Poor Excuse

Aaron's body jolted, and he instinctively looked toward the outside of the room. He happened to see Bals push open the door and walk in.

Fuck!

Eavesdropping on people was supposed to shorten your lifespan!

The atmosphere in the room instantly turned strange. No one knew how they should face Bals.

Even Sart had already taken half a step back without making a sound, conveniently pulling the dumbfounded Aaron with him.

Fortunately, this strange atmosphere did not last long. Alice stepped forward and said coldly, "Lord Bals, when did you arrive?"

Although it was phrased as a question, there was not the slightest hint of doubt in her tone. There was even a trace of hostility.

For a Gold Tier extraordinary being to avoid detection by a Bronze Tier one was absurdly easy.

It was very likely that he had already been standing outside the room and listening for quite some time.

More likely, he had watched Aaron's group encounter the Crawling Hand and watched that attendant die beneath Ed's sword.

"I only just arrived." Lord Bals said this calmly, as if he had no idea that Aaron had just been discussing him.

Everyone's hearts sank. The phrase "only just arrived" was extremely ambiguous.

It could mean he had just arrived, but it could also mean he had arrived not long ago.

"Then can you give us an explanation? Or do you mean... there's no need for an explanation?" Alice had already gripped her longsword and was staring intently at Bals's face as she spoke one word at a time.

She even suspected that Lord Bals might become a member of the Heretical Cult. Perhaps Tien had been murdered because he discovered this.

Although in this world, the dead were not necessarily unable to speak, someone whose soul and vitality had been drained had probably indeed lost every chance to open their mouth.

Even if Bals was powerful, House of Iris did not lack the courage to draw their swords.

"This matter isn't what you think." Bals smiled and paid no attention to Alice's deliberately displayed hostility. "I did know that the Hand-Chopping Ritual would be completed tonight."

"And then?"

"I needed to find that Heretical Cultist, but it couldn't be one of my people." Bals pointed at the corpse on the bed, then at Sart. "Because there isn't a prophet anywhere in Leyden City. I couldn't guarantee that my plan would be discovered."

Sart nodded thoughtfully, his eyes shifting uncertainly.

The absence of a prophet meant a lack of the necessary means of identification. It could be said that throughout the entire lord's residence, or even the whole of Leyden City, Heretical Cultists could come and go as they pleased. Naturally, they could also obtain information by using Charm Humanity.

After all, before displaying their extraordinary powers, Heretical Cultists were almost indistinguishable from ordinary people.

And after Tien's death, the destructive potential of the Silver Tier Heretical Cultist capable of manipulating people's minds in Leyden City was obvious.

"So you found us?" Alice vaguely felt that something was wrong, but she could not figure it out for the moment.

After hearing Bals's explanation, Aaron froze slightly. He pretended to lower his head and glance at his toes, concealing the strange look in his eyes.

"Yes."

"Don't you trust your own people?"

"It's not that I don't trust them. But if I had my people watch this place, he would inevitably notice. He would then know that I was watching him, and he definitely wouldn't make a move."

Aaron coughed and asked, "But why would he make a move?"

He blinked his innocent-looking eyes, hitting the nail on the head.

He clearly knew that the lord of Leyden City was a Gold Tier extraordinary being. How would a Heretical Cultist with roughly Silver Tier strength dare to act so brazenly?

Not only had he slipped into the lord's residence and killed a Bronze Tier extraordinary being without alerting anyone, but he had also not fled afterward. Instead, he had even found an opportunity to come back and perform a Hand-Chopping Ritual?

Was this the criminal's tendency to revisit the scene of the crime?

Did he really not take Bals seriously at all?

Bals clearly had not expected Aaron to ask such a question. He merely looked deeply at Aaron. "Heretical Cultists don't need a reason to kill. Their so-called lord has already ruined their minds. They're nothing more than monsters still able to breathe while wearing human skin."

That explanation seemed a little too flimsy...

Aaron thought this, but he still had to pretend to be deep in thought.

Clearly, asking any further questions would bring him nothing good. It would be better to stop there.

Alice glanced at Aaron before continuing to stare seriously at Bals. "Lord Bals, then what was the result? We came here, nearly encountered a Heretical Cultist, and killed a Crawling Hand. But what was the result?"

Her tone had softened considerably compared to before. "Did your plan succeed?"

Bals nodded slightly. "It mostly succeeded."

"Mostly?"

"We successfully located that Heretical Cultist, and we also made thorough preparations..."

Alice could not help exchanging a glance with the others.

It seemed that the battle earlier might not have been the Heretical Cultist observing them. He might really have already left.

However, it was probably more accurate to describe his departure as an escape.

If that was the case, it was no wonder he had not shown himself.

After all, he had risked himself and gone to the lord's residence, finally managing to perform the Hand-Chopping Ritual, only for the monster he had summoned to be killed shortly after its arrival.

Anyone would probably jump out and try to save it.

But... Lord Bals, you could have just said "but."

Aaron rolled his eyes and silently grumbled to himself. He had no interest in listening to such meaningless excuses.

"But he escaped. At the critical moment, several other believers put on his clothes. We couldn't identify him, and in the end, several people still managed to escape."

This was getting even more suspicious.

Aaron thought this silently but said nothing.

Lord Bals's image in Aaron's mind plummeted rapidly, and he had even raised his guard.

He had made thorough preparations in advance, even going so far as to deceive his own people, yet he had still let the Heretical Cultist escape?

That was it? That was all?

"Escaped?" Alice had never expected Bals to answer like this. A flash of astonishment crossed her eyes.

Bals looked at Alice calmly and confirmed once again, "They escaped."

"Then shouldn't you go and..."

"Those Heretical Cultists hid in the sewers. Relying only on my people, I'm afraid we simply can't search the entire sewer system of Leyden City."

Leyden City's sewers were intricate and complex. If Bals and his subordinates relied solely on themselves, they probably would not be able to catch the Heretical Cultist.

Sart coughed softly. "If you can provide the incense, I can try to see whether I can perform a ritual."

A prophet was not a combat profession to begin with. Their true level was measured by their rituals.

As long as sufficient incense was prepared, Sart was indeed confident that he could locate that Silver Tier Heretical Cultist despite the difference in tiers.

He had also guessed why Bals had come to find them at this time.

He was the only prophet in Leyden City—and a prophet who had come from the Star Tower!