Number Fifteen Disappeared Before Our Eyes

"Understood."

Illumi said 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 over the threshold, hands resting on their weapons, their faces frozen in the tension from hearing the commotion.

The next second,

they lowered their heads at the same time 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 resting on a button without actually pressing it.

The two guards at the door turned around, closed the door again, and returned to the hallway.

Everything looked perfectly normal.

Except the "Number Fifteen container" on the bed had already sat up.

Illumi looked down at the pregnant woman's dress he was wearing, then glanced at the nurses nearby.

He chose his target quickly.

The one on the left was too short.

The one in the middle had calluses on her fingers. She looked like she did heavy work often, and disguising himself as her would make the details troublesome.

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

Illumi walked up to the nurse on the right.

The nurse looked up, her face still blank from being controlled by a Nen Needle.

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

"You're easier on the eyes."

The nurse did not respond.

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

He dragged her into a corner, stepped onto the edge of the bed, and opened the ventilation duct above.

The duct was narrow.

An ordinary person would get stuck trying to squeeze inside.

But Illumi was highly experienced at dealing with both corpses and living people.

After a few movements, he folded the nurse into the ventilation duct, leaving not even the tip of her shoe exposed.

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

That way, even if some dust fell inside the duct, it would not be too noticeable.

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

His joints gave soft cracks.

Ella's face gradually narrowed, his shoulder line adjusted slightly, and the curve of his swollen abdomen slowly disappeared.

A few seconds later,

there was another female nurse in the room, one who had long suppressed her temper, dared not walk too quickly, and habitually lowered her head before speaking.

Illumi raised his hand and examined his fingertips.

The few needle marks he had made earlier to imitate 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 tugged the sheets into disarray and tossed aside part of a restraint buckle.

The entire room immediately took on a different appearance.

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

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

The silver-robed bishop had arrived.

He practically slammed the door open.

The guard at the entrance acted convincingly, staggering sideways from the impact and hurriedly lowering his head.

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

The silver-robed bishop stopped.

The bed was empty.

The sheets were in disarray.

The lines on the instruments were still jumping wildly.

The three nurses stood beside the bed as if they had been frightened senseless.

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. Her movements were natural; Illumi's control over her was just right.

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

Crash.

Glass shattered across the floor.

The silver-robed bishop's chest rose and fell as he rushed directly to the bed, threw back the blanket, and 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 tried to restrain her, but black... light like the Holy Stone suddenly appeared on her body."

Illumi paused, as though he did not dare continue.

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

"Go on."

Illumi lowered his head.

"Then she disappeared right before our eyes."

The room went quiet for a moment.

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

Those words were absurd.

But the news that had just come from the surface was even more absurd.

The Number Fifteen container had appeared outside the church.

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

The elder had also said himself that the Lord's will had begun to separate from the mother's body.

Now the hospital room was empty.

Number Fifteen was on the surface.

Put together, those facts actually fit.

The silver-robed bishop grabbed Illumi's wrist.

"You're certain she disappeared?"

Illumi immediately shrank back, flawlessly performing the reaction of a frightened nurse.

"I... I wouldn't dare say nonsense. She was right there, then suddenly she was gone. The instruments sounded the alarm first, then the restraints broke, and then..."

He raised a hand and pointed at the empty bed.

"She vanished."

The silver-robed bishop turned toward the instruments.

They were indeed still sounding the alarm.

Then he looked at the broken end of the restraint on the floor.

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

He did not suspect the nurses.

These medical staff did not even dare raise their voices in reply on ordinary days, 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 a single nurse could fabricate.

The silver-robed bishop flung Illumi away and turned to rush outside.

"Seal the hospital room! No one is allowed 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 hugged the tray tighter, lowering his voice even more.

"Yes."

The silver-robed bishop said nothing further and left in quick strides.

Illumi followed behind him, his steps small but not slow.

There were far fewer people in the corridor.

Most of the deacons 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."

"Then what about the one in the hospital room?"

"I heard she disappeared."

"The Lord performed a miracle?"

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

Illumi listened without any change in expression.

Good.

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

The silver-robed bishop was in too much of a hurry to reach the core area to look back at this nurse.

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

The moment 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 sank into the backs of their necks.

The two deacons paused for a moment, then continued lowering their heads.

The silver-robed bishop did not notice.

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

After Illumi walked several steps, his fingertips moved again.

The two deacons turned around and walked back down the side corridor the way they had come.

A few seconds later, they began working for Illumi.

One went to open the side door to the medicine storage.

The other went to alter the duty sign for the altar's emergency passage.

Everyone underground was busy handling the chaos on the surface. No one would notice two low-ranking deacons switching a sign.

Illumi followed them 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 walked two steps before noticing Illumi had not followed. He turned and snapped at him.

"What are you standing around for?"

Illumi clutched his chest and leaned against the wall.

"Lord Bishop, I... I can't catch my breath."

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

But considering she had just witnessed "Number Fifteen disappear" with her own eyes, it was normal for her to be emotionally overwhelmed.

"Useless thing."

He pointed at a deacon nearby.

"Take her to wait in the outer room. Call her over when the elder questions her."

"Yes."

The butler stepped forward to support Illumi.

Illumi lowered his head and was led into an adjoining room.

The door had barely closed.

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, pressed against the inside of his ear canal, and gave a faint vibration.

This was the backup Milluki had left behind.

Things made by the Zoldyck family never had all their 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 the controller away.

"Big Brother, you're free? Where are you? Get out of there, now! The surface is a complete mess, that lunatic Bai Zhu is still tearing down the church, and we switched Ella in—not that, I mean save your life first, retreat!"

Illumi's calm 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—"

Milluki forcibly swallowed the rest of it.

The person on the other end was his big brother.

He couldn't curse at him.

At least, not to his face.

Illumi continued.

"The chaos on the surface has cleared out the core area. The Pre-Sanctification Descent ritual has begun early, so the altar will definitely activate. I want to see the entire process."

Milluki gritted his teeth.

"What matters more, watching the process or staying alive?"

"Grandfather sent us to Sankara Town not just 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 end.

It sounded like he was moving.

"That Black Crystal is a clue."

Milluki lowered his voice.

"A clue to what?"

"I'll explain later."

"Explain later again?" Milluki nearly broke down. "Every one of you does this. Bai Zhu also keeps acting mysterious every other second. I'm your communications officer, not some wishing-well turtle!"

Illumi ignored his complaints.

"Send me the underground map. Mark the altar, medicine storage, container area, and ventilation shafts."

Milluki was angry, but his hands were already moving.

"I'm sending it. Also, the real Ella on the surface is about to give out. The Black Crystal Fragments are moving toward her, and Bai Zhu is having a hard time holding them 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, don't say that in front of him. He'll think you're complimenting him."

"Mm."

Illumi pressed the earpiece back into place.

The map data came through.

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

The chaos around the infirmary had already spread.

Several controlled nurses were still staging Number Fifteen's "disappearance," drawing away the investigators.

Two guards were responsible for blocking people.

The butler he had controlled earlier had already begun acting.

The side door to the medicine storage opened.

The sign for the alternate passage's guard post had been changed to "Purification Maintenance."

After being struck by a Nen Needle, a low-ranking priest hugged a folder and headed for the altar preparation room.

To outsiders, he would only appear to be delivering procedural documents.

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

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

Illumi left the adjoining room and blended back into the medical passageway.

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

If he could control them, he controlled them.

If he could avoid them, he avoided them.

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

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

"Bai Zhu, can you hear me?"

At the church's side entrance.

Bai Zhu was getting fed up with the silver-robed bishop hounding him.

After his shoulder had been grazed by White Lightning, the man fought even more crazily, and his silver staff had nearly struck Bai Zhu several times.

In the distance, the Black Crystal stretcher was still closing in on Ella.

Ella was half-kneeling beside a door pillar as Milluki's Mechanical Spider administered a second stabilizing injection into her leg.

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

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

Milluki spoke rapidly.

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

Bai Zhu dodged a flying restraint strap, then used Bakudō to bind the attacker to the doorframe.

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

"He didn't get off work. He worked overtime."

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

"Cut the crap! He'll coordinate with you underground. Keep stalling for the real Ella. 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 heaving 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 down a cultist trying to circle behind him.

"The cult picked the wrong day to run into a professional team."

Milluki paused.

"One more thing."

"Say it."

Milluki looked at the route Illumi had marked on the screen and swallowed the words "Grandfather's target."

"It's nothing. Don't die."

Bai Zhu paused, then laughed.

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

"Get lost!"