Chapter 295: Chains

Late at night, Luchi returned to his home, pulling out his key to unlock the door.

He didn’t notice the mosquito perched quietly under the eaves above him.

Through this mosquito, a pair of eyes was silently watching Luchi’s every move.

Luchi lived in a residential area for commoners, but in a house across the district, Naya sat in a room, observing Luchi’s actions.

The house belonged to Pruis, and it was being used for this mission.

Although Luchi lived in a commoner’s neighborhood, his furniture and decorations were far from ordinary.

Even a single chair from his home could sell for hundreds of gold coins in the market—something regular people couldn’t afford.

If Luchi didn’t want to keep a low profile, he would have already moved to a wealthy district.

But doing so would have drawn too much attention, so he settled for indulging his vanity with luxurious interior decorations.

Luchi took out the wooden sculptures from his spatial ring and carefully placed them on the table.

He pulled out a pristine white towel and meticulously wiped each sculpture, ensuring that not a speck of dust remained.

From the rooftop, Naya watched through the mosquito, recording everything and sending the information to Pruis.

Meanwhile, Pruis was reviewing the reports from his subordinates, evaluating the situation and making plans for the next steps.

At the inn, Helag noticed two or three individuals stealthily positioning themselves around Max’s residence. Their target was clearly Max.

One of them had even merged into the shadows, becoming one with the night as they quickly entered Max’s house.

Helag kept a close eye on Max, who was still focused on his woodcarving, seemingly unaware of the intruder.

The person had concealed their presence so perfectly that even Helag would have missed them if not for Deep Blue’s environment detection.

Shaquel, the shadow specialist, entered the house but didn’t approach Max. Instead, he quickly surveyed the interior.

He scanned the first and second floors before discovering the attic, noticing the magical lock on the door and the unknown wizard array behind it.

Not knowing the exact effects of the array, Shaquel didn’t dare get too close. He simply noted the situation.

After a quick glance at Max, who was still engrossed in his carving, Shaquel left without lingering.

His mission was reconnaissance, and any unnecessary actions could complicate things.

***

At Seranthiel’s headquarters in the city hall, Pruis reviewed the reports written on parchment by his subordinates.

Everything seemed in order, and the preparations were nearly complete.

Looking at the busy people in the room, Pruis waved his hand. “Begin the operation.”

In an instant, the room emptied, and the once noisy office fell silent.

***

Back in the Cavat Commercial District, Max sat on the floor, completely absorbed in carving a sunflower.

His hand, holding the carving knife, was steady, each stroke precise and perfect.

What had once been a simple log was slowly taking the shape of a sunflower.

After outlining the basic form, the next step was to carve the finer details.

This was a task that required immense patience, but Max had always been patient.

He began carefully etching the sunflower’s petals with his knife.

Everything was going smoothly until, suddenly, one of his strokes went off course, causing the knife to slip.

That single mistake meant all his previous work had been for nothing.

This was the challenge of woodcarving—the further along you got, the more careful you had to be. Even the slightest error could ruin everything.

Although he could try to fix it, Max was a perfectionist.

Especially when it came to his carvings.

Normally, Max would have stopped and started over with a new piece of wood.

But this time, there was a hint of confusion in his eyes.

“I was so focused on that stroke. There’s no reason it should’ve gone wrong. Why… Could it be the god is sending me a message?”

Wizards often had sharp instincts, and as a first-level liquefied wizard, Max’s intuition was particularly keen.

A sense of unease began to creep into his heart, though he couldn’t pinpoint anything unusual from recent events.

Max believed that his mistake was a warning from the god.

He had always trusted the god, and if the god was giving him a sign, he had to act.

Although he didn’t know the source of his unease, Max knew he couldn’t just sit around.

Staying here would likely lead to trouble. The best course of action was to leave immediately.

Max put down his carving knife and stood up, ready to leave without even bothering to pack his things.

He was a man of action—once he decided on something, he would do it right away.

However, just as he was about to open the door, a powerful surge of magical energy rippled through the air around him.

Max’s heart raced. He instantly realized something was wrong and instinctively glanced toward the attic.

He was about to trigger the wizard array in the attic, planning to reduce the entire three-story building to ashes, when everything went black.

Pruis appeared behind Max, holding a grayish-white transparent chain that had pierced the back of Max’s neck and entered his body.

With a slight tug on the chain, Pruis pulled out a grayish-white spirit from Max’s body.

“Good thing I acted quickly, or you might’ve succeeded,” Pruis muttered.

The chain in Pruis’s hand was binding Max’s soul, which was now in a deep sleep.

Until Pruis decided to wake him, Max would remain unconscious in the darkness.

Outside the building, a massive golden pillar of light enveloped the entire three-story residence.

The earlier surge of magical energy had come from this wizard array, designed to prevent any combat from affecting the surrounding buildings and residents.

Pruis had appeared behind Max almost the moment the array activated.

The chain in his hand was a necromantic wizard tool, directly binding Max’s soul.

Once a soul was pulled from the body, it wasn’t easy to return it, and Pruis had no intention of letting Max’s soul return.

Meanwhile, Naya’s investigation had revealed that the wooden sculptures Luchi carried were tools used by Abyssal cultists to manipulate and recruit people.

Luchi had already been captured, and under the wizards’ methods, he had confessed everything.

The snake-headed, human-bodied sculptures had been cut open, revealing a red worm inside.

With this, Max and Luchi’s crimes were confirmed.