That night, Jacob left the basement of the bakery, with Heskeel and Holm following. As they made their way through the area, they relied on Heskel's superior hearing and staying away from any light sources, avoiding any guards. It made them walk slowly, but it was worth it when they made it to the Gate Bridge, where the newborn sunlight stained the dark sky red.

Jacob left the eyes of the servants and slowly began to approach the guards stationed on and in front of the bridge. He had already decided what approach to take, and he bet on both sides, fearing that doing so would make things unclear rather than leaving clear signs of a normal attack. By the time the guards and guilds tried to figure out why, it was likely that he already had a new laboratory.

But part of the reason was that he wanted to try this particular spell. So, while this is a carefully calculated decision, it can also be simply called an experiment. Efficiency is one of Jacob's strengths, and he is able to make the most of the situation's potential, which is why his grandfather thinks he is ready to leave the Sewer Kingdom.

When he took off his mask, the condensate he had used sprayed on both sides of him. The stench of nutmeg and pine resin enveloped him like a mist, and he wiped the back of his hand against his wet nose and mouth. Then he raised his right hand to the guards and began to sing hymns.

"All eyes take their eyes off the Lord!"

The guards heard him clearly, and although they seemed ready to draw their weapons at first, they soon stopped and began to laugh at the strange boy in his strange robes, singing in his strange language.

"Don't look directly at its face, don't burn your eyes with its light, don't peel off your skin to escape its grasp, don't bite your fingers to escape its temptation, don't throw your soul into its mouth! Don't look up there!"

More guards came from the bridge to watch the strange boy perform. Some stopped laughing, while others thought it was the pinnacle of joy. Some people think it has a peculiar charm, others find it harsh.

"Feel its gaze tingle your skin, feel its dazzling burn your scalp, feel its seductive traps. Grab its offerings!"

Countless pinprick pricked every tiny part of Jacob's skin, and a tremendous pressure pressed on his shoulder, almost pushing him to the ground. Suddenly, they were all silent, their eyes glazed over. Maybe they felt the same way as him, maybe they went through something completely different.

Jacob took a deep breath and shouted out the last paragraph.

"Look! God testifies on it!"

The assembled guards, about twenty people in total, worked together and squinted at the sky red by the sunrise. Jacob looked at the ground and knew that even he, as the summoner of the spell, did not have the power to surpass what he had summoned.

Screams and wails resounded through the sky. despair, sadness, anger, guilt, etc.; All these feelings were aroused when the guards saw the great god of heaven, and in that brief moment its innumerable terrible eyes glared at them; Impact on the region as a whole and its surroundings.

The watchman of the world is almost the only observer to ensure the claims made in the ritual contract, but in such a procedure it can only be attracted with one eye, despite the fact that it has as many eyes as the dust of all realms. Grandfather said that each eye of the watchman had a different function, but most of them were capable of inducing a deep madness in all who saw it.

Although this was the first time Jacob had used the Hymn of Madness, he had seen his grandfather cast a similar spell on a smaller scale, and the subject of the spell quickly tore itself apart to escape from what it saw.

When he looked up from the earth and knew that God had disappeared from heaven, he froze in fear of the consequences of his own cause, and this consciousness struck him deeply, and he felt as if he had a power that he would never deserve. It seemed to him that it was simply supreme arrogance that a mortal like him could manifest such an incredible being as the Watcher in this way.

Jacob was not a timid man, and under his grandfather's tutelage, the sights he saw and the things he experienced made him strong, but he had never seen such utter destruction before. The guards turned into hateful fellows. Their eyes were smoky and bleeding, and one pair even burned with yellow flames. The arms and legs were broken, repaired, and then broken again, broken so badly, that the limbs looked so deformed, so unfamiliar, that people couldn't look at them for long. Some followed the path that Jacob saw his grandfather drive them crazy: biting off their fingers, peeling their own skin with their fingernails, gouging out their smoking eyes, or banging their heads against the stones of gates and bridges. Others attacked each other in a frenzy, their outstretched fingers slapping each other savagely, and the nails on their fingers, like claws, grew in an instant to four times their usual length.

Blood, intestines, organs, skin, flesh, fat, and stench all covered the bridge, and the guards continued their acts of vandalism while screaming and wailing intermittently, their vocal cords transformed into demonic instruments by what they saw.

"Hurry up."

Jacob suddenly came to his senses and quickly followed Hesquel, who was tugging at the unconscious Holm's hair. One of the Forge Servants' eyes melted, but Heskel seemed to have succeeded in preventing Holm from falling into the arms of madness entirely. He realized that he had never asked the servant to look away, but had only assumed that he would follow the example of Heskeel. This is a lesson, and don't expect unspoken words to be obeyed.

With a couple of good shots and throws, Heskell cleared the way for them. Jacob's new tail soon proved its worth, and it held off several frantic guards who lunged at him, slapping them so hard that their skulls sank in and their spines snapped.

As the trio walked through the western side of the market, Holm's head was wrapped in cloth to prevent his eyes from getting infected. Its location next to residential areas and slums meant that its merchants and patrons were much dirtier than some of the more decent parts of the city, but that was exactly what Jacob was after.

He was still struck by the hymn and its aftermath, and he could see that even Heskel was haunted by it. Unlike most offensive spells and incantations that Jacob is aware of, Devouring Madness's hymn cannot be used in the sewers because it relies on the open sky. A smaller version of the hymn can show the watchman in the target's psychic eye, but the physical representation needs to be above the visible sky. When his grandfather taught him to sing hymns, he never mentioned how damaging the hymns would be, but simply focused on narrating the demands and costs of the hymns.

Like most mantras, hymns require one form or another of calling, although they are often rather strange and esoteric, such as: the saddest memory of the target; Two-thirds of the air is in the summoner's lungs; Or three days in a coma with earth-shattering nightmares.

However, in Devouring Madness, it's straightforward because the price is the chaos it causes. This means that if no one is affected by it, the summoner will incur a backlash, and the result will undoubtedly be suicide. Grandfather reassured Jacob very well that he was aware of this fact and that he should not look at what he prayed for, because, without proper protection, he could fall victim to it, even if the necessary toll was paid.

While Grandfather was stern and made sure that Jacob made his own mistakes so that he could best learn his lesson and etch it on his soul, he was not so ruthless or cold that he would not warn his apprentices about mistakes that could only be made once. If he didn't care, he obviously wouldn't have given Heskell to Jacob as a lifeguard to ensure that his apprentice had enough room to make mistakes without suffering immensely as a result.

They continued deeper into the West Market, passing by a dozen people who looked up at the sky at the same time as the guards, and suffered the same fate. As expected, all but one of the others died, and the rest were controlled by four guards, his wife and children watched in horror.

"Hymns are dangerous."

"You're right. I wonder how widespread its impact is. That being said, did you see that momentary change?"

Heskel snorted affirmatively.

"If I could harness this power......"

Before he could finish his thoughts, his sense of smell led him to a small flower stall. His perfume mask hung behind his flesh apron because he was too distracted to put it back on after crossing the gate bridge.

He continued to sniff the air, savoring the scent that called him. As he looked at the various flowers, the man behind the stall focused mainly on Holm and Huskel.

"What's wrong with your friend?" He asked in Novarosian. "Was he attacked by one of them?"

Heskel snorted.

"That's a terrible thing," he continued. "I'm telling you, I won't easily forget those screams."

Jacob looked up from where he was squatting, holding the stem of a gray-blue flower between his gloved fingers. Its petals curl slightly inward, like a blue semi-finished ball. "What's the name of this flower?"

"There is a hazy memory. Pretty good for you, right?"

"I bought them all," Jacob said, a bouquet of flowers in his left glove and his purse in the other. It was still splattered with blood, but a week after he got it, the blood had turned from crimson to rusty orange.

Even when he thought of the disturbing bag of coins, the florist owner didn't say a word. Instead, he happily reached in and took out several large coins.

"I understand now!" Jacob shouted in Spanish, causing the florist owner to throw a coin onto the pebbles at his feet. "It's like a bloody death!"

Heskeel nodded wisely.

As the coin rolled between his boots, Holm bent down to grab it. He held it between his fingers, stared at it wistfully for a moment, and then put it back in Jacob's purse.

"Five ......"

"Yes, a five-dollar coin," Jacob replied.

The florist cleared his throat. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Jacob held the bouquet and coin purse in both hands, staring into the man's eyes.

"Do you have the seeds of this hazy memory too?" My lab. ”

"I don't know what that is, but, yes, I have some seeds. Wait here for a while, I'll get it. ”

Jacob watched as he hurried into a nearby house, and Heskel grunted.

"What?"

"Bad business. Take more coins. ”

"I guess I should ask for a price." He looked into the coin bag. "But we still have a lot more, and if we run out, we'll take only what we need."

Heskel nodded.

After getting the flower seeds, Jacob and his retinue walked into an alley so that he could appreciate what he had bought.

The scent of flowers filled his cheeks with a strange warmth that seemed to relieve his nervousness. He thought it reminded him of something, but he wasn't sure what it was. It may have been a memory of before he was summoned to his grandfather's lab, but he wasn't sure.

He took a few flowers, crumpled the petals and stems, and stuffed them into the small grooves in the nose of his scented mask. It is usually a greasy ball of nutmeg and pine resin, suspended in an odorless fat that releases the odor inside as soon as a little heat activates it.

Once he brings the flower seeds back to the lab, he can grow his own flower seeds and start making similar incense balls for this new scent that he immediately loved.

Jacob put the scent mask on his face, took two deep breaths, and then expelled the used air through the exhaust pump in the form of condensate.

Holm bent down to grab the purse that Jacob had placed next to him as he fiddled with the mask. As the servant took out a coin and stared eagerly, a gust of wind seemed to blow through the alley.

It was entirely instinctive, and Jacob's new tail spread out from his waist and galloped through the air in front of him, dragging him straight and nearly ripping off the head of a guy who had run past him at breakneck speed. He knocked Holm aside, grabbed the coin pouch in his hand, and left the servant behind, holding a five-coin between his fingers.

Heskeel watched as the thief turned a corner and disappeared with all their money.

"What's that?" Jacob asked aloud. Holm was still staring at his coins, seemingly unbothered by what had just happened.

"Thief".

"Thieves? What's that?"

"Thief ......," Holm repeated angrily, finally taking his eyes off his coins and turning to the alley.

"Take what doesn't belong to them."

A new smell filled the air, and it dawned on Jacob. "Like rats in Grandpa's pantry and lab!?"

Heskel snorted affirmatively. Much of Jacob's initial work as an apprentice was to nurture his talents, but also to find a solution to the pervasive infestation they suffered in their sewer hideouts.

Jacob's eyes narrowed. "Do you smell of him?"

Huai Ting nodded.

"Then we'll follow him. Rats are easily eliminated once they are spotted, they think they are clever and secretive, and they are ignorant of the anger they induce. ”

About an hour later, the trio found a hidden yard surrounded by high-rise buildings. Accessible only through narrow alleys, three men stood in front of the modest fenced gates, talking eagerly about women and what they were going to do to them. Jacob didn't fully understand why the topic was so exciting, and although he was fluent in Novarosian, there were quite a few phrases that he didn't even understand.

"There? He asked Herskel.

Huai Ting nodded.

"Holm, would you like to?" Be silent. ”

"Kill ......? The servant asked.

"Yes, murder."

As soon as the order was given, Holm leaped over the uneven stones that lined the alley, the claw of his right hand fully extended, followed by the blade of his forearm, the length of a steak knife or a dagger.

Before the first of the three had raised his head, his two companions had been reduced to bleeding rags, and he had been cut from the shoulder to the navel by the blade of his forearm.

After Holm cleaned his bony weapon, Jacob and Heskell walked over and retracted the weapon into their arms. White made a slight gesture and smashed the original lock on the fence, and they walked inside.

"Bring the corpse in." Jacob said to the servant. "Then stand guard outside."

"Escort ......"

"Lead the way," Jacob said to Huskell.

Instead of going straight into the house, the Wrights led them down the basement stairs in the corner of the yard, which were next to the walls of the house. Hesquel knocked lightly on the door at the bottom of the stairs, and they entered a room where five people had gathered, including the thief.

In the basement, there were only a few candles on the central table, and the light was dim, and the stolen goods from several robberies were scattered on the broken wooden surface. One remained sitting, and three stood up to protect him with short swords and knives. The thief hesitated, and a clear expression appeared on the young man's face. He looks quite young compared to his companions, although he is still easily four years older than Jacob.

"Look what you've brought, Wex."

"I'm not being followed, I swear!"

"It doesn't matter. Disembowel them!"

The three men rushed towards Jacob, and Heskell stepped forward to meet them, tearing off the arm of the first man before he could swing his sword. As he fell to the ground screaming, covered in blood, Huskell punched the next man hard in the throat, leaving a permanent mark. The man bent over, whimpering in pain, and White's fist slammed into the back of his head, his head bouncing off the stone floor before finally stopping, blood dripping from his ears, mouth, and nose.

The third man impressively dodged White's swing and slammed his short sword at Jacob. Without even prompting, its tail unfolded, dragging Jacob around and grabbing the attacker's wrist and throwing him off balance. As he staggered forward, the tail let go of his wrists, grabbed him by the ankles, and knocked him around, and he landed on his back with a loud grunt of air in his lungs.

His breathless screams were interrupted by a tail slap on his skull, his skull shattered like an egg and his brain splashed to the ground.

The leader stood up suddenly, realizing that he was next, but before he could speak, a hand came out from behind his back and slashed a knife through his throat, crushing blood so that he fell face down on the table, and coins were spilled everywhere.

"You deserve it, Toby." The thief said. Then he raised his arms and let his sword fall to the floor.

"I surrender." He said with a smirk, his face visibly fearful.

Heskeel looked at Jacob, waiting for his orders, but he shook his head.

"We're going to keep this."

When Weeks hears the little boy's words, he wonders if he has made the wrong choice.

Being robbed seems to have been a very fortuitous affair, as the thieves' den provided Jacob with the perfect place to set up a laboratory in the West Market. He also mastered a subject that seemed to be very rapid, and his mind was full of possibilities. Unfortunately, his demonic blood has been used up, so it is impossible to conquer it for the time being, unless his experiment with "Enchanting Hymns" has results. So far, all it has endured are severe headaches, temporary amnesia, and sleepless nights, not to mention dozens of destroyed test subjects.

"Enchanting Hymns" is a pet project that Jacob has been working on for many years, and he began to create "Devil's Blood" when he realizes that "Devil's Blood" is a rare commodity and not without side effects on his subjects, such as Holm's verbal and intellectual strain. But creating a spell from scratch is arduous and risky. Luckily, Jacob spoke fluently, so he somehow avoided accidentally invoking some larger entity or spontaneous explosion, like the implosion hymn that his grandfather created in an accident when he tried to teach one of his to compose simple hymns. In addition, the trial-and-error process of finding the right word combinations, conjugations, and rhythms meant that his experiments could take decades to bear fruit.

He sighed exasperatedly. In hindsight, spending demonic blood on Callum was a foolish move, especially considering that it had turned into a huge failure. Thankfully, Katya, Elo, and Holm are all alive and doing what he tells them to do, but he has nothing but regrets when he stares at the thief Weeks. How could he hope to tame a wild soul like him without the prerequisites for a surrender spell?

"You don't have to kill me, I'm sure I'll be useful to you!"

"Should we put him in a cage?" Jacob asked Huskeel.

White shrugged.

Weeks looked at the man, and then at the strange boy, his voice vibrating his organs with a terrible intonation. The muscular giant monster was apparently just a guard, and what he was really afraid of was the boy in the strange hooded apron, wearing gloves, and dragging his tail.

Jacob looked at him. "Do you know where to find demonic blood?"

The thief blinked in surprise, then shook his head. He instinctively knew that lying wouldn't do him any good.

Then the ghost spoke, his voice ominously low. "Mage."

"I know where!" Wex said right away.

"Get me some demonic blood." The boy said. "Come here again with it."

Weeks stood up from where he had been on his knees, his knees aching on the hard floor.

"You've got it, boss!"

Jacob was surprised by the thief's willingness, though he knew that he had undoubtedly just said what he thought Jacob wanted to hear, so that he could leave unharmed. He thought about how to make sure he could get back, and then came up with an idea.

The thief stared at Jacob's gloved fingers, covered in bruises and sewn with flesh, pointing to overturned tables and scattered coins.

"You can keep these coins as tolls."

"You mean, I'm going to get all of this in payment——?"

"That's what I said." Jacob replied categorically. He spoke Novarosian and had a crisp tone, like someone who had only practiced in books.

Wex nodded eagerly. Suddenly, his mind was no longer about running away, but on the task at hand, though he didn't know exactly how to find a demon, let alone drain it. But he was sure that there must be something like this in the mage quarter, even though he hadn't set foot there yet, and had only heard some rumors.

Jakob didn't switch to Chtho

ic, he tells Heskel, "Take him out and make sure Holm doesn't kill him." "Then bring the body down and let Holm continue to stand guard. I'm going to get the lab up and running before the thief comes back with blood. ”

Hearing this, Weeks felt a chill run down his spine, and he wondered if the boy was upsetting him by saying his words. It's similar in many ways to Toby's treatment of him, he uses fear as a rein, but his former boss is now dead, and the boy in front of him doesn't seem to be interested in money, which means that if Weeks can give him what he wants, he'll make a fortune. If he fails, he avoids the West Market, hoping they won't find him again. Considering that the beast and the child had easily found the thief's hideout, the latter seemed a suspicious thing.

Heskeel looked curiously at Jacob, and he leaned over to look at a corpse he had placed on a makeshift workstation in his new lab.

"What?" Jacob asked, not leaving his job, his blade perfectly separating the skin from the flesh and bones.

"Worried?"

"No, I'm not worried. Just confused about this thief I got. I didn't know that such an easy way to make people obey. ”

"Don't blame that brute......"

"Real".