Land Without a Master

Tien being murdered by Heretical Cultists and Tien being a Heretical Cultist who committed suicide were two entirely different concepts.

A Heretical Cultist's suicide was very likely a sacrifice.

And anything involving a Heretical Cultist's sacrifice would undoubtedly be nothing good.

House of Iris could accept the former, but would never accept the latter.

Although when embarking on the transcendent path, transcendents should be prepared to face all kinds of temptations, or even fall into depravity.

Yet as a member of House of Iris, the fact that Tien had become a Heretical Cultist was truly disgraceful if word got out.

It would bring shame upon all of House of Iris.

"Master Tien underwent the relevant examinations before leaving the family, and he even visited the Star Tower. If he really were a Heretical Cultist, he should have been discovered long ago."

If Alice still remembered noble etiquette, she would have stood up and loudly refuted him right then.

Bals's expression darkened, and the furrow between his brows deepened into a pronounced V. "You mean Master Tien became a Heretical Cultist only after coming to Leyden City?"

A moment ago, he had still been smiling, his tone mild, and there had been no overwhelming pressure to speak of.

But once he became serious, the imposing pressure of the ruler of a city immediately made the atmosphere considerably heavier.

The pressure, as immense as a mountain, left Alice speechless—she had only made such a guess in her mind and had not expected Bals to state it so bluntly.

For a moment, she did not know how to respond, and unconsciously tightened her grip again.

Aaron: ???

He let out a muffled groan and lightly patted Alice's arm.

This was truly too much for him. Alice's slender, fair hand looked delicate, but was actually like an iron clamp, locking his bones firmly in place without giving him the slightest chance to break free.

He could even hear faint cracking sounds.

Only then did Alice realize that she had lost her composure. She hurriedly released her hand and said softly, "Sorry."

Aaron grimaced as he raised his hand and glanced at it. He did not know whether it was merely his imagination, but his palm seemed to have shrunk a little.

Still, Aaron would be sacrificed to heaven, and magic power would know no bounds.

His interruption at least eased the tension in the room somewhat.

Aaron swung his already numb hand, glanced at Alice, and could not help smoothing things over. "It still can't be confirmed whether Master Tien is a Heretical Cultist. If it really gets confirmed, the Star Tower probably wouldn't have sent anyone to investigate this matter, right?"

After all, she was his future fiancée. As her inexplicably appointed fiancé, he still had to take her side a little.

Only then did Bals's expression soften somewhat. He turned to Sart. "Perhaps you could first go to Tien's residence and look into the situation?"

Since he had received a commission from his teacher, Sart could not very well refuse. After pondering for a moment, he said, "I can first perform a simple ritual to slow the leakage of the aura..."

At this point, he paused. Only then did he understand why his teacher had sent Siosand here, and he roughly understood why his teacher had also asked him to participate in this incident.

He remembered Colin mentioning that Tien seemed to have been collecting different spices, which meant that he probably had not prepared properly for conducting a ritual from the beginning.

As an experienced problem-solver from the Star Tower, he was proficient in all kinds of rituals and spice formulas. Perhaps he could summarize and deduce something from the records and residual spices, or even work backward to determine the ritual Tien might have intended to conduct.

As for Siosand, as the Star Tower's most outstanding Silver Tier seer, he could trace the source of a ritual by sensing its aura, roughly identify the type of Heretical Cult organization involved, and might even be able to directly confirm the murderer's identity.

If Tien really had become a Heretical Cultist, he and Siosand would definitely be able to find relevant evidence.

"However, I think we should resolve this matter as quickly as possible." Bals added, "Leyden City has already been under martial law for too long because of this. In fact, quite a few merchant guilds have already complained to me."

Leyden City lay in the western part of the Yagrant Kingdom, near the "lawless" region of Badipila. In a sense, it was a border city.

The Yagrant Kingdom to the east, the Kristan Kingdom in the north, and the Lenofica Kingdom to the west hemmed Badipila in between them.

Under the watchful eyes and mutual suspicion of the three powers, Badipila became a land without a master, ungoverned by any kingdom, and a paradise for every kind of criminal.

Countless evils sprang from there, and innumerable villains fled thousands of miles to the region in hopes of escaping pursuit from the various powers.

Chaos, evil, betrayal, and desire also gave rise to countless Heretical Cult organizations. It could even be said that almost anyone who lived there for long counted as half a follower of a Heretical Cult.

Of course, from another perspective, Badipila had become an extremely important trade route. Driven by profit, greedy yet industrious merchants established scattered pockets of order across this land without a master and continuously conducted highly profitable business along the scattered trade routes.

The expensive gems of the eastern Yagrant Kingdom, the various spices of the western Lenofica Kingdom, and the furs and ores of the northern Kristan Kingdom—all kinds of precious goods were traded and exchanged through Badipila.

And while Leyden City was sealed off because of Tien, there was no doubt that the trade passing through would be greatly affected.

To keep the city sealed, Lord Bals had to withstand immense pressure. Some of it came from the caravans, while some naturally came from the nobles of his own kingdom—such astonishingly profitable business would obviously not escape the attention of those high-and-mighty noble lords.

Most of them merely loved vanity, but that did not mean they were fools.

No one could refuse glittering little cuties.

Alice nodded. She could understand Lord Bals's pressure, which was also one of the reasons she had rushed over immediately upon receiving the news.

However, after thinking for a moment, she cleared her throat and suddenly changed the subject. "By the way, Lord Bals, how do you plan to deal with that Earth Demon Spider?"

"An Earth Demon Spider?" Lord Bals raised his eyebrows, showing some surprise.

Alice froze and asked in return, "Colin didn't tell you? A few days ago, we found an Earth Demon Spider while searching the sewers for the Rat-Faced Cult."

"Oh? Colin didn't tell me about this." Lord Bals's expression shifted somewhat. His muscular left arm unconsciously rubbed his chin lightly. "An Earth Demon Spider... That really is troublesome."

Although the Earth Demon Spider was only a relatively weak magical beast and had not yet been polluted by Heretical Cult Aura and turned into a demonic beast, it had inherited the usual traits of spider-type magical beasts: it ate little, had an aloof temperament, and generally would not take the initiative to attack humans.

Compared with most magical beasts or wild beasts, it was actually not very threatening. At least, it was unlikely to cause fatalities.

It usually lived in dark, damp caves and fed on small or medium-sized subterranean creatures. The sewers of Leyden City indeed suited its living environment very well.

But that raised the question: where had this Earth Demon Spider come from?

Even if the city guards had been slacking off and neglected to clean the sewers, that still should not have been enough for an Earth Demon Spider to get inside, right?

Or were Leyden City's sewers connected to some underground cavern?

"I'll send someone to investigate this matter." Bals nodded toward Alice.

But Alice's thoughts were no longer on Bals. She murmured, "Colin..."

Colin hadn't reported this matter to Bals?

Or had he thought Alice would mention it to Bals herself?