Mystery: The Witch of Desire

The pirate general let out a shrill scream, and this time, his physical form was captured by Livre.

Qilingus unleashed his purification power frantically, and beams of sunlight rained down upon him. At the same time, his body surged like a whirlwind, shooting out chaotic wind blades in all directions.

As Zilingus struggled frantically, the bindings of spider silk and black flames became increasingly precarious. But just then, Zilingus suddenly felt a dullness in his head, as if something had invaded his sensory nerves.

The flow of spiritual energy within him became difficult, his powerful body lost its strength, and he gradually lost control of his body.

"Ho ho-"

Zilingus let out a low growl like a trapped beast, struggling with his last bit of strength, but he could not reverse the gradual loss of sensation in his body.

Finally, the pirate general was completely turned into a puppet, unable to even shed a single tear.

Livre breathed a sigh of relief, stepped forward, and took off the glove from Zilingus's left hand.

The glove was originally invisible, but it revealed its shape after Zilingus lost his life, making Livre realize that it might be the magical item that made Zilingus powerful: the writhing hunger.

Before she could even feel joy, Livre suddenly felt a chill run down her spine, as if she were being stared at by an extremely dangerous wild beast.

She quickly turned around and saw a tall, upright man looking at her. He had a bronze complexion, soft features, black hair, and brown eyes. His eyes revealed an indescribable sense of vicissitude, and there was a small black mole below his right ear.

Although the man appeared kind, Liviel sensed an extremely powerful aura emanating from him, an aura even stronger than that of the ageless witch Katarina.

She tried her best to suppress the trembling in her body and quietly raised the sapphire ring, but she dared not rashly activate the ability of mirror travel. Mirror travel takes a certain amount of time, and if that powerful man wanted to, he could stop her in time.

Perhaps sensing Livre's nervousness, the man smiled gently:

"I meant no harm."

He glanced at Qilingus, then at the 'wriggling hunger' in Livre's hand, pointed, and said:

"Can I have it?"

Without saying a word or hesitating, Livre simply threw her writhing hunger at the man.

"Thank you."

The man took the gloves, glanced at them briefly, and then reached out and grabbed them.

The surrounding space became illusory and unreal, and the entire land turned into a flowing, dark liquid. Countless skeletal arms slowly emerged from the liquid and reached out to Qilingus. Soon, his corpse began to slowly rot.

"In return, I'll help you erase the traces of your actions; otherwise, you might be targeted by those official extraordinary individuals."

After the tall man finished speaking, the surrounding space returned to normal, and his figure slowly disappeared from the spot without leaving a trace, as if he had never appeared.

Only the rotting corpse of Zilingus remained, standing there in an extremely eerie posture. The black flames and spider silk had all vanished, leaving not even a trace of the witch's spiritual energy.

Livre swallowed hard, only then realizing that her back was covered in a sticky, cold sweat.

She quickly activated her mirror-travel ability, teleporting to a grocery store she had visited in the Hillston district, dozens of kilometers away, and walked out of the mirror invisibly.

"This is an exceptionally powerful being. Could it be... no, could it be an angel?"

Liviel thought with lingering fear, then felt a great pang of regret. The writhing hunger that had been within her grasp had been snatched away by that being.

However, in the face of such a being, being able to save one's life is already something to complain about.

Livre breathed a sigh of relief and stealthily made her way to 26 Theater Street in Hillston, arriving at Fowles and Hugh's residence.

Then, she slipped in through the window. Although it was her first time there, she smelled Fors and Hugh's scent and saw their clothes on the clothes rack in the bedroom, so she was certain that this was their place.

There was only one double bed in the room, and now these two had completely broken off the pretense of intimacy...

With a doting smile, Livre performed several divinations to confirm that she had shaken off her pursuers and was now in a safe situation before she could finally relax.

Zilingus is dead. Should we tell Klein...?

As soon as the thought arose, Livre felt a wave of dizziness, a result of a severe lack of spirituality.

She had used the mirror to travel twice in a row, engaging in a high-intensity battle with Qilingus. She had been stealthy and performing divination along the way, which had left her completely drained, devoid of any spiritual energy.

In this state, forcing herself to pray with spirituality felt like torture.

Liviel gave a helpless bitter smile, her head slumped, and she collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.

……

……

Inside the Duke of Negan's residence.

"You all scatter and chase after them, try to surround and block them."

Cardinal Ace Snake of the Church of Storms gave the order and took to the air in the sudden hurricane, flying towards the direction in which Zilingus had fled.

Duke Negan and his entourage did not join the ranks of those who took the punishment. He maintained his composure and stood by the window to observe. It was only then that the ordinary nobles who had been running around in panic gradually calmed down.

Because it had been dark before, and with shouts and cries rising and falling, they didn't know exactly what had happened, only that the Duke might have been attacked by assassins.

Alger Wilson gritted his teeth and ran out of the Duke of Negan’s mansion, circling the municipal park across the street, chasing after Zillingus in the direction he had fled.

He wasn't willing to miss even the slightest chance of finding Qilingus!

After searching, he found traces of Zilingus jumping into a ditch to escape.

Just as he hesitated whether to jump into the ditch to give chase, he heard a sound carried by the wind:

"No need to chase anymore."

"No need to chase anymore?" Cardinal Snake's voice... Alger ran a few more steps before stopping, turning around in confusion to look at the sky.

He saw Archbishop Snake, dressed in a black robe embroidered with storm symbols, hovering in the distant sky, gazing in one direction.

Alger frowned, not bothering to think about the reason, and sped towards the location of the cardinal.

As the distance closed, he saw more and more clearly thanks to the navigator's extraordinary abilities.

The "Singer of God" had no expression on his square face, but his posture revealed his solemnity. His gray hair, peeking out from under his black soft hat, swayed gently in the wind, highlighting his unusually serious silver eyes.

Alger looked away and ran out of the woods.

Suddenly, his eyes conjured up images of a cool lake shimmering with crimson moonlight, and a tall figure near the shore.

The figure had a distinctive wide chin, brown hair tied up in an ancient warrior's bun at the back of the head, and icy, empty dark green eyes.

Ziringus!

Hurricane Commander Ziringus!

Alger was taken aback at first, then was both surprised and delighted, hardly believing his eyes and wondering if the darkness was causing him to hallucinate.

Before he could react further, he suddenly saw Zilingus's face rapidly decaying, oozing yellowish-green pus, and pieces of flesh falling off one after another.

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!

Zilingus's face was reduced to bones, and his two empty eyeballs detached from their sockets and crashed onto the lakeside ground one after the other.

With a snap, Zilingus fell apart completely, his clothes covering the rotting flesh and white bones, and obscuring the shimmering light.

In less than twenty seconds, Zilingus, one of the seven pirate generals, died mysteriously in front of Alger.

The terrifying scene was etched into Alger's mind, making him wonder if he was having a horrific nightmare.

what's going on?

Didn't Zilingus successfully escape?

How could someone die so strangely and so easily here?

What happened to him that caused him to lose his life in such a short time...?

He is the "Wind-Cherisher" of Sequence 6, and the master of "Crawling Hunger"!

who did it?

Why kill Qilingus...?

Oh, and the wriggling hunger!

Alger quickly looked at Zilingus's exposed skeletal hands, but there was no sign of the writhing hunger. Clearly, they had become spoils of war for the powerful man who killed Zilingus.

Just as countless thoughts were flashing through Alger's mind, he heard the magnetic voice of "The Singer of God," Ace Snake:

"Have you shared this information with anyone else?"

"Is this information known to anyone else?"

Alger quickly regained his composure, glanced at Qilingus's corpse, and explained as if he had prepared:

“I just received the intelligence and reported it to you, Archbishop.”

At this point, he focused all his attention on making his expression appear normal so as not to give Archbishop Snake away any clues.

If a high-ranking expert were to discover the Tarot Society's activities, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Mr. Fool may not be affected, but he himself will certainly be dealt with as a disloyal heretic.

"The personnel who received the intelligence directly even sacrificed their lives, while those who relayed it never opened the letters. I can confirm that."

"But I can't be sure if the source of the information has been leaked. If we can know it, others can too."

As Alger carefully fabricated his lies, he also wondered who had killed Zilingus.

Zilingus always trusted only himself. He wouldn't tell anyone about the assassination plan beforehand. Apart from Zilingus himself, no one could be sure when or where he would make his move...

Other forces? Impossible. Miss Justice discovered the problem on the spot and relayed the information by pleading with Mr. Fool. It's impossible for any organization other than us to have received the information simultaneously…

Mr. Fool… Alger was startled, a possibility dawning on him:

It was Mr. Fool's henchmen who made the move!

He happened to be in Backlund, so he kept the promise Mr. Fool had made to me and helped me out!

Alger thought about it more and more and felt that this guess was close to the truth:

Only members and subordinates of the Tarot Club can receive the information immediately!

As he was lost in thought, Archbishop Snake paused for a moment, then addressed the other substitutes who were arriving one after another:

“Zilingus is dead. He was killed by a high-ranking expert, or by a sealing artifact of the same rank. But that is extremely dangerous and unlikely.”

"Based on initial observation, I believe he is a high-sequence powerhouse of the Death Path, perhaps a member of the Spirit Cult, but not the one I know. He may also be a member of another secret organization."

"The motive is unclear."

The Spirit Cult originated in the Southern Continent. It is said that it was originally a secret organization established by some descendants of the God of Death in an attempt to resurrect the God of Death. After the Southern Continent was invaded and colonized, they were almost wiped out, but they survived and spread to the countries of the Northern Continent.

A high-sequence powerhouse… Yes, only a high-sequence powerhouse could kill Qilingus in such a short time! One of Mr. Fool's followers is a high-sequence one… That's a "demigod"! Alger looked at the pile of rotten flesh and bones again, his whole state was very detached, as if he had lost all emotions, staring blankly at everything.

"What if one day I betray Mr. Fool..." This thought suddenly popped into his head.

Immediately, the horrifying image of Zilingus rapidly decaying flashed through his mind.

Alger involuntarily shivered and lowered his head.

At the same time, he relaxed.

Since one cannot escape and is unable to resist, the only option is loyalty.

Phew... With Zilingus dead, no one can threaten me with that secret anymore! He breathed a sigh of relief, finally at peace.

……

Inside the Duke of Negan’s mansion, Audrey Hall was accompanying Fors and Hugh as they received medical treatment. Although neither of them was seriously injured, they were given extraordinary treatment as heroes who had made great contributions in the fight against Zillingus.

At that moment, Earl Hall, with his handsome little mustache, appeared at the door.

"Ladies, I am so proud of you."

The incredibly wealthy banker didn't hold back his praise, leaving Fors and Hugh feeling flattered.

"No...this is what we should do."

Fors said somewhat embarrassedly, while Hugh hesitated, wondering if he should take this opportunity to ask Earl Hall about Viscount Stefford.

But then she decided to be cautious; if Earl Hall and Viscount Steward were on good terms and he told him about it, things would get really bad.

After offering her praise, Audrey, at Earl Hall's prompting, left the lounge and went to the balcony of the outer hall.

"Dad, is something the matter?"

Audrey looked at Earl Hall with her emerald-green eyes.

Earl Hall chuckled:

"The matter is resolved, my child, you don't need to worry anymore."

"Hmm... Aside from those two ladies and me, have you told anyone else that Baron Gramir is an imposter?"