Man En pulled himself out of the Divine Revelation Vision, his legs going weak at the knees, nearly causing him to collapse to the ground.
He had witnessed that grotesque thing break through the earth with his own eyes, watched one familiar person after another die before him, and finally, that creature’s gaze upon him—as if mocking his helplessness.
He clutched his head as a splitting pain tore through it. He was completely unprepared for this sudden situation.
‘What the hell is going on? Didn’t the Heretic God Sect fail to summon that thing in the original novel?’
Man En shook his head, trying to keep himself clear-headed.
‘No, that’s not right. Now’s not the time to think about this. I have to hurry and stop them from summoning that thing. There’s not much time left!’
“Master Man En, why didn’t you call for me when you woke up?”
Inside the carriage, Mei emerged lazily.
Man En immediately pushed her back into the carriage. He gave the coachman a sum of money and ordered him to head full speed toward the manor.
“Wait, Master Man En, why so sudden? What has you so anxious?”
“Sorry, I’ll explain later. Right now, we need to get back to the manor as quickly as possible.”
“But why not inform Lord Matthews?”
Hearing this, Man En let out a sigh.
After hesitating for a moment, he finally spoke slowly:
“Right now, he can’t help.”
Although Mei didn’t fully understand, she tactfully refrained from asking further.
Man En lowered his head in contemplation, calculating his next moves in his mind.
To prevent apocalyptic scenes like that from playing out in the future, he had to be cautious to the extreme. Eliminate every unexpected factor.
First and foremost, his own father, Viscount Matthews.
Without being certain whether he would act on emotion, it was necessary to deal with the head of the Heretic God Sect in this area—Wus—ahead of him.
Though there was no evidence proving that his father’s current wife was Wus, she was at least closely connected to her.
Sure enough, this matter still required starting with her.
“By the way, Mei. You still have that magical communication device that Lord Dulufu distributed, don’t you?”
“I do have it… but why are you suddenly asking about this?”
“Hand it over to me. I have something I need to say to Lord Dulufu.”
—
Outside Matthews Manor, the Royal Knights of Sophien, the Griffin Mercenary Corps, plus Viscount Matthews’ soldiers had surrounded the entire building in an impenetrable formation.
“Reporting to Your Highness!”
A heavily armored knight stepped forward and knelt before Sophien in salute.
“The Heretic God Sect members in other parts of the territory have all been dealt with. The Viscount Matthews’ family members inside the manor have also been secretly relocated.”
“However…”
“However, what?”
“The Viscountess’s whereabouts remain unknown to this moment…”
Sophien nodded.
“Alright. I understand.”
At this point, the plan to capture the Heretic God Sect could no longer be delayed.
And if they couldn’t find her even now, it was safe to assume that the Viscountess was in grave danger.
It was time to begin the operation.
“Today, I’m wiping out your entire nest.”
“Have all the Royal Knights assemble here. We’re going to storm in! The rest of you stand guard outside and set up the Holy Light Array. Don’t let a single fly escape!”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
She then turned to the leading soldier of the Viscount.
“Lead the way.”
“It is my honor.”
The soldier bowed respectfully to Sophien.
“Everyone, follow me!”
As they entered, dozens of pillars of light neatly lined up around the manor.
In just a moment, the formation was complete.
Everyone moved with extreme caution, on guard against any Heretic God Sect members who might suddenly spring out.
But the desperate resistance they had anticipated never appeared.
The entire hall was completely empty.
Even Sophien found this somewhat surprising.
Based on how those madmen usually behaved, when backed into a corner like this, they would always launch a desperate counterattack at any cost.
But this time, it was far too abnormal.
“Your Highness, what should we do next? The mana detectors say there’s no mana reaction inside the building.”
No mana reaction?
Most likely just a trick to block their mana and bluff their way through.
Sophien thought to herself. This anomaly only made her more convinced that there was definitely something wrong inside the manor.
“Keep searching. Everyone, stay sharp! Heighten your vigilance!”
No sooner had she spoken than everyone heard strange footsteps.
Following the sound, they saw dozens of figures with twisted bodies and vacant gazes.
From their clothing, it was clear that these were all members of the Heretic God Sect.
They held weapons in their hands, mechanically repeating forward movements.
“Puppets? Hmph, can’t sit still any longer, can you?”
Sophien’s lips curled into a slight smile, and her eyes grew serious.
“Take them out!”
At her command, the people behind her rushed forward in unison.
It wasn’t long before all those dozens of puppets were rendered immobile.
“Your Highness, all puppets have been dealt with. And they all bear the Heretic God Sect’s mark on their bodies as well.”
“Mark? They have them too?”
“Yes.”
Somehow, Sophien sensed a faint unease.
If this mark was used to control the puppets, then why hadn’t the previous puppets shown any such mark?
The captured Heretic God Sect members were the same—no matter how they were questioned, they refused to reveal any information about the mark.
It seemed they would have to catch the mastermind behind it all to learn the truth.
“Dispose of the puppets quickly and continue the operation.”
After quite some time, guided by the soldiers, everyone had thoroughly searched the first floor. Still, they found nothing.
At least they had ruled out that option.
Just as everyone was about to continue searching, a faint creaking sound suddenly came from upstairs.
At Sophien’s signal, three knights headed toward the source of the noise together.
As they drew closer to a particular room, the sound coming from inside grew increasingly clear.
“Break down the door!”
Upon receiving the order, the leading knight kicked the door open. Immediately, a thick, heavy stench of blood came gushing out violently.
At the same time, everyone who saw the scene inside couldn’t help but gasp sharply.
Inside, blood was splattered everywhere. A naked woman was tied to a chair, her hair matted together by dried blood, covering her face. Her features were impossible to make out.
She didn’t seem to notice Sophien’s group, still weakly attempting to free herself from her restraints. Her movements were small, as if she had little strength left.
With her movements, the chair let out an extremely eerie creaking sound from time to time.
“Who are you? Why are you in this manor?”
In response to the knight’s question, her movements suddenly stopped, but she remained completely silent.
“Madam?”
The leading soldier, looking at the woman who seemed familiar, asked tentatively.
Then, the woman tied to the chair slowly raised her head. But since her face was mostly covered by her hair, only one bloodshot eye could be seen staring at everyone.
“Run… quickly…”
An extremely hoarse voice came out of her mouth, sending chills down everyone’s spines.
“There’s an ambush…!”