them.
Kanaria squinted her eyes. "It's fine for the time being. It's not that bad. The monsters are well spread, so it's not that big of a problem.
"However, there's something weird about this city."
"Something weird?" Clovis frowned.
"Yeah." Kanaria pointed to the left before to the right. "If you look at the movement of the beasts around here, you will notice that their behaviors are similar."
"What do you mean?" Clovis crossed his arms. "Similar…"
"On the surface, the beasts inside the sewer system and the ones on the surface behaved differently, right?"
"Right now, these guys behave similarly."
"!!!" Clovis raised his eyebrows, understanding what she wanted to say. "Do you mean there's one ruler?"
"Yes. Although we don't have the full view of the city, a city of this size should at least have multiple rulers. Yet, at least half of the city is moving in unison. I don't know the exact scale, but it's clear that they're under a single overlord. Maybe Tier 6… but if this is truly what's happening to the entire city… I'm afraid…" Kanaria's expression turned grim.
"A Tier 7 beast, huh?" Clovis squinted his eyes.
He had prepared their team to fight against a Tier 7 beast, but it wasn't ready yet. After all, he still needed Reolf, Melody, Ragna, and Christina to evolve first.
After all, they wouldn't fight only the Tier 7 beast alone. They had to exterminate all the beasts under that beast.
Hence, Christina would be the one to stop the Tier 7 beast while the rest of the team fought together to kill the rest of the beasts before ganging up on the Tier 7 beast.
It might look like Christina was the key, but even if she managed to evolve alone, the team wouldn't win. After all, the group didn't have the necessary strength to swiftly kill all the beasts. They might be able to do it, but it wasn't fast enough. As a result, Christina would be exhausted before they finished, which would result in a disaster.
Hence, Clovis had to be careful when Kanaria mentioned the Tier 7 beast's existence right away.
Clovis remained silent for a while as he couldn't help but wonder what they should do.
Kanaria, on the other hand, continued with the report. "The Essence Bank is located not far from here. In fact, it's only several buildings away from here. Standing between us is the military facility."
"Military facility, huh?" Clovis thought that this facility should have some equipment for them to use, mostly explosives. It could reduce the enemy's number significantly, but it would also attract the Tier 7 beast.
But after Kanaria mentioned the military facility, Clovis couldn't help but think about something else.
"Now that I think about it, what's about the guns on top of the wall? Even though some have been destroyed, there should be some still intact, right?"
"That's actually a problem." Kanaria sighed. "Even if they're intact, I don't know how to use them. After all, they were made a few decades ago. They're quite outdated. I don't think the machine is good enough to be used right away. Heavy maintenance is probably required. It's in the same state as the weapons in the surface city."
"…" Clovis paused for a moment. "In that case, we have no other choice but to use anything we can find. First, let's check the military facility and use whatever is still usable.
"Where is the explorer association?" Clovis remembered that the association had a lot of facilities as well.
"It's in that direction. Almost the next block." Kanaria pointed in another direction.
"That's troublesome." Clovis frowned. It was understandable, considering the Essence Bank and Explorer Association were in the opposite direction.
"Yes. I believe we should focus on one first. We should prioritize our main problem, which is evolution. So, I believe we should go to the Essence Bank first. If there is still essence in their vault, we can use it to break through. Even if it's not a super injection, which means taking longer, it doesn't matter as long as we can evolve," suggested Kanaria.
"Yeah." Clovis nodded. "Let's go back. You inform the others about our new objective and plan."
Kanaria agreed and walked away. Meanwhile, Clovis called Rena.
"Yes, sir? Do you need anything from me?" Rena picked up the call weirdly fast.
Clovis raised two fingers. "There might be a Tier 7 beast hiding inside the underground city. If anything happens, we won't die, but it might not be safe there. So, prepare to evacuate yourself the moment you notice anything weird. I might not have enough time to inform you about it."
"!!!" Rena looked shocked. "Tier 7?"
She had understood the power of the Libation Fiesta, but a Tier 7 beast was different. She was worried because Clovis' party was still too weak compared to a Tier 7 beast.
However, Clovis casually continued, "As for the second matter, do you know how to unlock the Essence Bank's vault? Unlike the one above the surface, this one is much bigger. And according to history, everything from the bank on the surface is stored in this underground city. Considering the jurisdiction, this should belong to me, right?"
Rena thought for a moment. "Yes. According to the special right granted to you, everything is yours. Still, for a vault , they're usually strong enough to be impenetrable, so destroying it is impossible, whether it's you or the beast.
"Please give me some time. I will try to coordinate it with the government and see if we can obtain the right to open the vault."
"Got it. I will leave it to you then. We're preparing to go there, so please hurry up."
Rena coordinated everything for Clovis, which was actually not hard. In the end, it was just a matter of Clovis getting information about the vault, which would show Clovis' location. Still, the Essence Bank was a neutral force, so they would have to pay a huge price in case Clovis' information leaked.
Unbeknownst to Rena, giving the information about the vault to Clovis would actually result in losing contact with the Libation Fiesta.