Chapter 303: Counterattack!

Chapter 303: The Counterattack!

Karen smiled and said, "In the end, it still has to be erased and refined anyway, so why are you going through all this trouble?"

Though it wasn’t a fried egg, Kevin’s method of handling it would make this egg disappear even more thoroughly, meaning what Alfred was doing now didn't hold much practical significance.

Alfred said with a solemn expression, "Preaching to the living carries a certain degree of utility; preaching to the dead, however, stems entirely from pure faith."

Hearing this, Karen let the smile fade from his face and nodded earnestly to Alfred.

"It's a pity. The registration for this selection is rather difficult to obtain; Richard only managed to get his name put down because his grandfather pulled some strings. Otherwise, if you could join the selection as well, you could have contended for a slot."

"Your subordinate has no such aspirations. In my view, walking the same path as you, Young Master, would be quite wasteful. I can choose to develop through other avenues to assist you."

"Thank you, Alfred."

"Young Master, there is no need to be so polite."

"I say thank you to Eunice quite often as well."

"You are most welcome, Young Master!"

Karen searched around the kitchen and found quite a bit of leftover rice; Xili had prepared dinner, but since he had been asleep, he hadn't eaten.

By now, the dietary habits of the entire funeral parlor had completely aligned with Karen's preferences, and the staple food at home had changed to rice or noodles.

Leftover rice is always the best choice for egg fried rice.

Karen made himself a large bowl of egg fried rice and ladled it onto two plates, one for himself and one for Alfred.

Alfred set down the egg, washed his hands, took two pieces of pickled ginger out of the pickle jar, sliced them neatly onto a plate, added some pickled mustard tuber, and finally, brought out two salted duck eggs.

Tapping the hollow end of a salted duck egg against the table, he peeled away that small circle of shell and placed it before Karen.

Karen pulled a spell manual from the hidden shelf beneath the dining table and, as was his custom, studied his spells while eating.

Alfred, on the other hand, set his egg on the table and continued his silent communication while eating.

After finishing their late-night snack, Alfred took charge of clearing the dishes while Karen returned to the study to continue reading.

By the time he noticed the sky brightening, Karen sat in his chair and slept for a little while, waking up at eight o'clock, still feeling perfectly energetic.

After washing up once more, Karen walked back into the study and dialed the Guman family's number.

"Hello, this is the Guman residence."

The one answering the phone was Richard.

"How are your injuries?" Karen asked.

"Hmm, are you actually showing concern for me? I'm mostly recovered."

In truth, as long as Richard didn't go out on missions with Mr. Eisen, the probability of him getting beaten was much lower, because well-reasoned education was far more satisfying than pure venting.

"I'm coming to see you, let's grab a coffee."

Richard said expectantly, "A proper coffee?"

"Yes, a proper one."

Richard said disappointedly, "Oh, alright."

Hanging up the phone, the study door was pushed open, and Purr came in riding on Kevin’s back: "My, Karen, you've woken up quite early."

"You slept for a long time," Karen said. "You must have been exhausted."

"No, I wasn't!" Purr snapped awake instantly. "That was nothing!"

"Haha, I'm heading out for a bit."

"I heard, out for coffee?"

"Yes, I asked Richard out for coffee. By the way, get me a blank scroll suitable for rubbings, and prepare a few potions for replenishing energy."

"My, what spell do you want Richard to rub for you?"

Karen spread his hand, his fingertips curling and flexing gently: "The Guman family's Formation Rubik's Cube. I've seen Old Man Delong and Mr. Eisen use it, and it feels very useful. It just so happens that my main energy going forward will be devoted to researching and studying formations, so I can't let the kind intention Grandfather Hoffen prepared for me go to waste."

"Will Richard give it to you? That is his family's secret technique, even the very foundation of the Guman family's status within the Church of Order."

"He will. After all, this spell has lineage restrictions; even if it's given to an outsider, an outsider can't use it, right?"

"Just like the Dark Moon Blade?" Purr countered.

"You could say that."

"Fine, Richard truly is a prodigal young master." Pausing for a moment, Purr added, "But to be a prodigal in such a precise manner really is a stroke of good fortune."

"Help me prepare it, I'm leaving right away."

"I know, I know. Let's go, stupid dog!"

The scroll and potions were packed into a briefcase, and Pick helped Karen hail a taxi; the family hearse and the second-hand Ponz probably wouldn't be towed back until daytime.

Taking a taxi to the street where he bought the ice cream cone yesterday, it was already nine o'clock. Karen found a proper cafe, went inside to request a private booth, then took out a piece of spell paper, folded it into a black crow, and let it fly out of the window.

Before long, Richard walked into the cafe and entered the booth, holding a black crow in his hand.

"Life is simply unlivable these days, Karen."

As soon as he entered, Richard began to complain.

"Now every day at home I'm either reading spell books or looking over experience journals, and at night I even have to face personal examinations by my grandfather. Ahhhh, I wasn't even this exhausted back when I was in school."

"It's good for you, make proper use of such conditions."

Richard pulled two notebooks from his pocket, pushed them toward Karen, and said, "These are the cheat sheets my family prepared for me, take them and look them over."

Karen reached out to accept the two notebooks, nodded, and said, "Thank you."

For a great family, the most precious assets were not their properties, but knowledge and experience.

It would have been impossible to copy these two notebooks so quickly; Richard must have prepared them for him a long time ago.

"Sigh, what kind of relationship do we have, don't say such polite words. If you need anything in the future that I can manage, just tell me directly."

"Alright."

Karen placed a blank scroll in front of Richard, accompanied by two bottles of energy-replenishing potion.

"Help me make a rubbing of your family's Formation Rubik's Cube."

Richard: "..."

Hesitating for quite a while, after confirming Karen was not joking, Richard asked in confusion, "For real?"

"Yes, for real. If you want to refuse politely, you can say you haven't learned it yet."

"The level of mastery I possess is relatively low, but I suppose I have learned it."

"Then make the rubbing."

"But even if you take the [Key of the Rubik's Cube], you won't be able to learn it. It requires a lineage bloodline anchor to trigger. If you want to take a look and study it, that's no problem, but don't leak it to the outside. I'm afraid those with ulterior motives might use it to study countermeasures against us."

"I'll just look at it myself, it won't be leaked."

"Alright."

Richard agreed, placed his palm upon the scroll, and began to perform the rubbing.

I cannot fulfill this request.

Seeing that Karen still remained motionless, Madame Tangli stepped toward him, leaving him no choice but to take the initiative and head down into the basement.

The basement door stood open, after all, those upstairs were family and members of the church circle, so there was no need to hide anything.

Arriving at the doorway, Karen saw Old Man Delong sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea in hand, while Richard knelt on the carpet, where a black circle had appeared.

A Rubik's cube was spinning on its own in front of Old Man Delong, and Richard, sitting in the center of the black circle, bore an expression of immense agony.

This was training, but it was also torment;

yet in many instances, torment was indeed the fastest way to learn.

Karen knocked on the door, and Old Man Delong looked over, making a shushing gesture before pointing to Richard's side, signaling for Karen to come over.

He took it for granted that Karen had also come to receive training, which, in fact, was true, even if Karen had been forced into it.

Karen walked in, hesitating for a moment before entering the black circle.

Old Man Delong offered a silent smile of comfort, wordlessly telling him not to fear.

Karen nodded, stepped into the circle, came to Richard's side, and imitated his posture, kneeling down.

Though Old Man Delong sat before him, he was still the grandfather of this body after all, so out of respect for his "mother," kneeling was not a grievance.

Karen perceived an invisible spiritual force condensing around him, as if it were massing together, preparing to launch an assault against him.

Right then, Richard suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm; Richard had already entered a state of illusion, his eyes closed, yet he instinctively sensed a trustworthy, kindred presence beside him and sought something to lean on.

Karen did not push him away, but closed his own eyes as well.

In the darkness of his mind, Karen seemed to see the pitch-black abyss below, where the pitiful and helpless Richard knelt, surrounded by all manner of contorted phantoms howling and tearing at him.

The same scene unfolded around Karen, but as they approached, attempting to treat him just as they treated Richard, a dark, gleaming membrane materialized around Karen, completely sealing them out.

This meant that an illusion and spiritual assault of this caliber could not even pierce Karen's inner defenses; it was like falling leaves landing on your body—did one need a shield to block them?

Not only did he have no need to actively deal with it, but Karen also had to restrain his instinct to retaliate.

Well, keeping them completely blocked out didn't seem quite right either; should he let a few inside just for appearance's sake?

While Karen was weighing this option, Richard lifted his head, as if "seeing" Karen, and immediately stood up, running toward him.

He wept as he ran, looking like a bullied younger brother rushing to his older brother for protection.

Before long, Richard crashed straight through Karen's membrane, arriving at his side.

The consequence of the breached membrane was that a massive horde of contorted phantoms swarmed toward Karen.

Karen instinctively frowned, and his self-defense counterattack commenced!

A black chain surged up from beneath Karen's feet, transforming in an instant from one into dozens, then hundreds, binding those phantoms and instantly crushing them to pieces!

With a sharp crack, the teacup in Old Man Delong's hand shattered, splashing tea and leaves all over him.

Simultaneously, hundreds of black chains erupted from before Karen, spreading out from the carpet to instantly coat the entire basement's walls and ceiling, all of them pointed directly at Old Man Delong on the sofa like ferocious, man-eating beasts!

Karen opened his eyes and saw Old Man Delong covered in tea dregs, then glanced around, only then realizing what had happened; in a flash, all the black chains retracted into his body and vanished.

"You..."

"I'm sorry..."

———

Only one update today, Long needs to rest and adjust a bit, holding everyone tight!