A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 131 Rat-Catching Operation

After confirmation by the Alchemy Department, the powder was indeed found to be hallucinogenic and addictive, and showed signs of being cleansed by an unknown divine force.

Connecting this to the failed theater attack, the Magic Guild notified the Church of Order and the Security Forces, linking up information about the Earth Mother (primarily from Rorschach, who seemed to run into her everywhere). Given the involvement of a cult of evil, all three parties took the case very seriously and, in an extremely rare move, joined forces to investigate.

Of course, the alliance here mainly refers to the cooperation between guilds and churches:

The grey-robed man belonged to a force of paladins stationed in the city. He did not usually show himself in public. Underneath his wide robes, he held a heavily decorated scripture. The sword at his waist had no scabbard and was covered with consecrated anointing.

The dark blue star-patterned robes represent the armed mages of the Magic Guild within Valois. They wear leather armor emblazoned with magical circuits, and in addition to black velvet gloves, each carries instant-cast scrolls, short guns, and alchemical potions.

The security team was informed by both sides that, in order to avoid alerting the enemy, they needed to keep their distance and maintain the outermost blockade. So the security team members could only yawn and watch the gracious ones and spellcasters move from afar.

The Grey Knights and the Armed Mages, two teams that rarely appear in Valuwana, are cooperating for the first time. Both sides are wary of their mission target while also observing and guarding against each other. The two leaders shake hands and plan their actions for the night.

During the day, their initial reconnaissance as guests at the bar yielded a floor plan of the first floor. Using the excuse of needing to use the restroom, they roughly determined the location of the corridors and rooms, though the second floor and the cellar below remained a mystery. Because of the potential presence of an altar to an evil god, the grey-robed captain, to avoid alerting the target, prevented the mage from using magic for further exploration.

Under the effect of [Magic Detection], there was no flashing of light at the main door, windows, and small kitchen door. However, this was normal. If the small tavern were to be guarded by magic and divine spells from the outside, wouldn't that directly tell the caster that there was a big problem here?

The operation begins, a silent zone unfolds, and passersby will unconsciously keep their distance from this area.

The two blue-robed and one gray-robed advance party, empowered by their teammates, became ethereal. They had put away their special weapons and magical items and, like three humanoid wisps of mist, passed through the tavern's greasy stone walls.

They appeared silently in the first-floor corridor and walked quietly into the lobby.

Although there was no magical aura, it couldn't be ruled out that the boss had installed physical security measures. The three carefully searched the area around the gate and, in the darkness, successfully located an alarm bell connected to the gate. The black velvet glove gently gripped the hammer of the brass bell, disassembled it, and removed the fragments.

The grappling hooks and bells on the windows and back door were also destroyed one by one. The door was opened from the inside, and three more people, one blue and one gray, entered.

At the main entrance, two gray-robed figures respectfully and carefully carried the sacred object, which was covered by a thick, dark red velvet cloth. The guild's mages could not see the object's appearance clearly, and apart from some curiosity, they were not particularly concerned—according to the plan, it was just a tool to suppress any evil god's power that might appear.

The devout grey knight did not bring the relic into the bar. The house has a strong symbolic meaning of "territory," and if the relic were to easily intrude and there were indeed altars and ongoing rituals, it would trigger a fierce backlash. The relic itself has no lethal effect. The task now is to take control of them before they become aware of their presence.

Two, three, four heartbeats were heard; three were upstairs, and one was downstairs. The captain relayed the results of his perception to the others in the bar via hand gestures. Thus, the nine people were divided into two teams, teams three and six, who infiltrated the cellar and the second floor respectively.

Old Reid was in the cellar, this dimly lit basement now his absolute territory, where he wouldn't allow any of his men in. He poured himself a glass of distilled spirit and downed it in one gulp, then pulled a dry biscuit from his pocket.

Red instinctively tapped the table, but only crumbs of biscuits came out; no maggots escaped. This was a habit inherited from the sea, an unconscious behavior of old Red. On land, there was no need to eat damp, maggot-infested biscuits; the only food he might share was with mice—which were better than maggots because they were smart enough to slip away when it was their turn to eat, without needing to be "invited" out by tapping.

Old Red loved the earth, loved Mother Earth.

After eating and drinking, his medicine was also ready. Before it was ground into powder, there was one more crucial step—receiving his mother's divine blessing through the "Rat King." This unshaven old man walked barefoot on the cellar floor, expressing his closeness to the ground. If observed in good light, one would notice that his right foot was strangely pink and plump, completely different from his left foot and his age.

It looks like it just grew out.

The cellar certainly stored wine, and he picked up a small oak barrel—it was freshly made fruit wine from last year, still full of sugar. The old man carried the barrel to the end of the cellar, stopped in front of an indoor well, and set the barrel aside.

The well opening was completely covered by a stone slab and bound with an iron chain, one of which extended into the well. Old Red untied the chain and began to move the stone slab. The slab was extremely heavy, but compared to the thick hemp rope soaked in seawater, this weight was nothing to Red, especially now that his injuries had healed. Praise be to the earth!

Sensing movement at the wellhead, something at the bottom seemed to be splashing and making a splashing sound. The iron chain extending into the well rattled as it splashed. Old Red muttered, "Stop it, stop it, good dog." As he spoke, he stopped moving the stone slab and used his knife to pry open the wine barrel and began pouring the wine in.

After emptying most of the bucket, the contents finally quieted down. The old man spat a mouthful of phlegm into it: "Greedy fellow." After moving the stone slab aside, he began to attach the iron chain to the winch and pull it up.

Someone's here? Old Reid's intuition told him his territory had been invaded. A harpoon leaned against the well, its dark red surface a mixture of rust, fresh, and old blood. Valuwana was supposed to be an inland city, but this harpoon, common on the coast, showed signs of frequent use. Now Old Reid turned and gripped the harpoon, warily scanning his surroundings.

Two strange newcomers came to the bar today. Drunk, they kept shouting that they were looking for a toilet and wandering around the first floor. Old Red was a little suspicious at the time but didn't stop them, because drunks often do this. It was good that they didn't urinate in the hallway. But now he regretted it and thought he should have kicked them out of the bar.

But now there's nothing left but small crucibles for drying medicine. The fire in the furnace has been extinguished, and there are stored wines everywhere, especially fine wines from Istani, lying in cellars built of red bricks.

Suddenly, his mind received a memory, a scene, and a scream:

"Let me go! Let me go!" In the small room on the second floor, the drug salesman, "Rotten Nose," had just finished inhaling the drug powder he received that day and was preparing to drift off to sleep. However, the door was suddenly broken open, and the hallucinations caused by the drug powder left him bewildered, terrified, and unable to move.

This scoundrel wanted to resist, but his muscles wouldn't obey his brain, and all the nerves in his body were still convulsing in a drunken stupor. Perhaps his waving arms were strong enough, but he was just hitting the air.

A rope had already wrapped around his body and was beginning to tighten. From Rotten Nose's perspective, he was being entangled by colorful venomous snakes, while three evil snake charmers chanted incantations he couldn't understand.

"You are devils! Devils who command serpents!"

Then came a blunt blow that knocked Rotten Nose unconscious, and also caused Old Red, who had a brief connection with Rotten Nose, to have a throbbing pain in his temples.

There's a mage! Or someone from the church! Realizing it wasn't an ordinary intruder, Old Red decisively threw down the useless harpoon and prepared to take out the potion he had made. In an instant, he suddenly sensed something, and with a sidestep, two beams of light shot out of the air without warning, but he dodged them both thanks to his premonition.

"Damn it!" The three-man team that had gone down into the cellar dispelled their invisibility. They saw their target strangely dodge the attack and jumped into the well without hesitation.

Then, accompanied by a roar and the violent shaking of the chains, a rotting hand climbed onto the well opening.

Then came the second one, two pairs, and three pairs.

"This is...you forced me to do this!" The filthy roar was a chorus, including old Reid.

(End of this chapter)