Teasing

Matthew had been living at Chris's place for a long time, so he had set up a warning-type Protection Spell there. If an intruder triggered it, he would receive the alert immediately.

He tucked Old White's diary into his pocket. He had skimmed through it briefly just now and noticed something off, but this wasn't the time to dig deeper. He planned to return to his residence first.

Matthew took a walking stick from his pocket—this was a Portkey he had made. After activating it, space twisted, and the figure in the bedroom vanished.

A figure holding a walking stick suddenly appeared in the room next to Chris's Study. Matthew had teleported back via the Portkey, which he had keyed to his Residence Room.

After returning, Matthew quickly sensed a Magic Fluctuation on the First Floor. He extended his Left Hand, and an invisible wave radiated from his palm, sweeping across the First Floor.

Matthew frowned slightly. He detected an Energy Fluctuation on the First Floor that was different from an Ordinary Wizard's magic—it felt familiar somehow.

Before he could think further, a commotion came from the First Floor. It seemed Chris had already encountered the intruder.

When Matthew reached the First Floor, he saw a monster that triggered the uncanny Valley Effect in humans. The creature stood about twice a man's height, its bare body covered in protruding human faces. Each face wore a different expression, but most were twisted in agony and terror.

The faces on the monster's body emitted faint Whispers. If one listened closely, they could hear them saying, "It hurts so much—my face—it hurts so much—"

Chris was slumped in a corner, his Left Arm Severed. Judging by the wound, it looked like it had been torn off by sheer Great Force.

When he noticed Matthew, he gasped, "Matthew! This monster has immense strength and tough skin. My sword can't cut him. Please be careful!"

A flicker of shock passed through Matthew's eyes. Among the faces on the monster, he spotted Sir Rayne and his wife Trina!

"How did Sir Rayne and his wife end up on this monster? Did something happen to them after I left?" Matthew was unsettled. Not long ago, he had seen them at Sir Rayne's house.

Then Matthew found another familiar face on the monster—the Night Watchman he had met when he first arrived in Whitestone Town.

"Drink this Hemostatic Agent." He tossed a vial toward Chris.

"So this monster is behind the Missing Persons Case in Whitestone Town?" Matthew Drew Out his wand, and a Blue Light shot from the Wand Tip.

The Blue Light struck the monster, only pushing it back half a step. It looked up at Matthew, its eyes glowing with bloodthirsty Red Light. Its mouth split open to its ears, revealing pitch-black Sharp Teeth, and its Facial Features twisted together as it let out a chilling voice.

"High Magic Resistance!" Matthew's gaze sharpened. This monster's Magic Resistance was nearly on par with a Basileus. He became even more cautious.

The faces on the monster's body all turned to Matthew at once. Sir Rayne and Trina, Seeing Matthew, cried out urgently, "Your Excellency Investigator—save us!"

Trina's once-beautiful face had lost all its former gentleness. Her temples were covered in bulging Veins as she screamed in pain:

"Your Excellency Investigator—help—save me—I don't want to die—!"

The faces on the monster were still conscious!

Matthew flicked his wand, sending several transparent, curved Wind Blades toward the monster.

After casting the spell, Matthew turned and ran outside. He needed to lure the monster out. Fighting indoors risked harming Chris and Tina, and would also damage the house.

The transparent Wind Blades left only shallow cuts on the monster's body, but the faces that were hit twisted in even greater pain. Bright red blood seeped from their wounds as they rasped weakly, "It hurts so much—it hurts so much—"

Then, the wounded faces' eyes slowly glowed Red, and they spoke with venomous hatred, "Kill him—kill him—"

The monster followed Matthew outside and lunged at him with terrifying speed.

Matthew barely had time to raise a Shield Charm before a tremendous force slammed into him. The monster sent him flying, Shield Charm and all!

But the Shield Charm didn't shatter. After Matthew had broken through to Level 2 Wizard Apprentice through his Meditation Method, he had experienced a minor Magic Outburst, which had slightly increased his spell power.

Matthew quickly cast a Levitation Charm on his cloak and Shoes, using the monster's momentum to soar high into the air. He found a tall Tower rooftop to land on.

Seeing that the monster couldn't reach him for now, he pulled a round Badge with a white base from his pocket. Engraved in the center was a Wizard Hat—this was the identity Badge of a Court Wizard Investigator. The white base signified a Temporary Investigator.

The Badge was an Alchemy Item. Through it, one could use Remote Communication Magic to contact other Court Wizard members. Each Badge had a unique Magic Frequency. After exchanging frequencies, holders could communicate remotely. Currently, his Badge only recorded the Magic Frequencies of Link and Anna.

Matthew activated the Badge and invited Link to a Remote Communication.

A few breaths later, the Badge glowed faintly, and the connection was established.

"Something wrong?" Link asked bluntly. He didn't think Matthew would call him in the middle of the night for no reason.

Matthew said quickly, "We're under attack. The enemy is strong. Come to 56 Riverside Street now."

"Hang on. We'll be there soon."

After the exchange, neither side ended the call immediately, keeping the line open to update each other on the situation.

Matthew heard a loud thud. Without thinking, he leaped forward instinctively.

"Boom!" A massive rock smashed into the spot where he had just been standing, sending dust flying everywhere.

When the dust settled, one corner of the Tower roof had collapsed.

Matthew landed on the roof of a nearby house, but didn't stop. He immediately jumped to another rooftop as another boulder crashed into where he had stood.

The monster covered in faces kept hurling stones at Matthew from Riverside Street. The source of the stones was a house nearby whose wall had been smashed in.

Luckily, it wasn't Chris's house.

"Boom—boom—boom—" The sound of boulders hitting rooftops echoed loudly in the dead of night.

"Woo—" Not Long After, a distant Night Watchman blew a horn, alerting the residents of Whitestone Town.

"Not very smart," Matthew judged. A creature with normal intelligence wouldn't cause such a ruckus while committing a crime at night.

After a while, the monster stopped throwing rocks, as if it had finally realized this wouldn't hurt Matthew.

It ran to the base of the building Matthew was standing on, grabbed the Stone Wall with both hands, and pressed its fingers into the stone, creating ten holes. It began climbing up the wall.

Matthew watched expressionlessly as the Monster rapidly approached. Just as it was about to reach the rooftop, he waved his wand, and the wall the Monster was gripping turned into a pool of clear water.

Losing its support, the Monster plummeted to the ground.