Deliberately Engineered Coincidence

"Lord Bals has a problem?" Alice frowned. "What problem?"

The three of them unconsciously focused their gazes on Aaron, watching his expression as though he had suddenly realized something.

"It's only a guess." Aaron paused briefly, reviewing the many details that had suddenly occurred to him. After confirming everything, he spoke. "You and Ed came here three days ago. You didn't notice anything unusual then, right?"

Alice nodded. "That's right. Captain Colin was there at the time, and I personally watched him seal this door shut."

Sart added from the side, "The Hand-Chopping Ritual requires a relatively enclosed environment. During that period, it absolutely cannot come into contact with light. Otherwise, the ritual will fail, and the Crawling Hand being created will immediately decay."

Aaron said thoughtfully, "So we can assume that the Hand-Chopping Ritual to create the Crawling Hand only began after Alice came here?"

"If we calculate the timing, the Hand-Chopping Ritual should be completed sometime today or tomorrow. In fact, we arrived one step too late." Sart turned to look at the corpse lying on the bed, the corner of his mouth twitching.

"Perhaps we should be glad that we arrived one step too late."

Ed, who knew a little about rituals, could not help asking, "Because the ritual was nearing completion?"

"Yes. During the final stage, just before the Hand-Chopping Ritual is completed, a mark must be applied. Otherwise, the Crawling Hand cannot be controlled. In other words, the Heretical Cultist who performed the Hand-Chopping Ritual may have just been here."

Alice clenched her fists. She glanced at the corpse, then looked around the room, as if trying to find some clue.

"Perhaps my junior, Siosand, might have a way. After all, he's a prophet, while I'm only a diviner." Sart understood what Alice was feeling at that moment.

If only they had come one step earlier, they might have been able to catch that Heretical Cultist!

"Miss Alice, please calm down. That Heretical Cultist is at least Silver Tier. We know that he possesses a 'Avenger' rune, while we're only Bronze Tier. Besides, we still have Lord Aaron to protect."

Three Bronze Tier individuals facing a Silver Tier Heretical Cultist—victory or defeat would be difficult to predict.

That was only because two of the Bronze Tier individuals were Alice of House of Iris and Sart, the second-generation heir of Star Tower. If they had been ordinary Bronze Tier individuals, it would probably have been nothing more than a one-sided slaughter.

The three Bronze Tier individuals would undoubtedly become trophies of the Heretical Cultist. They might even be turned into new Crawling Hands by that mysterious Heretical Cultist.

"Perhaps we only need to hold him off for a while. The lord will be able to arrive soon..." Alice was about to argue, but then she thought of something and suddenly froze, her face turning ashen.

Seeing Alice's reaction, Sart rubbed his chin and vaguely guessed what had happened as well.

Aaron sighed. "Yes. That's precisely what I find strange."

Lord Bals had notified Alice that there had been new developments, but these so-called new developments amounted to no developments at all.

Regarding Tien's death, he had merely told Alice that it was different from what she had previously understood. In other words, he had simply informed her of this fact unilaterally.

However, Lord Bals could have told her this directly during their first meeting. There had been no need to invite her to the lord's manor today.

If they had not met with the lord, Sart and Alice would never have gone to Tien's room today.

What was even more subtle was that today happened to be the day the Hand-Chopping Ritual ended. The Heretical Cultist had no choice but to show himself and complete the ritual.

The timing was far too perfect—so perfect that it hardly seemed like a coincidence.

The Heretical Cultist had performed the Hand-Chopping Ritual inside the lord's manor. Yet Lord Bals, a Gold Tier Holy Grail Path transcendent, had actually watched him perform the ritual without doing anything?

What exactly was he trying to do?

"I really didn't notice that." Alice nodded at Aaron, her tone softening somewhat.

It seemed that this fiancé of hers was not as useless as she had imagined.

"However, another problem has arisen..." Aaron coughed and gestured toward Alice with his eyes. "Guess this: before all this, did Lord Bals know that Master Sart was coming here with you?"

As soon as Aaron finished speaking, it seemed as though a cold wind blew into the room from outside. The candlelight trembled slightly, and even the shadows on the walls began to writhe.

The words sounded ordinary enough, but the three people present could not help feeling a chill in their hearts.

Yes. What if... what if the lord had not known that Sart had already arrived in Leyden City?

In that case, theoretically, Alice and Ed—two Bronze Tier transcendent beings—might have fought a Silver Tier Heretical Cultist.

The Heretical Cultist had only just left, but no one could guarantee that he had truly gone. The perfectly timed activation of Charm Humanity was the strongest evidence.

Perhaps during the battle just now, he had been hiding in some corner of the shadows, quietly watching them.

Then what exactly was Bals trying to do?

"The lord should know about this." Sart frowned and explained, "When I checked in here, the attendants would have informed Bals."

Although he said this, he had already dropped the title from "Lord Bals."

"But he didn't know before that..." Aaron sighed.

Sart's expression finally changed. He could not help looking at Alice and Ed, only to find that their expressions had already turned several shades uglier.

"Starlight Above, Evil Insight." To everyone's surprise, Sart used a small pinch of spices to perform a simple ritual.

A deep-blue band of light circled the four of them. Nothing unusual happened. Alice even impatiently waved the light away. "Master Sart, what do you mean by this?"

"Sorry, but... Lord Aaron's words were simply..." Sart thought for a long time, but in the end forcibly swallowed the rest of the sentence: too inflammatory.

He had clearly only said a few things. He had provided no direct evidence, and most of the time, he had left them to think for themselves. Yet they had unconsciously begun to accept an utterly absurd idea—Lord Bals had a problem.

He had only seen this kind of speaking style and manner in Heretical Cultists.

If the simple Evil Insight ritual had not shown that Aaron was fine, even Sart would have suspected that he had already been possessed by a Heretical Cultist.

"Perhaps Lord Bals has his reasons..." Alice could only reluctantly offer an explanation for Lord Bals at that moment.

Yet without realizing it, her throat felt much drier, as if she had not had any water for several days. It was so dry that it even hurt.

At that moment, a rather familiar voice came from outside the room.

"That's right. I do have my reasons."

TAT

Thanks for the tips, Chen, Old Swallow, and Uncle Azu~

I already work nine to nine, and today I even had to work overtime at the company until half past ten...

The taxi ride home cost me 78 yuan, and I still have to update right on time at midnight...

QAQ Is it too much for this newbie author to ask for some recommendation votes and monthly tickets?

Don't hoard your books. Many books are kept in collections until...

They're gone...

Leopard-Head Crying.jpg