Records of the Weakest Emperor

Chapter 169: Corpse Eaters

"Open it!" Calvin stretched his hand out and was quick to open the first drawer of the cabinet.

There was a ceremonial urn inside. But there were no ashes in the urn.

The three then snapped their heads towards the old lady as Heisenberg roared.

"Stop her!"

Calvin didn't even need to say anything as an arrow slipped past his head, heading for the direction of the old lady.

"Water Anchor Arrow!" Ricardo was quick to react to the sudden change.

Calvin wasn't slow either.

"Aspect Transformation!"

He whipped out his golden quill and a burst of golden light exploded in the room. The golden quill transformed into a rod with a hook at its end and Calvin hurled it over to the old lady.josei

"Don't even think about escaping! Heisenberg!" Calvin roared.

"I know what to do!" Heisenberg was already on it before Calvin's shout even rang out. He sprinkled a few mystical ingredients on his crystal orb and started to chant.

"Suppress it!" Ricardo cried out.

Ricardo's Water Anchor Arrow formed an anchor that immobilized the enemy struck by its arrow. However, this immobilization wasn't going to last for a long time. The old lady was unexpectedly strong and Ricardo could feel that his anchor would collapse any moment now.

Fortunately, Calvin's hook had already arrived and it latched into the flesh of the old lady.

Before she could even react, Calvin was already dragging her back into the room.

Heisenberg raised his crystal orb and started chanting, "By the power vested onto me by the Goddess... Impure spirit, be banished!"

The moment his words fell, the light coming from the crystal orb intensified and the old lady let out a piercing wail.

"Shit!"

"I've got it!"

Calvin clicked his tongue out of irritation, but Ricardo had responded even before the old lady yelled.

He slapped a noise-isolating talisman on the four walls of the room and Calvin was finally able to let out a sigh of relief.

"Just what are you?" Heisenberg asked.

"What's wrong?" Ricardo approached them with a frown.

"There's no response... I can't exorcise her. The divinity of the goddess is effective, but it doesn't feel like it's taking effect."

Calvin let out a sigh, "The divine might of the goddess will always be effective against any evil-attributed being. But exorcising wouldn't be effective against this monster, since she isn't possessed. You cannot perform an exorcism on someone like that."

"But if she isn't possessed, then what is this?" Ricardo asked.

Heisenberg turned to look at Calvin.

The grimace on the old lady's face was so terrifying to look at that Heisenberg automatically decided that she was being possessed. It was the only explanation why his crystal orb couldn't detect the presence of an enemy despite being so near to an actual enemy.

After all, ghosts that have enough ability to take possession of a human being also have the ability to extinguish their presence.

It was simply just too difficult to detect them if they didn't want to be noticed.

Calvin didn't respond to the two. He turned to look at the old lady and asked, "Who are you?"

"Rasgyip, rhlaowc, hojsods..." The old lady muttered under her breath. She seemed to be struggling under something.

"No sign of intelligence... Unintelligible speech... continuously twitching body, with bulging black veins. Come on, Heisenberg... This is too obvious for you to not know what kind of a monster this old lady is..." Calvin turned to look at Heisenberg and the latter trembled upon realizing what Calvin was talking about.

"A Corpse Eater..."

"A Corpse Eater?!" Ricardo couldn't help but exclaim. He formed an arrow made of water with his mana and sent it piercing through the old lady's heart. An injury like this should kill an average human being and if the old lady was possessed...

It would incapacitate her body enough to force the ghost possessing her to abandon her body.

However, despite suffering such a mortal injury her face was still full of unadulterated malice, and her eyes were still shining with that desire to kill.

"No response to pain..."

Ricardo gasped, "Aren't Corpse Eaters supposed to only appear in a place littered with corpses? Why would there be one in this place that's in the middle of nowhere?"

"We'll talk about that later. We should first dispose of this monster." Calvin waved his hand and his golden quill appeared over his palm.

With a flick of his sleeve, the golden quill flew directly into the eyebrows of the old lady and exited through the back of her head.

Corpse Eaters might be undying and unable to feel any pain, but a single attack on their brainstem was sufficiently enough to kill any Corpse Eater out there.

One didn't have to pulverize their heads. Just attack the brain stem and any Corpse Eater would collapse.

With the old lady dead, Heisenberg couldn't help but feel a shiver down his spine.

"What the hell should we do now? Do we still continue our rescue efforts for the passengers? Since there's a Corpse Eater here, every villager in this village must've already turned into a Corpse Eater! We can't trust anyone here apart from each other!"

"That's a reasonable answer, but your deduction might be wrong." Calvin's eyes flashed with seriousness, "Some of the passengers might not be dead, yet."

"What do you mean?" Ricardo asked.

"Isn't it strange how a monster like the Corpse Eater is able to survive and even gain the ability to temporarily transform into a human? Both of you should know how a Corpse Eater works, so this situation must be incredibly strange for you too." Calvin asked.

"Yeah... Corpse Eaters aren't able to survive that long without sustenance. They should only be able to survive for a week at most. Yet this Corpse Eater seemed to have survived long enough that it was able to gain sufficient sentience to be able to transform herself into a human and even deceive us. But what is the point of your words?" Ricardo frowned.

Heisenberg's pupils constricted, "Calvin... Are you saying that..."

"Yes..." Calvin's expression was grim, "They must be frequently going out in the world to kidnap people and then imprison them for their sustenance. In short, they are treating people as military rations. The attackers that attacked us on the wagon and that Doppelganger must've come from this village. Their goal was to probably imprison and consume us all."

Calvin deduced.

But Ricardo had his doubts, "Wait, Calvin... There's a hole in your deduction. If we were indeed attacked to be imprisoned and eventually captured. Why did those attackers deliberately let us go? Wouldn't it be to their advantage if they also consumed us so we aren't able to create any report towards the church and possibly threaten their lives?"

Heisenberg also had a frown on his face. It didn't make sense.

Why would you deliberately capture a tiger, and then release it again back to the mountain?

"There's only one explanation as to why they let us go. It's because they aren't planning on capturing us in the first place. As for why? It should probably be because they want to lure members of the three Judiciaries into the village. If we hadn't ventured into this village and just went to report to the church directly, the church wouldn't bother sending a punitive force..."

"That is probably the reason why a newly-minted Cavalier like me got the mission order in the first place. The threat level just isn't enough for the church to send a force like that. Especially with resources being spread too thin..."

"A mysterious attacker and the disappearance of dozens of passengers? That does warrant a supernatural report, but it does not deserve the action of branch captains, much more the action of a high-ranking official of the church."

Calvin let out a sigh when he remembered that at least a dozen members of the Judiciaries perished before a high-ranking official of the church went out to exterminate whatever monster was killing their talents. But it was already too late. Calvin had no idea what monster was plaguing the village since the church was always trying its best to keep its failure under wraps...

But rumors were always abundant.

Calvin had personally confirmed that a Cardinal was sent to exterminate the monster in the village.

The monster was dealt with in the end, but hundreds or possibly even thousands of lives had already been lost.

"Damn it..." Ricardo couldn't help but stomp his foot on the ground.

Heisenberg's expression was grim. Hesitation briefly flashed across his face for a moment before he asked, "Are you sure that there are still survivors? How certain are you with your deduction?"

Calvin bitterly chuckled, "There are no certainties in this world, dear Heisenberg. Who knows? Dozens of Corpse Eaters might fancy a snack or two in the middle of the night, and by the time we knew where they were they are already dead? However, there is one thing that I am certain of..."

"If we keep dilly-dallying here, we might not be able to recover even the remains of those passengers." Calvin raised his head and swept his gaze across Ricardo and Heisenberg, "I'm able to force open an exit, so the two of you can escape from this village. However, I will not escape until I have discovered the secret of this village. If the two of you are going to escape, please make a report to the authorities..."

"Send a punitive force coming my way as soon as possible," Calvin asked.

Heisenberg and Ricardo looked at each other.

These two men weren't strong at all.

A single Corpse Eater wasn't a problem for them.

A dozen? Doable.

But a hundred? Or maybe even an entire village?

Heisenberg and Ricardo felt shivers down their spines.

They didn't want to die.

None of them wanted to die.

Especially, Ricardo...

He was still so young and he was on his way to becoming famous in the Capital City of Laguna. He doesn't even have any business in this village in the first place, so why would he bother staying here for the sake of a few passengers that are surely about to die or maybe even already dead anyway?

Ricardo gulped a mouthful of saliva.

"Calvin... I... I don't want to die..." He said. Tears threatened to spill out of his eyes.

Since Ricardo had already spoken up, Heisenberg was quick to respond.

"I also don't want to die... I'm not going to die in this place. I'm still not done with what I ought to do."

"I'm sorry, Calvin..."

Regret and frustration were visible on the faces of the two, but Calvin couldn't really blame them.

If they stayed here, then they would definitely face an army of Corpse Eaters.

Calvin understood and knew their will to live far too well.

He once had to make a decision like them.

The only difference was he chose to fight instead of running away.

But despite the fact that they were choosing to run away and preserve their lives, Calvin wasn't planning on mocking them.

Taking out a piece of paper from his pocket...

He summoned his golden quill and started scribbling on the surface of the piece of paper. Calvin then handed it over to Ricardo.

"I've memorized the route that we took when we were led this way. I'll stay here for now to think."

Calvin smiled and then took another piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over to Heisenberg, "When you are near the tunnels where we came from. Place this paper on the wall and infuse it with Mana. You'll be able to see the tunnel again, and you can use it to exit the village."

Heisenberg received the piece of paper, and although he was doubtful.

He didn't say anything out of respect to Calvin who didn't mock nor deride them for choosing a path to live.

Ricardo and Heisenberg stared at each other.

The duo nodded their heads and Heisenberg walked towards the exit.

"We'll be going now, Calvin."

"Yeah, I wish you luck on your journey. In the Goddess's Will."

"In the Goddess's Will."

Heisenberg made the divine gesture of the Goddess of Compassion and Light on his chest before he opened the doors and exited the room with Ricardo.

He took one final deep glance at Calvin before he let out a sigh and turned around to leave...

He had already made a decision, and there was no room for regrets.

Calvin was now alone.

"Again..."

"I'm alone once again..."

A sigh escaped out of his lips.

A sigh of exhaustion and weariness.