Boom!
The Ironblood spike exploded in a rain of blood shards, as it struck against the reinforced concrete floor.
However, besides the solidified blood of the shattered crystal itself, there was nothing more. No rat blood, and definitely, no dead rat.
The only clue that could shed light as to what might have happened, was a small hole leading deep into the concrete.
Miles couldn't help but be surprised, 'It escaped!? My blood spike might be a bit slow, but it's even enough for a rat to dodge!?'
How embarrassing, to not even be able to kill a rat.
With an annoyed sigh, he dashed back into the hallway, leaving the rooftop and the light of the sun.
Although Miles had been protected by the leather coat, he still couldn't help but feel a sense of comfort the moment he entered the shadows of the hallway.
Zhan Shen raised an eyebrow from the side, "Interested in vermin extermination, Master Miles? Considering all the rats in the streets, the people of Hamelin are sure to appreciate it if you volunteer your services, though you missed your target."
Miles frowned, "Very funny old Zhan. It's not just the one rat though, I'm afraid the entire house is infested with them. I had hoped the defense systems had handled them, but apparently not."
The old butler didn't seem to be too surprised, and asked with a vague smile, "I see. So it is the rats in the house that are the problem? Will you be doing something about it then?"
Miles shook his head instantly, "I might find living in a rat-infested house quite unhygienic, but I'm not particularly interested in getting my hands dirty and working as an exterminator. Hopefully, we can leave this place soon, or if we truly cannot, hire someone to do the exterminating instead."
Zhan Shen grinned, "Very well, very well, since a few rats in the walls are a bit too much for the young master's high living standards, this old man will do something about it in your stead."
Not even arguing about the jab at his high living standards, Miles asked, "You're sure? We can easily pay for someone to do it instead though..."
The elderly butler shrugged, "No, it's fine. It'd be fun to brew some toxins again, even if it's only some weak rat poison. No need to waste coins for what you can do yourself."
It was Miles's turn to raise an eyebrow, "You brew poisons?"
"I've dabbled in the field a bit, yes," he answered with a nod.
Miles frowned, "Since yesterday, I've been learning quite a bit of interesting things about you, old Zhan. Anything else you've got to add?"
The old butler grinned, and tapped the side of his forehead, "It wouldn't be fun if there was no sense of mystery, now would it?" and immediately turned around, beginning to walk back towards the depths of the house.
Miles was slightly annoyed, but in the end, he shook his head, unable to keep a grin off his face himself, and followed after his guardian.
Just as he did, Zhan Shen called back to him, "Think the fellows downstairs have been left trapped for long enough now? It's already been a few hours, I believe."
Miles smiled, "Ah, yes. Luther and Jimmy. Let's give it another hour just in case."
***
"I still can't believe you, Jimmy. Why the hell did you chase after me? What could you have even done?! Why didn't you go get help?!" an enraged voice rang out through the locked door, clearly audible to Miles's enhanced hearing.
'Oh? They're talking?'
Miles took back the hand that had been preparing to release the lock.
According to Zhan Shen, the two thieves had been unconscious when they had been brought in. Apparently, they had been fortunate enough to not find out what it was like being inside the trunk of a vehicle traveling over 500 kmph, on average.
Well, Jimmy was the only one who had been at risk of waking up, as Luther had been in no shape to, especially after losing as much blood as he had.
Speaking of Luther, despite being the one who had unceremoniously stuffed him into a trunk, Zhan Shen had patched up the man's injuries quite well and even set up a blood transfusion to replenish the blood he had lost.
Allowing Luther to recover and wake up again, was actually one of the reasons Miles had not been in a hurry to question the thieves, but it was really only a minor thing.
Specifically speaking, there had been two main reasons as to why he had delayed interrogating the two thieves.
One, to let them stew in their worries and fear, bringing them closer to that breaking point, and two, to see if they would accidentally slip any information in their conversations.
And over the last hour, Miles had been going over the security footage.
Regrettably, while the two thieves had talked, their conversations hadn't revealed any new information, as they seemed to be aware of the possibility that they could be being listened to.
The first to wake was Jimmy, and the moment he had seen Luther unconscious in a bed, he had rushed towards him.
As an enhanced Fae human, Luther's chances of recovery were fairly high, especially after Zhan Shen's expert first aid. But after losing almost half of the blood in the body, it was impossible for even a stronger Fae human to recover, let alone wake up, in just a few hours.
But Luther, just a common enhanced Faehuman, seemed to be the exception.
Miles had immediately thrown a suspicious glance in old Zhan's direction, who had simply given him a wink and a mysterious smile.
It was obvious that Zhan Shen had done something.
Could Spiritualists do more than just enhance their physical abilities and regenerate? Could they heal even others, or at least speed up their recovery? After all, while Luther had woken up, he was still very much bedridden.
A question to ask the old butler some other time.
After confirming that Luther would be fine, the duo of thieves had spent most of their time attempting to get out of the Fae Iron cuffs that old Zhan had used to chain them together, a simply impossible task for non-epsilons.
However, Jimmy had revealed himself to be quite an interesting character in this process. Not only had he presented the possibility that they had been transported via a high-speed vehicle simply based on their physical conditions, he even seemed to be well-versed in the mechanics of the Fae cuffs, whispering a feasible unlocking method to Luther.
It was too bad that Fae cuffs connected to the Lykaon System were not ordinary, and were not to meant to be unlocked manually. They could only be opened through the network, only by his or Zhan Shen's command.
With this failure and the fact that Luther was basically stuck in bed, they had had no choice but to accept their fate of being trapped, at least for the moment.
Over the next few hours, they had remained within an empty, reflective, white room, not larger than a few square meters. With every minute that passed, a silent heaviness seemed to weigh over them, despite their best attempts to remain in a good mood.
They had even screamed out for help but had quickly given up once they realized no one cared enough to answer. In the end, all of it seemed to have made them a bit nervous and emotional, as evident by anger in Luther's voice.
A different voice spoke back, obviously Jimmy's, seemingly distraught, "But Luther, I was just trying to help. I-I couldn't have let you die…"
"And now what? We both die!? Why didn't you go talk to Boss Shi--"
Instantly, he was silenced, "Shush! For the millionth time Luther, they might be listening!"
'Boss Shi--, eh?'
While eavesdropping had revealed a small clue, Miles felt that it was far too slow, especially considering that there were a lot of questions he needed answered. Feeling that he might as well just ask directly, Miles reached for the door.
As his fingers came into contact with the lock, the Lykaon ring glowed with faint blue light. Instantly, the door began to shudder as the mechanical sound of gears churning rang out, finally unlocking with an audible clunk.
Miles promptly walked in, pushing through the steel door, his gaze quickly surveying the interior of the room.
It was absolutely empty, pure white walls closing in on the small space of the room, while a bright white light from the roof was the only source of illumination. To make matters worse, all the walls were made of reflective marble, adding an additional layer of confusion to those within.
Had it not been for the two familiar men, one lying on a bed, with a blood bag attached to his arm, and the other, seated on the side of the same bed, chained to each other, the room could've even been considered as a white void.
Turning towards them, Miles clapped his hand with a wide smile, "Gentlemen, how are we doing today? I hope you've found my hospitality favorable, and the room adequate? I'd absolutely hate to find that my guests are not pleased with what I've provided."
It was truly interesting to see the contrasting reactions his appearance had brought about in the faces of the two men.
Luther stared with widened eyes, his mouth instantly falling into an angry scowl. But compared to last time, there was something different about his anger. Perhaps it was because he was unable to move, bed-ridden, and weak, but the man seemed less forward, less confident, perhaps even... afraid?
'Fear? Exploitable.'
Still, the scarred man pushed past his emotions and answered, "The hospitality and the room both suck, just like the blood you sucked from me you demonic freak!"
Miles simply chuckled, unaffected by the insult, "I'm sorry you think so, as I've done my best to return it," pointing at the transfusing blood bag, but in the next instant, his eyes turned red as they narrowed, "However, there's only so much I can do for rotten thieves, particularly for those that do not know any better but to keep testing my patience."
Luther swallowed, his fear apparently overwhelming his other emotions. It seemed the incident where Miles had gorged on his blood had left a mark.
On the other hand, Jimmy was absolutely shocked. After remaining in startled silence for a minute, he finally stuttered out, "N--No way! H-How'd you survive? You couldn't have survived! You should be dead, you monster! How are you alive? How!?" ending with a shout.
Luther frowned, apparently surprised at what his friend had said, 'Wait, what do you mean? Why would he be dead? Jimmy, what did you do!?"
The straw-haired youth instantly grew silent, his gaze falling onto the floor.
Miles answered in Jimmy's stead, "He didn't tell you? It's interesting how he was willing to risk his life for you, but is unwilling to reveal this. Well, let me answer you in his place. This Jimmy of yours threw a fake Fae bomb at us!"
Luther's eyes widened in disbelief, the color draining from his face.
Jimmy frowned at Miles, apparently angry, "It is not fake. It is not a fake Fae bomb. "
Miles grinned, more of a leer than a grin, "Oh? I'm afraid I disagree. The bomb didn't even tickle me, not even the old man with me was injured. The explosion felt like an unusually large burst of flatulence really. I doubt a real Fae bomb could be so weak or pathetic," as he lied through his teeth.
The insult seemed to have worked, as Jimmy's frown twisted into an enraged scowl. But much to Miles's annoyance, just before the angry little fellow could reveal some information about the Fae bombs, Luther interrupted.
The muscular man sounded angry, shocked, even hopeless, "Why? Why Jimmy?! Why did you waste that bomb on me? H-How could you? I-- No, we sacrificed so much for it. The academy will not accept you anymore. Our plans will be crushed. The White Snakes, now they'll come after us for money we don't have. We're already dead! Why? Why would you be so stupid?!"
'The bomb plays a role in them getting accepted into the academy? Probably the Military Academy... Perhaps, they borrowed money from the White Snakes for this bomb? Intriguing.'
Jimmy instantly put a lid on his anger towards Miles, as he attempted to answer his friend, "I-I'm sorry Luther. But I couldn't bear to let you die. Bombs… I can always craft more. But you, a friend like you, I can never make."
Luther grew silent, and with a heavy sigh, he seemed to calm down. Finally, he spoke with a weak laugh, "I am angry, but I would've done the same, Jimmy old friend. I'm sorry for getting mad. I just couldn't bear to see you face the consequences for my decision to steal from a literal monster.
But it's fine. It's fine.
After we die, if there is a next life, I hope we can be friends… no, brothers again."
Jimmy smiled, tears coming into his eyes, "Luther…"
Luther smiled back, his own eyes shining, "Jimmy…"
*Cough*
Miles interrupted the bromance with an uncomfortable cough, and asked, "As much as I hate to be the third wheel that breaks up your tear-inducing confessions of love, I must ask, who said anything about dying?"
"Eh?" they asked in confusion, almost at the same time.
Luther glared, "Isn't it obvious? You would maybe keep us alive to get some answers, healing me just to loosen our tongues, but the end result is definitely our deaths. We know about your real identity too, that you are a monster. Why leave loose ends?"
Miles placed a finger on his chin, apparently in thought, "Hmm, you have a point. Maybe... I should kill you then?"
Luther was startled, "Wha-- What? No! No, you don't have to…"
Miles laughed, with a wave of his hand, "Just messing with you, just messing with you."
He turned his gaze towards Jimmy, "Friend, so if I gathered correctly, you made that fake Fae bomb? And the reason for your debt is the cost for the materials?"
The straw-haired youth gave him a dirty look, but still nodded, "So? What's it to you?"
Miles grinned, "Well, this blood-sucking monster has an offer for the two of you. How would you like to work--"
But before he could finish, suddenly, he sensed a rotten smell in the air. Miles had not seen or heard anything, but he could smell it. Perhaps, it was because this sealed-off room was especially clean and pristine, but that stink was very obvious to his enhanced sense of smell.
And Miles instantly knew what it was. Another rat.
His eyes shifted towards a corner of the room, where the smell originated from. There was no hole, just a plain wall.
'It's inside the wall? Inside the concrete!? Are there so many holes in this place? Because surely, no rat can chew through the enhanced concrete!'
Well no matter, it would be dead soon.
Ironblood Spike (¼) x4!
Two blood points left him, as they formed into four pin-shaped blood spikes. Since the basic Ironblood spike had not been fast enough, he would be using the quarter spikes, which were almost four times as fast!
In half a second, the spikes had reached the wall.
Boom!
Not a single one of Miles's spikes had been able to break through the enhanced wall. And even if one could, it definitely wouldn't be the weakest quarter spike.
But somehow, these four did. Ripping through the surface layer of white ceramic, and through a light covering of concrete, the spike made it into another fist-sized hole.
Screech!
A pained scream ran out as the rat was skewered by four blood spikes, three impaling its body and the last cracking through his skull, spilling its brains within the concrete wall.
Finally pleased that he had killed a rat, even though it was a bit messy, Miles was just about to celebrate…
When a notification rang out.
Ding!
And what he read was shocking, to say the least.