Chapter Twenty

In the darkness, near a corner of the city wall.

Two figures appeared there, huddled in the shadows, avoiding the gaze of others.

"There are still two days until Blood Sun. Have you finished making the necessary preparations?" One of them stood with a huge half-sword on his back.

It was a broken greatsword, with only the hilt and a small part of the blade protruding from it.

Even so, its size is still astonishing; the hilt and handguard alone, worn behind the back, already appear disproportionately large. It might even give the illusion of being a ship's anchor.

The other person, half-lying on the ground, nodded slightly, which could be considered a positive response.

It seemed to be sleeping, curled up on a patch of scorched ground like a cat.

She was holding a palm-sized red gem in her arms, which seemed to contain some strange images.

This place is located between the manger and the city wall, and the probability of it being discovered is extremely low unless its location is known.

“It’s right here,” the guy lying on the ground said softly, “but for some reason, I can’t find it.”

"To protect itself, it might use various methods to hide. There are priests and paladins here; it's a very dangerous place."

“But it should also be trying to contact us.” The guy lying on the ground raised his head. “I still don’t understand why Flalos would give its abilities to humans. Aren’t we its creations? It should trust us more.”

"Humans are the form that God himself designed; there is no more perfect design than theirs."

“You would say that, but I don’t think they have any advantages whatsoever. Shorter lifespans and much longer learning periods than we do, plus only a few of them possess special talents.”

“Who knows? Do you think I like humans more than you do? I hate those guys too, but you should realize that other demons, like our masters, referenced humans extensively when creating us.” The standing guy looked down at the one sitting on the ground and said softly, “You can hate them, but you shouldn’t underestimate them.”

"Yes, just like now we have to hide here."

The guy sitting on the ground slowly got up and stood up, and the ball in his hand began to burn on its surface.

What are you doing?

“Let’s warm up a bit, brother. You don’t need to be so careful. As long as we control the release of magic, we won’t leave too many traces,” the shorter man said softly, looking at the taller one.

“Actually, we’ve already been found.” The tall man turned to look at a centipede clinging to the wall. “Can you find the controller?”

"It's as easy as finding the ball that the Firehound lost."

The short man muttered something under his breath, the ball in his hand vanished, and he himself disappeared in the instant he was engulfed in flames.

The tall man sighed softly and slowly took out the ridiculously large broken sword from behind him.

"Oh dear, I thought you would leave that cute girl behind to fight me."

Strange noises came from all directions, but the tall man simply pointed the broken sword in his hand in the right direction.

That guy was on a rooftop thirty meters away, wearing a gray robe to conceal his identity.

There are so many people wearing robes in the city now; simply changing the color is enough to conceal their identity.

However, it was quite difficult for this person to hide her identity because her figure was not up to standard, and her unusual physique could be detected after only a brief exchange.

Nina, the Witcher, is hunting a Red Oni. The typical encounter takes place in a corner of the city, in a large, empty area with no one around.

It's an ideal scene for causing trouble; you don't need to worry about how to handle things afterwards—the heavy snow will stop everything.

The flames split apart, scattering the falling rocks. The entire sky was practically covered with these diffuse traps; as the simplest traps of all spells, they deserved to be concentrated and deployed.

A barrage of explosions erupted in the corners of the city, accompanied by flashes of lightning that obliterated any remaining land in the area.

The massive explosions engulfed the entire city. Neither side intended to conceal their movements; their common plan was to finish the battle in an instant and then withdraw.

Nina leaped into the air, turned around mid-air, and chanted a spell towards the red demon that had reappeared in its original position.

Chains rose from the roof, binding the limbs and neck of the red demon who had just moved in. But they still couldn't stop him from raising his greatsword high.

A burst of scorching flame erupted from the sword's port, its light filling and compensating for the sword's flaws. A massive volcanic eruption cleaved through the air, incinerating everything in its path.

When the people in the houses below finally emerged, both Nina and the Red Demon had vanished, leaving only the still-burning ruins.

When Ketchum arrived, the damage had already extended to three houses.

He rushed here the moment he sensed something was wrong, but he couldn't find the two guys, and he didn't even know the outcome of the battle.

He looked down at the blackness on the ground with a slight headache; the heavy snow would cover it in minutes. Determining the participants by examining the scene was proving extremely difficult.

"are u there?"

Suddenly, a voice came from its head. It responded, pressing its head in slight pain.

"Please don't use the mental link to notify me of things while I'm doing serious business, especially now that I'm not sure of the enemy's location."

"Sorry, but I've received a very interesting person here. You should come and take a look."

"Received. I'll be there in about three minutes." Ketcht took a box out of his pocket, filled it with some charred soil, and waved to the people behind him. Three knights in armor took his place and stopped the scene.

Someone must stay here, because if the crowds who come to join the fun don't see anyone from the church, they will start spreading uneasy rumors.

There are already enough rumors, but the sheer number of rumors isn't what worries him. What worries him is that most of these rumors are difficult for him to explain. Because once he tries to explain, it will reveal even more things that shouldn't be told to the public.

When Ketch arrived, a foul stench wafted from Carl's house.

Ketchum frowned and waved his hand to dispel the strange smell that was casting a shadow over him.

He thought, "The smell of burning insects."

This is not a pleasant smell; no one likes insects anywhere.

As soon as I entered, I saw the guy who was placed directly on the table, his whole body wrapped in white bandages, and his chest was charred.

There were also insects; you could see them all around from the moment you entered the room. They crawled all over this guy, and some even burrowed inside.

"Still alive?"

"He's already dead, but while he was alive, this guy turned his body into a breeding ground for many insects. So even in death, he still carries some of his life force." Karl said this disgusting thing without any change in expression: "He was already dead when I found him."

“I admit I hate this guy, even after he’s dead, he still disgusts me.” Kitsch looked at him, then at Carl who was nearby.

Carl didn't seem to dislike insects—no, to put it another way. The insects were all trying their best to avoid him. The reason was unclear, but the area where he was sitting was remarkably clean.

“If you want to see more, you can cut open the wound to take a look. I believe this will help with weight loss.”

"Forget it, where did you get this stuff from?"

“He was found in a street trash can a minute before I told you. I don’t know if he was thrown in there or if he was always hiding in there.” Karl handed over another item, a black knife: “The person who killed him left the tool they used on him. It has a lot of magic residue on it, the work of a monster. Probably left it there because they were worried we would find it this way.”

“I think a more likely explanation is that it hates the bugs crawling on it,” Ketchum said casually. “After all, these bugs are generally disliked.”

"But would you change your original plans just because you dislike them?"

"Maybe if there were a guy bullying women in front of me, I might temporarily put down my work and leisurely beat him up first."

“That’s very much your style. Enough with the chit-chat, I want to know what happened tonight. There was a short tremor just now, almost like an earthquake.” Karl turned to look at Ketchum: “But you weren’t in combat when I contacted you.”

"That's because I arrived a step too late. Their contact time was less than fifteen seconds, and they had all left the scene."

"The troublesome thing is that many people witnessed this. How do you plan to reassure them?"

“I haven’t told them the truth in a long time, please, Carl, don’t make me say more about things like this. It makes me feel like I’m going against my principles.”

Carl looked at the man standing straight, speaking sorrowful words, and sighed helplessly.

"Do you have enough food?" Suddenly, Ketchum turned around and asked a strange question.

"Even I have no right to change the amount of food that is uniformly distributed."

"You can go buy food."

"You know how much I eat."

“But I can tell that you are not in good health. Although the holy magic can keep you energetic, your malnutrition has made you excessively thin. You are not short, but this makes you look a bit like a skeleton.”

"So what should I do?" Carlton paused and said, "Or what do you plan to do?"

"I can help fill out a form about food preparation."

“That’s enough, Kitsch. You shouldn’t waste someone’s trust in you over something so trivial.” Carl looked at Kitsch, paused, and said, “You’re not that kind of person, and your subtle probing shouldn’t be so obvious.”

Ketch didn't speak, he just looked at Karl.

"It's not my fault, you should have looked back."

Karl sighed deeply and turned to look at the girl standing there, high on the fireplace.

She looked terrified, her white hair cascading down like a waterfall.

The reason is probably an insect; she's currently avoiding a spider the size of her palm. It even looks poisonous.

Oh, damn it. The guy who killed him should have been burned alive.

“Karl, you’re not a pedophile, are you?” Ketchum considered how to phrase his meaning.

“I vividly remember the last pedophile I ever saw is still locked up in a church, Kitsch. You never show any mercy to scum.” Carlton paused and said, “This child is someone I found by accident, and I’m raising him for the time being.”

"reason."

“The child will be raised in an orphanage within the safe zone until she is twelve years old. If she cannot find her parents, the church will raise her until she is able to live independently. I am a priest, and the local church is not as large as those in big cities. Kitty, you are new to this small town, so don't use big city behavior patterns to deal with things here. In most cases, we don't need to strictly follow the rules.” Karl looked at Kitty: “The result is that if she is handed over to the church, then I will be her guardian.”

“That makes sense, but I want to know how long she’s been here?” Kitsch asked hesitantly.

"About seven days."

"Oh, then why didn't you request extra food?"

“Because you’re so busy, anything related to food is troublesome.” Karl sighed slightly. “Let’s end my investigation here. We still need to figure out what to do with this body. Nobody wants to eat it.”

"Burn it."

"Aren't you going to think more about how to get more clues from this?"

"No need. Just take your things, pack your supplies, and move to the church. You don't want to live in a house full of bugs, do you?" Ketchum looked at the gnawed fingers on the ground, rubbing his head in exasperation.

Suddenly, he and Karl both froze, then rushed outside together.

......

“I need an explanation for why the date of Blood Day is different from what was expected.” In the shadows, the two red demons stood side by side.

The entire night was as bright as day, but it was illuminated by a red light.

The original sun disc was now covered in filth, a red filth.

The alarm bells were rung; the large bell that had been hanging in the church was rung, drawing the attention of those who had been awakened by the explosion.

This time, however, it triggered panic.

The earth began to tremble, causing cracks to appear in the city walls. The sky darkened instantly, because the elemental barrier covering it had been modified to enhance its effect. This phenomenon was caused by filling it with an excessive amount of elements.

"I don't know, I really don't know." The short, red-robed man's robe was blown off by the strong wind, and he stared at everything happening in front of Kan Ze with an incredulous expression.