SCP Corporation: Contain Bonfire

Knock, knock...

A knocking sound came from outside the door.

Just by listening to the distance, it should be from another room in the neighboring corridor, not Colin's.

The door to that room was quickly opened.

Colin turned his body slightly and perked his ears to listen; he could vaguely make out a conversation between a man and a woman.

However, the soundproofing here was too good, and by the time the sound reached Colin, he could no longer hear much content, only certain that someone had entered the room over there.

The door then closed again...

At the same time, a knocking sound came from another room in the corridor.

Just like before, it was not very clear.

"If only I'd brought a stethoscope."

No sooner had Colin thought this than he heard his own door being knocked on.

Was this finally the moment to make a move?

A thought flashed through his mind, and Colin called out loud, "Who is it?"

"Lord Colin, it's me, Sister Elisa..."

A sweet voice full of girlish charm came from outside the door; one could imagine the person standing there.

But incongruent with this voice, Colin faintly felt as if an evil gaze brushed over him...

Colin sniffed, detecting a faint trace of something.

He realized.

What followed could very likely be a moment when true intentions were revealed.

"Honorable Brave, have you already fallen asleep?"

"No..."

Before Colin had finished speaking, he saw the door being pushed open.

Outside stood a pretty young girl in a plain white robe.

She seemed to have just taken a bath; her hair was slightly damp, her delicate face blushed, and her green eyes filled with mist as she stared intently at Colin, like a girl in the throes of a springtime crush.

"May, may I come in?"

Colin was silent for half a second, "Time Stasis" hidden up his sleeve, he nodded—now he was not afraid of the thief acting, but rather the thief's lingering thoughts.

Sister Elisa seemed not to notice anything; she smiled, stepped lightly into the room, turned her back to close the door, and then faced Colin again.

She hesitated for a moment before speaking as if she had made a decision:

"Honorable Brave, please, allow me to soothe the fatigue of your journey to this world..."

As she spoke, the plain white religious robe on her fell off, dropping to the floor, revealing the slender figure underneath wearing a thin long dress.

The curves of her body appeared and disappeared with the swaying of her dress.

It seemed that merely tearing off this garment would reveal endless beauty.

However...

Knowing full well he was dealing with a decayed corpse, Colin remained completely unmoved internally; he even felt like laughing—this was the test for a "Hero"?

At the very least, wouldn't one use a live person? What's the point with a rotting body? Which "Hero" couldn't withstand such a test?

"Hmm~"

Before he could finish his inner rant, a high-pitched, satisfied moan faintly emanated from the neighboring room...

Scratch that, Colin reflected, Undead Knights are truly formidable...

Then, he raised the monocle and placed it against his left eye socket in full view of the lady.

[A lifeless cadaver, whose soul had vanished long ago, it might have had a pleasing appearance in life, but now, under the desecration of magic, it was nothing more than a puppet manipulated by others, spreading false illusions.]

[Cutting the neck or destroying the skull could stop the desecration spell.]

"Honorable Brave, what is that..." the girl approached Colin while batting her beautiful eyes, curiously staring at the monocle over his left eye.

She couldn't see what was displayed on it.

"This is a special kind of eyepiece; I have poor eyesight and need it to see clearly..."

Colin casually pulled open the collar of his coat and tucked the single lens into the inner pocket, then seemed to search for something...

"Then we..."

While speaking, the girl shyly lowered her head, her face blossoming with a large flush of red, even her ears turning crimson.

After a pause, she mustered her courage, lifted her head, about to say something...

But the enticingly glossy, ruby lips had barely parted, not even a sound emitted, when they suddenly froze...

Bang! A sound.

The beautiful young girl's head exploded in an instant.

In that last moment, all she managed to see was the "Hero" putting the transparent glass into his pocket while pulling out a "┓"-shaped metal object.

Right after, the "Hero" flexed his finger, and within that black hole, a spark flashed...

Then, there was no after.

The elegant head, like a watermelon dropped to the ground, burst into countless pieces.

The body, dressed in plain white clothing, fell headless to the ground with a thud.

Colin held the "Contrarian" in his right hand, still smoking at the muzzle, vigilantly watching over the beautiful corpse on the ground.

Originally he had planned to wait a little longer...

But just now, as the other party shifted her legs to come closer, a strong unease suddenly surged within him.

"Deadly Insight" had been triggered!

Therefore, without hesitation, he took the initiative with a direct shot to blast the opponent's head apart.

The body on the ground didn't bleed, instead it decayed and evaporated rapidly, emitting a thick, foul-smelling gas, turning into a skeleton within ten seconds.

This was clearly not the appearance one would expect after a human death.

And at that moment, huge changes occurred in Colin's sight; everything within the house aged rapidly, turning desolate and dilapidated, the air reeking with a stifling stench of decay.

At the same time, he saw, next to the skeletal remains of the left hand, there was a white bone spur, filled with dark cracks.

It looked like a piece of arm bone...

[A highly dangerous item, those who possess it will continuously experience symptoms of edema, eventually leading to death by drowning.]

[Victims pierced by it will feel as if they were sunk into the water, struggling to breathe.]

"Is this the thing that stabbed me?"

Colin's pupils suddenly dilated, turning vertical as he glared at the object.

After confirming through the "Analytical Lens" that it was safe to touch the handle, he picked it up.

He flared his nostrils, sniffing the scent on it...

Although faint, he could still detect a peculiar smell, likely that of the one who had been hiding in the shadows all along.

However...

How come only this one body attacked me?

Colin's brows suddenly furrowed, he pocketed the object, sniffed the air again; a sense of alarm struck his heart, and he hurriedly stepped over the carcass, rushing down the corridor and kicking open the door to the next room.

As expected, it was empty, nothing was inside.

The other people's scents had vanished!

[Short-range one-sided teleportation traces seem to have appeared in the room.]

Not just this room, but in several other rooms as well, the "Analytical Lens" provided the same answer.

Damn it!

This guy has run away!

Either a sneak attack or a hit-and-run! Are you even a real man?! Why the hell are you so cowardly?!

Colin gritted his teeth in frustration, then immediately sprung into action.

The "Analytical Lens" indicated it was a short-range teleportation, and although he didn't know how "short" it was, there might still be a chance.

With this thought, he combined the previous foresight information and began to search the vicinity.

After nearly half an hour of searching, he finally found a clue inside an inconspicuous cottage outside the church.

A hidden entrance was concealed under the floor within the cottage.