Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Eren's study. Kukenan Plateau. The city of White Raven.

A spectral array link had been established inside the study, allowing a B-Ranked elf to be present inside Eren's room in a spectral form.

The butcher was sitting further back near his study table. He let the two sides talk peacefully before getting down to business. Argo lay on the ground near his feet in his lion form. He opened his beastly maw to chew on red meat which was still sending out threatening vibes.

Even though he could not eat it using regular means, he would often use his Ability from time to time. In doing so, he could obtain the potent essence contained within it. One would have to wonder who would let their D-Ranked demon beast eat the flesh of a Monster King.

Nina, Amory, and one other member of Healers' Nirvana were interacting with the spectral rendition of their weak-looking guild master. The rankers from both sides had exchanged their situations, enabling them to understand what had transpired at the time of the attack on the guild.

"I see. It couldn't be helped if you were trapped inside the ruins. I'm glad that you are all okay."

Jiana Jiang said with a weak smile on her face. It was clear that she was struggling with her problems. But she didn't want to burden Nina or Amory with them.

Amory could understand Jiana's pain the most because he had been a long-standing member of the Healers' Nirvana even before the current guild master herself. The guild was established by Jiana's parents and handed to her when she achieved Master's rank. Her parents had left Anfang to pursue their breakthrough into Sage rank, handing all their responsibilities about the guild to her.

Jiana was in the prime of her life when she was given the responsibility of handling such a prominent guild. It was low in terms of guild members. But it made up for that by hiring only select rankers who were a cut above the rest in their generation.

Amory was like a caretaker of the guild who had close relations with Jiana's parents from his young days. Since he had stayed within the guild all these years, he had witnessed the guild's affairs up close. Jiana was the guild master of the guild. But even she would ask for Amory's advice from time to time regarding administrative matters of the guild.

Thus, Amory could understand how hurt Jiana was. The guild's strength was the elite rankers, which were already few. And even that number had been cut down to almost nothing.

Jiana was a very caring ranker. She was too attached to the guild members she could count on. As such, she was even involved in their personal lives as well.

Thus, when the attack on the guild took place, she tried to prioritize protecting all the guild members' lives. And in doing so, she couldn't save any of them. Her emotionally-driven decisions at the time of the attack also made it possible for the cultists to cause such destruction to the guild's resources.

In the end, Jiana's demon beast Bilo was critically injured while trying to protect her. Jiana also received a soul-related injury in the process. As a result, she looked like she was having a series of nightmares.

With only 20% of the guild's total members alive, Healers' Nirvana could not continue their business as usual. They had to give up all the pending missions, not having the strength to complete them.

The loss of ranking resources was tremendous. A lot of the guild's wealth was invested in the resource-rich lands it owned. The destruction of such lands flushed all the investment down the drain.

The kingdom tried to help. But it was like dousing a burning house with a glass of water. Almost all the survivors of the tragedy were injured and needed constant care, which also needed money. And the members that had survived and were physically fine had applied for their contract termination. That's because of the fear of the cultists coming back to finish what they had started.

Jiana was broke. Due to various reasons, her workforce was no longer able to function. She couldn't even blame the guild members who were trying to leave her. It was natural that everybody would try to leave the sinking ship.

It was safe to say that the guild known as Healers' Nirvana was about to become extinct. Jiana's parents' legacy was about to end at this point. Despite her status as a high-ranking entity, Jiana looked physically and mentally weak as a result of suffering through all this.

"Kiddo, don't give up. It'd sound rich coming from me but breaking into Grandmaster rank won't be too difficult for you. I'll even go ahead and say that you have the potential to become a Sage.

Even if Healers' Nirvana is… even if it is no more…. You still have a future. You can start the guild anew when you become a Grandmaster ranker."

Amory said to Jiana in a voice coated with emotions. He tried to cheer the girl up because he had seen her grow up into a fine woman. Amory had no family of his own.

So he treated Jiana as his daughter and most members of Healers' Nirvana as part of his extended family. He had already decided that he wouldn't leave Healers' Nirvana until its last breath. Ironically, both his days and the guild's days seemed to come to an end at the same time.

The kingdom of Edinburgh would provide special privileges to rankers who had managed to break into the Grandmaster rank. It was a way for the kingdom to incorporate these A-ranked monstrous individuals into its fold.

This was also one of the reasons why Amory was trying so desperately to break into the Grandmaster rank. The dying guild would have been given a new lease on life if he had managed to pull it off.

Alas, Amory's dream was about to remain a dream. And Jiana's chance to resurrect her guild was deemed a lost cause without it.

Or so they thought.

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AN: Jiana Jiang was first introduced in chapter 650.