Chapter 40: The Underground World (Part Two)

"I never expected there would be a place like this beneath the docklands."

The cavern was far from an empty, silent wasteland.

Luminescent moss clung to the walls, and the ground underfoot consisted of relatively rugged yet flattened rock. Along the path, one could occasionally find burnt-out torch stubs and a mess of footprints, some of which were clearly quite old.

This was hardly good news.

"...There are traces of people having passed through here."

Without a doubt, this was the worst possible development. If someone had truly used this passage, they certainly hadn't done so just this once.

In that case, the end of this tunnel might genuinely harbor an alternative escape route.

"I hear water." Thalia pressed her ear against the wall, listening to the sounds for a moment before offering an even worse possibility.

This implied a strong likelihood of an underground river, or perhaps even subterranean cargo waterways.

Such a guess was not entirely abrupt... The further they walked along this passage, the more it resembled a smuggling route secretly excavated by criminals.

"Which way?" Rean asked.

Moving forward, they inevitably encountered a fork in the road.

As many as four branching paths appeared before their eyes. Trying them one by one would clearly take too much time—heaven only knew how many more splits a single side-path might lead to.

Larry frantically fumbled with the "compass," casting a hesitant look toward the two paths furthest to the right.

Judging by the direction, these seemed the most probable.

Yet the underground tunnels wound and twisted; a guide of this caliber was hardly reliable. Should they simply pick the most likely one? Yet missing a single junction might lead them completely astray.

"The one on the far left."

Thalia closed her eyes and pointed toward the leftmost passage.

Thus far, the tracking ability she had demonstrated far exceeded that of a normal hunter.

At this moment, within the spatial field of vision behind her closed eyelids, hovered phantom projections composed of countless "particles."

The children were marching in a line, skipping and hopping forward, led at the very front by a tall, thin nun.

[Unstoppable Silent Slaughter (Silver-tier Soul Ability): Lock onto a living target, maximizing the restoration of its existence through the scent of blood, and perceiving everything about it.]

[The more you crave its blood, the clearer its phantom image becomes. However, if you are unable to drink blood for a prolonged period, you will fall into a deeply perilous state—anxious, irritable, feverish, obsessed, and frantic... Once you successfully taste blood, you will grow stronger, but the next time, you will find yourself even more lacking in patience.]

This ability was rooted in her most fundamental racial trait, the scent of blood, and served as the ultimate manifestation of her past murderous life, faintly betraying her desire for self-destruction.

She had never been a good police officer, but she was a premier executioner.

It was correct for the Tail-Hunter to keep avoiding her; otherwise, once caught in a direct confrontation and locked onto by her, one was destined to be hunted down to the death.

Yet now, the prolonged use of her ability without tasting the target's blood had plunged her into a state of severe anxiety and trance.

She uncontrollably kept biting her thumb, completely unaware of the blood dripping down.

"...I should have searched the orphanage."

"Right from the start, I should have suspected her."

"...Those children, it's all my fault..." A tangle of distracting thoughts plagued her, and within her hallucinations, the unavenged dead surrounded her.

Among them, some seemed to be blood debts from her own past, crawling their way back up.

Had the karma of her past come to find her at this moment? It was her own karmic retribution, all of it her own blood debt...

"Thalia!" A deep masculine voice exploded beside her ears.

"I... I'm fine. I can still hold on." The female officer's bewildered gaze regained its focus.

This was neither the time for weakness nor self-pity, and she was no longer a cold-blooded killer... She was the savior of children; even if karmic retribution awaited her, it would not be now.

Rean's shout recalled her sanity, prompting the small team to step unhesitatingly onto the correct path.

Meanwhile, ahead of them, the bastards from the slave market who had entered earlier were not having nearly as smooth a time.

The sheer number of divergence points left them helpless, forcing them to make the pragmatic choice of dispersing their search.

Perhaps, in their eyes, this was no big deal—merely hunting down a wretched killer capable only of murdering ordinary folk in the shadows... Where could a rat in a cage possibly run? Who within the entire city of Glowlight could bar the path of the slave market?

In their view, any one of their squads would successfully recover that bag of treasure and achieve great merit the moment they caught up with the targets. Of course, privately losing (pocketing) a Hero's Blood gemstone was only natural, too.

Yet from the very beginning, they had underestimated what they would encounter.

Their prey was never weak, nor was there only a single one.

"What is this?" In front of the numerous squads that had entered the depths of the cavern ahead of time, a strange beast appeared almost simultaneously.

A snow-white, dog-like creature materialized before them.

It appeared without a sound, silently watching the intruders before it.

***

"Helping me is helping yourselves. You wouldn't want to be exposed this quickly, would you..."

Deep within the cavern, there was a cozy little dwelling.

Sister Maria was applying makeup before a mirror while speaking to a water mirror mounted on the wall.

Behind her, the children who had been lively and bouncing just moments before stood there in silence.

Their pupils were completely vacant, appearing half-asleep and half-awake.

Reflected within the water mirror, however, was a figure draped in an eerie cloak and mask.

The mask, which revealed only the eyes, was painted with a single large eye, while two curved, oversized horns on either side stood out prominently.

The dark robe obscured any definite physique, yet the figure appeared neither tall nor bulky; its silhouette resembled that of an elderly person.

Her words received no response. The masked figure on the opposite side merely watched in silence, as if gazing upon a corpse.

As a mere test subject and an outer-circle asset, what could you possibly leak even if you tried?

"...Worshippers of the Ancient Beast, the legendary Beast Cult. If the royal family knew that you lot who supposedly perished sixteen years ago weren't entirely dead, they'd probably be quite delighted. Their bounties have never stopped, after all." In truth, she knew far more than anyone else.

The nun smiled. Even when seemingly driven to a desperate end, she still wore a pleasant and gentle expression.

As if this were merely another midnight heart-to-heart with the children.

And the person on the opposite side continued to fix her with the gaze reserved for the dead.

Reveal it? To whom would you reveal it? To the power-brokers of this city's utterly rotting aristocracy?

Maria continued unbothered, "I know the most likely person to betray me would be some masked horned zealot. After all, you have already planted your roots in the upper echelons of this kingdom's nobility. For the slave market to move against me is tantamount to you wanting to make a move..."

The nun produced a bag and gave it a slight shake, causing it to jingle.

That full pouch seemed to be brimming with gemstones.

At that moment, she was gratified to see greed flare in the eyes of the person opposite her.

"When you boil it down, isn't it all for these...? Help me escape, and these are yours. Otherwise, you can slowly fish them out of the underground river and caverns. Perhaps I might even let them drift down the underground river into the sea; if you manage to fish back even a tenth of them by then, you'll be doing well."

The counterpart fell silent for a moment before finally squeezing out a few words.

"I have awakened the 'cubs' in the cavern. You can control them using the 'Medallion.' Within half an hour, several horned zealots will arrive from the underground river. Follow them."

With that, the horned-mask priest cast his gaze toward the children standing behind the nun.

"The ship has limited carrying capacity. Harvest these 'little horns' and bring them back." He made no attempt to conceal his own greed.

The Beast was benevolent, and what it loved most were such pure children, especially those primed and nurtured by maternal love.

"These are my children, after all. They all call me mother..." The nun smiled still.

"I will arrange a large ship to take you abroad, allowing you to leave this kingdom. I'll also give you enough travel funds for your retirement."

"Ah, the cruel reality is truly heartbreaking. Such a short-lived mother-child relationship, too." The woman's smile remained mild.

The figure in the water mirror vanished, and with it, the smile finally faded from Maria's face as she let out a sigh.

The bag of "gemstones" dropped onto the table with a sharp clatter.

Spilling out from it was nothing more than a pile of shattered glass.

The "Grand Horned Priest" could not be trusted, and passage on a ship was never something she would actually receive, but at least for now, she could utilize their power to shake off the hunting dogs trailing behind her.

She looked back at the children standing behind her, and a cheerful smile bloomed once more upon her face.

"Mother is selling you all for a very good price, you know." The nun smiled softly as she walked toward her "children."

In her outstretched hands, one side held a dark, turbid liquid, while the other grasped a short-handled reaping sickle.

Yet before she could make a move, the vibration of the magical keepsake on the table caught her attention.

"So soon? Those hunting dogs from the slave market..." The triggered warning barrier indicated that the intruders were already very close.

However, having acquired control over the "cubs," she felt no fear.

"Perhaps I should first harvest a few more 'horns' and secure a bit more travel money." Compared to children, those transcendentalists were actually far more valuable.

The cult that worshipped the "Beast" wasn't limited to just the "Grand Horn" of this city alone.

Before setting off, she glanced back one last time at the children, her eyes brimming with deep affection.

"Wait just a little longer, my children. Mother will be right back, and then she'll take you away from this filthy, corrupt world..."