Su Cheng: "..."
It seemed the tragedy had already occurred.
She walked toward the house in front of her, which was the Wayne family mansion, casually lifted a few large wall panels and roof sections, and looked through the ruined walls and debris.
There were no corpses or bloodstains.
Judging from the collapsed rubble, it didn't look like anyone had searched through here.
She felt that those children probably weren't dead yet—after all, they had started packing their bags before she left.
Leliana's subordinates had sent a bandit group to intimidate the townspeople. Even if they had other intentions, their main target should have been the crystal veins, followed by looting wealth.
Killing shouldn't have been the priority; after all, they had no real grudges.
Su Cheng thought with some uncertainty.
She turned her head and found that Horowitz had disappeared.
He had probably gone to investigate the surroundings.
A master of his level would naturally appear when he wanted to find her. Su Cheng didn't want to worry about him, so she walked down the hillside.
Many massive craters had appeared in the town, surrounded by crisscrossing cracks.
The buildings on the commercial street had almost all collapsed. Under the bricks and tiles, charred bones were faintly visible, and shards of stained glass sparkled in the sunlight.
She remembered the grand festival celebrations from just a few days ago.
At this moment, the square that was previously filled with singing and dancing had turned into a terrifying deep pit. Countless scorch marks and large patches of dried, blackened blood remained in the crater.
On a slightly distant high ground stood several platinum-colored tents, like lilies of the valley blooming on scorched earth. A few paladins in armor stood guard nearby.
Su Cheng didn't hide her figure, and they saw her.
She simply walked straight over.
In the clearing between the tents, over a dozen surviving residents sat in a circle, receiving bread and water from the clerics.
Most of them were very young, almost all teenagers, along with a few bewildered toddlers.
A pale-faced child, looking about five or six years old, was receiving treatment from a priest, and their cheeks quickly regained a rosy complexion.
"...Who are you?"
The guarding paladins looked at her warily.
They were clearly the elites of the Church, capable enough to sense the stranger's strength, which was at least far superior to theirs.
"I have friends in town," Su Cheng said in a low voice. "Is there anyone here with the surname Wayne?"
The paladins looked at each other.
When the survivors over there saw her, someone took the initiative to greet her, and the clerics relaxed a bit.
"Lord Charles has been thinking about you," the young man said loudly. "Even when he was unconscious, he called out your name—"
Su Cheng was a little surprised. "...He was unconscious?"
The paladins probably finally believed her, and someone led her to a tent.
The silver-haired young man leaned against the bed, his face extremely pale, his breathing incredibly faint.
On his beautiful face, the expression was hollow and sorrowful. His long eyelashes were wet, and the corners of his eyes were red, as if he had just cried.
Two priests in white robes sat nearby. Continuous streams of white light flowed from their palms, the other ends sinking into his chest.
Charles had his shirt slightly open, revealing a small patch of well-defined chest. Bruises of blue and purple spread across his bulging muscles.
Those contaminated, off-color blood vessels bulged slightly from his flesh, twitching from time to time like venomous insects lying dormant within his body.
"...Su Cheng?!"
He clearly saw the black-haired girl standing at the entrance. His expression turned to shock, followed by remorse and self-blame.
Su Cheng frowned at him. "What happened?"
Charles looked at the two priests. "Your Excellencies, may I speak with her alone?"
The two agreed; it looked like they had wanted to take a break anyway.
One of them instructed him to return within three quarters of an hour, otherwise his injuries might worsen. Charles nodded silently, stood up, buttoned his shirt, and left the tent.
"...I'm sorry," Charles said softly. "If only I had listened to you."
Su Cheng looked at him in disbelief. "What do you mean? Didn't you already agree to my proposal?"
The two walked down the hillside, moving slightly away from the Church's camp. They stood on the barren ruins filled with the smell of gunpowder, overlooking the desolate devastation.
"...Yes, and I did just that," Charles said painfully. "But when I tried to send them away, I was blocked on the road. They had heard rumors saying the mayor offended the people of the secret cult, and those people were coming to take revenge on us. They said the mayor decided to send his children away for refuge, leaving the innocent residents to bear the brunt—"
"That was just a group of irrelevant people speaking absolute nonsense!"
Su Cheng interrupted him. "And you were sending away your blood relatives. Their safety is the most important thing. Besides, you were just sending them to Golden Amber City for school! Moreover, who could stop you?"
"...They couldn't stop me, but I tried to reason with them, which delayed us. Later, my mother found us and told me to bring everyone back first. She said they had already sent a letter to talk with the secret cult, and that the matter would be resolved."
Charles's face grew cold. "However, what they waited for were those bandits."
"What about you?" Su Cheng asked. "Were you injured by the bandits?"
"There was an illusionist," Charles whispered. "After I was controlled by him, I lost consciousness. By the time I woke up, the town had already become like this. Someone must have tried to kill me, but only left this."
He pointed to the wound on his chest. "The people from the Church arrived soon after."
"So you didn't see what happened in the meantime?"
"It's obvious," the silver-haired young man said through gritted teeth. "Those evil, greedy, insatiable members of the secret cult realized that instead of paying millions of gold coins, it was cheaper to just kill everyone here!"
Su Cheng pondered for a moment. "So did the secret cult get what they wanted? I mean the crystals."
Considering they previously said the Tree Blood Crystals were underground and passed beneath many people's houses, if the secret cult wanted to mine the ore, there should be excavation marks on the ground.
But she hadn't found any relevant clues along the way.
Charles glanced at her. "No. The Church's people arrived."
Su Cheng: "...So who do the crystals belong to now?"
Charles frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I don't mean anything," Su Cheng said calmly. "I am just asking about the course of events. After all, I don't know anything about it."
Charles closed his eyes. "The Church will pay to purchase the mining rights and resettle the people here."
Su Cheng nodded. "I understand. Additionally, I saw there are other survivors. Have you spoken with them? Also, has your family been buried?"
"I asked them. They said the mayor gathered them together, and later they were knocked unconscious by battle aura..."
Charles hesitated, his expression becoming even more pained. "Mother and my younger siblings all died near the town hall. Only deep pits and ravines remain there. Their bodies were completely charred..."
Su Cheng said nothing more.
The silver-haired young man lowered his head slightly, wiping away the tears slipping from the corners of his eyes. "What about you? Where are you going next?"
"...The Southern Continent, I suppose."
"Huh?" Charles froze for a moment. "Why?"
They had already walked to the outskirts of the town, arriving at the ruins of the Wayne family mansion.
Before Su Cheng could answer, a figure flashed beside her.
Horowitz had returned.
His deep emerald eyes, settling with arrogance, calmly swept over the injured young man in front of him, and then looked toward Su Cheng.
"Let's go," the silver-haired man in a black battle robe said lightly. "I have figured out the whole story. Someone will pay the price for this."
"!"
Charles was utterly astonished, his gaze repeatedly sweeping over the newcomer. "You are from the Secret Order—"
He also glared fiercely at the girl in front of him. "You said you are going to the Southern Continent... Are you joining the Secret Order?"
Su Cheng crossed her arms. "I didn't ask if you were going to join the Church, so I have no obligation to answer your question."
She paused. "However, there is nothing I can't answer. Yes, I will."
"You!" Charles's eyes widened in fury. "You know exactly what they did! Those bandits were their people, and they practically slaughtered the entire town—"
"Young man," Horowitz spoke indifferently. "With your level of skill, can't you tell? The sinkhole in the center of your town was created by the collision of battle auras. At least two Great Battle Masters fought here. May I ask, apart from you, is there any warrior above the sixth tier here?"
Charles was stumped.
His mother was only at the fifth tier, so naturally, there was no one stronger in the town.
"This aura," Horowitz looked toward the ruins. "It's from two fire attributes. Your family's battle aura probably isn't of that element, is it?"
Charles forcefully suppressed his anger and murderous intent. "What are you trying to say?"
"Your comprehension is truly admirable," Horowitz said coldly. "The context of the matter is already so clear, yet you are still demanding an explanation? I thought you only knew blind hatred because you were unwilling to accept your own incompetence, but I didn't expect you to just be a deceived fool."
Su Cheng couldn't help but feel a headache coming on. "Your Excellency, at least give him some time to think. He just lost his family."
Charles was about to lose his temper, but hearing her speak, he abruptly turned his head back. "Are you on his side too?"
"Good heavens," Su Cheng rubbed her forehead. "Did you report to the Church? If you did, then the people of the Secret Order would definitely think you went back on your word. If you didn't report, haven't you wondered how the Church's people arrived so quickly? Setting those two questions aside for now, the most important thing is that what truly destroyed this town wasn't a group of people, but two individuals. Two people fought above the square. These two most likely came from the Church and the Secret Order respectively. Their clash destroyed the entire town, and your family obviously died because of that."
Charles froze. "The Church wouldn't do this. They have always—"
"Always cared about the lives of ordinary people?"
Su Cheng interjected, "Indeed. But you would do business with the Secret Order. You are not devout followers of the God of Light, nor are you the kind of ordinary people the Church would care about."
She still remembered how Mitheros was destroyed, how the people in that city were slaughtered to the last, and how the truth was ultimately buried.
The Secret Order was not a representative of goodness.
But the Church was absolutely not one either.
Just as it was once said in her memories, in the war between the two sides, all boundaries had been blurred.
Su Cheng sighed. "Have you ever seen a fight involving fire-attribute battle auras? I have. Their auras fly everywhere, and wherever they land, it's like being smashed by a giant fireball. And I'm talking about low-tier warriors. The power of middle and high-tier warriors' battle auras multiplies by dozens of times."
Charles lowered his head. "...So everything was because of those crystals?"
Su Cheng found it hard to answer this question and couldn't help but look at the person beside her.
"The Church will be happy to see the current situation," Horowitz said lightly. "After all, there are still quite a few people here who know the secrets of the Ancient Gods."
Charles sneered. "Perhaps the Secret Order thinks the same way."
"Since Saron was in charge of this matter, if he wanted to do that, then on the second day after he confirmed the information, you all would have died."
Horowitz's tone was calm. "When you sober up, you will understand that things are completely different from what you think."
Charles gritted his teeth. "You say it so easily, you've never experienced—"
"Losing family members because of the so-called crime of being believers in false gods? I have experienced it," Horowitz interrupted him. "My older sister and brothers learned ancient magic from a young age and all became the Blessed. Later, they were all killed by the assassins of the Inquisition. I have always been able to see the true face of the Church. I don't hate them; they are just driven by interests or blindly chasing faith, and thus working their lives away for the God of Light."
Charles seemed to want to retort.
"Of course," Horowitz paused for a moment. "I don't expect someone like you to have such clear cognition. If it weren't so rare to see someone achieve this level of battle aura at this age, I wouldn't even want to waste time talking to you. In addition, I suggest you search your family's warehouse to see if any rare protective magic scrolls were used."
Charles took a deep breath and turned his head to look at Su Cheng. "You are going to the Southern Continent?"
He asked word by word, as if to confirm this matter.
Su Cheng nodded. "I also have things I need to figure out."
"Good," the silver-haired young man gave a faint, self-deprecating smile. "Perhaps the next time we meet, we will be enemies."
Su Cheng was noncommittal. "If you mean that you will be very fierce to me, then I should be able to get used to it quickly."
Charles gave her an angry look and walked away without looking back.
In his sorrowful grayish-blue eyes, faint golden arcs seemed to emerge, like some kind of fleeting mark.
Su Cheng froze for a moment.
The shape of those golden lines looked like—
An hourglass?
She watched his back disappear. "...He actually figured it out, right?"
"It's very obvious," Horowitz nodded slightly. "For this kind of person, if he wants to investigate this matter thoroughly, then his only option is to join the Church."
Su Cheng tilted her head and observed the silver-haired man beside her.
Horowitz met her gaze. "What is it?"
"Mayor Wayne, the mother of the person just now, is at the fifth tier. She actually should have been able to survive that kind of shockwave, right?"
"Provided she didn't use some kind of ancestral protective magic scroll," Horowitz said decisively. "Once the magic power in the scroll is exhausted, the protective barrier will absorb her life force. I have seen the mayor's corpse, and it is obvious that she died from this cause. She was indeed a dutiful lord who did her utmost to protect those survivors."
"...Why didn't her own children survive?"
"If those people voluntarily sacrificed their lives, joining their mother to maintain the duration of the protective barrier, then they would quickly be drained into dried corpses. I imagine their battle aura levels were even lower?"
Su Cheng let out a long sigh.
Such a truth was truly unsettling.
"...Honestly, do good people just not get rewarded most of the time?"
"If you have enough power, you can choose to be anyone—"
Horowitz looked toward the ruins. "If Mr. Wayne had trained to resist illusions and remained lucid during the ensuing battle, the outcome would likely have been very different."
"So who controlled him with the illusion? The secret cult? Or the Church?"
"In his memories," Horowitz's face darkened, "I saw the illusionist's face. It is the very person I have been tracking down."
"...Someone from the Hidden Mirror Society?"
"Yes."
Realizing that the members of the Hidden Mirror Society were still stirring up trouble and aiming to further deteriorate the relationship between the two organizations, Horowitz changed his plans.
After the two traveled together for some time, he announced his departure.
"Please forgive me for being unable to return to the High Court with you."
The silver-haired man spoke calmly. "I need to remain on the Northern Continent for a while longer. My subordinates will accompany you to ensure you enter the temple smoothly. I believe we will meet again at the High Court."
Su Cheng nodded. "But aren't you afraid I might run away? Your men are far weaker than you."
The black knights stood nearby, completely expressionless.
Horowitz shot her a look as if she were a fool. "You are a person seeking answers, not a prisoner being escorted."
Su Cheng shrugged. "Perhaps I just lied about wanting to go so you would lower your guard."
The silver-haired man looked at her, the corners of his lips curling up ever so slightly. "...I do not think so."
Alright then.
Apparently, he was capable of joking after all.
Su Cheng thought this to herself before saying, "Then I will see you at the High Court. I hope your investigation yields results soon, and that you catch that person."
"Thank you," Horowitz gave an elegant nod. "Have a safe journey."
