Chapter 66: Foouuund youuu!!!!
Eiros couldn’t get his thoughts in order, so he just stood there quietly, watching Caldel flee, tears streaming down his face, running toward the orphanage building.
Left alone, Eiros could only stand still, taking a long breath, trying to calm himself down from the shock of it all.
His gaze briefly settled on the sketchbook Caldel had left behind. A bitter smile crossed his face as he closed the book.
"What kind of date is this, even?" he wondered, his thoughts drifting back to Erness. "Does she even know about this?"
Of course, since it was Erness, she almost certainly already knew. That only left Eiros feeling more frustrated, like he’d somehow gotten tangled up in something without understanding any of it.
With a small sigh, Eiros stood up, brushing off the dirt covering his body. Then, he remembered the children, who’d somehow gone completely silent.
So he glanced back.
"Huh?"
Every single kid who’d been playing earlier was now sprawled out, completely limp. Each of them lay unconscious right where they’d fallen, showing no movement at all except for their chests rising and falling, a sign that at least they were still alive.
Eiros was startled, but he moved fast. He checked on each kid one by one, examining their condition to figure out what had gone wrong.
But...
"They don’t look hurt at all, so what’s actually going on here?"
It felt like they’d simply been put to sleep by something. If that were true, what exactly had knocked them out?
Why was Caldel still fine?
Right...
"Why is Caldel fine?" He unconsciously glanced toward where Caldel had run off, then turned back to where he’d been sitting with the kid earlier.
His gaze landed on the biscuit lying beside the sketchbook, showing no sign of a single bite taken out of it.
’No way, right...?’
Eiros looked back at the children—every last one of them had swallowed some of that biscuit, with some of the younger ones only managing to eat half.
Eiros pressed his fingers against his temples.
’The biscuits were poisoned? No, wait, they were just drugged, right? So, Erness did this? But why?’
Eiros suddenly froze, staring at the two remaining wrapped biscuits still in his hand. He clearly remembered Erness had bought some for herself and some for Eiros too.
Which meant Erness had expected Eiros to eat one of these too, right...?
If that had happened, Eiros would’ve fallen asleep too. And while he was out, Erness would’ve gone off to do something...
Something related to Caldel...?
His thoughts spiraled.
’This is genuinely one hell of a date.’
And then, right at that moment:
[WORLD MISSION HAS BEGUN]
The system appeared before him, giving Eiros absolutely no time to think it over. He was a little startled, but he kept his focus on the system screen, his expression twitching.
’...This doesn’t look connected to Erness’s whole situation at all.’
[WORLD MISSION]
Objective: Capture and locate the Black Genesis operatives hiding out in the traveler’s restaurant.
Time Limit: One Hour.
Failure Condition: Growth of the Corruption Seed.
But... Eiros glanced back at the orphanage for a moment, then looked at the system screen again.
’I need to hurry.’
Either way, since this involved Black Genesis, Eiros had absolutely no intention of letting this lead slip away.
So he took off, shooting away from the orphanage.
***
Inside the orphanage, Cedric, the man who ran the place, lay sprawled out, completely helpless, with a woman asleep in his arms.
Judging by the clothes scattered all around them, that woman was almost certainly one of the sisters looking after the children here.
But seeing her now, fast asleep beside Cedric after downing some strong alcohol and having a bit of fun...
Erness gave a small smile, her face hidden in the dark shadows, revealing a sharp gaze brimming with mischief.
"Hehe~ what a hassle..."
She stepped out of the shadows, watching the pair with an amused look.
"...Is a sister even allowed to do something like this?"
Letting out a short sigh, Erness pouted briefly, then scanned the whole room with her eyes.
Then, without a second thought, her body vanished. In her field of view, she saw countless doors she could easily access.
She moved smoothly from door to door, opening them one after another. Her gaze finally settled on a woman cooking lunch for the orphanage’s children.
Erness’s smile widened at that.
"Found you."
The air around Erness shifted as she slowly slipped back into the real world. Something cold and suffocating made the woman jolt, her eyes going wide as she immediately glanced behind her.
But she didn’t get the chance to do anything before she felt Erness’s long, sharp claws already resting against her throat, drawing a thin, precise cut that made blood well up.
Still, Erness kept the cut shallow, careful not to overdo it, watching the woman’s face fill with genuine terror.
"W-who are you?" Her voice trembled, tears spilling down her cheeks. "P-please let me go... I don’t want to die..."
Seeping—!!
Erness ignored her, deepening the cut a little further. Then, with a voice that sounded almost playful, she said:
"Lying," she whispered right into the woman’s ear. "That’s you, isn’t it? The one who planted the corruption seed inside Caldel’s body."
The woman’s body jolted.
"H-huh? W-what... what are you tal—" She stopped talking, feeling Erness’s killing intent leaking through, her claws slowly sinking even deeper into her neck.
The woman stared at Erness, the fear in her eyes vanishing as her body suddenly melted into water, soaking the floor before shooting off, fleeing far away.
"...!"
Erness’s brow furrowed. "Running away? Fine," But that didn’t last long before she started humming, a wide smirk spreading across her face. "I’ll count to ten, so hide well."
Seeping—!
The woman probably figured Erness was being arrogant, overconfident, so taking advantage of that, she immediately made a break for it.
"One."
Meanwhile, Erness herself started counting, but...
"Five."
Erness wasn’t interested in counting the normal way. As the one running this little game, she played by her own rules.
As for the woman? She’d already put enough distance between them that she couldn’t hear Erness’s voice anymore. Or, at least, that’s what she thought.
"Ten."
"Huh?"
The voice appeared out of nowhere, startling her as she saw Erness standing right in front of her, mop in hand.
"Foouuund youuu!!!!"
Then, with a manic edge to her voice, she raised the mop and swung it down at the exact spot where the woman stood.
Crash—!!
Baaam—!!
"Damn it!"
The woman barely dodged in time. She avoided it at just the right moment, shifting back into her human form.
She bit down on her lip, growling, "I’ll kill you!!!"
In her hand, her stigmata manifested into a pearl-colored orb, matching the color of a full moon at night.
The difference was, that pearl orb floated above her hand, constantly searching, dripping beads of water like sweat.
"Hmmmm~"
Erness looked completely relaxed, not the least bit surprised as the woman radiated killing intent and manifested her stigmata.
Besides, the two of them were both in the Awakened realm, and Erness held a strong belief that she was hard to beat within that same tier.
Drip—!! Drip—!!
Splash—!!
The orb spewed out an enormous amount of water, exploding into countless droplets suspended in midair. Slowly but surely, that water shaped itself into sharp, finger-sized spikes.
"Die!"
The woman screamed, unleashing the spikes. Trails of water spilled along every path those spikes carved through the air, while Erness simply raised her hand toward them.
Then—
Vanish—!!
Every single spike disappeared instantly into thin air.
"H-huh?!"
The woman was stunned—no, she didn’t even get the chance to be stunned before she suddenly felt something shoot past behind her.
Whistle—!
"....!"
Trusting her instincts, she dodged immediately, but not fast enough.
Slash—!!
"Ugh...!"
It was one of her own water spikes, appearing right behind her. She bit her lip in shock.
"T-that... you have some kind of unique stigma—"
Who exactly talks mid-fight, anyway?
Erness had already vanished, reappearing right across from her, leg already swinging, aimed straight at the woman’s stomach.
"Ah...!"
The woman flinched, feeling the impact land square in her gut. At first she figured it wouldn’t be too serious, but suddenly, from Erness’s foot, a sharp claw grew out, tearing straight through her stomach.
"Argh...!"
A pained scream rang out briefly, before Erness poured even more strength and Soul Essence into it, hurling her away.
Whoosh—!!
Crash—! Baam—!!
Her body slammed into the wall of a house, cracks spreading out like a spiderweb, followed by falling debris and clouds of dust.
"Hehe."
Erness laughed, amused, watching the woman cough up a mouthful of blood while clutching her stomach, still bleeding steadily.
She took a few steps closer, a wide smirk stretching across her face.
"Where?" she said. "Where are the rest of your friends?"
The woman coughed several times, staring at Erness with pure terror. She shook her head, struggling to catch her breath.
"I-I don’t know... please let me go, I, I was just following—arrghhh!! S-stop... please stop!! Ugh... Agh...!"
Erness used her claws, deliberately tearing the skin from the woman’s wrist, opening up a large, gaping gash that poured out blood.
The woman cried out so loudly, her tears and her face a complete mess as her body writhed in agony.
"Stop... please... stop..."
But Erness just tilted her head. "Are you going to answer now?"
The woman, her face pale and gasping for breath, struggled to bear the pain, slowly revealing a smile on her face that looked twisted and unhinged.
"Huh... huhuhu... huhu...!! Don’t get cocky....!! ’They’ will avenge me! When ’they’ descend once more, this world will fall into ruin. They’ll be the ones to destroy it, and become the only salvation there is!? Hehe hahahaha, huhu... huhaa huhaa..!!"
Watching that strange display, Erness’s brow furrowed, her expression turning cold as she clicked her tongue.
The woman’s body then began showing black veins, wriggling like tiny worms crawling all across her skin. Slowly, they kept crawling upward until they reached her face, making her pupils roll upward before she lost her life entirely.
Erness stood there in silence, her darkened expression completely frozen in place. Then, she stood up, looking around casually.
"...Well, guess I should go see Caldel now. My darling’s probably been waiting way too long already."
She took a step, heading toward the corridor.
One step, two steps, and her body vanished, swallowed whole by the air.
***