The headless torso remained standing stiffly in place.
Everyone waited for it to fall.
But it didn't.
The Baron’s body seemed unaware that its head was gone, remaining upright in the center of the study, its feet firmly planted on the stone slabs.
“Come with me...”
A final sentence drifted from the Baron’s chest, followed by a shift in the sounds within. It was like roots churning through soil, or something expanding frantically inside the shell of his body.
Hoguer’s blade dripped with greyish-green liquid. He stared at the headless torso, his expression suddenly changing.
The stump of the Baron’s neck exploded.
Wood fibers spewed from the opening.
Greyish-green branches burst out like released springs, tearing through flesh as they shot toward the ceiling.
The thickest one was as wide as a forearm. It smashed through the stone bricks overhead, sending debris raining down.
At the same time, roots pierced through the soles of the Baron’s boots, burrowing into the stone slabs.
The sound of shattering stone mingled with the muffled thud of the floor vibrating.
The entire building was shaking.
Furniture in the study was swallowed by the pressure of the expanding branches. Bookshelves were knocked over, wall lamps on half the wall were swept away, and copper lamp holders rolled across the floor as oil spilled everywhere.
The flame on the overturned copper desk lamp hadn't gone out. It ignited the oil on the floor, and a thin line of fire raced through the cracks between the stone slabs.
But the branches spread faster than the flames.
The greyish-green wood crushed the fire, extinguishing most of it, leaving only a few scattered embers flickering in the corners.
Greyish-white text flared up in his vision.
【Target Detected: Baron von Linde (Mutant · Out of Control)】
【Host consciousness has perished. The parasite has taken full control of the torso, undergoing disorderly expansion.】
【Weakness: Fire; Core (deep within the chest cavity, not yet fully formed).】
“Fall back!”
Hoguer grabbed the collar of the wounded Nightwatcher in the corner and dragged him toward the door.
The Nightwatcher gritted his teeth, his good hand pressing firmly against the wound on his shoulder as blood seeped through his fingers.
His heels tripped over rubble as he was dragged, letting out a muffled groan but not a scream.
Franz’s reaction was even faster.
The moment the branches erupted, he had already slipped from the doorway into the corridor.
Back against the wall, his short-gun returned to his waist, his eyes were fixed on the study, his lips pressed into a thin line.
Clearly, he was very dissatisfied that his shot earlier hadn't penetrated the woodenized chest.
As Lu Yuan retreated, a newly sprouted branch swept toward him from the side.
Lu Yuan dodged to the side.
The branch grazed his ribs and smashed into the stone floor of the corridor, sending dust and debris flying half a meter high. A few shards bounced off his shins.
The four of them retreated from the study.
The corridor was thick with dust.
“The mutation has gone out of control. The nature of the situation has changed,” Hoguer’s voice was low, barely audible over the creaking of the growing branches.
“No more hiding. This thing isn't human anymore. He betrayed the Empire for power, and according to imperial regulations, he must be executed!”
No further explanation was needed.
The original plan was a clean, untraceable assassination. But now, Baron von Linde had become a monster.
Executing a mutant was a Nightwatcher’s duty—perfectly justified and requiring no concealment.
He glanced at Lu Yuan.
“Stay back.”
Footsteps echoed from the other end of the corridor as Conrad rushed in from the backyard.
He saw the greyish-green branches squeezing out of the study door, the cracks in the walls, and the Nightwatcher clutching his wound in the corner.
He paused for a second.
“The backyard is clear. The private soldiers in the annex have all been neutralized.” He lowered his voice, his eyes unable to look away from the branches. “What is this thing?”
“The Baron,” Hoguer said without further explanation.
Conrad didn't ask again, but he could tell from the twisted branches that this was a form of contamination.
Words were unnecessary.
Hoguer’s hand pressed firmly onto the copper badge at his waist.
Franz stowed his short-gun, his right hand covering the inside of his left wrist.
Something’s silhouette was faintly visible beneath his sleeve.
Conrad said nothing, but his breathing rhythm changed.
The eerie aura of the three men surged at that moment.
Right then.
Lu Yuan, standing furthest away, felt the symbiotic link suddenly throb.
The little Knowledge Worm was tumbling frantically deep within his eye socket.
A wave of extreme excitement surged through the symbiotic link, unceremoniously flooding his mind like someone had set a fire in his brain.
His left eye felt slightly hot, and a flicker of color flashed at the edge of his vision.
Lu Yuan was nearly thrown off balance by this sudden burst of excitement.
He steadied his breathing and, following the direction of the symbiotic link, used his perception as a Knowledge Seeker to observe the interior of the study.
An aura was flowing through the branches in the room.
It was a form of knowledge—ancient and unlike anything Lu Yuan had ever seen.
The greyish-green fibers were like the bloodline of some ancient plant, containing a high-density residue of knowledge.
These remnants weren't condensed from text or theories, but were a more primitive, almost instinctive knowledge.
Like the natural inscriptions on the brain core of a scavenger ghoul.
It wasn't learned; it was innate.
The Knowledge Worm writhed frantically in his eye socket, the colors swirling so fast they became a blur.
The little thing wasn't afraid; it was drooling.
Lu Yuan’s perception pierced through the layers of branch fibers, delving deep.
He saw it.
Deep within the chest cavity of the headless torso.
An emerald green light was pulsing.
It was like a heart.
The knowledge density of that core was incredibly high.
The thought sent by the Knowledge Worm was as simple as it could be.
Hungry.
Want to eat.
That.
Must eat.
Lu Yuan made a quick judgment. This was the perfect chance to gauge the Knowledge Worm’s abilities and test its stealth.
‘Are you sure you can eat it?’
A resolute affirmation surged through the symbiotic link.
‘Then go.’
Deep in his left eye, the Knowledge Worm vanished.
It disappeared directly from his eye, and in the next instant, it appeared at the location of the core in the Baron’s chest.
Following the pathways of the knowledge aura, it had found the shortest path, comparable to teleportation.
The next moment, the Baron began to wither from the inside out.
The branches that had filled the entire room stopped growing.
First, the smallest twigs at the furthest ends.
The greyish-green receded inch by inch, turning yellow, then a deathly greyish-white.
Then, the thick main trunks.
The branches shriveled and curled like withered vines stripped of all moisture. They shattered at a touch, sending greyish-white debris rustling to the floor.
The roots curled back from the cracks in the floor.
They became brittle and dry; several snapped into powder while retreating.
Hoguer’s hand was still on his copper badge.
But he noticed the change.
The branches were no longer attacking. The aura of contamination coming from the study was dissipating at a visible rate, and the entire "tree" that the Baron had mutated into was dying on its own.
“What’s going on?” Hoguer looked at Conrad.
Conrad looked at Franz with a look of utter confusion.
Franz simply shook his head.
None of the three had made a move, so why had the thing in the room gone quiet?
Ultimately, Hoguer never activated his copper badge.
“I’ll go check first,” Hoguer said, stepping forward cautiously.
The wooden structure that had nearly burst through half the study was completely dead.
All that remained were a few gnarled, thick trunks and a shriveled, crumpled remain huddled in the center of the study.
It didn't look like it had been a human.
It didn't even look like it had been a tree.
And in the center of the chest was a sunken hollow.
Clearly, the core of this thing had been hollowed out by something.
A dry scent filled the corridor.
It was as if someone had thrown a pile of dry leaves into a fireplace, burned them for a moment, and then immediately extinguished the fire.
The study was silent.
By now, the Knowledge Worm had returned to his left eye.
It curled up deep in his eye socket, quietly digesting.
A heavy sense of satisfaction flowed through the symbiotic link.
Full.
And very satisfied.
Greyish-white text floated out quietly.
【Forbidden Lore: Knowledge Seeker: +1.8... 43.0/100】
【Inscription (Advanced · Eerie Inscription): +0.6... 20.1/50】
【Unknown knowledge fragments have been devoured by the Knowledge Worm. Some information cannot be parsed and has been sealed within the symbiote.】
【Sanity: -4... 51/140】
Hoguer stared at the withered remains in the center of the study.
His brows were furrowed, as if he were forcing himself to digest something impossible.
An out-of-control mutant that was undergoing explosive growth had withered on its own within ten seconds.
The core had vanished into thin air.
No one had made a move; there was no visible intervention.
Most importantly, Bronze City still hadn't taken any action.
This meant that a high-level expert, whom Bronze City couldn't detect, had taken out the Baron in an instant and left without attracting anyone's attention.
This wasn't normal. It was impossible!
He knew perfectly well this wasn't right.
But he swallowed the question on the tip of his tongue. He turned his head and glanced at Lu Yuan.
His gaze lingered on Lu Yuan for less than half a second.
He said nothing.
Franz leaned against the corridor wall, his short-gun still raised but pointed downward.
The tree had grown wildly and then withered on its own in less than ten seconds.
The core was gone.
No one had touched it.
Franz’s gaze moved from the remains to Lu Yuan, then to Hoguer.
His lips moved as if he wanted to say something.
In the end, he simply stowed the short-gun back at his waist.
He and Hoguer exchanged a silent look. It was clear that if it wasn't an outsider who had come in to kill the Baron, there was only one other possibility.
But neither said a word.
Finally, Hoguer stepped into the study first.
He knelt down and poked the remains with the tip of his blade.
Except for the thickest branches at the very core, the rest were brittle as paper, shattering at the touch of the blade. There was nothing left inside.
He walked over to the corner.
The Baron’s head was lying there. The wooden patterns on the face had turned greyish-white and cracked. Hoguer flipped it over with his blade.
“He's dead for good.”
He stood up and sheathed his blade.
“Search the place. Look for anything related to the Grey Covenant or that tree.”
Franz and Lu Yuan got to work.
The study was in a wretched state.
The walls were covered in scuff marks and greyish-green powder left behind by the shrunken branches.
Several floorboards were shattered, with holes the size of fists where the roots had burrowed out.
Three or four stone bricks had fallen from the ceiling, and rubble was piled atop the remains of shattered furniture.
Half the study was completely ruined.
Searching wasn't going to be easy.
Rate on N.U.
