How come this arcanist is invincible?

Chapter 36 Blade of Vengeance

Kane suppressed his distracting thoughts and glanced at the corpses lying haphazardly on the ground.

After a moment's hesitation, he began to bend down and collect supplies.

Rusty Hands operates in the shady business world and employs a group of thugs.

Theoretically, their family wealth should be quite substantial.

But Kane carefully searched the bodies of Brenda and the others, eventually finding more than two hundred gold coins.

"It's much less than expected; they probably kept the money elsewhere."

He muttered to himself.

After a moment's thought, he turned and walked into the depths of the now-ruined warehouse.

In a cellar at the innermost part of the warehouse, he found a locked iron door.

Without the key, Kane simply swung his scimitar.

With a "crack," the chain snapped.

The moment the iron gate was pushed open, a strong stench hit us.

Kane frowned and forced himself to walk inside, enduring the stench.

The sight before him caused his pupils to shrink slightly.

The cellar contained rows of earthenware jars, each containing various human remains.

Arms, feet, eyeballs, and bloody internal organs.

On the innermost wooden bed, there was a delicate scalpel stuck in the ground.

Below lay an uncut corpse.

On the bedside table was a roll of striped paper, covered with densely written notes.

Kane went closer to examine it and found that each page was marked with numbers and special symbols.

It is clearly encrypted content.

"Is this human trafficking?"

Countless questions churned in his mind.

Thinking of the frequent reports of missing persons in slums, he suddenly understood.

"It seems that they are ostensibly running a shady business, but in reality, they are involved in organ trafficking."

The human body has always had a high demand for organs.

The "nourishing potions" of the Demon Cult can be made using human organs.

In addition, many mages in the mage tower who study the mysteries of the human body are also potential buyers, such as those from the necromancy school.

However, the laws of the Kingdom of Nord explicitly prohibit such acts.

Many spellcasters can only secretly entrust others to obtain the "materials".

"This is a bit of a problem for me..."

"Other underground forces won't let this go unpunished after these businesses are disrupted."

Kane put away the striped paper and began to ponder it.

"But on the other hand, as long as this matter is exposed..."

"My act of eliminating the Rust Hand will transform from a personal vendetta into an act of justice."

"But how can we get the news out without it being covered up by those forces?"

He thought of the bags of grain piled up in the warehouse, and then of the emaciated poor people in the slums.

He immediately made up his mind.

"Perhaps, this is the right thing to do..."

"Next, it's time to take this opportunity to join that faction."

……

Meanwhile, in the Fifth District, at the small house where Kane had previously rented.

A squad of soldiers in light armor burst through the door.

Following closely behind was a stern-looking man wearing a black eye badge.

It was Reed, the Night's Watchman who had previously discovered the hyena carcass.

Two ordinary people, a man and a woman, who looked nervous, were brought before him.

The man carefully observed Reed's expression and said:

"Sir, I'm not very familiar with this neighbor. I only received a small gift from him on the day he moved in."

He paused, then asked hesitantly:

"Could it be... that he committed some crime?"

After a moment's thought, he added:

"I don't think he's a bad person, although... I haven't seen him for a while."

Before he could finish speaking, the woman beside him gently tugged at his sleeve, and the man immediately shut his mouth.

"Write down everything you know and give it to me."

Reed gave the order coldly.

The man and woman, feeling as if they had been granted a pardon, nodded quickly and were taken away by a soldier to give a statement.

Reed then stepped into the narrow two-story building.

His gaze swept over the broken bed and scattered furniture on the floor, his brow furrowed.

"What happened?"

He originally intended to find Kane and find out the truth about the demonized corpse.

But when he was about to take action, he discovered that Kane had been missing for several days.

"Sir, we've found this."

A soldier handed him a dagger.

Reed took it and saw a slightly rusted, copper-colored mark engraved on the hilt.

"The Mark of Vengeance of the Rusty Hand."

In the Kingdom of Nords, leaving a mark of power often signifies a declaration of war and revenge.

Reed's mind instantly conjured up his previous memories.

"He's the one who killed 'Hyena'."

Reed realized instantly that the Rusty Hand was known for its vengeful nature, and Kane was likely in grave danger.

A sense of urgency immediately rose in his heart:

"Damn it, we have to find him before he's torn to pieces by the Rusty Hand!"

For him, Kane's feud with the Rusty Hand was irrelevant.

But the most important secret he needed to find out was why an ordinary human could become a demon.

Reed frowned, about to order a car to be prepared and head straight for the Seventh District.

A carrier pigeon fluttered its wings and landed.

The soldier took the note tied to the pigeon's leg and handed it to him.

Reed unfolded it and was stunned.

"The remaining three Tier 1 professionals of the Rusty Hand have all been killed, most of the other henchmen are dead, and only one survived..."

The perpetrator is suspected to be a single person.

"A second-order one?"

Reed frowned, immediately thinking of this most likely possibility.

He instantly became alert.

Second-tier professionals are already captain-level elites among the Night Watch.

The second-tier adventurers who are out of the loop pose an even greater safety hazard.

With no time for further speculation, Reed hurriedly boarded the carriage and rushed to the Seventh District.

……

After arriving at the destination.

Reed spotted his companion immediately—Hans with a mustache.

At this moment, Hans looked solemn, completely unlike his usual frivolous self.

The warehouse was surrounded by fully armed soldiers, but there were even more poor people gathered there.

The look in their eyes as they gazed into the warehouse was no longer the usual numbness or fear of the professionals.

Instead, it burned with silent rage.

Reed followed the gaze of the poor and saw corpses hanging on wooden frames outside the warehouse.

Judging from the stiffness of the body, the deceased had been dead for about a day.

Many of the corpses were covered in bruises, splatter marks, and bloodstains.

The most conspicuous thing was the three corpses in the center, and Reed gasped.

Those were the top three core members of the Rusty Hand.

The tattooed woman in the very center is Brenda.

Rumor has it that she received training as a martial arts monk and killed many professionals.

But at this moment, her body was covered in wounds, and her blood had already congealed and turned black.

"Did the murderer hang them up?"

Reed said with a grave expression:

"This is a blatant provocation against the Night's Watch order."

While the Night Watch does not prohibit fighting between underground forces, the tacit rule is to "clean up any potential threats."

Such a high-profile outburst has clearly crossed a line.

Hans shook his head:

"It wasn't him. When our people arrived, they saw these poor people hanging the body up."

"The damage above was also caused by them."

Reed was startled, and a proverb came to mind:

When the wrath of mortals surges like a tidal wave, even the gods tremble.

But he quickly dismissed the thought.

In a world where individual power reigns supreme, the masses are ultimately just powerless lambs.

Why is this happening?

Reed asked, puzzled.

Hans sighed and explained:

"The Rusty Hands' official business is handling the grain transport for the Seventh District."

"After the fighting ended yesterday, a man carrying a curved knife came out of the warehouse."

"He told the residents outside that they could take any food they wanted from inside, and then he left."

"At first, no one dared to touch it, but there were always some bold ones. Later, more and more people joined in, and they almost emptied the warehouse..."

Finally, someone discovered a basement.

He paused, his tone heavy:

"The basement was full of human remains, and many people immediately thought of their missing relatives and friends and began to check."

"One father even found his daughter's arm inside because of a unique mole on her arm."

Reed looked in the direction Hans was pointing.

Sure enough, a man was seen squatting on the ground in the crowd, crying bitterly.

The poor people around him silently gathered.

The gazes he cast at the soldiers were filled with suppressed resentment.

Hans shrugged:

"The human body trade has always been conducted in secret; in the past, it was mostly about collecting corpses that died from disease or old age."

"I never imagined the Rusty Hands would be so ruthless, directly kidnapping living people for samples."

"Now, the scimitar-wielding man who killed Rusty Hand is being called 'Blade of Vengeance' by many slum dwellers, who say he is their hero who avenged them."

"This is getting a bit complicated."

Hans rubbed his head in pain, and Reid immediately realized how difficult the situation was.

Killing the man with the rusty hand is certainly a challenge to the order.

But arresting him now would inevitably provoke huge public outrage.

No one wants to disappear one day and end up as a corpse or dismembered body for sale.

Reed couldn't help but whisper:

"I never expected... that Kane could cause such a commotion..."

"Kane? The Kane we're looking for?"

Hans immediately realized what was happening.

Reed nodded and briefly explained the cause and effect.

After hearing this, Hans rubbed his temples, looking troubled, and said helplessly:

"Forget it, right now, the people who want to kill him even more than we do are those other crazy underground forces."

"Hopefully, this 'blade of righteous revenge' can live a little longer."

Just then, another carrier pigeon fluttered its wings and landed.

Reed strode forward, took the note from the pigeon's leg, unfolded it, and froze.

Seeing that his expression was off, Hans quickly asked:

"What's wrong?"

Reed clutched the note in his hand, his expression grave, and began to speak:

"That 'Blade of Vengeance' turned himself in at the Night's Watch headquarters and brought evidence with him."

Upon hearing this, Hans was taken aback at first, then his brows furrowed.

He said with a solemn expression:

"Now, this has become our problem."