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"Ah, excuse me, are you looking to adopt a child?" One of the nuns, a black-haired old lady with gray eyes, slowly walked toward Louis and the party as they searched for the child Louis had come to recruit.
"Uh, no... not yet, haha," Elises muttered, trying to make excuses. "Uh, actually..."
"We're looking for someone," Louis said. "Would you happen to know of a 'feral child' with a head resembling the skull of a wolf?"
"...!" The nun stepped back, the memory of that appearance sending shivers down her spine. "Y-You must be talking about that... that thing? We don't really know if it's truly a child or a ghost. Some call it an urban legend... I've seen it though! At night, it comes to look for food in our trash!"
"Do you know where it lives?" Louis asked.
"We... really have no idea," said the old lady. "It comes and goes as it pleases. Some say it hides in the sewers."
"Hm." Louis rubbed his chin while nodding. "Maybe we should—"
"Mister, why do you wear a mask?"
"Are you a thief?!"
"No, he looks mysterious!"
"Isn't he handsome?"
"You smell like tea and cookies..."
A group of children quickly swarmed Louis, almost as if drawn to him. Those with animal traits such as ears or noses quickly noticed he smelled "fancy," unlike anyone from the slums. Louis grew nervous but couldn't bring himself to push the children away, even though the impulse crossed his mind.
"A-Ah, uh... I am just a passing bounty hunter..." Louis lied. "We are looking for a child-like entity with the skull of a wolf. Have you seen her?" While speaking, Louis shared sweets with them, making the children more willing to talk.
"Huh?"
"No?"
"Who's that?"
"Eh?"
Even though they happily ate the candies, none of them seemed to know what Louis was talking about, frustrating him.
"Did I come here for no reason? ...No, the nun said she had seen her. At night... I guess we should just wait."
Louis decided to stay until nightfall, patrolling the area for clues and perhaps destroying a few criminal nests along the way.
"Alright, we'll stay here until night comes," Louis said. "We'll patrol now and return later. Would you be so kind as to let us stay? Of course, we'll bring food for the children."
"Oh, well, if you would be so kind, of course," the nun nodded. "Are you planning on capturing that creature?"
"Yes..." Louis nodded. "We're bounty hunters sent by a noble."
"I see! Finally! I am glad, thank you so much! Very well then, we shall await your return, good sirs and... um, giant lady," the nun said, glancing at the giantess behind Louis.
"Yeah." Louis nodded, walking away with his knights and his maid.
They began patrolling the streets, determined to stop any crime they encountered. It didn't take long to find some. A woman and her child were being robbed by three thugs.
"No, please! I earned this money! Don't take it, we'll starve!"
"Tch, just hand it over already!"
"In this world only the strong decide what's right or wrong, stupid bitch!"
"Mama! Buaaaahhh!"
The child clung to his mother, crying. One thug grabbed him, making the woman drop to her knees and scream.
"No, give him back! I'll give you the money! Please don't hurt my son!"
"Tsk."
Louis stepped forward, appearing behind the thug pointing a knife at the three-year-old.
"Yeah, if you know what's good for you just give the money and—Guh?!"
The man groaned in pain as Louis struck the back of his head with extreme speed and precision, breaking his neck and killing him instantly.
"Unawakened weakling bastard. You think you can intimidate my people? Rule of the strong? Am I supposed to believe you're strong? A single hit and you're already dead!"
"Eh?!"
The child saw Louis stomp on the dead thug's head, his brown eyes momentarily glowing with an eerie golden light.
"Gyaaaah! Mamaaaa!"
The boy ran to his mother, hugging her legs. The two remaining thugs watched in horror as their partner died hopelessly.
"O-Oi! Who the hell are you?!"
"Why are you getting involved in what doesn't concern you?"
"Everything here concerns me. I own this land. Criminals will not be tolerated."
Louis stepped forward, his bare hand encompassed by Mana Aura shaped like a sword. He cut through the head of one thug, blood pooling on the ground as the corpse fell. The last thug screamed in terror, trying to flee.
"Where do you think you're going~?"
A giant hand grabbed him by the nape, lifting him effortlessly. He was powerless against Catrise, an Ice Giantess twice the size of a normal human.
"Gaaah! A-An Ice Giant?!"
The mother and child watched in awe, paralyzed by fear. Louis ignored them, but Elises approached with a gentle smile, offering the woman a pouch of coins.
"Please take this. Run away and don't come back here. We're about to cleanse the area, if you know what I mean."
"T-Thank you!"
The woman fled with her son. Louis walked toward Elises, raising an eyebrow at his knight, questioning why he had given away his hard-earned money.
"We already saved their lives. Why did you do that?"
"Ah, well... I apologize. I simply wanted to help. She seemed to be struggling financially and looked like a single mother..."
"...Hm."
After considering the answer, Louis turned to the thug Catrise had captured. He conjured Ash Runes, creating an explosive rope around the man's body.
"If you try to run, that rope will blow you into a thousand pieces."
"W-What?!"
"Now speak. Where is the rest of your group? How many of you are here? What other groups do you know of?"
"T-That's..."
"If you talk, I can guarantee your life and maybe those of your loved ones. If not, I'll find them myself, and if any of your family are involved, they'll pay for your crimes as well."
"J-Just who are you?!"
Louis slowly removed his mask, his eyes glowing. His white hair, golden horns, and yellow eyes revealed his true identity. The thug froze.
"Your majesty... the prince?!"
"Yeah, the very same. Now, there are a hundred ways I could kill you, but I'm offering you a chance for redemption. Do you want to join your friends over there, or talk and live another day?"
"Gulp..."
The thug swallowed hard. Though unwilling at first, when Louis mentioned securing his family's safety and even giving them money, he revealed everything he knew. Catrise used a Lie Detection Spell learned from the church, reading his soul and confirming truth from lies, smacking his head whenever he lied. Eventually, Louis learned things not even William knew—details never addressed in the Sinners Academy game.
The Nameless Streets were dominated by two major criminal organizations: The Black Fangs and The Knife. This man had been recruited by The Knife, a racist group of humans that accepted no non-humans. Opposing them were the Black Fangs, formed mostly by inhabitants of Yggdrasil or hybrid descendants.
Louis asked about the Dimensional Rift and whether he had seen people from the Vultarn High Dominion. The man denied seeing them but confirmed rumors of a Dimensional Rift underground. To Louis, something didn't add up.
The VPI was right next to this place, underground. Their machines could detect Dimensional Rifts across the planet. How could these thugs hide one right under the VPI's noses?
Louis considered that the Vultarn High Dominion might truly be involved. This thug may not have seen them because they weren't working under their country's name, but as spies pretending to be from the Frostbane Kingdom.
The only way to hide a Dimensional Rift was by masking its Fantasium Signatures with special technology developed in another country—technology the VPI couldn't counter.
He pondered this, then nodded, sending an email to his father and several scientists in the VPI. In the past, his pride might have stopped him, but Louis knew this wasn't something he could solve alone.
Still, he wasn't going to wait idly for reinforcements. He moved toward one of The Knife's hideouts. According to the thug, the closest was a warehouse where they stored illegal drugs made from the remains of Entities from Dimensional Rifts. These drugs granted temporary boosts in power but slowly drove users insane. In severe cases, victims crystallized into Fantasium Crystals, spreading poisonous dust that infected others.
Thus, Louis judged it best to seize the place as quickly as possible.
♢♢♢♢
The door to the hideout was kicked open. The old warehouse stirred as dozens of thugs panicked, rushing toward the entrance. They found a masked man carrying the dead bodies of two guards, tossing them forward, and setting them ablaze. The corpses exploded the moment the thugs stared in shock, blowing up anyone nearby.
BOOOM!
"W-What?!"
"Agh!"
"Who the hell...?!"
The thugs screamed in agony. Some burned alive, running in circles or collapsing to the ground, desperately trying to extinguish the flames with water but failing. The fire was created using Ash Trap Magic, which triggered strong combustion when the runic inscriptions on the corpses were released.
But that wasn't all. Three souls floated around Louis's hands. He studied them with interest—these were the enslaved souls of three thugs he had murdered in cold blood. Silent and uncaring, he stepped forward, swinging his blade. He cut through one thug's torso and pierced his forehead with an icicle, killing him instantly.
"Soul Enslavement."
One of the souls flew into the freshly dead body, raising the corpse like a puppet. It released a black aura of miasma—corrupted Fantasium.
"Ooohhh..."
"Interesting."
Louis marveled at the creature. With just his thoughts, it moved independently, chasing after the other thugs. They fought back with weapons, fists, and teeth, but the wounds it inflicted were tainted with miasma, worsening over time without a proper cleansing spell.
"Not bad. Come on now, two more."
Louis waved his hand, raising two more zombies. His limit of three was reached, and he could not gather additional souls or control more undead. He sent the three zombies forward, killing two more thugs before the rest fled downstairs into an underground passage. Apparently, the criminals had dug a tunnel beneath the warehouse.
"Young Master, just what was that?!" Catrise asked. "D-Did you just manipulate undead? Is this part of your Spiral Power?"
"Yes," Louis nodded. "It's not as strong as the Desecrated Soul Spiral. I can only control three zombies instead of twelve."
"That's still amazing!" Elises said.
"Hm, did we even need to accompany you? It feels like you can handle things just fine, Prince," Fernand smiled.
"I'm not reckless anymore. You three are here to guard my back," Louis said. "Now let's go underground. All three zombies, stay in front of me to shield me from danger."
Although limited to three, the zombies were useful as scouts, meat shields, and infection spreaders. Their strength wasn't great, but they were brutal, fighting without hesitation until their bones broke or their muscles tore apart.
Descending the stairs, Catrise summoned three spheres of light to illuminate the tunnels, which branched into several paths. Louis sent two zombies to scout alternate routes. Soon, groans and fighting echoed ahead.
At the first path, Louis found his zombie immobilized, its legs severed. Four thugs hid there with a pile of drugs, all of them dying from rotting bite wounds.
"You did a good job, but you're useless now."
Louis crushed the zombie's head and raised a new one from the freshly dead thugs, bringing it along. He froze the drugs to prevent anyone from escaping with them.
The zombie from the other path returned carrying two severed heads, its body drenched in blood. It had killed the two thugs hiding there. When Louis and Catrise checked, they found more drugs, which he froze as well.
Aside from the drugs, they discovered a vault filled with money, tonics, magic herbs, and weapons. Though none were of high quality, it was still a small fortune. Louis stored everything inside his shadow.
"Oh! Jackpot!"
"Yeah, this is a small fortune. Let's return."
When they regrouped, Elises hesitated, questioning Louis.
"Um, Prince Louis... isn't that blood money? It was made by criminals, so I don't think—"
"Money is money. It is an inert object with no inherent meaning other than being used for transactions. I don't see it as blood money; I merely see it as funds for my growth."
"Ah... I suppose you're not wrong."
Louis sent three zombies forward into the last tunnel. The group quickly heard the screams and groans of thugs clashing with the undead, then Louis's eyes widened as he suddenly felt all three zombies being destroyed with ease.
"What? That's...! Move!"
Louis quickly ordered everyone to shift to the left side of the cave. As they jumped away, a wave of Sword Energy surged from the tunnel's depths, splitting the ground and causing the ceiling to collapse above them.
"Damn it! Catrise! Use your Aura as a canopy!"
"Of course!"
Catrise, the strongest of the group, expanded her dense Mana Aura to shield everyone from the falling boulders, while the two knights rushed forward to defend the prince.
At that moment, a voice echoed from afar.
"To think the Prince himself would come all the way down here! This isn't quite the way I would've wished to meet his majesty..."
SLASH!
Another attack was unleashed. Both knights combined their ice shields into a massive barrier, resisting the strike. The impact ended in a huge explosion, destroying their shield and sending them flying back toward Louis.
"Uagh! Your majesty!"
"Ngh...! Are you okay, Prince Louis?"
"I am fine..." Louis said. Catrise quickly healed both knights as the prince glared into the distance, raising his hand and unleashing a bright shockwave of Mana.
FLASH!
The corridor lit up, revealing a large cave. The group cautiously advanced, finding the attacker—a scarred man with short black hair, wearing leather armor and the dried head of a wolf beast-man on his shoulder.
"You must be a high-ranking member of The Knife, right?" Louis asked, analyzing the man's Aura.
"It's adorable how much you're trying to pretend you're not scared, Prince Louis!" the man laughed. "Now that I've blocked your exit, you're all trapped here with me. I'll enjoy slicing you apart!"
"You're not half bad. Are you a Swordsman?" Louis asked, intrigued.
"Why yes! I am a Swordsman at the First Stage of Sword Soul Cultivation," the old man laughed. "Did you feel my attacks? They carry a piece of my very soul! Even Spiralwalkers or Espers are just sashimi after receiving my strikes."
"Sword Soul Cultivation..." Louis muttered. "Is that Fernand's method?"
"There are many schools of swordsmanship, Prince Louis..." Fernand stepped forward, tightly gripping his sword. "Sword Soul Cultivation is an advanced method I have yet to learn."
"Hoh..." Louis smiled, even more interested. "Good. I've decided—you're going to become my next zombie."
"What?! Damn brat! I was planning to kidnap you and demand an exorbitant ransom, but maybe I'll send you back to your father one piece at a time instead!" The swordsman stood tall, his silver blade gleaming with a sharp white aura.
"All three of you, attack him!" Louis commanded, raising three more zombies from nearby corpses with Soul Enslavement.
"On it!"
"If we all go together, there's a chance!"
"Yeah!"
"Hah, an Ice Giantess! You're a beauty! Why don't you leave that pathetic prince and become my woman instead?!" the swordsman mocked, swinging his blade and unleashing a massive shockwave of Sword Energy.
Elises and Fernand combined their shields to resist the strike, while Catrise advanced past them, swinging her giant ice hammer down, each impact radiating burning light.
"I swore to protect and nurture the prince, and I will never leave his side!" she roared, clashing against the swordsman.
Her icy hammer and his silver sword collided with incredible force. Catrise's sheer physical might clashed against the swordsman's devastating slashing power. Unlike him, she was also a magician, conjuring beams of light to bombard his weak points.
"Tsk!"
The swordsman leapt above her, aiming at her head, unleashing a storm of white blade energy.
BOOOM!
"Agh!"
Catrise shielded herself with her arms but was pushed back, her limbs covered in slashing wounds. Elises and Fernand rushed in from both sides, attacking with axe and sword. They unleashed consecutive techniques, but the swordsman parried them with ease, each counter pushing them back like children before his mastery.
"Hmph, you're just meat shields. Begone!"
He roared, gathering energy and releasing an explosive vertical slash. The strike shattered their shields and broke their weapons, consuming them in an explosion. They collapsed, covered in wounds, barely alive thanks to their armor.
"Don't worry! May the Holy Dragon Goddess be with you!"
Catrise healed them from afar, helping them stand again. Weaponless, they grabbed whatever lay nearby and returned to the fight. The swordsman scowled, realizing the Ice Giantess was a Priestess of the Holy Dragon Church, possessing the rare Holy Light Element Affinity. With her healing, the knights would keep coming back.
Meanwhile, where was the prince? Was he hiding? Trying to flee? The thought of the despised prince trembling in fear excited him.
"HAAAH!"
Elises and Fernand roared, synchronizing their Auras and attacking as one. Louis had trained them to fight almost as if they were a single warrior. Alone they weren't strong, but together they could challenge formidable foes. For three months, they had practiced the Dual Aura Technique, merging their Mana Auras and combining their attacks into a single, stronger strike.
CLAAASH!
"Ngh?! Damn rats!"
The swordsman staggered but quickly countered, unleashing a Blade Storm of slashes. Armor, shields, and flesh were torn apart.
"Gaaahhh!"
"Nngaaa!"
Both knights screamed, bleeding heavily as they fell. The swordsman aimed to finish them before Catrise could heal, his body covered in small wounds from earlier attacks.
"As long as I kill these two flies, the battle will be much easier! I can—"
His eyes widened. He had stepped on a glowing rune.
"Huh?!"
A shadowy silhouette appeared nearby. In the dark cave, Louis had been imprinting runes everywhere. His allies knew this, which was why they had defended the area so relentlessly.
BOOOM!
"Gah?!"
An explosion erupted beneath the swordsman, burning his legs. Another rune triggered, setting off a chain reaction. Dozens of Ash Traps exploded from every angle.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"S-So that's what that bastard was doing! Stealth magic and trap magic?! Wasn't he supposed to be a crippled bastard?!"
He shielded himself with Aura, but his skin burned, pain overwhelming him. Smoke filled the cave, dulling his senses.
"What is this trickery?! I've never seen magic like this!"
Blindly, he chased the sounds of the knights being healed, swinging his blade wildly as his body burned.
"DIE!!!"
His storm of slashes tore through the smoke, hitting walls and piles of packaged drugs, destroying the merchandise he had been guarding.
"What...?!"
He turned, only to see something behind him—a bizarre puppet made of crumbling gray ashes, shaped like a malformed Dragonoid.
"Gravewalker! Hold him down!"
Louis leapt forward. His Incarnation obeyed, grabbing the swordsman and forcing him to the ground.
"Guaaack!"
The man screamed as his sword was taken. A spear pierced his neck, blood filling his lungs as he coughed in agony.
"Gaaagh! Caagh! C-Coward! Damn bastard! Coward!!! AAACK!"
The swordsman cursed Louis for using underhanded methods. Louis only smiled creepily, caressing his forehead.
"Shhh, it's time to rest, old man. Thank you. I'll be taking your soul and body. I hope you don't mind."
"B-Bastard!!!"
The swordsman tried to grab Louis's neck, but a knife stabbed him repeatedly. Weakening, he died pitifully.
"Soul Enslavement!"
Louis, thrilled, turned the powerful swordsman into his zombie. The soul returned to its body, now tied to Louis, overflowing with Sword Energy.
"Yes...! Hahaha!"
Louis laughed as the zombie stood with a dull expression, holding his silver sword and emanating Sword Energy at Louis's command. He nodded excitedly—this was not a zombie he would discard easily.
"Prince Louis, you seem very excited..." Catrise sighed. "But please be more careful!"
"I'm fine," Louis said. "I thought Ash Magic was weak, but it caught him off guard. The runes are so faint that most people won't detect them unless they have very acute senses. And the Void Element allowed me to use Shadow Movement, hiding in the darkness to deliver a decisive strike as planned. Elises, Fernand, you have my thanks. As promised, your salary will be increased by fifty percent."
"T-Thank you so much," Elises said with relief.
"Haaa... without Catrise's help we would have died. Thank you, Catrise, you're an amazing healer," Fernand added.
"A-Ah, it's nothing. Are you alright? I already healed you," Catrise said.
"I'm fine, just tired," Elises sighed. "Master Louis, can't we take a break for now?"
"Hm, no," Louis shook his head. "Here, drink these tonics."
Louis handed out three Vitality and Stamina Tonics to Catrise, Elises, and Fernand, helping them recover their energy and stamina while easing their pain. They worked like energy drinks made from magical ingredients, without the side effects of excessive sugar.
"Alright, looks like the place is clean," Louis sighed. "But we're trapped... or maybe not. I suppose I can tell our new friend here to dig for us. Go, open the tunnel, but don't cause too much commotion."
The Swordsman Zombie nodded, walking toward the pile of rubble. He unleashed sharp slashing attacks, splitting the stones into pieces and slowly carving a new passage toward the exit.
Meanwhile, Louis froze all the drugs in place. He couldn't carry them, as his Shadow Inventory lacked the space for such a large haul. However, he made sure to stash away the money and other valuables, including medicinal herbs, precious stones, minerals, and a few rusty magic weapons.
"We're done here. Let's move out."
Louis left the hideout with his servants, noticing a new system notification. Apparently, he had reached Level 5, and his Fantasium Affinity was at 99%. Just a little more and he would gain a bonus.
Each level of the Fantasy Heart granted stats automatically, increasing based on the Spirals cultivated. From what he had observed, the Hollow Spiral of the Ashen Wyrm at Tier 9 provided the following growth per level:
Vitality: +5
Strength: +5
Intelligence: +5
Dexterity: +5
Fantasium: +50
It was a decent and balanced growth. Louis knew that at higher tiers, the stats per level would increase drastically. Still, leveling wasn't the best way to gain stats. Exercise, practicing cultivation methods, and sparring were also effective ways to grow stronger.
As they stepped out of the hideout, Louis noticed a group of soldiers led by two frost knights. They had just arrived, responding to the signals Louis had sent.
"Ah, Prince Louis! It's really you! How come you suddenly decided to get rid of crime? Honestly, it's quite surprising."
The speaker was a blonde woman with emerald eyes and pointed ears—a Commander of the Second Squadron of Frost Knights. She radiated Spiritual Energy and Mana, with several small Spirits floating around her.
"Knight Commander Belladine, thank you for coming, although rather late. We've already taken care of things ourselves," Prince Louis sighed. "I wonder... were you delaying so you could hope to find my corpse down there?"
"W-What? No...! I would never... We were delayed because you called us out of nowhere, my lord!" Belladine stammered.
"She's lying," Catrise said gently. Her ability to read truth from lies was flawless.
After hearing Catrise's words, Belladine's smile quickly faded into despair.
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