Why Are You Only Just Arriving

Luther beat Hainas beneath his feet mercilessly while racking his brain for a solution.

Simple physical damage to Hainas was useless because the man would constantly regenerate; he had to approach this from an occult perspective. However, the effect of the so-called Demon Hunting Bullet from earlier hadn't been significant enough, so a more effective method was required.

Come to think of it, Hainas turning into this monster must have been due to him obtaining power from the True Creator. Since I happen to be a Black Knight, I wonder if there is any knowledge regarding this in the Potion?

Luther quickly searched through the occult knowledge he had acquired while sitting in the carriage earlier, and to his surprise, he actually found it! In the section concerning Rituals, he discovered a ritual that perfectly matched Hainas's current state.

This ritual was called "Holy Hall Descent."

Holy Hall Descent is an evil ritual that can strengthen oneself. It requires the practitioner to sacrifice the lives of two close relatives to obtain the True Creator's favor. If the ritual succeeds, the True Creator will descend a wisp of Degenerate aura into the practitioner's body, helping him fuse the heads of the two relatives onto his own body. These two heads will gain various peculiar effects such as "Corrupting Speech," "Amplified Chanting," and "Physical Strengthening," greatly enhancing the practitioner's abilities.

Using close relatives as sacrifices? What a crazy ritual. Luther thought to himself, even among the many dark rituals of the Black Knight, this was considered an extremely extreme type.

But this ritual had already succeeded; how could it be terminated?

Luther pondered for a moment, and suddenly, a bold idea struck him.

The reason these two heads could maintain a fused state was because of that wisp of Degenerate aura the True Creator had left inside Hainas's body. Since that was the case, as long as he extracted that wisp of aura, Hainas would naturally be finished!

Thinking of this, he stopped his attack, reached to his ear, and smeared some of the blood flowing from it. He used this blood as pigment to draw a pattern on the palm of his right hand.

It was a Blood Rose in full bloom; at the center of its layered petals was an inverted cross. The pattern was simple, yet it gave off a sense of prosperity, corruption, and evil—this was the holy emblem of the True Creator.

Luther finished drawing this twisted symbol with a clear sense of disgust, then spread his palm wide, aiming it at Hainas. He intended to use himself as a vessel to extract the True Creator's aura. Based on everything that had happened before, he guessed that the aura would likely be more attracted to his own body.

Moreover, he had that Illusory Tide protecting him from within, so the Degenerate aura would be unable to take effect!

"You blasphemer!"

Hainas cursed.

Luther ignored him entirely and, using a language he hadn't even mastered himself, whispered:

"Praise the rebirth of the Lord; corruption is the salvation of all."

Having said that, he acted decisively, pressing his blood-stained palm onto Hainas's forehead.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

The moment their skin made contact, Hainas let out a shrill, mournful cry. His skin instantly turned crimson, and he struggled violently like a boiled shrimp arching its back. The two human faces also wailed in unison. After twitching a few times, he stopped moving, his body melting like a candle exposed to heat, turning into a puddle of sludge.

Luther didn't fare much better. An evil and filthy aura surged through his palm into his body, rushing straight for his head. Everywhere it passed, he felt intense pain, as if countless tiny mouths were gnawing at his flesh. He watched helplessly as the skin on the back of his hand split open with a "pop," revealing the bright red muscle and pale yellow fat beneath. The splitting extended up his arm, and vaguely, that flesh seemed to begin squirming and mutating...

Fortunately, at this moment, the Degenerate aura collided with the Illusory Tide in his mind. The tide enveloped the aura, and while digesting it, the tide itself began to dissipate. In just a few short seconds, they canceled each other out and vanished into nothingness.

As the True Creator's aura dissipated, the exposed flesh on Luther's arm stopped squirming and mutating, instead slowly healing and knitting back together.

My guess was right.

Luther felt a wave of weakness and simply sat down on the ground, panting heavily. That illusory water could indeed block the True Creator's corruption, just like when he had first consumed the Potion and nearly gone insane.

He didn't know what that represented, but he instinctively felt it was something very important.

Maybe it's my transmigrator perk, like a fixed sanity meter or something...

Luther joked to himself.

The hall was a mess. He sat there looking miserable, and a few meters away from the corpse, Klein, who was severely injured and had yet to get up, looked at him with surprise in his eyes. Their gazes met, and both felt a bit awkward.

Should I say something...

Fortunately, the sound of a carriage rushing toward the door broke the awkwardness. Several chaotic footsteps sounded before the carriage had even come to a complete stop, and the owners of those footsteps pushed the door open and burst in. Luther looked back; they were Dunn Smith and his team who had just left.

"This... this is..."

Leonard stared in shock at the carnage in the hall and Hainas's terrifying corpse, unable to speak for a moment.

Luther gave a wry smile, meeting Dunn's deep and surprised gaze, and said with a tone of helplessness and complaint:

"Mr. Dunn... why did you take so long?"

"So, you're saying that relying on your knowledge as a Black Knight, you took down the strengthened Hainas?"

Stepping over the corroded floor, Dunn asked slowly.

Shattered high-end tea sets, overturned solid wood tables and chairs, partitions burned with large holes... the once well-decorated hall of the Blackthorn Security Company had become a wreck. It looked as if it had been ransacked by a group of thugs. The injured Klein and the unconscious Luo Yao had been sent to the back for treatment, leaving only Hainas's corpse—or should it be called liquid?—lying on its back on the floor.

"Uh, it was mainly the credit of the two Night Watchers."

Luther laughed. For some reason, he always felt a bit uneasy when being stared at by Dunn's deep eyes. "I just found an opportunity to ambush him, and I happened to know how to resolve the ritual..."

He recounted the events in detail. Dunn listened calmly, occasionally interjecting to ask about the specifics of the fight. Once Luther finished, he picked up the cane Luther had used to beat Hainas and walked over to the puddle of blood and flesh where Hainas had been.

Hainas had completely melted, leaving only the black robe, which had been corroded into rags, spread out within the gore. In this flat pool of flesh, two head-sized bulges stood out beneath the black robe, looking very abrupt.

Dunn gripped the cane, reached into the flesh to stir it, and cautiously used the tip of the cane to lift a corner of the black robe to peer inside.

When he saw what the two bulges were, his eyes flickered, and he seemed to let out an inaudible sigh.

"Leonard."

He called out.

"What is it, Captain?"

Leonard was holding a broom, leisurely sweeping up the broken porcelain on the floor. Hearing Dunn's call, he looked up.

"Go to the police station and find Inspector Toller. Tell him we have a third crime scene and need him to come over and handle it."

"Yes."

Leonard said. As he put down his broom and threw on his coat, he couldn't help but chuckle, "I can already imagine the look on Inspector Toller's face when he hears the news... Heh, three crime scenes in one night; he's going to go insane."

Hearing him say that, Luther also recalled those police officers who had been cleaning up the scenes with bitter expressions on their faces.

Wait a second, three scenes? He paused for a moment, then quickly realized, "Mr. Dunn, did you go to Hainas's home but miss him, only to discover a blood sacrifice scene instead?"

"That's right."

Dunn looked down at the flesh and blood of Hainas and said, "It's truly strange. Why would Hainas wake up in the middle of the night, sacrifice his family, and then precisely locate Blackthorn Security Company? I really can't figure it out."

It was supposed to be a very simple arrest, yet it nearly led to a very dangerous outcome. They had missed each other by pure coincidence, leaving the headquarters empty. If not for Luther's unexpected intervention, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

It was almost like... a coincidence filled with malice.