Chapter 53: Sudden Mutation

“I’ll tell you everything I know, I swear I won’t hide a single word!”

Yuri, under her mask, raised an eyebrow. Judging by his trembling appearance, he probably didn’t dare to lie in this situation.

“The one who told me to do all this is Lord Pegum.”

“Oh? And who is that?”

Pegum… That’s a name she hadn’t heard before.

“He’s someone close to Lord Bartol, the City Lord. I heard he’s the City Lord’s trusted aide.”

Oh my, it seems she had uncovered quite the astonishing information.

If he’s the City Lord’s trusted aide, then this Pegum is probably carrying out the City Lord’s orders.

The City Lord ordered Pegum to seek collaborators in the black market, and after finding Bruel, he had him go fishing in the black market—using the release of Abyssal aura to lure those sensitive to it, then sending them into the sewers.

But for what?

So many people had died. There was no way it was just to lure every remaining free-roaming Cursed One in the city into the sewers, then kill them all there.

How much must they hate the Cursed Ones to come up with such a method?

Making them die in those filthy sewers—was it to say that rats belong in the gutter?

Yuri frowned fiercely under the mask. The City Lord’s involvement made everything far more complicated.

Since it was an order from the City Lord, and Bruel was pushing people into the sewers, then surely they knew about the Abyssal creatures lurking down there.

There was no way she was just that “lucky”—that the day she happened to go, the barrier just happened to malfunction, letting her stumble upon the Abyssal creature.

She hadn’t even brought the sword back then. It couldn’t have been sheer misfortune to such a degree.

So, Yuri was more inclined to believe that the City Lord knew the barrier was compromised. But if so, why didn’t they fix it?

Was it because they couldn’t? Or because they didn’t want to?

“And the purpose? Why did Pegum have you do all this?”

“I… How would I know what those big shots are thinking? I was just in charge of fishing, nothing else! I really know nothing beyond that!”

“That’s going to make things difficult.”

She raised her hand, signaling Elise to keep intimidating Bruel. Instantly, her monster form reacted, opening her maw above Bruel’s head, as if she would bite it off at Yuri’s command.

That terrified Bruel completely.

He really did only know this much. He was just a small-time businessman—how could he possibly know what those bigwigs were planning? He had no right to know any of that.

At this point, there was only one chance to save himself.

That was to offer something valuable—if he couldn’t tell them what they wanted to know, then maybe he could bargain for his life with something else.

“Wait… Wait! I really don’t know Lord Pegum’s purpose, but I do have some news that I’m sure you’ll be interested in!”

“Oh?”

Judging by the time, since she pulled Bruel into this space, only a bit more than a minute had passed. There was still enough time, so she decided to hear what else of value he might have.

“That sword! The sword’s true origins are actually quite famous!”

So that’s what it was about—she hadn’t expected it would be about that longsword.

Since she still kept it by her side, knowing its background would indeed be useful.

“Go on.”

“It was unearthed from deep within an ancient ruin in the Northern Lands. It’s not forged from any ordinary metal, but from some unknown material that can’t be identified. Its forging method has long been lost and can’t be replicated.

Originally, it was supposed to be treated as an ancient relic and sent to the Royal Capital, but while being transported, the team was suddenly attacked by a swarm of Abyssal creatures.”

An Abyssal attack—Yuri had personally experienced that.

Just two days ago when she entered the forest, she was attacked by Abyssal creatures, and later even encountered an Abyssal nest, barely escaping with her life.

“During that attack, its unique trait was revealed—compared to ordinary weapons, it could inflict far greater harm on Abyssal creatures and truly, completely kill them. Though they drove the Abyssal monsters away that time, the sword vanished afterwards.

The next time it reappeared, rumors spread that it had brought misfortune to several owners, killing them all. What was once an ancient relic soon became an object of dread. Some daring souls still bought it, but before long, they all died under mysterious circumstances.

Thus, with its reputation ruined, it eventually fell into my hands. I thought I had scored a treasure, but in the end, it turned out to be nothing but a cursed item.”

At this point, Bruel glanced at Yuri’s reaction, then lowered his voice and spoke in a mysterious tone.

“Besides, there’s another rumor—the reason it kills its owners is because it possesses a spirit, seeking its true master. If it finds a bearer it truly resonates with, it will unleash its real power. Then, it will become a divine weapon in the truest sense.”

“You make it sound so valuable. If it really is, I doubt a shrewd merchant like you would simply give it away.”

“This…” Bruel shrank his neck in embarrassment and smiled bitterly. “If you hadn’t fought your way out of the encirclement, that sword would have been back in my hands by now.

Just like that, the big fish took the bait and ran off with it.

Truly a loss of both the lady and the army.”

“Your information sounds good, but to me, it’s of little value.”

“This…”

Bruel became a little anxious. “Aside from that sword, my shop still has plenty of valuable goods! If you let me go tonight, you can take anything you want!”

“Those are useless to me. I’m only interested in Pegum’s purpose. Since he could approach you, it should be no problem to fish for some information from him, right?”

“No, no, my status isn’t high enough for that!”

“That doesn’t concern me. One more question—so many people were sent into the sewers, yet few came back. You must know the reason, right?”

“I really don’t. I just cast the bait—I don’t know why they never return!”

Seeing Yuri really about to signal the monster behind her to act, Bruel became frantic, desperate to prove himself.

“I just made a deal with Lord Pegum! I really don’t know why! No… Wait, don’t!

Lord Pegum, I was wrong! I shouldn’t have said anything, no, don’t—!”

His anxious tone suddenly turned into sheer terror, as if he saw something even more horrifying than Elise’s monster form.

What’s going on?

Yuri’s heart jolted. At that moment, the previously stable space of consciousness began to collapse. In front of her, Bruel let out a series of miserable screams, his conscious form shattering.

Before Yuri could react to what had happened, the consciousness space completely fell apart. When she came back to herself, Bruel in reality was frozen in place.

His body began to rapidly decay before her very eyes. His skin melted away like candle wax, revealing blackened muscle and bone beneath. He opened his mouth, trying to utter a final sound, but only managed a few inhuman, guttural howls.

Just like that, in a matter of seconds, the living man standing before her became a puddle of foul-smelling black liquid, as if some terrifying curse had descended.