Chương 173: Chapter One-Hundred-and-Seventy-Three

Even though they had eliminated almost all bloodfiends in Moonport, finding the Golden Nail by his melody was like searching for a needle in a stack of needles, and the compass just kept pointing them back towards the house where Cassius Bello had died. The fundamental difference inherent to the melodies of bloodfiends meant that they were easy to locate, but for Adam's search of the serial killer, he was essentially just searching for the set of emotions he had noticed.

And though melodies had some unique flavour to them that he could distinguish, it was proving harder than he had initially assumed. Perhaps if the city had been overrun by ghouls and lesser bloodfiends it would have been easy enough, but we've ensured the survival of many of the city's people, which has the unfortunate side-effect of obscuring the Golden Nail's presence from my power. By the time Adam had swept the Pleasure, Cloth, Market, and Wine districts, it had become dark.

He'd been flying through the air while focusing his blood sense on a small area so that he could pick up everything in one pass. But it wasn't enough. Kat had returned to the crime scene to alert the guards of the new victim they'd found, as well as to ask Cassius Bello's girlfriend more in-depth about his habits, to try and figure out when he'd witnessed the Golden Nail. Adam landed atop one of the shops on the bridge to the Wine district where Kat was waiting for him.

She hadn't yet turned into a bloodfiend beast, but it would be any moment now.

"I think I know when Cassius spotted the Golden Nail," Kat said.

"According to the girlfriend, he always went out just before it got dark. She thought it was to catch the sunset, but I find that hard to believe. It is possible the Golden Nail always strikes around dusk, perhaps to minimise the risk of encountering anyone, but it seems doubtful that he would stay out until the bloodfiends start to roam." Adam was glad she'd at least found some kind of clue, since he'd come up empty-handed. He hadn't even found any new bloodfiends during his search.

"Maybe he will be more bold with less of them around," Adam remarked. Kat was about to say something when suddenly her transformation began. It was no less monstrous than the first time Adam had seen it, but once it was complete, Kat suddenly looked around, sniffing the air.

"I smell blood," she said in her deep voice.

"From where?" Adam asked. Kat gestured to the southeast with her snout.

"I've already looked there," Adam replied.

"I think it is freshly spilled," she said. The notion was upsetting to Adam.

"It's as if he knew I was searching for him and waited until I was gone," he remarked.

"If he believes he has fooled his pursuers, then let us not waste the opportunity to catch him off-guard," Kat said. She guided him along the scent trail while Adam trained his blood perception in the direction they were going. After a few minutes, he finally caught the melody he'd been looking for. Following the melody and scent, they reached a closed-off garden that belonged to a fancy estate. People were inside the building, completely ignorant to what was happening on their property.

< < Optional Stage Objective > > < Defeat the Golden Nail > Where Adam and Kat came to a halt, they could look down past the rooftops and into a square courtyard with a grass lawn, a few decorative trees, a pond with fish, a small stone trail, and bushes. In the middle of it all was the Golden Nail, oblivious to their presence. He was kneeled above a woman in a white bathrobe. Nails pierced her throat, wrists, and feet, pinning her to the ground.

Just like the one they'd found earlier, her wounds had healed closed around the piercing weapons, but her blood had spilled onto the grass from the initial insertion. He definitely has some kind of holy magic, Adam surmised. Emelia hadn't said much about his weapon, and it was clear she didn't consider the guy that much of a threat, since she'd described him as quite weak in an actual fight. It's likely some kind of weird magic-based weapon that thrives on stealth or a very unique fighting style.

Before the murderer could tear open the woman's bathrobe and attempt to carve his weird symbol onto her, Adam gave Kat a nod and she leapt from the rooftop while activating her nightfarer's cloak. It wrapped around her body and turned her into a shadowy spectre, while its passive effect made her slowly glide down towards the ground. Just as the Golden Nail seemed to have settled on what he would carve into his helpless victim, Kat landed right behind him, utterly silent.

In a single fluid motion, she grabbed his throat and head, wrenching them in opposite directions. A violent tearing sound came from the murderer's body as Kat pulled off his head with nothing but her beastly strength. < < Optional Stage Objective Complete > > < Defeated the Golden Nail > What a terrifying way to die, even for a monster like him, Adam thought to himself. He dropped down into the courtyard garden and pulled a potion from his belt.

The woman who was pinned to the ground stared up at him and Kat with apparent fear.

"Clench your teeth," Adam told her.

"This will hurt." Since he wasn't keen on touching them directly, as he could feel their holy magic, Adam created floating hands of bone that he used to tear out the nails lanced through her feet. The woman gasped in pain, but it was clear she couldn't actually scream or speak, thanks to the nail through her neck. Adam used the same trick to quickly pull out the nails in her wrists and throat, immediately pouring his healing potion into her mouth when he was done.

The woman drank it all while tears ran down the sides of her face. Kat picked up the Golden Nail's head, along with the weapon he dropped. It seemed that their fears about having to actually swap to the weapon to pick it up were unfounded.

"It's a quest object," she said when she noticed him looking, showing it to him. < < Quest Object > > < Golden Nail — A self-replicating nail formed of condensed holy magic >"Give me the head," Adam told her.

"I am bringing this woman and the trophy to the nearest guard outpost." A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Kat handed it over to him.

"I will meet you by the Marquis' Estate," she said. Then she leapt up to the roof and disappeared into the night. Adam scooped up the woman after attaching the severed head of the serial killer to his belt. She was shaking and crying, but it seemed her voice had returned and that the healing potion had worked. As he took to the air with her in his arms, she squeezed him tightly and whispered, "Thank you." Adam met up with Kat atop a building overlooking the Marquis' Estate.

He had found a fortified guard outpost almost perfectly in the middle of the Wine district, and after showing them the head and having the woman they'd saved corroborate his story, the guards told him to return tomorrow for his reward.

"Let's see if the Ballroom Mask works," Adam said, handing it to her. The moment she put it onto her face, she transformed into a completely different person with long blonde hair and a round face. Her attire also changed, becoming a dark-blue dress with black frills covering her body and a lace mask covering the top of her face. Even her melody changed, which was disturbing. It was as though she'd become one of the background characters from the stage.

Adam put on the wooden mask they'd found on Garden Isle, before lifting Kat off the roof and flying her down to the ground. Although her relics should still work, he was concerned with whether or not they might break the disguise. He wasn't dressed anywhere near as fancy as Kat, but when they reached the entrance to the estate, in front of which stood twelve heavily armoured and armed guards, they were allowed entry without any fuss.

"I thought the remaining bloodfiends would have taken to the night already," Kat whispered as they passed through a luxurious marble lobby filled with gilded decorations, colourful plants, and smiling servants.

"Would you like anything to drink?" one of them asked, following them into the main hall where the party took place.

"Do you have any of the Maestro's special wine?" Adam asked.

"I will have a look," she replied.

"And what about you, madam?" Kat wrapped her arm around Adam's and said, "Vodka."

"Certainly," the servant said and quickly vanished to fulfil their orders. Adam scoffed.

"Vodka, really?"" You asked for blood," she retorted.

"That's because the last bloodfiends are here, and it might help suss them out," Adam said.

"Oh."

"I think they are using magic similar to your mask," he explained.

"I cannot sense their melodies, but I am willing to bet that the ones we are missing are in attendance." Kat sniffed the air. Despite her disguise, her bloodfiend beast transformation was clearly still in effect.

"I smell blood."

"It would be very like bloodfiends to attend a party like this and drink their blood wine in the open, finding amusement in the fact no one would know it for what it truly is. They likely aren't aware that the Maestro is dead, and I'm sure this event was meant to be a true feast for them."

"Do you think he is the one who made their disguises?" Kat asked.

"Possibly," Adam said. They came to a fancy marble stairwell that led down to a floor filled with people wearing masks and beautiful clothes. An orchestra was playing a spirited melody, but only a few attendees were dancing, the rest standing in small groups and talking as they drank from their wine glasses.

"I don't see any obvious signs of illusion magic," Adam said. Kat sniffed the air again.

"I can point out the ones who are drinking blood," she told him.

"Please do," Adam said. As they moved down the steps, a few people observed their arrival, but most were too busy with their own conversations to pay much attention. Adam shifted his arm out of Kat's and grabbed her by the hand.

"How about a dance?" he asked with a devious grin. He already had a bracelet made from small beads of his blood around his right wrist, ready to be split up and cast into unsuspecting bloodfiends' wine glasses. Although the NPCs weren't really paying that much attention to the relics that players wore, Adam had shifted his scoundrel's glove to cover his crimson glass hand, since it was quite noticeable. He had also traded the shapeshifter's claw for the blood fist ring on his left hand.

Kat proved to be quite adept at the style of dance that a few of the other attendees were doing, and she all but dragged Adam through the motions, a smile curling her lip as they moved. His left hand held hers and his right arm was around her lower back as they twirled and did small jumps to the music. For some reason, the sight of them dancing spurred on many of the other people, and within moments, everyone was moving up and down the hall, spinning around and having fun.

As they followed the flow of the music, Kat pointed out each of the wine glasses that smelled like blood to her. Adam wasn't able to tell it apart from wine at a glance, so he had to trust her senses. Fortunately, it was quite easy to sneak a small bead from his fake bracelet into each of the glasses in turn, and by the end he had planted seven different globs.

Adam doubted that all of them were bloodfiends, since it would mean they had truly come out in force, and yet somehow still concealed themselves this entire time. As for the masks they wore, only four of them had tiny flickers of mana about them, but it was the same kind as the Maestro had used to conceal his own presence, making it clear they had illusions disguising their true appearances.

I could absorb the mana and reveal them, but given that it's night, they would all be revealed in their beastly forms, which is sure to cause a stampede as everyone tries to escape. There's also the fact that we've killed 27 third-generation bloodfiends, so it would be strange if all four of these were third gens, unless the stage is deliberately doing unsatisfying numbers.

I don't think they would be second-generations, since that seems to be mainly for those in charge, such as the Warden, the Guard Captain, the Blue Pavilion Mistress, and the Maestro. Besides them, there was the Maestro's son Cirillo, the one inside the Sober Eel, and the two on Matriarch Island. I think those eight are all of them, but even if there are more, I doubt they would be here, since the Maestro was supposed to run the show. So. How do I get the real bloodfiends to give themselves away?

Adam wasn't above simply killing all four who wore the illusion masks, but if possible he'd like to avoid pointless murder.

"Let's take a small break," Adam told Kat and they quickly left the impromptu dance floor, going over near the wall where those not participating were watching the show and listening to the music as they talked. A moment later, the servant came up to them with their drinks. They had served Kat's vodka in a wine glass as well, and Adam grimaced as she downed it all in one swig.

"Another," she told the servant, who quickly left to fulfil the request.

"This isn't Interim Island," Adam said to Kat.

"I'm pretty sure you can get wasted here if you drink too much."

"I would like to take a break after this ball has been concluded," Kat said.

"It would be safe to do so, would it not? Or is sleeping still dangerous?"

"I'm pretty sure we've eliminated all of the vampires with dream magic, so it should be fine," Adam said.

"Excellent. Then I would like to spend the night at the Rose Terrace. In a real bed." Adam nodded.

"Roger that. I'll be back in a moment, but keep an eye on the ones with the blood wine." He had his own glass of the Maestro's wine, and after dipping a finger into it he could tell it was O positive. That's basically the swill equivalent of blood wine. Really not bringing out the rare stuff for his party, this Maestro. I guess he did drink all of it himself in his little hideaway. As Adam weaved through the attendees, his focus was on the four people with the magical masks.

They were spread about a bit, but none of them were dancing, so it was easy to keep track of them and what they were doing. While looking between them, he purposefully bumped into someone else, spilling his wine onto the floor and getting a bit on the lapel of the guy's nice black suit. The man raised his voice in outrage and people looked in their direction. However, three of the four with the magical masks were not looking at Adam and the guy, but rather at the floor where he'd spilled the blood wine. Gotcha.

Adam grabbed the man's lapel and lifted the blood off of it with his magic, while he remotely crystallised the blood he'd planted inside the three with the magical masks one by one, avoiding the fourth who had likely been caught up in the suspicion by accident.

"See, all clean again," Adam told the guy with a grin that showed his elongated canines. His loud voice died in his throat and Adam released his lapel, patting his shoulder before moving on through the crowd, heading for the fourth person with the magical mask. [Third Generation Bloodfiend defeated.] [Third Generation Bloodfiend defeated.] [Third Generation Bloodfiend defeated.] Bingo. Voices of concern were raised from around the hall as the three Adam had killed collapsed to the floor.

Unlike the mask that Kat wore, the ones worn by the bloodfiends clearly didn't break when they sustained damage. Adam came up behind the last person with the special mask and quickly reached out to absorb the mana inside it. The woman who wore it coughed and sneezed as the mask fell off her face in two separate pieces, and then her true figure was revealed. It was clear the mask had been worn for the sake of vanity and without the knowledge of her male companion, who gaped at the sight before storming out.

She chased after him, calling for him to let her explain. She's lucky I didn't kill her on accident. Adam started heading back towards where he'd left Kat, when a woman stopped him. She wore a royal-blue dress of silk with golden embellishments, a single ring on the thumb of her right hand, and a beautiful torsade of bronze-coloured pearls around her neck. On her face was a wooden mask identical to Adam's and her hair was golden.

"Have you been to the Garden Isle recently?" she asked, her voice posh and cultured, but not condescending.

"As a matter of fact, I have," Adam replied.

"Traditions are such a peculiar thing. If my father had not broken an age-old promise, then perhaps I could have visited Garden Isle myself, but alas, it is naught but overgrown jungle now." I have no idea what I'm supposed to reply here. He took a stab in the dark.

"Traditions are important," Adam remarked.

"I am glad that someone who sees the value in them was the one to find my father's mask," she said.

"My name is Cassandra."

"I'm Adam." Lady Cassandra pulled the ring off of her thumb and presented it to him.

"Well, Adam, I hope that you may find some use out of this." < < Secret Relic Obtained > > < The Old Seal (Common) — In the old days, this ring would pass from father to son after the coming of age. It was said that any who wore it could always tell right from wrong. That time is long gone and with it the old power it once possessed. When tradition grows forlorn, the world is bereft of its glow >