Black Sorcerer and Inquisitor of Heresy

The creature's right hand held a torch—or rather, an object serving as a torch—that illuminated the entire hall.

Though termed a hall, it wasn't particularly spacious. The arched ceiling was quite low, and the aged stone walls were adorned with rough-hewn reliefs that flickered in the firelight. The carvings depicted an ancient, forgotten race that appeared less human and more like dragons stripped of their horns. Beneath their blade-like, rudimentary forelimbs, undulating granite lines formed the corpses of slaves at their feet. Nearby, atop several coffins, partially decayed skulls burned, their flesh not entirely stripped away; the bodies of butchers and some outsiders were heaped there.

The creature stood with its back to them. Humanoid in form, its hips reached the height of an average person. Its gray-black body was emaciated and shriveled, with an arched back covered in grayish-white bristles as long as human arms. Despite its grotesque, skeletal frame bulging with knotted muscles, its head was embedded like a screw into its chest cavity, obstructed by its back, making further details indiscernible.

Cesar heard the sharp sound of serrated teeth grinding together, leading him to surmise that the creature's teeth must be razor-sharp.

The torch emitted a blood-red light, with ribbon-like black substances floating within—it was raised above its head, casting a glow almost spectral in nature.

At that moment, the creature and its ghostly torch stirred, as if it had caught a scent. It turned its head, revealing a mouth that split vertically from crown to chin—resembling a crocodile's maw—filled with three or four rows of irregular, jagged teeth. Two pea-like, solid gray eyes lay beneath the bristles, set on either side of its mouth, giving it the appearance of a sawtooth shark with its head rotated ninety degrees.

It breathed deeply, the sound akin to a worn bellows, with sharp ribs protruding from its chest like an invitation to embrace a lover. It began to move in the direction from which it had come. From its blackened maw dripped partially chewed entrails, and it fixed its gaze upon the darkness where they hid.

"The sword you gave me—are you sure it's not some piece of junk worth only a few copper coins?" Jeanne whispered at his side, her tone devoid of fear.

"That sword is more valuable than your head," Cesar replied, meeting her calm, pale golden eyes with a taunt free of sarcasm.

"Good."

The firelight inched forward, like a blind man groping along a cliff's edge, gradually encroaching upon the darkness that concealed them. Those dull gray eyes scanned the shadows, displaying an interest akin to spotting prey.

Cesar observed the flicker of a translucent eyelid, and then the creature uttered a low, guttural murmur, resembling a meaningless beastly growl. As he watched impassively, its gray pupils suddenly ignited like burning embers.

In an instant—

A heatwave, reeking of scorched stench, swept through the hall's entrance like a tempest. Then, he heard a scream—

The creature's scream.

A jet-black longsword flew across the ten-meter gap, piercing through the searing flames, embedding itself squarely in the creature's gaping maw, forcing it to swallow its foul, heated breath and roar, which turned into a howl of agony.

In the next moment, Jeanne had deftly snatched the black-red longsword from his hand.

In the blink of an eye, she traversed the short ten-meter distance—closely following the trajectory of the sword she had just thrown, like a hunting falcon.

The creature glared at the approaching woman with a furious gaze, continuing to emit a mix of painful and enraged roars. Its bloodied claws, as long as a human thigh, slashed through the air in dark arcs toward the petite figure before it, resembling the spokes of a war chariot that had crushed countless corpses in the firelight.

Jeanne expressionlessly ducked beneath the creature's claws, driving her sword deep into its armpit. Then, with a twist and pull of her right wrist, she severed its flailing arm entirely. Black, foul blood splattered onto the ground and walls. The creature howled wildly, brandishing its torch, while the dozens of sharp ribs on its chest opened like jagged teeth, rapidly extending in an attempt to crush the diminutive human. From a distance, it resembled a crocodile leaping from the water to hunt a zebra.

She ignored the creature's attack, leaping high to grasp the black longsword lodged in its mouth; her other sword pressed against the serrated ribs on its chest. With a strange exertion, the inquisitor thrust forcefully, driving the longsword through the creature's entire head. In the next instant, she yanked the blade downward, causing blood to gush out like wine from a punctured sack.

The sound of fabric tearing.

From the creature's mouth down to its groin, its entire body was split open.

The nearly bisected creature collapsed to the ground—she impassively placed a foot on its head and, with a swift stroke, severed the head embedded in its chest.

"Oh, that's truly remarkable," Cesar sauntered over leisurely, applauding Miss Jeanne. "I thought you might need assistance; now it seems you can handle everything on your own."

"Because the timing was right, I acted in advance," Jeanne said impassively, kicking the creature's severed head aside. "Another reason is that your sword is sturdy enough. Opportunities like this don't come often; otherwise, my team wouldn't have been sent here and decimated until only I remained."

"Additionally—"

Jeanne turned to him, extending her forearm, revealing several smooth lacerations. Her already damaged vambrace had shattered like paper, and dark red blood gushed from her arm. Through the wounds, he could even see the stark white of bone—the injuries likely inflicted by the creature's sharp ribs.

"—Provide me with healing," she demanded.

The sword hadn't entirely deflected the attack.

Cesar noticed her furrowed brows, yet she displayed no sign of pain.

"It seems you're quite accustomed to saying one thing and doing another, and also to... never mind," he said, a faint light emanating from his hand as it enveloped the inquisitor's forearm. "Healing such wounds consumes a considerable amount of life force—not yours, of course—and I also need to filter out contamination to prevent your soul from collapsing. This process is taxing, and my energy reserves are limited. So, before you charge ahead like a wild boar, could you give me a heads-up?"

"I'll try," she replied without lifting her eyelids.

Her tone was perfunctory; clearly, she was used to acting on her own accord. Cesar didn't hold out much hope.

After completing the healing, he began absorbing the life force of the guard and the creature, while observing the hounds who had perished here.

Amid the darkened bloodstains lay scattered corpses: a young woman, her skull cleaved open, hung naked from a stone pillar; a man with his abdomen slit open, intestines trailing on the ground, curled up in a corner; a middle-aged man, fingers clawing at his own throat, his face frozen in unbearable agony, dead atop a coffin. Among the pile of dead, strange black beetles squirmed, wriggling through the mangled bodies as if gnawing on the corpses, licking the sticky, foul-smelling blood.

Cesar crouched down, extending his hand. As soon as he touched one of the corpses, over a dozen beetles swiftly burrowed into his skin like shadows—

"Interesting—"

He shook his head, casually snapped his fingers, and a black-gray wave rippled through his body. In an instant, the beetles that had entered his skin frantically surged, like a black tide—those that had burrowed in scrambled out and scurried away, while those still outside hastily fled the pile of corpses, distancing themselves from the source of the wave, some even colliding in their haste.

Soon, they had all dispersed, rapidly vacating the not-so-spacious hall.

"Those are Hood's carrion beetles..." Jeanne's brows knitted together. "Why are these disgusting things mingling with the hounds? Black mage—what exactly has your Empress been collaborating with?"

Cesar glanced at her impassively.

"If I knew Nero's plans, I wouldn't have reincarnated into this godforsaken place."