Chapter 206: Death of the Bishop
The attacker was obviously afraid of the witch's black flames. He flexibly dodged the curse flames thrown by Angel, but the frost under his feet greatly affected his movements, and a black flame still touched his elbow.
In an instant, the black flame ignited on his entire left arm and quickly spread upwards, with the momentum of igniting his entire body along his arm. The
gloomy-faced "giant" immediately pressed his left shoulder with his other hand, tore off the entire burning arm, and threw it at Angel along with the blood gushing out of the wound.
"Boom--"
The arm exploded in the air like a bomb, and with the shock wave generated by the explosion, a rain of blood splashed towards Angel who was dodging backwards.
This is a flesh and blood bomb. He is the "Rose Bishop" of the Secret Prayer Path!
Quickly determining the opponent's magic potion sequence, Angel let the cold air quickly condense into frost in front of her, creating a thin, almost translucent, but extremely tough frost shield to block the splashing blood.
The dirty blood "sizzled" corroded the ice surface, burning holes in it, but Angel had already bypassed this ice shield and came to the side of the "giant".
"Bang Bang--"
He took out the revolver at his waist in a flash, activated two "Storm Gathering", and shot at the tall body of the Rose Bishop, not seeking to kill him with one shot, but to cause effective damage. The
"giant" and the bloody hand that quickly grew from his left shoulder, which was temporarily not covered by skin, used his arms to block his fragile head and neck, but was shot in the chest and abdomen, leaving two bloody bullet holes on his body.
"Uh--"
He roared out, not knowing whether it was pain or anger. Just as he put down his arms, he saw a few black flames floating over. He quickly rolled away from the spot, and was hit by another bullet at his waist. He rolled and crawled towards the door of the apartment he had just come out of.
"Don't use 'Into the Shadows'?"
Angel, who had dealt with the Rose Bishop many times and even predicted his next move, was stunned. She retracted her right foot with the power of ice and continued to shoot and chase the figure of the "giant" until the other party fled into the apartment in a panic.
Looking at the dark entrance of the first floor of the apartment, Angel did not chase in immediately, but used the spiritual detection of "Flame Jump" to choose the landing point to find a fire source that could be used in the apartment.
Although she could see things in the dark, it was not in her habit to rush into a place that was obviously a trap.
Don't be impatient, even if this guy is likely to be related to Lanevus.
Finding the flames that have not been extinguished at the explosion site on the third floor, she burst into bright yellow flames and disappeared on the street. The next second, Angel's nose was immediately filled with the smell of burnt flesh and blood burned by the flames when her feet stepped onto the third floor. Did
someone just die in the explosion here?
Quickly observing the surrounding environment, she found that there were spots of blood on the walls of the room after the explosion. Although a skylight was opened on the ceiling during the violent explosion, the remaining part was blackened by smoke, but radial, smoked flesh and blood could be seen.
He died before the gas explosion. This kind of death was very similar to the flesh and blood bomb of the "Rose Bishop"...
Thinking of the words of the "giant" just now, Angel guessed that the other party might come here to find someone who was tracking Lanevus. After killing him, he was about to leave, but ran into her and mistakenly thought that she was a bounty hunter named "Hugh Dilcha", so he directly launched an attack. This is
good, otherwise, I wouldn't know that Lanevus was in the East District, right under my nose!
Gritting his teeth, Angel reloaded the revolver, turned on his spiritual vision and quickly scanned it. He didn't find anything else unusual, so he left the house and came to the corridor on the third floor.
The gas leaked and automatically shut down the gas supply, causing all the gas lights on the entire third floor to go out. At this time, the corridor was pitch black, and you couldn't see your hand in front of you, but in Angel's eyes with dark vision, it was as bright as day.
After a brief search, she found no trace of the Rose Bishop on the third floor. She held her breath and listened carefully to the subtle sounds. There was a faint sound of metal friction on the second floor.
Sure enough, he was on the second floor, preparing to ambush me who was coming up from the first floor?
Angel took out a small handful of powder made of fish scales from her pocket, sprinkled it on herself, and silently chanted a spell, and soon made her figure disappear in the apartment.
With almost no sound, she went around to the stairwell at the other end of the corridor, holding a gun in one hand and a dagger in the other, and was about to go down to the second floor and approach the "giant" from behind.
The sound of metal friction stopped.
Then there was the "gurgling" sound of flesh and blood squirming, and the "hissing" sound of fingers rubbing.
No, he was igniting the fire of spirituality?
A terrible idea came to Angel's mind. The next moment, orange-yellow flames surged from the second floor, like a beast that had broken free from its reins, swallowing Angel's invisible body in one gulp and rushing to the third floor.
Angel, who appeared under the streetlight on the other side of the street, watched the flames caused by the ignition of the gas burst out from the half-collapsed room on the third floor, from the remaining windows, from the row of windows on the second floor, and from the door of the apartment on the first floor, almost covering the entire apartment building.
The soaring flames gathered into a ball of fire above the apartment, drifted upward, and gradually extinguished, leaving only thick smoke.
That "giant" actually used himself as bait to trick me into entering and then ignited the gas pipeline of the entire building?
The passers-by who were injured in the first explosion and had not been able to escape were shocked by the second explosion. Those who could still move, even crawling, moved away from the burning apartment, leaving Angel standing in the middle of the street alone.
But soon, a shadow emerged from the burning apartment building, and flesh and blood gushed out in front of her, turning into a body nearly two meters tall. The newly reborn left arm was still bloody and not covered with skin. Under the light yellow curly hair was a pair of eyes like a beast.
The corners of his drooping mouth twitched as he looked at the apartment covered in flames. He was very satisfied with his masterpiece. He then turned around and was about to turn into a shadow and leave here, but what came into view was a nimble body and a dagger burning with black flames in her hand.
"Frenzy!"
Approaching the panicked "giant", Angel used the extraordinary ability attached to the frenzy ring at the moment of waving the black flame dagger, stirring the fragile spirit of the Rose Bishop. The giant who
was about to sneak into the shadow turned his brown eyes red, like an enraged bull, and even forgot the extraordinary ability he was about to use, but clenched his fist as big as a sandbag and rushed towards Angel.
The latter flexibly avoided the unsystematic counterattack, swung the dagger, and cut off the opponent's left arm that had just grown for less than ten minutes from the root, and the second knife went straight to the opponent's throat.
The pain made the Rose Bishop's red eyes regain some clarity. He did not hesitate to detonate the left arm that fell to the ground. The blood rain and the explosion attacked the two people, but the first to bear the brunt was Angel in front of him.
The corrosive blood enveloped her whole body, making a "sizzling" burning sound, but the bloodstained body suddenly became smaller and thinner, turning into a paper figure with thousands of holes.
This is a "substitute paper figure"... But isn't she a witch?
A trace of doubt rose in the heart of the Rose Bishop. He hurriedly mobilized his spirituality that was almost out of control in the frenzy, summoned back the flesh and blood around him, and let them surround him like a whirlwind, and condensed into a deep red "flesh and blood cloak" that could withstand the pervasive black flames.
"Puff--"
The sound of the sharp blade piercing the flesh reached the giant's ears, followed by a severe pain in the back of his head.
"Flesh and blood explode..."
His last dying thought dissipated in the black flames that rose to the sky.
————
A few minutes later, two police carriages rushed over and stopped in front of the apartment where the flames were almost extinguished but still shrouded in black smoke.
Several policemen jumped off the carriage and stared at the devastated Dharavi Street in amazement. It was not until the groans of the injured on the roadside that they remembered their duties as if awakened from a dream and scattered to save people and put out fires.
A police sergeant with two Vs on his shoulder badges crouched on the ground with a frown, looking at two radial bloodstains that were obviously not caused by fire and explosion. The ground had been corroded by the bloodstains and shallow pits had been formed. Next to one of the bloodstains, a bloodstain led to the manhole cover next to the street.
He called two policemen to move the heavy manhole cover. The police sergeant ignored the blood and dust on the ground, lay on the ground, and looked down. There were only a few sounds of water dripping on the water in the dark sewer, and he did not find anything else.
"Sergeant, here."
A policeman handed over a burning stick. Judging from its square shape, it was a part of a table or chair that had survived.
Taking the torch, the sheriff threw it into the sewer, watching the bright flames cover the entire passage, then fell into the shallow water and went out with a "puff".
In the short time that the flames illuminated the sewer, he quickly moved his sight and observed below. Apart from the sewage reflecting the flames, he did not find anything unusual.
After thinking for a moment, the sheriff gave up the idea of going down the ladder to search carefully.
Standing up and patting his hands covered with mud, he directed the police officers beside him to close the manhole cover again, and then walked towards another colleague who also wore double Vs on his shoulders.
"Call those people. This scene involves extraordinary factors at a glance. We are not responsible for the rest of it."
Pointing to the frost on the ground that had not yet melted and the two pools of blood that corroded the paving stones, he said with a serious face.
"I dare not care..."
He added secretly in his heart.
...
Watching the torch fall from the sewer outlet not far away, Angel suppressed his fear and curled up in the corner of the sewer, trying his best not to make a sound.
These reckless people! If the sewer had not been redesigned and rebuilt more than ten years ago, this little flame would have been enough to ignite the methane below and blow up the entire East District! It was not
until the manhole cover was closed again and darkness enveloped the area again that she slowly stood up, dragging the "Rose Bishop" who was soaked in sewage and burned beyond recognition, and left the East District's sewer network before the official Beyonders arrived.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 207: Risking one's life to divine. The
"Magic Pocket Watch" was in a negative state of fear of fire for up to 12 hours, and the streets at night were full of horrible flames. Angel could only leave the East District through the sewers that connected the entire Backlund and go to the Backlund Bridge area that she was more familiar with.
Besides, even if there was no negative state, dragging a charred corpse on the street would be too conspicuous, even in the chaotic East District.
It took more than an hour to reach the sewer area where mutant rats and crocodiles were cleaned up before. Angel found the direction and brought the body of Bishop Rose to the exit near the Tussock River, where the crimson moonlight could be vaguely illuminated.
There were several platforms slightly higher than the sewage ditch. Although they were not clean, they could at least leave the sewage flowing across.
Throwing the Rose Bishop aside, Angel stood aside for a short rest, regaining some spirituality, and then used the Holy Night Powder she carried with her to mark out the area around the corpse and herself, building a spiritual wall with an isolating effect, blocking the stench of the sewer and the sound of the water flow of the Tussock River.
Before conducting the dangerous divination, she should have waited for the extraordinary characteristics of the Rose Bishop to be extracted, so that even if the divination involved the real Creator like last time and was contaminated by His divinity and breath, at least some of the gains could be retained.
But compared to the contamination of the extraordinary characteristics, she was more afraid of waiting too long and letting the spirituality of the deceased dissipate, so that she could not divine the location of Lanevus. Taking
a deep breath, stroking the "Secret Holy Emblem" on her right wrist, Angel recited the goddess's honorific name.
"The goddess of the night who is higher than the starry sky and longer than eternity.
"You are the Lord of Crimson, the Mother of Secrets, and the Queen of Disaster and Terror.
"Lord of Sleep and Silence..."
This was a quick ritual that did not require an altar or candles. If Angel did not have the secret holy emblem, no matter how pious she was, she might not get a response from the goddess. "
I pray to you...
" "I pray for your blessing...
" "Provide protection for my divination..."
She didn't know if it was an illusion, but she felt the temperature of the holy emblem between her fingers drop a little.
Then, a swirling breeze blew in the spiritual wall, and a peaceful atmosphere spread around Angel.
She did not delay and immediately took out the magic mirror and approached the Rose Bishop, who was sturdy but had become charred.
"Magic mirror, magic mirror, tell me the cause of the explosion on Dharavi Street."
She did not try to point the divination target directly to the identity of the Rose Bishop, or even the whereabouts of Lanevus, because this might involve a deeper level of power, and the only clue she had at the moment was the Rose Bishop himself.
"Collect enough information and try divination again."
Cutting off the surging memories, Angel cast her eyes on the foggy magic mirror, which soon displayed a dynamic picture.
"Williams, help me find someone. His name is Lanevus. He is a fraudster and has been on a national wanted list."
A short woman with messy blonde hair handed a portrait to another young man with a thin face. When the latter took it, Angel also saw the portrait in his hand.
Round glasses, neatly combed hair, ordinary face with a mocking expression, this is Lanevus, the fraudster in Tingen City, who planned the conspiracy of the evil god's arrival!
"Xiu, it's as difficult as ascending to heaven to find someone in the East District. I have to mobilize many friends to work together to have a chance... You have to pay more."
The young man put away the portrait and said with a smile. Xiu
? Xio Diercha? The "bounty hunter"?
Angel remembered the words of the dead Rose Bishop after seeing him.
Soon, the picture on the magic mirror changed. The young man named Williams asked different people with the portrait, but to no avail.
He returned home, and a tall, hooded man threatened him and told him why he was looking for Lanevus, then patted him on the shoulder and left the room.
Williams had just breathed a sigh of relief when he was torn into pieces by the sound of a man's finger snap, and his flesh and blood covered the entire room.
Then there was the gas explosion that destroyed the entire residence...
The surface of the magic mirror has returned to its original state, but Angel's mood could not calm down for a long time.
She has recalled the identity of the short woman, who appeared at Mr. A's gathering and even tried to commission her to find someone.
This bounty hunter seems to have a wide range of business. Not only is she tracking down the mysterious woman from Tingen City, but she is also trying to find Lanevus's trace.
Is she specialized in the business of finding people and coveting the other party's bounty, or is she doing something else?
Williams, who worked for her, must have been discovered by the Rose Bishop while looking for Lanevus. The latter followed him back home, asked about the situation, and used the gas explosion to kill him.
If she hadn't happened to be downstairs and was mistaken by him as a bounty hunter who issued the commission, I'm afraid that the Rose Bishop would have left the East District and his whereabouts are unknown.
This is in line with the style of the "Aurora Society"... Is Lanevus currently under the protection of the "Aurora Society"? After planning the coming of the evil god's offspring, this man fled Tingen himself and even left clues for the Nighthawks. Logically, the Aurora Society should hate him. After
thinking for a moment, looking at the Rose Bishop who was no longer in human form, Angel stroked the magic mirror again and asked the next question.
"Magic mirror, magic mirror, tell me," she paused, still not pointing the divination directly at Lanevus, "the hiding place of this Rose Bishop."
If he is really protecting or monitoring Lanevus, then finding his residence is equivalent to finding Lanevus!
Smoke and pure black flashed alternately in the magic mirror, and ships traveling back and forth on the Tussock River appeared.
The river made a 180-degree bend and surrounded a busy dock.
This is the dock area of Backlund!
The picture continued to zoom in, showing a towering bell tower, a large dock, and several small buildings next to it that looked like children.
Angel saw a sign that read "Dock Workers Association", but the picture in the magic mirror turned to the dormitory building on the other side.
The Rose Bishop, who was nearly two meters tall and had light yellow curly hair, was talking to someone. The perspective gradually rose, reflecting the latter's bronze skin. Bronze skin
, it's him again?
Angel waved her hand without hesitation to cut open the spiritual wall around her, grabbed the magic mirror, and was about to throw it far away.
But her remaining rationality stopped her body from acting subconsciously.
Holding the magic mirror with one hand, feeling the increasingly strong evil aura in it, enduring the crazy whispers that were gradually approaching her ears, and enduring the severe pain that was deepening from her fingers to her arms, Angel gritted her teeth, stared at the mirror, and ignored the stinging in her eyes, waiting for the final divination picture.
The perspective continued to rise, and a sharp-edged chin and cheek appeared, and a forehead with gold-rimmed glasses appeared. He had a mocking smile on his lips, and was talking to the Rose Bishop.
"Bang--"
The mirror surface broke, and fragments flew everywhere. Each fragment seemed to be attached with a trace of thick blood, and more of the "True Creator" breath that Angel had long been familiar with flowed out of the mirror.
She immediately threw the magic mirror out like a frisbee, and at the same time ignited the black flame, burning the hand that held the magic mirror-the exposed skin had been stained with a trace of copper rust, which corroded the skin and emitted bursts of green smoke. With
a "pop", the magic mirror, with only the frame left, fell into the sewer full of sewage, and the trace of evil breath had disappeared without a trace.
Angel was stunned. She looked at her hand that was still covered with strange rust a second ago. Although its veins were bulging, the skin was cracked inch by inch, and blood kept flowing out, the pollution of the "True Creator" had faded, as if it had never appeared.
Fortunately, it was just an external injury. I will be able to recover quickly after returning home and using the healing potions of "Pharmacist" Darkwill.
Angel bent her elbow to reduce the blood flow to the wound, and silently looked at the motionless magic mirror in the distance. After a long time, she came back to her senses and used her intact hand to draw a crimson moon on her chest, sincerely thanking the goddess for her protection.
Afterwards, she picked up the broken magic mirror that no longer exuded an evil aura, returned to the side of the "Rose Bishop", and waited for the Beyonder characteristics to emerge.
"That mocking smile is undoubtedly Lanevus, although I don't know where he tanned his skin and changed his appearance..."
She thought of the bronze-skinned hand she saw when she was divining the source of the mutant animals before.
"Did he also create the mutant animals with his blood? But this can easily attract the attention of the official Beyonders. Why would he do such a stupid thing? For the sake of evil sacrifice, or to relieve the desire to kill?"
Thinking, Angel turned his eyes to the "Rose Bishop" on the ground.
"This 'Rose Bishop' lives with Lanevus in the dock area... That clock tower looks like the landmark building of East Balam Dockyard. Are they hiding in the dock workers' dormitory? Instead of covering their whereabouts, they deliberately create trouble. When fighting, the 'Rose Bishop' also chooses the most destructive method..."
A thought that even she couldn't believe came to her mind:
"They, or Lanevus, are deliberately attracting the attention of the outside world?"
"Could it be that this fraudster, like in Tingen, left a provocative letter with the words 'the bomb that keeps getting stronger' to attract the attention of the Nighthawks, but actually has other intentions in secret?"
If he creates an incident of the evil god's advent again and detonates the "bomb" in the densely populated dock area, the consequences will be disastrous.
"In any case, tomorrow morning, when the negative state disappears, go and report it."
Lanevus may find that the "Rose Bishop" who went out is missing at any time, and may move to other areas at any time, or even leave Backlund. Angel himself does not have the confidence to deal with him who has the aura of the "True Creator", but the official Beyonders can, and the Nighthawks can!
After making up her mind, Angel looked at the body of the "Rose Bishop" on the ground again. Under the spiritual vision, a wisp of white light gradually focused on his right eye, which meant that the extraordinary characteristics were about to be released.
But when she turned on the spiritual vision, she immediately felt a sharp pain in her eyes, and heard a low whisper in her ear, just like the breath of the real Creator when she was in the divination just now, but there was no such evil atmosphere.
Could it be that the extraordinary characteristics were contaminated by the Creator's divinity?
No, it was a little different from the divination just now. It should be that this "Rose Bishop" was on the verge of madness and close to losing control before his death. This may be because of my "madness", or because of the injuries he suffered in the battle, or even because he may have mental and spiritual instability before the battle. Considering his practice of detonating the gas pipeline of the entire apartment building, this possibility is quite high...
As the characteristics focused on the right eye of the deceased, the eyeball became red and swollen, and fell off from the eye socket by itself. Angel found that after the characteristics were released, the tall body of the Rose Bishop seemed to have become smaller, and the charred skin became drier, as if dehydrated.
Picking up the red eyeball that had fallen to the side, Angel immediately sensed countless individuals around her, including pedestrians on the street above her head, rats crawling around the sewers, and even corpses under her feet.
This was not information that appeared in her sight, but like the "flame jump" sensing the surrounding flames, it was a spiritual reminder and a full range of perception.
"Can this eyeball allow me to sense the objects moving around me?" She put down the eyeball in confusion, and the sensing just now disappeared in an instant. "No, I can sense the pedestrians on the street above my head, and the horses and passengers pulling the carriage can also sense it, but the carriage itself cannot sense it..."
After several tests, she was sure that this red eyeball could allow her to sense the "flesh" within a radius of about 50 meters around her, whether it was as small as a mouse or as big as a horse, or even a dead body, it was within the sensing range.
"Is this the characteristic effect of the 'Rose Bishop'?"
She picked up the eyeball again, ready to test it a few more times, but she felt a sharp pain in her head and the things in front of her became blurry.
The spiritual consumption was too great... I'd better go home and rest quickly.
Angel carefully put the eyeball back into the bullet box he carried with him, and then he looked at the body of the Rose Bishop at his feet and felt troubled.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 208 The Viscount's Salon
"Madam, please come in. The lady is waiting for you."
Angel was led by the maid into the reception room where he met Sylvia last time.
The latter wore a purple silk dress with some black lace and her long hair was tied into a ponytail, which made her look younger than before.
"Very good, it seems that you still read the etiquette book. If you come here wearing a cloak and trousers, I will send you home immediately."
Sylvia looked at Angel with satisfaction and nodded.
Angel changed into a light yellow ruffled dress today. Her forearms, which were restored to a healthy color by the healing potion, were exposed. Her hair was also carefully tied behind her head, but under the effect of the crazy ring, they were still black.
The etiquette book is not the point. The point is that I spent 20 pounds to buy this suit and matching shoes...
Angel, who threw the body of the Rose Bishop into the Tussock River to feed the fish yesterday and got up early to buy clothes, pursed his lips, but finally did not dare to mention the reimbursement.
Taking the four-wheeled carriage of Baron Langdon's family, the two came from the West District to a luxurious villa in Queens.
With her personal maid leading the way, Lady Severia entered the garden of the villa with an elegant demeanor, and Angel followed at the end, as if she was another of her maids.
The servant in the villa's living room pushed open the door, and the salon inside had already begun. The theme of this afternoon was literature. The owner of the villa, Viscount Grallint, invited famous writers and novelists in Backlund, as well as the nobles he was familiar with, and they were communicating enthusiastically in the large living room that connected the first and second floors.
Feeling the curious, scrutinizing, and playful eyes focused on her, Angel's crammed aristocratic etiquette instantly disappeared from her mind.
————
Xiu Deercha sat on the sofa in the corner of the living room, holding a delicate crystal glass, looking at the small bubbles floating in the carbonated fruit wine inside.
She was completely uninterested in the low-alcohol wine that the nobles drank at gatherings, but she had to pretend to enjoy it. This hypocrisy had made her uncomfortable.
If Fors hadn't gone to a Beyonder gathering with Miss Audrey in the suburbs of the North District, and she had something to report and needed to wait for them to come back, she wouldn't have wanted to stay in this salon where everyone was pretending to smile.
The door was opened by the waiter, and the two late guests entered the living room. Hugh's professionalism made her subconsciously observe the newcomers to the salon.
A black-haired lady in a purple dress and a beautiful face instantly attracted the attention of the whole audience. Viscount Glint, who was talking to the guests, immediately went up to her, kissed her hand, and talked to her eagerly. The
young lady behind her, who was nearly 1.8 meters tall and wearing a light yellow dress, trembled her right hand, as if she wanted to raise her hand to invite, but stopped halfway, which made Hugh almost laugh. She quickly picked up the wine glass and took a sip to cover her expression.
But then, she remembered the news of Williams' death that she learned in the morning, and her smile disappeared in an instant.
Hugh learned about Williams' death from the morning newspaper, and she didn't even get to see her friend for the last time.
This poor man had only asked other helpers in the East District to search for clues about Lanevus, but he was found by the overreacting opponent. Killing to silence him was not cruel, it was simply crazy.
Most wanted criminals would sneak away when they were questioned, change their hiding places, or even leave the city to avoid the key search areas.
But why would Lanevus kill to silence him? Was he too lazy to hide, or was he unable to leave in the short term because of something?
Xio had already informed Miss Audrey, who issued the commission, of the death of Williams and his other friend, as well as the news that Lanevus might be hiding near the East Balam Dockyard, but she then went to a Beyonder gathering with Fors and it was unknown when she would be back.
"Forget it, I'd better go back first. When Fors comes back, we'll come together..."
Having had enough of the salon where he couldn't fit in, Xio picked up the wine glass on the coffee table, drank the fruit wine, stood up, and prepared to leave.
"Miss Xiu," Viscount Glint, who had come to the corner of the room with a guest, called her, "This is Miss Irene, the niece of Lady Severia. She came to Backlund from Tingen not long ago, and this is her first time attending my salon."
"She is more interested in those aspects..." the Viscount added in a low voice.
Who is Lady Severia?
Xiu subconsciously wanted to ask back, but the other party's expression seemed to be saying something that everyone should know, so she was embarrassed to ask.
But she could guess that "those aspects" were a little secret shared by several people: a love of mysticism.
This hobby connected Miss Audrey, Viscount Glint, herself, and people of different status like Fors, and also allowed her to receive many well-paid commissions and obtain the potion formula of the "Sheriff".
Xiu nodded, looked at the slightly nervous lady next to the Viscount, and found that it was the black-haired woman who had just entered the living room with awkward etiquette.
She is a full head taller than me...
Looking at each other with some envy, Hugh bowed and introduced himself: "Ms. Irene, good afternoon, I am Hugh Deercha."
Hearing her name, Miss Irene raised her eyebrows with interest, which made her round face look even more lovely.
Under the coffee table, the big golden retriever left by Miss Audrey tilted its head and looked over here with a pair of wise eyes.
————
Angel looked at the center of the living room. Sylvia was at the focal point of the salon. Several young nobles crowded around her, vying for the opportunity to talk to her, and Sylvia looked over here from time to time, as if supervising Angel's work.
But Miss Audrey Hall was not in this salon at all, and she would not even come back today...
She sighed helplessly and looked at the short lady sitting on the sofa opposite her. She had messy yellow hair and a little baby fat on her cheeks. Combined with her height, she looked like an underage lady.
In the brief introduction led by Viscount Grallint, she already knew the other party's name, Hugh Dilcha, the bounty hunter who was commissioning spies from the East District to find Lanevus, so that she was mistakenly attacked by the Rose Bishop.
Of course, Angel would not blame her. The problem was the Rose Bishop who attacked without understanding the situation. The latter had turned into a ball of polluted Beyonder characteristics, lying quietly in the basement of her house, redeeming his own sins with his life.
"Miss Hugh, I heard that Backlund can only see the sun for two months a year. I just came here. Is this true?"
Well, it sounds like Backlund is not good... As
soon as this sentence came out of her mouth, she realized that it was wrong. Did she step on a landmine when she was trying to find a topic to talk about?
"That should be the case. Anyway, the weather here is very bad, far worse than East Chester County."
The other party did not seem to notice the wrongness of the topic. She answered with a wandering look, and her mind was not on the conversation at all.
Fortunately, she did not care...
Angel breathed a sigh of relief. She looked at the knight's training clothes on Xi, which did not conform to the etiquette book, but did not seem rude, but rather had a sense of majesty. She recalled several topics mentioned in the etiquette book that were easy to open up.
"Miss Xi, your clothes..."
"Miss Irene, let's not beat around the bush. What do you want to do to come to me?"
Xi interrupted her rudely, exuding a majesty that made people want to obey, which made Angel more certain of the other party's identity.
"Okay, then I'll be frank. You are a Beyonder, right?"
She said in a low voice.
The other party's eyes became sharp, and the green eyes stared at Angel motionlessly.
"How do you know?"
"I've seen you before," Angel looked towards the center of the living room and found that Viscount Greylint was chatting with Severia. No one else noticed this small corner, so he continued, "At Mr. A's gathering, you and another lady were not disguised. I was there at the time."
"Really? I understand. So what do you want to talk to me about? You can't just expose my identity, right?"
Hugh, whose Beyonder identity was revealed, was not panicked.
"I just want to meet the Beyonders in Backlund. I just came here from Tingen and am eager to expand my social circle. Well, maybe we will have a chance to cooperate in the future." It
would be great if you could introduce me to Miss Audrey...
Angel added in his heart.
She was a little disappointed when Audrey Hall was not there when she learned about her goal today from Hugh Dilcha, but now she can only build a good relationship with this bounty hunter who is "waiting for Miss Audrey to come back", and maybe she can get to know Audrey later.
In addition, in addition to the mission of the "Witch Sect", she also has another purpose.
Seeing that the bounty hunter was getting impatient and was about to get up and leave, Angel said softly,
"You are looking for a wanted criminal, right? His name is Lanevus?"
Xio stopped and turned to look at Angel with a hint of surprise and vigilance in his eyes.
"What do you know?"
"I know he changed his appearance and is hiding in the dock area, in the dockworker dormitory next to the East Balam Dockyard," Angel said in a low voice, satisfied with the other party's reaction, and glanced at the group of guests in the middle of the living room who were chatting enthusiastically. "Bronze skin, very distinctive, should not be difficult to find. Whatever you want to do, please do it as soon as possible. Maybe tomorrow, the official Beyonder will know about this."
"East Balam Dockyard? As expected..."
The bounty hunter seemed to have found out a lot of information. She was not surprised to hear about Lanevus's hiding place, but then she frowned and looked at Angel, asking back:
"Why did you tell me all this? Since you know where he is, why don't you go to collect the bounty?"
"It's just a small gift, as my gift to meet you."
Angel answered in a pretentious manner, stood up, and prepared to find Severia, who had finally had some free time, but because she was wearing high-heeled dancing shoes that she was not used to, she stumbled and almost sprained her ankle.
Fortunately, the Beyonder's body coordination allowed her to stand quickly, sighed, fixed her skirt, and left the corner of the room.
Before leaving, she felt a curious but harmless gaze, and subconsciously looked over there, and found a big golden retriever lying obediently by the wall, looking at her.
It had admiration in its eyes, and when it saw Angel looking over, it tilted its head and wagged its tail in a friendly manner.
Admiration, friendliness... How could I interpret such emotions in a dog?
Angel felt her thoughts were a little confused, and she quickly said goodbye to Xio who was in deep thought, and greeted Sylvia who was walking towards this side.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 209 The Secret Observer
The literary salon that made Angel feel extremely embarrassed finally ended with the guests reluctant to leave. As the nobles left, Angel followed Severia to leave the luxurious villa and returned to the carriage parked outside.
"After a busy afternoon, how are your 'social achievements'?"
Severia withdrew her eyes from the gradually darkening sky outside the window, then drew the curtains and looked at Angel.
The latter glanced at the maid in the carriage and found that neither the master nor the servant had the intention to avoid the topic. Considering that Severia's question might not involve the "Witch Sect", she carefully answered:
"Unfortunately, Miss Audrey Hall did not attend the salon, so I didn't have the opportunity to meet her."
"Of course I know this, but you talked with that dwarf for so long, didn't you get anything out of it?"
Dwarf...
Angel thought of Hugh Dilcha's height. After comparing it with her own, she guessed that the other party was probably only a little over 1.5 meters tall, which was relatively short even among adult women, but was it too rude to call the other party "dwarf" directly?
She looked at the maid sitting next to her and found that she had moved her gaze to the window, pretending not to hear her master's words, but the curtains were still drawn on the window...
"Miss Xiu should be more familiar with Miss Audrey, and even know her whereabouts, so I tried to approach her first." After thinking for a moment, Angel decided to answer truthfully, "Do you have any impression of this person? I saw that her dress was not... sociable."
Sylvia frowned and thought, but soon gave up, shook her head and said:
"I only saw her once at the salon last month, and have never met her. And she never participated in everyone's conversation, but just drank fruit wine silently. She also wore clothes instead of skirts before, and looked more like a guard of a noble than a guest."
If she was a guard, she couldn't even enter the hall, and even the nobles' personal servants had to stay outside the door...
"Audrey and Viscount Greylint both know her. I chatted with her for a while and became friends. Maybe I can use this opportunity to get to know Miss Audrey in the future."
"That would be the best, but I see she looks at you with some hatred. Are you sure you are friends with her?"
Sylvia nodded first, then asked doubtfully.
————
After getting the latest news, Hugh, who was originally going to leave the Viscount's mansion, stayed at the Viscount's house and continued to wait in the corner until night fell, when Fors and Audrey returned here together.
"Hugh? I thought you had gone back a long time ago, why are you still waiting here?"
Fors Wall, her best friend asked curiously. Miss Audrey behind her seemed to see that she had something to say, so she sent the maid away and took the two to a study room, which was the room where they often discussed mysticism.
"Grelint still has to send those writers away, so he can't come here for the time being. Is there something important that you are waiting for me here?"
After locking the door, Audrey sat at the desk and looked at Hugh, who was hesitant to speak.
Taking a deep breath, Hugh told Audrey the new information he got in the afternoon.
"East Balam Dockyard?" Audrey asked in surprise. "There are workers and vendors there. How did he hide under the noses of so many people?"
"Miss Irene said that Lanevus has changed his appearance. He is completely different from the one on the wanted poster," Xio added the new information. "And his location is consistent with the location that I...my friends have explored. Their killing also shows that the direction of the search is correct."
She had informed Audrey of the death of Williams and another informant who was gathering information at East Balam Dockyard at noon.
"If there are two pieces of information confirmed by different sources, then this information should be credible," Audrey nodded, her golden hair shaking. "Who is Miss Irene you are talking about? Is she your other informant?"
"No, she was a guest who came to attend Viscount Grelint's salon, but she soon contacted me through the Viscount, pointed out my Beyonder identity, and told me this information."
"How did she recognize you?" Fors interrupted and asked.
"At Mr. A's rally, I was standing with you, and she must have discovered you... I told you to wear a hood, and it would be better to wear a mask, but you laughed at other people's masks."
Hugh looked at his friend angrily.
"Did Ms. Irene tell me what she wanted? Money, or future cooperation?" Audrey got the topic back on track in time.
"She only said it was a gift for meeting, and didn't mention anything else."
Xio repeated what the other party said, with a puzzled look on her face.
A gift for meeting?
Audrey Hall was full of questions, but the most important thing at the moment was to confirm Lanevus's whereabouts and complete the task assigned by Mr. Fool. She looked at Xio, who was full of questions, and Fors, who was looking at the latter with concern.
"Please describe Miss Irene's appearance in detail. Maybe I have seen her somewhere."
Audrey actually suspected that the other party was coming for her. Although the fact that she became a Beyonder was not made public, as the daughter of Earl Hall, she still knew the weight of her identity.
"She has long black hair, brown eyes, a round face, and no special features... Well, she is very tall, at least 1.75 meters, and she is close to 1.8 meters when wearing high heels." Xio's eyes showed a trace of envy, "The Viscount said that she is the niece of Lady Severia, but she doesn't seem to be familiar with the etiquette of the nobility... By the way, she claimed that she had just come here from Tingen not long ago and is not familiar with Backlund..."
Over 1.75 meters, Tingen came to Backlund... Isn't this, isn't this the characteristic of Miss "Queen"?
Trying her best to suppress her expression with the instinct of an audience, Audrey asked back as if to confirm, "Are you sure her eyes are brown, not other colors, um, like purple?"
"I'm sure." Xio nodded affirmatively.
That doesn't make sense... Among the characteristics provided by Mr. World, purple eyes are very important information... Audrey sighed with some regret.
But maybe Miss Queen has some means to change her eye color. For example, I heard that some nobles in Intis put very thin colored glass lenses into their eyes to change their eye color in pursuit of fashion...
She decided to find an opportunity to confirm this later.
Taking out an envelope from her bag, Audrey handed it to Xio and said softly,
"Thank you very much for your information. I also know that a friend of yours unfortunately died in this commission. This is my thanks to you and my compensation to him."
Xio took the envelope in a daze, pinched it subconsciously to confirm the thickness, and moved his mouth, as if he wanted to refuse, but he couldn't say it in the end.
"It's good that this information is useful. I just hope that Lanevus will receive the punishment he deserves."
"Yes, he will."
Audrey could see Hugh's frustration and regret for his own lack of strength, and comforted him.
"But I don't know the real purpose of Mr. Fool's search for Lanevus. It may go against Hugh's request... Alas, Audrey, you are becoming more and more hypocritical. You don't even blush when you lie. You are almost like those politicians."
Audrey examined her behavior in her heart.
After Hugh and Fors left, Audrey was also ready to call her personal maid and leave Viscount Greylint's mansion. When she got home, she would pray to Mr. Fool and tell him the latest information.
"Audrey."
Following the few people into the study, Susie, a golden retriever who had been lying beside him without anyone noticing, suddenly spoke human language, speaking not very standard Loenese.
Its owner, Audrey, was not surprised. She first locked the study door again, and then looked at her beloved dog.
"Susie, what's up?"
Susie nodded, raised her front legs, and squatted down.
She looked serious, like a well-behaved child. "Your friend, Miss Xiu, didn't tell you the truth."
The dog tilted his head, seeming a little confused.
"The lady I talked to this afternoon, her height should be correct, um, she is a head taller than Miss Xiu, but her hair is not black..."
"Her hair is light blonde, lighter than yours, and her eyes are purple."
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 210 Great Detective Audrey
"Purple eyes!"
Now everything matches up. She's over 1.75 meters tall, has purple eyes, and is from Tingen. She recently came to Backlund. She also attended Mr. A's gathering. She is very likely to be a Beyonder.
This Miss Irene is very likely the "Queen" of the Tarot Club!
Ignoring the footsteps of the maid Anne approaching the study, Audrey squatted in front of Susie and asked in a low voice:
"Can you confirm? Hugh said that Miss Irene had black hair and brown eyes, but you saw purple eyes?"
Susie nodded seriously. She also heard the approaching footsteps, so she didn't speak any more. Did
Hugh really lie?
But why would it be necessary? Everyone in the salon could see her talking to Miss Irene. I could confirm the truth by asking any guest at random. Moreover, I have been promoted to a "mind reader", so I can see that she did not hide anything.
Then suppose the two of them... No, neither the man nor the dog lied, and what they saw was the truth...
Audrey felt that the current situation was a bit complicated and brain-burning, but this made her even more excited, as if she had become Lady Sissi in "Storm Heights", a detective who was solving a case.
This excitement made her immediately think of a way to verify it.
Pushing open the door and bypassing the startled Anne, Audrey found Viscount Glint in the hall who had just sent off several literary masters.
"Glint, is there a lady named Irene coming to your salon today?"
The Viscount seemed a little confused. He saw Audrey coming up aggressively and thought there was some important topic, but he didn't expect it was just asking such a small matter.
"Yes, she was brought to the salon by Lady Sylvia, the niece of that lady."
Sylvia... Sylvia Langdon?
Audrey found the information of the Baroness from her memory. She had seen her several times in the Viscount's salon and other private gatherings of nobles. She was a beauty who could attract everyone's attention. There were many romantic stories in the private gossips of the nobles in the Queen's District, but no one could confirm it.
"Do you still remember what Miss Irene looked like? Hair color, eye color?"
Remembering her purpose, she drove the Baroness out of her mind and asked quickly.
"Well, I don't remember it very well," the Viscount frowned and recalled, somewhat like the expression when Hugh recalled Irene's appearance just now, "her face was rounder, her hair was black, and her eyes, I don't remember her eyes."
"Okay, thank you, Greylint."
Audrey said goodbye to the confused Viscount, returned to the study, and squatted in front of Susie again.
"Susie, you should still remember what Miss Irene looks like, right? Can you draw her?"
Irene in the eyes of Hugh and Grallint had black hair, but Susie saw her with light blonde hair and purple eyes...
This shows that Irene has some way to change her image in the eyes of others, perhaps her extraordinary ability, or some magical item, this ability can even make people who have seen her forget her specific appearance, just like the difficult memory of the two just now...
And this effect does not work on Susie, or rather, on non-human targets!
As long as it draws Miss Irene's true appearance, I can easily find this mysterious queen lady!
Audrey, you are such a genius!
Excitedly clenching her fists, she looked at Susie again with expectant eyes, and the latter tilted her head and looked at her innocently.
"Audrey," regardless of the maid being outside the door, the golden retriever vibrated the air around him and made a somewhat puzzled sound, "You forgot that I'm just a dog."
Looking at Susie's front paws digging on the carpet, the great detective Audrey was silent.
————
It was already late at night when Angel returned to Red Rose Street. Today was a rare sunny day, but Backlund was still shrouded in thick fog at night. The moonlight scattered in the fog, turning half of the sky into an eerie red.
After taking off the frenzy ring, Angel first changed out of the expensive dress, took a cold shower, and then went to the basement.
Although cold water is not good for her current body, it can at least calm her down... She spent too much time with the "Pleasure Witch", and the negative effects of the ring caused her to have some strange reactions in addition to her normal physiological needs. Fortunately, Severia did not let her stay in the villa in the West District for a long time...
And on those days every month, Angel also discovered the troubles of this female body. In Cole's memory, Mrs. Sharon did not seem to have such a period. Could it be that after being promoted to the "Pleasure Witch", some physical changes will occur again?
Holding back the discomfort, she made several "sleeping spells" in the basement, stuffed the "Storm Gathering" that had been made but not sold before into the fast loader for backup, and checked the dagger, revolver, substitute wand and magic mirror. After everything was ready, she returned to the first floor from the basement.
This will be her biggest reliance in the next battle.
Before going to Severia's house today, Angel had already reported Lanevus to the police in the North District, and even mentioned the "True Creator" directly in the letter. According to the efficiency of the Backlund police, they should forward this letter of complaint to the nearest official Beyonder organization tomorrow, which is Sunday, and the report in the North District will be handled by the Night Watchers.
Involving the "True Creator" and the wanted criminal Lanevus who caused the Tingen tragedy, she believed that the Night Watchers would take it seriously and deal with it as quickly as possible, and it is very likely that they will take action on Sunday night.
And Lanevus, who somehow obtained the divinity of the True Creator, is not someone Angel can deal with by himself. He can only rely on the official Beyonders and the powerful Night Watchers to deal with him and the culprit of the Tingen City God's Descendant tragedy.
"If I have Sequence 5, or at least Sequence 6..."
She stood in the living room without turning on the lights, looking to the southwest, where was the East Balam Dock in the dock area, and the tall clock tower was faintly visible in the thick fog.
Angel didn't think that she could deal with Lanevus, who possessed the godhood of the evil god, just by killing a Rose Bishop. She had no hindrance when using the magic mirror to divine the former, but once the divination touched the latter, she would be instantly counterattacked by the breath of the true creator.
This essentially explained the difference in strength between the two. If the Rose Bishop was compared to a general Sequence 6, Lanevus, who possessed the godhood of the "true creator", was likely similar to Megose, who was pregnant with the evil god's offspring, and had almost the strength of Sequence 4.
Angel, who had fought with Megose, knew that "divinity" would be the biggest difference between the middle and high sequences. The latter relied on divinity and could hurt middle sequence extraordinary people with words alone. The offspring in her belly even made a "joyful witch" lose control on the spot just by crying.
If there were no saint relics that also came from high sequence powerhouses, I'm afraid that even if another team of night watchers came, they would not be able to do anything to Megose.
But even so, she was not prepared to wait for the "good news" of the night watchers.
Perhaps they could easily solve this problem after sufficient preparation, but they might also fail, or even be like the battle in Tingen City, where they were calculated by a mastermind hidden behind the scenes and failed at the last moment.
"I am the last insurance. If the Nighthawks get rid of Lanevus, I will 'see him off' from a distance. If he escapes by chance..."
Angel tightly grasped the silver chain in his hand.
"I will make the final blow."
————
In a room under the Saint Samuel Church in the northern district of Backlund.
This is the headquarters of the "Nighthawks" in Backlund. Unlike other second-tier cities, it is directly located under the Saint Samuel Church. It is not one or two Nighthawks who take turns to guard the Chanis Gate and the station, but a whole team.
Five or six Nighthawks were sitting or lying, playing Fighting Evil, flipping through old newspapers that had not been updated for several days, or writing and drawing with paper and pen.
"Bang—"
A wooden door was pushed open, and a night watchman in a black windbreaker walked in with several file bags. He quickly glanced at his colleagues and finally locked his eyes on a night watchman holding a newspaper.
"Captain, a telegram from the Siveras Field," he handed the file bag over. The latter took it and did not open it to check, but continued to listen to the report. "The police station in the northern district received a letter of complaint, saying that Lanevus was hiding near the East Balam Dock in the dock area."
If I said that I published it a few minutes later because I wanted to pretend that I didn't have a draft saved and was rushing to write it, would you believe it?
(End of this chapter)