The Adventurer's Mission Log

Chapter 17 Melee

Perhaps it was bait, or perhaps it was overconfidence, or perhaps the demon's brain circuits were different from ordinary people, but Tenor easily locked onto the traces left by the demon.

The hunting senses in human form are not as good as in Thoros form, but they are still sufficient.

Carrying the burning sword, he followed the clues, traversing streets and squares, entering a residential area, and stopping in front of a wealthy merchant's mansion.

The traces of the devil are provocatively hidden within.

This place is not far from the Lagettea Cathedral. Once the heresy is exposed, the church knights can arrive quickly. How could it dare to expose its location directly to Tenor?

Didn't it know that Tenor was very sensitive to demons?

Is it a trap? Does it want Tenor to be a reckless fool who will directly clash with the manor guards, when it's not actually there?

But thinking about it from another perspective, this is indeed a good hiding place under the lamplight... but it still doesn't explain why it dared to expose its location to Tenor. The premise of being under the lamplight is that no one knows.

His first reaction was to just charge in, but a direct assault might be something the devil would welcome.

Tenor found a nearby hotel to spend the night and, while he was there, gathered some information.

He gleaned snippets of information in the tavern—the owner of the house was Matt House, a wine merchant best known for being a supplier to the Amethyst Wine House.

Tenor, who had been hesitant, suddenly made up his mind—no matter why the demon had revealed his whereabouts, he had to go in and try.

Around nine o'clock in the evening, Tenor walked out of the Laghetti Cathedral with a mischievous grin on his face, as if he had successfully pulled off a prank.

The inner city has a richer nightlife than the outer city, and it is full of people everywhere. But just like in the outer city, after climbing to the roof of a residential building, he could easily move between the rows of houses.

The only risk of exposure was that someone on the street would be holding a lamp and looking at the rooftops; with his cloak providing cover, he could easily reach the mansion marked during the day.

Although it is called a residence, it actually contains an inner courtyard, many rooms, and a private chapel, covering an area of ​​several hundred square meters.

He jumped down from the wall next to the artificial hill in the courtyard and waited patiently. After a while, there was a heavy knocking sound and a noisy conversation coming from the courtyard gate.

A servant hurriedly ran to the backyard, his face filled with panic.

Yes, they should be afraid, because the church knights came knocking on the door. If they had a guilty conscience, they would certainly be afraid.

Before Tenor arrived, while praying at the church in Laghettia, he inadvertently revealed that he often heard strange voices calling "Salis" coming from inside the mansion.

—This was, of course, pure fabrication, but at the height of the city-wide crackdown, the clergy did indeed take it to heart.

Ha, no matter what schemes and tricks the devil may have, they are all in vain in the face of absolute power!

The night was deep, and the servants were busy on their way. When Tenor suddenly pounced on him, he was knocked unconscious before he could even call out.

Tenor rushed to the backyard and received the Shield of Tranquility—a crescent-shaped obsidian shield, the size of which was designed to fit Thoros's physique, and would not be easy for a human to hold.

Fortunately, his strength improved after his transformation, and he can now lift it steadily with one hand.

After passing through the colonnaded garden, he hid the robe containing the money and immediately entered his alienated form.

Cold-blooded and restless, his body urging him to kill—the demon had not yet left.

This fact was confirmed at that moment, as a cloyingly sweet musk scent filled the air.

Tenor looked in that direction and saw the thing emerge from the shadows.

It is clearly not a physical entity; its form is illusory. It may be a spirit form, resembling a finely crafted human model that has been skinned.

It tiptoes like a dancer, its toes sharp as razor blades, a non-human smile on its face, and its eyes burning with the projection of desire.

The demon appeared in front of the house provocatively, then slipped inside.

When Tenor rushed in, the demon worshippers who were gathered were all stunned.

Tenor didn't waste any words with them and swung his burning sword at the banshee's soul.

The short, sharp incantation was the mage's handiwork, but as Tenor deflected the magic with his Moon Shield, he was surprised to find that the blazing black fire thrown by the mage had enveloped the demon as well.

Are they not in cahoots?

The banshee no longer dodged, and triumphantly announced to the crowd:

"Wizard! I'll be waiting for you in the Chaos Realm! Hahahaha~"

Death in the material world is meaningless to Him; He is immortal, and hiding like a rat after losing His followers is clearly not His style.

He still harbored a grudge against the wizard who had driven him out of the customs last night, so he decided to bring trouble to the wizard's hiding place—as for now? He'd had enough fun and it was time to go home.

Ternor was completely unable to comprehend the demon's thought process, and could only guess that it was an internal strife within the cult.

The burning sword struck the demon's spirit directly, and the flames instantly engulfed it. But there was no scream; instead, there was a chilling, exhilarating, and rampant laugh.

A task that should have been difficult was completed so easily?

Did it commit suicide?

Having no time to investigate the demon's unusual behavior, Tenor caught a glimpse of the leader of the gathering—Anthony!

The old wizard closed his lips and completed another spell.

The ground beneath Ternor's feet suddenly cracked open, and this could not be deflected by the Shield of Stillness!

Countless withered hands reached out from the abyss, grabbed him, and tried to drag him down.

No one knew what would happen after falling into this bottomless crevice. Tenor broke free from those huge, withered hands, bit down on a protrusion in the cliff face, and stubbornly tried to climb up.

Anthony's expression suddenly changed drastically. He forcibly stopped the spell, almost being blown apart by the violent magical winds. Blood flowed from his seven orifices.

"Quickly! The Order's knights are coming!"

As the spell's effect wore off, Tenor was pushed out of the rapidly healing crater, smashed the nearby cultist away with a blow, and charged straight at Anthony.

But the old mage was skilled in many ways. He threw forward a ball of colored powder and quickly completed a spell using the material.

A net of light formed by Hesh energy descended from the sky, enveloping Tenor, rendering him unable to move an inch.

A question arose in my mind—how could this old man possibly wield light magic? Could magic really be evil, as Doctor John claimed?

He tried to break free of the net of light, but found that the more he struggled, the tighter it became.

No! His genetic experience reminded him that this net was designed for the mind, not for physical restraint!

The more he struggled, the tighter it became, but as long as he could ignore it, its restraints ceased to exist.

The human mind cannot ignore the magic that actually works. When he wanted to calm down, awaken Thoros, and step out of the net, the group of demon worshippers almost slipped away through the back door!

The door had barely opened when a flash of cold light appeared, and the head of the demon worshipper who was running at the front flew off.

"Blood sacrifice to the Blood God!" shouted the scarred warrior, who was as strong as an upright bull, as he hurled the headless corpse away.

His physique was similar to that of Tenor after his mutation. When he charged, he was like a human tank, with no rationality in his eyes, and he would cut down anyone he encountered.

"It's a madman from the Iron Blood Brotherhood!" The voice was terrified, like a duck being choked. He quickly became the next corpse to fall to the ground.

The berserker beheaded every person he slew, shouting "Blood sacrifice to the Blood God!" with each head he severed.

Anthony's face was gloomy. The attackers behind him broke free from their restraints, and the Order's knights followed one after another... There were also troublemakers in front of him. The petty demon had indeed given him enough trouble.

He abandoned his comrades, crushed the amulet in his pocket, and used a life-saving magic spell to teleport away.

When Tenor's club struck empty air, he realized this wasn't over yet. If he didn't kill Anthony, the old man would definitely cause him trouble.

Fortunately, Anthony appears to be injured and is unlikely to seek revenge in the short term.

With Tenor's current strength, dealing with Anthony might be a bit difficult, but as long as he advances again and acquires more powerful magical items through missions, he will be able to put up a fight even against a veteran mage!

There's no need to stay here any longer. After midnight, I'll go to the 'Black Rose' tavern to inquire about clues about the reagents, advance my level, and then hunt down Anthony.

He heard a flurry of footsteps coming from the courtyard; it was the Order's knights forcing their way in.

The heretical madman slashing and killing in front of him was clearly not his ally. Seeing that there was no one who could defeat him, he turned his violent eyes to the imposing Thoros.

"Championship showdown!" His roar was like a tiger howling in the mountains, enough to make most people's legs go weak.

Ternor had reverted to human form and was cursing, "Fight to the death! The church people are all here, aren't you leaving? Don't you want to die?"

He must be a fool to fight the heretical madman in such an unorthodox manner just as the Order's knights were about to arrive.

The burly man seemed impossible to communicate with; his eyes were filled with blood and slaughter. He raised his greatsword and charged forward.