Chapter 159 - Crime

Cyril arrived at Reim Town… He felt a bit hungry so he bought himself some doughnuts and milk and ate them in the car.

After recharging himself, Cyril walked around the familiar town and he was just in time to see a crime scene.

"What happened here?" He asked one of the middle-aged women looking around behind the yellow lines.

A certain backyard at the northern side of the town was now surrounded by this yellow line. The police and other investigators are currently inspecting a dead body not too from them.

"Ugh… Are you new here? That guy who just died is an E-Rank Awakened. This is not the first time. Almost all the decent Awakened remaining in this town are being hunted by someone. Ha~ I really hope he gets caught soon. It's getting scary to live here. I think a demon is lurking here…"

"I see… Are they stealing something from them?---Wait, a demon? Why?"

"Hmm… Well, their belongings are left untouched. However, the killer seems to be sucking out their soul as well. The bodies dried up a bit faster than the normal corpse as per the police."

"Huh?"

Cyril felt confused and asked a bit.

Apparently, the corpse appears normal at first but after the police tried moving them, the body will shrivel up fast.

"What? Isn't this a bit too early? I'm still not ready!"

Cyril felt loss. This is definitely a sign of a vampire's blood-sucking ability! However, their powers seem to be quite weak so he can guess that they are only some Thralls at this point.

After all, if it's truly the Vampires, they wouldn't leave that much from the body.

Cyril can see from where he stands that the corpse being inspected by the police still has some blood left on its body. The work seems to be done by a newbie. This is why he guessed that they could only be some Thralls.

'I can probably ask Xagan to find the culprit. However, if this is really just a single loose Thrall. That's overkill. Even a D-Rank Awakened can kill them alone. If three or four E-Rank Awakened worked together, it's not impossible as well.'

Cyril mused as he started considering the possible places where the Thrall would hide.

If it's trying to digest all the nutrients it consumed, then it will probably hide somewhere dark and only come out after a day or two.

"However, the police force should already have an idea… Eh?" Cyril realized that the police doesn't seem to have an idea at all!

He saw them still trying to take statements from nearby people as if they're really searching for a human! They seem genuinely trying to find clues about the killer instead of searching dark and abandoned places instead!

'Tsk… You're looking for a monster, not a human! Ugh… If they can't identify the killer, they're looking at this the wrong way.'

Cyril smiled helplessly. However, he recalled that they are still unaware of a possible outbreak.

'Right, they've never thought of this since there are no outbreaks yet.' Cyril could only laugh at himself after forgetting that point.

Anyway, since this is the case, he either had to find the Thrall himself or lead the police into this path of investigation.

'Hmm… I wonder how this was resolved in my past life?' Cyril mused but he immediately shook his head and started moving around.

He wouldn't let the Thrall get another victim now that he's here. He may not be a hero but he would at least try doing his best so he can give a better future for himself and for the people surrounding him.

***

About half an hour had passed and Cyril finally arrived at the abandoned school within the town.

"This is the only place left, huh…"

The Reim Town wasn't that big in the first place. So the police and the local authorities only have a few places to search if they were trying to find hiding individuals. Of course, the culprit may not be hiding in these abandoned places.

However, Cyril knows that Thralls were unable to assume human appearance. They are unlike the real vampire who could walk among them.

Cyril looked at the large building filled with cracks and moss. There are also various vine plants clinging around the left side of the building.

After observing for a while, he finally noticed some traces that someone came to this place.

He followed the traces he found as he entered the building.

He's already fully equipped with his armor and weapon. He held his staff tightly as he wanted to try and see how powerful this is.

'This should be enough.' Cyril thought after walking a while.

He doesn't plan to get ambushed after all. He felt that he's getting closer to the Thrall's lair and further going in would get more dangerous.

Cyril took a deep breath and activated one of his Staff's abilities.

"Conqueror's Domain…"

A huge chunk of Cyril's Aura disappeared as soon as he used the ability.

However, a dome-like field reaching about 200 meters around him was created!

Within this field, he can feel the presence of every living thing depending on how he would like to focus on it.

"Hmm? There are actually three of them?" Cyril was surprised after feeling the presence of the magical creatures.

They seem to be resting as he expected but the two of them appear to be injured. They have weaker energy and unsteady breathing.

'Interesting… This Conqueror's Domain is too powerful. As expected of a Rank-S Artifact…' Although he hasn't tried using the other skills of his Artifact yet, he can already tell that they would be incredible and completely different from the Rank-A and below artifacts.

Nevertheless, his usage of the domain didn't remain unnoticed by the three magical creatures. They angrily bared their fangs and went to Cyril's spot.

Cyril can see them clearly now that they are in his domain… He didn't make a mistake and they are indeed Thralls or one of the lowest levels in the vampire hierarchy.

They aren't that strong and perhaps only have a physical strength similar to the Orc Race. However, they are quite annoying especially when it's dark. Their movements are fast and they have incredible defense while in the shadows.

Cyril can eject them outside of his domain if he wanted to. It wouldn't cost that much Aura now that his domain is established. He just didn't want to do it since he wanted to kill them now.

"Wait… Can I just suppress them?"

Cyril mused as he controlled his domain to shrink and put pressure on the three Thralls.

These Thralls are only two meters tall with long arms and burned skin. They have large mouths and tounges that they use to suck on their victims. They look nasty and quite scary… The victims might've been stunned seeing such an anomalous creature in the human world.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Graahh!

Aacck!

The three of them didn't expect the pressure from his Domain as they dropped on the ground in surprise.

'Should I bring them to the police?' Cyril scratched his head as he considered what to do next. He can simply kill them and leave this place but the case of the murdered victims will remain unsolved.

After all, once these creatures died, they will just turn into ashes and there's no longer any way to confirm that they are the killers. He will be the only witness!

"Ugh… I should've considered this first. Oh well, it's not my problem if they can't find the culprit. The only concern is that they will not raise their awareness if they don't know that a magical creature is doing this."

Cyril then pulled out one of his Giant Wraith Swords to kill the three suppressed Thralls.

Seeing him approaching with a black sword, they struggled as much as they can wanting to avoid certain death.

Graawrrr!!

However, fighting against a Rank-S Artifacts power with their current strength is futile!

Slash!

The heads of the Thralls rolled on the ground before turning into ashes after a few seconds. He didn't bother asking them questions since they only act based on their instincts. He wouldn't be able to have a proper conversation with them at all.

"Phew~ It's all done… That's quite a lot of Aura consumed for a low-level Magical Creature. I should refrain from using that unless necessary." Cyril muttered after getting a feel of how much Aura he used in this battle.

"Eh?"

As Cyril was about to go outside, he suddenly felt the presence of two powerful Awakened Aura outside the building.

If he would make a guess, their Aura should be from an A-Rank Awakened.

"What are they doing here? Ah Wait---"

Cyril finally realized why the appearance of the Thralls didn't make big news in his previous life! Someone probably dealt them like what he did today!

And these two are probably the ones who killed the three!