Tohno SHIKI, a Dog, and... Roa / Roa Appears

Besides external family affairs, the problems of her two older brothers at home also left the young girl uncertain and unsure of what to do.

Just then, a somewhat flustered voice suddenly approached from afar, and in the end, without even knocking, rushed into the study—

"Young lady, the church members have come to visit and have already barged in, ignoring the guards' attempts to stop them."

The girl, who was usually cheerful and lively with a smile on her pretty face, was now filled with anxiety as she brought the bad news to Tohno Akiha.

"What?"

Upon hearing this news, the young lady, who had just been looking at the documents with a headache and was actually lost in thought about her brother who had just been brought back from the countryside, suddenly stood up and looked at her maid in disbelief.

In the distant past, the Tohno Family was a clan that modified their bodies and injected demonic elements into them in order to become stronger.

In the eyes of the church, which claims to be shepherding the lambs for the Lord, they are heretics among heretics.

Their survival to this day, and even their ability to challenge the Church at times, is not due to their fearlessness of the Church, but rather to the power of secular forces.

Firstly, there are a considerable number of the Exorcist Family like theirs in this island nation, if not ubiquitous, they practically dominate half of the island's mystical world and wield considerable power and influence in the secular world.

If the Church were to target any particular organization, it could trigger a chain reaction, causing a major upheaval in this far-eastern island nation.

Although the Holy Church is powerful, it needs a global presence, and its manpower in the Far East is simply insufficient to directly quell all the Exorcist Family.

Secondly, it's because... these Exorcist Family have also made contributions—

Although their act of voluntarily accepting the monster factor can be considered heretical, their purpose is to protect humanity from monsters and vampires.

This is also permitted within the church's rules.

To fight against the highest-ranking vampire Dead Apostles, merging with their power was a last resort.

While it may be considered filthy, it is not entirely unacceptable.

After all, according to the Bible, even vampires themselves are only a part of the Lord's power.

Therefore, the Tohno Family, for example, can only exist in a tacitly accepted gray area.

But now, the members of the Holy Church have disregarded all etiquette and barged into the Tohno Family... Could it be...?

"Are these damned colonists finally going to attack us?"

Subconsciously, Tohno Akiha thought to herself.

But Tohno Akiha quickly suppressed this terrifying thought, staring intently at Jade, and bombarded her with questions—

"What's going on, Amber? Did the other party say anything?"

How many people came?

Was there any killing of people in the manor?

However, although she still appeared calm and composed, Tohno Akiha's small hand, which was pressed on the table, had clenched the document in her hand into a ball, and there was no color in the back of her hand.

"Young Miss, they didn't do anything to us servants. They just said they were going to hunt the Ancestor of the Dead Apostles and asked us to cooperate."

Amber seemed to be influenced by Tohno Akiha's composure, her expression showing less panic.

"When I ran in before, they didn't stop me or catch up with me."

Judging from the direction they were heading, it seemed they were heading straight for the back garden.

"What?"

Although it didn't seem to be the worst-case scenario she had imagined, Tohno Akiha's face instantly turned pale upon hearing Amber's words.

Chapter 574 Tohno Shiki, who's like a dog, and... Roa

Tohno Akiha knew what the Ancestor of the Dead Apostles was.

If the people from the Holy Church came to the Tohno family and only informed him that the Tohno Family was hiding an Ancestor of the Dead Apostles, then Tohno Akiha would only worry that the other party might wipe out the entire Tohno Family, while obediently cooperating in order to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

But what if the other party goes straight to the back garden...

Could it be...

Although she deeply resented the person her father had hidden there, and even if that person were her blood relative, Tohno Akiha would not have allowed them to live to this day if it weren't for her father's dying wish.

Now, that guy who should have died long ago may have become the culprit who brought the Holy Church to justice, which made Tohno Akiha feel even more resentful towards him.

However, it's too late to say all this now.

"Amber, let's go..."

Steadying herself up from a slight sway that nearly caused her to fall, Tohno Akiha, whose hair seemed to be turning red, took a deep breath, dropped the documents that she had crumpled in her fingers, forced herself to remain calm, tossed her long hair aside, and tried to muster her courage as she walked out.

"Yes..."

Tohno Akiha didn't notice was that Amber, with her head down, had a face that was usually full of lively smiles, but now it was expressionless, without joy or sorrow, only slightly furrowed brows, as if she was also somewhat troubled.

Meanwhile, Gwen and his group, who had stormed into the Tohno Family, had already arrived at the garden behind the Tohno Family.

"There doesn't seem to be any trace of Roa here..."

Ciel closed his eyes slightly, sensed things carefully again, and looked at Gwen with some doubt.

As Roa's previous reincarnation, while gaining exaggerated immortality and magical power from him, Ciel also acquired a great deal of magical knowledge from Roa.

Although Ciel felt disgusted by anything Roa left behind, Ciel still learned some of it in order to better find and Roa.

"Because Roa has not yet fully awakened."

Having found a cellar concealing a faint yet powerful aura, Gwen's lips curled into a smirk.

"This reincarnation is very special even in the history of Roa's reincarnation. It even allows him to make preparations and arrangements while perfectly concealing himself, making it difficult for Arcueid to clearly sense him."

"Because of the Tohno Family's exorcising blood?"

Following his senses about Roa, Ciel, who had been in the Far East for some time, instantly realized the problem.

"There's some connection, but to be precise, it's that person's uniqueness—"

Gwen spoke, he lightly stamped his foot.

Boom--

With a crashing sound, the ground in front of them suddenly collapsed, sending up a cloud of dust.

"..."

Sensing the beast-like aura that had been hidden underground, Ciel instantly tensed up, entering battle mode and protecting Noel, who had come with him, behind him.

"Can you feel it?"

Gwen, having destroyed the cellar, turned to Arcueid beside him and asked.

"He does indeed have a bit of Roa's aura about him..."

Arcueid's brows furrowed slightly, his crimson eyes piercing through the smoke and dust as he stared intently at the figure in the cellar who had been smashed and was now crying out in pain, but whose voice was uttered in a way that was almost like a wild beast's howl—

"But... it's very faint."

It was as if he had only met Roa once...

No, it's deeper than that..."

After looking at it carefully for a while, Arcueid realized that something was wrong.

At the moment she realized she was almost being fooled, Arcueid's crimson eyes seemed to turn golden.

However, before Arcueid could erupt, the warm hand that had been holding hers tightened slightly, using its warmth to awaken her from her chilling killing intent—

"Calm down, Arcueid. Soon, we'll take care of that bastard."

"Um..."

Turning to meet Gwen's gaze, Arcueid pursed her lips and gave a subtle smile, nodding vigorously at Gwen, her small hands intertwined with Gwen's tightening even more.

Although he believed that Gwyn, who could easily defeat his normal self and had demonstrated many extraordinary abilities, even scaring away Crimson Moon Gwen, could deal with Roa.

But when the moment actually arrived, Arcueid couldn't help but feel a little worried—

If Roa hadn't died, he would have remained a shadow in her heart forever.

"And you, Ciel, are you able to sense anything unusual about the other person?"

Turning to look at the other side, who carried the Seventh Holy Scripture, which looked like a nail gun, Gwen asked how it felt.

"Looks like just an ordinary person whose exorcising blood has gone berserk..."

After staring at the frenzied figure in the shadows for a moment, Ciel slowly shook his head.

"But I seemed to vaguely sense something unusual that made me unexpectedly concerned about him."

Although Gwen and Arcueid's conversation had confirmed the identity of the person opposite them, Ciel still spoke the truth.

"Because he was originally a madman consumed by the Inversion Impulse, Roa's consciousness is now hidden within that madness..."

His gaze pierced through the dust, meeting those blood-red eyes filled with madness. Gwen recounted the other's situation to the people around him, and then waved his hand lightly.

In an instant, the dust and smoke were blown away by an invisible wind, leaving only the ragged, filthy figure in the ruined cellar, whose limbs were tightly bound by thick chains, resembling more of a stray dog chained to the ground than a human.

Tohno Shiki, the true eldest son of the Tohno Family, is now being kept like a dog in this dark corner.

"He smelled of hallucinogenic drugs on him. I don't know if it was the Tohno Family trying to suppress his madness, or if it was Roa's consciousness acting up..."

After fixing the stench that lingered after the smoke and dust dissipated, Ciel raised an eyebrow and said.

"Perhaps we should ask the owner of this place about that..."

Gwen glanced at the young lady and maid who had rushed over, but instead of greeting them, he grabbed Tohno Shiki, whose limbs were bound by chains.

With a sickening crack of breaking chains, Tohno Shiki's limbs flew through the air, and he let out a beast-like roar.

However, no one present paid attention to this point—

Gwen and his group were only concerned with whether Roa could be completely killed, Tohno Akiha, who arrived in a hurry, was wondering why Tohno Shiki had become the so-called Ancestor of the Dead Apostles, and at the same time, thinking about how to distance herself from the situation.

If a rat in the shadows gets involved with the Ancestor of the Dead Apostles, then it's truly a path to its own demise.

On the contrary, when Gwen grabbed Tohno Shiki in front of him, a frenzied aura suddenly rose from his body as his gaze swept over Tohno Akiha.

However, before Tohno Shiki could make any move, the hand enveloped in a dark blue aura landed on his head and yanked hard—

Chapter 575 Roa Appears

At this moment, the fierce aura emanating from Tohno Shiki, whose expression was contorted with pain, which was enough to frighten ordinary people into weakness, paused.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Gwen, his hands wreathed in the Corpse Qi, pulled a phantom spirit from Tohno Shiki's body—

It was a soul with a ferocious face and a fierce expression. It looked cleaner than Shiki Tohno Shiki himself, but its vicious aura was no less intense. The red light in its eyes even shocked a nun in the room who was used to seeing dead apostles, causing her to subconsciously take a few steps back.

However, after Gwen extracted his soul, Tohno Shiki showed no fear or panic. His bloodshot eyes, filled with madness, stared straight into the distance at Tohno Akiha, who was running towards him with Amber.

As someone who harbors unusual feelings for his younger sister, Tohno Akiha's attraction to Tohno Shiki surpasses that of everyone else present.

"The master has arrived..."

Gwen, holding Tohno Shiki's soul in one hand, also looked at the master and servant who had hurriedly arrived—

"We apologize for breaking into your home without permission, but we had no choice but to do this in order to prevent someone from moving the suspect."

If the Tohno Family has any objections to this later, they can report it to the Holy Church.

Gwen, who had no connection with the Church of the Holy See, casually shifted the blame to the Church of the Holy See.

Neither the two members of the Burial Agency nor the nun, who was just an ordinary agent, had any objections to this; they simply stared intently at the hideous spirit in Gwen's hand.

"Call..."

Feeling a little uneasy under Tohno Shiki's gaze Tohno Akiha forced herself to ignore her brother's stare, took a deep breath to steady her breathing, and then stepped forward, looking at Gwen with neither servility nor arrogance.

"These things can be discussed later."

Now I'd like to know, where is this so-called Ancestor of the Dead Apostles?

"It's hidden here..."

Gwen shook the spirit of Tohno Shiki in his hand.

"Can..."

Glancing at Tono Shiki's ferocious face, which was very different from the memory of the long past, but exactly the same as his expression that night, Tono Akiha hesitated for a moment, and then spoke out of respect for his father's last words -

"He's just mentally unstable, at most a madman. He might have some special abilities, but he's definitely not the so-called Ancestor of the Dead Apostles."

"Speaking of which, I remember that the Tohno Family, Exorcist Family, should have a consensus that those who fall into demonic possession must be killed."

Gwen shook his head slightly and said to Tohno Akiha—