Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!-Chapter 1527 - 1525: Hindsight Holmes (A Useless Cat Who Doesn’t Want to Get Out of Bed)
"Boom!!!"
The sound of an explosion suddenly echoed, startling Hana, and at that moment Rosalind, who was originally asleep on the bed nearby, also awoke. She sat up, looking around uneasily.
"What happened? Hana Sis?"
"I don’t know either, it seems to have come from outside..."
"Knock, knock, knock!!"
At this moment, a series of urgent knocking sounds suddenly rang out. Hearing the knocks, Hana immediately became wary and asked aloud.
"Who is it?"
"It’s me, Miss."
The voice of that frivolous monk, Jiroubou Seigen, came from outside the door.
"What’s the matter?"
"Yes, I heard Miss Red Ponytail and Master Haine seem to have found the intruder and want you to go over there immediately."
"Really?"
Upon hearing this, Rosalind too became excited. She jumped off the bed, ready to open the door, but was grabbed by Hana next to her.
"Hana Sis?"
"Rosalind, come behind me."
If earlier Hana was merely cautious of the monk’s words outside, now she rose to the level of suspicion. After all, as companions, Hana knows that Red Ponytail has all kinds of strange advanced tech. If she wanted to contact them, she wouldn’t need such an ancient method of messaging and ask someone else for help. Due to this outing, Hana also got a phone for easy communication, so if Little Hong had anything to say to her, a phone call would solve it directly.
Why specifically send someone for a message?
Hana gestured for Rosalind to hide behind her while swiftly reaching out. Soon, a flash of radiance appeared, and the next moment Hana opened the door. Outside, the frivolous monk stood there with a smile, seemingly unchanged from before.
"Where are they?"
"Hahaha, them? I’ll take you to them right away..."
However, before the monk could finish his sentence, Hana saw him suddenly raise his right hand, and the begging bowl in his hand flew up quickly, aiming for her forehead.
"Boom!"
Yet, at the next moment, a scorching flame shield suddenly exploded, blocking Jiroubou Seigen’s attack and pushing him back.
"What do you mean by this?!"
"Tsk."
Facing Hana’s questioning, the frivolous monk didn’t answer. He just clicked his tongue, and then raised his hand again. Meanwhile, Hana also raised her right index finger, pointing at the monk in front of her. Quickly, shining magic missiles burst forth from Hana’s fingertips, flying towards the monk.
Subordinate Magic Missile Storm!
"What is this?!"
The frivolous monk apparently hadn’t seen this spell before, but he wasn’t completely helpless. He grabbed the begging bowl in his hand, and the radiance of magecraft flashed around him, forming a sturdy shield.
However, it was meaningless. The howling magic missiles collided four or five times in succession, directly shattering the monk’s defense and hitting his body. Along with a scream, the frivolous monk flew backward, landing heavily on the ground.
"What exactly do you want to do?!"
Hana stepped forward again, guardedly staying at the door. Her index finger pointed at the frivolous monk, and the radiance of magic gathered in Hana’s hand once more. Just then, suddenly...
"—————!!!"
An invisible sound wave instantly came from the other side of the corridor, rushing toward Hana and Rosalind. In that moment, the corridor began to tremble, the glass shattered, and the wall peeled away. However, standing there, Hana and Rosalind remained... completely unreactive.
"How could this be?"
This time, the frivolous monk also slowly got up. Seeing this scene, a clear expression of surprise appeared on his face. The monk looked at Hana in shock, mouth agape.
"You... don’t have a magic crest?"
"We World Tree of a Thousand Realms don’t need such things!"
At this point, Hana confirmed that, although she didn’t know what was happening, the monk in front was indeed an enemy. So, without hesitation, she released magic missiles at him again. Yet, this time, just as the missiles were about to hit the target, suddenly, a massive shadow fell from the sky like a shield, appearing in front of the monk and blocking the incoming magic missiles.
"What is... this thing?"
Looking at the creature in front of her, a fusion of wolf and spider, Hana was stunned. Though she had started learning magecraft, seeing a creature for real was a first for her. After all, those she had seen before were just things in movies; seeing a real monster... Hana had no real experience with it.
"Roar—————!!"
Simultaneously, the creature roared fiercely at Hana while revealing its claws and fangs.
And at this moment, Hana frantically used the strongest shaping type magic she knew.
"Fireball Technique!!"
"Boom———!!"
The explosion and fiery light suddenly appeared, drawing the attention of others.
"What exactly happened?"
"Rosalind!!"
Haine shouted, then hurriedly ran toward the castle, followed quickly by the others.
Compared to these magicians, Fang Zheng was much simpler. With a few leaps, she jumped from the wall below directly into the room that had been blown open. The once luxurious room was now pitch black from the burns, bright red flames continuously burned, Rosalind shivering behind Hana, and Hana’s face was pale.
"What happened? What’s going on?"
"Little Hong!"
Seeing Fang Zheng appear, Hana breathed a sigh of relief, quickly dragging Rosalind to Fang Zheng’s side, then spoke.
"We heard an explosion just now, and then... the monk knocked on the door, saying you wanted us to come over. I felt something was wrong, so I released a flame shield on myself. Then I opened the door, and the monk suddenly attacked me. Although I knocked him down, a creature suddenly appeared... I... I didn’t know what to say... then I released a fireball technique..."
Although Hana tried to keep calm, Fang Zheng could feel Hana was indeed quite tense and uneasy from her slightly trembling voice. Quite understandably, who would have thought they’d encounter an alien on Sherlock Holmes’s film set?
If there were aliens, why would you need Sherlock Holmes?
Shouldn’t you be looking for Ripley?
"It’s alright, don’t worry, I’m here... just protect Rosalind."
Fang Zheng patted Hana’s shoulder to calm her down, then walked to the burning corridor edge and waved her hand. Quickly, a cold chill suddenly exploded, extinguishing the flames inside the corridor completely.
However...
"Oh wow, looks like it’s beyond saving now."
Looking at the charred body of the creature before him, Fang Zheng smacked his lips.
Although Hana seemed quite nervous and uneasy, her judgment was correct; in the narrow corridor, the power of the Fireball Technique is nearly at its peak. The monster’s half-body was completely charred, and the monk behind it was in no better condition. His vestment robe was burnt pitch black, one arm was burned and twisted, and he was lying on the ground, continuously shouting.
"This, this is..."
At this moment, the others who had rushed over were also dumbfounded at the sight.
"What on earth is going on here?"
However, a more astonishing scene unfolded.
"Mom! Mom!!"
While Jiroubou Seigen was crying and shouting, he rushed toward the creature and embraced it. Seeing this, everyone was stunned.
"Little, Little Hong... What’s going on?"
Hana also brought Rosalind behind Fang Zheng, watching the monk holding a creature and crying so bitterly, she couldn’t comprehend what was happening.
"Who knows, ask Sherlock Holmes."
Fang Zheng couldn’t be bothered to think about such boring matters, so she lifted her head and looked at Lord El-Melloi II.
"Sherlock Holmes, what do you say?"
"I’m not Sherlock Holmes, Miss Red Ponytail."
Upon hearing Fang Zheng, Lord El-Melloi II sighed helplessly.
"But... the truth about this matter, I already know very well."
"Oh? Then let’s hear it."
"It’s very simple."
As he spoke, Lord El-Melloi II pointed at the monk.
"He is Ashewron’s son."
"... Ha?"
Upon hearing this, not only did Fang Zheng look surprised, but Luvia and the others beside him also looked perplexed.
"Wait, wasn’t it said that Ashewron didn’t have any children?"
Hana also raised a question; they had come here to inherit the estate because the magician named Ashewron didn’t have any direct blood relatives. If he had a son, what reason would there be to invite them here?
"That was just an excuse; no... in fact, Ashewron indeed had a son as I heard from Old Man Orlok, but that son had already died long ago."
As Lord El-Melloi II spoke, he took out a cigar—and upon noticing Miss Red Ponytail’s unfriendly gaze, he quietly withdrew it.
"And it is precisely because Ashewron’s son died, that this event happened."
"So what you mean is... his son wants to be revived?"
Luvia furrowed her brow and spoke, while Lord El-Melloi II shook his head.
"It’s not that simple; you all should know Ashewron’s nickname, right? The Restorer of Magic Crests—and to us magicians, a magic crest is like an organ. So, restoring a magic crest is akin to organ transplantation. Now, have you ever thought about what materials are needed to restore a magic crest?"
"......"
Hearing this, everyone present started to ponder, then Haine furrowed his brow.
"... Others’... magic crests?"
"That’s simply impossible!"
"The word impossible doesn’t apply to magicians."
Lord El-Melloi II shook his head again.
"Presumably, you have also heard the rumors of people undergoing personality changes or suddenly learning something they never knew after undergoing organ transplants, right?"
"Ah, I’ve seen a similar movie."
Hana leaned closer to Fang Zheng and whispered to Fang Zheng and Rosalind.
"I remember that movie was about an honest man who received a heart transplant from a death row convict. As a result, that convict was a robber, and the honest man’s temper became increasingly volatile, eventually becoming almost possessed by the convict and starting to commit crimes... Wait..."
Upon saying this, Hana suddenly realized something.
"Could it be..."
"Exactly as Miss Kurotou stated."
At this moment, Lord El-Melloi II took out a notebook.
"This is a record I found in Ashewron’s secret chamber, listing the magicians who came to have their magic crests repaired, among which is Jiroubou Seigen. That also proves that he has been to Severance City and accepted the repair of the magic crest."
Upon hearing this, people’s expressions towards the monk changed. If previously it was just Lord El-Melloi II’s deduction without any evidence, then the presenting of evidence now was entirely different. After all, a person who had come here before for magic crest repair but pretended to know nothing about the place while infiltrating himself again, it looked dubious no matter how you viewed it.
"So basically, Ashewron repaired this monk’s magic crest with his son’s magic crest, then performed a sort of reviving ritual, attempting to bring back his son? Quite creative, I must say. If that’s the case, why did he call us here?"
Fang Zheng curiously questioned, and Lord El-Melloi II sighed.
"Just my speculation, I consulted with Old Man Orlok regarding his lifetime, he mentioned that he had researched a sort of secret technique with Ashewron in this castle. Now, it seems likely it’s a revival secret technique requiring a large number of magic crests—hence the invitation letter, as recipients are certainly interested in the secret method of repairing magic crests. They would possess magic crests. Indeed, this appears true... the reason for killing one person every other day might very well be because extracting and preserving magic crests takes a day."
Luvia furrowed her brow and showed an irritated expression.
"So, were we lured here as prey?"
"That’s pretty much it."
The response this time didn’t come from Lord El-Melloi II, but the monk, who slowly stood up, cracking a smile. Although still with the monk’s voice, the tone was entirely different.
"Are you Ashewron’s son?"
"That’s right."
Jiroubou Seigen—wrong, it was Ashewron’s son who nodded.
"I am Guland Alshuborn."
"........."
At this moment, everyone fell into silence. Although they had heard Lord El-Melloi II’s reasoning before, having the monk in front of them genuinely admit with a distinctively different tone that he was a deceased person, transformed the situation.
But, at this moment, no one noticed that the creature lying at the monk’s feet opened its mouth once again.
The next moment, a piercing sound wave erupted suddenly.
