A long corridor stretched ahead, with countless tightly shut doors on either side, and an evil presence that did not belong to this world pervading the air.
Charles drew his handgun and readied the Bloody Glory, fully activating the Eye of Insight as he charged deeper into the mansion.
The mansion was exceedingly deep, and after running for over ten minutes, Charles still hadn't reached the end. He was met only with the long corridor and its numerous closed doors.
He didn't even think about exploring the rooms along the corridor. The Eye of Insight could "see" nothing but darkness behind the doors, a darkness that was not of this world.
A strange buzzing sound grew from distant to near. Just as Charles raised his handgun, he saw a black beetle fly towards him, circling around him incessantly.
Charles hesitated slightly but took a step forward. The black beetle immediately flew a few meters away, seemingly guiding the way.
He followed the black beetle without hesitation.
The beetle zipped left and right, causing the corridor ahead to shift and numerous passageways to appear, branching off endlessly.
Charles slightly regretted his decision, but by then, there was no turning back. He was completely certain that Anne was trapped in a dream.
Was it really worth it to burst in to rescue a girl he did not know?
By now, it was too late for such thoughts.
Following the black beetle, Charles ran for another half hour. He knew this wasn't normal; the mansion, although grand, was not this large.
Charles grew more and more uneasy. Suddenly, he heard a scream. The black beetle also sped up its flight, leading him through several passageways.
Charles rushed ahead and saw a young maid with only her upper body remaining, bloodied and lying on the ground, her abdomen in disarray. Seeing him pass by, hope flashed in the maid's eyes as she cried out tremulously, "Save me, please save me."
A pang of discomfort struck Charles. Even as a master-level Transcendent, he couldn't bring the dead back to life; that was the domain of the gods.
This young maid, missing her lower half, was beyond his capability to save.
Charles couldn't bring himself to end the maid's misery; he wasn't that heartless.
What he could do...
Was only to cover his face and pass by.
The maid's cries grew more and more piercing, and Charles felt increasingly terrible.
He was certain of one thing: Yang Miers was conducting some evil ritual, and this residence had become otherworldly, likely housing very few living souls now.
"I wonder how Miss Annie Brittany is faring, and whether she has met some misfortune," he mused.
Charles hadn't expected that assisting with a small favor would lead him into such a high-level conflict.
Following the black beetle, he continued to press forward until a young girl in hunting attire ran towards him. She seemed both shocked and relieved upon seeing Charles, shouting, "Mister Mecklen, save me!"
Charles raised his nearly new Magnum Hand Shuttle in surprise, asking, "How do you know me?"
The girl in hunting attire blushed slightly and said, "I am Anne! Anne Brittany."
Before Charles could respond, he saw a towering figure, over three meters tall, red all over as if skinless, holding a massive sledgehammer, slowly stalking towards them.
In such a perilous situation, Charles surprisingly calmed down, closed his eyes, then raised his Magnum Hand Shuttle high and fired three shots at the girl in hunting attire.
Gunsmoke curled up, and the girl's figure gradually blurred, transforming into a tall, sinister man who exclaimed in disbelief, "How could you shoot at me?"
Charles' response was—quickly firing two more shots.
Meanwhile, he felt incredibly fortunate that his first awakened Special Ability was Insight.
Charles still didn't understand why Yang Miers hadn't disguised himself as the real Annie Brittany, but instead morphed into an unknown girl. Nonetheless, it didn't affect the outcome.
Becoming wary, he used the Eye of Insight once, discovered the girl's true identity, and ended the life of the one attempting to awaken the Evil God with five bullets.
Yang Miers lay on the ground, his body riddled with five bullet wounds, each spurting fresh blood.
Standing over three meters tall, entirely crimson and wielding a massive spiked hammer, the skinless monster did not vanish and continued to advance step by step.
Charles deeply inhaled, his hand reaching for the Vampiric Hand Axe hidden at his waist. Bloody Glory surged into the axe, causing the blade to emit a faint blood-colored glow.
Back in university, Charles had majored in government clerical work and had never intended to be a combatant.
His martial skills were quite ordinary, with especially poor close-combat abilities, and he lacked experience in fighting.
Unless absolutely necessary, Charles did not want to choose to fight.
Under these circumstances, fighting was not the best option.
Charles even dared not use the Eye of Insight.
If the opponent was that overseas Evil God.
The best outcome of looking directly at the Evil God was becoming blind.
A slightly better outcome was complete madness.
The worst outcome was not death, but having one's bloodline cursed, dooming future offspring to misfortune.
A predecessor had tried once, with neither a good nor bad outcome, simply dying outright!
There was another possibility.
That the monster was—Miss Annie Brittany.
The young girl transformed into such a ferocious form by strange forces.
Whether killing a Brittany Family heiress or being killed by Anne, both were very serious incidents.
"Why fight?"
"In my past life, I was just a math teacher, not a combatant!"
Charles watched the charging monster, torn in his decision.
The area surrounding Yang Miers's house was filled with members of the Patrolling Army.
Among them, there were several familiar faces, officers who had been to the savings association's apartments for cases, including the young and handsome Patrolling Army Officer Dobin, who, facing the swirling dark energy, asked with a headache, "Can anyone tell me what has happened here?"
A Patrolling Army officer said, "This is Yang Miers's residence; he just killed his wife a few days ago. Who knows if it's out of remorse that he plans to use some dark magic to summon his wife's soul back for further torment."
This terrible joke did not provoke laughter, instead, it soured the mood of the arriving Patrolling Army—should this joke become reality, they would be in big trouble.
Summoning a soul from the Netherworld was a huge event!
Dobin scoffed at this idea, looking at Yang Miers's home billowing with dark energy, he had no plan to investigate inside.
The young Patrolling Army officer murmured softly, "When will they send a Transcendent over?"
The same Patrolling Army who had just joked said, "Transcendents cherish their lives much more than we do."
Dobin rebuked him, but he had to agree with the sentiment. Every time something like this happened, the Transcendents in the army never "hurried over," they would only show up gracefully once the situation had clarified, and claim all the credit for themselves.
Dobin prided himself on his exceptional swordsmanship, but he was not a Transcendent. Facing such a situation, relying on swordsmanship alone was foolhardy and would only lead to senseless death.
He sighed and said, "Let's wait for orders from above. For now, our job is just to keep people away from here."
The estate of Yang Miers, the rolling dark mist grew ever denser.