Chapter 3092: Mercury Chronicles (42)

At that moment, Circe's soul, once again disembodied, was so weak she couldn't even leave the room. And if she couldn't find a body for an extended period, her soul would head to the realm of Death like any ordinary person due to her waning witchcraft powers.

Circe was left with only one choice.

Shiller was the only living person left in the room. If Circe didn't possess him, she would die, but if she could take over and control Shiller, not only could she save her own life, she would also use her magic powers to trap and torture him for her revenge.

Circe didn't hesitate.

Shiller had once been affected by her magic as well, with the Beastification Curse, and now the curse was worsening dramatically on him, leaving him just a step away from transforming back into a beast; possession was effortless.

But it wasn't until she possessed Shiller that Circe realized this was not his vulnerability—it was a trap.

She was trapped in Shiller's psychic battlefield.

The Straw Maze's illusion had originally troubled only Shiller, but now it had a new inhabitant—Circe, who had tried to invade Shiller's psychic world.

What was more terrifying was that Circe's forceful invasion of the psychic realm worsened Shiller's mental state even further.

The consequence of further lowered mental defenses was that the dire consequences of gazing directly at Nyarlathotep became even more severe; the city in the sky started to collapse, and the enormous phantom of Nyarlathotep loomed and flickered on the horizon.

Circe was in a spirit body state as well, and without the last barrier of a physical body to shield her from the pollution of the Outer God, staring directly at Nyarlathotep in such a state would blow her soul up into fireworks in an instant.

Circe was fleeing for her life through the Straw Maze.

Shiller stood beneath the pole that pinned the giant female corpse, quietly observing Circe's distressed figure; the witch's feet were deeply sunk into the soil soaked with blood, clumsily pushing through the wheat in front of her, stumbling forward with uneven steps.

Nothing was chasing her; only she knew the horror that was shadowing her like a ghost.

Suddenly, a faint sound brought Shiller's consciousness back to the present. He turned and looked back to see the attic door being lifted from below.

He thought he would see Gordon's gun barrel staring back at him, but to his surprise, it was a soaking wet Edward who clambered up.

The emaciated figure quickly finished climbing the last few steps of the ladder onto the attic. Just as he was about to approach Shiller, he seemed to realize the chill coming off his own body and stopped, standing in front of the attic, his hands wringing each other while he gave a shy smile to Shiller.

"Come with me, Professor. They won't catch you."

Shiller frowned slightly.

"From the first time I saw you, I knew you were a good person. We are alike, and I won't let them catch you. Come on, follow me." Edward said, staring at Shiller with eyes that were sunken yet appeared exceptionally clear.

"How did you find your way here?"

"I understood the riddle you left behind." Edward said, "Fame, faith, fortune—three of life's four banners; the remaining one is power. So I guessed that the final banner would be at the city government office building."

Shiller turned to glance out the window. Police cars were driving towards them, evidently, Gordon and his team had also deciphered the simple riddle, and the building they were steadily approaching, majestic and towering, was the Gotham City Government Building.

Shiller's expression softened.

"I didn't expect anyone else to understand, Edward. You've given me a surprise."

Edward smiled happily, his white, even teeth signifying that he once belonged to a wealthy and happy family. He rubbed his hands and asked, "Where is the final banner then, Professor?"

Shiller shook his head, "There isn't a last banner, there are only three."

Edward frowned, seemingly dissatisfied, "It's all the police's fault; if they hadn't chased so hard, you could have completed it."

"No, Edward, this case is already complete."

Edward blinked, not quite understanding.

"It's three cases." Shiller said cryptically, then added, "That's what makes it a complete series of serial killings."

Edward seemed to grasp something and looked at Shiller, "Did you see my work?"

"Yes, Edward, you did well." Shiller approached him, pulling a handkerchief from his suit pocket and offering it to Edward to wipe the rain off his face.

Edward carefully received the handkerchief, wiped his cheeks, and then suddenly froze.

In the next second, a shadow, like a python, extended from behind his head, pressing the handkerchief firmly over his mouth and nose. Edward struggled only briefly before being knocked unconscious.

Shiller stood still, folding the handkerchief neatly back into his pocket. He laid Edward on the ground and began checking his clothes.

Shiller's spirit seemed to be bound to Circe's. When he broke free from the illusion and returned to the real world, Circe's spirit returned as well.

She appeared in the glass behind Shiller and asked, "You madman, he came to rescue you. Why did you knock him out?"

"How do you know he came to save me, and not to kill me?"

Shiller searched Edward's body, then turned him over and finally found a knife in the small of his back—a shining silver blade.

Hasty footsteps echoed from downstairs.

The attic door was opened again, but it wasn't Gordon who arrived—it was Cobblepot, who took off his rain hat, then said, "Edward suddenly ran out, and I followed him here. Are you alright, Professor?"

"I'm fine." Shiller stood up, handed the knife to Cobblepot, who seemed to realize something, squinting at Edward lying on the ground.

"There's no doubt, he is the real Edward Nigma, it's just that he might have been influenced by something."

"Influenced? Who influenced him?"

"I don't know," Shiller said. "But that influence drove him to kill his own uncle, as well as two other people."

Cobblepot immediately realized what Shiller was hinting at. He said, "The Nigma victim case was done by Edward?"

"Yes, but it wasn't entirely his own doing, his emotions were manipulated by someone, and he himself realized that."

"What do you mean?"

Shiller looked at the knife in Cobblepot's hand, then said, "Even a three-year-old should understand, you can't sneak up on anyone with such a shiny weapon, don't you have a less conspicuous knife in your kitchen?"

Cobblepot instantly understood.

Then he immediately thought of the most conspicuous element of the case, the riddle left on the wall.

"The answer is 'Ares'," Shiller said, as if he could read Cobblepot's mind. "That should also be a hint left by Edward."

"The War God Ares?" Cobblepot squinted his eyes and said, "Did the War God Ares influence his emotions? Why would he do that?"

Shiller shook his head and did not answer the question, but it didn't look like he didn't know; it appeared he simply did not want to say.

"Are your people here yet?" Shiller asked.

Cobblepot nodded and said, "They're on the next floor on guard, without my permission, no one is allowed in. Professor, are those police here for you?"

"Sort of," Shiller turned to glance at Circe, who had a schadenfreude expression. Clearly, she had realized that the police had surrounded the Gotham City Government Building, and unless something unexpected happened, Shiller was definitely not going to escape.

"Stall them for two minutes," Shiller said to Cobblepot.

Cobblepot said nothing but nodded, descending the attic ladder. A murmur of voices came from downstairs, and then the volume of speech grew louder, and a conflict seemed to arise between the two sides as time ticked away by the second.

Shiller remained standing by the window.

Suddenly, the police began to withdraw in an orderly fashion, one squad car after another drove off, heading east, and on the distant horizon, waves surged incessantly, growing higher and higher, until they even towered over the city's skyscrapers, threatening to submerge the city at any moment.

"What is happening?" Circe also turned to look outside. She seemed to still be able to use the powers of witchcraft, and after feeling it for a while, she said, "Why do I sense the power of the ocean? Who is that?... Poseidon?!"

Arthur rushed into the office and raised his voice, "Poseidon suddenly burst into Atlantis, and he even injured Mera. Diana, what on earth is going on?!"

Diana's expression became even graver, she said, "We have already received the news, and what's more terrifying is that Poseidon has stirred up hurricanes and towering waves on America's East Coast. It seems as if he wishes to sink America beneath the sea!"

Arthur's jaw dropped wide enough to fit an egg in. He looked at Diana and said, "What madness has possessed your uncle?! Why would he suddenly attack Atlantis and declare war on the human race?!"

Diana appeared confused and bewildered, she said, "I don't know, I have no idea what happened at Olympus, it's been a long time since I went back."

"It seems like their target is still on Diana," Oliver said, crossing his arms. "The Olympian Gods go mad, Diana, of course, has to deal with it, which would draw her back to Earth."

Arthur anxiously tugged at his hair and said, "What do we do? We can't let Poseidon just flood the Mainland!"

Bruce looked at Diana and asked, "Can you contact the Olympian Gods from afar?"

"I can, but I am not clear about what Olympus has encountered, and I'm not sure if contacting them now will…." Diana said, taking a deep breath, "Alright, I will try to reach them. I'll go find Ares…."

At that moment, Bruce suddenly remembered something. He said, "Ares? The War God Ares?"

"Yes, he is my brother, and he taught me when I was a child," Diana said.

Bruce thought about the answer to the riddle and then said, "Is he the only one you can find?"

"Not really, but I think he is most likely to stop the crazed Poseidon. The others might not be able to outmatch the Sea God," Diana said with a frown, not quite understanding why Bruce was asking this.

Bruce actually pondered in place for a full ten seconds before he said, "Clark's concerns are not unfounded, the trouble at Mount Olympus could be to lure you to Earth, so it's best you don't return there."

"And if the situation at Olympus is bad, contacting them now could potentially worsen the situation. Instead, we should send someone else. After all, stopping Poseidon doesn't necessarily require magic; being able to beat him is enough."

"What are we waiting for, then?" Arthur said somewhat anxiously. "I must go back at once, Mera is injured, and the Atlanteans are probably in a panic, I need to manage the situation."

Bruce nodded and said, "Clark can utilize his fullest potential on Mercury, so he'll stay. I need to work with the smart butler to keep an eye on the monitors to prevent a predicted disaster from occurring on Mercury, and Oliver is in charge of managing the students…"

"Who else is there?"

"The Flash," Bruce said. "Our cosmos's Flash may be very young, but he is strong; it's not just speed that he uses to beat his opponents. You go back with him, and with Poseidon as strong as he is, there won't be waves to turn."

Thinking of Barry's miraculous Divine Speed, Arthur seemed to warm to the arrangement. He said, "Then hurry, get him to start running, take me back to Atlantis first. I'll organize the military, and that will put more pressure on Poseidon, too."

After Arthur and The Flash left, Diana kept Bruce behind alone, she asked with some confusion, "Why won't you let me go find Ares? Is it because he is the War God, so you have prejudices against him? But actually, he…"

Bruce shook his head and said, "I suspect he is behind all this mischief."

"What?!"

"The solution to the riddle from the serial murder case points to Ares."