The Blood Order wanted to cover up the truth...
They had intentionally made the cloaked man speak of the Abyssal Order and the blood-heart disease, even mentioning their hatred for the Church of Life, all to link the blood-heart disease to the Abyssal Order.
The mass death had three purposes. The first was to try to eliminate Theresa using the alcohol, even though they knew she wouldn't drink it. By doing this, they also achieved the second purpose: covering up the truth to prevent the one-eyed man from speaking. The third was to attract Theresa's attention and lure her to the Abyssal Order's stronghold.
The cloaked man had deliberately hidden near the entrance. While an ordinary Beyonder without sensory abilities would have had difficulty noticing him, the Blood Order knew Theresa was a Rank Two of the Life pathway and possessed the ability to listen to the wind.
From this perspective, their guidance of Theresa was clearly premeditated. Since Theresa had been investigating the blood-heart disease from the very beginning, she had likely been discovered by the Blood Order early on.
The Blood Order's active use of the Abyssal Order to mislead her clearly showed they knew she had been dealing with them for years. This also indirectly proved that the people of the Blood Order knew Theresa very well.
This made sense. After all, they were aristocrats with undoubtedly high information-gathering capabilities, and they had plenty of blood thralls to conduct investigations...
But were there any limitations to how they triggered these deaths?
Solana felt that their ability couldn't possibly be without limits. As the one-eyed man had mentioned before, the people who drank the potion didn't all die at once; instead, they suffered sudden chest bleeding at different times.
If they truly had the power, wouldn't it have been much simpler to just make everyone drop dead on the spot? Besides, with the underground exchange raided and the anti-aberration potions no longer sellable, they had no reason to hide anything anymore.
Solana guessed that their original goal was simply to sacrifice some blood to please their Mother Goddess, without needing to do anything else. If so, they could have just wrapped things up quickly and fled to the Northern Territory right after.
Based on this, Solana deduced that this blood-heart disease was likely an ability that required a certain proximity to be activated.
And this caster had to be within Theresa's sensory range, which meant it was highly likely the cloaked man.
The Blood Order might have given the cloaked man something to trigger the mass death incident. Otherwise, Theresa should have been able to detect the location of the hidden member of the Blood Order...
At this point, Solana's thoughts gradually became much clearer.
In that case, as long as I capture the cloaked man, I can obtain the Blood Order's medium. Then, I can go to the uncle at the divination shop and force him to divine the location of the hidden Blood Order member.
Once I take them out, I can let Theresa handle that Rank Two Abyssal 'Devourer'!
Having decided on a plan, she quickly set off, intending to head to the tavern early.
Ideally, before the cloaked man poisons the drinks! she thought.
Seeing the girl in such a rush, the black-robed woman beside her asked in confusion:
“Oh, are you leaving already?”
“Yes. Goodbye, big sister...”
Halfway out, Solana seemed to recall something and suddenly turned around to say:
“Oh, right. Don't let your brother drink those potions on the table anymore. Those things are very dangerous and can kill people!”
“Ah? How do you...”
Before she could finish her sentence, with a loud thud, the door of the room slammed shut.
However, the black-robed woman only grew more perplexed.
How did she know I have a brother...
And how did she know these potions were bought for him...
...
The morning bells had not yet chimed, and the doors and windows of the Old Oak Tavern were still tightly shut.
A cloaked man pried open a back window with a crowbar and slipped inside. Soon, holding a blood vial, he arrived before a secret door in the underground wine cellar.
Just as he opened the door, he witnessed a bizarre scene.
At this moment, a black-haired girl was sitting on an oak barrel, gently swinging her legs while playing with a small knife in her hand.
The girl's eyes had a faint scarlet tint, sending a shiver down the man's spine.
He swallowed hard, taking deep breaths in an attempt to ease his tension.
Just then, the girl suddenly turned her head. A red light flashed in her eyes, and she said with a smile:
“You're here. I've been waiting for you for a long time!”
Hearing her voice, the cloaked man took several steps back in fright, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
Why is there a girl here? How did she know I was coming?
“Come on, don't be a stranger!”
The girl hopped down from the barrel, lightly walking to a spot just a few paces in front of the cloaked man, and smiled.
“Are you planning to pour the blood from that vial into the barrels so that the people who drink it will contract a disease that makes their chests bleed...?”
“Y-You... how do you know about that?” the cloaked man's voice trembled.
He had never told anyone this information!
“That's not important...”
Solana drew closer to the cloaked man, her gaze turning serious.
“I just want to ask... who is the mastermind behind you...?”
Seeing the girl draw closer, the cloaked man's cold sweat drenched his collar. He kept backing away until he hit the wall, with nowhere left to retreat.
“Don't come any closer! Otherwise... otherwise, I'll... I'll commit suicide! That way... you won't get the information you want either!” the cloaked man threatened.
Hearing this, the smile on Solana's face widened. She said:
“Oh? But I've heard that a certain pathway in the Beyonder world can use that vial of blood of yours to track down the person behind you...”
What does she mean? What does she mean by using the blood...
Wait, is she talking about divination? Is she actually an Astrologer?
An Astrologer... The cloaked man had heard that Astrologers, who were Rank One of the Destiny pathway, possessed decent divination abilities and could quickly locate related individuals through certain mediums.
The cloaked man felt a wave of lingering fear.
But then another thought struck him. The direct combat capabilities of such people had to be extremely weak; otherwise, he didn't think she would have wasted so many words on him.
Which means I still have a chance!
With that in mind, he tucked the blood vial away, grabbed the crowbar from behind his back with both hands, and took a stance to swing with all his might.
Then, he immediately raised the crowbar high and swung it fiercely toward the girl's head!
However, the girl simply sidestepped slightly, easily dodging the strike.
Immediately after, another red light flashed in her eyes, and the man's crowbar was instantly coated in a layer of black flames!
At this sight, the man panicked. He reached out to extinguish the flames, but the moment his hands moved, he stared directly into the fire, and a spark of madness instantly ignited in his eyes!
In the next second, he immediately raised the crowbar and began to repeatedly smash it against his own head!
Raise, smash!
Thud!
Raise, smash again!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
He didn't stop until his brains splattered and blood covered the floor.
The entire wine cellar fell into complete silence...
Seeing that the man was no longer moving, the girl quietly walked over to his side with her hands behind her back, bending down to admire his expression of despair.
By now, the red glow in her eyes had grown even more intense.
She first gently inserted the knife into the man's chest, and only then did she happily fish out the blood vial from his body. After disposing of the corpse, she disappeared into the depths of the cellar.
...
Rate on N.U.
