In the entire house, except for the room where Brown Scott was last located, nothing unusual was found anywhere else.
In fact, even in the room that was "polluted" by the gray-black mud, there was no trace of the supernatural left - apart from the visual shock brought by the strange mud substance, there was no supernatural power in this building.
All that was not of this world had gone with Brown Scott's disappearance.
On the first floor of the house, Galoni was still sleeping. This tall Senjin with stone-skinned skin was leaning against a corner of the sofa. His sleeping posture was peaceful and calm, with a relaxed look on his face.
In her dreams, she was still a student studying under her teacher, still living a peaceful life. Her knowledgeable and kind teacher had just ended his many years of traveling and had recently returned home. He wanted to tell her many things that happened far away.
"It would be great if Heidi was here. She would mix some potions that would at least make this girl feel better after she wakes up." Morris looked down at Galoni on the sofa with a complicated expression. "I can see that she and Brown have a good relationship."
"...the haze will eventually pass."
Duncan said this, and then he was silent for a moment. He fumbled in his pocket and took out a small crystal pendant. He put it to his mouth and whispered something, then stuffed it into Galoni's hand. "Have a good dream, everything will be fine."
Morris watched Duncan's actions quietly for a long time, and finally couldn't help but ask: "You also brought these pendants over there?"
"... I bought too much last time, and I have half a box left that I can't sell. No one wants it even if I give it away," Duncan said with a look on his face (mainly because of the bandages), "I thought I'd give them away when I was traveling... Do you want one?"
"No, thank you," Alice waved her hand quickly, "I'm not suitable for men's accessories like this."
Duncan said calmly, "Some extraordinary beings that might appear, or the suspicious shadows that are lingering around that building, if there are any."
Even the experienced Inquisitor couldn't control the trembling of his eyes when he saw this scene. Duncan stared and lowered his voice: "What are you doing?!"
Alice thought for a moment and said, "Don't you think I'm causing trouble?"
In a strange shadow that could not be illuminated by street lights, a dark and creeping shadow suddenly emerged!
As agile as he was, he finally noticed the strange expression on Duncan's face.
Morris can see invisible "lines" floating on humans, and he has always taken it for granted that this is a normal phenomenon, and that other people can see it, too. Because he took it for granted, this matter was not suddenly exposed until now because of his casual words - perhaps this is his ordinary power as a normal 099, or there may be a simpler and more bizarre explanation behind it, but in any case, these things should not be studied now.
Then he saw Morris next to him suddenly remembering something and leaning forward - then the puppet raised his hand, held his head and shook it, and pulled it off with a "pop". Then he held the wall with one hand and raised his head with the other, swaying in the corner of the wall facing the outside.
"It's still there, and it's swaying slightly from side to side," Alice looked up at the street lamp across the street and reported in a low voice, but then she frowned again, "Ah, it seems like a few are missing?"
But for the loyal priest of the Storm Goddess, the "sword" is not such an inconvenient thing.
There is a "replica" that has returned from the deep sea and has been active in the city-state for many days, and this replica lives in a building not far away - the Annihilation Cultists who are loyal to the Lord of the Deep cannot have no reaction to this matter.
Alice looked confused, but just as she was about to speak, she seemed to sense something again and couldn't help but look outside: "Miss Vanna, I always feel like... there seems to be someone in the distance, but I can't see them."
Almost instantly, a skeleton-like shadow emerged, followed by a deformed monster connected to the skeleton by chains.
Just a face-to-face
, Duncan realized what that thing was—a Priest of Annihilation who had achieved deep symbiosis with the Deep Demon and "purified" his body to an extremely high degree.
The Annihilation Cultists regard their own flesh and blood as a cage created by the gods, and their way of loyalty to the Lord of the Deep is to constantly use the power of demons to transform their bodies and "purify" their own form.
This process will cause them to develop more and more demonic characteristics, making them less and less like humans - Annihilation Cultists who have been purified to a certain degree will have their limbs mutated to the point where they cannot return to human form even with a temporary transformation spell, and can no longer move around in human society. Therefore, they can only rely on lower-level cultists for support, but in return, they will also gain more powerful strength, as well as a stronger and more direct connection with the deep sea.
Fanna controlled her breathing and heartbeat, restrained her aura and strength, and after confirming that there was still no movement on the street, she hid herself in the shadow of the building again.
"It's just across the street, under this street light," Alice whispered, even squatting on the ground to show her caution, while raising her hand and pointing outside the alley, "You're not the only one who saw the line but didn't see the person."
I know what is important and what is urgent.
"heresy!"
At night, the cold wind blew through the dark and silent alley. In the faint light from the gas lamp at the intersection, Vanna watched the movements around her with alert eyes.
"...I can't see it, but now is not the time to talk about this," Duncan suddenly came to his senses and forced himself to focus on her street lamp, "Are these wires still there?"
She hadn't reacted yet, and was only focused on looking in the direction of Alice's finger. After two seconds, she suddenly froze and looked back at the doll lady: "String? What string?"
She felt it would be difficult to explain it to this thick-headed man, so she simply gave up explaining.
Vanna: “…You are right.”
"How many are missing?" Fanna's heart suddenly jumped, and the next second, alertness arose in her heart. The combat instinct honed over the years and the sense of crisis bestowed by the goddess exploded in her perception at the same time, causing her to suddenly look towards a certain location deep in the street.
"The streets are very quiet, no one is around," Miss Doll said, perhaps not used to this overly silent and depressing environment. "Miss Vanna, what have you been looking at?"
Alice stood beside her, also imitating her way of looking around, but it was obvious that she had no idea what Vanna was focusing on.
At this point she paused and added, "Oh, by the way, Ms. Vanna doesn't have it—but I'm not Ms. Vanna, so it's normal..."
But she herself understood the significance of surveillance here.
Alice shook her head in the corner, and when she heard Vanna's voice, she quickly pulled her head back and put it back with a "pop" sound, looking innocent: "I'll see what's going on over there..."
These cultists are really eyeing this place!
"... Did you see it?" The puppet hesitated for a moment and thought of the only explanation, "Well, I won't laugh at you. The captain said that people's eyes are different..."
Someone was hiding in the distance, and now he or they were exposed to the puppet's sight - that was what mattered.
"Is there someone in the distance?" Vanna became alert instantly. She did not relax just because Alice was acting so unreliable. Instead, she immediately tensed up her nerves and asked in a low voice while sensing the surrounding atmosphere, "Where is it?"
Ms. Vanna and Ms. Alice went to investigate the situation outside the house. They neither investigated nor tempted. Would there be cultists paying attention to that place? Would the power that sent "Brown Scott" back move tonight? Would there be a shadow lurking in this street? Would the shadow still be able to sit still when an uninvited guest appeared
"…Why do you think Mr. Duncan asked us to wait outside?"
It's even possible that they were behind this.
The air was compressing, the water vapor was dissolving, and the breath of the sea and wind was instantly compressed into a sharp ice blade in his hand.
It can be used.
This was a human being, or at least he looked like a human in outline, but his body had long since twisted and swollen into a shocking state. His skin was charred and curled as if it had been roasted by fire, his bones had proliferated disorderly, forming discontinuous bone plates on his body surface, and sharp bone spurs protruded and extended from his back, like the remains of some deep-sea monster. Where the face should have been, there was only a hollow depression with a dark red halo flickering inside.
As Alice continued to speak, her voice finally stopped hesitantly.
"Next time you have such a plan, you should..." Vanna glared at the puppet opposite her, but swallowed her words halfway through and waved her hand tiredly, "Forget it, don't worry about it."
"It's the lines on people's bodies. Everyone has them, the kind that floats from the body to the sky," Alice gestured and said as if it was a matter of course, "There are some behind the head, on the hands and feet..."
In order to move around in the city-state, she did not carry the blessed steel greatsword.
This thought flashed through Vanna's mind, and at the same moment, her body jumped high.