“How was it? Did you take a good look?” Just as Fors left the street where Viscount Stratford’s mansion was, she saw Xio walk out with a down and vacant expression.
Xio nodded hesitantly.
“I did…”
Having said that, she seemed to come to her senses and said in shock, “I know her—no, him!”
“Him?” Fors was confused.
Xio habitually observed her surroundings before saying, “He’s Sherman! The Sherman I told you about!
“H-he actually became a woman!”
Fors was stunned as she subconsciously asked, “Were you mistaken?
“Could she be Sherman’s sister?”
Xio firmly shook her head.
“No, she admitted it herself and even told me not to disturb her. She wants to bid farewell to her past!
“But… how did he become a woman…”
Fors’s eyes darted around as she suddenly recalled something. She said in thought, “It’s not impossible either… There’s a Beyonder pathway that allows a man to become a woman at a certain stage.”
She recalled Miss Justice mentioning something similar during a free exchange session.
“Ah? Really?” Xio’s widened as she asked in disbelief.
Yes!” Fors had already recalled the exact conditions as she gave a rather confident answer.
“This…” Xio was momentarily unable to accept it, but she couldn’t find a rebuttal. All she could do was ask, “Which pathway is it?”
Fors replied, “Demoness!
“Uh, it’s the Assassin pathway.”
“Demoness… Sherman actually became a Demoness…” Xio repeated to herself.
Suddenly, her voice became louder.
“Could it be that she’s being taken advantage of?
“No, I must warn her!”
Just as she said that, Xio turned around and ran with great strides in an attempt to catch up with the rental carriage again.
However, she couldn’t find the target after attempting to pursue it for a few blocks. Sherman and the carriage seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
Xio gradually slowed down and finally stopped. She looked at the bustling streets ahead of her with a complicated expression.
Behind her, Fors passed through a few walls and finally caught up to her.
“Gone…” Xio whispered.
Fors also cast her gaze forward and thoughtfully replied, “We were discovered…”
Without waiting for Xio to speak, she turned around and sighed.
“Let’s return and find another opportunity.”
Xio didn’t take a step forward as she continued standing there.
After a few seconds, she said under Fors’s puzzled gaze, “Since they discovered a problem, will they speed up their plans ahead of time?”
“It’s possible! If they don’t wish for their plans to be foiled, they might attempt one final strike tonight before we’re prepared!” Fors immediately agreed with Xio. “Let’s return to Viscount Stratford’s place and hide in a more concealed spot. We’ll continue monitoring it!”
Xio immediately nodded and replied without any hesitation, “Okay.”
In the dock area, inside a warehouse with plenty of goods.
Shermane was sitting on a dirty wooden crate. Her hands were crossed behind her back as her body had thin but firm spider webs coiled around her.
She appeared as though she was encased in a transparent cocoon, unable to make a single sound.
“It’s not a bad thing for you.” Trissy stood in front of Shermane with a pitch-black flame that resembled ink burning in her palm. “At the very least, you can determine if he really loves you or is lying to you.”
Shermane was angry and afraid. She desperately used her whimpers to express her wish, but Trissy was unmoved. She turned her flame-wielding palm around and pressed it into Shermane’s stomach.
The flames seemed to have intelligence as they scattered like flowing water. Following that, they penetrated her skin and flesh in an attempt to drill inside.
Trissy’s smooth, black hair flared up in defiance of the laws of nature. They were being pulled by invisible hands as they extended out in every direction. It stained the surrounding air with a peculiar smell.
The strands of hair thickened as they scattered into distinct strands.
Beneath them, dark beams of light surged, bringing about curses and words. They flowed rapidly, fusing into the pitch- black flames. Upon entering Shermane’s stomach, they quickly vanished.
Shermane’s face twitched uncontrollably, but she didn’t feel any pain. It was as though it was purely on reflex.
She soon calmed down as she saw Trissy’s figure turn faint and gradually turn transparent until it vanished.
Shermane’s pupils widened as she struggled again, but she was unable to break free from her restraints.
She tried again and again like a flood was rising, centimeter by centimeter, inside the silent warehouse.
After an unknown period of time, the door to the warehouse opened with a thud and slammed into the two sides of the wall.
A figure staggered in—it was the middle-aged Viscount Stratford.
He didn’t wear his white wig like he always did while outside. This revealed his rather high receding hairline and rather messy black hair. The latter was stuck together as though it had been drenched by a storm and was air-dried. But in the past few hours, the clouds were thin and the crimson moon high in the sky. It hadn’t rained at all.
Drops of sweat dripped down Viscount Stratford’s rather cut facial contours as there were countless black threads flowing beneath his skin.
His body was slightly hunched, and his facial muscles were somewhat twisted. His eyes were filled with pain and concern.
He surveyed the area and was delighted when he found Shermane. However, he turned anxious as he charged over without much confidence.
When Shermane saw him enter the warehouse, her face lit up as though it was covered in a halo.
She then revealed a worried and fearful expression as she attempted to shake her head frantically. However, her neck was held firmly by the spider webs that prevented her movement.
She reeled in anxiety, to the point of tears flowing out of her eyes, drop after drop—crystalline and frail.
Just as Viscount Stratford was about to reach her, a loud bang suddenly rang out between the two.
It was as though there was an invisible wall that separated him from Shermane, one that was couldn’t be surpassed.
“If you wish to break the curse and take her away, you have to answer my question without hiding anything.” At this moment, a figure quickly appeared in a comer of the warehouse.
Her facial features were charming, forming together into an abnormally sweet look. She resembled the lover that every young lad would fantasize about in his youth. She was none other than Demoness Trissy.
Without waiting for Viscount Stratford’s response, she raised her right hand and conjured a pitch-black flame.
Viscount Stratford’s face, hands, neck, and exposed skin instantly turned transparent as they protruded with blood vessels.
And in every blood vessel, there was a black flame silently burning as it flowed silently.
The pain in Viscount Stratford’s eyes immediately reached a peak, but it vanished the next moment.
His expression turned extremely cold as a jibing look appeared in his eyes. It was as though the one being cursed wasn’t him, but Trissy who was a distance away.
Trissy, who was in the corner of the warehouse, suddenly burst into black flames. Dense, countless spider webs appeared, but they couldn’t be lit up.
In the blink of an eye, Trissy was like Shermane, being sealed inside a transparent cocoon. She couldn’t move or escape.
In a ventilation vent high above the warehouse, a figure appeared. It was a woman whose age wasn’t obvious. She wore a simple and sacred white robe. She had black hair, blue eyes, looking sweet and beautiful, giving off an indescribable charm.
“Katarina Pelle…” Trissy seemed to expend all her strength before she shouted a name.
At this moment, Viscount Stratford grabbed at his body, pulling out an illusory doll covered in thick black flames.
He glanced at Shermane and smiled at Trissy.
“When it comes to matters related to life, I would never be careless. After that fellow, Sikes, died, I knew that it would be my turn one day.
“Heh heh, since you’re hunting me, it means there are obviously others who wish to hunt you. We’re very patient, afraid of scaring you away. We did nothing and waited until today.
“Also, your gift was pretty good.”
Upon hearing Viscount Stratford’s words, Shermane, who was still struggling out of habit, instantly stopped moving. Her expression turned blank.
Her eyes widened, but there wasn’t any focus. The look in her eyes seemed to sink deeper and deeper. “Love…” Trissy suddenly laughed, seemingly mocking herself.
She wasn’t nervous at all.
Maygur Manor. Night had fallen.
After settling more than twenty guests and preparing the hunting trip the next day, Klein woke up not long after he fell asleep.
His intuition had been triggered as a scene formed in his mind.
Brigadier General Qonas Kilgor, who was wearing a shirt and pants, had flown out of the guest room’s window in secret. He landed outside in complete defiance of the laws of nature.
This… I haven’t even taken action… He came here for his own goals… With a thought, Klein controlled a cockroach outside and turned it into his marionette. He then used its “eyes” to observe the surroundings.
Almost at the same time, Qonas Kilgor appeared.
After this demigod left Maygur Manor, he immediately distorted the “distance” and quickly arrived by the bank of the Tussock River. He prepared himself to cross it.
The cockroach watched quietly without any reaction.
He’s heading for the south bank of the Tussock River… What does he want to do… Does he have the preference of hunting in the suburbs so that he can attempt to conceal such actions? He also introduced Maygur Manor to me for this reason? Klein lay in bed and seriously analyzed Qonas’s actions.
After the MI9 demigod stepped onto the south bank of the Tussock River, Klein suddenly recalled a matter:
Back when he escaped the underground ruins where Ince Zangwill and company were, he appeared somewhere in the northwest of Backlund. This was the south bank of the Tussock River, making it rather close to where Maygur Manor was.
