Chapter 130: Incineration

Chapter 130: Incineration

Upon stepping into the courtyard, Bede halted his steps, gazing at the detached villa before him.

"What is it?" Piaget asked.

Bede waved a hand beneath his nose and said,

"I catch a scent that makes me feel somewhat uncomfortable."

"Hmm?" Piaget sniffed the air, "I don't smell anything, do you have some sort of allergy?"

Bede shook his head, his gaze sweeping once more over the villa before him, especially lingering across the windows of each floor.

When a man of his status went out, he either did so with grand fanfare, flanked by a full team of bodyguards, or he concealed his movements in low-key obscurity; it was not to say that an assassination by rival factions was entirely impossible, but at least the probability would be reduced to a minimum.

Yet this feeling at the moment,

Bede fixed his gaze upon Piaget once again,

Had he betrayed him?

It did not seem like it.

Then what exactly was going on?

"Bang!"

Just then, the front door at the first-floor entrance swung open, and Gerson walked out.

In the next instant, the windows of both floors shattered, and six Raphael family bodyguards clad in black suits rushed forth.

There was no "greeting," no "pleasantries," and certainly no "self-introduction," for Bede was merely standing in the courtyard at this moment, and moreover, he seemed to have no intention of advancing any further inside;

If Gerson were to utter a phrase like "What a surprise, Mr. Bede, to think we would meet here" at this juncture, it was feared that before he could even finish speaking, Mr. Bede would have already run back into the car.

Among the six bodyguards behind Gerson, two possessed skin that manifested a petrifaction, sprinting straight forward; their body weight seemed to have shifted at this moment as well, leaving a footprint in the garden soil with every step they landed;

Another two bore exceedingly sharp bone spurs growing from their arms, which pierced straight through their clothes; as they advanced, they lagged half a body length behind the two petrified companions ahead, a combat habit long ingrained to utilize their petrified comrades as personal shields.

The final two thrust out their tongues, their limbs contorted in a twisted fashion as they crawled upon the ground like two spiders, rapidly bypassing from both sides, intending to cut off the retreat.

Gerson himself threw wide his arms, the red wool sweater upon his body tearing open directly to reveal two bright red wings, and his form floated upward.

From this, one could discern just how chaotic the belief system of the Raphael family truly was, because the progenitor of their family had originally followed Count Rical as a pirate—and not the sort of pirate who boarded decks for close-quarters slaughter or held the helm to read the wind; that progenitor's duty was to procure prostitutes for the other pirates.

Thus, in a strict sense, the Raphael family did not possess a "pure" ancestor, but by attaching themselves to the Allen family, they completed their family's primitive accumulation, and through their own extensive marriages, they also collected quite a few bloodlines of belief systems from other families;

If the Allen family were likened to a decaying and destitute noble, then the Raphael family was a stray dog that had clawed its way up from the grassroots, devouring anything just to fill its belly.

Previously, while staying at the Allen Manor and listening to Old Anderson recount the Raphael family's "history of the ungrateful wolf's rise," Karen, lying in bed that night, had lamented to Purr sleeping at the foot of the bed:

Setting aside political stances, the rise of the Raphael family is truly inspiring.

Of course, stances could never truly be set aside, because Karen's fiancée was surnamed "Allen" and not "Raphael."

At this moment, the family driver who had originally gotten out of the car with Bede stepped directly in front of him, shouting:

"Patriarch, get back into the car!"

With that, two clumps of fire elements materialized in the driver's hands, and he hurled them toward the two petrified men rushing forward; the flames ignited the clothes of the petrified men but failed to halt their steps, and consequently, the two bone-spur wielders behind them, shielded by their companions ahead, were not affected in the slightest.

Piaget froze in place, murmuring, "What is happening?"

Bede, however, frowned; could the prophecy of the mural truly be wrong twice in a row?

Bede did not run backward, because when he turned around, those two Raphael clansmen crawling in the manner of spiders had already completed their flanking maneuver.

Faced with the steadily approaching petrified men and the bone-spur wielders behind them who had already assumed a posture to leap out and slaughter, a look of despair surfaced upon the driver's face; he was merely a tier-two;

Under these circumstances, what he could do was, in truth, not much.

Nonetheless, with great resoluteness, he pressed his burning hands against his own chest, and flames instantly ignited across his entire body; in the next moment, he charged at the petrified man ahead.

One petrified man extended his arms to intercept him, yet the driver smashed his fist directly into the opponent's chest; the petrified man let out a wretched scream as the flames, which previously could not cause him much harm, now burned through his petrified skin, inflicting a massive area of burns upon his chest, but very quickly, a long bone spur impaled the driver's neck and sliced sideways, severing the driver's head, and the flames upon his body died out accordingly.

The injured petrified man knelt on the ground, clutching his chest, while the rest continued to tighten the perimeter according to their previous rhythm.

The two crawling "spiders" behind did not pounce, but continued to blockade the path of retreat;

Gerson in the air did not lightly join the fray either, for he wished to select the optimal point of entry;

It was ludicrous to speak of,

The reason they were so "meticulous" was that they had absolutely no idea that the patriarch of the Allen family had not awakened the family bloodline at all; he was merely an art lover!

The reason lay in the fact that the Allen family's secrecy measures were executed exceptionally well.

Consequently, this band from the Raphael family was still on guard at every moment against the patriarch of the Allen family suddenly summoning a set of fire or water armor to charge out and slaughter.

Yet no matter how meticulous they were, the moment of contact between the two sides had arrived.

The uninjured petrified man launched a charge toward Bede, and the two bone-spur wielders sprang from behind him, brandishing their sharp bone spurs as they pounced toward Bede.

With a powerful sweep of his wings, a emerald-green steel saber appeared in Gerson's hand, and he dived down toward Bede!

Everything was about to end;

Everything had indeed ended;

For just at this moment,

A flash of light suddenly manifested above Gerson, and before he could even twist his head back to look upward, he felt a long object pierce straight through his chest, whereupon he was smashed directly into the ground.

An elder clad in a white robe was stepping upon Gerson's back, a wand embedded with a wizard's stone already impaling Gerson's body.

"Light—Incineration."

A milky-white flame appeared at the tip of the wand, diffusing across Gerson's entire body; under this scorching temperature, Gerson's body instantly began to vaporize, without him even having the time to utter a single wretched scream.

"Hum!"

"Hum!"

Two spinning halos of light flew out from nowhere, passing through the bodies of the two spider-men; immediately following, a large gash was sliced into the chests of the two spider-men, and their bodies subsequently split apart.

"Shield of Light!"

A wall of light appeared before Piaget;

Coincidentally, Mr. Bede was standing behind Piaget;

Thus, though the petrified man had charged toward Bede, he was still blocked by the wall of light, and the petrified man, whose initial momentum was fierce, was entirely deflected by the light wall;

Suddenly, a swordsman holding a longsword, his body seemingly enveloped in a layer of white radiance, appeared beside the light wall; a bone-spur wielder lunged directly at him, which was an instinct;

But instinct, at times, was a laughable thing, for it often paled in comparison to well-trained experience.

With a simple flick of the longsword, the bone-spur wielder lost his balance; the swordsman shifted his stance, and the sharp longsword swept across the opponent's neck;

Subsequently,

The swordsman appeared before the second bone-spur wielder; this bone-spur wielder also relied on instinct to brandish his bone spurs at him, but as he brandished them, the swordsman merely held his longsword level and thrust it straight forward, piercing directly into his forehead.

The longsword was withdrawn, and the swordsman walked toward the petrified man who was still kneeling on the ground due to his previous injury; the petrified man suddenly let out a low growl, leaping up fiercely to pounce at the swordsman, but a streak of white light had already impaled his chest from behind, and after he collapsed, it revealed the figure of the elder holding the wand standing behind him.

The elder spoke in a deep voice:

"Vernon, gather all of their corpses together."

The white radiance cloaking the swordsman receded, revealing the face of a young man who wore no armor, only a white trench coat.

"Yes, Elder Dock."

"Helen, you are responsible for incinerating the bodies completely, leave no trace behind."

A young woman in a blue coat and a red hat stood up from the greenery; despite her remarkably vibrant attire and the withered, yellowed state of the shrubs, she had somehow remained utterly invisible until now.

Furthermore, the two radiant discs from earlier had likely been unleashed by her, silently and without warning.

The woman also held a wand in her hand, and upon hearing Elder Dock’s command, she immediately replied:

"Yes, Elder."

Elder Dock swept his gaze over the surroundings once more, instructing:

"After the bodies are incinerated, purify this place from top to bottom twice more."

"Yes, Elder, I understand, I won't slack off."

Elder Dock nodded, then let out a sigh;

Originally, the message sent by the Divine Envoy stated that the boy from the Berry Cult would come shortly to put on a show with that pack of family parasites, which would dissociate them from an affair that had nothing to do with them in the first place.

Luderously, Lord Divine Envoy had specifically noted in the message that no matter what happened between that Berry Cult boy and the parasites, their side must not intervene.

Then that pack of family parasites had barged in;

But where was the boy from the Berry Cult?

The person who returned instead was Piaget!

Although Elder Dock had long harbored some dissatisfaction toward this Divine Envoy sent from the grand headquarters, he could not simply stand by and watch Piaget meet with misfortune before his very eyes, otherwise, what on earth had they been doing staying in York City all this time at such great risk!

Moreover, that pack of family parasites seemed to have come precisely for Mr. Piaget, rushing in to kill without so much as an opening word, leaving Elder Dock with no choice but to act.

To make matters worse, due to the Church of Light's current precarious predicament, they either had to refrain from acting at all, or if they did, they had to finish the job absolutely and cleanly.

If the Divine Envoy hadn't mentioned that the fellow had ties to Piaget and that they mustn't harm anyone Piaget valued, Elder Dock might have moved long ago to silence that Berry Cult fellow.

A group of people who believed in the God of Light yet couldn't bear the sunlight—what a sheer irony.

Elder Dock coughed twice and walked toward Piaget.

Meanwhile, Piaget spoke to Bede:

"These people, are they all your bodyguards?"

Mr. Bede cast a glance at the driver who had already been reduced to black charcoal on the ground and replied:

"They didn't come to protect me."

Elder Dock walked up to Piaget, speaking with great respect:

"Boss..."

Piaget found himself somewhat unable to adapt to this title; he could accept the physicians and staff in the clinic calling him boss, and he even looked forward to Karen calling him boss a few times though he never seemed to;

But facing this group of people who had just been shining brilliantly, who had dispatched that "fierce and ferocious" gang in just a few moves and were now methodically destroying the evidence,

Hearing them call him boss made Piaget feel somewhat uncomfortable, both physiologically and psychologically.

Elder Dock also seemed to realize this title was inappropriate, for wouldn't this betray Miss Bertha's side, blatantly telling him that we have people planted in your company;

Even though the reality was indeed that across your company, nearly half of the staff were our people.

To make up for his previous slip of the tongue, Elder Dock corrected himself:

"Mr. Adams, hello, we are a secluded family from the Mo-Suri Archipelago, a family of faith. We came to York City because of certain matters, and by a stroke of coincidence, we happen to live right next door to you, we are your neighbors, haha.

Between neighbors, helping each other out and looking after one another is only right, isn't it?"

As he spoke, Elder Dock pointed a finger toward the detached villa next door.

Though he himself felt this explanation and reasoning were terribly forced and rigid, the elder still stubbornly maintained the smile on his face.

Adams licked his lips, looking at Elder Dock;

"That..."

"Mr. Adams, please speak freely, we are neighbors and friends, though we just saved you, you needn't be so formal."

Adams nodded and said:

"I have seen many religious murals."

Elder Dock smiled and said, "Oh, is that so? It turns out Mr. Adams is also an enthusiast of religious culture, haha."

Mr. Bede was trying his best to maintain a calm expression on his face, because the level of awkward small talk from this elderly man before him was truly becoming somewhat unbearable.

Piaget continued:

"The way that person was glowing earlier, I've seen it in murals, he should be a Knight of Light, so you aren't some family from the Mo-Suri Archipelago, you are believers of the Church of Light.

Furthermore, as far as I know, the Church of Light is currently in a predicament where it is being hunted down by mainstream church circles."

Elder Dock: "..."

"And one more thing." Piaget pointed to the villa next door, "That villa next door is also a property under my father's name, it's just that I can't live in so many places alone, so the place next door has always been left unattended."

Elder Dock: "..."

...

At seven o'clock, darkness fell.

A black, second-hand Purnce sedan stopped on the road in front of door 3-06 on Apple Street.

Karen turned off the engine,

Turning to look at Alfred, who was currently sitting in the passenger seat.

"I hadn't intended to let you leave the hospital so early."

"Young Master, my injuries are fine now, since there is no longer any worry of infection, once bandaged up, it basically won't have any effect anymore, it's just like scraping skin while sharpening a pencil, there's no need to lie down for long.

Most importantly, your safety, Young Master, is what matters most.

But I am truly so shocked, during these few days I've been lying in the hospital, so many things have actually happened.

The greatest pity is that when you performed the 'Divine Shepherd' ritual, Young Master, I wasn't able to stand by your side and witness it with my own eyes.

But fortunately, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future, and I think it will be very soon."

Sure enough, after hearing the whole story, Alfred did not show any incomprehension like Purr and Kevin, nor did he have the slightest intention to advise Karen to reconsider;

Whatever Karen wanted to do, Alfred would support it unconditionally and completely.

"Young Master, since I am accompanying you inside to put on this show, what about my identity?"

"Just make up whatever you like," Karen said.

"Won't that be too perfunctory?" Alfred said hurriedly, "I'm not questioning you, Young Master, but I don't want any flaws in your play due to a poor performance on my part."

Karen said, "Mr. Tadel is a double-sided plug."

"Oh, I see."

Without needing any explanation from Karen, Alfred understood the meaning of this description at once.

This discovery had not come to Karen by way of young John, who had mentioned his father visiting a lover at the monastery. In truth, any ordinary soul hearing of a man seeking romance within cloistered walls would instantly picture a clandestine affair with a nun.

Instead, Karen had discerned the truth through the subtle architecture of Mr. Taddel’s gestures and fleeting micro-expressions during that afternoon’s consultation.

A man looking upon a beautiful woman, or a woman upon a handsome man, harbors a primal, unvarnished instinct for the flesh; no matter how refined or righteous one’s character, the body cannot help but betray itself through fractured whispers of behavior.

On that day, in Karen’s presence, Mr. Taddel had exhibited precisely those tells.

"I believe the investigators on that side must know Mr. Taddel intimately, and are likely well-aware of this particular eccentricity.

Furthermore, since Miss Bertha has already arranged for me to lodge at my employer’s estate, it would be far wiser to play into the narrative. Let the investigators believe Mr. Taddel sought my counsel merely as a pretense for his romantic pursuits;

in doing so, the logic of the entire affair becomes clear and uncomplicated, and they will see no reason to expend further effort digging into this line of inquiry.

Thus, keeping a handsome companion like you by my side seems entirely natural. When the time comes, I shall simply claim that I intend to recommend you to my employer, Piaget."

"Young Master, your arrangements leave me thoroughly impressed."

"It is the swiftest, most elegant way to wash away suspicion. If they were to fixate on us and prolong their scrutiny, my own impending investigation would be severely hindered, and I have no desire to endure the same fate that befell Mr. Pavarotti."

Karen and Alfred stepped down from the carriage together, but as they crossed into the courtyard, both men halted almost in unison.

"Alfred, do you not find the air within this courtyard suddenly remarkably fresh?"

"Young Master, it is the entire courtyard; it has become far too clean, unnaturally so."

"The atmosphere is rather peculiar," Karen murmured.

"Indeed, Young Master," Alfred agreed with a nod.

"Heh, I find myself suddenly hesitant to step inside."

Just then, the front door swung open, and Mr. Bede stepped out into the open air. He walked with a calm, assured stride, embodying the true dignity of a family patriarch.

Karen studied his prospective father-in-law, his gaze sweeping over the house behind the man out of the corner of his eye.

As Mr. Bede descended the steps,

Karen brought his hands together before his chest:

"Praise nature, may I ask who you are?"

—

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