Number Fifteen Vanished Before Our Eyes

"Received."

Illumi spoke those two words in Ella's voice, and all five people in the hospital room fell silent.

The three medical staff stood where they were.

The two guards still had one foot on the threshold, hands resting on their weapons, their faces frozen in the tension from hearing the commotion moments ago.

The next second.

They all lowered their heads and resumed what they had been doing.

One nurse picked up a medicine bottle and placed it on the tray.

Another nurse checked the instruments, her finger pressing a button without actually starting it.

The two guards at the door turned around, shut the door again, and returned to their posts in the corridor.

Everything looked perfectly normal.

Except the "Number Fifteen vessel" in the hospital bed had already sat up.

Illumi lowered his head and looked at the maternity dress he was wearing, then glanced at the nearby nurses.

He chose his target quickly.

The one on the left was too short.

The one in the middle had calluses on her fingers, like someone who often did manual labor. Too many troublesome details to disguise.

The one on the right was roughly the same height and build. He had heard her nasal voice three times earlier, making her the easiest to imitate.

Illumi walked over to the nurse on the right.

The nurse looked up, her face still blank from the Nen Needle's control.

Illumi reached out and gently straightened her crooked nurse's cap.

"You're easier on the eyes."

The nurse did not respond.

Illumi raised a hand and pressed down. The nurse's body went limp.

He dragged her into the corner, stepped onto the bedframe, and opened the ventilation hatch above.

The duct was narrow.

An ordinary person would get stuck if shoved inside.

But Illumi had plenty of experience dealing with both corpses and living people.

After a few motions, the nurse had been folded into the ventilation duct, not even the tips of her shoes visible.

Illumi considered it, then straightened the nurse's cap again and secured it in her hair.

That way, even if a little dust fell in the duct, it would not be too conspicuous.

He jumped down from the bed and returned to the middle of the room.

His joints gave soft cracks.

Ella's face began to narrow. His shoulder line adjusted slightly, and the curve of his swollen belly slowly disappeared.

A few seconds later.

There was now a female nurse in the room, one who had suppressed her temper for a long time, never dared walk too fast, and habitually lowered her head before speaking.

Illumi raised his hand and examined his fingertips.

The few needle marks he had made earlier to simulate fetal movement were still there.

He did not remove them.

Needle marks on a nurse's hands were perfectly reasonable.

More reasonable than spotless hands.

Illumi glanced at the empty bed, then rumpled the sheets and tossed away part of a restraint buckle.

The entire room immediately took on a different appearance.

Illumi stood among the medical staff, lowered his head, slightly tightened his hands, and threw his breathing half a beat out of rhythm.

Just as he finished preparing, hurried footsteps came from the far end of the corridor.

The silver-robed bishop had arrived.

He practically slammed the door open.

The guard at the entrance put on a convincing act, staggering sideways from the impact and hurriedly lowering his head.

"By the elder's order, transfer Number Fifteen immedi—"

The silver-robed bishop stopped.

The hospital bed was empty.

The sheets were in disarray.

The lines on the instruments were still jumping erratically.

The three nurses stood by the bed as if they had been frightened stupid.

The silver-robed bishop's expression changed at once.

"Where is she?"

One nurse let out a short scream.

It was not loud.

But it was irritating.

The silver-robed bishop backhanded her across the face.

"Shut up!"

The nurse was knocked to the floor. The movement looked perfectly natural; Illumi's control had been just right.

The medicine bottle in the middle nurse's hand fell too.

Crash.

Glass shattered all over the floor.

The silver-robed bishop's chest rose and fell as he rushed to the bed, threw back the blanket, then looked beneath it.

There was nothing.

"Where is Number Fifteen?!"

Illumi stood to the right, holding a tray in both hands as his body trembled.

The silver-robed bishop suddenly looked at him.

"You, speak!"

Illumi forced his voice to tremble.

"Just now... just now, she suddenly started crying out in pain."

The silver-robed bishop stepped forward.

"And then?"

"We wanted to restrain her, but black... black light suddenly appeared on her body, like the Holy Stone."

Illumi paused, as though he did not dare continue.

The silver-robed bishop's breathing visibly grew heavier.

"Go on."

Illumi lowered his head.

"Then she vanished before our eyes."

The room fell quiet for a moment.

The silver-robed bishop did not fly into a rage immediately.

That statement was too absurd.

But the news from the surface was even more absurd.

The Number Fifteen vessel had appeared outside the Church.

Yet he had personally sent Number Fifteen into the core area.

The elder had also said that the Lord's will had already begun separating from the mother's body.

Now the hospital room was empty.

Number Fifteen was on the surface.

Put those facts together, and they somehow fit.

The silver-robed bishop grabbed Illumi by the wrist.

"Are you certain she vanished?"

Illumi immediately recoiled. His reaction as a frightened nurse was flawless.

"I... I wouldn't dare lie. She was right there, and then suddenly she was gone. The instruments alarmed first, then the restraints broke, and then..."

He raised his hand and pointed at the empty bed.

"She was gone."

The silver-robed bishop turned toward the instruments.

The instruments were indeed still sounding the alarm.

Then he looked at the broken restraint on the floor.

The buckle had snapped cleanly, as though some force had torn it apart from within.

He did not suspect the nurses.

These medical workers usually did not even dare answer loudly, much less pull some trick in the core area.

More importantly, too many people had already seen that Number Fifteen on the surface.

This was not something one nurse could fabricate.

The silver-robed bishop flung Illumi aside and rushed out.

"Seal off this room! No one is to touch anything here!"

The guard at the door lowered his head.

"Yes."

The silver-robed bishop reached the doorway, then turned back and pointed at Illumi.

"You. Come to the core area with me and repeat what you just said to the elder."

Illumi clutched the tray tighter, his voice even softer.

"Yes."

The silver-robed bishop said nothing more and strode away.

Illumi followed behind him, his steps small and quick, though he was not slow at all.

There were far fewer people in the corridor.

Most of the attendants originally stationed at every corner had been pulled away. Those remaining were all discussing the trouble on the surface.

"Are there really two Number Fifteens?"

"Don't talk nonsense. The bishop said it's a sign of Sanctification Descent."

"What about the one in the hospital room?"

"I heard she disappeared."

"Was it a miracle from the Lord?"

"Shh. Shut up if you don't want to die."

Illumi listened without changing his expression.

Good.

The misunderstanding had begun growing legs and running on its own.

The silver-robed bishop was too anxious to reach the core area to look back at this nurse.

As they passed a corner, two attendants emerged from a side corridor.

When they saw the silver-robed bishop, they immediately lowered their heads in salute.

As Illumi passed them, he flicked his fingers lightly.

Two Nen Needles pierced the backs of their necks.

The two attendants stiffened for a moment, then continued bowing their heads.

The silver-robed bishop did not notice.

His mind was entirely occupied with the Number Fifteen on the surface and how the elder would react.

After walking several more steps, Illumi moved his fingertips again.

The two attendants turned around and walked back into the side corridor along the route they had come from.

A few seconds later, they began doing Illumi's work for him.

One went to open the side door of the medicine storeroom.

The other went to change the duty sign for the altar's backup passage.

Everyone underground was busy dealing with the chaos on the surface. No one would notice two low-ranking attendants swapping a sign.

Illumi followed him to the outside of the core area, then suddenly stopped.

There was a surveillance aperture around the corner ahead.

He did not want to appear before the elder yet.

The silver-robed bishop took two steps before realizing no one was behind him. He turned and barked, "What are you standing around for?"

Illumi clutched his chest and leaned against the wall.

"Bishop, I... I'm having trouble catching my breath."

The silver-robed bishop had wanted to curse at him.

But remembering that she had just witnessed "Number Fifteen vanish" with her own eyes, it was understandable that she had emotionally collapsed.

"Useless thing."

He pointed at an attendant nearby.

"Take her to wait in the outer room. Call her when the elder wants to question her."

"Yes."

The butler stepped forward to support Illumi.

Illumi kept his head lowered as he was led into an adjoining outer room.

The door had barely closed.

When a needle appeared at the back of the butler's neck.

Illumi straightened up, set the tray on the table, and took the Mechanical Spider from inside his clothes.

One of the spider's legs was missing a segment.

He snapped off another mechanical leg and placed it in his ear.

The tiny mechanical leg unfolded, clung to the inside of his ear canal, and gave a faint vibration.

This was the backup Milluki had left behind.

Zoldyck family equipment never had all its functions listed in the manual.

Illumi spoke softly.

"Milluki, can you hear me?"

At the hotel.

Milluki had been staring at three screens, his fingers moving so fast they left afterimages.

The moment he heard that voice, his whole body jolted.

"Big Brother?!"

He nearly threw away the controller.

"Big Brother, are you free? Where are you? Get out of there, now! Everything on the surface is a mess, that lunatic Bai Zhu is still tearing down the Church, and we switched Ella in—no, I mean save your life first, retreat first!"

Illumi's steady voice came through the earpiece.

"No need."

Milluki froze.

"No need? No need for what? No need to retreat? Big Brother, don't joke around. That old bastard is still underground, and that black stone on him isn't right!"

"I'll remain underground."

"You'll remain my—"

Milluki forcibly swallowed the rest of the sentence.

That was his big brother.

He couldn't curse at him.

At least, not to his face.

Illumi continued.

"The chaos aboveground has emptied the core area. The Pre-Sanctification Descent ritual began early, so the altar will definitely activate. I need to see the complete process."

Milluki gritted his teeth.

"Is seeing the process more important than your life?"

"Grandfather sent us to Sankara Town not merely because Father was wanted by this Church. He probably noticed something."

Milluki's fingers stopped.

"What did you find?"

Faint footsteps came from Illumi's side.

It sounded as though he was moving.

"That Black Crystal is a clue."

Milluki lowered his voice.

"A clue to what?"

"I'll explain later."

"Later again?" Milluki nearly broke down. "Every single one of you is like this. Bai Zhu keeps acting mysterious too. I'm your communications officer, not some turtle in a wishing fountain!"

Illumi ignored his complaint.

"Send me the underground map. Mark the altar, drug storage, container zone, and ventilation shafts."

Milluki was angry, but his hands were already moving.

"Sending it. Also, the real Ella aboveground can barely hold on. The Black Crystal Fragment is moving toward her, and Bai Zhu is having a hard time holding it back."

"He's still alive?"

"Very much so. He even blew up half the Church while he was at it."

Illumi fell silent for half a second.

"He's suited to being bait."

Milluki rubbed his face.

"Big Brother, you'd better not say that to his face. He'll think you're complimenting him."

"Mm."

Illumi pressed his earpiece firmly back into place.

The map data came through.

He scanned several routes and quickly determined the direction of the altar.

The chaos around the ward had already spread.

Several controlled nurses were still creating the scene of "Number Fifteen's disappearance," drawing away the inspectors.

Two guards were responsible for blocking people.

The butler he had controlled earlier had already begun moving.

The side door to the drug storage opened.

The sign for the backup passage's guard post was replaced with "Purification Maintenance."

After a low-ranking priest was pricked by a Nen Needle, he carried a folder toward the altar preparation room.

To outsiders, it would only look as if he were delivering procedural documents.

No one would know that a Mechanical Spider fragment had been attached to the inside of the folder.

That thing would help Milluki mark the altar's location.

Illumi left the outer room and blended back into the medical staff passageway.

Along the way, he did not hurry to kill anyone.

If he could control them, he controlled them.

If he could avoid them, he avoided them.

Killing left behind corpses, and corpses would bring the process to a halt.

Right now, the most important thing was to keep the Sanctification Descent going.

"Bai Zhu, can you hear me?"

At the Church's side entrance.

Bai Zhu was being annoyed to death by the silver-robed bishop.

After White Lightning grazed the man's shoulder, his attacks became even crazier. His silver staff had nearly struck Bai Zhu several times.

In the distance, the Black Crystal stretcher was still approaching Ella.

Ella was half-kneeling beside a door pillar while Milluki's Mechanical Spider injected a second dose of stabilizer into her leg.

Bai Zhu drove the silver-robed bishop back with one slash.

"Get to the point. I'm currently enjoying the VIP group-beating package from a cult."

Milluki spoke rapidly.

"Big Brother is free. He's staying underground now. He'll handle the follow-up routes and find a way to deal with the altar."

Bai Zhu dodged a flying restraint strap, then bound its wielder to the doorframe with Bakudō.

"Free? Nice. Your brother finally got off work?"

"He didn't get off work. He's working overtime."

"Your Zoldyck family's corporate culture is terrible."

"Cut the crap! He'll coordinate with you underground. Keep stalling the real Ella's side. Don't let the Black Crystal touch her."

Bai Zhu glanced at the stretcher being carried over by white-robed butlers.

The black cloth was pulsing faster and faster.

That thing seemed to have locked onto Ella's blood.

He licked his dry lips and tightened his grip on the hilt.

"Fine. I'll keep tearing things apart up here."

He kicked over a cultist trying to circle behind him.

"The cult ran into a professional team today."

Milluki paused.

"There's one more thing."

"Say it."

Milluki looked at the route Illumi had marked on the screen, then swallowed the words "Grandfather's objective."

"Nothing. Just don't die."

Bai Zhu paused, then laughed.

"Chubby, your concern levels are off the charts today."

"Fuck off!"