"Hm... That certainly makes sense. I believe that can work." Vagabond said, with nary a change in expression.
Umbra laughed as she clapped,
"Excellent idea. As expected of Cain."
Celine's face was dark and red at the same time as she glared at Richard with hateful eyes,
"You bastard! What do you mean I'll be the 'bait'?!"
With a smug look on his face, Richard raised a brow and glanced at her,
"Did you not get anything I just said? If not, you really need to work on your attention span."
"You bastard..." Celine growled as she nearly lunged at him.
Putting his arms up to guard against the ferocious cat-like princess, he chuckled as he reiterated his plan,
"If you didn't catch it the first time, I'll say it again. Yes, you will be bait. From what Leon told me, the ghouls only seem to be after beautiful young ladies. Either you or Umbra will do, but since Lady Umbra over here proved to be more useful in combat than you were yesterday, I believe you will have to do."
Celine grimaced,
"But..."
Richard shook his head with a wide grin,
"It is currently midday. Wraiths do not like the Sun. Although the weather is a bit dark, its all the same. So it we want them to come to us, we will have to draw them out. And what better way to do that than to present them with a detectible meal?" He said as he reached for her porcelain like face.
With a growl, Celine smacked his hand away,
"Don't you dare touch me!"
Richard shrugged,
"In any case, that about covered it. Don't worry. We will keep you safe. Your job is to be as unassuming as possible."
"Now, all that's left is to narrow down possible locations." Vagabond muttered.
He turned to Gregory,
"A liar of undead will most likely be located at a place far away from human settlements."
Richard nodded,
"Then our target will be the largest cluster of abandoned buildings, right?"
Vagabond nodded.
They both turned to Gregory who nodded meekly,
"That really narrows it down then."
Richard patted him on the shoulder,
"Hey. I know you can do it. Just focus."
Gregory sucked in a deep breath then nodded,
"I know."
Richard clasped his hands together,
"In that case, let's get a move on!
Celine frowned,
"I don't remember agreeing to this nonsense."
Payoyher no mind, Richard began taking in the sights around him as he walked down the sidewalk.
The others followed behind, leaving her behind.
Hesitating for a moment, she sighed and followed.
One of the reason behind Devils and other Abyssal Creatures usually showing up in the darker reaches of society stemmed from their draw towards the negative energies given off by humans.
Lust, ego, greed, gluttony, malice, rage, and slothfulness...
The dark part of human nature and society.
It was like a beacon that guided Abyssal Creatures through the divide between worlds.
As time went on, the more human society progresses and the brighter the light grow, the shadows also enrich in tandem.
'Places like this might as well be a hotspot for festering random evils.'
He clicked his tongue.
Slowly, they made their way towards an area that was less populated.
Walking down the sidewalk, Richard detected a few burning gazed aimed at them. He glanced up.
In a building nearby, a few heads poked out a window, staring at the women in their group lasciviously.
Celine's expression fell as she glared up at them, inciting a few excited cries,
"Don't look at them. It gets them even more excited." Richard said casually.
"Shut up. I know." Celine muttered as they continued forward.
Eventually, they stopped in front of an entire neighborhood of similar looking apartment buildings.
It was really strange. Like an entire block of dominoes stacked up against one another.
"What do you guys think?"
Umbra raised her brows,
"This seems like a good spot for evil to gather."
Richard nodded, "Then let's go in."
He walked towards the door to the first apartment. It was locked. Richard quickly scanned the vicinity. Since there was no one nearby, he could be as rowdy as he pleased.
Taking a step back, he filled his lungs with air and kicked forward, smashing the door open with his right foot.
The door swung back with a bang.
He huffed then turned around,
"Alright, let's go in."
Vagabond gave him a strange look then stepped forward.
"Have you done this before?" Umbra couldn't help but ask as she walked in.
Richard chuckled wryly,
"Now's not the time for those questions, now is it?"
The apartment were uniform three storey buildings with a basement and an attic meaning with the five of them and the houses being practically empty, there was not much ground to cover.
They moved quickly through the first five buildings.
Stepping into the kitchen on the sixth building, Richard let out a tired sigh.
So far, they had yet to encounter any signs or clues, not to mention anything supernatural.
'Could we be headed in the wrong direction here? If that was the case, then it would mean all the work they had done so far was meaningless.'
Of all the buildings they had searched, he had not even sensed a lick of mana, not to mention dark energy.
His eyes scanned the kitchen quickly.
From the looks of it, this room in the apartment building had been abandoned rather quickly.
There were no signs of someone using it in other a decade. Even all the metal parts of the sink and cabinets seemed to have been rusted already.
Suddenly, something caught his eyes.
The sharp glint of light reflecting off of metal.
'Hm?'
It was coming from inside the sink.
He raised a brow and walked closer.
That was when it hit him...
The stench of rotting flesh.
His eye widened as he walked over.
Peering into the sink, his face crumpled in disgust.
However, in a strange, twisted contrast, a grin pulled his lips into a crescent.
"Bingo."
Sitting in the sink alongside a small stack of plates with stains he assumed were pieces of rotted food from who knows how long ago was an arm.
It wasn't the whole arm. Just a severed stretch from the forearm down to the fingers.
On the index finger was a plain metal band Richard assumed to be a humble wedding ring.
He sighed.
Then he pulled two handkerchiefs out of his pocket.
One, he placed over his nose and mouth.
The other, he used to pick the arm out of the sink and examine it.
Immediately, he noticed something.
'It was ripped off. There are also a few bite marks on it.'
He frowned.
According to what Leon had told him, the wraiths had not created any external injuries. Rather, all the injuries dealt to the victims were internal.
'In that case, what could have done this? Have I stumbled upon a crime scene?'
He closed his eyes then shook his head,
'No. This definitely has abyssal evil written all over it.'
Although he had not noticed it at first, the moment he picked the arm up, a cold wisp wriggled into his palm.
It was mana. A rather dark one at that too.
'Let's have Greg examine this for now.'
***
Standing in silence, Richard watched as Gregory calmly placed the severed arm he had brought with him into the nexus of a magic circle he had just drawn a few minutes ago.
The magic circle had a star shape inscribed into it alongside numerous runes as well.
At two ends of the magic circle were candles burning with a ghostly flame.
At another end was a drop of blood. At another was a strange looking amulet and a scroll.
Finally, Gregory placed his open palm at the last end of the Star shaped magic circle.
Then he began chanting in a low hum.
"Where do you think this leads us to?"
Richard glanced at Umbra who had appeared by his side at some point in time.
He shrugged,
"I don't know. It doesn't add up to the story we've been told, so maybe it's linked to another incident?"
Umbra nodded thoughtfully,
"Perhaps. But I doubt it."
Richard raised a brow,
"How so?"
Umbra smiled darkly,
"Maybe we are not dealing with just one type of creature. When things like this happen, usually, there is an expectation for more than a few types of culprits, all working towards a certain agenda."
Richard huffed,
"In other words, we might be dealing with a coven."
Umbra grinned and nodded,
"Exactly. Almost I cannot be too sure. Maybe you are right and these might be too separate incidents."
Richard chuckled then shook his head,
"No. I have a feeling you might be right. Still, only time will tell."
Suddenly, Richard felt a gaze boring into him. He glanced up to see Celine staring at the both of them with burning eyes.
He raised a brow.
Just before he could question what her stare meant, Gregory suddenly exclaimed.
The candles suddenly flared, their flames erupting before dying instantly. The amulet and the scroll turned into ash as well.
Richard and Umbra exchanged glanced.
"Did you find something?" Richard asked with narrowed eyes.
Gregory had an ugly grimace on his face as he nodded,
"I did."
He flashed Richard a greatful look,
"Thanks to your advice earlier, I was able to avoid a rather terrible consequence too."
Richard waved his hands dismissively,
"Sure, whatever. So? What did you find?"
Gregory's brows furrowed,
"The lair is further down south. At the other end of the slums."
He paused for a moment then added, his voice dripping with dread,
"And unfortunately, we might dealing with a Lich here..."