Chapter 250 (1): Dragon Blood Ritual

Mansion, suburbs.

Tucked away in a forest, a white wooden mansion stood among the trees, the walls covered in crawling green vines. The picture painted was one of thriving vitality.

From a distance, the rushing Seinube River took center stage. Getting closer, one would see the front yard surrounded by green, with a number of wicker tables and chairs for a leisurely tea time with recreational reading. The pond on the side was clear enough for the fish playing inside to be visible.

The pond reflected the blue sky, white clouds, and the surrounding green mountain ranges, beautiful like a landscape painting. The soothing scenery was perfect for someone recovering from their condition.

Such as Wayne.

He sat in a wicker chair, grunting, “Veronica, my chest hurts... Maybe my injury is acting up again. Just rub it for me, and it’ll stop hurting.”

Or letting me sleep on your lap works, too.

Veronica rolled her eyes. Over the past few days, the scumbag had been under her care for his ‘injury’, claiming that they had to stick to the act to avoid suspicion. Since it made sense to her, she had been taking care of her fake brother patiently, yet Wayne was taking a mile with the inch she gave. Not only did he ask her to feed him during meals, but he also asked her to support him while he peed.

The past few days, he acted up again. With the excuse of improving his recovery time, he asked for freshly made orange juice—with oranges from abroad.

Shameless! Why don’t you just die?!

The consequences were evident: every time Wayne was being a nuisance, he got punched. With new injuries added during his recovery period, he remained chair-ridden even now, showing no sign of getting better.

Due to his condition, he withdrew from the Holy Maiden selection voluntarily, and Veronica, stating that she had to take care of her brother, gave up, too.

Senna was beyond furious, but she didn’t have the justification to blame Veronica. She knew that Veronica hadn’t pulled out because of Wayne, but because of the two assassins’ sudden attack; the incident broke her faith-tinted glasses and exposed the higher-ups for what they were.

Veronica had lost her drive to become the Holy Maiden, so she chose to withdraw with her brother.

Whether Wayne could become the Nature Knight was a coin toss. Veronica’s withdrawal from the selection threw a wrench in Senna’s plan, and her early investment went down the drain.

Twenty years ago, Silvia screwed over Senna; then her daughter did the same to Senna twenty years later. How nostalgic.

Back then, Senna had cut ties with Silvia in fury, but now, she went against her emotional responses and reassured Veronica that the Holy Maiden position was beneath her, so it was fine for her to not want it.

The reason was simple: Veronica’s trash brother was much more talented than Silvia’s trash husband.

Senna didn’t know that the brother and sister were one step away from visiting the orthopedic hospital for their ‘incestuous’ relationship; she only knew that Wayne couldn’t care less about his father, but cared about his stepmother and half sister greatly. As long as Veronica was happy, Wayne would be, too.

She had to coddle her! She must!

Senna forced herself to reassure the siblings, no matter how much it frustrated her, while she got into a heated argument with the Pope and the High Prophet. As they fought, the others spectated. The leadership of the Church of Nature was in complete disarray.

Since they couldn’t stop arguing, none were paying attention to the Holy Maiden selection, and the third round had to be postponed.

It had been more than a week since Virgil and Cerci ambushed Wayne. To avoid further assassination attempts and to prevent the High Prophet from sending a mandrill to argue for himself, Senna had moved the Lando siblings to her own residence, giving them the protection of a legendary mage’s bastion. If anyone intruded, she could come to their aid instantly.

Outside of keeping the monkey away, she had spent the past few days fighting the headquarters nonstop, leaving the Pope and the High Prophet exhausted.

She alone couldn’t stir up a big enough ruckus, but she had found a powerful support: Vice Captain Garvin of the Order of Nature.

All this time, Garvin had been acting like a slacker, spending his days smoking, drinking, and playing cards, never expressing his opinions during meetings. He only ever worked hard in training members of the knight order.

He had a reputation for slacking off, but it was out of resignation more than anything. He couldn’t change the corrupted higher-ups, but refused to let the environment change him, so over time, he became the slacker he appeared to be.

It was different this time. Wayne almost died in an assassination attempt. Garvin agreed to work with Senna, and the two of them pressured the higher-ups together. They wanted the culprits!

Virgil and Cerci were still missing after the attempted murder.

Garvin knew that Virgil and Cerci had made a grave mistake due to jealousy, and that they weren’t the masterminds despite being the ones to make the attack. Without anyone pulling the strings behind the scenes, they couldn’t have intervened with the Holy Maiden selection and transported Wayne to a different space.

The High Prophet couldn’t be the mastermind since he had lost Wayne, two students, and his reputation. It was a triple loss for him.

Senna could be the one orchestrating the whole thing, giving herself an excuse to fight back without any losses. However, Wayne was integral to her future career, more so than the Holy Maiden. She wouldn’t have made that move.

Among the leadership, the Pope was the most suspicious.

The High Prophet said that before the assassination, Virgil and Cerci had received a letter. To prevent his students from being used, he had grounded them, forbidding them from leaving the Prophet Sanctuary during the selection.

The letter suggested someone with insider information, narrowing the scope of suspects. The mastermind had to be part of the first round of selection, witnessing the candidates’ performances in the Corridor of Nightmares and the High Prophet’s reaction then.

There was also access to Sky City, the arrangement of rivals, the way Virgil and Cerci were able to break their grounding order, and the change of destination for the portal to consider. The Pope, who held the highest power, ticked all the boxes, while the other higher-ups only met one of the requirements.

Besides, the Pope had a motive.

All clues pointed to the Pope, but the Pope argued that it was exactly because the clues pointed to him, making him the biggest loser, that he wasn’t the true culprit.

He vehemently defended himself. In the beginning, he rejected all accusations. Then he conceded and insisted that his subordinates had misinterpreted his intention on their own when he actually had high hopes for Wayne.

His inconsistency and weak defense made Garvin suspicious. Indeed, it all seemed like a deliberate setup to frame the Pope with all the evidence pointing to him. The Pope had effectively put himself on the spot and handed Senna ammunition against him. He would lose just as much as the High Prophet, which was at odds with his usual pattern...

After some consideration, Garvin still saw the Pope as the primary suspect.

While the Pope seemed to be in a difficult place now, it was only because the assassination had failed. If Virgil and Cerci had succeeded in taking Wayne out, leaving Senna and Tubert with nothing, the two of them wouldn’t be able to stir up much trouble together. Even if they could raise hell and expand their influence, it would still be a net positive for the Pope.

The Pope was having a headache. To prove his innocence, he ordered Garvin and Senna to form an investigation team. It wasn’t him, truly. If they still doubted him, they should dig further—of course, the scope of their investigation was limited to Wayne’s assassination, nothing else.

An investigation was always going to find dirt!

***

Misty Forest.

The interwoven Darkness and Death left the forest eerie and ghostly. Two figures kneeled on the ground weakly, with radiant red light slowly peeling away from them. As the red light faded, their vitality weakened.

Ottilia and Regina.

Across from them, a figure in a long robe held a red gem in their hand. Forged from an unknown material, the gem brimmed with thriving life energy, with golden red liquid that looked like blood circulating inside.

It was phoenix blood.

The world in Regina’s eyes gradually dimmed. Chilling Death energy overtook her heart as she slowly leaned back against the tree. She felt so weak that she couldn’t even move a finger.

She glanced at Ottilia, who was meeting the same fate. Her lips curled up. If Ottilia hadn’t taken her sister’s place, she and her sister would’ve been the ones to die together now. It was better that one of them got to live.

However...

She still couldn’t accept it! Why was this happening? Why must she die, framed as a killer fleeing from her crime?

Ottilia stared at the woman holding the red gem while her vitality left her body, unable to fight back and too disheartened to attempt it even if she could. Pain overwhelmed her like violent torrents, making it difficult to breathe.

“Why, Master?”

The robed figure’s hand trembled around the red gem. She had disguised herself both in appearance and thoughts, yet her student still recognized her.