Siege (First Update)

At Bravehearts Bar, Kaspars limped past the counter and into the area near the kitchen. He suddenly stopped, lightly knocked on a rather concealed door, and only pushed it open after receiving permission.

This was a card room, with more than a dozen people playing poker inside.

Seeing Kaspars enter, a man in a white shirt and black vest slowly stood up. Everyone else playing cards stopped moving, and not a single person made a sound. This was Maric of the Temperance Faction and the corpses under his Manipulation.

Even though Kaspars had seen similar scenes before, his scalp still tingled. He swallowed and said, "Mr. Maric, there's news about Jason. He killed several people in Cherwood Borough recently. A friend told me the police have handed the case over to the Mandated Punishers Squad."

The pale-faced Maric nodded and asked, "When did this happen?"

"People had been going missing since last week. It wasn't until noon today that a Detective helped the police find an alley full of shattered human remains. The case was then transferred to the Mandated Punishers." Kaspars seemed to know the details quite well. After recounting everything to Maric, he took his leave.

After Kaspars left, the figure of Miss Sharron, the Wraith, abruptly appeared beside Maric. Resting her right cheek on her hand, she asked expressionlessly, "What do you think, Maric?"

"Jason may have been too badly injured in the previous encounter and could no longer restrain his urge to eat human flesh and blood." Maric's tone was equally flat. Though he said "may," he sounded certain.

"Even uninjured, he never restrained his desires. Being injured only made him 'hungry' faster." Sharron's pale yet exquisite face remained calm, but her tone was extremely certain.

"Though the Indulgence Faction acts wantonly, they aren't lunatics or fools. Since Jason dared commit crimes in Cherwood Borough, he must be somewhat confident he can evade both the Mandated Punishers and our pursuit!" Maric analyzed calmly.

"I'll go to Cherwood Borough next and stay near the Mandated Punishers." Miss Sharron's body gradually vanished as her illusory voice spoke.

"You need to be careful. The captain of Backlund's Mandated Punishers Squad has contracted a Sealed Artifact... and Jason may already have called for help." Maric cautioned the empty air.

"I know!" A faint voice drifted back from nowhere.

On Saturday morning, because the abandoned manor in North Borough had been sold, and because Miss Wraith might still be living there, Abner and Xio did not dare return there to practice shooting.

However, because Abner had previously helped the police solve two missing-person cases, he had gained some standing with Sheriff Fasin and was granted permission to borrow the police shooting range.

It was still Officer Aitris, the foul-mouthed one, who received them and led them to the underground shooting range at the police station.

"Who is this lady? Your fiancée? Why did you bring her here?" Aitris looked at Xio, who was following Abner, and asked curiously. He had never seen anyone bring a girl to a shooting range.

"She's my shooting and combat instructor!" Abner replied, shooting him a glance. At the same time, he keenly noticed that this second-generation cop did not seem to be in good spirits. Even his words were not quite as punchable as usual.

"Oh, so this is how you make excuses to ask someone out!" Aitris did not believe him at all. Fortunately, he truly was not in the mood today, otherwise his mouth would probably have been full of crude remarks.

There was no need to elaborate on the shooting practice that followed. Miss Xio was simply quite pleased, because practice ammunition at the police station no longer had to come out of her own pocket.

During the combat training that followed, Abner asked Xio about the use of a longsword. Though Xio was not particularly skilled in swordsmanship, she knew the basics of using a sword, after all. It was also part of knight training.

Time quickly slipped away with each swing of Abner's sword.

At noon, after parting with Xio, Abner made a detour to Grant Clothing Store. Since the investigation had yielded "results," he naturally had to let Jane know.

When Jane saw Abner come looking for her, she naturally knew he had something to say. It was inconvenient in the store, so she immediately brought him to a nearby café.

"Abner, are there results?" Jane asked nervously.

"Yes, your father hasn't been having an affair... He's only been doing volunteer work..." Abner carefully chose his words. In a sense, collecting corpses counted as volunteer work too. He was not lying.

"Volunteer work? In the middle of the night?" Jane found it hard to believe and even blurted out, "Don't tell me his volunteer work involves comforting lonely single women!"

That was a truly savage jab! Abner muttered inwardly. Fortunately, he had already prepared an explanation and calmly said, "He's been helping the poor in East Borough, doing his best to find them a place to stay." Though it was after their deaths.

"Then why does he have to go at night?" Jane was still puzzled.

"Because those who are still homeless at night and can only wander the streets are the ones most in need of help!" Abner answered.

"So that's how it is... Then I wrongly blamed him! No wonder, even while he's busy opening a branch store, he said today that he wanted to rent some vehicles for use at night... I thought they were for his mistress!" Jane still trusted Abner very much. Or rather, she did not want her life to change deep down, so she immediately believed that her father had not cheated on her.

After resolving Jane's commission, Abner immediately threw himself wholeheartedly back into reading and studying all kinds of knowledge.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was June 12.

It was a Tuesday. As usual, Abner spent the morning reading in the public library. Today, he held a copy of "Night's Revelation." Though he could already be considered a believer of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, in Loen, he could not remain ignorant of the goddess's teachings either.

"The Creator awakened from Chaos, broke through the darkness, and created the first ray of light. He then completely merged with the universe, becoming all things. His body became the earth and the stars. One of His eyes became the sun, while the other transformed into the Red Moon. Part of His blood surged into seas and rivers, nourishing and giving birth to life..."

"His lungs evolved into Elves; His heart evolved into Giants; His liver evolved into treants; His head evolved into Dragons; His kidneys evolved into Feathered Serpents; His hair evolved into Phoenixes; His ears evolved into Magic Wolves; His mouth and teeth evolved into Mutants; His remaining bodily fluids evolved into Sea Monsters, the essence of which became nagas; His stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and the evil parts of His body evolved into Devils, Evil Spirits, and all kinds of unknown evil beings. His spirit became the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Lord of Storms, the God of Knowledge and Wisdom..."

As Abner read this, he thought, Since everything in this world evolved from the Oldest One, the Creator, the source of all things ultimately points back to Him! Then, if I accumulate enough prerequisite knowledge, and the Pure White Eye's Analysis ability grows stronger and stronger, will I one day be able to trace anything back to that Oldest One?

The moment this thought arose, Abner's Pure White Eye suddenly activated on its own. His body, mind, and spirit entered a wondrous state, while an illusory sound of shattering abruptly rang in his ears.

He discovered in astonishment that something within his body seemed to be dissolving and merging with his spirit under the effects of the Pure White Eye.

It was an indescribably unique sensation. Abner half-closed his eyes and quietly experienced it.

At that moment, without anyone needing to tell him, he knew that the Reader Potion had been completely digested.

"Two weeks!" Abner muttered.

Meanwhile, a large-scale battle was taking place southwest of Cherwood Borough, yet its effects did not spread in the slightest.

It was a chase between the Mandated Punishers and the Indulgence Faction of the Rose School.

Running ahead was Jason, the Zombie of the Indulgence Faction. Several faint Black Spots marked his face, like scars left after rotten wounds had healed. The malice in his eyes was so tangible it could stop a child from crying at night, completely unhidden and unrestrained.

He was faster than a steam train at full speed. In a flash, he crossed an entire block. Unfortunately, though he was fast, the area seemed to have been thoroughly sealed off by some powerful force, even isolated from reality itself, making it impossible for him to escape the pursuit of the two Mandated Punishers behind him!

They were two Wind-blessed surrounded by storms, flying through the air!

As several more Wind Blades struck his body, Jason gritted his teeth and moved about desperately, trying to find a flaw in the sealing force. The healed Black Spots on his face had somehow swollen until they became translucent, as though rotten fluid was about to drip from them.

Wherever he passed, puddles on the ground and liquid in the soil rapidly frosted over and froze inch by inch. The leaves on roadside trees withered instantly, then rotted and decayed at a visible speed as they slowly drifted down.

After Jason endured the Wind Blades and circled the entire area he could move within, he finally discovered a flaw in the sealing force. Overjoyed, he used all his strength to tear open a gap and was about to leap through it and flee. What he failed to see was the cold sneers on the faces of the two Wind-blessed in the sky.

Sure enough, a silver-white bolt of lightning descended in an instant and struck Jason, blasting apart a large portion of the seemingly decayed corpse flesh on his body! That single blow severely injured him.

"So it really was a flaw, but it was also a trap set in advance..." Jason, who had been knocked to the ground by the Lightning Strike, immediately understood.

Seeing their ambush succeed, the two Wind-blessed were about to move in for the kill. But at that moment, a Werewolf suddenly burst through the gap. It picked up Jason and turned to flee, utterly ignoring the furious attacks of the Mandated Punishers striking its body. Its speed was so great that no one could catch up.

The Mandated Punishers could not fly nearly as fast and could only watch its escape direction with resentment.

At that moment, the invisible Barrier surrounding the block quietly shattered. The frozen puddles and the withered, rotten leaves vanished, and everything returned to normal.

"Captain, sorry, we let them get away..." The two Wind-blessed looked at their captain, who only appeared after the Barrier shattered, and spoke guiltily.

"I was too careless... I didn't expect the Rose School to send a Wraith to tie me down as well..." The captain of the Mandated Punishers Squad shook his head, his expression grave.

At the same time, in the window glass of a house by the roadside, a Miss Vengeful Spirit quietly departed, as though she had never been there.

Elsewhere, the heavily injured Werewolf ran halfway before it could no longer suppress its wounds. It spat out blood and collapsed to the ground. Jason had recovered somewhat by then. He hoisted it onto his back and leaped into the backyard of a clothing store...

(End of Chapter)