Lord of The Mysterious Realms Chapter 669

The world was a canvas of silver and white, making the unicorn in the sky nearly invisible. Below, the two spiders lost sight of their target and quickly scuttled back into their cave on the cliff face.

"In weather , the sound of the explosion wouldn't have carried very far."

The dark figure had already appeared from behind. Compared to a direct brawl with the colossal monster, this was the most efficient approach.

By the time he returned to the mountain villa, the sky had grown completely dark. The waiting crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief upon seeing Jenkins return with Miss Lawrence in tow. Although the deaths of their other three companions were heartbreaking, the fact that these pampered young masters and ladies were safe was the best news they could have hoped for that day.

Quake had returned much earlier, and the other servants sent out on search parties had also come back unharmed. Still missing were Miss Mikhail, Hathaway, a Miss Yula Rick, and a Mr. Allen Garcia. More importantly, Jenkins was beginning to suspect something was deeply wrong.

The disappearance of his friends was no coincidence. The string of accidents they'd suffered during this trip couldn't be simply chalked up to bad luck. Starting with the incident involving the "cold snake grass" in the town below, there had to be a culprit among the seven travelers and their servants—a culprit who had yet to reveal their identity or motive.

What's more, the villa's permanent residents couldn't be trusted either. The massive, ice-blue spiders from before were clearly not a native species. Furthermore, Jenkins had found a large basin filled with raw meat in the ruins of the explosion, which only confirmed his suspicions. Someone—or some group of people—in the villa was raising those monsters. Even the appearance of the wolf pack might be connected.

The writer narrowed his eyes. He took a towel, waved away a maid's offer of help, and began brushing the snow from his clothes himself.

Before him, a panicked and anxious crowd had gathered in the main hall, discussing what to do next. And among them, he was certain, was the culprit who knew exactly what was going on.

The heavy doors behind him swung shut, sealing the blizzard outside. The writer, Jenkins Williams, had made up his mind: he would play detective once more and bring the fiend who had ruined his precious vacation to justice.

The blizzard showed no signs of letting up. Anyone caught outside on a night would almost certainly not survive until dawn. So, despite the danger, the villa's inhabitants had to organize search parties. This time, however, Jenkins and Mr. Quake were forbidden from risking their lives to join them.

While riding the unicorn back earlier, Jenkins had already made a low-altitude pass over the area, but he couldn't find any trace of Hathaway's spiritual aura. That didn't necessarily mean she was dead—at least, Jenkins didn't think so. It was far more likely that some sort of spatial artifact, event, or even a Mysterious Realm was involved.

He was deeply worried about his friends. It was as if they had vanished from the face of the earth without a trace.

The search parties returned again and again with disappointing news. Jenkins's dark mood was so palpable that even Miss Lawrence could see it.

She hadn't left Jenkins's side since she'd woken up. The perceptive young woman could also sense that someone in the house harbored ill intentions. She repeated the story of what happened after her group left the villa over and over, but no one could glean any useful clues from her account.

Jenkins even considered sending Chocolate out as a temporary police dog, but finding Miss Lawrence had likely been the cat's limit. In this weather, even the strongest scents were easily swept away. He was a cat, after all, not a hound.

He planned to take the unicorn out again after dinner, this time expanding his search radius. If he still hadn't found them by ten o'clock, he would have no choice but to trouble Alexia for help.

He worried the young women would perish in the freezing temperatures, so he rushed through dinner, fearing that every second wasted could lead to tragedy. But despite his haste, the nighttime search yielded nothing. When he returned to his room through the window, Miss Lawrence, who had been waiting in his bedroom out of fear and anxiety, delivered another piece of terrible news:

"I'm sorry, Mr. Williams. Quake is dead."

The young man, who had been eating at the same table as Jenkins just a short while ago, had been found dead in the hallway outside his room—not far from Jenkins's own—by a servant cleaning the corridor.

There were no external injuries on his body. During a brief examination, the villa's physician, a Mr. Bray Decker, found no signs of a heart attack or any other sudden, fatal illness. Poisoning was the next logical conclusion, but Jenkins and Miss Lawrence, who had eaten at the same table, were perfectly fine. Furthermore, the body's expression was peaceful, showing no signs of a painful struggle before death.

"I'm sorry, I can't determine the cause of death," the doctor explained. "We'll have to wait for the police to arrive for a more thorough examination. Fortunately, it's winter, so the body won't decompose too quickly..."

With that, the doctor reached out and pulled the white sheet over the body, completely covering the face.

Things were growing stranger by the minute. It was Friday night. Ever since leaving Nolan City on Wednesday afternoon, and especially since arriving at this villa, the disasters hadn't ceased. Of the original seven travelers, four were missing and one was dead. On top of that, three of the villa's servants had also perished.

"Miss Lawrence, have you ever killed anyone?"

His question came out of nowhere.

"Huh? No..." The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the novelFɪre.net

Though surprised, the young woman answered honestly. And she was, indeed, telling the truth.

The villa's inhabitants began to suspect that criminals from the outside were responsible, reasoning that they must have destroyed the bridge to prevent any interference. But a stranger couldn't have infiltrated the grounds without leaving a single trace. As large as the estate was, it wasn't so vast that an intruder could hide undetected.

Therefore, among the twenty-six people still active in the villa—Jenkins included—at least one of them had to be involved in the murder.

Jenkins could easily use his lie-detection abilities to identify the culprit. But with his friends still missing, he worried that provoking the perpetrator would seal their fate, causing them to disappear forever. He set himself a deadline: if he couldn't find a clue by midnight, he would resort to less... conventional methods to see justice done.

Under the guise of visiting the restroom, he traveled to Ruen to seek help, but Alexia was, quite coincidentally, not there. The lodestone lay under the pillow in her bedroom, and next to it was a note she had left for him.