Chapter 220: He’s Everywhere (2)

One moment Ash was trying to heal the old dwarf, and in the very next moment, the old dwarf head exploded, muttering some strange, incoherent words that sounded like gibberish.

What the fuck..?

Ash froze, his mind struggling to register what had just happened. The sticky sensation of blood clinging to his skin, mixed with fragments of brain matter, was sickening enough to make his stomach churn. But more than the disgust... there was something else that gripped him.

Was that... demonic energy? No... it felt different... darker, far more sinister...

He had sensed nothing before placing his hands on the old man to heal him. Yet the instant life slipped away from the dwarf’s body, even if only for the briefest moment, he felt it. It wasn’t just a vague impression—he was certain. Whatever that energy was, whether demonic or something worse, it was the cause of the old dwarf’s death.

But the question of who or what was behind it didn’t matter right now. What mattered was the sudden chill crawling up his spine. His instincts screamed warnings at him, sharp and unrelenting, as if every fiber of his being knew something was terribly wrong.

Slowly, Ash lifted his gaze, scanning the surroundings to understand why the air felt so suffocating. And then it became clear.

The usual noise of clanging metal, shuffling feet, and low chatter was gone. The street was drowning in silence. Every dwarf who had been walking, working, eating, or talking just moments ago had stopped mid-action. Now, they all stood frozen, their cold, expressionless eyes fixed on him.

They didn’t move. They didn’t blink. They simply stared, their gaze almost lifeless yet heavy enough to send a chill deep into his bones.

What a wretched situation...

Just moments before stepping into this place, Ash had been thinking about how united the dwarves seemed, how they all worked together as one. Now, here he stood, drenched in the blood of one of their own. Even though he hadn’t killed the old dwarf, would any of them believe that?

Damn... damn... damn...

He cursed inwardly, yet his mind remained unnervingly calm. His thoughts worked quickly, trying to piece together what had just happened, why the dwarf had suddenly died, and if there truly was a demon here, why couldn’t he sense it?

Before his thoughts could spiral any further, the young dwarf from earlier returned, bringing several others with him.

Among them were armored soldiers, clearly called to help lift the massive metal slab. But when the boy’s eyes fell upon Ash, his body and clothes soaked in blood and at the dead old man without head, his face went pale and his small frame began to tremble.

The others followed his gaze, their expressions shifting from confusion to shock and then to cold hostility.

"MURDERRRR!!!!!"

The young dwarf’s shout pierced through the air, and in an instant, the soldiers who had come to move the slab abandoned their task, surrounding Ash from all sides and pointing various weapons at him.

"Don’t move!"

"Contact the Order, there’s been a murder in the streets."

"Detain him."

Ash stood there, watching everything unfold with hollow eyes, his thoughts racing in silence. What should he do now? Escape? That was something he could do without the slightest difficulty—there was no doubt about it.

But there was far more at stake than just his own freedom. He had come here under the identity of Ash Burn, not as the Unknown. If things spiraled out of control, it could easily escalate into open hostility between the dwarves and humans.

And that was far from ideal—especially with the looming war against the demons, where humans might very well find themselves in desperate need of the dwarves’ support.

When was I ever the one to be concerned about humans...?

He couldn’t understand why that thought even mattered to him now... yet, for some reason, it did.

Yeah... it will affect Elysia as well. I can’t let that happen.

At least, that was what he told himself as he allowed the dwarves to clamp mana-sealing cuffs around his wrists and lead him away.

Ash didn’t resist. He didn’t say anything else. Even with Omni thought active and his senses spread far and wide, he could not detect even the faintest trace of demonic energy anywhere nearby.

But as they walked through the streets, past one corner and then another, he began to notice something strange. Every time they passed, dwarves stopped whatever they were doing. If they had been talking, their words died mid-sentence.

If they had been working, their hands froze. Every single one turned their head to watch Ash, their cold, unblinking eyes fixed on him until he was out of sight.

Being surrounded by at least twenty dwarves and stared at as though he were some exotic creature on display was far from pleasant. The oppressive silence only made it worse. No one spoke. No one muttered. The only sound that followed him was the steady echo of boots striking stone.

Curse it... this is getting too far from the genre of the novel I read...

Grumbling inwardly, Ash shifted uncomfortably as they led him deeper into the city, toward what could only be a prison. The strange part was that they were already far underground, yet they were still descending.

They entered a corridor swallowed by darkness, with only dim, spaced-out lamps casting just enough light to walk by. Ash stepped carefully, one stair at a time, but the unease gnawing at him refused to fade. The danger he felt was still there, lurking at the edge of his senses.

"Umm... can you contact the Captain Dwarf? I don’t know his name, but I’m sure he can vouch for me. I was only here to deliver an item. Why would I kill someone? I’m telling you, I’m being framed right now."

But the soldiers’ eyes were cold, their expressions slightly off, and not a single one of them responded. They simply continued leading him further down.

They’re not listening to me at all... damn it...

From the way things were going, Ash had the sinking feeling that he was destined to be thrown into prison in every continent he set foot on.

The elven continent was the only exception so far. Everywhere else, whether in the dragon continent or the dwarven one, he had somehow ended up behind bars.

Even in the human continent, he was branded as a criminal. If the Whisperer had not intervened back then, Ash was certain he would still be considered a criminal there to this day.

Ah... I knew things were going too smoothly. Was this the source of my unease all along...?

He didn’t know for sure. All he knew was that he was in trouble.

After what felt like descending at least five or six floors, Ash was finally led to a small prison block. There were a large number of prisoners locked here, the shadows hiding their exact appearance, but he could sense they were all alive... although in what condition, no one could be certain.

He was taken to the very last prison cell and locked inside, the iron door closing with a metallic clang that echoed faintly in the dark. The two guards who had transported him here turned around and left, their boots striking the stone floor, each step ringing out in the silence until even the faint echoes faded away.

After five minutes had passed, Ash finally moved. He had no plans to sit here and rot. The only reason he had allowed himself to be caught so easily was because what he wanted to do could not be done outside.

He already had an inkling of what was happening.

Snow...

The moment he called, a small white serpent emerged from his soul space. Her smooth scales shimmered faintly even in the dim light as she wrapped herself around his arm. Snow then pressed her snout against the cuffs around his wrists, and in an instant, they vanished without a sound.

Snow was capable of storing objects directly into his soul vault as long as Ash permitted it. Ash himself could not store the cuffs because even for that, a minuscule amount of mana was required—mana that was inaccessible to him while bound by the sealing restraints.

Rubbing his wrists to get rid of the stiffness, Ash teleported out of the prison cell and into the one next to him. Inside was another dwarf, his body thin from malnourishment, his eyes hollow and lifeless.

Ash normally would not have gone out of his way to remove the handcuffs of a criminal, especially one whose strength was unknown. But looking at the dwarf’s frail and malnourished state, he doubted the man had the strength to even stand, let alone attack him.

After removing the cuffs, which were capable of completely blocking Ash’s mana, he placed his hands firmly on the dwarf’s chest.

{Life Mana Infusion}

He repeated the same process he had used with the old dwarf. It was not something he could experiment with on innocent people outside—this kind of test could only be done on criminals. And really, what better place to find criminals than inside a prison?

Soon, the emptiness in the dwarf’s eyes faded, replaced by a faint trace of life. But almost immediately, his face twisted in fear, his pale features trembling as he stared at Ash as if he were looking at a ghost.

"Die... all die... we are all going to die..."

Those were his last words before his head burst open, just like the old dwarf’s, coating Ash in another spray of blood and brain matter. This time, however, there was no disgust on his face, only a serious expression.

I am sure now... they are under some sort of illusion or mind control...

That was the conclusion he reached after going through the different possibilities in his mind. The reason he could not sense anyone or any demon was because there was none—at least not physically present in the city. The enemy might be controlling a selected few with some kind of charm, illusion, or direct mental domination.

When Ash infused life mana into them, before the connection between the demon and the host could be completely severed, the controller was killing the host to prevent any information from leaking.

...But even then, many questions remained unanswered.

How many of them were under control? How was the demon controlling them? Was it only a selected few or everyone? If it was the former, then what was the criteria for selection? And if it was the latter... then it was nothing short of nightmarish.

Was every blacksmith in the central continent under mind control as well? Or was it only the high-ranking individuals?

Too many questions... nothing is confirmed yet...

And then another troubling thought came to him—why were the criminals and the old dwarf under the control of this mind demon? Were they special in some way? Or was his suspicion that everyone was under control actually true?

No... no, that would be too horrifying... I doubt I could even kill something that could control so many beings. And this is only one city... there might be many more like this... or there might not be.

But still, I don’t think it’s possible to control so many creatures at once. It must have selected only a few, either randomly or for a specific purpose, and I was just unlucky enough to meet two of them back to back.

Yes... that must be it...

Before he could think further, hurried footsteps echoed toward him. Ash immediately left the prison cell, returned to his own, and placed the cuffs back on his wrists.

"What was that sound?"

The soldier called out loudly, but no one responded. Then he stepped in front of Ash’s cell and asked, "Did you make the noise?"

"Ah! No, I swear it wasn’t intentional. I just tripped while trying to stand, you see. Hope you don’t mind."

The dwarf soldier stared at him coldly for a few seconds before turning away and muttering, "Hump!! whatever, you will die soon anyway..."

As the soldier’s footsteps faded, Ash’s expression became utterly cold.