Intentionally Triggered Coincidence

"Is there something wrong with Lord Bals?" Alice frowned. "What's wrong?"

The gazes of the three involuntarily focused on Aaron, seeing his look of sudden realization.

"It's just a guess," Aaron paused slightly, recalling the many details that had suddenly come to mind. After confirming they were correct, he spoke, "You and Ed came here three days ago. You didn't find anything unusual then, did you?"

Alice nodded. "That's right. Captain Colin was here with us, and I watched him personally seal this door."

Sart added from the side, "To perform the Hand-Chopping Ritual, a relatively enclosed environment is needed, and one must absolutely avoid contact with light during this period. Otherwise, the ritual will fail, and the Crawling Hand being made will directly corrupt."

Aaron said thoughtfully, "So, we can assume that the Hand-Chopping Ritual to create the Crawling Hand began after Alice's visit?"

"If we calculate the time, the Hand-Chopping Ritual would be completed around today or tomorrow. In fact, we're a step too late." Sart turned to look at the corpse lying on the bed, his mouth twitching.

"Perhaps we should be glad we're a step too late."

Ed, who had some understanding of rituals, couldn't help but say, "Is it because of the ritual's completion?"

"Yes, the completion of the ritual. When the Hand-Chopping Ritual is nearing its end, a mark must be applied. Otherwise, the Crawling Hand cannot be controlled. In other words, the Heretical Cultist who performed the Hand-Chopping Ritual might have just been here."

Alice clenched her fist, glanced at the corpse, and then looked around, as if trying to find some clue.

"Perhaps my junior, Siosand, might have a way. After all, he's a prophet, and I'm just a seer," Sart could understand Alice's feelings at this moment.

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

"Miss Alice, please calm down. This Heretical Cultist is at least Silver Tier. We know he has an 'Avenger' rune on him, and we are only Bronze Tier. Furthermore, we need to protect Lord Aaron."

Three Bronze Tiers facing a Silver Tier Heretical Cultist – the outcome of the battle was uncertain.

This was even considering that two of the Bronze Tiers were Alice of the House of Iris and Sart, the second generation of the Star Tower. If it were ordinary Bronze Tiers, it would likely be a one-sided slaughter.

The three Bronze Tiers would undoubtedly become spoils for the Heretical Cultist, and perhaps be made into new Crawling Hands by that mysterious Heretical Cultist.

"We might just be able to stall him for a while, and the Lord City will soon..." Alice wanted to retort, but then she thought of something and froze, her face turning pale.

Seeing Alice's reaction, Sart stroked his chin, vaguely guessing what might be happening.

Aaron sighed. "Yes, that's what I found odd."

Lord Bals had informed Alice that there was new progress, but this so-called new progress was essentially no progress at all.

Regarding Tien's death, he had only told Alice that Tien's death was different from what she had previously understood, essentially informing her of the matter unilaterally.

However, Lord Bals could have directly told her this information during their first meeting. There was no need to invite her to the City Lord's mansion today.

If they hadn't met with the City Lord, Sart and Alice likely wouldn't have gone to Tien's room today either.

And even more subtly, today happened to be the day the Hand-Chopping Ritual would end, forcing the Heretical Cultist to show himself to complete the ritual.

The timing was too coincidental, so coincidental that it barely seemed like a coincidence.

The place where the Heretical Cultist performed the Hand-Chopping Ritual was within the City Lord's mansion, and Lord Bals, a Gold Tier Holy Grail Path Transcendent, had just watched him perform the ritual?

What did he want to achieve?

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

It seemed this fiancé wasn't as useless as she imagined.

"However, another problem arises..." Aaron coughed, gesturing to Alice with his eyes. "Guess, before this, did Lord Bals know that Master Sart was with you?"

As soon as Aaron said this, a gust of cold wind seemed to blow into the room from outside, causing the candlelight to flicker slightly, and the shadows on the walls began to writhe.

These words, though seemingly ordinary, sent a chill down the spines of the three present.

Yes, if... if the City Lord didn't know Sart had already arrived in Leyden City?

And if that were the case, then theoretically, it would be two Bronze Tier Transcendent individuals, Alice and Ed, who "might" be fighting a Silver Tier Heretical Cultist.

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

Perhaps during the recent battle, he was hiding in some shadow, quietly observing them.

So, what was Bals trying to achieve?

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

Even so, he had omitted the title "Lord Bals."

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

Sart's expression finally changed. He couldn't help but look at Alice and Ed, only to find their faces had already turned several shades paler.

"Starlight Above, Evil Insight." Sart unexpectedly consumed a pinch of incense to perform a simple ritual.

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

"I'm sorry, but... what Lord Aaron said is..." Sart thought for a long time, and finally swallowed the latter half of the sentence, "too inflammatory."

He had clearly only said a few words, not provided direct evidence, and had even left most of the time for them to think for themselves, yet they had implicitly accepted an extremely absurd notion – that Lord Bals had a problem.

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

If not for the simple Evil Insight ritual indicating he was fine, Sart would have even suspected Aaron of being possessed by a Heretical Cultist.

"Perhaps, Lord Bals has his reasons..." Alice could only try to explain for Lord Bals at this moment.

But unconsciously, she felt her throat become much drier, as if she hadn't drunk water for several days, even dry and painful.

At this moment, a familiar voice sounded from outside the door.

"That's right, I did have a reason."

TAT

Thanks for the tips, Chen-tongxue, Lao Yan Que, and A Zuo Ye~

I was already working 996, and today I was working overtime at the company until 10:30 PM...

It cost me 78 yuan for a taxi home, and I still have to update on time at midnight...

QAQ Is it too much to ask for a newbie author to ask for recommendation votes and monthly votes...

Please don't just save this book; many books just...

disappear...

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