Chapter 78: Screams for the Conductors
Gathering information, there is no better place for it than Lacrosa, as long as you can pay, nothing is off-limits.
The Nation of the Forsaken values information like garbage because it is everywhere. They listen to everything, gathering every bit of information.
Their eternal servitude to the Steam Bat is their greatest boon. Nobody can touch them unless they are in the wrong.
That is why a Void came to the heart of Lacrosa, even though they are not a citizen, beating up every guard who came their way. All the way to the information center.
"I have information I want to sell.", that Void's voice was serene and calm, almost too calm.
It might sound like the funniest joke in Lacrosa. Yet for those who witnessed the guards being beaten up from the building, only fear remained.
"W-What would you like to s-sell?", the broker on the other side of the booth trembled. Even through thick glass, he doesn't feel safe.
"The location for three Divine Domains, and two Path of Divinity's Honorific Title.", clean and straight to the point.
This was incredibly valuable information; people would kill for this type of data. After all, it was something related to the framework of all existence. The Nation of the Forsaken only knew 5 Divine Domains' locations and 10 Path of Divinity Honorific Names.
"H-How do you intend to prove that your information is true?", he stammered, desperately pressing the red button beneath the table repeatedly.
That person merely raised their right hand, "I swear in the name of the Everwatcher, the Lady of Fortune, The Sacred Flame, the Steam Bat, and the Chalk Princess that I tell no lies. The truth and only the truth."
Besides the Sacred Flame, the Chalk Princess, and the Steam Bat, the other two names might belong to completely unknown deities...
"How much will you pay me for these bits of information?", that person smiled, tapping the desk, waiting for an answer.
"W-We need to know if it doesn't overlap with what we know—"
"Solidarity, Inversion, and Elements. As for the Path of Divinity, I have Void and Gravity.", that person answered with a casualness that didn't suit what they just said.
The broker clenched his jaw, "How much do you want?"
"Eight million Cee for all."
That was an absurd amount, but the value of their information was worth that much.
"Eight million... we... accept it."
=0=0=
The first week, Lea told herself she was just being thorough. Patrolling the city wasn't technically outside her duties as Shadow Guard, even if her methods were... unconventional.
The second week, she admitted she was hunting.
By the third week, it had become routine.
Tonight's targets were two Pathstriders shaking down a merchant in the warehouse district. Lea observed from under the shade, her consciousness slipping into the mirror world and leaving her physical body hidden but defenseless.
In the mirror world, everything appeared reversed and slightly distorted, like viewing the world through dark water. But the sound carried perfectly, and the two thugs had no idea they were being observed through the puddle at their feet.
"—payment's due.", the larger one growled, his hand wreathed in crackling electricity. Second Step Surge, probably, "Boss doesn't like waiting."
"I already paid this month!", the merchant protested.
"That was last month's protection. You want protection for this month, don't you?"
Lea had heard enough. She withdrew from the mirror world and used Shadow Sneak. She materialized behind the electric Pathstrider like smoke given form.
"Evening, gentlemen."
Both Pathstriders spun. The electric one's hands lit up immediately, "Who—"
Lea's Cursed Constructs erupted, black tendrils wrapping around his arms before he could complete whatever attack he'd been preparing.
She read his surface thoughts... Second Step, just intimidation work, don't know much.
The second thug, clearly smarter, turned to run.
Her enhanced cognition kicked in, thoughts racing far faster than her body could move. She calculated his trajectory, the layout of the warehouse, and the most efficient point of interception.
Her Cursed Constructs shot forward, catching his ankle. He hit the pavement hard.
"I hate runners...", Lea said mildly, though her bird mask made her voice sound hollow and distant.
The electric one struggled against the Cursed Constructs, electricity arcing uselessly into the dark tendrils. They weren't quite physical enough to conduct properly.
"Do you know what I am?", Lea asked conversationally, reading his surface thoughts as he panicked.
"Shadow... Guard...", he gasped, his mind racing with fear and confusion.
"Wrong.", he stepped closer, golden eyes gleaming behind her mask, "I'm Fourth Step. Do you know what that means?"
The color drained from his face. His surface thoughts screamed
'Fourth Step? Here? Why? What did we do to—'
"You're going to sleep now...", she said softly.
Her Hexes activated, the Malediction-based curse washed over both men like a tidal wave. The overwhelming drowsiness was irresistible at this range. They collapsed within seconds.
Then came the interesting part. Lea knelt beside them, placing her scaled hand on the electric Pathstrider's forehead. She activated Dream Eater, taking the memories for her own.
The sensation was still strange, even after weeks of practice. Like falling through layers of water, each one darker and deeper than the last. Surface thoughts gave way to recent memories, then older ones, then the murky realm of the unconscious where desires, fears, and secrets lurked.
'Boss wants more. The ritual needs funding.'
'Third warehouse by the docks. Midnight meetings.'
'Can't fail. Not after what happened to Marcus.'
Lea focused on that last thought, diving deeper. The memory surfaced from his unconscious, another thug, screaming as something was done to him. The electric Pathstrider hadn't understood what he was seeing, but the terror was visceral.
'He failed to collect enough.', a voice in the memory said, 'So he'll contribute in another way. Scream needs vessels.'
Lea's eyes narrowed behind her mask. Scream, one of the more unstable Paths. Associated with sound, terror, and psychic assault. Volatile and dangerous.
She moved to the second thug, diving into his unconscious to confirm the details. Third warehouse, midnight meetings, someone called "the Conductor" organizing everything.
And underneath it all, fragments of something bigger. References to a ritual, to ascending, to the Fourth Step.
Someone was trying to ascend to Fourth Step through the Path of Scream, and they were using these street-level criminals to gather resources and victims.
Lea withdrew from their minds, leaving both men unconscious but unmarked. The authorities could handle the rest.
She pulled out a signal flare and lit it above the warehouse, then melted back into shadow before the patrol arrived.
=0=0=
The pattern repeated over the next several nights.
She found a Pathstrider dealing in stolen mystical artifacts, paralyzed him with her Hexes, and used Deep Dive to learn about his supply chain. A follower of some minor god, may not even be real, but his unconscious revealed connections to the same criminal network.
Three muggers working the entertainment district—put them all down with Malediction, discovered through their unconscious minds that they were being paid in "ritual contribution credits" rather than actual money.
A pair of arsonists targeting rival businesses. Stopped them mid-act, dove into their unconscious, and learned they were Scream Pathstriders themselves. First Step initiates gathering "terror energy" for someone higher up the chain. Each time, Lea used the mirror world to scout, slipping her consciousness to see through the eyes of her victims.
And each time, after subduing them with Malediction's sleep curses, she'd eat their unconscious minds to extract information.
The technique was becoming more refined. At first, navigating someone's unconscious had been overwhelming, a chaotic soup of memories, emotions, and half-formed thoughts. But Lea was learning to navigate the chaos, to find the threads she needed and follow them carefully.
Her Silence Path helped immensely. Reading surface thoughts gave her entry points, conscious associations she could follow down into deeper layers. Judgement helped her distinguish truth from fear-distorted memory. Cloak let her move through their minds undetected, avoiding the natural defenses of the unconscious.
And Malediction... let her touch their minds in the first place, her curses creating pathways between her consciousness and theirs.
It was a perfect combination for what Lady Keter had called her Path, the foundation of the Dreamer, though she was still technically an Avenger until the Fifth Step.
By the end of the third week, Lea had a notebook full of information:
The Conductor: Unknown identity, but definitely Third Step, maybe touching Fourth. Organizing a ritual.
Scream Path: The ritual path being used. Requires unwilling participants whose terror would fuel the ascension.
Funding: The criminal network was collecting money, artifacts, and people.
Timeline: References to "the crescendo" suggested the ritual was approaching. Maybe weeks, maybe less.
Location: Still unknown, but multiple unconscious associations with "where sound dies" and "the silent chamber."
She'd also learned that several missing persons cases from the past two months weren't random disappearances. They were kidnappings, victims taken for the ritual.
The authorities didn't know. But Lea knew.
And she was going to stop it.