Chapter: Blood Priest
After some time, Charles suddenly perceived a foreign presence from the nearby room and opened his amber eyes in the real world.
'Did they finally send someone to lure me out?' He arched his eyebrows upward, gripped the black cane's handle area, and stood up with a solemn look on his face. Then, he went near the slider window and soon looked up at the three ominous red moons.
'It should be around 1 A.M,' He muttered inwardly and soon ordered the Holem's Crown to change into a bracelet.
After that, he stealthily opened the window, wore the red-gem embedded bracelet, and moved outside.
Simultaneously, his wrinkled face started to change into a young one, and his hair also returned to its original deep-blue color.
Charles soon landed on the other side, moved to the next room window, and peeked inside.
He saw a human walking near the cot and soon raised his hand to cast [Incinerate] spell on him at any moment.
In the meantime, the thief sat near Rhea, took the silver ring from her finger, and then stood up.
'Is he stealing her ring?' Charles narrowed his eyes for a moment and soon smirked.
'He is not hiding his presence at all… It looks like he was sent here to lure me out.' He muttered inwardly and soon blended himself in the darkness.
On the other hand, the thief silently opened the window, jumped out from inside, and started walking stealthily towards the yard.
He appeared around 178- 180cm, covered half of his face with a black scarf, and wore a tight black suit.
Once the thief appeared near a tree, he checked the surroundings, place the silver ring in his pocket, and walked out of the Inn's compound gate with hurried footsteps.
'Wait… How did he know about her room number?' Charles instantly thought of the Inn owner and soon furrowed his brows.
'It looks like she sold the information about us to the thugs.' He made a guess and silently followed him from behind.
After following him for a while, Charles suddenly noticed that he passed through something invisible and halted his footsteps.
'Is this some kind of barrier to isolate the space?' He frowned a bit.
'It's a barrier to nullify the sound.' The Holem's Crown replied in an instant.
'Oh? Are they that confident about killing a mage?'
Upon hearing Charles's question, the Holem's Crown coldly snorted and refuted in disdain.
'In their eyes, you are just an old man with some ability to heal others using magic.'
A smile appeared on Charles's face as he tapped the bracelet twice and continued to stalk the thief.
Meanwhile, the thief made a few turns and soon stopped as he reached a dark, gloomy alley.
At that moment, another hooded figure came out from the opposite direction and stopped ten feet away from the thief.
"I know you are following him, old man. Come out." A cold female voice came from the hooded figure as she removed her hood and turned her gaze towards the trash bin, placed farther away from them.
A look of surprise appeared on Charles's face.
'Is her perception that strong?' He raised his eyebrows and soon walked out from his hiding spot.
Although the three ominous moons illuminated the alley a little, the surrounding building shadows blocked most of the lights and made the street looks still darker.
In the gloomy night, Charles stepped on the earthen road and walked towards them. He then changed his voice through the voice-changing artifact and stealthily cast [Fire Seed] spell on the black-haired woman.
An instant later, a purplish flame appeared in the woman's inner world and burned a piece of memory.
At the exact moment, Charles received some information about how she joined a gang called Poison Flowers and curled his lips upward.
'This spell is really good.'
"Who are you?" Meanwhile, the black-haired woman squinted her eyes as she sized him up and down and asked in a cold tone.
She thought that an old man would come out from the shadows, but she got confused when she saw a young boy.
Even though it was dark, Charles saw her appearance clearly due to [Dark Vision] skill and raised his right hand.
She was a woman in her late 20s and appeared 180 cm tall. She had curly hair, brown eyes, and her face seemed paler.
'Hmm? She is also a foreigner, huh. Wait… Her face has a similar appearance as Rhea... Is she also from the Iron Kingdom?'
Raising his eyebrows, Charles pointed his forefinger towards his right side and spoke a Lark language word.
"Ghost."
At the exact moment, he cast [Incinerate] spell towards a particular area and dashed towards her.
Meanwhile, a ray of reddish fire came out from his forefinger and directly landed on a cloaked man, who was hiding in the nearby shadow!
Charles's attack was too sudden, which caught the other party off completely guard.
Before the cloaked man could move his body, the ray of fire touched his chest and incinerated him in an instant!
"Harry!" The black-haired woman shouted in fury and threw multiple knives at Charles.
Meanwhile, a hood-attached crimson robe covered Charles from head to toe and completely protected him from the knife attacks.
Simultaneously, another two shadows moved from the nearby alleys and sprinted towards him while throwing weapons at him in an aggressive manner.
"It looks like my guess is right," Charles spoke casually as he also cast [Crimson Steps] on himself and moved towards the black-haired woman at an unpredictable speed.
Along the way, he raised his dagger, swiftly decapitated the dumbfounded thief's head, and soon appeared right in front of the black-haired woman.
At that moment, another piece of information appeared in his mind.
'Aurora Grand… She killed the previous Poison Flowers leader using a strange poison called Blue Tear and became a new leader…'
Noticing his sudden arrival, the black-haired woman named Aurora became shocked inside and soon moved her hand towards the waist.
But in that second, she suddenly forgot how to take out her sword from the sheath and stood there with a confused look on her face!
"Be a good girl and go to sleep." Charles raised his hand, moved it behind the black-haired woman's nape, and knocked her unconscious.
At that exact moment, a dagger appeared in his right hand.
Charles then turned around, sharpened his gaze towards the other two hooded humans, and moved towards them like a ghost.
Crimson fire also completely enveloped his body and made him look like a terrifying fire deity!
Before they could turn around and run for their lives, Charles arrived in front of them, killed them on the spot, and burned their bodies, leaving two charred bodies behind.
'Hmm, with the [Flame Body] spell, I'm almost immune to fire.' He nodded in a pleasant smile and then glanced at the Exp bar.
'Only 120 Exp? Tsk, these thieves are just Rank-1.' He clicked his tongue and soon arrived in front of the unconscious Aurora.
At that moment, a drop of liquid fell from the sky and splashed on her forehead.
Charles got started by the sudden raindrop and soon squinted his eyes.
Because what he saw was not a rain droplet, but a drop of dense red-colored liquid!
Blood!
Simultaneously, his [Prevision] skill was also triggered on its own!
Charles moved two steps backward with wary eyes and dodged an invisible blade, which appeared from above.
Then, he continued to back away while looking up at the three ominous moons and soon opened his mouth subconsciously.
Up in the sky, he saw a human shadow blocked the center red moon!
'No, he is falling from the sky!' He stared at the shadow in surprise.
With an unpredictable speed, the human shadow landed in front of Aurora and turned its face towards Charles.
Meanwhile, Charles saw a brown-haired man in a red robe and instantly guessed the other party's identity.
"Blood Priest?" He saw the half-moon symbol on the robe and soon frowned.
'He looks strong.'