The ancient sewers of Aethelgard were the rotting underbelly of the imperial capital. The darkness within felt suffocating, as if the air itself possessed a tangible weight. The stench of stale waste, dead moss, and metallic rust stung my olfactory senses with every breath I drew.
Right above the stone ceiling where I stepped, the thundering boots of dozens of elite Imperial knights echoed loudly.
"Scatter to the north wing! Do not let a single alley be missed!" shouted a knight commander from the street above. "Close all gates! The capital is under an emergency lockdown!"
I paused my steps for a moment in the pitch darkness, listening to their panic. Lord Valerius's hunting net had been cast. Unfortunately for them, they were hunting ghosts already safely tucked away inside the academy laboratory.
I resumed my pace along this filthy waterway. Based on the city layout map I had memorized, I was heading straight to the location where Lord Valerius's luxurious carriage was destroyed last night. However, my progress was halted by an absolute obstacle.
The tunnel path was completely blocked. A massive iron grated door, a relic of the First Era, stood firmly obstructing the way. Its iron pillars were as thick as a grown man's arm, tightly shut and rusted from centuries of age. I felt around its edges. There were no keyholes, hinges, or hidden levers.
If I used the Blood-Iron sword to cut it, the echoing clang of steel would immediately be heard by the knights patrolling right above me. My position would be exposed in a matter of seconds.
I smirked thinly in the dark.
"Let us see how worthy the price I paid last night truly is," I whispered softly to myself.
I removed my right glove. The arm that was surgically opened and infused with Troll Heart Marrow last night now felt incredibly dense. I slipped the fingers of my right hand into the gap between two of those solid steel pillars.
Instead of pumping lava from the Sanguine Core, I relied purely on the raw physical strength of my new bone and muscle structure.
I took a deep breath, stabilizing my footing. My right bicep expanded extremely until my robe sleeve felt incredibly tight. Thick veins bulged on the back of my hand. With a single brutal burst of power, I pulled the two solid iron pillars in opposite directions.
Creeeak...
The screech of thick metal being forced to bend beyond its tolerance limit could be heard. The sound was quiet enough to be instantly swallowed by the patter of rain and the stomping of boots from above. The First Era steel bars bent in a curve, creating a gap just wide enough for my shoulders.
My steel vessel worked flawlessly. Without wasting time, I slipped through the gap.
Fifteen minutes later, I arrived at my intended destination. Right above me was the drainage grate of the cobblestone street where Lord Valerius's carriage was ambushed.
The blue light of imperial-caliber tracking magic swept and pierced through the iron grate gaps, illuminating parts of the sewer walls. I clung to the shadows, beginning to climb the slippery vertical stone wall carefully. My fingers gripped the moss and rock crevices.
However, the scent of Ragnar's blood still lingering on the wall from his escape last night apparently invited the original inhabitants of this place.
As I hung two meters above the water's surface, my veteran instincts caught a movement in my blind spot. A Sewer Crawler, a mutant rat-lizard the size of a mastiff with bone-crushing jaws, crept down from the ceiling without making the slightest sound.
The monster ambushed my neck from above.
I was clinging to the wall. I could not release my grip to dodge, and I absolutely could not make any noise of a struggle. My brain made a decision in a fraction of a millisecond. I deliberately raised my right arm to cover my neck, letting the savage beast bite my arm with its deadly jaws.
The giant jaws snapped shut with a force usually capable of crushing human thigh bones.
CRACK!
Instead of tearing flesh and crushing my bones, the cracking sound actually originated from the monster's mouth. The thick, sharp fangs of the Sewer Crawler shattered to pieces upon striking my right arm bone, which was now as hard as steel and clad in Troll muscle.
The monster froze in shock, feeling its own fangs destroyed.
"A very weak bite," I whispered as cold as ice.
Taking advantage of that one second of shock, my right hand immediately twisted and grabbed the monster's snout. With a single, extraordinarily brutal raw squeeze, I exerted my assimilated strength.
CRUNCH!
The monster's thick skull was crushed into a pulp of flesh and bone under my grip before the creature could even let out a squeal. I released my grip and dropped the lifeless carcass. It landed in the filthy water stream below me with a very soft rippling sound.
I returned my focus upward. I climbed until I was hanging just a handspan below the street's iron grate.
Right above my face, the tip of an investigating knight's steel boot stepped and stopped. The distance between us was separated only by two-inch-thick iron bars. I held my breath completely, consciously slowing my heartbeat until it was nearly inaudible.
Up on the street, the wrath of an aristocrat was exploding.
"The Senate's dogs are useless!" snapped Lord Valerius's heavy voice, trembling with pure hatred and pain. "The Imperial Envoy was mutilated on this street and you all just stand around like fools?! Where is your tracking magic?!"
"L-Lord Valerius, please calm down," answered the trembling voice of a knight commander. "The heavy rain last night washed away most of the perpetrator's mana trail. We are trying to scan the residue left on the wreckage of your carriage."
"Then scan faster, bastards!" roared Lord Valerius. "Bring that giant man before me, or I will ensure every single one of you hangs in the imperial square tomorrow morning!"
Hearing that desperation and blind fury, I knew this was the perfect moment.
Using my free left hand, I reached into my robe pocket. I pulled out a metal emblem bearing the Raven crest of the Nightbane Faction, an item exquisitely crafted by Virelith. The pungent smell of acid poison and the rot of Black-Lotus syrup emanated strongly from the emblem's fabric backing. This was an identical replica of the weapons and items targeted by Lord Valerius last night.
With the precision and calmness of a veteran assembling a landmine, I slipped the poisoned emblem through the gaps in the street's iron grate.
Right next to that grate gap lay a wooden splinter from Lord Valerius's carriage axle, melted black by the blast of his own acid magic last night. I pressed the Nightbane emblem firmly into the crevice of that melted wood. I positioned it in such a way that it looked as though the emblem had fallen and gotten stuck accidentally while the attacker was trying to flee the carriage explosion.
The bait was set.
Once the emblem was perfectly embedded, I released my grip from the stone wall. I slid down and landed at the bottom of the sewer without making the slightest sound.
I leaned against the wet stone wall, hiding myself completely in absolute darkness. Now, I only needed to wait for the imperial judge to deliver his verdict.
On the street above, the blue light from the investigating knights' magic staffs continued to sweep the carriage wreckage. That tense silence finally shattered to pieces.
"Sir! Lord Valerius! Come here!" shouted an investigating knight crawling to check the carriage undercarriage. His voice shrieked with a tremor, a blend of excitement at finding a clue and horror at seeing what he discovered.
Hurried footsteps immediately approached the knight. "What did you find? Do not waste my time!" barked Lord Valerius.
"M-my tracking magic reacted strongly in this axle crevice, Sir!" reported the knight with ragged breath. "There is leftover composition of high-level acid magic and... by the Gods, this is pure Black-Lotus residue! And look at this, Sir! There is a perpetrator's emblem stuck in this melted wood from when he escaped last night!"
"Bring it here! Give it to me!" roared Valerius impatiently.
The sound of hasty knight boots was heard, followed by a very dense silence for several seconds.
Then, a terrifying explosion of emotion split the night.
"A black raven with crossed swords..." hissed Lord Valerius. His voice was no longer shouting, but trembling with a hatred boiling from the depths of hell. "This crest... Nightbane? The Nightbane Faction from this academy?!"
"S-Sir, that is the official crest of the faction belonging to Orvelis Nightbane," confirmed the knight commander with a shrinking voice.
"So this is Orvelis's doing?!" Lord Valerius's laughter exploded, sounding incredibly insane and bloodthirsty. "That arrogant bastard! That snot-nosed Duke's heir dared to hire thugs to sever my arm and steal my goods?! He dared to extend his hand against an Imperial Envoy?!"
"Lord Valerius, we must investigate this furth-"
"Shut your mouth!" cut Valerius with a savage roar. "Pull all troops from the streets! Mobilize the entire fleet of imperial knights and the Student Senate! Surround the Upper Class Dormitory tower tonight! I will drag Orvelis Nightbane from his bed and force him to swallow his own arm!"
The thundering footsteps of hundreds of retreating knights began to echo over the cobblestone street, leaving the robbery location and heading toward the academy.
At the bottom of the ink-dark sewer, I remained leaning against the cold wall. Sweat dripped from my temples, mixing with the dust on my face.
However, a cold yet genuine smile bloomed widely across my face. The muscles in my right arm, which had just crushed iron and a monster's skull, now throbbed in satisfaction as if joining in the celebration of this victory.
The poisoned bait I had concocted was swallowed whole, straight to the bottom of the Imperial Envoy's stomach.
Orvelis Nightbane, currently sleeping soundly and believing himself the absolute ruler, would soon be awakened by the knocking of swords from hundreds of imperial knights accusing him of high treason.
"Enjoy the main course, Orvelis," I whispered softly amidst the silent darkness.
I pulled the hood of my gray cloak up to cover my face. I turned my body and stepped away, vanishing into the dense underground labyrinth of the capital, letting the political storm I had created batter the Dragon of Aethelgard without mercy.