Chapter 49: Rat Path

“Huff…”

Exhaling a breath, Corleon calmed his heartbeat accelerated by fear.

Using Divine Word Art to purify evil for the first time also left his spirit slightly drained.

It was just that the current spread of Faith was still insufficient.

If there were enough believers, the Holy Light at the beginning might have instantly erased the Gluttony.

Although he had long known this world contained extraordinary non-human beings, this was still the first time he had seen such a non-human existence.

Emitting a nauseating stench and bearing an appearance that polluted the eyes.

He glanced at the believers who remained asleep and undisturbed.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

Walking to the back of the church, Cicero’s and the two children’s little house showed no signs of disturbance.

After checking the surroundings once more and finding no issues, Corleon returned to the church.

Kneeling before the Lord’s Throne, he closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, calmed his heart, and spoke softly.

“O Lord, your servant humbly pleads for your revelation.”

In the darkness, a point of light appeared.

It zoomed in, revealing a scene.

In a twisted, dark-red world, a massive white-skinned body was bound by chains, and the large mouth on its belly remained shut.

Compared to the numerous spirit-polluting mouths previously seen on Gluttony, this one only had two lips as eyes in addition to the mouth on its head.

There were numerous lash-like marks on its body.

“What is this…” Before Corleon could contemplate further, the lips on its eyes abruptly opened.

Beast-like red vertical pupils seemed to meet Corleon’s gaze.

A wave of dizziness hit, his will detached, and the image vanished.

Inside the church, tears of blood streamed down Corleon’s eyes.

“What was that thing, that place—was it Hell?”

Corleon etched that image into his memory.

…

“Knight? No, no, no, you’re not a knight.”

Fur gripped Noah’s head with one hand and held him aloft.

“Knights aren’t as weak as you.”

He said as he pulled Noah closer.

“…” Noah opened his mouth but couldn’t make a sound.

His throat had suffered a heavy blow and was still scorched by a bluish flame.

“If you’re not a knight, how about pledging loyalty to me?”

Fur extended an invitation.

“I’ll grant you knighthood.”

“…” Noah gave a slight smile, then with a twitch of his arm, delivered a knife-hand strike to Fur’s neck.

“…” Fur didn’t move an inch, though his gaze turned terrifying.

The bluish flame spread, extending toward Noah’s hand.

This flame didn’t cause pain, even felt warm.

Unknowingly, Noah’s arm dropped again.

“In that case, I respect your choice.”

Fur said, then forcefully crushed Noah’s head.

With a swing of his arm, he tossed Noah’s corpse aside.

On this small battlefield, only seven corpses remained, faint blue flames still burning upon them.

Someone had escaped.

Because Noah had desperately blocked him, Fur hadn’t stopped the first large man who fled.

He couldn’t be bothered to chase the others who ran after that.

After scavenging some food from the camp, Fur regretted that the horses had been taken.

To him, Lord Helvin of York managed horses and weapons far too strictly.

Having ruled this territory for nearly two centuries, even the lowest classes still primarily used oak-based weapons.

Iron weapons had yet to be fully adopted.

Because of this, Fur had once been ambitious about seizing this land.

This cowardly lord—if only Fur could harness the mystery within his body…

But now, that thought had vanished.

Not only had someone beaten him to it, but also due to his current appearance.

A noble couldn’t be in such an ugly state.

He now only wished to return to normal.

He pondered how to persuade that scholar to help him.

If it came to it, even if unwilling, Fur might have to threaten that girl.

While thinking, a sudden chill struck him.

He leapt aside from his original spot and turned back.

It was a fat monster, covered in mouths, crouched over a corpse and gnawing at it.

It didn’t even care about the bluish flames and bit right in.

Fur didn’t dare turn and flee.

He stared at the creature, sensing its focus was locked on him.

Being approached so silently from behind—Fur dared not bet he could escape it.

Moreover, that posture had been described to him in childhood by his scholar mentor.

“Covered in mouths, greedily devouring all matter in the world—from flesh, to soil, even the final breath.”

“They are the embodiment of the desire for Gluttony, creatures that can never be satisfied.”

“After consuming everything, they will eat themselves.”

So, he was considered food.

Food that must be eaten.

Fur laughed.

Then let’s see who eats whom.

He could tell the Gluttony was feeding on corpses and flames to restore itself.

It was in a starved state.

Bluish flames ignited from Fur’s body.

Like a beast, he crouched, then burst forth in a blaze of blue light toward Gluttony.

“Rawww…”

Letting out a low, guttural noise, Gluttony abandoned its meal and charged at him.

The two clashed like wild beasts, entangling, tearing, and devouring each other’s flesh.

…

This was Corleon’s first time entering York Town since the lord changed.

Rat Path referred to the hidden underworld routes in York Town.

This place specialized in handling matters unfit for the surface.

Of course, one could obtain anything here—for a price.

Naturally, the lord knew of the Rat Path’s existence.

But every place needed such people.

Just like the name ‘Rat Path’ implied, even a warehouse with no storage would still have rats, so the lord left them alone.

Behind the Rat Path stood the town’s powerful figures.

And behind them was the lord himself…

Only the lord had changed.

Over time, Rat Path had developed its own rules.

Unless all nobles died out, it would continue to operate in the shadows.

“I need some information.”

Corleon leaned against a wall, beside a small hole.

“Did anything strange happen in York Town last night?” he asked.

“One silver coin.” came a hoarse voice.

Corleon inserted a silver coin into the hole.

“…No.”

A moment later, the reply came.

No?

Corleon clearly remembered the final Holy Light illuminating the entire church district.

Such strong light in the night couldn’t have gone unnoticed in the town.

“Did the party the lord sent to clear bandits encounter anything unusual?” Corleon asked.

“Ah, a noble who’s caught some wind.” said the voice behind the wall.

“How much?”

“Three gold coins, sir.

This is freshly received news—I guarantee it’s worth it.”

Corleon inserted three gold coins.

“Generous sir, your loyal friend shall explain in detail.”

The voice behind the wall panted slightly.

“The Hughes family boy was attacked—by a monster burning with blue fire.”

“According to the survivor who reported to Knight Wolf, it was a necromancer.”

“Although Lord Helvin claimed he killed four necromancers during the purge…”

“Who knows if it’s true—necromancers, after all, play with death.”

“Knight Wolf is already gathering the surrounding Prospective Knights.”

“Another war against necromancers might be coming.”

“Oh, poor York this year. Half the year hasn’t passed, and so many disasters have already occurred.”

The voice within the wall exaggeratedly lamented.

“I wonder if you think this news is worth the coins.”

“Where did the attack happen?” Corleon asked.

“Ah, another question. If it were someone else, I’d charge more. But for you, dear guest…”

“It was southeast of York, about seven li from the border. Of course, perhaps that’s unclear to you.”

“In fact, it was near Daniels Village. Surely that makes it clearer.”

“Daniels Village was recently established. Surely you’ve heard of it.”

“Oh yes, land of the Daniels Family—its head is the young Miss Yara.”

“News about Miss Yara has made me quite a profit.”

“Are you interested, dear guest? That beautiful lady is of marriageable age, and now she owns a village. I can give you a 30% discount.”

“Oh, even 40% isn’t off the table for negotiation.”

Corleon ignored the sales pitch.

Having learned what he wanted, he left.

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