While Zeke and Sulong were engaged in a fight against that mysterious man, Katrina, who had sensed something, went ahead.

Even though she saw the man, she ignored him and sped toward a large circular room at the end of the long sewer tunnel.

There, she saw at least a dozen robed people kneeling around a large sinister altar. A sinister black light was emanating from the altar and invading the believers' bodies, making them convulse on the ground then explode into a mass of flesh and gore.

This sight didn’t shock the woman as she watched for a bit. She saw the black-robbed people’s face; They were filled with bliss and joy as they welcomed their God’s aura and accepted their cruel fate with welcome arms.

Only their leader was exempt from dying. He was a tall man with little hair left on his deformed head. The entirety of his eyes were jet black and his left arm was thrice as long as average with thick and thin tentacles protruding from it.

Without a sliver of hesitation, Katrina dashed toward the altar and slashed diagonally with a glistening silver blade that was hidden in her sleeve.

With one strike, the altar split in half and fell to the ground. The evil aura lurking in the air became unstable and it started attacking everyone indiscriminately.

The leader, like a beast, leapt at Katrina only to have his skull stabbed by her blade. However, he kept thrashing around and only when she cut his body to pieces did he finally die.

Katrina looked around the room and saw a dome of organic matter squirming. The black-colored energy became denser and transformed into many black tentacles that shot at the dome, trying to get what was inside.

Seeing this, the special agent interfered and, while dodging the tentacles with ease, continued slashing left and right until there was none left.

The room returned to an eerie silence, but Katrina knew that it wasn’t over yet. The altar shook for a bit it exploded, revealing a hideous monstrosity that resembled nothing but an unholy abomination.

A milky white aura enveloped Katrina, who took a deep breath and jumped towards the monster…

****

“Aaaah!”

Seeing silhouettes appearing down below, Jack freaked out only to realize it was Sulong and Zeke.

“W-what happened?! Who’s t…t-this? Ooh…”

The appearance of an unfamiliar man and a baby shocked Jack. However, seeing the state of his companions, he refrained from asking questions and helped them leave the area.

The trip back to the office was quick and exhausting, especially for the injured Sulong and the tired Zeke.

When they were finally there, the mysterious man was laid on the sofa whereas the baby was still being held by Zeke.

“What did we just witness…”

Sulong was traumatized by their experience, but he didn’t recount anything to the curious Jack.

“I don’t know. Check the man’s belongings.”

“I did. No identification or anything that might tell us about his identity.”

Zeke frowned and looked at the sleeping baby in his arms.

‘Whom did the voice wanted me to save? The baby or the man? And why?’

All sorts of questions filled his mind. He didn’t know whether it was wise to inform Detective Vans Valort of the situation in the sewers or not.

In the end, after a long internal debate, Zeke decided to keep his counsel and keep things to himself. The presence of Jimmy’s bodies was proof enough that the authorities, or someone working for them, was either throwing bodies into the sewers or offering them to an organization.

“I’ve been away long enough. I’ll these two to you.”

“What? Wait!”

Sulong couldn’t stop Zeke, who gently handed the baby to Jack then dashed outside.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Jack, who was soothing the baby, said,

“So… what’s his name? Can I name him?”

“Don’t assume its gender.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“I just checked. It’s a baby boy. Hehehe…”

“...”

*****

In the headquarters of the Department of Defense.

“Agent Fern failed to apprehend Jonathan Stellar Link. The information provided by Solas was inaccurate.”

A grizzly-looking man with a thick beard and long red hair looked at his colleagues and declared with a cold voice.

“Of course they were! What did we trust that old foggy in the first place?!”

An elderly hunchback wearing a traditional robe banged his fist on the table and shouted back, his face red from anger.

“Calm down. This outcome was to be expected. I will be sending Combat Squad A to take care of it.”

The elderly nodded and returned to his gloomy silence.

“Captain Edward, I heard that the System has appeared. As the head of the Secret Intelligence Team, I wonder why you’ve yet to inform us of this development?”

A middle-aged man with a receding hairline and thick eyebrows grinned at the stoic Edward and spoke with a clarion voice, garnering the attention of all present.

“From whence did you hear such drivel, Colonel Harold?”

“If I already heard of it, then you and your team must be aware of it too. This warrants a thorough investigation.”

“Edward, is this true?” Asked the red-haired man, who seemed to be the one with the highest status.

“False, sir. Jonathan has been unsuccessful in acquiring the System and it remains unverified whether it appeared or not.”

“Sir! He’s lying! I know for a fact it appea-”

Colonel Harold stopped talking once he saw the red-haired man’s cold stare. He lowered his head and zipped his mouth, afraid to anger his superior.

“Edward, stay clear of Erys and continue looking for the System. If it has been acquired by someone, then you are to bring them here immediately.”

“Yes, sir!”

…

Once the meeting was over, Edward returned to his room and, after closing the door, sat down, his expression ugly.

‘Harold has a spy in Erys. Since he didn’t mention names, he must only know that the System is there. But… who could be the mole?’

After contemplating with himself, Edward snapped his fingers, causing an illusory Little Bunting to appear. He tied a letter to its tiny leg and sent it flying away.

***

Katrina succeeded in killing the monstrosity born out of an evil god’s will, however, she consequently sustained a grievous wound. Right under her left shoulder was a bloody fresh wound and though she bandaged it before it got worse and even drank one of the handfuls of priceless elixir that expelled any negative energy inside one’s body.

Once she made sure Zeke had escaped, she urgently headed to a shallow restaurant in Kethra’s Arms.

That was the only place to contact Edward without attracting attention. Unexpectedly, however, when she was about to send a letter, the familiar Little Bunting appeared.

Surprised, Katrina opened the letter and carefully read it before lighting it on fire.

‘Colonel Harold has a spy in Erys. Try to find him but keep your focus on Zeke.’

Those were the only words in the letter, but it was enough for Katrina. In return, she wrote a letter of her own, mentioning what she witnessed and the mess she stumbled upon in the sewers.

It definitely wasn’t a normal worshipping ritual and she knew the organization behind it, which was why she was willing to temporarily abandon her task and directly come here to relay her findings.

When she was done, she handed the letter to the manager of the restaurant, a young man by the name of Jay, who was actually an undercover agent.

Then, after properly treating her wounds, Katrina returned to tailing Zeke Orland from the shadows.

…

Zeke didn’t sustain any heavy wounds from his fight, so he didn’t go to the infirmary. Instead, he went to the library, a place he used to frequent a lot at the beginning of the year.

Erys’ library was the biggest in the country and had knowledge about almost everything. There were even locked archives that were rumored to contain secret techniques from pre-historic families. Unfortunately, only selected Fourth-year students and the teachers were eligible to get access.

That fact didn’t matter for Zeke, who sought relatively common knowledge, which might help him learn more about what happened in the sewers.

‘It’s not the Ivory Oak Order nor the Ascetic Blasphemers… it must be mentioned here…’

Zeke kept flipping through the books until he, at last, found the name of the secret organization. He pushed the stack of books to the side and concentrated on the one in his hands.

‘The Blood Dusk Society?’

After reading for a bit, Zeke was certain that whatever happened in the sewers was indeed the doing of the Blood Dust Society. It was a secret organization that worshipped an evil god, specifically the ‘deity’ known as the Blood God.

They were suicidal zealots that offer their blood and flesh to their god or use their bodies as vessels for the spawns of their deity. Amongst the numerous secret organizations, their rituals were the most brutal and they often involved inhumane experimentations and ridiculous sacrifices.

‘There is a mention of black tentacles and the murmurs of the Blood God, which could corrupt the victim and eventually turn them into an abomination, declared as ‘Angel of Death’ by the fanatic believers. Still, it doesn’t explain why I found a baby there. Is it also a spawn of the Blood God? A result of a successful ritual?’

The whole day has been a torrent of strange events for Zeke. Although he wanted to learn more about the Blood Dusk Society, the available books offered basic information. After skimming through a few more books, he returned to his room.

He was relieved that he no longer heard the voice or experienced those vivid visions, but that didn’t make him worry less about this whole inexplicable ordeal.

‘I accurately located that man, which means their so-called ‘cleansing’ didn’t work as intended.’

Zeke touched his chest while lost in thought. He remembered that day eleven years ago, when he was kidnapped by the Ascetic Blasphemers. Partially, what he had told Counselor Mary was true, after all, his memories of that incident were blurry and fragmented.

However, there were things deeply imprinted in his mind, things he wished to forget but couldn’t…