Chapter 32: Never Say Girls Are Heavy, This Is Taboo

“Threatened…”

Lorena had never considered that.
She’d thought the sewers were just infested with unusually strong monsters.

“Well, that’s my take…”

Ina continued, sensing Lorena’s worry.
“But we won’t know until we see for ourselves.”

“What do you think, Cynthia-chan?”

Ina looped back to Cynthia for the final say.

“No issue. Your reasoning holds up.”

Cynthia didn’t mind potential Church encounters, but with Ina and Lorena along, prudence was key.
Their foes weren’t just Church members but beasts that felled A-rank adventurers.

“If that’s settled, let’s move. Stay clear of the guards.”

With Cynthia’s guidance, they evaded patrols and soon reached the drainage outlet at the wall’s base.

In a concealed clearing, a dark maw yawned, barred by a rusted iron grate—long neglected.

Tiani’s intel checked out: unguarded.
But…

“What’s that stench?”

Ina clamped her nose, face twisting in disgust.
“No wonder it’s empty. Only a madman would come here!”

Cynthia and Lorena eyed her wordlessly.
Ina blinked.
“What?”

“Nothing. Spot on.”

Cynthia averted her gaze, silent.
The reek was nauseating—even for her, no normal person would endure it.

Lorena, hand over her nose, tilted her head.
“Odd… it wasn’t this bad before.”

“Must be the monsters,” Ina grumbled.
“We won’t suffocate down there, will we?”

She pictured them keeling over from fumes.

“Relax. Tiani prepped us.”

Cynthia fished out several glowing white stones from her pouch, passing them to Ina and Lorena.

“Purification Stones! Tiani’s on it~”

Ina twirled hers, pleased.
“We’re set.”

The stones would neutralize the foul air—clever tech.

No more worries, Cynthia wrenched the grate free with bare hands, stunning Lorena.

The feat was raw yet elegant.

Lorena might’ve pried a gap, but uprooting the whole thing? Impossible.

“Lorena, quit gawking. Down you go.”

Ina’s voice jolted her.
Cynthia and Ina were already descending; Lorena scrambled after.
“Right, coming!”

“Drag the grate back to hide our entry.”

The sewer surprised Cynthia.
It wasn’t filthier than expected.
Beyond the wastewater, it was passable, the sewage pre-treated.

The dark channel yawned ahead, secrets buried deep.

“I know the city. I’ll guide,” Lorena volunteered, holding her Purification Stone as a dim light.

It wasn’t bright, but it lit their path.

“Thanks for leading.”

Cynthia’s night vision made it redundant, but Lorena’s familiarity was handy.

They trudged along the waterway’s ledge, footsteps and water’s trickle their only company.
Underground, Lorena relied on the map, keeping their pace deliberate.

At another fork, Cynthia’s hand landed on Lorena’s shoulder, halting her.

“What is it?”

“Something ahead.”

Cynthia’s tone was clipped.
Unseen by Lorena, she drew iron throwing knives, flicking her wrist to send them slicing into the shadows.

Wails followed, with scraping against the walls.

“Watch out—more incoming.”

Lorena’s instincts flared.
She drew her longsword and thrust upward.

A wail rang out as dark green liquid dripped from her blade.
A spider, vital struck, plummeted into the water and drifted away.

“This… what the hell?”

Lorena shook the green slime from her sword, staring at the floating corpse.
“A monster?”

The same query hit Cynthia.
She checked her knives’ targets—creatures leaking green blood.

Strangely, her blood magic could command this green fluid.

Why green blood?

Once clear, they advanced.
Up close, Lorena and Ina saw the insectoid beasts Cynthia had slain.

None were normal, twisted beyond recognition.

“Demon spiders? But with those lumps?” Lorena said, stunned by Cynthia’s accuracy but fixated on their mutations.

“Regular demon spiders aren’t this huge,” Ina added, stepping up with her new staff, Purification Stone now embedded in its crystal.

The dual-attribute crystal brightened the stone’s glow, outshining Lorena’s.

Examining a spider, Ina mused, “This green blood… poisonous, you think?”

Ina’s words made Lorena stiffen, shaking her sword to dislodge the last green drops.

Even Cynthia, tempted to probe the blood, pulled back.

Ina’s point was valid—what if it was toxic?
The sewer’s taint might come from their secretions.

Cynthia couldn’t classify the species—her knowledge fell short.

Then, the long-silent Blood Demon chimed in her mind, jolting her.

[Oh, isn’t this a Corrupted Demon Spider?]

[Next time, say something first, you ass!]

In the gloom, even Cynthia’s night vision didn’t blunt the scare.
She clenched her jaw, hissing internally.

[Sorry, sorry. You looked lost, so I piped up.]

[What’d you call it? Corrupted Demon Spider?]

Cynthia exhaled, steadying herself.
“Why haven’t I heard of them?”

[Makes sense. They’re from our era—extinct by now, theoretically.]

The Blood Demon sounded uncertain.
[Monsters, or corrupted ones. Demon-made.]

Demons.

Cynthia knew scraps—a sparse race, each a powerhouse.
Gods’ Dawn records, millennia old, detailed the Demon Lord’s kin sealed in the Far North for their wicked power.

No sightings in the Holy Kingdom’s north for centuries, they’d become legend.
Parents spooked kids with demon tales.

[These corruptions were the Demon Lord’s blessing. Monsters are demon-kin—strong, but not pure.]

Cynthia paused, gears turning.

Demons here?

“The sealed demons broke free?”

[Nah, that barrier’s no joke.]

The Blood Demon was firm, then faltered.
[But after eons, some leakage… wouldn’t be odd.]

Cynthia eyed Lorena, lost in thought, and asked, “Feel anything weird when you stabbed them?”

“Nothing off. Like a standard demon spider.”

Lorena’s reply indicated these spiders matched normals physically—not demon-tier, as the Blood Demon claimed.

If accurate, the seal had only cracked.

Truth lay at the source.

Cynthia rose, peering into the depths.
“These aren’t ordinary. They’re… monsters.”

“Monsters? What’s that?”

Lorena, unfamiliar, cocked her head.

“Tough to explain, but they’re corruptions we need to eradicate.”

Cynthia, new to the term, kept it simple.
“Onward. Guard Ina.”

“Don’t worry, Senior Cynthia. I’ve got Miss Ina covered!”

“Senior…? Whatever, move.”

Unnoticed, Ina’s expression grew odd beside a spider corpse.

Ina lagged, staring at Cynthia’s back, words unspoken.

Monsters?

These didn’t match the beasts from her forbidden Church tome, viewed only through the Goddess.
Those were fiercer, godlike in might.

Crucially, such knowledge was purged from the world.

How does Cynthia know?

Their time together only deepened her enigmas.

But questions could wait.
Threats loomed.

A horde surged from the dark.

“Left!”

“Dark Demon Bullet!”

Lorena’s call had Ina raise her staff, firing dark-elemental bullets at the flankers.

Splashes followed as the monsters dropped, still.

In the sewer’s murk, Ina’s dark magic felt amplified, exceeding her staff’s boost.

“Didn’t think you could still use that…”

Lorena eyed the kills, trailing off.

Ina, knowing her meaning, clapped Lorena’s shoulder.
“Shh. Few know.”

Lorena nodded.
Dark magic in the Church was heresy—especially for a Saint.
Borus’s branch was quasi-independent, so she stayed mum.
A zealot would’ve cried witch on the spot.

“Still… I’m no match for Cynthia-chan…”

Ina sighed, watching Cynthia ahead.

Lorena nodded mutely.

Their foes were strays.

Cynthia, dual swords in hand from nowhere, held her ground, feet planted.
Her blades blurred, mincing monsters like a grinder.

Only with the last slain did she halt, turning.
“You good?”

“Hard to not be…”

Ina gaped.

Unscathed, no green blood on her, clothes spotless.

Humanly possible?!