I Explore Urban Legends - Chapter 103: The Spider Spirit Iktomi (Patreon)

Liam looked at the bartender in front of him and gave him a chilling smile.

This spiritual protection was incredibly useful. In the past, he would have had no choice but to dodge an attack like that in a panic.

Now, though, he could sit there comfortably and calmly watch the bartender's hands tremble.

"Who are you? What exactly are you here for?"

Liam picked up the beer glass and hurled it.

It shot past the bartender's ear and smashed against the wall behind him.

Crash!

The sound of shattering glass made the bartender duck instinctively.

Liam gave a light hop and landed behind the bar. He yanked the shotgun out of the bartender's hands and snapped it in half with a crack.

Fortunately, the stock was made of wood. Otherwise, breaking it wouldn't have been nearly as easy.

When Liam reached out again, the bartender nearly lost his footing in fright.

Then Liam casually wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

Good.

The spiritual energy he'd spent on those little tricks hadn't gone to waste. The man was practically too terrified to think straight now. He should answer just about anything Liam asked.

"I've smelled blood ever since I walked in. This clearly isn't an ordinary bar. So let's talk."

Even under Liam's questioning, the bartender continued trembling uncontrollably.

Liam frowned and lightly patted his cheek.

"What's wrong? I didn't scare you that badly, did I?"

At that moment, the bartender abruptly stopped shaking.

Instead, he stared directly at Liam.

When he spoke, the voice that came from his mouth wasn't his own.

"You actually found this place. Since you've come here, you won't be leaving."

The bartender suddenly opened his mouth far wider than any human could and released a piercing shriek.

"Agh!"

As the scream ended, his skin began to change.

His normal complexion vanished in an instant, replaced by a blood-red color, while a murky gray haze clouded his pupils.

Liam carefully watched the transformation without interrupting it.

Then he suddenly turned and sprinted out through the bar's small door.

Outside, Lily and Watson had heard the commotion. Both were clinging to the car door, peeking out with only their little heads visible.

"Lily, quick! Bring me the camera. This is way too interesting!"

Lily immediately leaped into the back seat and rummaged through a bag until she found a portable video camera.

Liam brought it with him every time he went out. The camera had already proven extremely useful on more than one occasion.

Lily grabbed it in her mouth, ran to the window, and flicked her head toward Liam.

The camera flew through the air.

Liam judged the trajectory, lunged forward, and caught it cleanly.

Then he spun around, dropped to one knee, and aimed the camera at the bartender behind him.

By this point, calling the creature a bartender no longer made sense.

It had barely retained a human shape. Its limbs had stretched to grotesque lengths, and four canine fangs protruded from its mouth.

"Viewers, Liam has come to this little town on business, and I certainly didn't expect such a warm welcome. Let's take a look at exactly what this thing is!"

As he spoke, Liam kept moving around, filming the creature from every angle.

This was all valuable evidence.

He already had a suspicion.

This place was probably a hidden base belonging to another organization. He just didn't know which one yet.

The creature had a terrifying appearance and limbs clearly suited for combat. Against an ordinary person, it would have been extremely dangerous.

Unfortunately for it, its opponent was Liam.

The bartender attacked wildly, but Liam was far too fast.

Almost none of its blows came close to landing.

Once Liam was satisfied that he'd recorded everything he needed, he tossed the camera toward Watson.

It bounced once off Watson and rolled safely onto the seat without a scratch.

A lightsaber materialized in Liam's hand.

As the bartender lunged at him, Liam swung several times in rapid succession.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The bartender was sliced into several pieces in midair.

The severed edges hissed as they burned, and moments later, the remains dissolved into a pool of blood.

Liam immediately pulled out his Events Logbook.

Sure enough, a new page had appeared.

[Blood Servant]

[Event Level: C]

[Exploration Progress: 20%]

So this really was connected to Vampires.

Liam immediately thought of Nikita's sleazy face.

According to him, the Vampires here were divided into Eastern European and Western European factions.

That meant this bartender was most likely connected to the Western European side.

Unfortunately, Liam currently had no leads regarding Western European Vampires.

Nikita's group certainly would, though.

He could simply ask them later.

The possibility that they might refuse never even crossed Liam's mind.

If he asked, he would get an answer.

Liam put away the Events Logbook and returned to the car.

Lily immediately ran onto the center console and asked, "Little One, what was that thing?"

"That was a Blood Servant. Probably something belonging to Vampires."

Liam was only guessing.

"So did you manage to get any clues out of him?"

"No. But his body was full of clues."

By now, Liam was certain Lily's friend wasn't somewhere inside the town itself.

There wasn't a single building here that looked anything like a slaughterhouse.

Still, she had to be somewhere nearby.

There was no reason for them to travel a great distance just to build a slaughterhouse.

At that moment, shrieks began echoing from the surrounding houses.

"Agh!"

"Looks like we should leave first. The people of Exeter don't seem very welcoming."

Liam immediately started the car and drove out of town.

As Exeter receded in the rearview mirror, Lily asked anxiously, "Little One, what do we do now?"

Liam sighed.

"We'll circle around the area a few times and let Watson sniff around. Maybe he'll find something."

The moment Liam mentioned him, Watson sat bolt upright in the passenger seat.

He stuck his head toward the open window and took a deep sniff.

"Grrr!"

Watson let out a low growl.

"You already found something?"

Liam turned toward him in surprise.

He hadn't expected it to be that fast.

Still, his hands never stopped moving. He immediately drove in the direction Watson indicated.

Eventually, they reached a point where the car could go no farther.

Liam grabbed his gun and camera and got out.

The moment Watson jumped down, he lowered his nose to the ground and began running forward while sniffing.

Liam followed closely behind.

As they moved through the forest, Liam couldn't shake the feeling that something was deeply wrong.

There were no insects chirping.

No birds calling.

The silence was unnerving.

Before long, he noticed something strange in the distance.

A mass of spider silk was drifting through the air.

Even without measuring it, Liam could tell immediately that no ordinary spider could have made something that large.

"Careful. Something's wrong here."

Liam spoke cautiously.

Lily, however, suddenly became excited.

"Little One, we found her!"

"Hm?"

Liam immediately realized what she meant and hurried toward the web.

Sure enough, a spider was hanging beneath it.

Lily excitedly pointed with one paw.

"That's her. The Spider Spirit Iktomi."

Lily's friends really were strange.

The image of a wise sage Liam had formed in his mind vanished instantly.

Still, the tiny creature certainly suited a Divinity of trickery and wisdom.

Liam walked over and gently caught Iktomi.

The moment the spider landed in his hand, he realized something was wrong.

Her spiritual energy was so faint that he could barely sense it.

She needed treatment immediately.

But just then, Iktomi stretched out one of her legs and pointed in a particular direction.