Journey of Awakening

With a rotund frame, a tiny head, and a bulging belly, he resembled a human spider.

Taking advantage of their shock, Jeremy shoved aside the spider carcasses covering him and bolted toward the depths of the cave.

He was completely unhurt, his wig still firmly in place. The moonlight's power had targeted only the mythical creatures from the Dreamlands while sparing the humans present, allowing him to narrowly escape unharmed.

Indeed, Mr. Jeremy—the cult leader worshipping the evil god Abyss Weaver and spending his days surrounded by spider monsters—was still fundamentally human, and an ordinary one at that.

Now that the evil god's will backing him had fled in panic and his reliant swarm of spider monsters had been wiped out, not a trace of his earlier smugness remained, leaving him in unprecedented disarray.

Covered in blue-purple spider slime, with half a spider fang dangling from his hair and large clumps of cobwebs clinging to his face, he sprinted desperately toward the tunnel leading deeper underground.

It led to a labyrinthine network of subterranean caverns; once inside, no one would dare pursue him lightly.

While there are no flames around that damned Watcher and the webs slow them down... It's now or never. Nobody can catch me.

Bang!

He had barely taken two steps before a deafening gunshot rang out.

Jeremy ducked instinctively as a metallic ping resonated and sparks flew from the cavern ceiling.

Smoke drifted from Lynch's revolver, its muzzle pointing straight up at the ceiling. Lynch's face was contorted in agony, his wrist trembling violently.

Dammit, that hurts like hell! Why is this so different from the movies? My wrist is practically broken!

Even so, he gritted his teeth and tried his best to sound composed. “Freeze! Stop right there, or the next one won't be a warning shot into the air!”

Jeremy did not even look back, his feet never slowing for an instant. Thus, a second gunshot rang out.

This time, sparks flew from the wall near the entrance—off-target by about a hundred and sixty degrees, which was not overly terrible.

Idiot.

Jeremy thought viciously, You'll never catch me. Just wait! As long as I live, I'll offer up sacrifices to summon our Lord's descent and level this city to the ground! Not a single one of you will escape, and I will make you regret everything you did today!

When a third gunshot failed to follow, Jeremy grew increasingly excited. Just as he was about to dive into the winding passage, the whooshing sound of rushing wind came from behind.

A heavy blow struck the back of his head, sending him staggering forward until he slammed headfirst into the wall and collapsed in a daze.

Lynch had hurled the handgun straight at him, the heavy revolver striking its target with pinpoint precision.

So what if I can't shoot? Like I don't know how to throw a brick?

The moment Jeremy hit the ground, a boot stomped heavily onto his face, instantly suppressing his struggle.

Officer Natalie had given chase from the start, slowed down only slightly by the residual webs on the ground. But with the aid of Lynch's "marksmanship," she promptly pinned the cult leader down, planting her boot on his face while leveling her unsheathed rapier at his forehead.

“Duncan, Maggie, Martha... it's time to settle the score for the Hudson family. And this morning's massacre—even if someone else pulled the strings, you share the blame for the deaths of over a hundred people. Time to pay your debt.”

“Don't kill me! Please, spare my life! I have money—five thousand pounds, all yours! You won't have to worry about money for the rest of your lives! Let me go, and I'll give you every single penny right now!”

Lynch, who was retrieving his gun from the corner, almost banged his head against the wall in disbelief, while the female officer had already raised her rapier.

“Money only feels right when you earn it yourself. Letting you go so you can keep offering human souls to flatter an evil god? Keep dreaming.”

“You can't kill me! You're a Watcher! By law, I must be tried in the Hall of Justice! Only the court has the authority to decide my punishment—you have no right!”

The corners of the female officer's lips curled upward as she thrust her rapier downward with force.

“Stop! I'm still useful!” Jeremy wet himself, screaming at the top of his lungs. “As long as you don't kill me, I'll tell you who the real mastermind working with our Lord is! It's a truly powerful figure!”

The female officer paused mid-strike, casting an inquiring glance at Lynch.

Lynch was indeed tempted.

His assignment was to investigate which factions were involved in the railway incident and what roles they played; the identity and objective of this mastermind were naturally crucial puzzle pieces.

Although he had successfully alienated his soul and no longer urgently needed the Red Moon Memories held by the Church of the Black Night, each subsequent alienation would still consume one. Thus, if only for this luxury item worth at least a hundred pounds, he had to keep investigating. Furthermore, the subsequent developments were very likely tied to mystery and even other evil gods—exactly what he needed most.

Yet this man could not be allowed to live; otherwise, the consequences would be endless.

Lynch was not the type to sacrifice his life over a promise, but he was reluctant to extract intelligence by breaking his own word. That was his baseline.

Compromising one's baseline was like opening Pandora's box—there was only the first time and countless times after.

After weighing it back and forth, Lynch decided to uphold his baseline. Clues could always be found elsewhere, but once a baseline was surrendered, it was gone forever.

Yet just as he was about to shake his head at the female officer, Lynch's heart skipped a beat, followed by a sharp, piercing throb between his brows.

It was a warning from his mystery intuition: an extremely potent mystery had manifested.

A chill ran up his spine, and Lynch quickly scanned their surroundings. However, there was nothing unusual within sight. It seemed... Hm?

Focusing intently on the direction indicated by his intuition, Lynch finally noticed something amiss.

Jeremy's clothes were twitching faintly.

The movement was minute—Jeremy had not even noticed it himself—and Lynch had only caught it thanks to the intuition's guidance.

Lynch realized where he had seen this before: just tens of minutes ago, with the victim in Box 8. At the time, that man's clothes had twitched in the exact same manner, right until he ripped open his shirt to reveal the writhing flesh tumors underneath.

‘Neighbor, what's going on?’

【The follower's leak has enraged the Weaver. The Weaver has decided to bestow divine punishment to warn other believers.】

“Alright, we agree,” Lynch said, shooting Officer Natalie a meaningful look. Although she did not fully understand, she reluctantly pulled back her foot, biting her lip as she said, “Pointing to my soul manifestation, I swear before the Lord of Order that as long as you tell us who is truly behind this, we...”

“We will never harm you, and we promise not to let any other 'person' harm you either,” Lynch chimed in smoothly. “But you must tell us right now. Immediately!”

Lynch's heart remained in his throat, terrified he would not coax out the clue in time. To avoid giving himself away, he did not even dare meet Jeremy's gaze. Fortunately, Jeremy was entirely focused on Officer Natalie and gave no thought to Lynch. Seemingly reassured by Natalie's promise, he mulled over her words a few times before letting out a relieved grin.

“The mastermind comes from city hall. Even though he always wore a cloak, I can recognize his distinct voice—it's Lorant from city hall.”

Lynch was baffled. Looking over at Officer Natalie, he saw that she was equally bewildered.

“Who is that?”

The fat on Jeremy's face quivered as he said contemptuously, “The speaker of the House of Commons, owner of the Lorant Screw Factory, and the fourth-ranking figure in city hall! Well? Is that piece of news enough to buy my life?”

“Enough for us not to harm you.” Lynch whispered a few words into Officer Natalie's ear before speaking softly, “Do you have any other secrets regarding mystery left unsaid? You'd best spill them all now, or it would be a real pity.”

“What do you mean? You're not going back on your word, are you? She swore an oath pointing at her soul manifestation!” Jeremy took a step back, vigilance written across his face.

“No, we're not going back on our word. We just think it'd be a pity for you to pass away with your secrets.”

Lynch pointed at Jeremy's chest, where the writhing had grown increasingly pronounced.

Jeremy looked down, froze for an instant, and then frantically tore open his shirt. Across the expanse of pale fat, large clusters of blue-purple flesh tumors were writhing rapidly, swelling larger and throbbing faster with every passing second.

With every pulse, the tumors ballooned outward. Within seconds, they protruded prominently from his skin, their surfaces turning increasingly translucent.

A bloodcurdling shriek tore from his bloated mouth. Jeremy knew all too well what was about to happen. He wanted to scratch at the tumors yet did not dare touch them, his hands flailing uselessly in front of his chest as his cries grew more piercing with every breath.

“We will never let any 'person' harm you, but when it comes to higher existences, our hands are tied. You'll have to negotiate with it yourself.”

Lynch shrugged and turned his gaze away. The sight of a body covered in flesh tumors was far too nauseating; a single glance had him on the verge of throwing up Mrs. Maggie's dinner.

Beside him, Officer Natalie's face turned pale as well. Just like when Lynch first encountered the victim, she realized that if Lynch had not arrived in time, she would have suffered the exact same fate, making her expression look even grimmer than Lynch's had been back then.

Even so, she took half a step forward to shield Lynch, keeping her gaze locked onto the monstrous Jeremy without looking away.

“Lord, spare me! Mercy!”

Jeremy wailed, thrashing wildly on the ground. Yet nothing could stop the tumors from expanding, and he could only watch helplessly as they grew more translucent, the writhing black silhouettes inside becoming clearer and clearer.

“What other secrets do you know? Out with it! This is your chance for revenge, hurry!”

Lynch tilted his head, urging urgently.

Before the words fully left his lips, the frantically thrashing body suddenly stiffened. The tumors, having swollen to their absolute limit, burst simultaneously. A shower of purulent blood carrying countless grotesque spiderlings erupted from the ruptured flesh, swarming over his entire body in an instant.

“Hurry!”

“L-Lord, have mercy! I won't... Aaaaargh!”

His shrieks grew higher and cracked under the strain. The mountain of flesh coated in spiderlings rolled frantically across the ground, utterly powerless to stop the spiders from tearing into him. He could only scream desperately:

“Kill me! I beg of you, just kill me!”

“I'm sorry, but I swore an oath pointing at my soul manifestation not to harm you,” the female officer said, shaking her head with a complicated expression. “It is an unbreakable oath.”

It was uncertain whether the spider-covered Jeremy even heard her. His voice gradually grew hoarse, his struggles weakening until only faint twitches remained. Lynch sighed and ultimately closed his eyes, unable to watch any longer.

“The Mayor... Mayor Howard, he... ah!”

The sudden dying words were left unfinished. Jeremy's body violently convulsed, let out one final shriek, and went completely limp. In barely a dozen seconds, his corpulent body rapidly shrank until nothing remained but a pile of white bones.

The little spiders began tearing into one another once more, splattering repulsive fluids everywhere, until a humanoid mass of fire lunged forward, engulfing every last spider in raging flames.

When the fire returned to its smoking humanoid form, everything had finally settled. Aside from Officer Natalie and Lynch, nothing that moved was left in the subterranean cavern. Gazing upon the brutal and spectacular scene, both stood in a stunned, complicated daze. Neither spoke for a long time, until the female officer finally broke the silence.

“Two years ago, I investigated the Abyss Weaver. Anyone who actively pries into the secrets woven into its web is dragged into the abyss by it. That was why I didn't dare bring any companions along for the investigation... I'm sorry about this afternoon. However, I left a letter for the Watchers, which they should have received by now. I laid out all my deductions in it; if I hadn't returned, it would have proven that everything was true, and the truth would have been brought to light. I never expected you to show up, but seeing you arrive, I...”

The female officer turned her head away, letting the faint greenish glow around them conceal her expression.

“I was glad.”

“I'm glad too,” Lynch said with a grin, holding up three fingers. “That means someone owes me three favors.”

Lightly biting her lip with pearly white teeth, the female officer brushed back a strand of hair by her temple and shot the smirking fellow a fierce glare before saying sinisterly, “As a detective, you should know that according to Kingdom law, if a debtor goes missing without cause, all verbal debts are nullified. I think this happens to be a very suitable place to go missing.”

“Not suitable at all. The police will be here searching the place any minute.”

Lynch promptly clutched his head and dodged back a few paces. This woman is far too vicious.

“Then explain honestly—what on earth happened?”

Lynch shrugged and gave a brief recount of his experiences tonight.

The female officer's expression grew more colorful with every word. By the end, her eyes were wide and her lips twitched. “Huh? So you tricked two evil gods in one go?”

For some reason, Lynch was suddenly reminded of a cartoon from his childhood: a cat snoozing while hugging a salted fish, a mouse rushing in and slamming headfirst into the cat, and while the two beat each other black and blue in chaos, the salted fish got up, dusted itself off, and walked away, leaving both cat and mouse dumbfounded.

Lynch sighed. “When I finished the alienation earlier, I seemed to hear another roar of utter fury before everything went quiet. I don't know if it was just my imagination. Probably was. I mean, the Flicker was kind enough to protect us—it's a good god, so it surely won't hold a grudge.”

“You'd better be careful. The wills of these evil gods are incomprehensible. After being tricked by you, it probably won't let you off so easily—at the very least, you must stay vigilant against its cultists. But... what about here?”

As she spoke, the female officer pointed at his heart.

Lynch blinked, realizing he had actually forgotten about the fatal threat that had plagued him for days. He quickly pulled open his shirt: the skin over his heart was smooth and clean, the blood-red eye vanished without a trace.

Touching his back-to-normal chest, Lynch's legs gave out, and he sank onto the ground. Staring blankly at Officer Natalie's beautiful face, a profound sense of unreality washed over him.

Did I... really survive?

Have I truly gained a foothold in this world?

Even if he had offended two evil gods, even if the mastermind who tried to sacrifice him was still lurking in the shadows, even if the railway incident was merely the tip of the iceberg, and even if his path to immortality had only just begun...

At least he was alive. He no longer had to live under the constant shadow of death, and he could finally face this new world on his own terms.

【Yes, Lynch. Congratulations on reaching the end of your journey of awakening. The path to immortality is rugged and fraught with peril; I wish you safe travels in advance.】

‘Thanks, Neighbor. No—thanks, Luna.’

Lynch rose to his feet, brushed the webs and dust off his clothes, and placed a hand over his chest as he bowed to Officer Natalie with a smile.

“Allow me to introduce myself once more: Lynch Levive, Soul Severer, rank one authority. Please take good care of me from now on, Officer Natalie Angel.”