Chapter 359: The Oath of the Rose

Chapter 359: The Oath of the Rose

Hastur turned his gaze to the reasonably good-looking puppet master. "I'll give you a choice: do you want to die first, or should your puppet die first?"

"Let me die first," the man replied, his voice hoarse and filled with a painful struggle, sounding more like it had been poisoned than a normal tone.

"Tell me the story between you and this puppet to satisfy my curiosity, and I'll grant your wish."

"A story? Haha, it is indeed a good story." The man's eyes were full of sarcasm. He glanced at the Pleasure Witch tied to the ground, remained silent for a moment, and then slowly began to tell his story.

His real name was Roger Doring. At the age of eighteen, he became a diviner, and by twenty-five, he had advanced to Sequence 7 Magician. He was also a member of the Steam and Machinery Church's Heart of Machinery, with a promising future.

At that age, he met Miss Emma. From the first sight, he knew she was the life partner he had always wanted. After persistent pursuit, he finally married her.

A few years later, they had a lovely son. Everything was perfect, but perfection is often meant to be destroyed.

His wife had hidden her true nature well, so well that even he hadn't noticed she was an Extraordinary, a member of the Witch Sect! When she advanced to Pleasure Witch, he was often away on missions, and she couldn't control her desire for pleasure.

Perhaps she never tried to restrain this desire. Her debauched private life and infidelity made Roger feel betrayed. When persuasion failed, he turned her into a puppet after he advanced to Puppet Master, his only puppet, exclusively his.

Afterward, he left the Steam and Machinery Church, becoming a wild Extraordinary, starting a wandering life. This time, he was found by the Duke of Southwell's confidant and took on tonight's task for a hefty reward.

Assassin is the initial sequence of the Witch pathway. In his view, Extraordinary of the Witch pathway didn't need to use seduction to kill their opponents; an assassin only needed to be proficient in assassination. Unfortunately, he misjudged his opponent tonight.

Not only was his puppet captured instantly, but he was also subdued.

After hearing his story, Hastur raised an eyebrow and clicked his tongue. Turning his once-beloved wife into a puppet was truly a sign of pathological possessiveness.

"Can my remains be buried with hers?" Roger Doring, after a painful struggle, made this last request, looking deeply affectionate.

Just as Hastur was about to agree, the Pleasure Witch puppet, originally bound by the chains of stars, began to tremble slightly.

Was this joy? Did they really have such a loving relationship?

Hastur was slightly taken aback. He used his Extraordinary ability from the Night pathway to enter the Pleasure Witch's mind.

There, he saw a somewhat different version of the story. Miss Emma was indeed a member of the Witch Sect and had been a Sequence 7 Witch before marrying Roger. She never liked Roger but succumbed to his persistent pressure and threats, eventually marrying him.

Roger knew about her being a Witch before marriage and used it to threaten her into submission. After marriage, as a member of the Heart of Machinery, he was often away on missions, rarely home.

As a member of the Witch Sect and having advanced to Sequence 6 Pleasure Witch, she couldn't possibly remain faithful to Roger. Pleasure was the best antidote for witches to avoid madness.

When Roger returned from a mission, his emotions were unstable due to his hasty advancement to Sequence 5 Puppet Master. He was sometimes crazy, sometimes irritable. Seeing her in someone else's bed, his suppressed emotions exploded.

She was no match for him and was cruelly turned into a puppet, forced to stay by his side, driven like a slave.

In Emma's memory, it was also mentioned that their child was actually a baby girl. Following the Witch Sect's tradition, Emma sent the girl away to be raised by someone else and stole a baby boy to give to Roger as their son.

Satisfied with the juicy details, Hastur left the Pleasure Witch's mind, looking at Roger with mocking eyes.

"What did you see in her memory?" Roger panicked, his voice rising.

"Aren't you a diviner? Didn't you foresee your own fate?"

Hastur didn't bother to wait for his answer, instructing the members of the Yellow Robe Monks to take him away and clean up. He had completed his achievement of divination tonight.

As for the Pleasure Witch puppet, Hastur also had the Yellow Robe Monks handle it, making the room much quieter.

Tonight, he gained not only the Extraordinary characteristics of a Sequence 4 Corrupted Count and Puppet Master but also three Extraordinary items. One came from the Corrupted Count and the other two from Master Roger.

This Puppet Master was named Roger Doring, so calling him Master Roger wasn't wrong.

After understanding the abilities and negative effects of the three Extraordinary items, Hastur kept only the one that matched his pathway.

It was a black ring with red patterns, with a black rose blooming at the top, named the Oath of the Rose.

Its Extraordinary effects were threefold:

1. **Budding**: Instantly blooming into a large black rose, enveloping the enemy in its petals, causing confusion, distortion, corruption, and other negative effects that would devour the enemy in an instant.

2. **Perception Enhancement**: Effectively enhancing the wearer's perception by about twenty-five percent.

3. **Oath Binding**: The wearer can choose a person to make an oath with, based on certain rules. The specific oath can be drafted by the wearer.

The negative effects of the Oath of the Rose were twofold:

1. **Thorns**: Each use of the ring's abilities causes small thorns to grow inside the ring, piercing the wearer's finger. With each use, the thorns grow longer and penetrate deeper, causing infection and difficult-to-heal wounds.

2. **Oath Breaking**: Oaths and contracts exist to be broken. After making an oath, the wearer will be compelled to break it. Breaking the oath results in punishment, such as weakness, bad luck, lightning strikes, or bodily mutations.

Despite the severe negative effects, the ring's abilities were equally powerful and convenient to carry, easily activated in critical moments.

The only inconvenience was that the Oath of the Rose, worn on the finger, was easily recognizable.

This Corrupted Count likely came from Backlund, as the Duke of Southwell probably didn't have such an Extraordinary powerhouse by his side. After all, getting a demigod to serve wasn't easy.

The next morning, at dawn, the Duke of Southwell, who had been waiting all night, sent someone to check on Hastur.

Seeing Hastur walk out of the room unharmed, leisurely enjoying a cup of morning tea, the messenger reported back to the Duke, who angrily swept the books off his desk.

As for the two who had sworn to handle things well, realizing the situation was dire, they tried to escape but were already chopped into pieces and thrown into the sea to feed the fish.

The Duke didn't care about their lives; he cared about the person he had secretly sent out. That person was his father, sent to protect him from sudden, inexplicable death.

Now, that person had been missing all night with no news, likely dead.

"Hmph, Count Campbell, you are quite capable!"

The Duke of Southwell muttered angrily, a determined look in his eyes. He went to his desk, took out paper and pen, and began writing a letter to be sent back to Backlund.

Before he could finish, Hastur sent a message: "Thank you, Duke, for the warm hospitality last night. I had a wonderful night and hope you have a good night's sleep every night."

The Duke of Southwell was so angry he almost ground his teeth to powder but still sent a reply: "Life is long; I hope Count Campbell has a smooth journey, free from illness and misfortune."

Receiving the Duke's blessing, Hastur was already shopping for gifts in a nearby store, planning to bring something back for Azara, who would otherwise start meowing for attention.

...

Upon returning to Puning Harbor, Hastur handed over the task of dealing with the Duke of Southwell to Caius, with only one instruction: "When I return from Backlund, I hope Southwell County is calm and peaceful."

After spending two days arranging matters, Hastur took Sharon, Azara, and Mrs. Lisa back to Backlund.

He also invited Miss Audrey's second brother, Alfred, who surprisingly agreed to return to Backlund, saying that Earl Hall was arranging a marriage for him there.

Out of curiosity, Hastur asked Alfred's age. Twenty-six, just the prime of a man's youth.

Hastur thought of another issue: Audrey had just turned eighteen last year, meaning there was an eight-year age gap between them.

This age difference... Earl Hall was indeed still vigorous.