Inside the secret chamber, Buck and Clifford were scavenging for important items. Suddenly, the previously sealed door to the chamber began to rumble. Startled, the two turned to look at the entrance, where the door slowly creaked open amid the sounds of machinery.
"Who opened the door?!"
This question echoed in both Buck’s and Clifford’s minds as they stared at the doorway. At the far end of the corridor outside the study, a figure stood—a man in a trench coat and hat, holding a gun.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The moment the chamber door opened, Edrick, standing in the corridor, pulled the trigger and fired repeatedly at the two inside the room. He advanced while shooting until he reached the study’s entrance.
Bullets rained down inside the chamber. Buck, still in relatively good condition, dodged every shot. However, Clifford, who was already badly injured, took another hit and collapsed, writhing in pain, unable to get up.
"Damn it! They caught up! How did he figure out the door’s code?"
Gritting his teeth, Buck thought this to himself, but his hands didn’t stop moving. As soon as Edrick’s gun ran out of bullets, Buck pulled a dagger from the wall of the chamber and threw it at him. Edrick, standing at the study’s entrance, dodged the dagger but exposed a glaring opening in his movements.
"An opening!"
Seizing the opportunity, Buck charged forward with his sword, closing the gap in an instant. He drove the blade through Edrick’s chest. Edrick’s expression froze, and he collapsed lifelessly to the ground.“Phew…”
Seeing his enemy killed, Buck let out a sigh of relief, though he remained cautious. At that moment, a sharp sound echoed in his ears.
Click…
Buck immediately turned his head toward the source of the noise. It came from the adjoining storage room next to the study.
The storage room’s door was wide open, revealing rows of glass cabinets and porcelain vases inside. The room was pitch-black, devoid of electric lighting, with only occasional glints of reflected light piercing the darkness.
The sound just now had undoubtedly come from this room. Buck was certain someone was inside. Before he could take any further action, another sound erupted from within.
This time, it was a deafening roar.
"—fus—"
The thunderous noise exploded in his ears. Every vase and glass container in the room shattered, and the resulting shockwave surged out of the storage room, sweeping toward Buck, who stood at the study entrance.
The impact sent Buck flying, slamming him against a wall. The shockwave tore through the study, shattering windows, overturning furniture, and scattering books into the air like falling snowflakes.
“Ahhhhh!”
After the impact subsided, agonized screams filled the study. Buck lay against the wall, his body pierced by countless shards of glass and porcelain. Blood gushed from his wounds, covering him from head to toe. He was a bloodied mess, screaming in pain.
"Bingo, success~," Dorothy thought to herself as she crouched in the shadowy corner of the storage room, watching Buck’s miserable state.
Using the storage room in conjunction with her Dragon Shout tactic was part of her initial plan.
Dorothy’s Dragon Shout had a significant flaw: its direct damage was weak. Unless she used its third stage, which caused qualitative changes, it was merely a wide-area repulsion force. While it could knock ordinary people several meters away and leave them dazed, it had little effect on a Craver, who could shake it off and stand up quickly.
But if she added a "twist" to the impact, the results would differ. By utilizing the shattered glass and porcelain as projectiles, her Dragon Shout turned into a massive shotgun blast, shredding her target.
"That hit should incapacitate even a Craver," Dorothy mused, watching Buck writhing in pain.
"Now it’s time to finish him off…"
As Dorothy prepared to manipulate Edrick’s corpse, an unexpected development occurred. A shadow darted through the window and landed silently. The figure straightened up, revealing a young man with golden hair and a gentle face. He stood in the study, calmly surveying the scene.
"Who the hell is this now?"
Dorothy froze, startled by the young man’s sudden appearance. She aborted her plan to reanimate Edrick and continued to hide in the corner, observing the situation through her corpse marionette’s vision.
“Bill?! Why are you here?” Buck, who had been despairing, suddenly lit up with joy upon seeing the young man and exclaimed.
The young man, called Bill, glanced at Buck and spoke calmly.
“I heard gunfire from your direction, so I reported to the Mentor. He sent me to retrieve you.”
“The Mentor? He sent you to save me?! That’s great! But be careful! Over there! There’s an enemy—ahhh…”
Buck pointed weakly toward the dark storage room, but the pain made him trail off. Bill followed Buck’s gesture and gazed into the shadows of the storage room.
“Not good… Another fully capable Craver?” Dorothy thought nervously. "I’m running low on both marionettes and spirituality…"
Bill, meanwhile, addressed Buck once more.
“My task is only to take you to the Mentor.”
As he spoke, Bill removed a few shards of glass from Buck’s body, hoisted him onto his shoulder, and glanced at Clifford, who lay immobilized nearby. Clifford stretched out a trembling hand, pleading weakly.
“Bill… Don’t leave me… Help me too…”
Bill paused briefly, then picked up Buck’s sword-cane and approached Clifford.
“Sorry, Clifford. Two people would slow me down too much.”
With that, he drove the blade into Clifford’s body.
“Ahhh! Bill, what are you doing?! No—AAAAHHHHHH!”
Clifford’s screams echoed as his body began to rapidly wither. His flesh shrank until he became a skeletal husk, then a mummified corpse. Finally, Clifford fell silent, his face frozen in a grotesque expression of terror.
Bill extracted the sword-cane, now glowing with a vibrant red light from the gem on its hilt.
"They’re draining the Chalice? An internal conflict?" Dorothy watched in shock.
Even Buck, still on Bill’s shoulder, stared in disbelief.
“Bill… You…”
“Nothing personal. This just makes it easier to bring back,” Bill said, examining the glowing red gem.
With that, Bill carried Buck and leapt out the window.
Moments later, Dorothy emerged from the shadows of the storage room, surveying the wreckage. Edrick’s corpse marionette stood silently beside her, scanning the area.
Among the debris, a faint glimmer of light flickered from a torn piece of fabric near Clifford’s remains. The light faintly revealed the mark of a "Lantern."
...
Meanwhile, on a quiet riverside near the Ironclay River, several large, two-horse carriages stood parked. Hunters in uniform gathered in clusters. Among them was Elena, her mask removed.
Elena held a compass in her hand, its needle spinning erratically. Concentrating, she watched as the needle’s motion slowed, eventually pointing upstream toward the northern bank—the White River Riverside.