The Moth Madly Drawn to Flame

There was only one enemy on the second floor, while the third floor had three Corpse Hounds. They were not incorporeal undead, but undead creatures similar to Corpse Ghouls. Their entire bodies were a ghastly white like rotten flesh, covered in wrinkles and signs of decay. They looked almost completely identical, moved extremely quickly, and even possessed intelligence, knowing how to coordinate their attacks.

Shade encountered them the moment he went upstairs, and his hasty counterattack nearly cost him dearly. Fortunately, he retreated to the staircase in time, where the narrow space allowed him to face them one at a time.

Honestly, a pack of three dogs was far more terrifying than a single powerful humanoid undead.

The third-floor ground was still covered in a layer of dust of unknown origin, like ashes, just like outside. Besides the footprints of the three Corpse Hounds from earlier, there were other messy footprints in the dust.

Those footprints had been dealt with, but the traces had not been completely erased. Shade observed them and concluded that at least three different people had appeared here recently:

Hopefully, these traces are from within the last thirty-six hours.

With that thought, he used the thaumaturgy Echoes of the Past.

This thaumaturgy could listen to sounds from the past, and it was more inclined to pick up sounds made by humans. In the Interstice, where sounds could not travel far and living people were nearly nonexistent, Shade succeeded on his first attempt:

"Professor, you actually escaped?"

That was Joey Barton's voice. The tone caused by his damaged lungs was highly recognizable.

"We escaped, but almost all of the Truth Society personnel sent to the Miburg region were wiped out this time as well. The Church struck accurately and ruthlessly."

Shade raised an eyebrow. Both the Witches