"I want… I want your dagger, you know… the one that can melt everything." CrehAnn almost roared out these words, his eyes filled with madness and greed. He gripped Bell's shoulders tightly, as if he wanted to throw her to the ground.
Bell felt a chill. She felt that CrehAnn was no longer the person she knew. "No… no way, CrehAnn. That's the last relic my family left me. How could you forget?"
CrehAnn showed an evil smile. "I didn't forget! I didn't forget… but I have to get it, Bell."
"What are you hiding?" Bell retorted angrily. "You were never like this… what have you been through?"
CrehAnn's face darkened. He was silent for a while, then suddenly turned and walked away. His steps revealed determination and despair.
"Wait! CrehAnn!" Bell wanted to catch up with him, but CrehAnn had already run down the stairs of the second floor and disappeared in the crowd.
Bell felt very confused and worried. CrehAnn had always been a gentle and kind person in her heart. He was always willing to help others, no matter who they were.
Bell and CrehAnn used to be members of an adventure team. This adventure team had five people, including Bell and CrehAnn. They had carried out many dangerous missions for power or bounty, but CrehAnn was different. He was just traveling around to find his dream place.
Maybe all this evil is because of me.
I was never loved by my family since I was young. I always hid my feelings in my heart. But I longed for someone to be the outlet of my emotions.
Until I came of age, my family was destroyed. Most of the family members died of political persecution or were driven mad by the royal family Birchys. Only I escaped and then formed an adventurer with CrehAnn and three other people near Dentakulon.
When I first saw CrehAnn, I was attracted by his fiery soul under his indifferent appearance. He was so charming. He was kind and pure. He treated everyone with tolerance.
When I confessed my love to him, he just stunned and then agreed to me without hesitation. When we adventured to this Adras village, I pulled CrehAnn and stayed here. I wanted to build our own little world in this remote area away from the strife.
What I didn't expect was that since we came here, CrehAnn seemed to be stimulated by something. He was worried every day.
When I chased CrehAnn downstairs, the scene in front of me shocked me. CrehAnn had taken away most of the weapons in the shop, especially those hidden under the dark cabinet. Now there was only an empty craftsman shop left. The wooden door was tilted down a bit because of CrehAnn's rough impact.
I was scared. So I went back to the room and took my sword with me. Then I put the "Blade of EverBurn" that CrehAnn wanted on the scabbard and hid it in my lining.
Although I don't know why CrehAnn did this, I had to catch up with him to prevent him from doing more outrageous things.
I stroked the "Blade of EverBurn" in my arms. It can't fall into anyone's hands except me. Otherwise there will be big trouble…
…
Lito searched through the ruined building that was about to turn into ashes. Her eyes pierced through the thick smoke and dust, looking for possible clues. The sandstorm that had just happened seemed to temporarily calm the fire, but she knew it was only temporary. She stepped on the twisted and deformed corpses on the ground, some of which were still bubbling with a mixture of oil and blood. They almost all had severe stab wounds of varying degrees. The wounds were very brutal. It could only be said that the killer was not skilled in killing. Thinking of the bloody dagger in CrehAnn's hand just now, it was hard not to make Lito think that this killer was CrehAnn.
Lito frowned. She felt a trace of uneasiness.
She paced back and forth on the flat layer of the shop. Everything in front of her was a mess. The sandstone counter was piled with various leather walls and tanning tools, as well as some weird-shaped animal skins. She didn't know where they came from. These people obviously had been busy making leather walls here before CrehAnn suddenly broke in.
Lito was very curious about all this, especially the general Ticket behind her.
Suddenly, some metal collision sounds echoed and startled Lito. It was the sound of four or five sets of armor hitting each other.
Lito quietly walked inside. At a corner, she found a staircase leading to the upper floor. Part of the upper floor above the staircase had been swallowed by a raging fire.
Several people banged open the wooden door and quickly came in. They shook off the sand grains on their armor in unison. They were Marcia Claws. They didn't have the sinister appearance of Crus. They were about 1.75 meters tall and well-trained. Their eyes rolled around as if they were looking for something.
They pushed away a few corpses lying on the counter and began to check those leathers. Then they threw the leathers aside. There were some knives and swords covered under these leathers. They looked at each other a few times. Then one of the claws ordered the others to imitate him and continue searching for these knives and swords. They gathered different knives and swords together and then put them on the ground. They wrapped them with leather and tied a knot. They wanted to take these knives and swords away because they were made of fine iron and much stronger than their usual weapons.
Suddenly, a sharp scream cut through the air, making everyone shiver involuntarily. It was the voice of a shrill claw who had found something.
They gathered in front of the counter in the corner of the shop. There was also a leather cover on the surface of the counter here, but the surface of the counter under the leather seemed to have a hidden groove, as if hiding some treasure.
They were so excited that they were almost crazy. They smiled at each other and then prepared to open the leather. Maybe there were some missed magic weapons underneath, enough for them to equip and strengthen a team.
When the shrill claw lifted the leather, he was stunned.
A hand suddenly stretched out from the dark cabinet and grabbed his neck.
A twisted face with a ferocious smile appeared in front of him. He was scared and twisted. But because of the strength of this hand was too great, he could not break free.
The claw captain at this time. His eyes flashed with cunning and greed. He saw the arm that stretched out from the cabinet and immediately felt a trace of fear. He didn't know what it was, but he knew it was definitely not a good thing. He subconsciously wanted to run away, but his greed made him make a fatal mistake. He quickly drew his sword and slashed at the arm with all his strength, hoping to cut it off with one stroke.
However, before his blade touched the arm, the arm disappeared like a ghost and quickly retracted into the counter. The captain's sword hit empty and his body lost balance because of too much force. At this moment, a figure flew out from the shadow of the counter and rushed towards the claw in front of him.
It was the face of a blonde girl with green eyes. She exuded a brutal and crazy aura.
Lito grabbed the chest of the claw who screamed and tried to run away. She lifted him up with force and then threw him mercilessly at the captain. The captain was frightened by this sudden attack and quickly tried to dodge. But it was too late. He was knocked down by that claw and both of them screamed.
Lito didn't give them any chance to breathe. She turned around and rushed to the other side. She sensed some movement on her side. A claw was holding a sword and chopping at her. Lito didn't dodge or fight back. She just raised her arm to block his blade. The blade pierced through Lito's skin and muscle and hit her bone with a dull sound.
The claw was frightened by Lito's incredible move. He felt like he had chopped on a piece of iron. He wanted to pull back his sword but it was too late. Lito stared at his eyes and a flash of killing intent passed through her eyes.
Suddenly, a heat wave came over and then a red flame burst out from Lito's wound. It was like a fire dragon that crawled along the blade to the claw's body. The claw felt his body burning with pain. He wanted to break free but he couldn't move. He could only watch himself being devoured by the flame and let out a heart-wrenching scream.
This horrifying scene stunned the other claws. They couldn't believe what they saw. They thought this was a simple robbery mission but they met a terrifying monster. They forgot their greed and courage and just wanted to escape from this hell. They retreated one after another and tried to find an exit.
The captain pushed away the claw that was pressing on him and held his sword tightly and continued to slash at Lito. His every sword hit Lito's body solidly but every hit made the flame in Lito's body suddenly swell and Lito enjoyed this moment.
Her eyes sparkled with madness and her mouth curled up with an evil smile. Her laughter was full of mockery and provocation.
Almost all the claws pounced on Lito at the same time but they pounced on nothing. Lito disappeared in the blink of an eye and a violent fire explosion came from the ceiling and blew all the claws to pieces. Flesh and blood flew around and bones shattered. Screams and howls were heard everywhere. The whole shop was covered by fire and the temperature rose to the extreme.
When everything calmed down. Lito stood in the blood water and her body trembled a little. She looked at her hands covered with blood and wondered why they were so hot.
And her heart beat wildly and her cheeks even turned red. She felt weird and didn't know why she suddenly couldn't help attacking these claws. These thoughts seemed to have not gone through her brain's thinking. She felt like she had changed into another person and her body directly drove her to kill these claws one by one.
She only felt that there was an evil force surging in her body.
…
The sky was clear and cloudless, only the hollows in the sky flickered with dazzling light from time to time, like the eyes of the gods above the gods watching over this land. People on the street were doing their own things, there were wandering merchants selling their goods, and there were children playing along the street. Their laughter and noise covered up the impending crisis.
Bell asked one by one the villagers passing by and tried to find out where CrehAnn had gone.
Although most people were indifferent and did not want to get involved in anything that might be detrimental to them, there were still some kind-hearted people who helped Bell. They all pointed Bell in the same direction, and that direction would lead to the market at the edge of the village.
The market of Adras village had been deserted for a long time. There was no laughter or lively trade here, only a dry well and some shady black merchants who sold stolen goods from various places. This place used to be an important place for the villagers' lives, but after a terrible accident, the market was abandoned. The villagers moved to a new area, and the market was surrounded by dense abandoned stone houses, like a forgotten island. And after Ventus arrived, he even ordered the villagers to seal all the roads leading to the market and the sand dunes with hard stones, as if to isolate this place from the world forever.
When Bell arrived here, she saw a high sandstone wall that spanned between two stone houses, separating the market from the outside world. The wall was piled up with bricks of various shapes and sizes, some of which had even cracked or fallen off. But surprisingly, these messy bricks just formed a ladder that could be climbed by people, allowing them to easily cross over to the other side of the wall.
Bell had never seen this place with her own eyes. She had only heard of its existence from other people's mouths. But when she really stepped into this barren land, she was still shocked by the sight before her.
The abandoned stalls were like tombs, quietly arranged at the edge of the market. The sand on the ground was churned up messily, as if it had just experienced a fierce battle. Among those chaotic traces, Bell found a clear footprint. That was her target - CrehAnn.
Bell clenched her long sword tightly, feeling the ruby on the blade emitting a faint light, as if cheering her up. She couldn't believe what she saw. Her heart was filled with doubt, fear and anger. She didn't want to believe that CrehAnn would betray her and the village. He must have been coerced by those despicable Marcia Claws. He must be looking for a chance to escape or secretly protect the village.
Bell used all her strength to stretch her head into the well and try to see the situation at the bottom of the well. She almost vomited. She saw piles of human corpses piled up in the huge space under the well. These corpses were brutally torn and bitten, bloody and mutilated, emitting a stench and a bloody smell. Bell felt her scalp numb. She heard the sound of dripping from the bottom of the well. That was the sound of blood dripping from the corpses to the water surface.
Bell's heartbeat accelerated. She felt a chill. Her ears echoed with that creepy sound. She couldn't believe it. Hell on earth, a place full of death and fear, was hidden under the surface.
Recently there have been a lot of murders in Adras village. Even Ventus has not found out who the killer is.
Could it be… It can't be CrehAnn, right? Bell had such a terrible thought in her heart. Could he be the one who killed innocent people in Adras village? Could he be the one who made Ventus helpless behind the scenes? If this is the truth… Bell didn't dare to think about it anymore. She felt an unspeakable pain and sorrow in her heart.
Just when Bell didn't know what to do or decided to go and tell Ventus right away, there was a rustling sound from behind her.
Bell felt a chill from behind. She turned around abruptly and saw a short Marcia Claw standing at the other end of the market, holding a short sword that glowed with a faint light. Although Bell had a memory beyond ordinary people, that was a weapon she was too familiar with. That was her family's creation - Shadow Dagger. That was a dagger that could make the user invisible in the dark. Its blade was engraved with ancient words meaning "The Shadow King". That was one of the weapons she took from home when she escaped from Albapetra. It and other magic weapons accompanied her through countless hardships until she came here, Adras.
The Claw wiped the Shadow Dagger with his furry paw. Bell saw it and suddenly smiled with relief. Fortunately, this Claw didn't know how to use that weapon.
"You… you iron girl, very interesting…" The Claw said in a stiff human language. "If it wasn't for that old man who cast a spell and made me lose… lose him and that red-robed girl, I wouldn't have noticed that you had… you had the guts to run here." The Claw said and rushed towards Bell.