CHAPTER 1066: PEEKING

Erend followed them through the narrow passage into another chamber hidden deeper inside the woman’s house.

The moment he stepped through the doorway the air grew denser, colder, and filled with the stench of dried blood.

His eyes adjusted to the dim light and what he saw made his stomach tighten a little.

The room looked like a cross between an operating room and a slaughterhouse.

The stone floor was stained with dark patches of blood that had long since dried, but fresher smears ran in streaks toward a drain in the center.

The walls bore splashes faint of red and brown.

Iron hooks hung from chains along the ceiling beams. Some of them looked empty but others bearing old ropes that had cut deep into the flesh.

Knives, cleavers, bone saws, and other tools of dissection hung in neat rows on wooden racks, each polished clean but glinting coldly in the lantern light.

A thick metallic tang clung to the air, layered with something sour and rotting beneath.

"Lay it on the table," the woman said evenly, gesturing to one of the stone slabs in the center of the room.

Its surface scarred with deep grooves and caked residue that no cleaning could ever fully erase.

Adrius moved without hesitation. He lowered the Fey’s body until it rested flat upon the slab.

His expression did not change, it kept calm and composed as though he had stepped into such rooms countless times before.

Erend grimaced as his eyes swept the chamber.

But when his gaze shifted back to Adrius he found no flicker of discomfort in the old Mage’s features.

Adrius looked as if this was nothing more than a study or library, his mind focused solely on the task at hand. He seems to be used to this kind of things already.

The woman turned her head slightly, catching Erend’s expression, and a teasing smile curled her lips.

"What is it, young one? You look disturbed. Have you never been in a place like this before?"

Erend exhaled through his nose. "Yeah. I’ve never been in this kind of room."

The woman chuckled softly, her tone mocking but not exactly cruel. "How innocent. Like a boy with no experience."

Adrius let out a scoff, his beard bristling as he gave her a sharp glance.

"This young man is not what you think he is. He may not be used to rooms like this, but he has fought and defeated several gods."

The woman blinked, her eyes widening slightly before big laughter bubbled up.

"You’re jesting, Archmage. A boy like him?" she said.

Adrius’s gaze was steady. "I am serious. His reaction is not weakness. It’s just unfamiliarity. Do not mistake the difference."

Her laughter faltered, trailing into silence.

She tilted her head. Her curiosity sparking. But her doubt lingered in her expression.

Why would the Archmage lie about something so absurd?

Adrius turned back to the slab. "Enough. I will begin the procedure. Erend, don’t think of this as human. Think of it as the corpse of a Magical beast."

"Alright," Erend replied curtly.

But the woman was not yet satisfied.

She let her eyes linger on him, then narrowed them, calling on her Magic to pierce through the veil of his appearance.

She sought to glimpse what power the Archmage spoke of.

And then something unexpected happened.

Her vision cracked open to a vast and yawning abyss. She saw a darkness that was so endless and crushing. It looked so immense that it seemed to stare back at her and devour her.

It was not power that she saw in Erend, but an abyssal presence that swallowed light, an absolute depth that her own consciousness couldn’t handle.

Pain seared through her head and stabbed behind her eyes.

Her breath gasped as if she were drowning, and with a strangled scream she collapsed to the floor.

Erend’s eyes widened. He stepped forward quickly, kneeling by her side, his hand outstretched.

"Are you alright? Here, let me—"

But the woman flinched violently and pushed herself back. Her hood slipping to reveal wide terrified eyes.

She refused his hand and scrambled upright then leaning heavily against a pillar for support, her chest heaving.

Adrius chuckled and let out a dry amused sound, like an old man mocking a child’s mistake.

"Heh. My apologies. I forgot to warn you. Best not to pry into him. I assumed you’d take my word for it." Adrius said.

The woman said nothing. Her fingers dug into the pillar as though anchoring herself.

Her eyes were wide, her body trembling, her mind reeling.

"What was that? What did I just see? That abyss... that horror... it’s etched into me now."

But the memory of what she had glimpsed burned like a brand into her mind now. She forced herself to stop thinking about it before the terror could overwhelm her again.

She looked at Erend, her eyes quivering. He was no longer a young man to her eyes but something else.

Something that could not be measured in human terms.

Erend, seeing her distress, gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry."

She stammered, her voice uneven, "I-it’s... alright."

Adrius turned back to his work without another word, his hands moving with calm precision as he began to operate on the Fey’s body.

The room fell into silence, broken only by the quiet clink of tools and the steady measured voice of the Archmage muttering his incantations to keep the body of the Fey intact while he sliced it up.

The woman leaned silently against the pillar, her eyes lingering on Erend, her thoughts was like a whirlwind that she didn’t dared to speak.

Adrius finished the surgery within half an hour. He had already harvested Fey’s vital organ.

The process left the creature’s body motionless and hollow, nothing more than an empty shell.

The woman stepped forward afterward, and giving him a metal container etched with faintly glowing runes.

She held it out with both hands.

Adrius inclined his head in acknowledgment.

"Thank you." He carefully placed the organs inside, the runes pulsing once as the container sealed.

Turning back to her, Adrius’s voice carried quiet weight. "Remain vigilant. If you notice any disturbances no matter how small inform me at once."

The woman gave a slight nod of her head. "I understand."

With that, Adrius adjusted his robes and motioned to Erend.

The two of them stepped out of the bloodstained chamber after their business here concluded.

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