Naturally, Hastur and Maric wouldn't let it escape so easily.
Maric gave chase first, while Hastur instructed Lecturer Fron to return along the original path, then grabbed the kerosene lamp and followed.
---------------------------------------
'Am I the only one left?' Lecturer Fron held the kerosene lamp, stunned for a while, then carefully cradled it and walked back the way he came.
Before leaving, he glanced at the zombie. Under the dim yellow light, the corpse's face looked even paler and more terrifying.
On closer inspection, its eyes were as black as eerie black crystals, forming a sharp contrast with its pale face.
Shivering, he quickly quickened his pace and left.
When he reached the hidden door to the basement, the zombie left there didn't notice him because it was shrouded in darkness.
As the lamp's light fell upon it, Lecturer Fron's heart skipped half a beat on the spot, his face turned deathly pale, and he almost collapsed to the ground in fright.
Luckily, he remembered just in time that there had been someone stationed here as a guard who looked just like that.
"Why can't you just say something? Do you have to be so creepy?"
Lecturer Fron swallowed hard, still shaken, and was completely speechless inside.
The four people who had followed along tonight were like ice sculptures, not even saying a single word.
He tried to communicate with them, but they simply ignored him, staring straight at him, making him extremely uncomfortable.
Lecturer Fron shrank back a bit, tightened his grip on the kerosene lamp, and didn't waste any time there, he still had to go get reinforcements.
Although Mr. Hastur hadn't instructed him to, he felt it necessary to ask the police for help.
Out of the clock tower, Lecturer Fron jogged all the way to the room where the two police officers stayed and knocked on their door.
As for everyone else, he trusted no one now, especially that Dean Bard.
The two police officers were quickly awakened by Fron's knocking and opened the door.
Lecturer Fron quickly gave them a brief summary of what had just happened, only mentioning that there was a secret chamber in the basement tunnel containing a terrifying monster. He did not mention anything unusual about Hastur and Maric.
The two officers listened carefully, then followed Fron to the clock tower, entered the basement, and came to the tunnel, where they indeed found an empty chamber.
The three of them held lamps and entered the chamber one after another. Lecturer Fron looked around curiously but didn't see the person who had been guarding here earlier.
The dim kerosene light barely illuminated three meters around them, leaving the rest in darkness.
As they went deeper, the sound of blades slicing through the air rang out. The two police officers drew their sidearms cautiously and advanced.
Faintly, a small yellow glow appeared ahead, it was the source of the blade sounds.
It was Mr. Hastur!
After getting closer, Fron barely recognized Hastur's figure by the glow. Excited, he called out while signaling the two officers not to shoot recklessly, to avoid accidental harm.
In the yellow lamplight, with each icy slash of the blade, a head fell to the ground.
One head rolled right up to the three of them, it was a child's head, bloodied, eyes wide open, teeth exposed, horrifying.
The two officers were startled, quickly raising their guns at Hastur, who was still swinging his blade, and shouted: "Baron Campbell, stop that absurd behavior immediately, or we will shoot!"
"Don't come too close for now," Hastur calmly replied, then moved aside and placed his kerosene lamp in front so Fron and the officers could see clearly.
There lay a beast of an indescribable species, crouching on the ground, with several children's heads growing from its body. Its abdomen had been sliced open with a large gash, bleeding profusely, and its entire body was covered in sword wounds.
It wasn't completely dead yet, still breathing weakly, and every time Hastur severed one of those children's heads, its body trembled slightly and let out a feeble cry.
"Th-this…"
The two young officers were horrified. Even though Fron had repeatedly stressed on the way that there was a terrifying monster in the chamber, they hadn't been too scared.
They figured it was just a wild beast, and their guns would be enough.
But this unimaginable monster, they had never seen anything like it.
Just looking at the pile of children's heads on its body made their skin crawl and itch.
It was hard to imagine how much courage Baron Campbell, this young nobleman, had to stand there, expressionless, killing the monster head by head.
When all the children's heads had been severed, the monster finally lost its last bit of life.
Was it over? The two officers looked at each other and shivered again.
Meanwhile, Fron had already walked up to Hastur and softly asked, "Where is Mr. Maric?"
"He's fine, he just doesn't like seeing too many strangers."
"Oh." Fron nodded, relieved. He had thought that since he hadn't seen Mr. Maric earlier, he might have been eaten by that terrifying monster.
After a moment of silence, Fron asked again, "Have you found teacher?"
Hastur calmly replied, "No, but he should be fine."
"??"
Lecturer Fron showed a puzzled expression on his face. He wanted to know how Hastur came to that conclusion, or if he was simply comforting him.
"This monster doesn't like to eat adults; it only likes children."
"But what if someone wanted to harm the teacher…"
Lecturer Fron thought of another possibility. Hastur glanced at him and said, "Then you'd better be prepared to lose our teacher."
Hastur didn't talk much with Lecturer Fron.
He went over to have the two police officers report what happened here and also asked them to invite clergy from the Church of the Evernight Goddess to appease the restless souls of the dead.
…
The next morning, just at dawn, a group of police officers hurriedly arrived with five clergy members from the Church of the Evernight Goddess.
Before the police officers could thoroughly search the entire Almshouse, Professor Wayne appeared with Deputy Dean Bard.
Lecturer Fron was very happy and went up to greet them, while Hastur sighed softly, his face not showing much joy.
Professor Wayne was still alive, which was naturally something to be happy about, but he had been with Deputy Dean Bard the whole time.
If Hastur's guess was correct, this time Professor Wayne had truly been in danger, a life-and-death situation, and at the critical moment, Deputy Dean Bard must have appeared like divine intervention to save Professor Wayne.
After that, everything fell into place naturally.
The secret chamber was discovered, the monster was slain, and the deaths of those children could be attributed to the already-dead Dean Darn.
Because Dean Darn was dead, no one could control the monster anymore, which was why last night's incident had happened.
Having saved Professor Wayne and possessing both an alibi and no apparent motive, Deputy Dean Bard could use this opportunity to clear himself of all suspicion.
This way, all the hidden landmines within the Almshouse were completely cleared, ushering in a new era belonging to Dean Bard.
It was quite a decent script.
Yes, just a script, a prearranged script.
While Hastur was lost in thought, Bard and Professor Wayne turned their eyes toward him.
One was curious, the other embarrassed.
"Hastur, you truly are my proudest student, always able to solve any problem in times of crisis with your courage and wisdom."
Professor Wayne smiled and walked over, wanting to give Hastur a warm hug, but Hastur stopped him with an outstretched hand.
"Professor Wayne, as a teacher, you went missing twice in the same place. How can you set a good example for us students like that? Don't you know reckless behavior makes others worry?"
"…"
Professor Wayne looked embarrassed and ashamed. Before he could say anything, Hastur stepped forward, gave him a light hug, and said with a wink and a smile, "Welcome back, teacher."
Lecturer Fron couldn't help but laugh, Professor Wayne gave a helpless wry smile, and Bard withdrew his gaze.
What followed unfolded exactly as Hastur had anticipated.
The already-dead Dean Darn bore all the blame for this heinous case.
Hastur didn't say anything about it and left the Almshouse together with Professor Wayne and Lecturer Fron under Bard's gaze.
That very night, a letter of accusation was delivered to the Church of the Evernight Goddess.
"What do you think about this letter?"
"Using children as sacrifices to feed an evil monster, this indeed matches a Devils' behavior. I think we should investigate."
"I've heard members of the church in the dock district mention that things like those described in this letter have indeed happened at Sunrise Almshouse. Its authenticity can be guaranteed."
"Such deep concealment, worthy of a devil known for cunning!"
"Inform the Night Watchers. Move fast, depart tonight, and take a sealed artifact if necessary."
"Did you find out who wrote this letter?"
"Yes, it was Hastur Campbell, a young and promising baron."
…
At Sunrise Almshouse, Bard stood on the third floor, gazing toward the clock tower, a mocking smile on his lips.
A bunch of fools. Did they really think that idiot Darn could quietly do so many things inside the Almshouse?
That Professor Wayne was such a good man, always showing up at the Almshouse at just the right moment, allowing Bard to safely escape using his presence.
His strong sense of justice had helped a Devil escape judgment. When he learned the truth, would he break down completely?
Bard was very satisfied with the script he had written. A true Devil should indeed be cunning and deep like him.
For some reason, the image of that young baron appeared in his mind at that moment.
Although he hadn't sensed any dangerous aura from him, he always felt that something was strange about him.
"Am I just overthinking it?"
Bard muttered softly, looking at the dark night ahead. Suddenly, his eyelids twitched violently, and it felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his brain tingling madly with an unprecedented sense of danger!
Without the slightest hesitation, he leaped directly from the third floor, intending to abandon his identity as the new dean of the Almshouse and completely get away from here!
Crack.
It was the sound of something breaking.
Bard found himself still standing on the third floor, his expression changing drastically. "A nightmare, Night Watchers from the Evernight Church!"
Damn it! Where had he slipped up?!
He had no time to think about it anymore because he was already surrounded.
…
That night, Hastur gazed in the direction of Sunrise Almshouse in the dock district and murmured, "I'll write you a script too; it should be enough to bring this story to an end."