Arthur's hand brushed across the rigid stone walls as they descended the staircase. The five of them were venturing down from the basement, and after twenty minutes, they finally reached the end. As Arthur tapped the gray stone bricks interlocking each other, he stared at the other members, who wore mixed expressions. Paul frowned, as it was difficult to pinpoint where exactly they were underground. In comparison, the rest were confused, as the layout didn't match the town's sewers.

"Where are we?" Arthur asked.

"I... don't know," Paul replied, waving the golden spear and illuminating the area before him.

Even with Welt's orb of light, it was hard to tell the exact size of the chamber they entered. At the bottom of the staircase was a massive room with several tunnels leading in all directions. As Arthur stared up, all that was above him was darkness. Witnessing this, Welt pointed his staff upwards, causing the orb to float above their heads. Once the orb was a few meters in the air, it brightly shined in all directions, revealing the entirety of the room.

"Holy shit." Mark's eyes traced across the numerous tunnels and asked, "Is this a subspace?"

"No, creating a subspace this large underground would be impossible to conceal," Welt answered while examining the ground for any traces of magic. "That's not even a single trace of magic as well."

"Could this be an extension of the sewers?" Arthur took a step back and peered into one of the tunnels.

It was faint, but Arthur could vaguely see a figure resting on the ground. With one hand, he waved at the guards who gathered around the tunnel and glanced over. They all noticed the figure propped with its back against the wall, and immediately, Welt created another smaller orb of light and sent it over. Slowly, they approached the body, and as they drew closer, an unbearable stench lingered in the air. The horrendous smell would generally make one vomit at a whiff, but the guards who were accustomed to such things were unfazed.

As they approached, the sound of rushing water grew louder. A pipe with murky green water flowed a few meters further down from the body. Arthur stared at the corpse before him; the air around it was thick with the scent of decayed flesh, and combined with the town's waste, it was unbelievably putrid.

Cain's eyes flickered with anger upon seeing the corpse. Judging by the state of the body, it had to have been a week or two since the person was killed, as the skin had a yellowish pigment covering it. Countless white maggots were gnawing away at its flesh, increasing the speed of decay on the corpse, but what caught Cain's attention were the wounds on the body. Both wrists were slit open along with the person's neck. It was as if they were purposely draining the blood from the corpse before tossing it aside.

"Shit..." Mark covered his mouth at the gruesome sight.

"Does that answer your question?" Welt asked.

"Yeah...but how could someone do this?" Arthur turned away from the corpse. It was unbearable to look at as rope marks were visible throughout the torn flesh.

"I don't know, but I'll make them pay." Cain gritted his teeth.

Paul touched Cain's shoulder and reassuringly said, "We're with you."

"Do we have something to cover their body?" Arthur looked at the other guards, who shook their heads.

"Arthur...we'll worry about the body later. For now, we should keep moving and see if we can regroup with the other guards if there are any." Paul turned away from the corpse and stared at the end of the waterway.

"Wait," Mark said as he closely examined the corpse.

Upon lifting the front of the tunic, several vicious bite marks were discovered on the chest, eliciting glares from everyone except Arthur. Grave expressions of disbelief surfaced one after another. The bite marks resembled that of humans, and for them to appear in a land blessed by Solas, the God of Light, was unimaginable. Cain turned away from the corpse as Paul's spear drew a wide arc through the air, severing the head from the body.

"Be careful. We'll likely be dealing with the undead in these tunnels," Paul spoke with a deep and serious tone.

"Surely not, right? I mean, Cronia has always been blessed by the God of Light," Welt said worriedly. "There hasn't been a single undead within our walls in decades!"

"I know...that's why I'm even more concerned," Paul said while gazing at the end of the waterway. "Arthur, do you feel anything at the end of the waterway like before?"

Arthur examined the water that flowed out of the tunnel and then stared at the source that lay further in. The back of his hair stood up as unease crept up on him. Yet the only option was to investigate the source of dismay by venturing in.

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"Yeah...whatever is down there is waiting for us," Arthur's reply caused the other guards to follow his gaze.

As the sewage flowed toward the spillway, fragments of broken magic orbs littered the pathway. With Paul and Mark leading the way, they slowly covered more ground. The cobblestone tunnels became more rigid and misaligned the further they went. Gradually, the tunnel became more wrapped, and as they reached the end of the tunnel, a vast open space emerged, revealing several figures dangling from the ceiling.

Arthur covered his mouth with his hand in disbelief. The bodies that hung from the ceilings were still fresh as the blood slowly flowed from their open wounds. Cain and Mark scanned the surroundings as Welt prepared to seal the entrance behind them. Meanwhile, Paul inspected the area beneath the bodies for any signs of dark magic.

"Those fucking bastards," Mark's sharp tone was unlike anything Arthur had heard before, and the frustration was shared with all the guards present.

"How could we have been so incompetent!" Cain struck the side of the entrance with his fist. "This happened under our watch! Our people hung to dry by those monsters!"

"Guys, stay calm. Whoever did this could still be around." Welt stayed close behind Arthur and Cain while watching the way they came. "Arthur, are you okay?"

Arthur stared at Welt as his hands trembled. A sense of disgust, regret, and hatred flashed through his mind. The sharp pain at the back of his head pulsed, but watching the figures dangle in mid-air filled him with dread.

"No...I'm not." Arthur tightly gripped his spear as aura burst forth and covered it. "Those things in the air...they give me a bad feeling."

"Don't worry, buddy. I'm pretty sure they give all of us a bad feeling." Cain patted Arthur on the back and looked at the numerous wooden doors along the edge of the walls.

"A bad feeling?" Paul stared at each body that was carefully placed in the path of each door.

As his eyes bounced back and forth between the suspended bodies, a look of fear grew. Paul stared at the ground below them and noticed that not a single drop of blood was on the floor from the bodies closest to them. Mark and Welt also immediately saw this as they followed Paul's gaze and tightly held onto their weapons. As they slowly moved to the center of the room, it became clear that the entire floor was clean.

The three of them remained close as Arthur and Cain stayed at the entrance. They then gazed at the ceiling as the orb of light illuminated the area. Their faces turned pale as a complex magic circle was forcefully carved into the stone above them. Even Welt, who had dedicated half his life to learning magic, had never seen something like this before. The blood from the corpses defied gravity and flowed upwards, feeding the dark magic circle.

Welt signaled for Cain and Arthur to come closer. The moment they were all together, a thin translucent barrier formed around them as Welt tapped the floor with the bottom of his staff. The cocoon above them faintly pulsed as if it contained a heart. From the center, they could clearly see the thinly wrapped exterior made from decaying flesh as a humanoid silhouette formed from within.

"What the hell is that thing?" Mark asked.

"I don't know...but we need to destroy it." Welt's sharp gaze met with Paul's.

"We should also cut those ropes." Arthur released his spear from his palms as it leviated in mid-air and turned to Paul, who nodded in response.

Without uttering another word, Paul held out his index finger and made a circular motion. Soon, Cain and Mark had their backs towards Welt, who began gathering mana as a magic circle formed beneath his feet. At the same time, Arthur's spear lined itself with the first row of bodies. All that was needed was a signal from Welt, and everything would be set in motion.

The shimmering magic circle sparkled as it gathered the last bit of mana. Above Welt, there was an icicle several meters wide that absorbed the mana from the magic circle to appear. With a slight nod, Welt turned to the other guards and flung his staff upwards, causing the massive icicle to soar through the air.

A terrifying scream resonated from the humanoid's body as the icicle tore through the flesh cocoon. Blood erupted out from the cocoon and trailed down the icicle, turning it to a crimson hue. Welt watched as the humanoid figure squirmed in place as it was impaled into the ceiling. At the same time, Arthur's spear cut through the air and left a silver trail of light as it sliced through the rope with ease. The suspended bodies fell one after another, and a loud thud followed as each one hit the ground.

As the desperate cries grew louder with each felled body, Paul and Cain stared at the numerous doors within the open room. A slight tremor shook the floor as they all turned towards the entrance they came from. Numerous shadows dashed in the tunnels as footsteps and water mixed with each other. The tremors grew fiercer as a stampede of thunderous steps emerged through the tunnels.

"Shit! Something's coming from the doors as well!" Mark yelled with all his might while pointing his spear at the wooden doors on the left side of the room.

"There's also something coming from the right!" Cain cried out.

Arthur examined the situation before them. Countless enemies were approaching, but they had yet to kill the monster in the cocoon. Its arms were pushing against the flesh shell that imprisoned it. They had minutes, no seconds, to decide what to do next. Arthur glanced at the numerous doors around them and immediately picked the one across from him.

"Follow me!" Arthur shouted as he dashed towards the door.

As soon as Arthur made the call, Paul didn't waste a second and quickly trailed after him, leaving the other three standing there. Before they could say anything, ear-piercing screams echoed all around them. Countless undead monsters sewn together from numerous human bodies lunged at them. Their flesh, stitched back together, spewed pus, and their broken bones dangled back and forth. Without sparing another moment, Welt, Cain, and Mark instantly chased after them.

The wooden door in front of Arthur exploded, scattering wooden fragments in every direction. Four undead monsters came into his view and charged at him. Even as they approached, he continued his relentless pace. With his silver spear soaring high above his head, Arthur skillfully skewered each of the undead creatures, effortlessly pushing them back into the room they had emerged from.

Recognizing this chance, Paul dashed ahead of Arthur and swiftly passed his spear into his grip. He unsheathed the iron sword hanging from his belt, its blade gleaming in a golden hue, and charged into the chamber. Arthur's spear skewered the four undead against the wall, and in a single, decisive motion, he severed each head, sending them tumbling to the floor. With the arrival of the other guards, Welt promptly erected a sturdy blue barrier, sealing the doorway as the endless swarm of undead behind them clashed against it.