Kuruno Forest Edge, Dusk
Ezreal crouched before a broken bush, his fingertips gently brushing the undried dew on the leaves.
"Three hours ago," he looked up at Ikaruga, "at least ten people passed through here."
He then dipped his finger in a bit of blood and rubbed it between his fingers, "There's magic residue mixed in the blood."
Ikaruga stood three meters away in the tree's shadow, her left hand on her tachi's hilt: "Were Eisenwald's people injured?"
"Dripping blood, this amount of blood doesn't look like a combat wound." Ezreal stood up, a soft white light glowing in his palm.
The Light Magic illuminated the messy footprints on the ground, "Look at these tracks—someone was dragged."
Ikaruga stepped forward two paces, her scabbard pushing aside dense ferns, revealing the hastily covered drag marks behind them.
"The victim is female," she said coldly, "the heel marks are very deep, she struggled."
Ikaruga's scabbard pushed aside the bushes, revealing broken branches behind them: "The drag marks go north."
The two walked about two hundred meters along the tracks, then suddenly stopped at the same time.
In the clearing ahead, a crude altar was clearly visible—seven black candles arranged in a circle, with a black box carved with musical notes placed in the center.
"It's a sacrifice ritual." Ezreal's white light illuminated the ground, revealing several scattered sheet music fragments, "This is… a snippet of 'Nightingale's Aria.'"
Ikaruga's tachi tip picked up a piece of sheet music: "People from the opera house?"
"The Chambord Royal Opera House did have a performance last night." Ezreal picked up a crumpled newspaper from the ground, pointing to an inconspicuous notice: "Principal soprano Anna Belle Rhine 'absent due to illness.'"
"It seems we can confirm it. Although Lullaby is in Eisenwald's hands, the good news is it hasn't been fully unsealed yet." Ikaruga glanced at the altar on the ground.
Ezreal nodded slightly, "From Eisenwald's targeted abductions, the Cursed Song Lullaby needs people with superb singing skills to be unsealed. These people are easy to find. Let's hurry and try to get ahead of them."
As he spoke, Ezreal took two steps towards the altar, accidentally stepping on a broken piece of sheet music. A faint black smoke rose from the sheet music, then it burst into flames, instantly vaporizing and disappearing. At the same time, a rustling sound suddenly came from the surrounding bushes.
Ezreal raised an eyebrow, a faint white light illuminating his entire body, his left hand forming a sword-finger gesture.
But Ikaruga was faster.
Her gleaming tachi instantly unsheathed, and hundreds of iron caltrops flew from all directions, only to be precisely split in half by the continuous sword light.
Ezreal lightly stomped his foot, and a thick black smoke rose from his shadow, transforming into a red-eyed Evil Wolf that flew into the forest.
In a moment, the Evil Wolf returned with a gray robe hanging from its claws—the Eisenwald giant tree emblem on the cuff was strikingly conspicuous.
"The opponent deliberately left a trap magic." Ikaruga sheathed her tachi, the tsuba clinking crisply.
Ezreal frowned, looking at the mud stains on the gray robe: "…They had a withdrawal plan early on. Are they this vigilant?"
...Nok Peninsula Fishing Village, Late Night
The salty sea breeze, mixed with fine rain, beat against the dilapidated wooden planks of the pier.
Ezreal's white light swept across the damp deck, illuminating several fresh footprints.
"No more than two hours." Ikaruga crouched beside a boat rope, her finger tracing the knot cut by a sharp blade, "Professional technique."
In the cabin, a carved wooden chair lay overturned on the ground, with claw marks remaining on its back.
Ezreal picked up half a torn poster from the corner, on which was printed "Fishing Port Night Singing Competition Champion: Marina Cole."
"Too late again." Ikaruga's scabbard knocked against the cabin wall, producing a hollow echo.
From Ezreal's shadow, blood-red eyes lit up, and black smoke swirled, forming the head of an Evil Wolf that snarled towards the sea.
Ezreal quickly walked to the side of the boat, where the water and sky merged into a dark, deep expanse. He raised his left hand, and a strong light, like an incandescent lamp, shone through the rain, revealing a strand of golden hair floating on the sea.
"Tidal direction…" Ezreal quickly calculated, "They went north."
Ikaruga was already standing at the end of the pier, rain dripping down her scabbard: "There's only a cliff to the north."
"Unless…" Ezreal's left hand white light suddenly pointed to the side, illuminating a hidden opening on the side of the cliff, "A sea cave."
...Inside the Sea Cave, Early Morning
The lingering smoke from torches still drifted in the air. On the stone platform in the center of the cave, seven candles had burned halfway, and complex musical note patterns were drawn in blood on the ground.
Ikaruga's tachi tip picked up an unburnt black candle.
"The ritual is only half complete."
Ezreal's Light Magic swept across the stone platform, discovering a silver badge in a crevice—the Chambord City Music Academy's emblem.
"This is the third," he gripped the badge, "all are top singers in different fields."
Outside the cave, the sound of rolling rocks suddenly came.
Ikaruga flashed to the cave entrance, only to see a dark figure fleeing along a small path on the cliff face.
The Evil Wolf sprang from Ezreal's shadow like a black lightning bolt, but was forced back mid-air by a sudden purple magic arrow.
"Careful!" Ezreal's white light formed a barrier, blocking the second wave of arrows.
Ikaruga's tachi cut through the third arrow, and the residual sword energy continued forward, chasing after the dark figure. But the dark figure dissipated into the rain curtain a second before the sword energy struck, seemingly due to depleted magic.
As she sheathed her tachi, the purple magic clinging to the blade still sizzled, making her raise her tachi to observe it with a raised eyebrow.
"Not Eisenwald's people." Ezreal examined the magic residue, "This magic… seems like some kind of ghost magic?"
The Evil Wolf brought back a broken arrow, with tiny runes carved on its shaft, showing it to the two.
Ikaruga picked it up with her tachi tip and looked: "Tracking runes. The other party obtained our magic aura from somewhere unknown."
"No wonder they're always one step ahead." Ezreal's white light in his hand extinguished, and the cave returned to darkness, "Someone is relaying information to them."
Ezreal tilted his head to look at the Evil Wolf, "Can you track the other party through magic residue?"
The Evil Wolf, in its black smoke form, shook its head, and a hoarse, cold voice sounded, "The other party is very cautious. All auras in the cave have been eliminated by a strange wind magic, and there is no human scent even on the magic residue."
Ikaruga swung her tachi, and the magic residue on the blade instantly dissipated, "It seems a simple matter has become complicated."
...Dawn, Coastal Path
The rain stopped, but fog began to spread.
Ikaruga suddenly stopped, her scabbard held horizontally in front of Ezreal.
In the middle of the road lay an exquisite music box, its lid wide open.
Ezreal's left hand glowed with white light, and a suction force emanated, but the box remained motionless.
Ezreal let out a soft sound of surprise, his eyebrows slightly raised.
The next second, the box suddenly began to spin, playing a snippet of 'Nightingale's Aria.'
Amidst the music, dozens of hair-thin silver threads shot out from the bushes by the roadside. These steel-blade-like silver threads were entwined with cicada-wing-thin cyan wind blades.
Ikaruga's sword light bloomed like a full moon, and the silver threads snapped one after another.
The music box stopped with a "click," and a distorted, disguised human voice came out:
"You're really close, Fairy Tail… but unfortunately, you're always one step behind, only seeing the tail…"
Ezreal raised his hand expressionlessly, and the white light shattered the music box. A piece of paper floated out, with four names written in blood, three of which were already crossed out.
Next to the last name was a small skull flute symbol.
"Lullaby's mark." Ikaruga pressed her right hand on her tachi's hilt, narrowing her eyes slightly, "Is he provoking us?"
Ezreal put away the paper, looking expressionlessly at the fog-shrouded path ahead: "This time, we'll try a different approach."
"Evil Wolf." Ezreal called softly, "Shadow Walk."
Ezreal's shadow suddenly spread, and thick black smoke abruptly rose, enveloping the two of them.
When the fog cleared, the path was empty.
Only the sea breeze rolled up the torn sheet music, its notes seemingly weeping silently.
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