That was enough Evolution Points to run a decent guild, and unless the mysterious SSS-rank awakener was a guild leader, it was simply impossible to accumulate such an amount single-handedly.
And even if they were one of the successful guild leaders, it should be impossible to withdraw such an amount from the guild’s treasury for whatever real-life affairs they had. Which led her to the ultimate question...
Who could that be...? And what could possibly give a person that many Evolution Points?
The dragon crossed her mind at that moment, but Black Rose quickly dismissed the thought, knowing that as ancient as the Mythic Dragon might be, it still couldn’t generate that many Evolution Points.
That was when a second thought crossed her mind. Something she might’ve overlooked and totally forgotten.
"Cindra, do you remember seeing anything strange when we arrived at the crater?"
Cindra fell silent for a moment. "Did you find the receding water strange too?" she asked sharply.
Black Rose silently nodded in reply.
It was indeed strange for a body of water to survive not just at the peak of the volcano, but also not get evaporated under the intense heat of the dragon’s flames that had scorched the entire terrain.
Except what she saw earlier wasn’t normal water, but a remnant of the mysterious beast’s abilities that had rivaled the Tier 9 Dragon... and won.
Then again, that wasn’t the only strange thing that had happened that day. Because before the appearance of the Mythic Dragon, which should’ve been a hidden boss, there was another hidden boss that had terrorized the mountains and drawn so much attention that it became one of the top-grossing clips up to that moment.
What were the odds that two hidden bosses would appear at the same time, in the same place?
She knew hidden boss events could only be triggered after certain requirements were met.
So what were the odds that the Mythic Dragon event was triggered by the first hidden boss... the slime?
Black Rose fell silent as she stared at the mysterious figure in black disappear into the central bank with the press at his back, and it clicked for her.
An unrelated event from earlier that day crossed her mind. It seemed unrelated at first, until you began to piece the entire sequence of events together.
"Cindra, do you remember the slime we met at the city gate?" she asked her friend in a serious tone.
"Yeah...?" Cindra replied uncertainly, wondering why Black Rose was suddenly bringing that up.
"And do you remember what the guard said after the slime left... something about the slime asking to pay with a Legendary-tier Item?"
"I remember that as well. But what does that have to do with anything?"
"Do you think it’s possible for one hidden boss event to trigger another hidden boss event?" Black Rose asked sharply.
Cindra fell silent for a moment, the confusion evident on her face, before her expression changed. "Are you saying...?" She shook her head as she laughed at her friend’s train of thought. But when she saw the seriousness in her tone, she couldn’t help but think it through once more.
She knew her friend for being smart and accurate with her predictions most of the time, so if she sensed there was something off with the slime, then there must be a valid reason. And now that she thought about it, there were simply too many.
From an overconfident slime—thinking back to how the slime wasn’t fazed by the insults of other players and the discrimination of the guards—to the absurd excuse the guard had given.
She also remembered the slime specifically mentioning that he wanted to go into the city to sell his loot and was willing to pay 5 gold coins just to get in, meaning his loot probably cost way more than that.
"I’ll investigate it immediately," she concluded and turned to disappear into her room when Black Rose called out to her.
"Cindra, also check his whereabouts inside the city. Who he met and what they discussed. And lastly... contact anyone who was in the city before it blew up. I need the details of the notification they received after death."
Cindra was unsure about that last part, as it was simply impossible for the terrain to be destroyed by any other beast if not the Mythic Dragon. But she nodded before disappearing into her room.
Black Rose paced around the room for a moment, occasionally glancing at the TV for new updates on the mysterious figure.
This wasn’t just about him. It was about getting to the root of what had clashed with the Mythic Dragon and made it disappear with it.
And honestly, investigating a slime made her feel stupid, but it was the only lead she had.
Though a slime could generally never get to such a level in Evolution Online, everything just pointed to it.
It was simply hard to believe that a hidden boss event had triggered another hidden boss event at the same location. But... what if the first hidden boss was actually a player?
If that assumption was correct...
That ruled out the first mystery.
Again, it was hard to believe that there was another beast in Evolution Online capable of soloing a Mythic Dragon that destroyed an entire terrain with its flames and then disappeared into thin air. But... if that mysterious beast was a slime known for devouring its prey, and a player who simply logged out after that.
If that assumption was correct...
That also ruled out the second mystery.
The fact that water had been spotted in the zone made the theory irrefutable. But before she could come up with any more strange theories, Cindra rushed out of her room.
"I spoke with the guards, and they confirmed that the slime had actually asked if he could pay with either a Legendary-tier Item or Evolution Points. Then I went ahead to track his whereabouts and learned he met with a merchant in the city wanting to sell an actual Legendary-tier Skill Book," Cindra reported swiftly with a look of surprise.
Black Rose absorbed the information quickly, but was more interested in the last thing.
"What about the death notifications?"
"As for that, I spoke with a few people who were in the city at that time..." Cindra paused dramatically.
"And...?" Black Rose pressed.
"It was the dragon that killed them. All of them," Cindra said and almost rolled her eyes. "C’mon, Rose, you don’t possibly think it was the slime, do you?"
"The slime might be shady, but it’s still a slime at the end of the day. It’s simply IMPOSSIBLE for a slime to even deal a fraction of that damage—"
Cindra was interrupted when her phone began ringing, and she left to pick up the call, leaving Black Rose, who had barely heard what she said, alone in the living room, her mind running on overdrive about what she could’ve missed.
When Cindra rushed out once more with more news, "Rose, you have to hear this..." she said as she put her phone on speaker, and a foreign voice came through.
"After you asked about the death notification, I decided to check again, and you won’t believe what I discovered... the Mythic Dragon that destroyed the entire city had a negative status effect that downgraded it to a Tier 7! Aren’t dragons really scary?"
The two girls frowned as they fell into deep thought, but the voice from the other end didn’t stop talking.
"You won’t believe that we were all scared that the slime hidden boss was coming down to the city, when BOOM! There were flames everywhere—"
"Wait, what did you just say?" Black Rose immediately interrupted the enthusiastic storyteller.
"Huh? I said we thought the slime hidden boss was coming down to the city after we escaped the mountains—"
"Why would you think that?" Black Rose asked sharply.
"Oh, y’know the white mist the slime hidden boss used on the mountain? It suddenly began spreading, covering the entire city and filling the entire map. Then the dragon’s flames suddenly detonated from the mountain down to the city like a chain reaction—hello?"
The caller on the other end asked after he heard rapid footsteps, before the line went dead.
Cindra ran after Black Rose to the garage, where the blue-haired girl jumped into her sports car, and Cindra jumped in after her in confusion.
"Where are we going?!"
Black Rose didn’t reply and fired the ignition before she turned to her friend.
"What do you think could possibly give a person over one billion Evolution Points?"
Cindra stared at her friend in confusion.
"I initially ruled out the dragon because it wasn’t enough to generate such an amount, but what about the city? The entire map being destroyed?"
"I don’t understand what you’re saying, Rose," Cindra said weakly.
"A Tier 7 Dragon, even as a Mythic Beast, should’ve been unable to pull such a stunt in a few minutes unless there was a catalyst. A fuel that sparked the flames to reach such heights. That mist was the fuel. The fuel was created by the slime hidden boss. And that slime hidden boss... is actually a player."
"Are you saying that guy...?" Cindra said as her eyes widened in surprise. "But where are we going?"
Black Rose paused for a moment before she shifted the gear and stepped on the gas.
"To find that bastard."