Unknown Enemy

Sart immediately realized his gaffe after speaking and added, "Are you sure there's a heretical aura in his room?"

Alice nodded. "I'm sure. Ed is a seasoned heretical cult hunter, I trust his judgment."

She sounded a little less confident as she said this, glancing at Aaron subconsciously.

If Ed hadn't misjudged Aaron's heretical ritual, she might have felt more assured.

"When did heretics learn to charm Diviners..." Sart muttered, also glancing at Aaron, a flicker of worry flashing in his eyes.

Transcendent of the Gold Coin Path train their souls using their transcendent aura. Relatively speaking, they have the strongest resistance to heretical auras and are the least likely to be charmed or manipulated.

Yet now, Tien, a Diviner, had willingly disabled all his defenses and died in his own room, with a heretical aura present...

This practically meant that this unseen heretic could already control the will of a Bronze Tier Transcendent!

And unfortunately, Master Tien's death had only occurred a few days ago, followed immediately by a full lockdown of Leyden City. It was highly probable that this heretic had not left the city.

In other words, Aaron and Alice, and even himself, were at risk of being targeted by this unknown heretic.

Even though Sart was a second-generation Tower member and a Bronze Tier Prophet, he had no confidence in being immune to this level of mental manipulation.

"What kind of cult is this?" Sart couldn't help but ask.

Alice shook her head. "We don't know yet. You know as well as I do, there are many kinds of heretical cults, and new ones even pop up from time to time, making it hard to confirm."

Sart mused and nodded, his mind racing as he began considering the next steps. But the moment he thought of Aaron's identity as "The String Player of Fate," he couldn't help but give a wry smile and sigh inwardly.

Fate was completely in disarray; he couldn't see the future's direction and had no idea how to proceed.

Should he continue following Aaron, hoping to get an opportunity for advancement from him, or should he withdraw promptly?

While heretics were skilled at manipulating people and confusing minds, that was only relatively speaking. Their primary targets for manipulation were ordinary civilians.

The most common tactic of heretics was to beguile civilians, using illusions and falsehoods to drive believers to serve them.

Sart could even deduce that this unseen heretic was at least Silver Tier, proficient in mind control, or perhaps even Gold Tier.

Thinking this, Sart glanced at Aaron, who seemed lost in thought, then exchanged a look with Alice. His ominous premonition grew stronger.

Aaron didn't notice the exchange of glances between Sart and Alice. He wasn't aware of all these implications, merely muttering to himself, "Is this considered a locked-room murder case?"

So, there were locked-room murders in this world too!

Vaguely, Aaron felt like he had grasped a clue, sensing an inexplicable connection between Tien's death and himself. He subconsciously began stroking his chin, recalling everything that had happened since his transmigration.

At this moment, Alice coughed lightly, interrupting his thoughts again. "Ed should be waiting for us. We should head out too. I believe the City Lord will provide us with more clues and information."

Sart looked up at the sky, which had already darkened considerably, and then turned to Aaron, asking, "Are you planning to meet the City Lord?" As he spoke, he specifically glanced at Alice and gestured towards Aaron with his eyes.

After much deliberation, he ultimately deferred the decision to Aaron.

If Aaron was unwilling to meet the City Lord, he would naturally find a way to force Alice to go alone.

The deterrence of this unknown heretic was too great; caution was necessary.

Often, the more you know, the faster you die.

Of course, if Aaron wanted to go willingly, he wouldn't stop him, he would only accompany Aaron.

When he couldn't see the future's direction, Sart could only choose to go with the flow and wait and see.

Alice also realized the subtext in Sart's words. She opened her mouth, but ultimately couldn't speak under Sart's gaze.

She also knew the danger involved, and she was aware that Aaron was merely a dispensable figure in this matter.

She wanted him to accompany her simply to leverage his identity and, incidentally, to let the City Lord know the House of Iris's stance in advance.

It wasn't strictly necessary for Aaron to accompany her.

However, if her future husband were to die at the hands of a heretic, would she then be able to...

Alice instinctively stopped herself from thinking further. As a member of the House of Iris, she should sacrifice everything for the family's honor, including herself.

Thinking this, she even felt a hint of shame and her gaze towards Aaron softened.

"I..." Aaron clearly noticed the different attitudes of the two and hesitated.

His intuition, slightly more active after the Enlightenment Ritual, vaguely warned him that going to the City Lord's mansion might carry some unforeseen risk.

This feeling was extremely subtle and difficult to articulate, yet it was undeniably real.

If it were anyone else, they might consider backing out at this point.

Unfortunately, Aaron's curiosity was reignited by this method of Tien's death, making him even more eager to witness this otherworldly locked-room murder case.

Alternatively, he might need to use Alice's House of Iris and Sart's Star Tower behind him to build momentum for himself...

He finally looked at Sart and nodded. "Let's go to the City Lord's mansion and take a look. I have a certain feeling..."

Aaron deliberately spoke vaguely. After all, Sart had been very vague when he first spoke to him, only saying that he would be of assistance in his future advancement...

At least, from the current perspective, Sart harbored no ill will towards him.

Given that, he naturally would go all the way, carrying the banner of "feeling."

Only a charlatan could fool another charlatan!

As for what this "feeling" was?

Aaron believed Sart would fill in the blanks himself.

As expected, after listening, Sart merely frowned, nodded thoughtfully, and displayed an expression that clearly said, "I understand."

Even Alice couldn't help but glance at Aaron curiously, as if trying to figure out what that feeling was.

But she immediately recalled Aaron's absentmindedness a few times earlier, and then remembered that Aaron had already become a Black Iron Tier Transcendent. She couldn't help but believe him a little.

"Then, Master Sart, I hope we can get along well for the time being," Alice said, bowing slightly to Sart. She then looked at Aaron, "Please follow me. Ed should have arrived already."