Yellow, red, and silver moons hung high in the night sky. There were no clouds above Lakeview Manor, and the brilliant starry river hung upside down overhead, making people feel as if they could touch the starlight by reaching out.
When the accident occurred, the aftermath of the descent ritual caused the dinner guests to fall into a coma, so no one saw the unusual blood mist and fighting that followed.
This, in turn, made it easier to explain what happened tonight—the host of the banquet, Young Krolen, had conspired with Cultists of the Blood Feast Lord, placing sedatives in the food and drink served at the dinner. Fortunately, the Orthodox Church, representing justice, arrived in time to thwart their conspiracy.
As for the earthquake just now, it was a complete coincidence and had nothing to do with this place.
Currently, Lakeview Manor has been surrounded by Tobesk garrison and police joint forces, while the awakened dinner guests have been politely invited by the Orthodox Church to rest and undergo inspection in the manor's main house.
This was partly to prevent too many people from seeing the moon scar in the courtyard of Lakeview Manor, and partly to try to identify suspicious individuals who shouldn't have been there among the guests.
The two teams of Ring術士 from the Sun Church and the Peace Church who participated in this major battle remained in the courtyard. The police who arrived later were responsible for entering the main house to maintain order, while the Ring術士 support team from the city thoroughly searched the manor, recording and destroying the ritual of the “sixth epoch - 1853 Sun Moon Descent Event,” and incidentally picking the eerie blood-red flowers on the manor walls.
These were precious materials.
Miss Iluna Bayas, a young woman with long brown hair, stood with her companions in the courtyard, in front of the terrifying “scar” that still emitted a silver glow.
The moon scar extended almost from the straight entrance of the main house all the way to the fence gate of Lakeview Manor, splitting the entire manor's central axis, and its residual power lingered for a long time. Even after half an hour, people still dared not directly touch the marks on the ground.
Miss Lanina Green, a Ten-Ring Arcanist from the Sun Church, was the first Orthodox Church Ring術士 to arrive at the manor. She stood in a blue long dress beside the glowing indentation in the ground, toying with the relic, Ring of Metamorphosis, that had dropped after Mrs. Lasoya's death, listening to the Ring術士 from the Sun Church recount what had just happened.
Miss Iluna Bayas, with her brown hair, had no right to speak, so she could only listen to Mr. Robinson, her team leader, speak. Only after he finished did she add to her church's Ten-Ring Sorceress:
“I think I was the first to notice him, but I didn't see his face or appearance. But I think it must have been a man; I noticed him walking out of the third-floor banquet hall before he leaped into the air.”
She was very confident about this point.
Miss Green smiled and nodded at her. After confirming that the team had no other clues, she lowered her head to look at the ground marks glowing with silver light.
“Was the opponent very strong?”
Miss Bayas asked, pinching the hem of her skirt, somewhat uneasy.
“Judging from the residual spiritual energy, he’s at least stronger than me.”
Everyone present couldn't help but frown. In the current sixth epoch, High-Ring Sorcerers above Ten-Ring, while not extremely rare, were still very difficult to encounter:
“Miss Green, who could it be?”
Team leader Robinson, whom Xia De considered strong enough to punch him and Mia to death, asked with a frown.
“Cannot confirm, but definitely not someone from the Orthodox Church, and certainly not from the Miracle Academy. Those professors rarely set foot on the Old Continent. We need to send letters to the three academies for confirmation; they might know who this is… How coincidental, Mr. Sari Pirot, the Steel Right Hand of the Creation Church, just left Tobesk last week, and immediately something like this happened…”
The Sorceress turned her head to look at the Peace Church's Ring術士 team, who had also witnessed the scene just now and had already converged with the Eleven-Ring Arcanist from the Peace Church who had arrived.
The Eleven-Ring Arcanist from the Peace Church was an old man who looked even older than Priest Augustus, with white hair, wearing a simple white robe of a clergyman. If one were to encounter him in a church, it would be hard to believe he possessed great power:
“Mr. Modero, what are your thoughts?”
Miss Green asked. Mr. Modero squatted down and directly touched the marks on the ground with his hand:
“Oh, this is truly invigorating!”
He immediately withdrew his hand, then watched the silver glow on his cracked palm gradually fade.
“Similar to your opinion… At least Twelve-Ring, possibly Thirteenth Ring. The opponent did not reveal his Destiny Ring during the attack, which means this was just a casual, ordinary strike.”
Everyone present couldn't help but gasp. The Eleven-Ring Arcanist couldn't help but exclaim in admiration:
“Truly formidable! That gentleman probably knew from the start that Mercury Blood and the Cultists planned to summon an Old God here. Not only did he deal with the ‘Heart Collector’ that the church hadn't discovered beforehand, but he also hid in the shadows, observing our Ring術士 team's actions. After confirming that the church couldn't defeat the opponent and that reinforcements from the city couldn't arrive in time, he then, all alone on the third floor, destroyed the ritual with extremely subtle methods, then severely wounded the Silver-Eyed One with a casual strike, and then quietly left… Which one from the New World has returned? Or, which Twelve-Ring Arcanist has advanced?”
The old man's voice gradually lowered. He no longer reached out, but remained in a squatting position, looking at the glowing soil and saying:
“Perhaps we can seek revelation through divination later, but tonight, with the Old God's descent, the divine aura will disrupt the traces of fate.”
“Old God…”
Miss Green looked up at the third floor of the main house, the location where everyone had just pointed out The Masked Man Under the Silver Moon appeared:
“But at least the other party isn't a bad person. He prevented the Lord of the Blood Banquet from descending, and even attacked the Silver-Eyed One and his companion… The headless corpse found in the garden of Lakeview Manor a few tens of minutes ago has been confirmed to be the ‘Heart Collector’ of Mercury Blood. The other party seems very familiar with Mercury Blood, the Cultists, and our team's movements. Tonight's actions were almost as if specifically targeting Mercury Blood, acting very efficiently. Could it be that his coming here was also for…”
She did not directly state the name of the sage-level relic, but the Eleven-Ring Arcanist, Mr. Modero, also understood her meaning:
“No matter what, investigating the participants of this banquet and searching for suspicious individuals, I think there should at least be a list. I want to see if there are any Letter-based Ring術士 present this time. Given the current situation, even if there are suspicious individuals among the guests who are proficient in divination and have insiders in the church, they won't be able to slip away. Also, before we arrived and the Silver-Eyed One escaped, did anyone come down from the third floor of the main house?”
He grasped the key point.
“No.”
Mr. Robinson, the team leader of the Sun Church's Ring術士 team, said as he took out a small notebook from his pocket and flipped through it:
“We checked the second and third floors not long ago. Only the guests trapped on the second floor left the main house after the battle ended. Some of them have somewhat sensitive identities and vouched for themselves and their accompanying servants, and we carefully checked and confirmed that they are all ordinary people.”
“Sensitive identity? Which member of the royal family was here tonight?”
Miss Green inquired.
“Duchess Galina Cavendish. She just arrived in Tobesk a few weeks ago from her fiefdom.”
The Ring術士 from the Peace Church replied. The group seemed to trust the Duchess, so they did not suspect anyone accompanying her.
“Since it's a suspected Thirteen Ring Sorcerer, of course, it won't be that simple for us to find him.”
Miss Green said, looking at the three moons above and the twinkling stars:
“Issue a bounty, offering a reward worldwide for members of Mercury Blood and Cultists who worship the Blood Feast Lord. This matter cannot end just like this. Although the ‘Steel Right Hand’ is temporarily not in this diocese, I think the Five Gods Church can always temporarily allocate another Thirteen Ring Sorcerer to thoroughly deal with the Cultists and Mercury Blood. As for that man…”
Miss Green hesitated for a moment, so Mr. Modero of the Peace Church said:
“Using ‘The Masked Man Under the Silver Moon’ as a codename, inform the Dawn Church, Natural Church, and Creation Church, who did not participate in this operation, of that person's identity. Since he prevented the Old God from descending, there is no need to treat him as an enemy for now; we can maintain a wait-and-see attitude until he appears again. However, the Tobesk Diocese must strictly investigate foreign Ring術士 of unknown identity in the coming months… Silver Moon, could it be that the Twelve-Ring ‘Great Witch of the Silver Moon’ from the Witch Council has arrived?”
He said, but then stood up and shook his head:
“I must be out of my mind; where are there men in the Witch Council?”
Miss Green then mentioned the latest news:
“We just received intelligence not long ago that those women are active in the Tobesk Diocese.”
“It's not just them who have been active in Tobesk recently. And, what are these people here for, don't you know?”
Mr. Modero said, glancing at Iluna Bayas, who stood by, unaware of what the two were discussing.
“In short, this world is about to become chaotic again. Tonight's events are very likely the beginning of a series of future events. How many years has it been since an Old God almost successfully descended?”
The old man said, not without worry.
“Sir, why would it become chaotic? Isn't it still a time of peace now?”
Among the Peace Church's Ring術士 team, the young Priest who had given Xia De a relief food flyer asked cautiously.
Miss Green sighed:
“The great prophecy left by the Witch Emperors…”
She looked at Miss Iluna Bayas, who was bewildered and looked back at her. Miss Green shook her head:
“No, it's just a prophecy. In any case, those who believe the prophecy will gather in Tobesk City soon to complete the first verse of the whispering chapters. There will be some strange fellows appearing in the city recently. I think The Masked Man Under the Silver Moon was also drawn by the prophecy of the Old God's revival and unexpectedly targeted Mercury Blood. Twelve-Ring or even Thirteenth Ring… Who could it be?”