Chapter 139 - 138: Abnormal Creation

Chapter 139: Chapter 138: Abnormal Creation

The chaos, however, pointed Hesia in the right direction.

The dense crowd slowed the effects of [Wild Frenzy], but to his panting pursuers, his speed was still astonishing.

The Adventurers who had gathered to watch the commotion only saw a shadow in fine clothes flash past them.

However, Hesia, who was at the front of the chase, still couldn’t see any sign of the skeleton.

’How can this skeleton run so fast?’ he fretted. ’The Disguise Technique only lasts for an hour.’

The thought had barely crossed his mind.

When he saw a group of people forming a circle not far ahead.

’Did they finally corner it?’

But the closer Hesia got, the more he felt that something was wrong.

’Even at this distance, I still can’t feel my connection to the skeleton?’

He squeezed through the boisterous crowd, and the sight before him made him pause.

The scene he had imagined—the skeleton cornered by the crowd—was not there.

On the ground were only a few scattered arm bones and a Curved Saber that looked very familiar to Hesia.

A white boot with sharp, clean lines was planted on a hand bone that was still twitching faintly.

The boot’s owner was a young man in gleaming white Heavy Armor, holding a silver short-hammer.

A faint magical glow flowed across the surface of the armor.

In the center of his breastplate, a Sun Holy Emblem composed of eight rays of light proclaimed his identity as a member of the Church of the Saint Sun.

Hesia’s gaze shifted away from the "19" displayed above the man’s head.

’He’s an official member, but I can’t tell if he’s a Priest or a Holy Knight.’

Hesia mused, his eyes quickly scanning the surroundings, but he found no trace of Bruce.

However, Hesia wasn’t worried.

Knowing that stupid dog, he was sure it wouldn’t be foolish enough to keep chasing the skeleton in a situation like this.

The creature was very clever; it was most likely using [Shadow Escape] to hide in some corner, observing from the shadows.

Since the skeleton was already gone, he might as well figure out what had just happened here.

He pricked up his ears, listening to the chatter of the Adventurers all around him:

"Gods above! That skeleton was unnervingly nimble! Nothing like those dimwitted ones I’ve seen in the Gray Mist Forest!"

"Tell me about it! If it weren’t for that Curved Saber that came flying out of nowhere and got in the way, Lord Loris would have surely smashed that Undead that needs purifying into dust!"

"Of course! I heard that this Lord Loris is just one step away from officially advancing to a Professional!"

"Yeah, he’d already smashed one of its arms off. Who would’ve thought something would go wrong like that!"

"I doubt it. After losing an arm, the skeleton actually ran faster, like it had just dropped a heavy bag!"

"Hey, which idiot threw that Curved Saber just now? What audacity, to actually attack Lord Loris!"

From this messy chatter, Hesia pieced together the general outline of events: the Holy Professional named Loris had successfully intercepted his skeleton and torn off one of its arms. However, at the critical moment, a suddenly thrown blade interfered, allowing the skeleton to escape.

Although the Curved Saber was a standard-issue model, Hesia recognized it—it was Wilson’s personal blade.

’Did he think this skeleton was the one he had let into town, and so he intervened to help it escape?’

For a moment, Hesia didn’t know whether to praise him for his "loyalty."

Furthermore, the Priest named Loris hadn’t continued the pursuit because other teammates had already gone after it; he was waiting here for news from his companions.

Seeing that nothing more was happening for the time being, Hesia quietly slipped out of the crowd and ducked into the shadow of a nearby building.

Almost at the same instant, a low voice whispered in his ear, "Hesia, I’m over here."

Hesia smiled knowingly.

’Just as I thought. The dog followed it into town but was smart enough to use Stealth.’

"Can you still smell the skeleton?" he asked, also in a low voice.

"I can," Bruce’s voice came out of thin air, "but there are too many smells here. Food, alcohol, the sweat of these guys who haven’t bathed in months... it’s all mixed together. I need to focus to pick it out."

"Then don’t worry about it for now. It looks like someone from the Church of the Saint Sun is already on its trail."

"Alright," Bruce paused, his tone turning somewhat perplexed. "But I noticed something strange."

"The skeleton was afraid of you?"

"At first, yes. It kept looking in my direction; the faster I chased, the faster it ran. After I used Invisibility, it slowed down."

"But the strange thing is, just now, for some reason, the feeling it gave off completely changed. It was like it suddenly became a different skeleton. It started running like crazy again, and it was heading in a single direction, as if it had a target."

Hesia mulled over Bruce’s words.

’So, at first, the skeleton was just fleeing in a mindless panic, but then its aura suddenly became unfamiliar, and it started breaking out in a specific direction?’

Hesia didn’t really understand the principles of Undead Creatures himself; otherwise, he wouldn’t have forgotten to give it the most basic commands.

Just then, two more church members in the same gleaming white Heavy Armor hurried over from a distance.

Loris, the one who had been stepping on the hand bone, immediately went to meet them. The three gathered together, whispering to each other about something.

But Hesia noticed that their expressions were all extremely serious, even a little grave.

A moment later, the young man named Loris straightened up and shouted to the crowd that had not yet dispersed, "Everyone, please don’t continue to gather here, in case of danger!"

"That Undead Creature has already escaped through the west gate of the town."

He cleared his throat and added a sentence that greatly surprised Hesia.

"According to our initial assessment, it is likely not a creation of Undead Magic. As for why it ran into town, our ’Hand of Radiance’ will continue to investigate."

’Not a creation of Undead Magic?’

Hesia was thoroughly confused.

’How did they reach that conclusion?’

’I obviously made that thing with my own hands using [Reanimated Corpse].’

"Lord Loris," an Adventurer in the crowd called out, voicing Hesia’s own question, "may I ask how you determined that the Undead was not a creation of Magic?"

The young man in gleaming white Heavy Armor smiled faintly. "Because that skeleton possessed its own consciousness. The low-level puppets created by an ordinary Undead Mage would not have such reactions or survival instincts."

’But I really did make it myself...’

Hesia’s gaze passed through the crowd, resting for a final moment on the Priest.

The man’s conclusion was full of holes, yet he was so confident. There had to be some hidden reason behind it that Hesia didn’t know.

The trail was cold now, and further investigation would be futile. He might as well ask his teacher tomorrow and decide what to do then.

"Let’s go, Bruce. Time to head back for dinner." Hesia turned and disappeared into another alley.

The sound of swallowing saliva echoed in the air, revealing the Stalker’s location and its current thoughts.