Kran

The ropes snapped instantly.

The young man floated up from the chair. The clothes on his back tore open as seven or eight pitch-black tentacles burst from his body, moving so fast they left several afterimages under the dim oil lamp as they thrust straight for Lu Mao’s face.

Sena spread her hands, and a silvery-white barrier expanded in front of Lu Mao.

The tentacles slammed into the light screen, exploding with a sharp screech. Cracks spiderwebbed across the barrier, forcing her half a step back—but it held.

Almost at the exact same moment, a flash of black light swept over Lu Mao’s head.

An extremely narrow, paper-thin horizontal slash swept across the base of the tentacles, severing all seven or eight of them at the root.

The cuts were perfectly clean, and the severed remains dissolved into black smoke the moment they hit the floor.

The one who had struck was the man at the door. He held his black-lacquered wooden sword horizontally in front of him, its blade completely free of any lingering black mist.

The hand gripping his sword hung loosely at his side. He simply stood there in silence, waiting for his opponent to make the first move.

Lu Mao couldn’t help but complain silently to himself, “What was even the point of tying them up if everyone can break free so easily?” He then quietly shrank back behind the nun’s barrier.

The cultist took half a step back, his sclera-less eyes narrowing.

In the next second, more tentacles erupted from his back, striking out in both directions. They wrapped precisely around the necks of the other two noble descendants and hoisted them into the air.

The fat merchant fainted on the spot due to his sheer weight choking him out.

“Don’t move. Let me leave, and I might let these two live.”

Hovering a few inches off the ground, he issued a warning to the three of them:

“I have a bad habit—I tend to lose my grip when I get startled. If you scare me and I get a little nervous, I might accidentally strangle them to death.”

Sena reinforced her barrier once more. The leader did not sheathe his sword.

Lu Mao didn’t run either.

Mostly because he wasn’t sure if he would survive even a single second outside of Sena’s barrier. If he took just a few steps away, he might end up being strung up like a paper doll alongside them.

And so, in the cramped interrogation room, the four of them—who couldn’t even put together two pairs of normal eyes between them—stared at one another in a tense standoff.

The cultist waited for a moment. Seeing that the three of them neither made way nor attacked, the corners of his mouth curled upward.

His tentacles tightened another turn around the hostages’ necks. Even though the fat merchant was already unconscious, a muffled, bubbling gasp still escaped his throat.

The leader’s hand on his sword didn’t budge, but his gaze lingered on the fat merchant’s face for a brief moment.

The round face, choked purple by the tentacles, had lost its original color. His lips were turning from purple to a pale white, and the bubbling gasps squeezed from his throat grew weaker and scarcer.

If this continued, the hostages would be dead long before any negotiations could conclude.

The cultist noticed this momentary hesitation and immediately loosened his grip slightly.

“Like I said, let me go. It’s better for everyone.”

He tilted his head, as if calculating the costs.

“If you block me, these two nobles die. Then, I’ll carve my way out. The clerks, receptionists, and night-shift adventurers in the main hall—how many of them can you protect? And as for you...”

He reached out with his other hand, pointing his index finger vaguely between the leader and Sena. “At the very least, you’ll be stripped of your positions and reassigned away from Rhode City. To risk the entire branch just for one person you can’t even catch—can you really afford that price?”

It was unclear which keyword had struck a nerve, but the leader fell silent for a moment. He slowly sheathed his black sword and stepped aside, clearing the doorway.

The moment the leader sheathed his sword, Lu Mao activated his scan as quickly as possible.

He had to figure out one thing before this cultist escaped—what exactly was the leverage that had made the leader waver?

Only when a target experienced significant emotional fluctuations could he better scan their corresponding status information.

Ever since entering the dark room, he hadn’t taken a close look at this leader of the Steel and Fire Adventure Band.

【Target: Kran】

【Race: Human】

【Identity: Former Vice Leader of the Steel and Fire Adventure Band, current President of the Rhode City Adventurers’ Guild First Hall, overseeing all affairs of the Rhode City Adventurers’ Guild branch】

【Level: ???】

【Status: Calm but highly alert. Blinded in both eyes due to an old injury, relies on “Mind’s Eye” to perceive his surroundings】

【Remarks: The target harbors an extremely powerful obsession deep in his heart, which may be the reason for his compromise】

Holding the two hostages, the cultist floated slowly toward the door, his tentacles maintaining a precise, unyielding grip around their necks.

As the cultist passed by the leader, Kran didn’t turn his head. Instead, he took a deep breath and called out loudly down the corridor.

“Everyone—transition to maximum defensive formation immediately! Protect all non-combatants! No one is to engage the enemy without my command!”

His voice was calm and powerful, echoing through the corridor and carrying all the way to the main hall.

After a brief, dead silence, a series of rapid and orderly footsteps rang out from the main hall—the sound of the night-shift adventurers moving swiftly into position.

Tables and chairs were dragged across the floor, and the soft rings of weapons being drawn echoed one after another. Yet there were no screams, no panic—only the unspoken understanding of a highly trained unit flowing through the silence.

The cultist stopped at the doorway, glanced back at Kran, and sneered.

“Pointless precautions. Though we are enemies, when I say I’ll release them, I keep my word.”

The moment the words left his mouth, he retracted his tentacles, and the two hostages plummeted from the air.

Sena was prepared. She raised her hand, casting a gentle wave of holy light to catch them and slowly lower them to the floor.

The fat merchant’s chest was still rising and falling weakly, while the clerk coughed violently, a trace of color finally returning to his bruised, purple face.

At the same time, the cultist dissolved into black mist, surging down the corridor and vanishing into the night.

After confirming that both men were out of danger, Sena stated that she needed to return to the church to report tonight’s events and prepare for any potential retaliation from the cultists.

“In that case... can I leave too?”

For Lu Mao, tonight had been more than eventful enough. It was bad enough being dragged here to act as a human scanner, but he had almost been skewered into a sieve by tentacles, only to watch a cultist walk right past him and escape.

All he wanted to do now was go back to the inn, take a cold shower, and get a good night’s sleep.

After all, shooting five hundred arrows at the archery range every morning was a non-negotiable part of his training routine.

Furthermore, ever since he had obtained the Premium Stinky Wine from the tavern, whenever he was sore and exhausted from monster-slaying practice, a single gulp of that authentic tavern “stinky water” would instantly wash away a whole day’s accumulated fatigue.

Most importantly, on nights when he suffered from insomnia, he only had to open his flask and take a deep sniff of it for a while to faint... sleep right off.

“You can’t leave.”

Kran’s voice came from behind him. It wasn’t loud, but every word carried absolute authority.

His face was expressionless, but his tone held a rare gravity that was even more intense than when he had confronted the cultist.

“Your ability to see through the blessing of an evil god has undoubtedly put a target on your back. The moment you are alone, they will do everything in their power to capture you.

“Novia and her entire Dragon Rank team are currently outside, making this the safest place for you right now. I still have some matters to report. Wait in the main hall for now, and we will decide what to do with you once Novia returns.”

“...”

Lu Mao was, without a doubt, suffering.

He had come all this way tonight and gained absolutely nothing, only a mountain of bad news.

And being targeted by cultists of an evil god... no matter how he looked at it, it sounded like a flag that was about to trigger his Death Return...