Jia Xiu and Hannas: Round Two

Creekwood Town, the lord's manor.

Hannas sat in his room, excitedly writing a letter.

He had completely lost his mind. All he could think about was making Jia Xiu pay.

Such extremism was inseparable from his status and upbringing.

He was not the eldest son of his family and had no inheritance rights. He would inherit neither the Baron's title nor the territory of Creekwood Town; those belonged to his older brother.

As the second son, his best path was to become a Knight and earn a fief through military merit.

Or he could achieve something through magic. An outstanding spellcaster held no lower status than a noble, and if he became legendary, even a duke would have to show him respect.

But clearly, he did not possess that sort of talent.

His remaining options were nothing more than becoming an ordinary noble supported by his family for the rest of his life, accomplishing nothing and leaving no name behind.

Or being sent away as a bargaining chip for a political marriage. Yet given his reputation and his father's rank as a Baron, there would be no good match waiting for him.

Or he could be sent into the Church to become the family's contact there, devoting his life to a distant, elusive god.

Of course, these paths were things countless commoners could only dream of and never attain.

But to Hannas, they were a hopeless future.

The mismatch between his dreams, his abilities, and reality—and his refusal to accept it—had turned him into an inferior man who refused to admit his inferiority.

That was why he craved anything that could prove himself.

Even cheating was fine.

And when even cheating failed to defeat Jia Xiu, when he was instead beaten in an utterly humiliating fashion, he immediately regarded Jia Xiu as the greatest enemy of his life.

One-sidedly, at least.

Jia Xiu had never thought much of him. His only concern had been that life in Creekwood Town might become difficult later, but even that concern vanished after Margaret appeared.

Then this mortal enemy of his was knighted before him—and by Her Highness Emilia's own hand, no less.

Jealousy and hatred swallowed Hannas whole.

If he could not deal with Jia Xiu, his life could not go on.

So he chose to summon the Church's Punitive Knights.

The Punitive Knights were the Church's violent enforcement arm, renowned for their strength, coldness, and absolute fairness. Even if their target was a noble personally ennobled by the royal family, they would show no mercy.

Summoning them was simple as well.

A just cause, and a soul willing to offer itself.

For the Punitive Knights to mobilize, the target had to be a cultist or someone who showed disrespect toward the Holy Light.

And whoever offered up the willing soul had to thereafter believe in the Holy Light completely, devoting the rest of their life to it through ascetic practice.

Hannas did not really know what ascetic practice entailed.

In his view, it was not much different from being sent into the Church by his family as a contact.

Having finished the letter requesting the Descent of the Punitive Knights, Hannas placed it in an envelope and burned it beneath a statue representing the Holy Light.

He had never recited prayers with such sincerity. Soon, a talisman wrapped in Holy Light appeared before the statue: The Church's response.

Now, he only had to find solid proof that Jia Xiu was a cultist, then use the talisman to summon the Punitive Knights.

As for how to find that evidence, he chose the most basic and most effective method: staking out the area near the cave.

In Hannas's eyes, Jia Xiu would definitely secretly pray to an evil god when the dead of night came. At that time, he would surely become tainted by the evil god's aura.

Oh, he could hardly wait to see Jia Xiu beheaded and burned.

No, that was not right. If possible, he wanted to accomplish the "feat" of killing Jia Xiu himself.

Hannas was as conflicted as ever. He clearly wanted to defeat Jia Xiu on his own, yet without the Church's Knights backing him up, he did not dare challenge Jia Xiu to a duel.

Before setting off for the cultists' cave, Hannas began preparing for the "decisive battle."

New potions, new magical items.

To counter Jia Xiu's bizarre Healing Spell, he commissioned the Alchemists' Association to create a potion specifically designed to resist healing.

When he submitted the commission, the staff had repeatedly confirmed whether he truly wanted something so strange...

With everything packed, Hannas slipped out of the lord's manor and vanished into the night.

Jia Xiu happened to actually be in the cave that night.

Honestly, being alone at a cultist altar late at night, with the surroundings decorated like a haunted house, was a little creepy.

But he had not come to pray to the God of Deceit and Curses.

In fact, he had never prayed to that evil god even once.

After all, he was going to harvest Its followers. What if the evil god noticed him if he prayed to It himself?

Jia Xiu was using a ritual from Undead Basics to communicate with the half-awakened Bubu, exhaustively testing its unfulfilled wishes.

Most of the faith generated by the visitors through the altar had also been intercepted by this Fairy Undead.

"Revenge against that instructor?"

No response. Right, the instructor in the nursery rhyme had already been avenged.

"Make the people of Creekwood Town apologize?"

Still no response. It seemed Bubu's resentment toward Creekwood Town was not quite that deep.

"Don't tell me it wants reincarnation and resurrection?"

Still no response. Thankfully. If that really was its wish, he had no way to fulfill it. Resurrection Spell was too high-level; even if Jia Xiu was confident he could keep leveling up, it would still take years before he could use it. And if Bubu had died of old age, Resurrection Spell would not work anyway.

After a round of testing.

Jia Xiu was getting tired from maintaining the ritual.

Then, suddenly, an intense reaction came from the other end.

Jia Xiu's spirits soared. He had found it—the wish Bubu had always wanted to fulfill.

Finding it was naturally a good thing, but this wish...

Jia Xiu really had not expected it to be this at first.

But since the task was complete, tonight's overtime was over as well. He had no intention of sleeping in this gloomy, terrifying cave alongside a group of genuine cultists.

He packed up and prepared to leave, making sure to take the book. He still had to return it later.

The moment he stepped out of the cave, a figure suddenly sprang in front of him.

Darkvision activated. It was Hannas.

Jia Xiu was somewhat surprised by Hannas's sudden appearance, but not very.

He just had not expected Hannas to turn himself into such a mess.

Hannas's eyes were bloodshot, veins bulged from his face, and his features were grotesquely twisted with rage.

Compared to Jia Xiu, he looked more like a deranged cultist.

At that moment, Hannas shouted excitedly, "I have summoned the Church's Punitive Knights! They will be here soon! I want another duel with you!"

"Um, generally speaking, we don't call a fight where you bring outside help a duel."

"Shut up! Today is the day you die! You have no idea what preparations I made for this duel!"

"Oh, really? Then tell me about them."

"I had special potions made."

"Really?"

"They're for resisting your Healing Spell."

"Never heard of them."

"Now your killing move is useless."

"Isn't it, though?"

Jia Xiu felt like he was playing the straight man in a comedy routine. The key was that whenever he gave Hannas an opening, Hannas really did spill everything.

"Take this seriously!"

Hannas also realized something was off and roared.

"Sigh," Jia Xiu sighed helplessly. "You told me to take it seriously."

"Dominate Humans!"

Hannas was instantly charmed.

"Dream Talisman!"

Hannas "voluntarily" entered a dream.

"Bet you didn't expect it. Today is an item match."