A Trap

"Tell those three to come out!" shouted Roze. She was smiling as if she had been expecting the whole situation.

A member of the Police then appeared to be talking on the radio which Graham couldn't hear from his hiding spot, especially amidst the eerie music and chaos transpiring. Zombies, giant worms, and a Ghoul was keeping everyone on their toes, with a single mistake going to cost their lives.

Badum! Badum!

Rood beat the blood drum harder to overcome the sound of the eerie music, but it was only slightly successful. The sound of the lute felt like it was coming right in their ears. The gloomy, depressing melody created the terror of death in the listeners' hearts.

"Whaaaaaaa!!!!"

Suddenly, there is a loud crying coming from a direction, which was accompanied by the sound of a motor carriage engine. The crying sounded like it was a baby's and it got louder and louder by time.

"Whaaaaaaa!!!!"

The baby's cries didn't evoke any feelings inside the human listeners' hearts except for being obnoxiously loud, but the summoned creatures and the Ghoul seemed to be affected deeply by it. They were all looking in anticipation in the direction where it was coming.

Vrooom!

The motor carriage finally showed itself and on its roof, a baby half the size of the motor carriage itself was tied up. Its appearance, however, was unlike a normal baby. Its skin was all pale blue like the blood had been sucked out of it, and its nose, which was on its oversized head, was nonexistent; there were only two nose holes where it should have been. The fat, naked baby looked unnaturally bloated like it was force-fed a lot of liquid beforehand.

"Whaaaaa!!!! Whaaaaa!!!"

The crying became even louder the moment the baby saw the monstrous creatures filling the street. However, its expression didn't show fear, but distorted jealousy as if it wanted something it couldn't have. The baby started fighting off the rope tying it violently but it was unsuccessful.

Once the Police motor carriage pulled over, three people came out of it and quickly untied the giant baby. Once free, it quickly rolled down the vehicle and crawled to the center of the fight, crying all the way.

"What in the world is that?" muttered Graham with a puzzled expression. Never before in his life had he seen something as bizarre as that. Judging from some of the people's expressions down there, it was also their first time witnessing the ugly, pale blue baby with a head bigger than its body.

Graham quickly sat back down to avoid being seen and lit a fire using his lighter. Although he was concealed, the flame was not, so he had to remain careful. With a flick of his finger and the spark wheel, a tiny flame was created. He tried his best to concentrate amidst the loud crying coming from outside.

'What is that giant blue baby outside?'

The flame burned brighter and slowly, an image began to appear. It was a page of a book whose text was neatly typed using a typing machine. Graham began reading the text thoroughly.

'Artifact name: Dreaded Baby'

'History: It was said that the baby was the child of a powerful but depraved summoner who sacrificed it in order to summon a powerful supernatural creature. However, the ritual went wrong and the baby instead became a 'summoned creature' itself with deep hatred towards other supernatural creatures for taking away the life it was supposed to have and other babies for having what it couldn't.'

'Origin: This artifact was found inside the Bambergers' mansion one night as it mysteriously crawled inside it. It was chewing the head of the couple's newborn when it was found, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Bamberger in shock. The Police were called right away and ever since, it had been in the custody of the Police's Contractbound department.'

'Other reported accidents regarding the artifact: Before it was found inside the Bambergers' mansion, it had been terrorizing the small town of Lunteren. It had killed and eaten many of the townfolks' babies and any efforts done by the local Contractbound failed to destroy it.'

'Abilities: The Dreaded Baby will start crying if there is a supernatural creature within the area, making it a useful alarm. Its cries can attract the attention of low intelligent creatures, making them attack the baby instead of their actual targets. It has no offensive abilities, but it is indestructible. The Dreaded baby cannot be killed using normal attacks, but once it has gotten too weak, it will go to sleep.'

'Cost of Use: The Dreaded Baby must be fed with a live human baby at least once a month or it will go berserk. Once it's asleep, it can only recover by eating a human baby as well.'

'Special Note: Do not ever feed the Dreaded Baby with a stillborn!'

After reading the notes, the image disappeared gradually and the flame went back to normal. Graham, however, was left stupefied. He raised his eyebrows and wrinkled his forehead.

"... I have no words, Val. It means the Police are offering it a human baby at least once every month. That is... messed up," he said.

"Whaaaaaa!!! Whaaaaaaa!!!!"

The crying continued and Graham put out the fire before standing back up to observe the fight.

The baby was now lying on the ground with its two fat short hands trying to cover its face. The zombies and Ghoul were attacking it, clawing its skin with their hands. The giant worms were sucking everything in their vicinity and spat it back at the giant baby. However, despite the attacks, its skin remained uninjured.

"Whaaa!!!"

The Police took the chance and started eliminating the distracted creatures. The three people who had just come also joined in the fight. They appeared to be saying something but Graham couldn't hear it.

Bang! Bang!

The fear caused by the eerie melody had been dispelled by the baby's loud cries, so now the Police could fight with their fullest power.

Swoosh!

A giant blood sword cleaved a worm into, exposing its innards. Purple blood came gushing out of its now lifeless body as it collapsed to the ground. The hole where it appeared from started closing rapidly, cutting off its portion of the body that remained underground.

Roze repeatedly shot at the Ghoul using her blood arrows, and this time, she added some explosive gunpowder to them to eliminate the zombies nearby at the same time.

Kaboom!!

The Ghoul was deeply injured, but it was still attacking the crying baby like a crazed animal. It didn't care about its own wounds and only cared about killing the giant baby that looked helpless.

"Whaaaa!!"

The four cloaked figures looked like they were ready to take action. One of them, who seemed to be a woman judging from her figure, took a step forward and placed her hands in front of her with the palms facing the front.

"Explode!!"

She shouted, and then, suddenly,

Kaboom!!! Kaboom!!!

All the corpses in the area went up in a violent explosion, sending blood and pieces of flesh everywhere. The people who were taken by surprise couldn't escape in time and were badly injured by the attack.

"Groen, help the injured!" shouted Roze, "And stay away from corpses!!"

Groen and his men quickly dragged those injured but alive away from the battlefield. The others also got as far away from the newly dead people who had turned into corpses, adding to the already big number spat out by the worms earlier.

Kaboom!!!

More corpses exploded, injuring those who were not fast enough to get away.

"Bruin, bring out the book!" shouted Roze again.

The man with brown hair and brown eyes retreated from the battlefield and went towards the Police motor carriage that had carried the baby before. He quickly opened the trunk and ran back with a box the size of both his palms. Once he was near Roze, he opened the box using a combination and picked up the content carefully. It was a small book half the size of the box that he held with one hand, making sure not to touch the cover. The cover of the book featured a single closed mouth that protruded from it. The lips that made out the mouth were pale purple and all cracked.

"Another artifact?" muttered Graham. With his Supersight, he could see the detail of the book clearly even from where he was standing.

He sat back down with his lighter and lit another fire.

'What is the book artifact with a mouth on the cover?'

He asked a question in his mind while concentrating on the flame.

An image began to appear and it was the exact same neatly typed page of a book that had appeared before. Graham read the text on the page carefully once it had fully formed.

'Artifact name: Caron's Book of Curtailment'

'History: Caron was said to be a man who was obsessed with rules and restrictions. As a Mayor of a small town, his words were almost absolute and no one dared to oppose him. He had a book that he would use to write down all the rules that he had come up with and it would then be publicized for all the people to know. However, the rules that were originally made for the benefits of the mass slowly became distorted and were there to satisfy his own depraved desires. He would put down all sorts of twisted punishment for those who broke the rules he created, until one day, a person who dared to oppose him appeared. He exploited the loopholes in the law and cunningly made Caron break his own rules. All the resentments from the people who were punished by him had unknowingly gathered in his book and forcefully punished him as stated in the rule.'

'Origin: This artifact was found in the small town of Geldern, under the possession of the local mayor. Just as the original owner of the book, he abused its power to make people do whatever he said. He even set a rule that would prevent people from contacting the outside, to prevent interference. However, since the book's power was not absolute, someone managed to call the Police in another city to come and apprehend the criminal mayor. The book has been in the custody of the Police since.'

'Abilities: The book is able to grant restrictions in a wide area the size of a small town. However, one restriction will only take effect for at most one hour and it cannot defy the law of the world, such as making people unable to step on the ground so they have to fly. There are also loopholes in the restrictions created by the book, so they must be worded carefully, but at the same time, making it too specific will make the restriction not work. The effect is also greatly reduced against people who are stronger than the person creating the restriction.'

'Cost of Use: For each restriction, one body part containing flesh must be sacrificed, which means hair, nails, and teeth won't work. Sacrificing only a piece of flesh won't work either as it has to be the entirety of that specific body part. However, the sacrifice doesn't have to come from the one making the restriction, as long as the person who gives the body part is still alive and perceives the user as an ally. Sacrificing an enemy's body part or that of someone who hates the user won't work. The bigger the sacrifice, the more powerful the restriction that can be made.'

'Special Note: Do not touch the cover as it will count as you making a sacrifice! If no restrictions are made within five minutes of the sacrifice being given, the book will create its own!'

The image then disappeared. Graham thought about what he had just read and there was a slight feeling of amazement in his heart.

"Yet another messed up artifact. This supernatural world is sure vast, Val. I wonder if we can have our own one day..." he paused and then touched the belt that he was wearing, "Purloin is enhanced equipment, not an artifact, although I don't see much difference except that the former can be worn," he muttered.

Graham stood back up after putting out the fire and watch the fight again. Roze had taken off the glove covering her left hand and revealed her slender fingers. The little finger on her hand, however, was much shorter than normal, and the tip was missing. It looked as if it was still in the process of growing back.

Bruin was still holding the book while Roze quickly cut off the ring finger of her left hand. Blood came flowing out of it and she poured it all on the mouth that was on the cover of the book. The chapped lips instantly opened, revealing a dark abyss surrounded by sharp yellowish teeth with bloodstains all over. A pale pink tongue came out of the abyss and licked the blood on the lips clean.

Roze then dropped her severed finger into the mouth and it closed right away, chewing the finger with delight. Although Graham couldn't hear the sound, he could imagine the crunching noises it was making as it was chewing away on the severed body part.

Since the sacrifice was only a finger, Roze couldn't make a great restriction. However, she had already had an idea in mind.

"Anyone fighting under any kind of concealment will be at a disadvantage!!" she shouted.

"Whaaaaaa...!!"

The mouth on the book cover opened wide and it let out a bone-chilling cry that sounded completely different from the Dreaded Baby's cry. It was the kind that sounded like a red fox screaming while being in danger. The cry pierced the ears and sent a shiver down everyone's spine.

As the cry subsided, the restriction took place!

Graham suddenly felt weakened because he was also under Concealment. It felt like the opposite effect of Jacco's War Drum in that his stamina had been reduced and his physical abilities were lowered.

Roze specifically chose that kind of restriction because the enemies were all cloaked, and there were some hiding ones as well. As long as they were supporting their members from the dark, they would be weakened, and it also worked the same for the others as long as they kept their cloaks on. They could easily take their cloaks off to avoid the effect of the restriction, but it would mean exposing their identities, something that the Police had been working hard to get.

"Now, don't let any of them escape! Capture them alive if you can!" yelled Roze as she put back the glove.