Chapter 572: [Bonus - ] Last Hooded Figure

Chapter 572: [Bonus Chapter] Last Hooded Figure

Whoosh!

The last hooded figure released his grip from the window frame and landed on the ground.

He remained crouched for a brief moment, breathing heavily. The descent had been reckless, but he had made it.

At least, that was what he thought.

The moment he raised his head, something enormous filled his vision: a massive butcher knife, already descending toward him.

His pupils contracted as he saw Undead Garron standing before him, its enormous body blocking the narrow alley while its blade came down with enough force to split a person apart.

There was no time to run, and barely enough time to breathe.

Reacting purely on instinct, the hooded figure plunged his hand beneath his robe, and two daggers appeared between his fingers.

He crossed them in front of his body, welcoming the incoming attack head-on, believing that if he could stop the first strike, he might find an opening to counterattack and escape.

"Die!" he shouted, pushing both daggers upward.

Clang!

The collision produced a sharp metallic sound, and for a fraction of a second, he thought he had succeeded.

Then his expression changed as one after another, his daggers shattered to pieces.

The butcher knife continued downward without slowing, and his eyes widened. He had not even managed to weaken the attack.

The knife hit his body.

There was no prolonged struggle, no desperate exchange, no opportunity for a second attempt.

The massive butcher knife simply tore through his body, splitting him from the top of his head all the way down.

Blood sprayed across the alley as his two halves fell in opposite directions, landing with a heavy thud.

Simple.

Brutal.

The undead Garron stood motionless between the two halves, its butcher knife hanging loosely at its side.

The battle had lasted only a moment, and the hooded figure was dead.

Thoren arrived at the scene and his expression unchanged.

He glanced at the two halves of the corpse before settling his gaze on the body.

He had already known how the confrontation would end and his attention was focused on something else entirely.

[Ghost Whispers]

The skill activated, and Thoren’s perception swept through the corpse, searching for the soul Nothing.

His expression stayed calm, though his eyes narrowed slightly as he tried again.

[Ghost Whispers]

Still nothing. No soul, no spiritual presence, no trace of the consciousness that should have belonged to the person lying before him.

Thoren slowly shook his head; he had already suspected what he would find. He shook his head and decided not to dwell on it.

Without wasting further time, he summoned the Vorlath Blood Compass into his hand. The blood-red eye at its center stared at the corpse, and a crimson light flashed from its surface.

Whoosh!

Blood-red flames erupted over the body, spreading across the robes and consuming flesh, blood, and bone without leaving anything behind.

...

...

By the time Thoren returned toward Glimmer District, the situation had already changed dramatically.

The streets that had previously been filled with screams were now much quieter, since the evil creatures had been taken down and those who had been parasitized had also been dealt with before they could become another threat.

The two undead had carried out their orders with absolute efficiency, requiring no assistance from Thoren standing beside them.

His physical presence had been far from the battlefield, yet his control over the situation had remained firm and rigorous through the mental connection.

Multitasking on this scale did not trouble him; his enhanced perception let him divide his attention without losing control of either situation.

Kill the infected. Prevent the spread. Pursue the hooded figures. The orders had been enough.

As Thoren walked back through the district, several surviving soldiers and civilians stared at him from a distance, though none of them approached.

Some still looked frightened, while others regarded him with a mixture of awe and disbelief, having watched the undead fight and seen how quickly the creatures that had terrified the entire district were eliminated once Thoren intervened.

What shocked them even more, however, was that Thoren had left the area while the battle continued, trusting his undead to finish the work without remaining behind to command them.

Thoren eventually reached the convoy, where the soldiers immediately straightened at his approach. Several of them glanced toward the ruined streets behind him, as if expecting more enemies to appear, but none did. Thoren entered the vehicle without hesitation.

"Depart."

The captain immediately nodded. "Yes, sir."

The engines roared to life as one vehicle after another began moving.

The convoy turned onto the street and started leaving Glimmer District, its heavy wheels crushing broken glass and debris beneath them as the soldiers maintained their positions.

Thoren sat quietly inside the lead vehicle, his expression calm though his thoughts were far from relaxed.

Killing the infected had only treated the symptoms.

The black creatures were spreading because something had created them, and the people being parasitized were changing because something had infected them.

The three hooded figures were involved in whatever was happening, and as long as the source remained untouched, another outbreak could happen at any moment.

Thoren looked through the vehicle window as the ruined streets slowly disappeared behind him, tightening his hand around the Vorlath Blood Compass.

To deal with everything, he needed to uproot the cause right from the root.

The convoy continued forward.

Behind it, the people standing on the street watched the departing vehicles in silence. Some had blood on their clothes, others were still holding crude weapons in trembling hands.

A few were helping the injured while emergency personnel moved through the ruined district.

But almost all of them watched the convoy leave, their expressions filled with shock, their hearts racing in awe.

For the people who had survived that night, the image of the departing convoy would remain deeply etched into their minds.

And none of them knew that Thoren had already begun searching for something far more terrifying than the creatures he had just killed.