A Tale of Forgotten Gods

Chapter 131: Not a Low-Rank Mission.

An hour later, the two men stepped out of a carriage into the entrance of the Aloman District.

Mo Fei’s gaze dropped on multiple factories, leaking smoke out of the chimney. Towering iron smokestacks from the nearby textile mills blocked out the fading evening light, casting shadows over the crowded tenement buildings.

It was the central place of the Ciradyl, which was the center of economics; it was the place for industries that provided multiple items to the world market. Most of the objects used by the Ciradyl came from here.

Finally, his gaze lay on Oakhaven Bakery, which was situated at the corner of a narrow lane, its wooden storefront painted a faded white colour that seemed to be caused by the smoke and industrial waste.

Lionel and Mo Fei both walked toward the bakery.

Just then, an iron bell clinked softly as Mo Fei pushed the door open, stepping into the shop.

The interior smelled of yeast and wheat as the powder was sprinkled across the hall, but beneath the ordinary scents, Mo Fei’s skin immediately began to prickle as the atmospheric pressure inside the bakery seemed unusual.

An elderly man with a stained white apron and deep, dark circles under his eyes emerged from the back kitchen. ”Inspectors...?” the old baker whispered, sounding half exhausted. ”Please tell me you brought a charm. It’s almost evening... if it happens again tonight, I’ll lose my mind, as a few people have already gone missing.”

Lionel stepped forward with a casual movement, offering the baker a reassuring nod. ”Rest easy, Mr. Thomas. My colleague here is a specialist in... unusual domestic folklore. We will remain inside the shop until midnight to observe the phenomenon. Go back to your quarters upstairs.”

The old man nodded frantically and moved toward his room, practically running up the creaking wooden staircase at the back of the shop, leaving the two investigators entirely alone in the dim showroom.

Mo Fei walked over to the wooden counter, his dark brown eyes scanning the environment before stopping near the brass-faced clock that stood against the wall as its long pendulum swung back and forth.

tick-tock, tick-tock.

Ensuring Lionel was occupied examining the flour barrels near the door, Mo Fei leaned against the counter and tapped his temple, activating his Apprentice’s Eyes.

Instantly, his vision shifted and looked at the clock, which... wasn’t surrounded by ordinary spiritual residue. The spirit threads that connected to that object were scattered around and were entirely dull grey. ’They are connected to somewhere outside... but they intertwined, so I can’t really guess its location.”

”Found anything interesting, Sherlock?” Lionel’s voice suddenly came from right beside his ear.

Mo Fei violently snapped his spiritual vision off and turned toward him. Lionel was leaning against the counter, his hands in his pockets, his dark eyes observing Mo Fei’s covered forehead with an amused, yet highly suspicious, look.

”Just checking the alignment of the gears, nothing too deep.” Mo Fei forced a dry cough into his sleeve. ”The pendulum seems to have a slight mechanical drag. It might be related to a spirit-eating entity.”

Lionel blinked, his expression slightly surprised by how he knew about entities. ”Interesting. You know pretty well for your rank, Sherlock. For a simple apprentice clerk, you got some good knowledge. What is your Authority?”

Mo Fei turned from him and checked the pocket watch he had borrowed from his desk. 10:45 PM. 1 hours 15 minutes left until midnight. ”Well, my Authority is a question I’d rather not answer. I don’t know my Authority honestly.”

Lionel narrowed his eyes but said nothing afterward and focused back onto the observation to see how Mo Fei would manage it.

Both of them waited for an hour until the clock hit midnight. The gas lamps lining the walls began to hiss as their bright yellow illumination rapidly shrunk until they were nothing more than small, pale lights.

Tick... Tock... Tick...

The steady sound of the clock began to noticeably slow down, and the heavy brass pendulum grinding through the air slowly stopped. Mo Fei’s hand instinctively darted toward his belt, his fingers wrapping around the handle of his hidden revolver.

Mo Fei’s gaze landed on the pocket watch in his hand, which also stopped working. Lionel leaned back slightly and looked at the door as he stared at it deeply.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

”Please open the door.”

The voice was that old man’s voice. Although they both knew he was upstairs.

Mo Fei took a step forward and grabbed the handle of the door and pressed his hand against it tightly.

With a quick motion, he opened the door wide and pulled his revolver out and stared down. His eyes found nothing outside, but on the ground were a few footsteps that reached toward the street.

Lionel looked at the bloodstained footprints, which reached toward somewhere outside.

Both of them walked out and followed the footsteps, which stopped near a large warehouse. Lionel tilted his head slightly and stared at the doorway before walking toward it. His hand grasped the handle, but as he opened it, a violent burst of air rushed toward him.

Before Lionel could understand, Mo Fei grabbed his shoulder and slammed him backward.

BANG!

His gaze locked onto the corrupted being behind the gates. It was a grotesque shape with a long, thick tail instead of legs and a large abdomen with only a large eye on its face.

It was an impossible structure of flesh with a second set of wide jaw setting on its neck. The bullet pierced through its chest as it screamed and rushed toward the floor before disappearing inside it.

Without wasting a moment, Mo Fei widened his eyes and tapped his temple, then rushed inside.

Lionel, however, held a red flame in his hand, surprised by the intervention; of course he’d have destroyed it right there if it had reached near him, but that was interesting in his eyes as he followed inside.

Mo Fei ran through the corridors and entered the house.

Both of them reached the top through stairs, but then Mo Fei saw the spirit threads tangling before the shape emerged through the floor beneath.

Whack!

Lionel jumped in before it could emerge fully; a heavy kick slammed it back into the wall ahead as its other half body came out, then it smacked into the wall and dissolved inside.

He clicked his boot against the ground before walking forward toward a locked hall. Lionel’s expression slightly shifted as a wind ran through. He thrust into the door and smashed it open as the door broke apart, falling as debris on the ground.

Inside, a few people rested on the floor whose eyes had gone dark black; all of them were pretending to play cards. As their gaze lay upon them, all of them rushed in toward them without any moment.

Mo Fei saw the spirit threads, which emerged from the ground and merged with the man in the last chair.

Lionel rushed in and whacked a man’s guts to throw him backward, then kicked a few tables and chairs before slamming multiple kicks into them as they hit the men behind.

All of their breaths knocked out from their lungs as he moved in without stopping and spun and kicked a man’s back, pushing him onto the ground before his gaze lay on the man, possessed by that being.

Mo Fei pointed his revolver and shot the man behind.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Within shots, he pushed the man toward the wall before Lionel jumped in and stomped the possessed guy’s head onto the ground.

The man’s skin turned grey and began to slowly swell as the purple veins crept out, before his whole body shifted into the grotesque-shaped creature. It moved its tail through the hall, extending it to toward Lionel before Mo Fei shot its tail.

The whole creature roared and lunged toward the sky, reaching toward space.

The roof broke apart as it came out of it and let out loud growls in the mid-air. The moon outside reflected a pale light, which outlined the creature into a terrifying silhouette before it rushed toward them.

Both of them had already moved when the ceiling shattered and fell upon them.

They came out of the room, but just then Mo Fei’s eyes looked at something there. The presence of another Authority, as both of them came out, he glanced at the side where he felt it.

In that same place, he saw another spirit thread that connected to an artifact. His whole body froze as the thing came out of the ground and caught him in its shadow.

Mo Fei couldn’t move; he looked through his eyes and found Lionel descending through the stairway. He might not have realized by now that someone else was already present here who had been doing it to get the artifact.

He grunted as he looked ahead in the frozen state where the grotesque reached toward him, just then, his eyes turned silver, and his spirit threads curled around the shadow before his vision shifted into the same grey fog place, which slowly merged with the white mist.

SCREECH!!!

With a loud roar, it lunged at him, which Lionel heard, and he looked back only to find that he was late.