As the soul floated out of the bookstore, it scanned every single soul scent that still lingered in the air.
Since it did the soul tracking on Bella, it had memorized the soul scent, and because of that, it found traces of her soul scent on the streets.
At first, it looked like Bella had run out of the bookstore, but she got ambushed fairly quickly and was then dragged away.
The soul began following the traces, which led it through the streets all the way to the entrance of the sewers.
The entrance to the sewers was located near the slums, and it was locked by thick metal bars, but they were clearly opened not too long ago.
However, the metal bars were no match for the soul, as it simply phased through them.
The soul then began following the sewer water that flowed down the sewers, letting out a disgusting stench.
When the soul tried to track the soul scents, it became slightly overwhelmed.
There were so many soul scent traces, most green-colored, going deeper into the sewers.
However, there were also light blue ones, one of which was Bella’s.
It was faint but distinct enough to follow.
After a while, the soul arrived at the hidden underground chamber, where many paths converged.
The soul then saw several motionless goblins about to enter one of the paths.
However, since the world was nearly frozen in the world of souls, they didn’t move an inch.
The soul descended and flew past the goblins, entering that same path.
However, soon it began sensing a powerful presence within.
‘Someone powerful is here…’ The soul thought sluggishly as it continued its journey deeper into the unknown.
Soon, the soul left the path, entering a dark and eerie chamber filled with an ominous aura.
The air was heavy with a sense of foreboding, and the soul could feel its heart pounding in its ethereal chest.
Hundreds of goblins were gathered in the middle of the chamber, some bathing in the disgusting sewer water while others were eating some food they found on the dry land.
There was also a large bonfire built, as if the goblins were preparing for a grand feast.
The frozen flames illuminated their grotesque features and cast eerie shadows on the walls.
It was a scene of both horror and fascination.
The soul then followed one of the soul scents that led deeper into the dark depths of the goblin lair.
After a while, it came across a closed-off section of the chamber that acted as a prison cell for captured humans.
After entering the prison, the soul came across dozens of captured humans, most of them NPCs.
They were shackled to the walls, looking fatigued and malnourished.
Their eyes looked blank, as if they had already prepared themselves for the worst outcome.
However, a few still had hopeful gazes, believing that Karasu and his Spear Saints would rescue them.
They clung onto the last shred of hope, praying for their salvation.
However, with each passing minute, the hope continued dwindling away as they listened to the sound of fire crackling turn louder and louder.
The soul descended from the air, carefully landing on the ground, and looked towards one cell.
There, a beautiful young woman with night-black hair and unique red eyes sat alone with her head bowing low.
The soul walked over to the cell, touching the metal bars with its ethereal hand.
As it looked at the dried-up tears of the young woman, it ended up sighing with slight relief.
‘She is fine. It looks like she was just dragged here to be eaten. We have time to save her. No time to waste.’
“Who is there…”
The soul’s ethereal body froze in horror.
The voice that echoed throughout the world of souls sounded ancient and very powerful.
‘This is bad!’ The soul looked up and floated straight up into the ceiling, phasing through the ground, and soon arrived back at the ground above the hidden underground chamber.
The ancient and powerful feeling disappeared.
The soul sighed in relief, but knew that the mission to rescue Bella was by no means easy.
‘This will be extremely dangerous, but Ambrose will handle it!’ The soul thought and then flew back to Whispering Page like a homing missile and soon re-entered the body of a black-haired young man.
‘Sewer.’ Ambrose slammed his eyes open, and the world of souls dissipated.
He found himself back in Bella’s room on the top floor of the Whispering Pages.
‘An ancient presence. I suppose the goblins have a leader, and it is by no means weaker than Karma.’
However, Ambrose felt rather excited, even though there was also urgency present.
He always wondered how his current self would do in a fight against Karma.
Back when he fought Karma, he was clearly outclassed in every aspect but still managed to somehow put up a fight.
It was true that Karma was also injured beforehand and had to be careful of surrounding players.
That’s why Ambrose wished he could fight Karma one-versus-one right now to see how far his blade reached.
Now, an opportunity had arrived.
‘The priority is still to save Bella. I just wonder why she didn’t kill herself to escape this fate. I guess there are circumstances that stopped her from doing so.’
As he stood up, he knew he had to act quickly and decisively.
‘Let’s see how far my blade reaches!’
…
At the underground chamber.
The thick air was filled with a stagnant and oppressive feeling.
The smell of the sewer water had already stuck to the clothes of every prisoner in the cells.
“Hey, you…”
“Nnh?” Bella raised her head and turned to the nearby cell.
“You are the owner of the Whispering Pages…” A tired-looking woman said with an exhausted smile. “I… rented a book there once.”
“I remember you.” Bella said with a tired smile. “You borrowed ‘The Secret Garden’ by Frances Hodgson Burnett.”
“You have a good memory.” The woman replied, her eyes lighting up with surprise.
Bella giggled and then asked. “Was it good?”
“It was very much so. My kids liked it too…” The woman’s voice then turned quieter. “I hope they made it safely out…”
“I am sure they did.” Bella tried comforting her. “You’ll get out of here as well and find them soon.”
“…” The woman silently looked at the ground and smiled without much hope. “I am not sure whether I want to know what happened to them or not.
“If they died, I don’t want to live in such a world.” 𝗈𝚟xt.𝗇t
“I am sure your kids want to see their mother again.” Bella looked at her and remembered Emma’s face. “I am sure they are worried about you, wherever they are.”
“You are right…” The woman whispered gently. “We live on Edge Street, which is quite far from the entrance to the city. If they avoided the first wave of goblin attacks, they might’ve found a safe path out of the city.”
Bella nodded with a smile, but her heart felt very heavy.
‘Father…’ She closed her eyes and bit her rosy lips. ‘I don’t blame you for mother’s death…’
Thud—Her heart skipped a beat as the cell’s door opened with a slam.
She lifted her gaze, and her eyes trembled as she saw a grinning goblin.
“Time for the feast, kahahaha!” The goblin laughed and removed the shackles from Bella’s wrists, then dragged her out of the cell by her hair.
As she screamed loudly, the tired-looking woman tried to stand up.
“Let go of her!”
“Quiet down, filthy human!” The goblin pointed at the woman and grinned. “Our bellies get rarely full. We eat you next; savor every bone of yours!”
The goblin’s long, gnarled fingers tightened around a lock of Bella’s hair, and then they left the prison, leaving frightened prisoners behind.