LotM: Surviving as a Marionette

Lamud Town was less a proper town and more akin to a marketplace.

Within the town stood a church that couldn't be called magnificent. Usually, only one clergyman served as the priest, presiding over Sunday worship and mass.

At this moment, however, this clergyman belonging to the Evernight Goddess was not inside the church listening to the prayers of the Goddess's faithful. He was in a corner of the marketplace, surrounded by foul water and various kinds of garbage, his expression grim as he bent down to examine a corpse whose internal organs had been hollowed out.

The Kingdom of Loen was not entirely stable, and in the current era without a formal police force, cases similar to robbery and murder occurring within a noble's territory were mostly handed over to the noble for private handling. If there was a church and clergy locally, nobles who disliked trouble would occasionally donate a considerable sum of pounds to the local church, entrusting them to handle such cases.

The Kingdom of Loen was a nation that hadn't been established for very long. Those lords focused more of their attention on key development cities like Backlund and Constant. Places like Lamud Town didn't receive much of their regard.

"Another one dead."

"How many is that now?"

In the corner of the marketplace, at the mouth of a dark alley ending in a wall, a knight holding a torch to illuminate the scene—the Knight Captain stationed in Lamud Town and subordinate to the local noble—also wore a troubled expression. Looking at the body on the ground, he couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "Father Fidel, what's the situation?"

"Same as the bodies discovered the past few days. Internal organs removed. Looks like another victim of a serial killer." Father Fidel sighed. The white-haired old man gently closed the woman's eyes and offered a low prayer. "May her spirit return to the embrace of the Goddess after death."

This was the third murder incident within the marketplace.

The first occurred ten days prior. The victim was a nightclub girl discovered in a cheap rented inn, covered in blood, her organs almost completely emptied out.

The innkeeper only noticed something amiss the next day and reported it to the Knight Guard stationed in the town. The Knight Guard swiftly cordoned off the scene. Of course, they didn't disturb the life of the Lord over this; instead, they summoned the priest of the Night Goddess Church for a preliminary examination.

Obviously, the hollowed-out girl was long dead, and the killer was likely among the others who had checked in that day.

The cheap rented inn didn't keep identity records. Apart from those who hadn't checked out by the next day, there was no way to find the other suspects from that day.

The second incident happened five days ago. Giovanna Spinn, the bakery owner's wife, was killed. She was found dead on her bed at home, her body presented just as bloodily, emptied of her internal organs. The bakery owner, Hesaint Spinn, was nearly broken, as were their two children.

But the result... still no trace of the culprit was found.

Now this was the third, again involving hollowed-out organs.

The Knight Captain hesitated, unsure whether he should report this matter to the Lord.

To be honest, the death of a few subjects, or slaves, within a noble's territory wasn't usually a critical matter, provided it didn't cause too much of a stir. But now three people had died, and they hadn't even found a shadow of the killer. If the deaths continued, he couldn't guarantee the Lord wouldn't become enraged. After all, having a serial killer active in the territory... while they took no effective measures to catch the fiend.

They didn't even have any clues!

Don, using the Beyonder ability of a Faceless, had changed his face to one utterly ordinary and unremarkable. He now roughly pieced together what he wanted to know from the chatter of the surrounding marketplace merchants and customers.

"Serial killings, with each corpse missing internal organs as the result."

He pondered thoughtfully. "A Desire Apostle's advancement ritual?"

If so, then the one here now should be a Sequence 6: Devil.

Just as this thought formed, Don suddenly turned his head.

His spiritual intuition warned him that someone had abruptly left and was trying to flee the area!

"That devil?!"

Come back to admire his handiwork at the crime scene?

[New Mission Issued.]

The System's voice corroborated Don's suspicion.

[Every Devil is a terrifying Beyonder, skilled in anti-divination and foreseeing danger in advance.]

[Kill/Subdue the Devil.]

He sensed my malice just now and immediately prepared to leave? Such quick reflexes.

Dealing with this kind of Beyonder, capable of sensing malice in advance, seemed possible only by chance encounters to resolve them.

After all, this was his own territory. Don couldn't let a Beyonder with the precursor sequence of a serial killer escape.

He clicked his teeth together twice, activating his vision of Spirit Body Threads. He discerned the direction the fleeing Devil was taking, confirmed the target hadn't yet escaped the range of his control, and reached out to grab at the empty air.

Simultaneously, he created numerous illusions to block the perceptions of the surrounding people while using Flame Leap to flash rapidly amidst the nearby flames.

The Devil sensed the danger.

And in this epoch, Beyonders weren't uncommon. These wild Beyonders never made much effort to hide the fact that they were Beyonders. At most, they disguised the series of rituals needed for advancement as the acts of a mad murderer to deceive others.

A Devil wouldn't care how many people died because of his actions. If possible, they were quite happy to let these ordinary people act as shields.

As the Devil suddenly began to flee, the surrounding crowd exclaimed in surprise, instantly scattering.

He quickly left the boundaries of the marketplace. The Knight Captain behind him realized something was wrong and charged out with his men, but their speed was clearly no match for the Devil's.

The Devil's speed wasn't slow, but in the next second, his movements slowed and grew sluggish.

Through the Spirit Body Threads, Don had gained preliminary control over the other's body.

This process required twenty seconds. Twenty seconds the Devil could use to run a considerable distance.

The people around here weren't numerous, and driven by instinctive self-preservation, they avoided the wildly fleeing Devil, inadvertently saving their own lives.

There were no more flames nearby for Don to leap through. He flicked out the iron chain wrapped around his left wrist, its tip embedded with a ruby. The chain flew towards the Devil at an extreme speed. The Devil, his movements slowed by the manipulation of the Spirit Body Threads, was half a beat too slow and was whip-cracked straight into by the chain.

Though not particularly thick, the chain struck with such force that the thick-skinned, physically powerful Devil stumbled, nearly falling face-first.

He transformed instantly. A massive, three-meter-tall monster, its body seemingly made of erupting magma, suddenly turned and charged straight at Don.

Don stood where he was, neither dodging nor flinching.

"Die—!"

The word, spoken in the Devil language and filled with madness, shot towards Don's body at a terrifying speed. His body suddenly became covered in rust stains, then dissolved into a white paper figurine, while his figure vanished from the spot.

[Invertory item consumed: Paper Figurine remaining (11)]

(End of Chapter)