Norvigel, the City Lord's Mansion.
The cult elders broke through the outer defensive lines with overwhelming force, gradually purging the well-equipped family knights within the castle.
Finally, the heavy doors were slowly pushed open.
Ansu and Celia stepped side by side into the vast and magnificent main hall of the castle.
Count Alston and his final squad of trusted guards stood at the center of the hall.
Ansu’s gaze fell upon Count Alston, who was clad in a suit of exquisitely crafted full plate armor. A broad-bladed cross sword was planted in front of him, and he scrutinized the encroaching cultists with a cold, haughty stare.
One had to admit, with this appearance and aura, he looked as if he were the boss of a dungeon.
However, the real boss was currently standing right beside Ansu.
"Want to have a competition?" Celia suddenly turned her head, a mischievous smirk playing on her lips. "To see who can take down Count Alston first and beat him into submission?"
Ansu glanced at her helplessly. "Miss Witch, I might as well just give you the win..."
In terms of combat, who could possibly outmatch her?
Celia laughed and said, "Well, I could always go easy on you~"
"No, we need to settle this quickly." Ansu knew the witch wasn't satisfied with the lack of action, but time was truly running out.
There were less than four hours left before they returned to reality, and taking down the Church of Holy Light had already consumed a significant amount of time.
"Fine then." Celia nodded slightly.
Without needing further instructions, the cult members dispersed into a coordinated formation. A sharp magical offensive, like a woven net, descended upon Count Alston and his men.
Although the battle proceeded as expected—a complete slaughter—Ansu still noticed a small detail.
The count was a transcendent himself. When a cult elder launched a surprise attack, the count merely parried and delivered a simple counterattack. His longsword stirred a gust of wind so powerful it seemed capable of easily tearing through ordinary metal armor.
Count Alston likely followed the God of War sect, one of the five Great Righteous God sects. This faith provided significant buffs to warriors.
In this world, transcendent powers other than magic were essentially linked to faith. The more devout one was, the stronger the power they received. Among the Imperial nobility, especially border nobles who frequently faced war, the God of War faith was quite common.
However, under the suppression of a group of top-tier mages, even a warrior of considerable skill was destined to fall into absolute passivity. As waves of intense concentrated magic fire rained down, the guards surrounding the count were quickly wiped out.
Next, invisible gravity magic enveloped the count. His meticulously forged plate armor was instantly twisted and torn apart, looking like an opened tin can...
A muffled roar of pain came from beneath the helmet as his hulking frame teetered, supported only by his sword.
"Cough... Pfft!"
He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his raspy voice mixing anger and humiliation. "Show some respect to a warrior! I am a count of the Empire! How can I be... so insulted by you?"
"Going all out is my greatest form of respect." Ansu sneered, directly pulling out his alchemical revolver and firing a shot at the count's leg armor.
A thunderous gunshot echoed through the hall. The terrifying piercing power of the enchanted bullet instantly blasted into his left leg.
"Agh—!!"
A shrill scream replaced the roar as Count Alston collapsed heavily onto his knees.
"You damned black mages! You... you have no martial honor!!"
"Shut up!" Elder Matthew stepped forward, kicked him over, and roughly tore off his helmet. "Hermit, do you need me to continue 'attending' to him? I have two hundred ways to torture him to death!"
"Don't waste time." Ansu instinctively looked to his side.
Celia understood, raising a slender white finger and making a lifting motion in the air.
Count Alston’s broken body was suddenly hoisted up by an invisible magical force.
In the next second, Celia’s eyes turned dark red, and a magic circle with complex runes gradually lit up around Count Alston.
"Hypnosis?" Ansu was curious about how the witch intended to extract information.
"He doesn't deserve that kind of patience from me," Celia said flatly.
As she spoke, the magic circle flared with light. A foul, thick black aura surged out like a living creature, instantly swallowing the terrified Count Alston.
After a dozen seconds, the black mist dissipated.
Count Alston’s eyes had become hollow and dull, like a puppet whose soul had been extracted.
【Soul Dominion】.
Ansu’s gaze narrowed slightly. He naturally remembered this move. This wasn't hypnosis; it was total brainwashing.
This scene gave him a slight sense of deja vu, reminding him of the first time he met the witch back in S1.
"Hmm?" Celia keenly caught Ansu’s momentary emotional shift.
The dark red light in her eyes faded as she teased with a smirk, "What are you afraid of? I wouldn't do this to you."
"Oh, really..." Ansu looked at her silently.
"Aren't I right?" Celia blinked innocently, her long eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings. "After all, how could I bear to... lay a hand on the Ansu I love the most?"
Ansu curled his lip helplessly, thinking to himself that she certainly hadn't held back in the beginning...
He turned his gaze back to Count Alston, who was now under complete control.
Forbidden black magic of this level couldn't be used multiple times in a short period, so the precious opportunity was naturally used on the count rather than the bishop. After all, Count Alston was the true executor of the policies.
Next was the much-anticipated segment of digging up dirt.
Under Celia’s command, the dull-eyed Count Alston confessed every single one of his dark secrets from over the years.
As he detailed each piece of dirt, the expressions of the cult members present grew more and more vivid...
This guy was a real heavyweight.
From murdering his own brothers to seize the title of Count Alston, to his 'colorful' private life and illegitimate children, to embezzling taxes from his fief... even the last one seemed small compared to what followed.
"The count is planning a rebellion!?"
Even Elder Barnes and Elder Matthew were shocked.
According to Count Alston’s mechanical confession, Ansu learned that the count had been in secret correspondence with several other Imperial nobles, provincial governors, and high-ranking officials like the Finance Minister. Shortly after the news of the old Emperor’s illness broke, they had quickly reached a 'secret alliance.'
The core of the alliance was to collectively support the eight-year-old Fifth Prince—the easiest to control—as the next Emperor.
Then, before the Emperor reached adulthood to rule personally, they would establish a "Regency Council" controlled by the old nobility to handle all military and political decisions. They even had a clear division of spoils—
Core interests such as spheres of influence, Imperial taxes, mana veins, and magitech industrial supervision were all divided, with agreements for mutual military support to suppress any dissenters...
"Good grief..." Ansu scrutinized the count again, thinking this was far more explosive than he had initially guessed.
This wasn't simple opportunism; this was an otherworldly version of the Council of Princes. These ambitious men clearly intended to manipulate the government and feast upon the Empire...
Even Count Alston’s motive for rushing the Magic Prohibition Decree was now crystal clear.
It wasn't just to please the church in exchange for support; it was a perfect excuse for him to purge the North and consolidate his power. Count Alston clearly intended to use the name of 'magic prohibition' to firmly grasp the North in his own hands.
The church might not have known the full extent of these nobles' schemes, but even if they did, they would likely have turned a blind eye.
After all, the church disliked the Imperial family and hated the old Emperor even more. They wanted the crown to crawl beneath the divine power...
Now there was enough dirt and leverage. Ansu silently calculated that this 【Future Simulation System】 session of a hundred hours had been utilized to the absolute limit. He could hardly think of any regrets for this simulation.
Oh right, there was still one lead that had been temporarily set aside.
Ansu pulled out the small magitech communicator, wondering why there was no news from David yet. Was escorting Valger home really taking this long?
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a slight magical vibration came from his palm. It was a communication request from David.
Ansu answered immediately.
"Lord Hermit!" David’s urgent voice came through, the background sounding quite noisy. "The situation with Mr. Valger is... not good..."
"What happened?" Ansu asked quickly.
David spoke rapidly but clearly. "It’s like this. I first escorted him back home, only to find the place had been turned upside down. We learned from the neighbors that the church's demon hunter squad had come. Someone reported that his daughter was tainted with the aura of forbidden black magic... The child was taken by the church and locked in the prison in the north of the city where black mages are held."
"Mr. Valger was frantic, so we rushed to the North City Prison." David’s voice dropped. "But the prisoners who just escaped told us... it was too late. The Northern Holy Light Inquisition is very efficient. They had already finished the proceedings and sentenced her to death by fire... We are currently searching for his daughter’s body..."
From the other end of the communication came the dull, rhythmic sound of digging.
"The body is mixed in with the others who were executed. They are all charred corpses... hard to identify."
Immediately after, there was a man’s raspy, tuneless howl. The sound was so agonizing it seemed to tear his lungs apart.
"We found her." David’s voice rose again. "Mr. Valger... has completely collapsed."
Ansu silently turned off the magitech communicator. He still remembered Valger’s joy and excitement in the prison upon learning his daughter could be saved... and yet, in the blink of an eye, it had turned into this.
The hand behind the scenes was like a cold-hearted director, pushing this grieving magitech scholar step by step toward a predetermined tragic end.
Barcas truly understood human nature.
Rate on N.U.
