Mystery: The Undead Don't Die from Linking the Fire

Chapter 319 Civil Engineering, Even a Dog Wouldn't Do It

late at night.

At the home of MP Machte, while everyone was fast asleep.

Hazel quietly got out of bed, used her night vision to change into clothes that allowed her to move around easily. She climbed down from her bedroom balcony, carefully avoiding the house guards, and sneaked out of the garden to the middle of Berklund Street—not all sewer entrances were accessible to humans and had vertical metal stairs.

Upon arriving at the sewer entrance, Hazel cautiously observed left and right for a few seconds before moving the manhole cover and climbing down. The entire process was completed smoothly and without any hesitation.

It was clear that this wasn't the first time she'd done this; her practiced movements were almost heartbreaking.

Stepping onto the slightly slippery ground, she moved quickly and purposefully along the rusty iron pipes and the slowly flowing sewage river.

The sewers were a maze of interconnected passages, and an unfamiliar person could easily get lost in them. But Hazel navigated the maze with ease, making her way through several corners until she reached the end of a fork in the road—where a patch of moss-covered, visibly corroded wall stood.

Without hesitation, Hazel pressed her hands against the wall and fumbled around for a while before opening a hidden door with a thud. Thanks to her excellent night vision, even in the dark sewers, Hazel could see everything around her clearly.

Passing through the secret door, Hazel found herself in a spacious cave, a semi-natural, semi-artificial structure. It was less than 1.8 meters high and about 3 meters wide. The ground was covered with shovels and other tools wrapped in tarpaulin, as well as piles of soil and gravel. In front of her were two hidden passages that extended downwards at an angle.

The one on the left is only five or six meters deep, and the one on the right is nearly ten meters deep, but there is nothing there yet because they are still being excavated.

Hazel skillfully picked up the shovel from the ground, peeled back the layers of tarpaulin covering it, and headed straight for the hidden passage on the right. This haughty young lady from high society had transformed into a civil worker, tirelessly digging through the filthy sewers, shovel after shovel, without complaint.

A voice suddenly rang in the girl's ear:

"Do you need any help?"

Hazel was startled by the sudden sound and turned around to find a man standing behind her.

Most importantly, she knew this person—she had seen him at a dinner party hosted at her home.

The fear in Hazel's eyes faded, replaced by a seething rage.

"You're following me?"

She was furious that the other party was following her, and annoyed that she, as an extraordinary being, hadn't noticed.

But after her anger subsided, Hazel suddenly realized an even more serious problem: why hadn't she, as an extraordinary being, been able to detect the other party?

Hazel was confident that no ordinary person could escape her detection, so there was only one possibility—this person was an extraordinary being even more powerful than her!

Hazel took two steps back, somewhat surprised and uncertain:

"Are you an official Extraordinary?"

At the banquet, Ember and Bishop Électra chatted amiably, which she initially assumed was simply due to his high status. But now it seemed there were clearly deeper factors at play!

"That's one way to think about it."

Ember nodded slightly, his gaze passing over the girl to the still partially excavated passage, and asked:

"How did you find this place?"

Hazel glanced hesitantly at the passage behind her, not giving an immediate answer.

She was weighing the difference in strength between herself and Ember, as well as the gains and losses.

While the other party was indeed an official Extraordinary being of the Church of the Night, his teacher was a legendary demigod!

Looking at the seemingly hesitant girl, Yu Jin slowly spoke:

"Your parents are both members of the Church of the Night."

Hazel suddenly raised her head, her eyes filled with disbelief, as if she couldn't believe that the other party would threaten her with such despicable means!

Looking into the girl's clear, naive eyes, Yu Jin said calmly:

"Don't get me wrong, what I mean is, if your family weren't members of the Church of the Night, I wouldn't be saying all this to you."

"I……"

The girl pursed her lips, her heart filled with turmoil, unsure of what to do.

After a long silence, Hazel still hesitated before speaking:

"I... I dreamt about it. My teacher... told me in the dream how to become an extraordinary being, and told me to find a way to dig for something here. At first, I didn't believe it, but I dreamt about the same thing for several days in a row, and the potion recipe she told me in the dream did indeed make me a 'thief,' so..."

Hazel hesitated to speak, but Ember could guess the whole story.

Hazel's situation was similar to Audrey's back then; she was also a young lady who longed for a mysterious world.

The difference is that Audrey becomes an extraordinary person through Tarot, so she has a very strong sense of belonging to Tarot and even a strong sense of ownership. Therefore, at the beginning of each Tarot session, "Justice" is always the first to greet everyone, and she is often the one who introduces the other members to newcomers.

Hazel, however, was not so lucky. She was given a dream by a demigod with ulterior motives, who helped her become an extraordinary being.

But Hazel was unaware of these things, so just like Audrey's strong sense of belonging to the Tarot Society, Hazel also placed great trust in that demigod. That's why this proud young lady didn't hesitate to go into the filthy sewers and do the kind of work that even the poor in the East District wouldn't do, working on civil engineering projects in the sewers in the middle of the night.

Seeing that Ember remained silent for a long time, Hazel couldn't help but ask:

"What do you plan to do with me?"

The girl glanced at the gap to the right of the embers out of the corner of her eye, her eyes flickering as she gripped the necklace around her neck.

Upon hearing this, Yu Jin stepped aside and said:

"You can leave now."

"what?"

Hazel paused for a moment, then hesitated and said:

"that's all?"

Ember gazed at her calmly and slowly spoke:

"Tomorrow morning, you will go to the Church of the Night for Mass with your parents. At that time, I hope you can take the initiative to tell Bishop Électra everything that has happened here. For your parents' sake, Bishop Électra will not lock you in the Gate of Charnis, but your personal freedom will certainly be restricted to some extent. He should accept you as a Night Watchman and tell you what the Acting Law is."

"This is the best choice for both you and your parents."

Hazel looked surprised and suspicious, and took two steps back warily.

What do you mean by not locking her up in Charnis Gate? Although she doesn't know what Charnis Gate is, it sounds terrifying! She can understand that the Night Watchers are the official Beyonders of the Church of the Night, but what is this "acting method"?

Seeing that Hazel not only hadn't lowered her guard but had become even more wary, Yu Jin couldn't help but shake his head and say:

"It seems you don't understand at all."

"The opportunity is already in front of you; whether you take it or not is up to you."

"I……"

Hazel hesitated for a long time, glancing at the passage behind her, then pursing her lips as she looked at the path that Ember had cleared for her. In the end, she lowered her head and silently stepped over Ember, quickly walking out of the passage.

Once Hazel disappeared from sight, Ember turned his gaze back to the passage ahead.

The tunnel was clearly far from finished, and the embers couldn't be dug out slowly, shovel by shovel.

It's impossible to remove the ash; it's never going to happen in this lifetime.

Besides, why dig when mining? Wouldn't using explosives be significantly more efficient?

With this in mind, Ember retrieved the old man's crystal staff from his spatial storage, aiming the blue crystal at the tip of the staff, which was covered by a stone-like shaft, at the passage in front of him. Without the need for incantation, icy blue magic surged and churned at the staff's tip, ultimately coalescing into a terrifying torrent!

【Soul Torrent】

When Lothric and the Grand Archives were founded

The magic taught by the primordial sage.

It can shoot out a large amount of soul torrents.

The First Sages were not merely those who doubted the linking of the fire.

Furthermore, it is rumored that she was also the prince's tutor in private.

boom!

A beam of icy blue energy erupted from the tip of the crystal staff, instantly turning the passage in front of them blue. Inside the dark sewers, the icy blue torrents washed over everything in their path, utterly annihilating anything that stood in their way.

When the light faded, only a smooth, flat wall remained, like a passage made of poured cement. But before Ember could even enter and retrieve the passage that had been carved out, a dark shadow suddenly darted out from the deep darkness, rushing straight towards Ember!

This is the hidden demigod, Flora Jacob from the Jacob family!

Flora's original plan was simply to trick Hazel into digging the tunnel, so that the moment Hazel broke the seal, she could instantly parasitize her and use her as nourishment to restore her own strength. Unfortunately, all of this was ruined by the man before her. But this wasn't necessarily a bad thing—Flora's digging work, which she had expected to take another month or two to complete, was completely destroyed in seconds with this man's help!

The moment the seal was broken, Flora launched a sudden attack without hesitation, determined to parasitize this extraordinary being of the Church of the Night!

This is why she didn't act rashly when she discovered that Hazel was being followed—Flora was confident that the other party was unaware of her existence, because although he had been guiding Hazel through dreams, he had never told Hazel what she was trying to uncover.

Hazel naively believed she was digging for some treasure, but she never imagined that what she was digging for was the seal of her "teacher".

Flora had already confirmed that the extraordinary individual before her had come alone.

The other party is likely also a Hazel digging for some treasure, which is why she didn't report it to the Church of the Night, but instead followed an innocent girl in the middle of the night, wanting to take all the treasure the other party was digging for herself!

Although Flora was somewhat surprised by his decision to spare Hazel, it didn't have a significant impact. Once she successfully possessed the Night Watcher, she would kill Hazel's entire family, completely erasing any trace of her existence!

Of course, all of this is predicated on her successfully parasitizing the embers.

Although Flora's sneak attack was quite successful, she never wondered why Ember dared to come here alone!

As the dark figure hurtled toward Ember, Ember, who had just released his Soul Torrent, seemed unable to react in time. He stood there, staring straight at the dark figure, watching helplessly as it entered his body.

However, the moment the dark figure touched Yu Jin's body, she suddenly burst into flames.

It literally ignited!

The shadowy figure, almost blending into its surroundings, suddenly glowed. At first, it was just a few scattered sparks, but these sparks quickly spread across her spirit body, gradually connecting and eventually turning into a raging fire that burned fiercely!

"what!"

Flora, now reduced to a spirit, should have been immune to such 'physical damage,' and the flames could not harm her in the slightest. However, the flames seemed to contain some higher-level power, and even Flora's soul was burning. The intense pain was unbearable for this demigod, causing her to let out a painful scream.

The parasitic process was also interrupted, and the former demigod could only curl up on the ground in pain, struggling desperately.

No matter how hard she tried to save herself, she could not reduce the flames engulfing her body in the slightest.

of course.

She was lucky.

The last demigod who attempted to invade the Embers went much deeper, so he has been burned to ashes.

As for Flora, if things continue like this, she will inevitably be burned to ashes.

But this was not what Ember had hoped for; his purpose was never to use this demigod as nourishment.

After all, burning a demigod is only better than nothing; it has to be an angel to make sense.

If he really burns this demigod to ashes, then he'll have to find another demigod through the 'Thief' pathway—

This kind of time-wasting behavior is clearly not what he expected.

So he deliberately extinguished the flames covering Flora Jacob, slightly relieving her pain from being burned.

Almost the instant the flames went out, the dark figure launched another attack!

She did not attempt to continue parasitizing the embers, as this had proven to be unfeasible.

All she wanted now was to escape from Yu Jin's side as quickly as possible!

Once she leaves this sewer, she can easily find a random passerby to parasitize. And a parasite living on someone else is definitely not so easy to detect!

Ember remained standing still, whether out of surprise at the shadowy figure's escape or out of complete indifference.

And when the shadowy figure finally escaped from the passage and arrived at the opened secret door, ready to pass through...

An invisible force suddenly surged out from her body!

"what!"

Amid the woman's piercing screams, the dark figure collapsed to the ground once more, flames engulfing her spirit once more, devouring everything about her.

Why bother?

Ember shook his head slightly, walked slowly to the shadowy figure, took out a small urn from somewhere, and threw the demigod, who had completely given up struggling, into it.

Until he gathers all three offerings, this little box will be the demigod's eternal home.

-

Hazel pushed open the manhole cover above her head, glanced with some lingering fear at the deep passage below, pursed her lips, and closed the cover.

She slipped past the bodyguards and returned to her room without alerting anyone, her heart filled with unease.

She couldn't disobey the orders of Ember, the official extraordinary being, but she was also afraid of being punished by her teacher, the legendary demigod.

Ember told her to go to the Church of the Night to "confess" tomorrow morning, but perhaps she will dream of her teacher tonight!

"What should I do?"

Hazel curled up on the bed, hugging her legs, feeling somewhat lost.

(End of this chapter)