Choice

Aaron had no idea how long he had spent in the darkness. He could only roll around awkwardly in it. Fortunately, the animated soil was soft enough that it did not hurt him much.

Eventually, he fell out through a crack somewhere, with Sart tumbling to the ground right after him.

Aaron, who had been knocked senseless, struggled to his feet, only to discover that he was still in one of the sewer passages. This place seemed to be a small, abandoned storage room, with various half-rotten barrels and wooden crates piled up haphazardly.

A half-deflated chandelier hung from the ceiling. Its candlelight was still faint, but at least it provided him with some illumination.

What wealthy household had thrown even a chandelier into the sewer?

Aaron endured his physical discomfort and thought drowsily.

"Damn Bals..." A hoarse voice came from nearby. At the same time, Aaron faintly caught the smell of something scorched.

He instinctively looked toward the voice, only to see a figure standing silently in the darkness.

It was Tog.

"Why did you capture me?"

Although it was a pointless question, Aaron had no choice but to force himself to ask it.

He heard an extremely faint creak behind him. Even though Sart had not said anything, Aaron knew that he was opening the spice box.

He had to buy Sart time, while also using his speech to cover up those tiny sounds.

"Bals broke the contract," Tog said furiously. "We had an agreement!"

Apparently enraged, he even began coughing loudly. His heavy, labored breathing echoed through the room.

Although Tog had avoided Bals's metal torrent, he had still suffered part of the attack by surprise.

Only Tog knew that half of his body was now severely burned. Anyone who came closer could even smell the aroma of roasted meat.

Of course, none of that mattered anymore. He would soon have a new body.

"What kind of contract did you and Lord Bals reach?"

"Heh, if you want to know, I can tell you." Tog said disdainfully, "Bals killed Tien. To cover it up, he made a contract with me. He would let me perform the Hand-Chopping Ritual on Tien, and he would bring a group of extraordinary people to meet me. In return, I only needed to take responsibility for Tien's death."

The corner of Aaron's mouth twitched. Although he had vaguely guessed some of it beforehand, he still found it unbelievable when Tog personally placed such explosive information before him.

Well, damn. No wonder he was universally recognized as the scapegoat. One dared to hand the blame over, and the other dared to take it.

Just as Bals had said earlier, how could a dignified lord of a city and noble of the Yagrant Kingdom collude with a Heretical Cultist?

If this got out, then...

Wait?!

We already knew about this...

Aaron was suddenly startled. He faintly felt that he had grasped the entire chain of events.

Bals probably never imagined that Tien's death would trigger a situation that spiraled out of control, did he?

Because of Tien's death, House of Iris had sent Alice and Ed to Leyden City to investigate the matter personally.

Sart, an apprentice of Star Tower who happened to be passing by, had also been unwittingly dragged into the sudden incident.

And after that letter—more symbolic than genuinely requesting aid—was sent to Star Tower, Bals had never expected Julian in the white robes of Star Tower to pay enough attention to such a trivial matter to send a Silver Tier prophet to investigate it directly!

No matter how one put it, Tien had only been a Bronze Tier diviner. He had not even earned the title of prophet.

He had entered Star Tower three times in hopes of obtaining a title, only to be mercilessly eliminated by the examinations each time.

For the Yagrant Kingdom, the murder of such an average person by a Heretical Cultist might indeed have been worth attention.

But compared with an organization like Star Tower, which stood above the Three Kingdoms, was this not a minor matter?

Before this, Aaron had thought that Star Tower really was paying attention to Tien's death. But now that he thought about it carefully, perhaps that was not what Star Tower was truly focused on...

What had made Star Tower pay attention to this matter?

Aaron became thoughtful. He forced himself not to turn around and glance at Sart, who was preparing the ritual, but he had already reached a conclusion.

This tower scion seemed to be even more important than he had imagined...

"Mr. Sart, I know you're stalling for time..." Unexpectedly, Tog said coldly, making Aaron feel as though he had fallen into an icy abyss with a single sentence. "But am I not doing the same?"

Several scattered sounds rang out in the darkness beyond the candlelight, as if several rats were slowly drawing closer.

But Aaron knew that they were not rats at all. They were Crawling Hands.

Tog had known from the beginning that Aaron was stalling for time. He also knew that Sart was secretly preparing the ritual. But he needed time as well.

His Crawling Hands also needed time to arrive.

And now, they had arrived.

"Mr. Sart, I know you have a good teacher. So, if you're willing to pretend not to see what happens next, I can pretend not to see you..." Tog's tone softened slightly as he called out loudly. "You should know what that means."

Although he had not obtained Tien's Crawling Hand, if he could offer this novice, who had only recently entered the Black Iron Tier, as a sacrifice to the "Crawling Hand," then he would not suffer too much of a loss.

At least he could survive until the next sacrifice.

I'll settle this debt with Bals properly!

Aaron's heart sank when he heard this. Sart had protected him repeatedly before.

He could rely on his status as a tower scion to stand up to Alice. He could continue protecting Aaron even under Bals's scrutiny. Even when facing Siosand, he could find a way to make Siosand protect him.

But what about now?

Would Sart still stand by his choice in front of a Silver Tier Heretical Cultist?

Aaron did not dare think too deeply. He did not dare test human nature in the face of life and death—not his own, nor anyone else's.

"No." Sart's voice came from behind him. It was dry and hoarse, yet filled with unquestionable resolve.

"Are you sure?"

Tog's voice held a hint of surprise, and he could not help asking again.

Julian in the white robes was as famous for protecting his own as Star Tower itself.

Once, a Gold Tier Heretical Cultist had accidentally killed a Silver Tier prophet and was personally hunted down by Julian.

At the time, Julian had only recently become the tower master. Yet he had actually abandoned Star Tower and, by himself, crossed more than half the continent, personally dragging that unlucky Heretical Cultist back from the other side of the continent!

The Heretical Cultist was later placed at the top of Star Tower, where he lived for another year beneath the radiance of the stars.

The endless wails and screams left an unforgettable impression on everyone who came to Star Tower to study during that period.

If he killed Sart, who knew how many ways this protective Julian would have to find him—and make sure he lived a little longer as well!

Sart had a good teacher. Tog did not dare to act.

He merely worshipped the Crawling Hand; that did not mean he had lost his reason or judgment.

Sart fell silent, but he no longer concealed the sounds of arranging the ritual.

Faint noises came from behind Aaron.

That was his answer.