Chapter 30: Head

“So you don’t have actual evidence, right?”

Viscount Matthews stared at Man En, no emotion visible on his face.

“I… really don’t.”

“But why did the letter I wrote to you end up in the hands of the Heretic God Sect?”

“Because of this, Butler Carlson he…”

“Sorry… Father, I might have gotten a bit worked up.”

Matthews reached out his hand, originally aiming for Man En’s head, but after hesitating, he gently patted him on the shoulder.

“It seems a lot happened while I was away… and you went through a lot.”

“But now that I’m back, you can rest assured, especially with Her Imperial Highness the Princess’s help.”

“But…”

Although Man En wanted to continue, Matthews interrupted him.

“No buts. The mansion has been secured. No matter how cunning the Heretic God Sect is, they can’t hide here.”

“You’re just too tired. Go get some rest. Maybe by the time you wake up, matters at the territory will be mostly handled.”

Man En naturally saw that his father didn’t want to go deeper into this topic, but he couldn’t compromise, because this matter was definitely not what it seemed on the surface.

“You’re oversimplifying this!”

“After being corroded by the Blood Demon, I saw what happened ten years ago. Campbell received the Blood Demon’s Heart in Matthews Territory.”

“And the Heretic God Sect member who exchanged hearts with him was the same one who tried to assassinate me earlier.”

Matthews remained silent, his face already dark with displeasure.

“At least ten years ago, they were already active in the territory!”

“Enough!”

Viscount Matthews suddenly shouted, cutting off Man En’s words.

Man En’s chest heaved as he stared straight at Matthews.

He could understand why his father was so resistant. A wife of over a decade, arguably the closest person to him. Suddenly saying this person was an enemy—no one could easily accept that. But facts were facts.

“As expected, you still don’t want to face it… just like you didn’t want to face my mother’s death…”

“…”

“Get some rest, Father.”

Seeing Matthews silent, Man En knew there was no need to stay, so he simply left. Whether his father believed it or not, he had to be the one to play the bad cop. Giving an early warning was better than making him suddenly face the truth.

He boarded his carriage; Mei was sitting primly in her seat, looking somewhat tired.

“Young Master Man En?! Have you finished talking with the Master?”

She flusteredly tried to stand, but Man En pressed her back down.

“I told you, didn’t I? No need to be formal around me.”

“Then… can I be a little willful?”

She bowed her head and spoke softly, not daring to meet Man En’s eyes.

“Willful? What do you mean?”

However, before Man En could figure it out, she suddenly stood up and hugged him.

Man En froze for a moment, then his gaze softened. He gently stroked Mei’s hair, closing his eyes to feel the warmth of her body.

After a long while, the two reluctantly parted, both blushing.

Man En was the first to speak, breaking the somewhat ambiguous atmosphere.

“By the way, after you left Campbell Territory, you should have returned to Matthews Territory, right?”

“Now that I think about it, it seems Father came here with you.”

Mei nodded.

“Yes, I originally wanted to go back and explain about the letter, to ask the Mercenary Corps to help you.”

“So the Mercenary Corps didn’t suspect me, right?”

“That’s right… Eh? How did you know?”

Man En smiled, placed his hand on Mei’s head, and deliberately messed up her hair.

“Young Master?! Stop it!”

He withdrew his hand, which had been slapped red, not intending to keep messing around.

“If they really suspected me, my father wouldn’t have come. And most likely, he was already there when you arrived at the territory.”

“Yes, you’re right.”

Man En sat down, leaned back in his seat, and nodded slowly.

So it seemed that Sophien’s claim that the Mercenary Corps wanted to distance themselves from him was just a play put on for the Heretic God Sect and Campbell. First, by releasing this news, they could see if Campbell would make a move, secretly inform his father, and prepare for the future. Second, this shifted the attention of the Heretic God Sect in Campbell Territory, and by extension, the Heretic God Sect in Matthews Territory would also act. Taking advantage of this, she could use her status as Imperial Princess to carry out a purge. Third, she could also use this reason to retrieve the emblem without issue.

“A fine case of killing three birds with one stone. I have to admit, aside from treating me like a pawn, the plan is perfect in every other aspect.”

His identity was out in the open; she had already calculated that Campbell’s people wouldn’t harm him in the short term, and given his personality, he would definitely protect Dan Luo and Mei. In other words, he had no choice but to cooperate with her plan.

“Fine, fine, Sophien, so this is how you play. You’d better not ever need my help…”

The more Man En thought about it, the angrier he got, and his expression turned somewhat sinister.

Mei, who was beside him, was frightened by his expression.

“Young Master, why are you… smiling so scarily…”

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

Man En returned to his usual indifference.

“Your injuries aren’t healed yet, and I’ve got new ones. Let’s rest while we can. When we reach the territory, there’s probably going to be a tough battle.”

“…Mm.”

Man En lay down, and with a thought, the familiar translucent panel appeared before him.

“Pseudo Time Manipulation” had leveled up to LV4, and a new description was added: Consumes all mana to revert a touched object to a previous state and location.

“Simply put, from whence it came? But the cost of consuming all mana is still too great.”

He scrolled down again and noticed that “Holy Light” had reached its maximum level of ten. Seeing the option to evolve below, Man En didn’t hesitate to choose yes.

[Acquired New Skill: Divine Light LV1]

[Advanced skill of Holy Light. Can resist a certain degree of negative status effects, and slightly increase self-recovery and mana recovery speed.]

As for the “Demi-human Assassination Technique” skill, its level had increased to LV5. Unfortunately, there was no obvious change in its effect.

“Come to think of it, I learned this skill from Mei… Demi-human… Oh well, I’ll ask her when I get a chance.”

As for his current level, Man En was well aware of his limitations.

“Alright, since I still have some time, let’s train a bit more.”

With a mental command, he once again entered the Consciousness Space.

Facing Man En was the phantom of his father, Viscount Matthews.

“Different person? Doesn’t matter. Let’s begin.”

…

When Man En opened his eyes again, the carriage had already arrived near Matthews Territory. His body no longer felt the drag of mana consumed during the simulation training; he only felt incredibly light. It seemed thanks to Divine Light’s self-recovery and mana regeneration. Unfortunately, he hadn’t managed to learn a skill from the phantom this time. Only Divine Light’s level increased by one.

“Oh well, you can’t force these things.”

He couldn’t bear to wake the sleeping Mei, so he got off the carriage first.

But the moment his feet touched the ground, the scenery around him changed. It was a building he knew all too well: the Matthews Mansion.

“What’s happening? Divine Revelation?”

While Man En was still puzzled, a series of loud crashes came from behind him. Turning around, he saw countless tentacles surging from below, and the once-splendid mansion instantly turned into a pile of rubble. Outside the mansion, various groups stood ready. The next moment, the ground began to heave violently, and then a hideous, twisted head rose slowly into the sky, surrounded by countless tentacles. The clouds also grew thicker and thicker until they completely blocked out the sunlight. Occasionally, a few dark purple lightning bolts struck down, making the atmosphere increasingly eerie. As the head’s eyes opened, their blood-red pupils pushed the eeriness to its peak. The moment it fully opened its eyes, everything around turned to nothingness.

Just as Man En was about to disappear, the thing also looked over and grinned at him sinisterly.