Canticle: Code Caligula

Chapter 17: The Uninvited

The Deepcut, Yomi — 01:43 AM. Mura walked through the winding lower chambers of the guild headquarters accompanied by his Thrall. They approached the room where all deceased bounties were held under lock and key until disposal.

"Are we even allowed to be here," Lilith murmured, not taking her eyes off the door.

There was security throughout the building, but mostly posted at places of interest. Any would-be thieves certainly wouldn't break into the most prestigious guildhall in Yomi only to loot a morgue.

"Technically no. Still, I have a hunch regarding something I saw earlier today at the outpost, I just didn't know it until Naraka sparked my memory," Mura said, making the first bold step to inspect the door.

—Great, sealed. A busted lock is going to look pretty suspicious.

To his surprise, Lilith pushed him aside and procured a set of small tools from her boot. Inserting a lock pick into the keyhole, she fumbled with the tumblers inside.

"You stick to the fighting, big guy. I know my way around a few locks."

"Good thing I have you then, burglary was never in my repertoire," he said back with a smile.

With a barely audible click, the door was unlocked and Lilith proceeded to open it without delay.

"Open Sesame," she chimed.

Mura and Lilith walked into the sterile room, immediately feeling a chill in the air as the scent of disinfectant hit their nostrils. Most of the subjects had been documented and were going to be disposed of come morning; incinerated into ash.

—Where are you hiding?

"Hey! I found our luskrats! They smell slightly better somehow... But that's still not saying much," Lilith said while pinching her nose.

"We aren't looking for those. We're after those mangled bodies smashed into a pulp. That could only have been the handy work of our favorite lumbering idiot."

In the far corner of the long rectangular room, laid out perfectly on metal slabs were the obliterated cadavers Mura had been after. He rushed over, excited to see they were still there.

"I knew it," Mura said, nodding his head.

"You mind cluing me in, Sherlock?"

"Look at these corpses. Every single one has its head smashed beyond recognition. Conveniently, that helps hide the identity of these victims."

"Okay, so Behemoth likes his victims to remain anonymous. You really made me climb all those stupid stairs up to the Deepcut for this?"

Mura grabbed hold of the cadaver's arm, turning it over to inspect the underside. As he did, his blood ran cold as hairs pricked up on the back of his neck.

"The black branches I saw in my vision... they were veins. Blackened veins," Mura thought aloud.

"They also smell really bad. Like the ocean or something," she added.

Mura nodded, manually inspecting each one himself.

"Blackened veins, they're a common symptom only seen in soul addicts. We saw plenty of them in the slums growing up. But this, this is really bad," Mura said.

"Soul addicts... Like that Shitidama we fought in the tournament," Lilith uttered surreally.

"Yeah... That's what it points to. The blotches on the skin too, jaundice tone. Everything concludes with these folks being Shitidama."

The pieces of the puzzle were beginning to take shape in Mura's mind as he closed his eyes and concentrated like Naraka had taught him. All of Behemoth's targets were soul addicts, Shitidama and mutilated to hide their appearances. Something was missing however.