Chapter 78: What Lay Hidden

Hooves pounded rhythmically against the muddy ground as Charles made his way toward the sewer outlet. He held down his hat to prevent it from flying away as he squinted at the outlet ahead.

"Plenty of corpses. Is this where the city guards vanished?" Charles reined in the horse and dismounted swiftly, approaching the sewer outlet cautiously without getting too close to the bodies.

He observed the shriveled corpses, already bloated from absorbing water, from a distance. The foul stench of rot mixed with the putrid odor of the sewer assailed his nostrils.

Charles frowned, visibly uncomfortable—but that was the extent of his reaction. Though he looked unreliable at first glance, Charles possessed remarkable willpower. After all, Fang wouldn't have recruited him into the special ops team otherwise.

After a moment of thought, he flicked his fingers, producing a tarot card from his coat pocket—the Wheel of Fortune, upright. Magic surged through him as he tossed the card lightly into the air. The card dissolved mid-flight into translucent bands of light that scattered outward and spread across the ground.

The bands of light adhered to the surface of the ground, revealing subtle clues that would have been otherwise invisible. A clear trail of glowing, barefoot footprints started near Charles and extended toward a distant thicket before vanishing.

Charles glanced at the glowing endpoint of the trail beneath the thicket, squinting slightly but choosing not to investigate it for now. Instead, he focused his gaze on a corpse lying face-down in a puddle. The submerged body had already turned pale from water absorption, but Charles' keen eyes caught faint glowing dots emanating from underneath the corpse that trailed back into the depths of the sewer.

"...Still alive, huh?" Charles muttered. Magic surged in his hand again, revealing a glowing, increasingly warm tarot card—the Sun.

The card danced deftly between his fingers as he contemplated his options. After a moment, he shook his head and decided not to act rashly. His role was clear: gather intel and support his teammates.

"I hope Edward hurries up," he murmured, flicking his fingers. The tarot card disappeared mid-air. Charles crouched down patiently, keeping his gaze on the suspicious corpse. He had plenty of patience.

The sound of galloping hooves and urgent shouts reached Charles' ears. He straightened, turning toward the rustling foliage as a group of riders emerged from the trees. Leading them was Edward, with Wang Yu and Avia close behind, followed by ten or so Nightblade soldiers.

"Hold," Charles signaled from afar, gesturing for Edward and the others to approach first while the soldiers remained behind.

Edward quickly understood Charles' intent. After dismounting, he, Wang Yu, and Avia jogged over.

"There's definitely something wrong here," Charles reported. "An entire squad of city guards disappeared. I can't confirm if it's the work of Erphine, the Font of Life, but if there's a major issue in the sewers, he's the likeliest culprit. Either way, we need intel—and that corpse is a fine start."

Charles pointed to the suspicious body.

Wang Yu surveyed the scene but refrained from using his ripples to scout around. If Charles hadn't made a move either, it didn't make sense to alert whatever might be lurking. Caution was key.

"I'll approach with Edward and secure the corpse's limbs. Avia, Charles, be ready to provide support," Wang Yu instructed.

Wang Yu stretched as he glanced at the corpse lying face-down in the filthy water.

"Understood," Charles replied promptly. Edward and Avia nodded.

Without further delay, Edward and Wang Yu advanced cautiously toward the corpse, moving in sync.

Wang Yu activated his ripples but refrained from infusing them with void energy as he focused entirely on the corpse.

Ten meters, five meters, three meters... as they neared, the corpse grew clearer—its face was twisted in terror, and its bloated features were disturbingly familiar. Wang Yu recognized him: Sam, the middle-aged city guard listed among the missing.

"One of the missing guards," Wang Yu muttered. "Something's definitely wrong."

His ripples couldn't penetrate the body's structure, which could only mean one thing: it wasn't dead.

Wang Yu coughed softly, a signal to Edward. Their eyes met, and they nodded in agreement. In an instant, both men lunged forward.

Their sudden approach triggered an immediate reaction. The "corpse," grotesque and half-bloated, sprang up with unnerving agility. Its joints twisted at unnatural angles, as if it had eyes on its spine. It launched itself backward at Wang Yu.

Chunks of decayed flesh broke away as it moved, revealing pale, skeletal limbs and putrefied organs beneath. Its arms flipped unnaturally as it clawed at Wang Yu, leaving faint grayish residue behind.

Its speed was shocking. Despite its ruined body, the creature's limbs cut through the air like deadly weapons. Its skeletal hand, stripped of flesh, reached for Wang Yu's chest—and Wang Yu let it.

Before it could land, the hand shattered into fragments. Three layers of protection glimmered around Wang Yu: Charles' Chariot tarot shield, Edward's Steel Sunlight secret art, and Avia's Earth's Embrace. Unbeknownst to them, there was a fourth layer—Wang Yu's own wizardry Barrier—beneath all that protection.

The creature's attack barely chipped the outermost barrier. Its claw broke apart from the impact, splintering a grotesque combination of bone and flesh alike in all directions.

It seemed to have no sense of pain. Immediately after its limb exploded, its neck twisted all the way around as it lunged to bite Wang Yu's throat.

This time, however, Wang Yu acted first. He seized the creature by its shoulders and slammed it into the ground with ease. Its head thrashed violently, teeth snapping at the air, but Wang Yu held it firmly in place.

Edward rushed over, pinning the creature's legs. The "corpse" writhed furiously, its decaying flesh peeling away to expose its rotting innards.

"What's powering this thing? It's certainly not its muscles," Edward grimaced, holding the flailing limbs down.

"I have no idea. Avia, lock it down!" Wang Yu called out. From beneath the creature, the earth trembled and shifted. A massive hand of rock and soil erupted from the ground, enveloping the creature's body.

Dirt filled the gaps, sealing the writhing "corpse" in a cocoon of earth. Only its grotesque, decaying head remained exposed, thrashing and twisting with mindless fury.

"Disgusting," Charles muttered. He was studying the trapped abomination, but had clearly found nothing of note.

Wang Yu tried releasing his ripples again to investigate the entity, only to find his efforts blocked once more. This confirmed that the... thing... was still alive. Stroking his chin thoughtfully, he recalled the grayish substance he had seen clinging to the creature's hand earlier.

"Any of you know what this stuff is?" Wang Yu described the gray material to the others, but all three shook their heads.

"Aha! This is a job for a specialist." Charles snapped his fingers and made a few hand signals toward the soldiers stationed nearby. Having been on alert, the soldiers immediately sprang into action, splitting into two groups to surround a small thicket in the distance.

Wang Yu noticed the shrubbery tremble slightly—there was clearly something hiding there. However, with two groups closing in, whatever lay within couldn't possibly escape. In no time, the soldiers emerged with a trembling old man, dragging him toward the group. The man had the look of someone caught red-handed.

"Hey there! Aren't you the sewer watchman? Why'd you run off?" Charles patted the old man's cheek lightly as he questioned him.

"Something's wrong in the sewer! I warned them—honest, sir, I did!" The old man's face was etched with fear as he spoke, his voice trembling. He seemed ready to drop to his knees at any moment.

"Oh, is that so? All right, fair enough. Let him go. Now, take a look at this for me." Charles gestured for the soldiers to release the old man, then led him to the dirt-and-stone cocoon that encased the grotesque creature.

Pointing at the restrained creature, Charles ordered the old man to identify it. The man hesitated, trembling all over. "I... I don't know what it is," he stammered, sounding genuinely clueless.

"Really?" Charles asked skeptically.

"Really! I only discovered these strange corpses this morning, and I reported them immediately!" The old man blurted out, panic rising in his voice. He seemed genuinely terrified of Charles, who had the air of someone who could fly into a deadly rage at any moment.

"And what's all this junk you're carrying?" Charles jabbed a finger at the bottles and flasks dangling from the old man's belt, which jingled with metallic clinks. The containers were filled with various powders.

"They're antidotes and ointments for treating infections!" the old man quickly explained, even opening one of the flasks to pour some powder into his mouth to demonstrate.

"Huh, so they are." Charles scratched his head.

"Let me see that," Wang Yu said, extending a hand toward the old man.

"Sure, sure." The old man hurriedly handed over the flask. But as he reached out, Wang Yu suddenly grabbed the man's wrist and yanked hard.

Instinctively, the old man resisted with surprising strength. To Wang Yu's surprise, the frail-looking watchman exhibited power that didn't match his appearance. Without activating his Bloodburn Drive, Wang Yu found himself in a deadlock. He was unable to easily overpower the old man.

"Hm?" The old man seemed to realize something was amiss. He glanced down and saw that vines had emerged from the ground to encircle his ankles, though they hadn't yet bound him.

When he started to struggle against Wang Yu, the vines came alive and quickly coiled up his legs. The old man exerted himself, snapping many of the vines in the process, but the effort disrupted his struggle against Wang Yu.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Wang Yu abruptly released his pull. The sudden loss of tension sent the old man stumbling backward. With his legs still partially entangled by the vines, he toppled onto the ground.

The old man flailed in an attempt to regain balance. His feet pushed off the ground with surprising force, snapping the remaining vines in one burst. His body twisted in mid-air as he prepared to land on his hands—but before he could stabilize himself, Edward's shield came swinging in from the side.

The shield, emblazoned with a glowing lion motif, struck the old man on the back of the head with a solid thud that made everyone wince.

The old man crumpled, dazed from the blow. Before he could recover, a tarot card streaked through the air and struck him.

This was the Chariot card, reversed. It no longer manifested as a protective barrier. Rather, the card transformed into translucent shackles that bound the old man at every joint, rendering him completely immobile.

Despite his restraints, the old man continued to writhe on the ground like a worm, his movements desperate yet futile. The sight was both pitiful and grotesque.

Within moments, Wang Yu and the others, along with over a dozen Nightblades, had him entirely surrounded. Now that there were weapons pointed at him from all directions, the old man finally stopped struggling as he realized that further resistance was pointless.

"How did you figure it out?" The old man's voice was hoarse and raspy, and tinged with both anger and disbelief. He seemed utterly shocked that his disguise had been uncovered.

"Haha, don't make me laugh! Don't you think I would have noticed your pathetic excuse for a disguise?" Charles strutted over, his usual smug grin plastered on his face.

The old man glared at Charles, trying to discern exactly how he had been exposed.

"Why should I tell you?" Charles scoffed, his expression and tone abruptly turning ice-cold. "You killed those city guards, didn't you? Beat him to a pulp. Make it hurt—leave him alive, but barely."

The nearby Nightblades stepped forward, cracking their knuckles and grinning maliciously.