Joey clutched his chest, panting as the lingering fear gripped him.
"Was that the terrifying power of a Demigod?"
Wade had not even attacked. Just a trace of the aura leaking from him as he lost control had reduced Earl Aaron's sprawling estate to ruins in an instant.
Joey split off a sliver of his spiritual consciousness to check whether his body outside was safe. Fortunately, the Goddess of Luck had finally smiled on him for once.
He discovered that once his spiritual consciousness left his body, the pull of Wade's black hole vanished. Just as before, without spirituality, his body was nothing more than a lifeless shell.
The tendency of Transcendents to converge seemed to have temporarily stopped affecting him.
Joey paced through the empty Round Table Hall, his brows tightly knitted.
The gap between their strengths was simply too great, a gulf that no ordinary method could bridge.
Even if he was safe hiding in the Round Table Hall, he could not stay there forever. He had never tested how long he could remain, but he dared not gamble on it. If his body was damaged and he could not return, he would be in trouble.
He had heard that in the old era, there had been a death-related sequence pathway that abandoned the body to control the soul. But that sequence did not exist in Senegal. He could not act recklessly and end up a wandering ghost.
"I wonder what's happening outside now. Will Wayne be shocked when he sees me? I probably look more like a Living Dead than he does."
"Maybe Wayne's already been sucked dry."
Joey found that his thoughts seemed unusually active while he existed as a spirit. All sorts of strange ideas kept popping into his head.
Details he had overlooked before were now perfectly clear in his mind.
"Why was Captain Wade hiding his identity? In Senegal, a Demigod would at least be the head of the Elder Council. That position is second only to imperial authority, and even outranks it in certain respects."
"And how did a perfectly respectable duke of the Empire become the rumored Archbishop of the Necromancer Sect? Why did she die so easily? Rather than an easy death, it was more like she wanted to die."
"She could use its authority without directly using 0-013. At the very least, she must have been a Demigod like the captain."
"It looks like all sorts of hidden things are emerging from the fog surrounding this coup. Who knows whether that's a blessing or a curse?" Joey pondered anxiously, his thoughts drifting further afield.
"Hm?"
The sliver of spirituality he had left outside informed him that it was now safe.
Already tired of waiting, Joey's eyes brightened. Thick gray mist quickly enveloped his spirit, and he returned to the real world.
Sensation and pain gradually returned to his body. Through his grogginess, a deep voice reached his ears.
"Captain, we found a survivor here."
A survivor? Who? Are they talking about me? Someone seems to be calling me. I don't recognize the voice. Joey tried hard to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt unbearably heavy.
Then the voice spoke again.
"Bring the Church's holy water."
Holy water? Shit... isn't that something the Church supplies exclusively to the Imperial Knights?
Joey had considered all sorts of possibilities, but official intervention was the one thing he had never expected.
Something's wrong. With 0-013 involved, outsiders shouldn't have discovered what happened at Aaron's estate. Was it because of the bells?
"Search the surrounding area. See if there are any other survivors."
Almost as soon as that voice finished, another answered, "Captain, we've searched everywhere. He's the only one."
Has my spirituality been away from my body for that long? That shouldn't be possible. If I remember correctly, there were over a hundred people on the estate. Do they mean everyone's dead?
Should I wake up now, or keep playing dead?
For a moment, Joey found himself caught in a dilemma.
Pfft!
While he was still pondering, the side effects of the supernatural weapon Quenching began to manifest. His stomach suddenly churned.
No, if I keep pretending, I'll shit my pants.
Unable to play dead any longer, he snapped his eyes open. The first thing he saw was a group of Knights Templar soldiers in silver armor surrounding him.
His mind raced. Clutching his stomach awkwardly, Joey cried out, "Ow, my stomach! Excuse me, coming through!" He tried to make his escape as he spoke.
He had barely taken two steps before several gleaming halberds pressed against his neck.
"Wait, we can talk this out. We can talk this out."
He raised both hands, but after just a few words, his stomach began protesting with another rumble.
"I really can't hold it anymore!"
Only then did a soldier who appeared to be in charge cover his nose and wave a hand. "Keep an eye on him."
With that pressing matter settled, Joey rubbed his stomach in relief, grumbling inwardly, Looks like I'd better use it less from now on. These side effects are a damn trap. It barely did any damage, but it certainly knows how to screw over its own side.
Looking at the two soldiers flanking him, Joey quipped:
"Gentlemen, there's no need to be so wary. We're all on the same side."
In a sense, the Survey Corps and the Knights Templar really were on the same side. Both belonged to the Elder Council; they merely answered to different leaders.
Having dealt with Quenching's side effects, he was surprised to discover that most of his wounds, large and small, had healed. He marveled inwardly, As expected of holy water supplied exclusively by the Church. Its healing effects are incredible. I need to find a way to get some.
Clack, clack, clack!
The soldiers' armor made a mechanical clattering sound as they walked.
Only now did Joey have the attention to spare for his surroundings. His expression turned astonished.
The castle had collapsed. The once-splendid building was now a heap of rubble. The ground across the entire estate looked as though it had been plowed over, covered in gullies of every size like countless spiderweb cracks.
Soon, the two soldiers brought Joey back to where they had started. The officer who had been giving orders scrutinized him.
"You don't seem... afraid at all?"
Joey straightened his disheveled hair, brushed the dust off his clothes, and replied calmly:
"Should I be afraid?"
"An estate this large, with over a hundred people, and no survivors except you."
At a time like this, Joey suspected that if he showed even the slightest inappropriate behavior, the officer would brand him a Heretic without hesitation.
He turned and surveyed the surrounding ruins. The place where Captain Wade had been was completely empty.
"Maybe I was just lucky." He paused, then fixed his gaze on the officer's face. "Or maybe you arrived just in time."
The commanding officer frowned slightly. He could not rule out that possibility.
"Then can you tell me what exactly happened here?"
As the officer spoke, Joey saw someone step out from among the soldiers carrying a crystal ball. He recognized it. The Sheriff's Office had one too: a magical crystal ball used to detect lies.
He was not foolish enough to think he could deceive the Knights Templar. After a few seconds of thought, he decided to share only what did not involve his private secrets.
"I'm a member of the Survey Corps at the West District 9 Sheriff's Office."
He then gave a general account of what had happened.
When he mentioned that Vade Wisker was a Demigod, Joey noticed the officer's expression change drastically.
Joey could understand that reaction. There were only two publicly known Demigods in all of Senegal, and Wade's displayed abilities belonged to neither of them. The sudden emergence of another Demigod could drastically alter the situation throughout the Empire.
Joey was secretly taken to the Military Intelligence Office and kept confined for several days.
Although he was given plenty of good food and drink, the uncertainty was agonizing. He had no idea what they intended to do.
On the third day, he was taken to a room filled with crystal balls. An old man with a white beard and a felt hat sat in the center. The wrinkles on his face bunched together, leaving only tiny slits for his eyes. At first glance, he looked as though his eyes were closed.
Another interrogation? Joey knew this routine. Wade had already put him through it once.
It was something like hypnosis, drawing a person deep into their sea of consciousness. In that state, they would reveal many deeply buried secrets.
In any case, it did not work on him at all. As long as he sent a sliver of spirituality into the Round Table Hall, he could remain lucid.
"Are you the person Vade Wisker chose?"
Instead, the man asked a very strange question. Joey looked bewildered, unable to understand what he meant.
"Is the captain still alive? Where is he now?"
There was only one thing Joey wanted to know right now. Although Demigods were difficult to kill, a Demigod who had lost his humanity was another matter.
Wade had clearly been rampaging in that state. At any moment, he could have transformed into a mindless mythical creature.
"Although we cannot determine where he is now, there is one thing we can confirm: he is still alive."
"When did you join the Survey Corps?"
Without realizing it, Joey fell into the man's rhythm and recounted everything that had happened since he met Wade, down to the smallest detail.
Apart from certain secrets about himself, he disclosed everything concerning Wade, even his speculations and jokes.
"All right. You may go back now."
Only after leaving the room filled with crystal balls did he snap back to his senses. Cold sweat broke out across his body.
Without even noticing, he had fallen under the sway of the man's conversational techniques.
"That's terrifying. Worse than hypnosis."
The soldier beside him lightly patted his shoulder and reassured him with a smile:
"You're pretty lucky. You passed."
Passed? Was that a test? Puzzled, Joey asked, "Who is he?"
"Shh! Just get going. Some things aren't yours to ask about." Although the soldier did not answer directly, he pointed toward a towering building in the distance.
Joey understood and shut his mouth.
There were two such towers in the main city. One housed the bronze bell of the Old-Era Sun Church at its summit, while the other symbolized Senegal's supreme authority.
The Elder Council resided up there. Every transfer of imperial power was decided in that tower.
Joey guessed that the man he had just met was probably some important figure.
"Hm...?"
Soon, Joey noticed something wrong. His memory of the white-bearded old man's appearance was becoming hazy.
Something's wrong! With no time to think, he quickly split off a sliver of spirituality, stripped away the memory, and threw it into the Round Table Hall.
By the time he reached the streets, he had already forgotten why he was there. All he remembered was being taken away from the Earl's estate by soldiers. Everything afterward was a blur.
He returned to his lodgings in a daze and drew his spirituality back. Memories surged into him like a tide, and his bewildered gaze gradually regained its clarity.
"That old man was definitely a Demigod!"
Good grief. Ordinary people might never see such an important figure in their entire lives, yet he had encountered two in succession. He really did not know what to say.
He opened the window and looked out at the hazy sky. A breeze brushed his face, carrying a faint smell of blood.
"What exactly is the Necromancer Sect trying to do?"
That smell was difficult to conceal. Not a single person could be seen on the street. The Disciple's frenzied rituals had now become brazenly public.
He tilted his head back to ease his neck, then went inside and closed the window. Only after nightfall did he quietly leave his room.
He made his way cautiously to Earl Aaron's estate.
A cordon had been set up around the estate. After looking around and finding no one keeping watch, Joey slipped inside.
Apart from the rubble of collapsed buildings, there was nothing left at the scene.
"The authorities cleaned it up this thoroughly?"
He searched the place but found nothing unusual.
"Ah." He sighed softly. He had come to try his luck, but had not expected the authorities to be so thorough in their cleanup, erasing every trace of the supernatural.
"Hm...?"
Suddenly, his heart jolted. Something seemed to be calling to him.
Following that feeling, Joey approached the center of the estate, step by step.
It was the collapsed fishpond fountain. He remembered joking about its fish when he first saw it, thinking that catching just one and selling it would earn him quite a sum.
Now, however, only a pool of filthy, muddy water remained. The exquisite statue of a woman holding flowers and sprinkling water had shattered into several pieces.
The sensation came from beneath the water. He bent down, flexed his knees slightly, and reached in. Soon, he pulled out a yellowed page.
A line of text gradually appeared:
"Great master, your most faithful servant, Azrael, has waited for you so long that the flowers have withered."
0-013?
It's still here?
Joey stared in astonishment at the thin, yellowed page in his hand.
"Master, master, I've missed you so much!"
He considered his wording, then paused for several seconds before asking:
"Where are you?"
"Wait, don't answer yet!"
As soon as he spoke, he realized the question was ill-advised. Because of the law of supernatural conservation, he could not waste his questions on trivial matters.
"Master, I can answer all your questions. This is only a part of me, so I need not obey the law of conservation. Of course, I have lost some of my authority in exchange."
"All right! You ask first!"
Water was still dripping from the page as another line slowly appeared:
"Master, you may ask first. I will ask all my questions together afterward."
Joey looked around and thought for a moment before deciding to return home and make his plans there. Before leaving, he made sure to erase all traces of his visit.
He carefully avoided the patrolling Knights Templar along the way. By the time he reached his lodgings, it was well past midnight.
The second-floor hallway was pitch-black. Quite a few people actually lived in this row house, but with the unrest making even the main city unsafe lately, it was only natural for them to go to bed early.
"Hm...? The landlady's light is still on?"