Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 134 The Out-of-Control Merman

Shard's suggestion resonated with Miss Luisa, as she thoughtfully wrapped her robe around herself:

"I think I can find the general location where he climbed ashore... Well then, detective, I'll trouble you for half an hour of your time. I'm quite cold too, and if we can't find him in half an hour, we'll leave. However, his injuries are much more severe than mine, and finding him could save us a lot of trouble."

The two looked out at the pitch-dark riverbank, and somehow, the night felt exceptionally tranquil.

The Terael River, a part of the complex water system that runs through Tobesk, has a relatively high flow rate. During the flood season, it serves as an important inland waterway from the western to the northeastern parts of the Kingdom.

Even in the urban sections of the river, the underwater currents are remarkably strong; unless one has special abilities, is an excellent swimmer, or clings to a floating object, no one can swim in the river for long.

Fortunately, the coachman whom they had jointly injured had not lingered in the water after injuring Miss Luisa in the river. They had only walked downstream along the riverbank for about ten minutes when Shard, in the darkness, spotted a red glow.

"You saw those blood traces from at least dozens of steps away?"

When the detective holding the box pointed out the marks on the ground, Miss Luisa asked with a hint of surprise.

Actually, this was primarily because it was night, and the mist along the banks was not too dense, making the red glow that indicated blood very conspicuous.

The injured man obviously hadn't expected the woman he had injured and left at the river bottom to track him, so he had only covered his tracks onshore. After entering the alley beside the river, he did not even cover his dripping wet footprints.

Miss Luisa at the forefront and Shard right behind, both pursued into the alley. Moving away from the windy riverside, the thick fog rolled back in. As they ventured deeper into the alley, the air began to carry a fishy stink as if someone had opened a can of herring and left it to air at the mouth of the wind:

"My God~"

Miss Luisa, walking ahead, was the first who couldn't hold her breath any longer and stopped, pulling Shard's robe over her nose and mouth, and Shard too smelled that scent carried by the chilly damp wind almost making him vomit:

"What is this?"

"Detective, something is amiss..."

The darkness ahead in the alley seemed too thick, like the undiluted black ink in a painting. Unusual even for a foggy night.

Shard looked around, and the red glow had now become very bright:

"He's nearby, just passed through here, and the traces of blood are very clear..."

Only then he realized that at the edge of his vision, the large patches of red glow representing the blood loss had exceeded normal levels:

"Miss Luisa, this is not right."

"Indeed, it's not right."

The blond girl stared into the darkness ahead, then asked Shard:

"Can you use your 'Light Spell' now? Be mindful to control the Arcane Technique's power, we don't want to light up half the city."

"No problem."

Shard held the box with one hand and pointed forward with the other. With a soft whisper, "Silvermoon," silver light burst from his fingertips.

Miss Luisa moved to Shard's side, allowing the light to illuminate the way ahead.

Almost simultaneously, they saw a huge figure standing ahead. It was a literal merman, legs of a man below, but the upper half was a life-sized, complete fish.

The fish's scales had decayed, and white maggots writhed in patches within them. The wind passing by its side carried the stench toward the two downwind:

Just as the silver light touched the merman, the detective and the writer both received another message:

[You have encountered "Whisper."]

Silver light shone on the merman's back, and immediately, a foul-smelling black smoke drifted out. With his back to the two, the merman turned around, his rotting, decayed face slowly emerging from the shadow cast by the Silvermoon light.

Shard felt his stomach cramp, but his fingers still pointed steadily forward. The moment he saw the face, it was as if he glimpsed a massive, monstrous shape prowling in the deepest abyss of the ocean.

Miss Luisa was also suffering, but she had realized the situation at hand,

"Look at the clothes on its body, they are a coachman's clothes. Damn! That fellow was too severely injured, his relic has gone out of control!"

Hearing this, Shard felt somewhat relieved. He had almost thought it was a humanoid relic, knowing that any humanoid relic could be directly classified as [Sage Level] (Level 2).

"Detective, steady your hand, don't focus ahead!"

Miss Luisa's hands moved forward, and fierce flames immediately spouted from her palms. The merman, initially injured by the sacred Silver Light, was now being burned by the flames but, instead of retreating, charged towards the duo.

The burning stench made both downwinders suppress their urge to vomit. Miss Luisa called out her Ring of Fate, the Enlightenment Spirit Rune [Hunter's Trap] shimmered, and then a rope, glowing with a brass light, descended from the sky, wrapping around the merman's "neck," at the position of its gills.

Aow~

It emitted a piercing, peculiar cry, the odd rhythm within the sound causing Miss Luisa to nearly lose her footing, but a hand from behind supported her.

"Really, if this smell doesn't wash off, it'll be troublesome!"

The blonde girl said half-annoyed, reaching into her robe and pulling out a rolled-up sheet of paper, which she then threw into the air.

"Hm?"

One would have expected the paper to burn and then the Matchstick Girl to appear. However, unexpectedly, amidst the chilly wind, with mist around them, the thrown sheet of paper simply wouldn't catch fire.

The grotesquely featured merman broke free from the rope, charged through Miss Luisa's flames, and was fully exposed under the silver moonlight. Its mouth wide open, showing yellow sharp teeth and the flesh buds writhing inside, approached Miss Luisa's neck.

But the blonde girl wasn't flustered, she tightened her fist covered in flames and punched. With a loud bang, the fierce merman was knocked to the ground, and then she kicked it into the dark alley.

"You didn't also learn women's martial arts, did you?"

Shard muttered softly, his fingertips immediately lit up further down, but to his surprise, he found a young girl lying in the alley. When they had first discovered the merman, it had lost control and was probably about to attack her. Read exclusive adventures at empire

"What are you saying? Its strength isn't exceptional... Oh!"

Miss Luisa was not paying attention to the distance, but was looking at her own fist, which was covered in a greenish, foul-smelling fish scale and was visibly spreading up her arm. But before Miss Luisa could think of a solution, Shard's hand reached over again.

"Cyndia's Silvermoon Blessing."

Silver light from his hand covered Miss Luisa's fist, the sacred moonlight very slowly dispelling the fish scales, which were spreading like a plague. Shard whispered in the blonde girl's ear:

"Miss Luisa, there's a civilian over there."

Miss Luisa looked into the darkness, furrowing her brows:

"I think I know what's out of control, Scribe Level Relic [Scales of the Drowned Fisherman]! This is the relic that spreads the scales disease and can turn its user into a merman-like race. I know this one!"

She looked up at the monster slowly getting up in the alley, while Shard's moonlight clearly illuminated its figure:

"Detective, go rescue that little girl, I know how to handle it now."