Chương 209: Chapter One-Hundred-and-Fifty-Five

When they left the square in front of the church, a group of four guards came running with two-metre-long steel-tipped spears in their hands. They wore white tabards with a golden crescent moon over chainmail and plate armour.

"Halt!" the man in front told Adam and his group.

"What can we do for you?" Aeran asked before demands could be made. The guard pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper and unfurled it so they could all see it. It showed a detailed drawing of a man's face. He had long dark hair, a short beard, dark eyes, and a star-shaped scar just above his left eyebrow. Below the image it read ' Wanted: The Golden Nail'. It promised a reward of 8, 000 Shillings for information leading to his arrest. Aeran took the wanted poster.

"What do we get if we kill him?" he asked. The guards gave him a surprised look.

"This man is very dangerous," the guard in front said.

"However, should you succeed in taking him down, then we will reward you the full bounty."

"Will his head suffice as proof?" Aeran asked nonchalantly. The guards laughed.

"Absolutely," the man replied.

"If you succeed, bring his head to our main office in the Garrison district, or flag down one of the guards in the other districts."

"Why is there a bounty on his head?" Adam asked, although he already knew about the objective from Beck and Emelia.

"The Golden Nail is a vicious murderer!" a second guard said, his voice dripping with disgust for the man they were hunting.

"He prefers killing young women," the first guard added.

"He earnt his name from the nails he uses to kill his victims and pin them to walls in degrading poses. He is a blight upon Moonport, and many of the recent disappearances are believed to be caused by his rampage. The only thing is, we have yet to find most of his victims despite combing the city."

"The disappearances are because of bloodfiends," Aeran said confidently. The main guard shook his head.

"It's a bad idea to believe in rumours, young man."

"What if I bring you the head of a bloodfiend as well?" he retorted.

"Will you believe me then?" They all laughed.

"I can't tell if you are brave or foolish," the guard remarked. A discordant note travelled through Aeran's melody, and though his expression did not change, Adam could tell a violent urge rushed through him, spurred on by the ridicule. Adam put a hand on Aeran's shoulder.

"We'll bring you enough proof that you will be forced to believe us," he told the guards.

"Start by bringing us the head of the Golden Nail, then you can go hunting fairytale monsters all you'd like," the guard said and laughed. Then their group moved into the square, attaching the wanted posters to various walls, as well as the door of the church, before moving on to the old people by the restaurant. Aeran pulled his shoulder out of Adam's grasp and said, "You can track them, so bring us to a bloodfiend."

"Let's focus on getting the reliquary back first," he replied. Aeran was clearly annoyed, but instead of taking it out on Adam, he launched his grappling hook up to the roof of a nearby building and pulled himself up. The moment his feet touched the red tiles, he started running towards the Cloth district. Závi quickly followed after him with a few leaps that also brought her onto the rooftops.

"Let's not fall behind," Adam told Sofia and Luo, and they ran through the narrow streets, chasing their self-centred 'leader'. Adam wasn't all that fast, since he had returned his body and musculature to normal after being turned to stone in the previous Stage. But he made up for his lack of speed by infusing his body with Mana and basically dragging himself forward as he ran, keeping up with the others who had a lot more Movement upgrades.

While they moved east through the Pious district, they navigated the maze-like streets and crossed four separate canals across small two-metre-wide bridges, until suddenly reaching a much bigger canal with only one large bridge spanning its width. To reach the bridge they had to run along a narrow strip of stone that barely fit one person, with buildings on their left and the water on their right.

A few big boats carrying goods moved back and forth along the large canal, sending tall waves crashing against the side of the street and wetting the stones, making it treacherous to navigate. Závi and Aeran leapt across the large canal using their Relics and skills, and they landed on the rooftops of a three-storied residential block on the other side. I think that must be the Cloth district across the water, Adam thought.

Beck had mentioned that each district was separated by water and large bridges, so it checked out. By the time Adam, Luo, and Sofia were halfway across the bridge, the two they were following were gone from their sight. I can still track them, but not if they go too far. While Aeran and Závi's melodies stood out, Moonport was just too densely populated for Adam to be able to pin them down if they were more than a few hundred metres away.

He put an arm around the two running alongside him and then activated his magic at the same time as his Slothling Spring Boots. Normally the Relic would've been insufficient to send them all leaping upwards together, but his flesh magic made it work. Sofia let out a surprised yelp, but when they landed on the rooftop and saw Aeran and Závi in the distance, she seemed grateful.

The streets were truly a pain to navigate, and there wasn't anyone watching the roofs in this part of the district, so it was a good way to traverse the city in a hurry. Eventually they caught up to the pair they'd been chasing, when they stopped at the edge of a roof where a large square opened up between residential blocks. A few trees grew from square patches of soil in the tiled ground, and children played around beneath their canopies while adults watched from nearby benches and chairs.

Compared to the Pious district, most of the people in the square were clad in shabby hand-me down clothes that seemed older than them, and the grime that covered them and their buildings made Adam certain that the Cloth district was some kind of slum. Emelia and Beck didn't mention anything about that. But I suppose that not all details are worth mentioning if they are obvious at a first glance.

The other districts had fairly obvious names, like Artisan, Garrison, Market, Pleasure, and Wine, so the Cloth district was the only one that seemed slightly vague. Adam had just assumed it was similar to a crafting district, but it was clear from their vantage on the roof above that no one here made their own clothes nor could afford new ones.

"Which way do we go?" Aeran asked him.

"Give me a moment," Adam said. He closed his eyes and expanded his perception. The broader he spread the melody-sensing power of his hand, the more the details blurred, giving him mostly just a broad perspective of the emotions he perceived. There was a spot a few hundred metres to the south that registered to him as full of anxiety, greed, and deceit. But what really drew his attention was a single melody on the opposite side of the square.

It was clearly in hiding, and it emanated tones of anticipation and hunger. Adam frowned.

"I think the thieves might be to the south, but there's a bloodfiend somewhere in the streets on the other side of the square. Follow me." He ran along the rooftops of the buildings forming the 'walls' of the square and the others followed after him, with Aeran matching his speed. He really doesn't want to be number two, huh? The people in the square below were too focused on keeping an eye on their kids to notice their team passing above.

"People never look up," Aeran commented as they passed a restaurant below where several people were talking loudly as they ate lunch. Even the food they ate in the Cloth district was second-grade to what they'd encountered in the taverns and restaurants of the Pious district, and that had by no means been fancy dining.

On the other side of the square were a few branching alleyways cloaked in shadow thanks to the third floors of the residential blocks being connected, effectively creating tunnels, which were ideal spots for bloodthirsty beasts to lay in wait. They passed the first of these alleys since it was empty, but stopped above the second one when Adam held up a hand.

He pointed down below them where the strong melody was coming from and Aeran gestured for Závi to go to the far end, while him and Adam climbed down into the street nearby. Sofia and Luo didn't have an easy way to descend, so they stayed above, but since the Asian guy wielded a crossbow, the high vantage was well-suited to him. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

When Adam and Aeran reached the floor of the street outside the alley, Adam whispered, "It's clinging to the ceiling of the tunnel." Aeran leaned out to look down the dark alleyway.

"I see it," he said. Aeran pulled out his rapier and caught the sun's light, sending a glint down to the other end of the alley tunnel where Závi waited. Then he slowly entered the darkness. Adam quickly wove a spidersilk spell construct for Heart Lance as he followed. Although he knew where the bloodfiend was, based on its melody, it took his eyes a while before he actually saw it.

The creature was hanging on to the ceiling formed by the underside of the third floor that stretched across the two adjacent buildings. Long claws jutted out from its fingers and toes, and these were dug deep into the stone, giving it a strong grip. Even as Adam noticed its shape, its eyes bored into his. It looked uncomfortably similar to him, except its ears were longer and the angles of its face were sharper.

It wore the tatters of a dress and it had long wispy grey hair, though its appearance and build seemed neither male nor female. It must have a way to detect us. Maybe by smell or a weak blood sense. But it's not very bright. Even though it knows we're looking at it, it's just staying put. Adam wanted to tear it apart with his spell, but he let Aeran take the lead, since he wanted to know just how strong the guy was.

Fortunately, he seemed eager to fight and not too concerned about giving away his tricks, since he believed himself to be unbeatable. Instead of getting close enough for the bloodfiend to release its hold and drop down on him, Aeran stopped and swished his blade through the air.

"I challenge you!" he yelled at the monster. What the hell? Is that part of his Duellist evolutions? He said he was a 'Insightful Gentleman', so maybe it's related to that? Then a bolt flew from further down the alley and exploded the ceiling that the bloodfiend held on to, releasing its grip and making it fall. Despite very little coordination beforehand, Závi and Aeran must've come up with the strategy on the fly.

As the creature fell towards the ground, he fired his grappling hook up, catching it as it fell and pulling it towards himself. Then he triggered his Cloud Skimmer Jacket and flew up. Just before their bodies collided, Aeran stabbed his rapier through its torso. Then he activated his jacket a second time to spin around its plummeting figure and wrenched his blade free, all while the grappling hook still connected them to each other.

From behind the falling creature, he swung his blade through the nape of its neck, dealing way more damage than Adam would've expected, since he nearly tore its head clean off. It struck the ground with a loud thud, and he landed atop of it, crushing it into the stones. Then he activated his Duellist's Glove, swinging his blade through the neck of the downed bloodfiend again, managing to shear through its spine and flesh this time. [Lesser Bloodfiend defeated,] announced their cubes.

"I told you it would be easy," Aeran gloated as he wiped his blade off on the tattered clothes of the bloodfiend. It didn't even try to fight back…

"Well fought," Adam said, though he didn't really mean it. Závi came over to them and looked down at the decapitated beast.

"Nice assist," Adam told her, but she ignored him. These two are no fun. They were giving him the feeling of professional killers, but even people like that would probably be better company, he thought. I wonder if they were part of the 7, 000 Players that appeared in response to my query about Player-killers who murdered all their teammates. I should ask the cube about that later. It might answer me since it seems fine with talking about things I've already 'seen', even if I didn't register it.

Adam recalled the way Závi had described her encounter with the human mimic. She said, 'When I entered the temple', not 'we'. Regardless, I won't let my guard down around these two. Aeran already dislikes me for trying to take the lead, and she seems like she'd do anything he asks, which is scary. I'm curious about her worship of the All-Mother though. I should ask her about it later if I get the chance. Aeran lifted up the severed head and attached it to his belt by the hair.

He'd already checked the body for loot, but there was nothing. The teeth can be collected as trophies if I remember correctly. Though Adam didn't want to mention that to the others just yet, and it was clear Aeran had plans for the head, since he still felt upset about the guards not believing him, which was quite petty. They went back up to the rooftop where Sofia and Luo waited, but Adam came last, since he wanted to collect the creature's blood first.

"Did you get it?" Luo asked before noticing the head hanging from Aeran's belt.

"Holy hell!"

"Do you really need to bring that along?" Sofia asked.

"Seems barbaric to me."

"If we show this to the guards, they will believe that bloodfiends are in the city," Aeran told her. Then he lifted it up so it was head height.

"It looks similar to Adam, does it not?" Sofia frowned and Luo looked away. Are you trying to start a fight, you piece of shit? Adam pushed the head away.

"Don't forget who led you to it."

"I would have found it without your help, I am sure." Adam swallowed down the urge to throttle the guy.

"Let's go find the reliquary," he then said, leaving the others to follow him. As he moved ahead of them, Adam pulled out the compass to confirm that they were going in the right direction. It fortunately pointed south as well, and given how much it was shifting around, it was clear that the reliquary was not far away. Adam pushed the compass into the flesh of his stomach to hide it from Aeran who quickly caught up to him.

"You never said how your tracking works," Aeran prodded him. Adam just ignored him and kept moving towards their target. Within a few minutes, they reached an area of the Cloth district where the residential blocks were replaced with three old warehouses next to what might once have been a simple factory. It was possible the district had once produced clothes or worked cloth in some other form, given its name, but the people who moved about the area definitely weren't in the business of weaving.

Swords, daggers, shortbows, and a couple of simple crossbows were wielded in the hands of those that moved in and out of the warehouses. Even as they watched from the rooftop of a nearby residential block, Adam could track fast-moving people going through some sort of tunnel system below the buildings, which was possibly the sewers. Although they'd gotten the Golden Nail pattern for the Stage, Adam knew from Emelia that it was also possible to get one involving plague-bearing rats that nested in the sewers.

Supposedly there was a lab somewhere in the bowels of a district that had created the sickness, but they wouldn't have to deal with that this time around, for which Adam was grateful. Závi looked down at the people below, her melody falling into a killer's calm, which Adam thought was worrying.

"Are we killing them?" Luo asked, his grip on the large crossbow tightening. He probably wouldn't be much of an asset inside the warehouses.

"Let's not go overboard," Adam cautioned, though everyone besides him were clearly gearing up for a fight. If only there was a way to see inside… He hadn't tried messing with it much, but it was very possible that he could create an eye with his flesh magic and push his vision into it. After all, it worked easily enough with the limbs he created, so the logic should be sound.

"Let me try something first," Adam told them. Then he leapt from the residential building and onto the roof of the nearest warehouse. He could tell that Aeran wanted to follow, but for once he didn't give in to his impulses. Once he was removed from the others, Adam retrieved the compass from inside his body.

It confirmed that the middle of the three warehouses was where he'd find the reliquary, so he quickly went about shaping some of the flesh he pulled from his tail, attempting to create a simple eye that was connected to him with a long intestinal cable. As with all of the flesh magic he used, the more his creations resembled something real in appearance and design, the stronger they were. But sculpting an eye on the spot, especially when he'd never done it before, was extremely difficult.

After all, an eye was a complex thing to make. Even when he managed something resembling a simple eye, the vision he received through it was unfocused and lacked colour. Fuck it. It's good enough for now, he decided and snaked it through the air and in through an open window of the middle warehouse. The interior was full of wooden boxes, many of them already nailed shut, but a few were in the middle of being filled with expensive-looking wares.

Adam didn't know the exact layout of the district, but he was willing to bet that there was a canal nearby that could fit a boat and transport the boxes elsewhere. In the back, next to two treasure chests of wood with metal clasps and half-moon insignias on top, was a square box within which lay an ornate container with finely-carved details depicting angels holding suns. That's gotta be it.

Though his crafted eye only showed him the interior in grey tone, he guessed that the reliquary was made of gold, given how it shone in the lamplight inside the warehouse. A few figures were standing near the box, but one of them was keeping his distance. He had a regal look about him, with shoulder-long silky white hair, pointed ears, a fancy dark suit, and a large gem brooch below his clavicles. The melody that emanated from him was strange.

It didn't feel quite human, but it also didn't match the lesser bloodfiend's melody. It was powerful but subdued, and though the hunger and anticipation were there, they were kept in check by a powerful calming tone. Is he a stronger version perhaps? Maybe a third generation? Adam wondered. Just then, the man turned and looked around. Oh shit. Adam quickly retrieved his extended eye before it could be spotted, returning its mass to his tail, and then he flagged down his teammates.

Aeran and Závi quickly joined him, but Sofia and Luo had no way to leap across buildings. The Warrior said something to the crossbow-wielder and then started scaling down the side of the building they were on. Luo watched her for a moment, and then moved around the rooftops until he had a good overview of the three warehouses. Adam gave him a thumbs up and he returned it a moment later. Most of the fighting will take place inside the building, but he might be able to nail any who try to flee or call for backup.

I just wonder if he'll get credit for killing the bloodfiend inside, if all he's doing is keeping a lookout. Adam turned to Aeran and Závi.

"The reliquary is inside the middle warehouse, but I saw a few dozen armed people in the building and more outside, plus there's a bloodfiend too."

"What are we waiting for then?" Aeran asked.

"It's not a lesser bloodfiend like the one we killed earlier."

"That I killed," Aeran corrected him. Adam suppressed a grimace.

"It's stronger, which means it'll have special powers."

"Like what?" Závi asked.

"Blood and shadow magic, bone manipulation, hypnosis, illusions, anything like that," Adam replied.

"I take it you have a plan?" Aeran asked. Adam nodded.

"Let me go in first. I look pretty similar to them as you said, so I should be able to get the jump on him." Aeran narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Are you trying to get all of the kill Points for yourself?" Adam sighed.

"Just wait for my signal. I'll let you deal the killing blow if you're so concerned about Points." Závi looked between Adam and Aeran.

"We will be ready," she said cautiously. Aeran glared at her.

"Fine," Aeran spat.

"Get going then." Adam put his glass hand to his ears and changed their shape to match that of the guy inside the warehouse. Both of them were clearly surprised he possessed such a power, but they were even more confused when Adam simply floated down to the ground between the warehouses and walked towards the opening leading inside the middle one. I probably shouldn't have shown my hand like that, but God that guy pisses me off. Adam rolled his shoulders and neck. Here we go.

Time to pretend I'm a blood-sucking monster.