'Maybe the number of beasts drawn here by our actions is quite large, but none of them are above level 25. So, Rina shouldn't have any trouble...', Lucy thought to herself after carefully surveying the surroundings, her gaze turning to Rina, who was in the middle of a pack of beasts resembling small feathered dinosaurs, each of her strikes taking down another creature.
'But the beasts Rina's fighting now, even though they're weak, look extremely aggressive. They can't even close their mouths properly because of their oversized teeth! And their claws… well, they're not that big, but they do look sharp. Plus, their attacks are very coordinated; there's always one trying to sneak around behind Rina… Ugh, maybe I should keep an eye on her for a while to make sure she'll be alright…', the longer Lucy watched Rina, the harder it was to leave her unsupervised. Although Lucy believed that Rina was handling herself excellently at that moment, and hadn't forgotten about the protective necklace she'd given her, capable of shielding Rina if one of the beasts managed to bite her, she still felt anxious seeing Rina surrounded by such fierce creatures that seemed to know no fear, refusing to back off even when one of their own exploded from a punch. What if an accident happened? Rina could trip, and then all the feathered dinosaurs might pounce on her.
Either way, it was hard for Lucy to let herself be controlled by lust again with so many hungry mouths surrounding Rina, so she turned toward Yara to inform her of her intent to keep watch over Rina until she could significantly reduce the number of beasts.
But before she could speak, Lucy caught sight of a faint mana flow circulating through the surroundings. Finding it suspicious, she focused more closely on the unusual movements of mana and discovered that the source was the marquis's son, or more precisely, a spot on his back. This spot contained a concentration of mana even greater than the most powerful magical attacks she'd encountered so far.
'What on earth? Could it be that the marquis' son has a second form? If that's the case, it's impressive that he's waited until now to transform, likely to catch us off guard. Or maybe he had to be beaten to the brink of death to unlock his full potential…', Lucy began speculating about the marquis' son's condition, feeling sure that an important event was about to unfold.
"What's wrong, Lucy? Did you spot a dangerous beast?", Yara interrupted Lucy's thoughts; it was clear from Lucy's serious expression and her tense tail that something wasn't right.
"It's not that. It's just… something strange is happening with the marquis' son…", Lucy began explaining to Yara what she had observed, uncertain how to proceed. With such an unusual amount of mana gathered in the marquis' son, a suspicious occurrence given his low level, it would be risky to approach him. So how could they take him back to the village?
Hearing what Lucy had discovered, Yara began to feel a dark premonition.
"Can you use your ocular powers to check from a distance if there's anything unusual on the skin of his back?", Yara asked, wanting to confirm her suspicions.
"Yes, if I move about 30 meters to the right…", Lucy responded quickly, realizing from Yara's tone that the situation might be more dangerous than she initially thought. She then used her skill, Steps of Light, to reach a spot where she believed she would have a clear view of the marquis's son's back.
"It seems he has a tattoo on his back, a sort of circle filled with symbols that keep shifting…", Lucy said as soon as Yara arrived beside her. "Since you suspected there might be something on his skin, I assume you know what the deal is with this tattoo, right?" Lucy asked, even though she, too, had reached a conclusion about the tattoo's purpose based on the sheer amount of mana it could no longer conceal; she believed that the marquis's son had likely become something akin to a ticking time bomb.
"Although I've never dealt with this kind of thing myself, I've heard rumors of people who became beast magnets or sources of poison, contaminating everyone around them. Strange tattoos were found on their bodies, and it was concluded that the culprit is a person with an extremely rare class that allows them to attack others through intermediaries, persons on whose bodies he leaves tattoos. Some think he is also responsible for large explosions that have taken place in well-guarded areas, although this theory remains unproven since the explosions wiped out everything within a 100-meter radius. As for the factors that trigger the tattoos and any patterns to predict their effects, no one has figured it out from the few cases found. The tattoos were never identical, leading some to believe their properties vary from case to case. No one knows how to deactivate them either, as they've only been found after they lost their effect and the host died...", Yara summarized everything she had heard from other mercenaries about the tattoos that had begun appearing on people found at the center of various disasters. These tattoos were now known as the "touch of death."
Lucy understood, at least to some extent, what they were dealing with and believed she had a fairly quick solution to "disarm" the marquis's son. Although she still had many questions, such as why a tattoo like this had appeared on the marquis's son's back, she thought it more important to focus on solving the problem quickly than to dwell on its causes.
"Judging by the large amount of mana sealed within this tattoo, I think there's a high chance one of its effects could be a massive explosion. Either way, I believe the best solution would be to kill the marquis' son, specifically by using one of my substitutes to do it after we take Rina and move several hundred meters away to ensure our safety. Of course, besides the possibility that the tattoo might either disappear or activate forcefully if the host dies, there's also the chance it could remain unchanged. In that case, I'd have no issue putting him in my storage space, which can hold anything non-living in exactly the same state as when it was stored. Come to think of it, that might even be the most favorable outcome, as it would leave me with a potential weapon of mass destruction. In this way, the marquis' son might finally reach his full potential...", Lucy shared her plan with Yara. Pressed for time, she doubted they could come up with a better solution than the one she had outlined.