Facing the fully armed Seventh Agency squad that had just narrowly escaped the gaze of an evil god, the two Scale Two members of the Mist Veil Society did not even have a chance to draw their guns.
"Dislocate their jaws and search them."
Guardian commanded coldly, the remaining eye flickering with an irrepressible irritability.
"Move fast. Bind them tight with ropes soaked in spirit-blocking potion. We are taking them back to the department for an overnight interrogation."
Two agents immediately stepped forward, dislocating the prisoners' jaws with extremely professional technique.
Then, the two were tied up like bags of foul-smelling trash and thrown onto a dry platform nearby.
With the crisis completely resolved, everyone began to clean up the devastated battlefield.
Elias followed behind several investigators, searching carefully through the intricate network of sewers.
They were looking for the Scale Three leader.
The group looped back to the upper level.
They saw two craters on the walls of the previous passage.
One belonged to a Mist Veil Society cultist, and the other also belonged to a Mist Veil Society cultist.
However, they only found the two Scale One cultists here.
Specifically, the one who had been turned into human pulp.
The other crater was empty.
That Scale Three fellow must have fled the moment he saw things going south.
"He really got flattened..."
"Even flatter than Firth..."
Elias forced himself to look away, suppressing his nausea.
"That siren has certainly improved," Old Ed added.
Looking toward the edge of the platform, there hung a headless skeleton draped in skin, looking quite literally clueless.
It was the Scale One who had been sucked dry.
"Whoa, vacuum-packed!"
"Let's go. Let's check out that beast's nest," Guardian said expressionlessly as he stepped over the human skin.
Following the trail left by the siren's dragging body, the group soon returned to the underground reservoir deep in the sewers.
The familiar stench of rotting corpses and blood hit them in the face.
Guardian's illumination spell swept across the wide bottom of the reservoir.
In a corner of the nest, over a dozen human corpses were piled haphazardly.
Their limbs were mangled, the severed surfaces covered in jagged marks where a giant mouth had brutally torn into them.
Without exception, all dozen corpses were missing their heads.
Their necks were empty, and the jagged cervical vertebrae were miserably exposed to the air.
Just then, Old Ed's voice rang out eerily in Elias's mind.
'See those necks?'
'The head is where human spirituality is most concentrated.'
'So, after receiving the blessing of that "Lord," this siren chased you all the way to Hope County.'
'By devouring the spirituality of these people in large quantities, it rapidly increased its own strength.'
At this point, Old Ed's tone became extremely mocking.
'All of this was to ensure it could kill you, boy.'
'It seems it really has a special fondness for you.'
'If you have nothing good to say, don't say anything,' Elias cursed irritably in his heart.
But despite his cursing, he felt a flicker of relief as he looked at those tragic, headless corpses.
Fortunately.
Fortunately, he had not chosen to stand by and do nothing.
Fortunately, he had chosen to do the right thing instead of just running away with Aaron.
If he had truly fled back then and let matters take their course...
Elias knew very well that he would not have lived long against a siren whose strength was continuously skyrocketing.
If the people from the Seventh Agency hadn't risked their lives to distract the monster today.
If Branch Manager Guardian hadn't deployed the 【Mental Barrier】 at the most critical moment.
He would likely be a headless corpse lying here now, or he would have long since become a mindless monster under the Divine Lord of the Mist Veil Society.
'Good working with you, brothers from the government,' he thought silently with a sense of gratitude.
The investigative work inside the nest began in an orderly fashion.
Several Seventh Agency investigators moved skillfully among the remains.
They nimbly pulled out several sheets of hard paper covered in fine silver patterns from their waterproof tactical leather bags.
Elias recognized them immediately.
These were the same peculiar items he had seen at the Society of Freemen—paper that could capture and loop dynamic images.
"Imprint the entire scene and take it back for filing," a senior agent said.
He spread the paper in mid-air and held an imprinting charm engraved with twisted runes in his right hand.
The runes on the special metal material of the charm glowed slightly.
A second later, the surface of the special paper captured the tragic scene of the surroundings.
On the other side, Aaron stood alone, quietly facing the mangled remains of Mr. Ford.
He did not cry out loud.
He simply let his thin shoulders tremble slightly in the cold, damp wind of the sewer.
Looking at that lonely silhouette, Elias sighed silently.
This was far too heavy for a child whose family had been targeted by an extreme cult like the Mist Veil Society and who had been forced to flee.
While Elias was staring blankly at Aaron, a hand suddenly tapped his shoulder.
Elias turned around to see Blaine.
Blaine gave him a subtle look and pulled Elias to a quiet corner at the edge of the reservoir.
After avoiding the others' gaze, Blaine lowered his voice, his expression extremely serious.
"Brother Batman."
"Did I see correctly today? Was your spirituality being drained by a dream demon?"
Elias's heart skipped a beat.
As expected.
During the height of the battle today, before Blaine had used 【Spiritual Dispelling】 to clear the area, that translucent dream demon cursing him had been hovering brazenly over his head.
The situation had been dire, but these high-level transcendents had certainly noticed.
If he could get some accurate information about the dream demon curse from an official member like Blaine, a Scale Three, it would be a huge boon.
Thus, Elias did not hide it and nodded frankly.
"Yes, I seem to have been cursed by a dream demon."
Hearing this confirmation, Blaine's single eye widened.
"Damn it!" Blaine cursed under his breath, his tone becoming very grave.
"That's going to be trouble."
Seeing Blaine's reaction as if he were facing a formidable foe, Elias's heart tightened, and he hurriedly pressed for more information.
"Brother Blaine, how... how do I remove the curse?"
Blaine frowned and thought for a moment.
"As far as I know, the methods to completely remove a dream demon's mark are extremely demanding."
Blaine held up one finger.
"First, you would likely need to find a Scale Five ascetic."
Elias knew this and nodded for him to continue.
"Of course..." Blaine shook his head with a bitter smile. "Having a Scale Five ascetic personally take action is not cheap."
"It is essentially putting your life in someone else's hands. You would have to do whatever they ask."
Elias gritted his teeth inwardly.
"And the second method?"
Blaine held up a second finger, his tone becoming even more dangerous.
"Or, you need to find a containment object with a 'soul stripping' effect."
"Soul stripping?" Elias caught the harsh-sounding term immediately.
"That's right," Blaine nodded, explaining patiently.
"You would need to use that containment object to forcibly strip away a portion of your soul."
"And then, with extreme precision, remove the part of the soul that was cursed by the dream demon."
"Performing surgery on the soul?" Elias's eyes twitched violently.
"That sounds incredibly dangerous."
"Exactly. There is naturally an immense risk involved."
Blaine did not hide the danger at all.
"Anything involving operations on the soul level can lead to your soul dissipating if even the slightest mistake is made. Becoming an idiot is the best-case scenario for failure. How could it be safe?"
At this point, Blaine sighed and reached out to pat Elias heavily on the shoulder.
"That is all I know."
"Thank you very much!"
Although both methods sounded as difficult as climbing to the heavens, Elias was still sincerely happy and thanked him solemnly.
Having a clear direction was better than sitting in the dark waiting to die.
"Don't mention it," Blaine waved his hand, his expression earnest and open.
"You risked your life to save my teammates today. This is the least I could do."
Blaine's voice carried a hint of regret.
"It is just a pity that I don't know any Scale Five big shots, so I can't help you make any connections in that regard."
"It doesn't matter. This information is already enough!" Elias said quickly, his voice carrying a trace of excitement he couldn't hide.
Wasn't this the lead on the curse removal method he had been dreaming of?
It was just a shame that it didn't sound like a simple task to achieve.
But this incident also proved a point: in this damn world, good deeds should still be done, and done often.
If he hadn't fought to save these people today, why would an official big shot tell him everything they knew?
His thoughts gradually settled.
Elias's gaze fell back onto the completely ruined elemental revolver in his hand.
The matter of removing the curse required long-term planning.
But for now, he had to restore his combat power as quickly as possible.
This gun was trash now; he couldn't just go out and bite monsters next time.
With the huge sum of 3,000 gold crowns promised by Guardian, upgrading his self-defense equipment was the top priority.
He called out to Blaine, who was about to turn and leave.
"By the way, Brother Blaine, I wanted to ask one more thing."
Elias stopped Blaine.
"Do you know of any trustworthy craftsman's shops?"
Rate on N.U.
