"What's wrong, Rose?"
"Could it be you've met their 'Royal Highness'?"
Rose massaged her temple, briefly glancing at Cyril before replying.
"Yes. We've... had an altercation with her, and she promised to take revenge on us."
"That's not good," Cedric mumbled with a frown.
"You don't say, genius?"
After taking a second to process the message, Myra looked at the two of them with concern.
"Vampires mainly use their sense of smell to track their targets. As long as we mask yours with magic, it will probably be fine.
"Probably?"
Rose breathed a sigh of relief, her expression turning a level brighter.
"You are right, and besides, it's not like the vampires can do as they please in the city. We only need to avoid going out at night and to unpopulated places."
"Yes! That weak princess needs to be on her best behavior. Otherwise her hard-earned freedom will go just like that!"
"And if she dares to come after us, we'll sic demons on her!"
Cyril nodded, his heart growing calmer.
...
After resting for a bit more, the group continued on their way.
Instead of leaving with Anna, once Cedric heard about their plans to visit the nearby lake, he eagerly decided to join them.
After a short walk they reached the lake's shore.
It was a peaceful picture. The tranquil waters mirrored the dark clouds that obscured the skies, creating a rather gloomy atmosphere.
There was no sight of the tiger anywhere.
Stranger still, their surroundings became abnormally quiet. Not a single trace of any other living being could be seen or heard anywhere.
Cyril peered into the waters of the lake. They were dark, their depth unknown.
"This place is rather eerie, isn't it?" said Cedric, looking around with unsure eyes.
"Why is it so empty?" Myra stared into the lake, a suspicious glint in her eyes.
"Look there!"
Anna pointed in the distance, towards a particular place on the shore.
The grass there was wet as if hit by a tidal wave and flat as if something had lain there for some time.
Cyril and the rest scanned the area, and he found a few conspicuous strands of orange fur lying on the ground.
He picked it up, observing it in more detail.
"It's from Tyrant..."
Cyril silently scanned the flattened grass around him.
In a way, it almost looked like something heavy was dragged from here and towards the lake.
He walked closer to the serene waters of the lake. Their darkness now appeared oppressive, as if hiding something terrible.
"..."
"Let's leave." Cyril turned around and began walking away.
After a slight delay, the others followed after him, a few having reached the same conclusion.
But just as he took a few steps, a piercing sound rang out across the whole zoo.
"Any... Must..."
It was similar to a message from before, but the voice became unrecognizable.
The sound was distorted and loud to an annoying degree, like something was constantly scratching at his ear.
This time everyone clutched their ears, but it didn't help. It felt as though the sound was reaching their minds directly.
A moment later the screeching finally ceased, and the group breathed a sigh of relief.
"What was that?" Rose asked while massaging her ears.
Before anyone could reply to her, something changed in the air around them.
Tigris cowered more than usual, and Morpho warily spread her wings.
Cyril found it harder to breathe, his heart beating faster and faster.
"Something's not right."
It was a familiar feeling to Cyril. He experienced it back during his first meeting with the archdemon Cosmas. Simply standing in his presence was somehow difficult.
The sense of oppression he's feeling now felt stronger.
The group stood in total silence for a few minutes, eyes warily scanning their surroundings.
Without any communication with each other, their eyes soon reached the same place, the lake.
They began making slow steps away from it, retreating.
Suddenly, the previously tranquil waters of the lake moved. As if hit by a storm, waves started forming from the middle of the lake.
There, a colossal black maw emerged.
Following it was a long, scaled body with spikes lining up on both sides across it. Their tips were made of what appeared to be crystal.
As the colossal serpent raised its body, the water level of the lake visibly started to drop.
The group stood frozen from shock, not daring to make a single movement.
The eyes of the colossal snake were unlike any Cyril had seen before. Its vertical pupils held intense hatred and rage. The ferocity within them was simply overflowing, stunning anyone who looked into them.
The eyes looked around it, as if scanning for the source of that annoying disturbance.
Just as the serpent's gaze was about to pass their position, their surroundings became slightly darker.
The snake ended up looking past them, not even acknowledging their presence.
Or failing to notice them.
The ferocious vertical pupils soon locked onto a tower with a statue of a tiger on top, the main building of the zoo.
It slowly slithered onto the shore and advanced toward the tower, destroying everything in its path with its sheer size.
As it left the lake completely, the water level dropped further, now leaving what can only be called a puddle in comparison.
In a short time it reached the control center of the whole zoo and started coiling around it until its head reached the very top.
With a ferocious glint in its vertical pupils, the snake constricted with all its might.
A loud cracking sound came, and instantly the high-rise building broke apart.
As simply as a child would snap a twig, the colossal serpent broke apart the tower of the zoo and dropped down on the ground.
With a gloating look, the snake flickered its forked tongue and coiled around itself.
It closed its eyes and began resting, breathing evenly.
Not a single magic creature dared to make a sound at this moment as this apex predator made itself known.
Only the quiet breathing of the colossal serpent was heard around the zoo.
"How- how could there be such a magic creature?" Rose stammered, her face holding a mix of fear and curiosity.
"How could such a creature be here?! What did the owner think?" Cedric nervously whispered, his hands clenched into fists.
They didn't even have the thought of escaping at the moment. It didn't feel like they would be successful even if they tried.
Thankfully the creature didn't pay any attention to the small fry around it and calmly went back to sleeping, only eager to get rid of the disturbance.
Anna fell to her knees, all the tension leaving her body.
Myra wiped the sweat off her forehead, her face a little pale.
"Let's go," Cyril whispered, holding the scared tiger cub in his hands.
The sight of the cute tiger mascot crumbling played again and again in Tigris's mind as he hid his face in Cyril's chest.
Morpho warily twitched her antennae, her wings drooping low.
In a low mood the group began going away from the lake, away from here.
"Myra, do you know anything about that snake?" Cyril whispered, glancing at the serpent sleeping right in the middle of the zoo.
"...That's Theches, a beast from the Eastern Mountains. But I don't understand how it could be here."
"There is no way some zoo owner was able to carry it away from its home."
She held her head, her eyes beginning to shake.
Before she could continue, Cyril put his arm on her shoulder.
"Let's meddle in this when we get stronger," he said as calmly as he possibly could.
Myra stared at his face for a few seconds, then slowly nodded.
"I never heard of a creature with a name like that," Rose said with a thoughtful expression.
"The Empire doesn't venture far from its borders. How could anyone know about it?" Myra replied with a somewhat mocking tone.
Rose widened her eyes but didn't say anything further upon observing Myra's rather unfriendly look right now.
"What do we do now?" Cedric cautiously asked once everyone became quiet.
His face appeared tired but still optimistic somehow.
"We leave the zoo," Cyril flatly said in response.
Tigris in his arms eagerly nodded his head. There was enough excitement for today on his tiger head. He only wanted to curl up and sleep on the soft bed back home.
Just as everyone was wallowing in the tense atmosphere, suddenly a figure landed in the group's path.
It was a man wearing knight armor with a sword and a crystal shield on his back.
His sudden arrival scared Anna, who immediately got behind the group.
"Don't worry, students, the knights are here to solve the situation!" The man raised his body and put his hands on his hips, looking very enthusiastic about his work.
Myra breathed a sigh of relief upon noticing him, as if having her doubts cleared.
"It must've been you... Thank you for saving us."
The knight eagerly nodded with a wide smile.
"Haha, sorry for arriving late, but we are here now!"
From the bushes calmly walked out a tall, thin man covered in plate armor from head to toe. There was a single-edged sword on his waist.
Flynn...
The knight they've met at the Tower sent Cyril one look, then stopped paying the students any attention, standing near the other knight as a piece of decoration.
"My name is Alfred, and my shy friend here is Flynn."
A quiet hmph came from the thin knight, and nothing more.
"Let's get you to safety..."
Alfred turned around and walked in a particular direction.
The group followed after him, as Flynn walked behind them, acting as an escort.
That's that... It was Cosmas who shielded us from the serpent's gaze, right?
"Seems like it."
Cyril scanned the nature around them, observing the zoo for the last time.
Suddenly among the trees appeared Cosmas in his tuxedo, waving him goodbye with a polite smile.
Cyril subtly glanced at Flynn walking behind him.
"What?" The thin knight growled in an unfriendly manner, noticing his sneaky glance.
"...We've met twice now." Cyril pretended nothing was wrong and glanced back at the trees. Cosmas was no longer there.
"I know." The knight grumbled and went silent again.
"All's well that ends well. I think it's an exciting end to our zoo trip."
...Maybe.