Chapter 62: A Foxy Entrance

What was happening…?

"Is this… blood…?"

Sharp stinging was crawling all over my muscles. My head felt heavy, dragging down my eyesight with its weight, preventing me from seeing things with clarity.

But I noticed that the environment was different. Wind brushed my upper body without my Soulthread Aegis garb, and the texture of soil clinging to my bare feet.

I was no longer on a bed beside Verina, and I was sitting on top of a foreign body in a foreign apparel. seaʀᴄh thё ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"What the hell…"

Blood was scattered all over like a sick work of a beast. And then there was the body that I sat atop, a body of a faceless woman with long red hair and a pair of foxy ears.

She was wearing a black gothic lolita dress, the kind of dress with intricate lace and ribbonworks, and it wasn't the kind of cheap dress as well, as I started to see a lot of symbols and mystic texture etched to the fabric.

This person must be some sort of a noble or rich individual, the kind of someone that would have a private mansion and guards to protect her.

And yet here she was, with her whole face ripped off, laying below me.

"Who the hell are you…?"

I tried to open her detail screen but it didn't work. Either that I was hallucinating and this body that I sat on was an illusion, or this person was already dead, especially with the amount of blood that was scattered all over the place.

"... I think I need to get out of here."

Ignoring this weird incident, I decided to just skedaddle away from this location and try to seek a way back to my bastion.

I didn't know what was happening, but according to the time indicated by the constant notification for the Ordeal of the Dusk. I could gauge that only two hours had passed after my sleep.

Did I sleepwalk? Don't tell me that this body was actually a somnambulist…

But first off, I was worried that this might be related to my facial obsession. The body had her whole face ripped off in gore. Seeing how many bloods that were on my hands, I might be the sole cause of that.

I hope that Verina was fine.

"Thankfully, I'm not that far away from my bastion, ahaha."

This was quite alarming.

To exit my own safespace without any kind of weapon and protection, and out of consciousness atop of that—many things could have gone a lot worse.

Then again, I ended up killing a potentially innocent person there.

Not to mention, a potentially influential person who would be avenged when the news of her death was found.

"This is not a good start to the day."

As I reached the outskirts of my bastion, my eyes immediately latched onto a person who was hovering above the ground using her flaming wheels.

"Narcy, where have you been?" Verina studied me with her eyes, a gesture of surprise could be seen on how she moved her hands. "You're half naked, and covered in blood."

"Heh, I wish I knew what was happening."

"Well, if that is your fetish, you look hot in that get-up. So I don't mind."

I told everything that I experienced so far, and so she informed me of her own point of view when this whole event unfurled.

"I was awoken when I could no longer feel your gentle warmth lying beside me, so I immediately got up and tried to search for you inside the bastion" Verina was undoing the spell that she had already chambered into her musket back into a usable lifeline.

"After not finding a single clue of your existence, I waited for quite some time, since you rarely exit the bastion for a prolonged amount of time."

"There wasn't anything to do outside the bastion, after all."

We already had enough materials and supplies to build a new facility, and we also had a good preserve of water and meat to go along for the entire day.

"So… this dead body with an eccentric outfit, should we check it out?" Verina seemed to be curious about it.

"Let me get my garb first."

"Alright-"

Immediately, Verina was greatly alarmed by something. As if forewarned by an impending doom, she immediately chambered a spell into her musket and shot it out to the direction behind me.

There, I saw her spell spiraled into prismatic arcane residues, an enigmatic dust-like purple matter of raw presence. As the residues cleared, it revealed the top of a luxurious, ornate black umbrella.

Then suddenly, a voice cut through the tension, dripping with icy disdain as the prismatic dust settled around. That person stepped forward, her fancy black umbrella tilted upward, shielding her eyes from even the suggestion of light.

There was something eerie about her existence, something akin to an unnatural patch of darkness over coverless ground—an anomaly that was sticking out like a sore thumb.

"How rude," she said calmly, as if being attacked was an inconvenience. Below the shade of red eyelashes—her red gaze, sharp as her fox-like ears, fixed on Verina with a hint of mocking curiosity. "Is this how you greet your betters? Or should I take it as flattery, that your first instinct was fear?"

With this encounter, I reiterated the whole thing I currently saw.

This foreigner, her presence commanded the air with an aura of refined arrogance. She stands tall at 170 cm, her figure wrapped in an elaborate Gothic Lolita fashion with a frilly black gown and jacket, red ribbon bow tie, a red cross from the front to the back on her dress, and another red X-shaped motif on her black shawl and skirt.

Per aforementioned, a pair of sharp fox ears flicker atop her head, rising above the cascade of long, straight red hair that falls effortlessly to her skirt.

Her crimson color contrasts vividly with her black dress and pale complexion, untouched by sunlight that seems powerless against her.

This was the same individual as that dead body that I was awoken to.

"Tch." Aggroed, Verina immediately chambered another spell into her musket. "Dare you take another step, I will riddle with holes your rotten flesh!"

My mind immediately followed up by opening the detail screen of this person.

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[Kuzunoha]

[Animaphage, Unknown, Age 25 (???), Unknown]

—Abilities—

[Arcane Manipulation: This individual can shape and control raw arcane energy of the universe to cast various spells, a method vastly different from ohrtending. This ability is activated by channeling arcane energy through gestures and incantations, allowing for the creation of magical effects such as elemental blasts or protective wards]

[Mystic Sight: This individual can perceive magical auras and hidden enchantments that are normally invisible. Activation requires focusing the mind and activating a special rune, revealing magical influences and hidden traps]

[Elemental Conjuring: This individual can summon elemental entities such as fire, water, air, or earth and many other to assist in combat or perform tasks. The ability is activated by invoking the elemental's name and performing a ritualistic gesture, with the strength and duration depending on individual's concentration and skill]

—Highlighted Traits—

[Lovehexer: This individual has a special neural organ that makes them able to psychically enthrall someone for life. The enthralled person will be unable to resist or act against them. However, it is not as effective against someone with strong mental psionic prowess, warping the feeling of enthrallment into anger and disgust instead]

[Master of the Arcane: This individual has an in-depth understanding of magical theory and practice beyond mere ohrtending, allowing them to cast complex spells and perform advanced miracles without the usage of a lifeline]

[Scholar of Forbidden Lore: This individual possesses extensive knowledge of ancient and forbidden magical texts, granting them insights into lost spells and arcane secrets that are not commonly known]

[Lifeline Dependency: This individual must regularly consume unprocessed lifeline derived from human blood. If this needs is not satiated, they will turn into the state of painful withdrawal and madness]

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[<{Biography}> {Inventory} <{Health}> {Needs} {Social} {Log} {Info}]

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