426 1-42 (1/2)
The Desire Apostle, who had once worn Patrick Jason's skin, stopped in his tracks and looked around in bewilderment.
Only now did he vaguely realize that danger was approaching.
He was at the edge of a garden where the grass had withered due to winter and was revealing dark brown soil.
On the right side of the street, there weren't many pedestrians on the weekday afternoon. At this moment, there were only a few people passing by, but they didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
Suddenly, a silver glint appeared in the eyes of the Desire Apostle, and a person decked out in full body armor emerged from the other side of the garden.
The armor was stained with congealed blood, diagonally from its left shoulder all the way down. It exuded a bewitching beauty and appeared to be extremely heavy. Every step it took slightly shook the ground.
Upon seeing this blood-stained silver armor, the Desire Apostle felt as if he couldn't breathe properly, as if he had met his most terrifying nemesis.
How are they here so quickly? They saw through my ruse so quickly? The Desire Apostle regained his calm and coldbloodedness, fully focused on sensing the emotions and desires of the Beyonder inside the blood-stained silver armor.
However, to his despair, the silver armor completely blocked his Beyonder powers.
It was as if he had touched a rock, a piece of cold armor which had no one in it!
The Desire Apostle had no choice but to raise his right hand, spreading out his giant bat wings and bringing with it some blue flames that rapidly condensed.
At that moment, a silver light flashed from his right palm, and his thumb fell to the ground. The wound was extremely clean.
Amidst swooshing sounds and a flash of silver light, the remaining nine fingers of the Desire Apostle were severed. The suitcase he was carrying also fell to the ground with a thud.
The Desire Apostle's pupils immediately contracted to a needle point, and he flapped the pair of huge bat wings on his back to escape in another direction.
The shadow under his feet shrank back without anyone realizing it, hiding in one spot.
The Desire Apostle had only taken two steps when countless silver lights burst out from his body like blooming fireworks.
The thick black liquid that covered his body splashed to the ground like raindrops. His forearm, arm, shoulders, ribs, neck, and other parts of his body broke off and smoothly slid downwards.
Splat. Splat. Splat. The pale, blood-stained intestines of the Desire Apostle splashed to the ground, along with his squirming stomach and his beating heart which had yet to cease.
The place where he stood was where the blood was the thickest. The further he went, the more splatted it looked, which when put together, they formed a beautiful flower of death.
A Sequence 5 expert, a Desire Apostle who had just completed an impossible assassination, was dismembered without any resistance.
This was a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact.
This was the Sealed Artifact that had caused over a hundred thousand people to lose their lives—Sealed Artifact 1-42!
Dressed in that terrifying-looking armor, Leonard Mitchell struggled to take two steps forward, sized up the dismembered body on the ground, and raised his voice.
”He's not completely dead yet!”
He paused for a moment and then added, ”Different Devils have different characteristics. This Desire Apostle is a shadow-shifter. He's just abandoned his own body, only leaving a shadow behind.”
While Soul Assurer Soest instructed a number of Nighthawks and members of the Machinery Hivemind to ”keep ordinary people at bay,” he surveyed the scene and listened to Leonard.
He took out his pocket watch and opened it. He asked with a serious expression, ”There's only ten minutes left, is it enough? Don't force it!”
”No problem! 1-42 has locked onto him. I can sense its excitement,” Leonard said without hesitation.
Soest spread his red-gloved fingers and said to the other Nighthawks, ”Bring hot water with you and follow Leonard closely. Once there are any problem, switch with him immediately and dig a 'bathtub' on the spot!
”Also, leave marks. The other team members and I will quickly catch up.”
Tap. Tap. Tap. The blood-stained silver armor began running in pursuit. Despite looking heavy, it was incredulously fast.
Soest watched as the few Red Gloves left before turning to look at Ikanser.
”Deacon Bernard, take the rest of the Machinery Hivemind members to that house. Watch the duke's guards and anyone else that's alive at the scene.”
”Watch?” Ikanser subconsciously returned with a question.
Soest nodded seriously and said, ”How can the Desire Apostle be able to determine that the duke would be coming to this house today, to the point of precisely pinpointing the time, and then perfectly luring the Spellsinger of God away?”
Ikanser was instantly enlightened.
”Are you saying that a member of the Duke's guards or someone trusted by him is a partner of the Desire Apostle?”
Otherwise, there was no way that his timing could be that perfect!
The so-called ”operation” wouldn't have any chance of success otherwise!
”It can only be said that this is the most probable cause. We cannot eliminate the assumption that the Desire Apostle has a powerful clairvoyant.” Soest didn't continue as he led a second batch of Nighthawks and followed the marks to reinforce the teammates up ahead.
With a calm face, he led the rest of the Machinery Hivemind back to the house of the Duke's mistress.