Shadow's Hand-Chapter 29: Trail

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

The injuries caused by the reptile monster were recovered in less than a minute.

Despite the wound appearing to have been poisoned, Damien found it laughable that it was healed so quickly. And it was thanks to the Shadow who had clearly betrayed him earlier that healed his wound.

Was he supposed to be angry or thankful?

Or maybe, the Shadow didn't care about what was on his mindset. Its objective could have been simply to ensure he was healthy to continue to explore for his consumption.

No matter the case, Damien didn't appreciate his situation.

It was the equivalent of having a time bomb next to you—one that you had no idea when it would explode or not. The time bomb could deter the enemies from approaching you, but simultaneously, it was also a danger that could take your life at any given moment.

Damien wouldn't know how others would perceive such a scene but for him personally. He would rather discard the time bomb than keep it by his side.

Just when Damien wondered if he could use mana to extract the Shadow from his body, a bright light suddenly shone at him.

His eyes squinted to avoid the flashing light. To his horror, when he got a closer look, it was the dancing Joker.

However, it wasn't dancing this time. Instead, it was laughing in amusement.

"Who are you?" Damien shouted, losing his composure for once.

"Why did you send me here and what is your purpose?" He questioned.

Alas, he was ignored and the laughing Joker turned into particles. It was as if the Joker only came out to laugh at him and once that was done, it would take its exit.

Frustrated, Damien could only watch the participles dissipate into tiny dust. Even with his increased perception, he still couldn't spot the dust.

He exhaled deeply and could only regulate his emotions.

Although he didn't know why the Joker appeared, he felt a strong connection with the Mana Core within his body after its disappearance.

With a simple thought process, Damien raised a finger up, and soon, a small flame appeared at the fingertip. Feeling the heat intensity yet not having the sensation of being burned, Damien nearly laughed.

Others struggled to conjure mana, but here he was, capable of making such a move without any actual practice.

He blew at his fingertip and the flame dissipated, leaving a mini gray smoke residual.

Suddenly, Damien's eyes glowed brightly. Before long, he detected some paw footprints that were previously invisible.

'This is...' Alarmed, he tried to trace the footprint and realized it was showing a long trail.

"Is this a detective mode hint?" He mused, shook his head, and made up his mind. Since time was ticking down, and there happened to be a phenomenal scene in front of him. He might as well track the footprint and see where it led to.

As he cautiously followed the trail, Damien was relieved that there were no more monsters appearing. To be fair, it didn't make sense how there could be a monster lurking in the sewer.

The sewer might not be cleaned frequently but it was still cleaned occasionally. Therefore, the people who worked in the sewer would have encountered danger and alerted the authorities.

Of course, there could also be another possibility. The person who worked in the sewer was in cahoot with the monster. It was either that or they could be working alongside the culprit.

There were just too many plot holes here that Damien found it hard to believe the authorities were that brain dead to not discover such suspicious activity.

'These authorities better not be the slacker type.' He prayed and hoped that it was just his imagination. The impression he got of them was dedicated and motivated, given their perimeter guarding and swift actions. But then again, it could have also been a show—a facade to deceive him.

After all, he was the Seventh Order in their eyes despite being a fake.

In hindsight, he was their ultimate superior, and low-ranking people would always try their best to impress their superior. That was just how reality and life was.

...

"So this is where it led." Damien paused his footstep, his chin raised up. He stared at the top which appeared to be another entry point of the sewer. It was concealed by a manhole cover lid, but the footprint happened to stop at the ground level.

The rusty ladder didn't even glow at all, which meant the cat didn't use the ladder.

In addition, the last ground footprint was visibly more clear.

"They kicked the ground and propelled themselves upward." Damien was not surprised by such action. To kick the ground to gain momentum for a run or jump was extremely common.

What was not common was that it was able to leap out of the sewer when the manhole cover lid was all the way at the top.

Although the distance between the ground and the manhole cover was quite long, Damien could still spot zero traces of abnormality in the manhole cover.

"They didn't break the magic this time." He muttered. The previous manhole cover had its magic shattered, but the one he was currently looking at was perfectly normal.

Without breaking the embedded magic and still somehow escaping, only one possibility remained.

There was another person from the surface who was able to open the manhole cover without shattering the embedded magic.

His eyes narrowed and confirmed the murder case in the mansion wasn't as simple as it appeared.

'From Olivia's vision, everything seemed to be sudden. But it's more like a cover-up for something big.' Damien clenched his fist.

He didn't doubt Olivia's words. Although she was a soul, he could sense the raw emotion of grief and anger. There was no way she would have attempted to lie and cover for the culprit.

"Wait a second... if the cat is indeed a person who has a morphing ability. Then could it be the person Olivia had an affair with was changed at the time of the crime?" Realization quickly dawned upon Damien. The complexity of the case had just increased by a large margin.