The five returned to the square.
They took the injured and captured cultists, along with the street people who had participated in the cult's ritual, into custody.
The two sorcerers on the stake had narrowly escaped death and were rescued.
Pamela opened her storage bag and took out two bottles of healing potions.
After taking the potions, the two men's complexion improved.
The two sorcerers were also students of the Elemental School, and considered Pamela's classmates.
The boy was named Locke, an earth elemental sorcerer.
The girl was named Jenny, a water elemental sorcerer.
Both of them were at the late 1st level of cultivation.
They were the strongest of the previous investigation team that arrived at Magic Stone Island, and the only two survivors.
Allen escorted Locke and Jenny to a nearby residence to recuperate.
The other team members remained in the square to discuss how to deal with the plague patients and the captured cultists. Pamela didn't bother.
Her approach was simple and drastic. "It's too much trouble to treat plague patients individually!"
"Instead of letting them stay home and infect more healthy people, it's better to isolate them and let them fend for themselves."
"Execute all the cultists. This will also weaken the evil deity they worship!"
"Don't worry about whether they're genuine believers or not. Kill all those involved in cult activities to save trouble." Angell opposed the indiscriminate killing of innocent people.
Helplessly, Andy and Duke both supported Pamela's approach, cutting the Gordian knot.
They had to clean up this mess as quickly as possible, and then continue hunting down the beast worshippers and destroying the cult's headquarters on the island.
There was no time to waste!
Allen returned and heard his teammates arguing, but he remained silent.
Even if he had spoken out in support of Angell, it would have been useless. After all, they were a minority.
In the square, a young woman, holding a baby, knelt and begged for mercy.
The woman cried, saying she had simply followed the crowd and run out to watch the fun.
She had been inexplicably caught up in the turmoil and arrested as a cult member.
Despite her repeated swearings that she was not a believer in the plague god, Pamela remained unmoved.
"It's understandable that someone contracted the plague and sought treatment from cultists."
"You weren't sick at all, yet you ran out in the middle of the night to participate in cult activities..."
"Who would believe you if you said you weren't a cultist?"
"The situation got out of hand, I got arrested, I got scared, I started crying."
"What were you doing earlier?"
"You still dare to act pitiful? Do you think I'm a fool?!"
Pamela stepped forward, grabbed her hair with her left hand, and forced her face up, exposing her fair neck.
She drew her sword with her right hand and, with a sudden swing, slashed the woman's throat!
A sleeping baby in her cradle...
The baby's tender face was stained red by the blood gushing from its mother's neck.
Suddenly awake, sobbing...
Pamela sheathed her sword, a sneer playing at the corner of her lips.
"Someone come! Test this little creature's ancestry!"
"If it shows warlock blood, it's still worth adopting."
"If it doesn't have warlock blood..."
"You guys figure it out!"
...
The bodies of the giant rats and cultists were piled in the square.
They used the readily available firewood and lamp oil to set them ablaze.
After finishing their business at the dock, Pamela led the team away.
The fire still burned fiercely in the square.
As the night deepened, the flames dimmed.
Suddenly, a squeaking scream echoed from a nearby house.
Four ferocious giant rats scurried through the alleyway.
Soon, they gathered in the square and transformed into human form.
Four plague sorcerers of rat-man descent.
Three men and one woman, all draped in black cloaks.
The hood was pulled low, covering most of their faces.
The four stood silently before the fire, silent.
They seemed to be waiting for something.
A moment passed.
Across the street, on the rooftop, a slight movement was heard.
The four plague sorcerers turned their heads simultaneously.
Eight eyes focused on the rooftop.
A spider as big as a round table, trailing a silvery thread.
It was scurrying across the rooftops, sprinting towards them.
The giant spider leaped up, extending its eight claws, and landed lightly on the square.
The massive, ferocious body gradually slendered.
The four spider legs retracted and vanished.
Before everyone could see it, it transformed into a voluptuous, curvaceous sorceress.
They also wore cloaks, albeit sky blue.
"Are you Spanner?"
A Necromancer eyed Spider-Woman warily.
The blue-robed sorceress nodded gently. "This is our first time working together. Everyone, could you please introduce yourselves?"
The four Necromancers exchanged glances.
"Yes!" It was the Necromancer who spoke first. "My name is Jamie, early Stage 2."
"Sarah, also early Stage 2," the black-robed sorceress continued.
"Moss, late Stage 1."
"Rhett, same level as Moss!" A young man's voice echoed from beneath the black robe. "Spanner, your turn!"
"Late Stage 2," the blue-robed sorceress replied calmly.
"Wow!" Moss whistled exaggeratedly. "You're the best! What happens next is up to you!"
Spanna smiled softly and asked, "Why hasn't the Order's contact at the docks shown up yet?"
"Are you asking about Marin? He's probably dead." Sarah sighed. "It was Marin's turn to preside over the sacrament tonight, but the ceremony was sabotaged by spies sent by the Warlock Academy. He's in serious danger."
"Is the statue okay?"
"That's what we're worried about. Let's go check it out. Hopefully, it's okay."
Five warlocks, one blue and four black, chatted as they walked.
Soon they arrived at the dock warehouse.
They saw the open iron gate and the charred carcasses of rats scattered across the ground.
The five of them looked at each other in dismay, sensing something was amiss!
They hurried down the stairs and entered the underground temple. "Damn it! The statue is gone!"
Sarah stood before the empty stone niche, stamping her foot and cursing.
"Where's Marin?" Jamie followed and asked.
Sarah crouched down and whistled.
"Squeak! Squeak!"
A rat, responding to Sarah's call, emerged from the hole in the wall.
The rat leaped into her palm, twitching its whiskers and squeaking.
Sarah nodded slightly, thoughtful.
Warlocks who have awakened their rat-bloodline can communicate telepathically with rat-like creatures.
Through telepathy, Sarah learned what the rat had seen and heard tonight.
"Marin is dead!"
Sarah put the rat down and stood up to face her companions.
"Killed by a very tall male sorcerer!"
"At the last moment, Marin unleashed a forbidden spell, splitting himself into a pack of rats in a desperate struggle..."
"Unfortunately, the enemy was too strong!"
"In the end, Marin didn't even get a single victim."
"Marin is only a senior apprentice. His definition of a strong person... is probably quite exaggerated." Moss smiled disapprovingly. "What did his killer look like?"
"I don't know! Rats are just rats, after all. Their intelligence is too low to accurately describe a person's appearance!" Sarah replied unhappily. "Anyway... that person was very tall and strong!"
"Let Spanner answer that question."
Jamie turned and looked at the blue-robed sorceress.
"After all, she's been undercover at the Warlock Academy for so long, she must know more about the second investigation team than we do."
Spanna nodded and said solemnly, "This investigation team consists of five people. The strongest are two elemental mages, both of whom are in the early second stage of cultivation..."
After hearing her profile of the five people, Jamie continued, "Whose physique best fits the murderer who killed Marin and stole the idol?"
Spanna pondered for a moment, then said slowly, "The tallest and most robust one... is undoubtedly Alan Panthers."
"However, among the five, he has the worst qualifications and lineage, and logically speaking, the weakest."
"Marin is, after all, a high-level apprentice. Especially with the forbidden technique unleashed, he wouldn't be allowed to escape unscathed."
"Besides, Alan's position in the team isn't high. Even if he takes the statue, he's not entitled to keep it all for himself."
"If we pursue the statue, we can eliminate Alan's suspicion and focus our attention on Pamela and Andy."
"Wait!"
Moss interrupted Spanner, a hint of cynicism in his laughter.
"Hehehe... Spanner, you're being too hasty in dismissing all suspicion!"
"Even if Allen didn't take the idol, he's the most likely suspect in Marin's murder!"
"Marin, that was my junior apprentice, my beloved friend! His death couldn't be in vain. I have to avenge him!"
"Hehe..." Spanner sneered. "I'm only responsible for providing intelligence. Who you seek revenge on is none of my business."
"Don't forget, besides these five, there's also the living sacrifice that was taken away," Rhett continued. "How strong are they?"
"A late-stage first-order elementalist, not bad," Sarah said.
"Did those two sacrifices contract the beast virus?" Jamie asked calmly, stroking his mustache.
"Brother Jamie, what do you mean...?"
"Haha, in two days, it'll be the full moon night," Jamie sneered. "Perhaps we can take advantage of that auspicious day and do something to surprise those noble young men and women."
"Oh! I see! As expected of resourceful Brother Jamie! A sharp mind!"
"Haha... wait and see!"
The plague sorcerers smiled at each other.