Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 477: Ghost babies

Chapter 477: Ghost babies

"Found anything?" Charles inquired as he stood a few meters away from a kneeling Robert, both within the confines of a small cave, away from the biting winter wind.

Leaning against his great sword, he found it rather difficult to stand straight with the musket attached to the stump that was once his right leg but considering options were limited, it would have to do.

Robert shook his head as he studied the etchings on the ground.

It spoke of a ritual, one that opened a gateway to a different dimension.

"It’s cold. We can’t reopen it."

"Fuck." Charles cursed before inquiring. "Where does it lead?"

"the Infernal Palace. Specifically the sixth floor." Robert replied.

Clicking his tongue, Charles remarked. "That means we can’t perform our ritual."

"We could attempt to send in the Homunculi but I doubt they’d be able to fool Baseth."

"So what now?"

Robert paused before turning to glance at Charles. "It’s almost like you don’t want to think for yourself."

"Hmmph, you’re the better tracker. Would you like to take my place as a tank?"

Robert sighed, unable to understand how a Saint could be so shameless.

Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he pondered for a moment before calmly intoning. "She is here for someone or something, if we go off what she’d said before we fought."

"You want to believe the words of a Daemon of the Devil Wheel?... Bold."

"What other reason could a Daemon of the Devil Wheel have for being here?"

Charles shrugged. "Perhaps she just came over for a snack."

"Judah might be antagonistic toward us, but they definitely aren’t that petty. Allowing one of their strongest to come here, there must be a reason." Robert pressed leaving Charles little room to rebuff his claims.

"So what?... We assume that she was telling the truth, you plan on having us find this person before she does?"

"You see, you thought for yourself. Was that so hard?"

Charles snorted. "Answer the damn question."

"Yes, Charles, we find the person before she does," Robert replied as he dusted his trousers with his one good hand and got to his feet.

Just then, their Homunculi attendants stepped forward.

"We managed to get a record of those that died in the town."

Robert nodded. "Good. Try to reach out to BlackWatch, and have them take out current records of the residents of Livermore before the attack. We need to know if there was any Beastman in town."

"Hopefully, we get to whomever that bitch is looking for before she does," Charles commented at the side.

***

Arthur stared at the illusory arms rapidly approaching with a blank expression before reaching down to grab Douglas.

The next moment, he was gone and the nameless nun was left within the domain.

Confused and still in pain, Douglas inquired. "What the hell is happening?"

"We are leaving." Arthur casually replied before howling after which the ground beneath them sank, carrying them along as it did.

"Where are we going?" Douglas questioned yet again, this time in a panic. "We can’t just leave Emily and Alex!"

"We are not leaving them, now silence and let me work!" Arthur spat coldly, shutting the hybrid up.

Soon, they stopped falling with Douglas finding himself on a cold hard surface while the space they’d fallen through was quickly filled up with earth.

The area they had fallen into was dark, but he had no problems seeing what was ahead.

"Emily!" He exclaimed in delight as he forgot the pain wracking his pneuma and rushed to Alex.

"We have to leave before that crazy nun gets out of my domain," Arthur remarked as he approached as well. "Is your pneuma working now?"

Alex nodded. "It is."

"Then..."

Pa

A dance of light and shadows was the last thing he saw.

When the deluge receded, he found himself in a modest living room that seemed to have been recently cleaned.

Arthur let out a relieved sigh as he made himself comfortable on a plush couch while Alex paced around massaging his temples.

Meanwhile, Douglas remained worried as he held onto Emily, watching her mumble incoherent nonsense while placing her hands over her ears.

"What’s happening to her?" Douglas asked as he tried to get her to look at him.

His attempts proved to be mostly unsuccessful.

Just then, Victoria and the rest of the Constellations arrived, excited to carry out the second phase of their training with Alex only to be met with a heavy atmosphere.

"Did something happen?" Arwen inquired as she looked around.

Alex glanced at her before shifting his attention to Victoria.

Noticing his gaze on her, Victoria instinctively straightened her posture.

Taking a deep breath, Alex glanced at Douglas and then at Emily before shifting his gaze back to Victoria.

A faint sense of dread emerged within the Vampire’s unmoving heart.

"Victoria, I have but one question for you."

"What is it, Master?"

"Do you remember that fateful night in Townsend?... The night we confronted an Otherworldly."

Victoria nodded. "Indeed, Master."

"Good, now the question I’m about to ask is very important, so I need you to be certain before answering me, understood?"

"Alex, what’s going on?... You look flustered." Nadia inquired, unable to keep silent any longer.

Unintentionally ignoring her question, Alex asked his own, directing it at Victoria. "Did you destroy the ghost babies that took residence in Emily’s womb that night?"

Silence followed and for a brief moment, Alex couldn’t help but wonder if his deduction was incorrect.

But then, Victoria answered and his expression fell.

"What babies?... I’m sorry, Master, but what are you talking about?"

Alex closed his eyes as he took in a deep breath, quickly putting together the events of that night.

Several ghost babies took residence in Emily’s body before melding into one singular ghost baby.

The baby tried to kill him using Emily’s body but was unsuccessful.

Then, the Mother of Lost Souls appeared and attempted to take the denizens of Townsend only to be thwarted by Nyx.

... However, the baby persisted.

The fucking baby from that night persisted!