Chapter 5778: Chapter 4801: Murderous Intent on a Rainy Night (8)

However, Scarlet Spider-Man number 2 remains at large, preventing Arkham Batman number 3 from being sacrificed. He can only be hung here, and Shiller must first capture number 2.

Arkham Batman also noticed that the cellar has more than one door, with some distance between them, meaning Shiller can’t block the door to stop anyone from rescuing him. Shiller didn’t seem to intend to do this; after hanging Arkham Batman, he walked out through the door on the right.

Before long, Arkham Batman heard a noise at the left door, realizing teammates might have come to rescue him. He expected it to be Black Widow or Scarlet Spider-Man, but surprisingly, it was Rorschach.

"I wanted to tell you earlier, that magician named Constantine has been sacrificed," Rorschach said through gritted teeth. "That damned guy completed a devil ritual underground; he’s an enemy of Christ, and I’ll definitely kill him!" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Arkham Batman was stunned before asking, "Did you finish the sealing ritual?"

"Yes, the first sealing ritual was completed by Constantine, and the second by me," Rorschach didn’t know Arkham Batman had also finished one. He said, "There should be three left now; I’ll get you out, and we’ll each search..."

Arkham Batman found it strange that he suddenly appeared normal. As Rorschach released him, Arkham Batman thought of what Rorschach said about the devil being an enemy of Christ. That idea made sense. Generally, people with such political beliefs are conservative fanatics, often chanting phrases like "Christ is invincible," vehement towards heretics, and even more so against devils.

Compared to devils, tolerating this possible stooge president of an opposing political party wasn’t out of the question. And a major characteristic of such fanatics is that once they believe in something, they act decisively, living in their own world has its advantages.

Rorschach quickly released Arkham Batman. Strangely, once released, Arkham Batman could walk, meaning the rope was like a medical kit. In that case, they could undergo infinite revivals.

"Sorry, Doctor Manhattan, you balanced this quite well," Arkham Batman thought to himself.

Unfortunately, as they prepared to leave through the left door, the sound of the right door opening followed, with Shiller descending. He was carrying Scarlet Spider-Man number 2.

Although the room had only one hanging spot, if numbers 2 and 3 were both present, Shiller could easily remove number 3, sacrifice number 2 first, then number 3, completing most of the sacrificial ritual.

Seeing the two preparing to flee, Shiller dropped Scarlet Spider-Man and walked quickly towards them. Almost simultaneously, an ominous tune played, signaling major trouble.

"Run!" yelled Arkham Batman, sprinting towards the door. But they couldn’t outrun Shiller in this state. Shiller only needed two steps to reach the pair’s backs.

Arkham Batman used Cape Dizziness again, but Shiller’s knife immediately turned red, and his eyes glowed crimson, indicating an ultimate move, which significantly reduced control duration when used previously. Shiller hesitated for a moment, then attacked again.

Unexpectedly, Rorschach pulled out insecticide from nowhere and sprayed Shiller’s face, causing him to pause for another second.

Arkham Batman lacked combat skills, so he activated the clue-finding skill as well. Unexpectedly, it turned out there was a clue among a heap of corpses behind Shiller.

Arkham Batman didn’t hesitate, throwing a clue, with a Skull flying at high speed hitting Shiller from behind. Shiller was stunned again, staggering slightly.

After disrupting control, Arkham Batman and Rorschach sprinted away. They swiftly crawled out of the cellar door, even Arkham Batman couldn’t help but sigh in relief - that was incredibly close.

"Let’s split up!" said Arkham Batman. "I’ll head to the garden, you go to the castle."

Before he even finished speaking, a black figure flashed behind him, with a glinting blade ready to strike.

Arkham Batman cursed angrily, realizing he had no skills left. Just as he was about to tell Rorschach to run, a figure bumped into him, blood splattering as Rorschach was slashed to the ground again.

"Number 2, number 3..." Rorschach muttered, "Can’t...can’t be together..."

Arkham Batman swiftly fled the scene. Reaching the garden gazebo, he gasped heavily. He admitted he had misunderstood Rorschach; despite his confusing political stance and mental instability, he wasn’t someone who selfishly waited to reap rewards while shouting slogans. He truly believed in his principles and sought to practice them, even to the point of self-sacrifice.

Arkham Batman understood the meaning behind Rorschach’s final words. When Rorschach released him earlier, Arkham Batman had already told him the sequence numbers. Now that number 2 was down, if Arkham Batman, number 3, were knocked down, the devil could sacrifice both consecutively. Rorschach, as number 5, wouldn’t be directly sacrificed due to the absence of number 4.

This means that as long as the numbers aren’t knocked down sequentially, the devil is largely hindered, unable to sacrifice, and must watch helplessly as people are rescued.

This is also the crucial reason why Rorschach shielded Batman from harm. Linking 2 and 5 is impossible, but it’s better than connecting 2 and 3 only to face defeat.

As for Scarlet Spider-Man, he probably didn’t know Shiller could teleport. Perhaps as he was walking across the rooftop, caught off guard, Shiller managed to land two slashes, knocking him down instantly.

Batman sighed in his mind. Finding anyone else now is pointless; the priority is quickly finding the remaining two seals and sealing the devil, to honor the sacrifice of his teammates.

Batman knows the seal he completed is in the eastern tower, while Rorschach saw the one Constantine completed in the garden, and he completed his on the second floor. If the seal locations are evenly distributed, then there should be one in the upper levels of the castle.

Without hesitation, Batman rushed upwards. Even though Shiller now has the ability to probe and teleport, there’s a limit to the distance - he doesn’t have a full map view. It would still take time to find his way here; if Batman can complete just one more, their chances of winning would increase significantly.

Rushing up to the fourth floor, he pushed open each door, but didn’t find anything resembling a magic array. However, recalling the castle’s exterior, he realized there might be a secret room on the fourth floor, possibly behind the second room on the left-hand side.

Charging in to take a look, sure enough, there was a bookshelf. Batman didn’t have time to slowly solve riddles, so he directly activated clue synergy, and a book hidden in the drawer flew into his hand. He placed the book back on the shelf and gave it a firm push, revealing a hidden door.

Once inside, he found what seemed to be a study used for rituals. On the desk were some unfinished writings, which at a glance informed him this must be the secret room used by the Vale family’s eldest son.

Batman could roughly guess the plot. Doctor Manhattan had played a word game with the plot, suggesting the Vale family was plagued by a curse in the story introduction, and now there’s a devil to be expelled - it’s easy to connect the curse with the devil.

But actually, the Vale family’s curse might simply be a hereditary disease. At this time, many people superstitiously considered hereditary mental issues, or hereditary diseases with external manifestations, as a blood curse of the family.

And the devil wasn’t related to this curse at all. The devil was entirely summoned by the Vale family’s eldest son, and this secret room is evidence. This guy conducted heretical research here and managed to summon a devil, not only offering his own body to the devil but also sacrificing his entire family.

After sacrificing the whole Vale family, he found the offerings were still insufficient to satisfy his appetite, so he summoned exorcists under the guise of the Vale family curse, intending to sacrifice them too.

This also explains why sealing the devil didn’t weaken Shiller but instead strengthened him. Because the Vale family’s eldest son no longer exists, the one residing in his body is the devil. Sealing would harm the devil, and the weaker the devil becomes, the stronger Shiller gets.

While contemplating the plot, Batman’s hands didn’t stop as there was indeed a magic array in the room, and he began to seal it immediately.

The speed of sealing was usually not slow, but once the tune started, the speed increased, and Batman’s heart rate also accelerated.

Although his skills had already cooled down, there really wasn’t any chance of escape. Judging by the time, Shiller likely didn’t use a teleport skill to come up here, meaning he may have saved a teleport skill for pursuit. No matter how Batman dodges, he can’t evade a teleport that can bypass walls - he can only fight to complete the seal.

The rune rotation speed increased rapidly; the blade glimmer approached. With a swipe, Batman was struck down by the blood-red blade. Lying on the ground, he even felt a sense of familiarity.

The seal was completed, but Batman was dragged down to the cellar. He initially thought Rorschach would be waiting above since he’s number 5, unable to form a sequence and live temporarily. Even if he were sacrificed, Rorschach could remain. Yet, not a person was in sight above.

Could they have been rescued? Batman furrowed his brows, knowing this couldn’t be good news. Black Widow shouldn’t be wasting time rescuing him, given only one seal remains, completing it would mean they could escape.

When Batman was suspended, he saw the numbers on the wall, and to his shock, numbers 1, 2, and 5 were all illuminated.

For the first time in the entire game, Batman heard Shiller speak.

"Once the sacrifice process enters a second round, certain rules can be broken. Their souls are just too enticing."

His voice wasn’t deliberately gravelly but sounded no different from other Shillers, yet it was precisely this similarity that sent shivers down Batman’s spine.

Second time entering the sacrifice process? Batman almost immediately realized this refers to being suspended a second time. It means a person can only be suspended once; being suspended twice is surely fatal. Praising Doctor Manhattan was still too early.

Sure enough, the exorcists can’t revive infinitely. Although the number of times knocked down isn’t restricted, as long as they’re suspended, it counts as entering the ritual process, and even if they’re rescued, this time is counted, and next time they can be sacrificed regardless of number order.

Batman sighed deeply, having calculated everything but not accounted for the fact that with the devil being this strong, they’d only have two opportunities to be suspended; even one more would suffice.