Chapter 1002. Second Movement |
Saint Hierländ Square, in the northwestern corner, at the third story of a restaurant.
When the wolf specter with the rose appeared in front of Ernes Boyar, the silver-haired, scarlet-eyed Mistral retracted his gaze from Ernes Boyar. Darkness suffused from behind him as countless tiny bats flew within.
Bribe… Just as this Sanguine Earl silently muttered this single word, he “saw” the toppled carriage, “heard” the neighing of the horse, and “smelled” all kinds of smells. However, he wasn’t able to instantly find the origin of the disturbance and accident.
At this moment, his “vision” darkened as his “eyes” seemed to lose the ability to take in light. The din in his “ears” also halted!
Earl Mistral chortled inwardly as he immediately fused with the bats behind him, re-materializing beside Ernes Boyar.
Suddenly, in his black “vision,” a point of light appeared.
This point of light rapidly expanded as it grew brighter and brighter. A golden figure with twelve pairs of pitch-black wings walked out of it!
The pairs of wings spread out, blanketing Mistral’s “vision,” causing light and darkness to mix. This created mysterious and complicated symbols that didn’t differentiate themselves within the golden figure. It was both holy and corrupted, both light and dark.
Angel! Mistral’s pupils widened slightly as he couldn’t help but take a step back, terminating his previous thoughts.
In those emerald-green eyes were ripples. Deep within the emanating ripples were twirls of a vortex that seemed to suck in the soul of anyone who lay their eyes on them.
Ernes Boyar instantly became engrossed in it as he couldn’t move his eyes away.
Then, he heard a gentle and ethereal female voice in his ears:
“Take this newspaper and follow Emlyn White…
“Take this newspaper and follow Emlyn White…”
This voice was layered as it resounded within Ernes Boyar’s ears. It drilled into his brain, sinking deep into his heart.
Ernes Boyar nodded in a daze, sensing that there was more, but he couldn’t hear it clearly.
The paperboy with a sling bag diagonally across his shoulders swiftly turned around and agilely passed through the bicycles, mixing into the crowd that came and went.
This “boy” had a pretty face as “his” messy hair drooped down and hid “his” brows. As “he” walked, “he” took off a black fishnet glove that “he” had worn at some point in time, stuffing it into “his” sling bag filled with newspapers.
As the wind blew, “his” clothes shrank as a spot on “his” exposed arm protruded out.
A few seconds later, Ernes Boyar suddenly jumped back from where he stood, doing so as though he had been trying to dodge something.
No good! I was influenced by a Nightmare’s ability! Just as he found his footing, his pupils dilated as he looked around his surroundings in a state of high alert, prepared for any impending attacks.
Although Ernes Boyar was perplexed about how easily he was pulled into a dream, he knew that it wasn’t time to consider the details. What followed next was key. He couldn’t afford to be distracted.
Ring!
A few bicycles passed him as they used their bells to warn the gentleman in the middle of the road to make way.
Ernes Boyar narrowed his eyes as he glared at him, his muscles under his clothes ready to deliver their might.
Ie
These few bicycles circled around him as the pedestrians came and went, some slowing down their footsteps and pointing their fingers.
Gong! Gong! Gong!
Twelve gongs were heard as the white steam spewed out from the chimneys of Saint Hierländ Cathedral. The holy hymns of praise resounded as the gears and levers got to work.
On the square, everyone stopped in their footsteps. At that holy moment, they either closed their eyes in prayer or were listening silently, regardless of whether they were believers of the God of Steam and Machinery or not. Only the pigeons that were being fed flew up and soared into the sky.
Gong Gong! Gong!
As the gongs sounded, no one moved. Even Earl Mistral, who was inside a private room at the restaurant, stood there motionless with a heavy expression.
His “vision” had already recovered, but all he saw was workers wearing grayish-blue or light-blue clothes and bicycles of the same make. Apart from that, he discovered nothing. Furthermore, Ernes Boyar hadn’t been injured at all.
Of course, he had guessed that the paperboy was problematic from the newspaper in the Sanguine Viscount’s hand. However, he didn’t attempt to carry out a pursuit.
Clearly, the power that had borrowed the level of an angel didn’t belong to a Low- or Mid-Sequence Beyonder. This also meant that Emlyn White’s faction had at least a demigod hidden in the vicinity. Mistral believed that once he took action, he was bound to be stopped or even incur retaliation.
In a situation of being easily detected while not knowing where his opponents were hiding, Mistral believed that it spelled trouble. Carrying out a pursuit in such cases only exacerbated the matter.
Furthermore, to the Sanguine, this was only a test. If the faction backing Emlyn had mobilized a demigod, they could detain that powerhouse thanks to Ernes Boyar’s protective measures. And through Oath of Rose, Mistral could confirm the attacker’s identity. They had never thought of escalating the matter into an intense conflict. In their plans, it only involved Earl Mistral stopping the other party to prevent Ernes Boyar from suffering any harm.
In the present situation, they had lost the initiative. To forcefully carry out a pursuit might highly likely result in a demigods’ battle. And in Backlund, around Saint Hierländ Cathedral, this was equivalent to suicide.
Besides, to Mistral, since the other demigod hadn’t personally taken action and had only provided auxiliary help, to personally take action and make a pursuit would be a loss of decorumand an insult to his reputation as a Sanguine Earl.
Humph! I want to see what happens next! Mistral’s facial muscles twitched as he rotated the ghostly-blue ring on his left hand once more.
After the twelve gongs, Emlyn started walking again. He circled past the fountain and arrived at the other end of Saint Hierländ Square amidst the landing pigeons.
He then saw Ernes Boyar, who had his back hunched slightly, afraid to even move half a step. He saw the toppled carriage, the horse that was flicking its tail, and the carriage driver who wore a look of pain.
Emlyn walked over, took out a wallet, and pulled out 100 pounds. He handed it to the carriage driver and said, “This is your compensation.”
“Ah?” The carriage driver wore a blank but pleasantly surprised look.
The rental carriage wasn’t his. He was only an ordinary employee. After the carriage was damaged because of the horse being startled, he experienced a brief moment of feeling the pinch. Following that, it was anxiousness and despair that ruled over his mind.
Based on the so-called contract and other similar accidents he had seen over the years, he was responsible for all of this. This meant compensation from him and, with his income and family situation, meant bankruptcy!
During that short moment, all kinds of thoughts had surfaced in the carriage driver’s mind. They were mainly of three types. One was to scare the frozen gentleman and get him to pay compensation. This prevented his family from falling apart, with his children having to slave away at the factories at a young age. Another option was to immediately bring the horse to a gangster and sell it. Then, he would return home and leave Backlund with his wife and children. The last option was to arrange for his family to move from the place they rented. He would then plead with the owner of the carriage, hoping that he could repay it in installments. If the person wasn’t agreeable, he would rather be thrown into jail than reimburse him a single penny.
Now, having 100 pounds suddenly hit him left his mind groggy. He was at a loss for words.
100 pounds was enough to buy a brand new rental carriage and even more!
Emlyn ignored the carriage driver and looked at Ernes.
“Everything’s fine now.”
Aren’t you the biggest problem? How can it be fine with you here? Ernes lampooned as he rotated the ring with the ghostly-blue gem on his left hand.
For some unknown reason, he felt that he should believe Emlyn White and even approach him.
Emlyn shot a glance, suddenly turned around, and walked briskly into an alley.
Ernes subconsciously opened up his stride and followed closely behind. He kept holding onto the newspaper in hand.
The two Sanguine moved at extremely fast speeds, with one running and the other chasing. However, they didn’t dare reveal anything extraordinary.
When Earl Mistral sensed that the two Sanguine were beyond the reach of his spirituality, he used the connection between the paired Oath of Rose rings to follow behind unhurriedly.
Emlyn occasionally made detours, taking shortcuts and occasionally returning to spots they had been before. It made it difficult to guess where his destination was. As for Ernes, he was like a bull having seen a red cloth. He refused to give up as he followed closely behind.
Unknowingly, the two Sanguine arrived at Rose Street which was south of the Bridge.
At this moment, Emlyn suddenly sped up. He wasn’t afraid that others saw him producing after-images as he dashed right into the Harvest Church.
Ernes did the same.
Not good! From afar, Earl Mistral was just about to descend upon them to stop the subsequent developments when Ernes’s figure vanished inside the Harvest Church’s entrance.
Kacha!
A tile at Mistral’s foot instantly shattered.
After entering the cathedral, Ernes came to a realization. He then saw a figure wearing a brown priest robe stand up at the front of all the rows of pews. He appeared like a mountain.
At the same time, the entire cathedral turned heavy as if it was a jail. It seemed to fuse with the land itself.
Ernes’s mind buzzed immediately as another voice sounded in his mind:
“After you awaken from the first hypnosis, throw all the items on you to Emlyn White.”
Amidst shuffling sounds, Ernes took off his sash, threw out the brooch, and slammed the various items towards Emlyn White. This included his silver pocket watch and a wallet filled with
cash.
Pa!
The newspaper in his hand fell to the ground, throwing out a paper card that was stuffed within.
On the paper card was the goddess of justice sitting on a chair and holding a sword and scale.
It was the tarot card—Justice.
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