Chapter 80: The Shifting Worldline and Unseen Threats

So… when would they finally arrive? Would they truly pass this way?

Lovelenica continued to gaze down from the top of the tower. Although the Monster Hunt Exercise had been underway for some time, she hadn’t spotted a single soul from her vantage point.

She knew her location was deep within the Lost City, meaning it would take Lucia and her companions a considerable amount of time, even if they managed to reach this area.

Only now did Lovelenica realize just how protracted the passage of time could be in reality, a stark contrast to the swift descriptions in the original novel. She began to doubt whether Lucia’s group would even pass through here.

The limited visibility vexed Lovelenica. If Lucia and her companions were already engaged in battle with the Bloodkin, and she remained unaware, she wouldn’t be able to intervene in time, potentially allowing the Bloodkin to escape.

‘If only I had a telescope…’

‘Wait! That’s right, a telescope!’

Lovelenica suddenly grasped a crucial point. Participants in the Monster Hunt Exercise weren’t supposed to actively ascend the towers unless they required rescue. Therefore, no one on the tower would be able to see her.

Why not, then, assume a form that offered a far broader field of vision?

The next moment, with a mere thought, crimson mist swirled around Lovelenica. She instantly transformed into Nikola, her entire body shifting into a cloud of red mist for a quick change of attire—a process far swifter than donning clothes normally.

“Woah… Vampires truly are the monarchs of the night.”

Nikola stood at the edge of the tower, scanning the horizon. From the exact same angle, her field of vision was dramatically different.

The dilapidated houses below were now rendered in exquisite detail, and the wandering Specters were clearly discernible.

Crucially, Nikola’s visual range had nearly doubled compared to her human form.

With her expanded sight, she indeed spotted Lucia and her two companions moving towards her in the distance.

“Phew—it seems I was worrying needlessly.”

Seeing the trio, Nikola breathed a sigh of relief, instinctively reaching up to wipe away non-existent beads of sweat from her forehead.

However, just as Nikola was about to relax, she suddenly noticed something in her vision that shouldn’t have been there.

It was a black raven.

The raven perched atop a building behind Lucia’s group, seemingly observing them, yet Lucia and her companions appeared completely oblivious.

‘Is that the Bloodkin? Has it been following them from so early on?’

Nikola instinctively concluded the raven was the Bloodkin, believing it was waiting for Lucia’s group to expend more of their magical energy and completely lower their guard before striking.

However, Nikola quickly dismissed this idea. If the opponent were also an incomplete Bloodkin, they shouldn’t possess the ability to shapeshift. Moreover, Nikola sensed no living presence from the raven.

Therefore, this raven was not a Bloodkin, but a Puppet Familiar.

Nikola felt a flicker of confusion. Low-tier Puppet Familiars like this generally had little combat capability. While some individuals were even weaker than Puppet Familiars and could be killed with some effort, it was clearly a thankless task.

No one participating in a Monster Hunt Exercise would waste precious magical and mental energy controlling a Puppet Familiar.

In Nikola’s estimation, the raven appeared to be monitoring them. She surmised that the Puppet Familiar’s master was certainly not among the participants of the Monster Hunt Exercise. As for why they were monitoring Lucia and her companions, Nikola had no answers yet.

She meticulously recalled the details from the original novel. The word “raven” had never appeared during the Monster Hunt Exercise in the original text; there was no description of such a thing. If someone truly was monitoring Lucia and her companions without their knowledge, the omniscient narration should have at least mentioned it, but Nikola had no recollection of it.

Or perhaps, this was a change brought about by a shift in the worldline, which was why it wasn’t mentioned in the original novel?

Regardless, Nikola was now on high alert. The worldline had already changed, and she had no idea what situations might arise next. While she could partially foresee the future based on the original novel, the plot’s progression would no longer be entirely the same.

Nikola shifted her gaze back to Lucia and her companions. Their tactical coordination was precisely as described in the original novel: Attestor led the way, guiding Imeline and Lucia to areas where Specters gathered.

Lucia would then protect Imeline, creating a safe space for her to unleash wide-area bombardments on the Specter hordes. During this process, Attestor could draw a large group of Specters to the periphery.

Once Imeline finished clearing her area, Attestor would then eliminate the remaining Specters.

Their coordination appeared seamless, suggesting they had collaborated many times in previous Monster Hunt Exercises.

‘Hmph… still quite formidable, aren’t they?’

Nikola watched the trio’s synchronized efforts and couldn’t help but praise them inwardly.

Lucia’s group swiftly moved through the Specter hordes, accumulating a vast number of points. After a while, they finally reached the area where Nikola was stationed.

‘They’re finally here.’

Upon entering this zone, even in her human form, Nikola would have been able to see Lucia and her companions. However, Nikola had no intention of reverting, as the raven still trailed behind them.

Bloodkin senses were undeniably sharper. Nikola needed to remain vigilant in her current form to monitor her surroundings. While she would certainly act in her human form, she could use her Bloodkin form for reconnaissance, especially since no one could see her.

‘Hm? No! Who are they?’

The unfolding situation confirmed to Nikola that maintaining her Bloodkin form for vigilance was the correct decision. In her enhanced vision, she spotted several figures clad in dark, tightly wrapped clothing, following Lucia’s group from a distance.

Truthfully, if she had relied solely on Lovelenica’s human vision, she would never have detected these individuals who were deliberately concealing themselves. But with Nikola’s superior sight and perception, she easily spotted them.

It appeared this group was likely the controller of the raven. They were using the Puppet Familiar to monitor Lucia and her companions, following them from a distance that prevented detection.

Now, Nikola could confirm that the appearance of these individuals was absolutely not an original plot point from the novel.

‘Why are these people following Lucia and her companions? And how did they infiltrate the Lost City?’

Nikola’s gaze sharpened. Her intuition told her these individuals meant trouble, and Lucia’s group might be in danger.