A beastly roar? Blood in the air… At this hour… is it the Hellhound, or is it some other creature Lanevus fed with his own divine blood?
With these thoughts swirling, Ebner halted his actions, decided to investigate, and then cloaked himself with Shadow Stealth, quietly exiting the safehouse into the sewer proper.
The low growling sounded intermittently, leading Ebner down just two tunnels before he located the source of the noise and stench:
Three terrifying beasts were gnawing on a corpse, while a fourth, slightly smaller creature prowled around them, snarling as it tried to join the feast, only to be continuously pushed away by the others.
A little farther off lay two dead rats of normal size. Their bodies were untouched, but they were completely lifeless.
As I suspected, these are the sewer creatures mutated by Lanevu's divine blood.
This confirmed, Ebner prepared to rid the sewers of these aberrant monsters. But just then, the one circling the corpse sniffed the air sharply, turned in his direction, and stared at him with bloodthirsty eyes.
Quite keen, Ebner thought without concern, his blue eyes darkening with an inky hue.
Seven black flames materialized around him, swirling ominously.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The black flames shot out like bullets, trailing one another as they hurtled toward the beast already lunging at him.
The beast, clearly familiar with the danger of these flames, halted its pounce mid-air, scrambling to veer away from the oncoming attack.
But now that Ebner had reached the level of Polymath, his control and power with the simulated Sequence 7 abilities had greatly improved. Without even activating the Pure White Eye, he commanded the black flames to curve, converging on the beast.
The black flames vanished into its fur without visible effect.
But within two seconds, the beast let out a painful howl, curled up, and began to vomit, expelling stomach acid, a charred heart, and lungs still ablaze with black flames.
With its insides burned away, the beast shrank back into an ordinary rat, just like the others Ebner had seen before.
Black Flame, which burns both spirit and life force, is truly the bane of divine-blood-altered creatures.
Having anticipated this weakness through his analytical abilities, Ebner wasn't surprised. He summoned another seven black flames and directed them at the remaining three beasts, each larger than the first.
When Ebner had first revealed himself, the three beasts had raised their heads warily. But their companion had fallen so swiftly that they had no time to react before the fearsome flames were upon them.
Lacking intelligence, the beasts instinctively knew they were no match for their foe. They split in three directions, each attempting to flee.
Two of them dashed directly into the line of black flames, which struck their bodies instantly, and they, too, coughed up their flaming organs before reverting to stray dogs.
The last beast narrowly evaded the black flames and made for the depths of the sewer. But it abruptly found itself face-to-face with Ebner, who had somehow blocked its escape.
With no way out, the beast's savage instincts kicked in, and it lunged at Ebner, its jaws snapping toward his throat.
But instead of the satisfying bite it expected, the creature's fangs couldn't even pierce his skin. It bit down so hard that several of its own teeth shattered.
Ebner casually flicked a black flame at the beast, then brushed his neck thoughtfully, the eerie blackness fading from his eyes.
"Illusory Scales and Living Corpse's Skin really can stack while using the Pure White Eye… Could this be the prototype of a secret technique?" he mused to himself.
"Also, Combat Hypnosis can even influence these polluted, near-mindless beasts… that's incredibly useful."
This encounter had been under Ebner's complete control. The beasts' so-called "instinct" to flee had been directed by his Combat Hypnosis; without it, they would have charged him mindlessly, driven by their bloodlust.
Casting a final glance at the sewer creatures restored to their natural forms, Ebner gathered them with a gust of wind and incinerated the remains with Sacred Fire, ensuring their purification.
Only then did he approach the corpse that had been mutilated almost beyond recognition.
The flesh was shredded and strewn about, white bones sticking out at unnatural angles; a bulging eye had rolled to the ground near the shredded arm; a torn earlobe and half-chewed heart lay beside each other… while the intestines had already been devoured entirely.
The sight was enough to nauseate even Ebner, who had seen the exploded heads of female corpses and werewolves at their feasts.
With some preparation, he summoned a water sphere, splashed it on his face, and used his water-manipulation ability to keep it there, followed by Underwater Breathing to block out the sickening stench.
Why so practiced? Such measures had become routine for him after his frequent ventures into the sewers over the past few days.
Still, with the smell masked, he felt no need to search the victim's remains, especially given the pitiful state of the body. Instead, he bent down to pick up a familiar black revolver that lay near the corpse's right hand.
"Isn't this… Confession? Vannie sold it at the professor's gathering… and I remember Black Snake purchased it…
"So, this unlucky fellow must be Black Snake.
"Right… he died on that sewer beast-clearing mission Darkwell had commissioned in the original story…"
Confession appeared as a black revolver, capable of infusing bullets with frost and black flame effects.
When not in use, the revolver could become invisible to ordinary people.
Its drawback was a curse after each use, causing the user to "fall in love" with it, making it nearly impossible to part from.
Initially, the effects were barely noticeable, but without regular cleansing rituals, the curse would intensify, binding the user ever closer to the gun. Eventually, the user would be completely devoted to it…
It had about two years of life remaining.
Recalling the revolver's abilities and curse, Ebner rinsed the blood off Confession with a splash of water before pocketing it.
Normally, enchanted weapons with limited lifespans wouldn't have such severe drawbacks, as they weren't made with extraordinary traits that contained mental corruption.
I wonder what materials or techniques were used to create this gun so that it can make its owner "love" it… Truly a witch's Confession, pulling people right into obsession…
Muttering a few words to himself, Ebner dismissed any further thought on the matter. This revolver wasn't of much use to him now; he'd bring it up at the next Tarot Meeting to see if anyone was interested.
He glanced down at Black Snake's "corpse" and hesitated, ultimately deciding against giving him a proper burial.
If Black Snake's body is found by the people from the Aurora Order, they'll realize that Lanevus, whom they control, has been stirring up trouble again. They'll send someone to clean up the polluted creatures in the sewers.
Ebner had no intention of spending his time contending with sewer beasts, so leaving it to the Aurora Order was the more efficient choice.
With that settled, he refrained from extracting Black Snake's extraordinary characteristics. After carefully erasing his own traces, he made his way back to the "safehouse."
Given the proximity of the safehouse to where he had just fought, however, it could no longer be considered "safe." So, he took off his clothes, transformed into his giant bear form, and used earth magic to bury the place completely.
Then, with his bag in his arms, he activated Underground Sneak and moved to a different, hidden chamber that connected to a more isolated section of the sewer network.
...
Elsewhere in the sewers, two people were retching beside Black Snake's mangled body. Irene and Binglat struggled to hold down their nausea under the watchful gaze of a man cloaked in black robes, finally covering their mouths to stifle the sound.
"I don't know why the Oracle chose the two of you, but as followers of the Lord, you'll need to get used to sights like these," the man in black robes huffed impatiently. After casting them a disdainful look, he searched through Black Snake's broken body, retrieving what looked like an "ear" and securing it in a metal box.
Sensing something, he murmured to himself, "The Lord's power is indeed at work here… Still, it seems someone else was here before us, though they left no traces. My intuition tells me that not even a divination will reveal them… But it doesn't matter. The most important thing right now is ensuring the Lord's descent. Dealing with any destabilizing factors is our top priority."
...
Inside Earl Wolfe's grand hall, men and women swirled gracefully to the lilting notes of the violin.
Holding a glass of pale golden champagne, Audrey "coincidentally" crossed paths with the Intis Republic's ambassador to Loen, Bakerland Jean Mardan.
After a brief exchange, Audrey excused herself, claiming a friend was looking for her, and elegantly distanced herself from the lecherous ambassador.
She was soon called over by her childhood friend, Cons Leirson.
After listening to Cons recount Bakerland's various unsavory deeds, Audrey casually asked, "I've heard that Mr. Cotten Surrey from the embassy is a respectable gentleman. Why wasn't he made ambassador instead of leaving the post to such an unsavory character?"
Cons chuckled. "Oh, yes. Mr. Surrey is indeed a man of integrity. Every noble who's spoken with him holds him in high regard; even Viscount Horatio didn't bat an eye when his youngest daughter struck up a friendship with Mr. Surrey's granddaughter." He then scoffed, "But, of course, the Intis authorities needed a 'Conspirer' to manage their embassy."