13 Mink Street

Chapter 130: Incineration

When they reached the yard, Bede stopped walking and looked at the detached villa in front of him.

“What’s wrong?” Piaget asked.

Bede raised a hand and waved it beneath his nose, then said, “I smell something that makes me feel a little uncomfortable.”

“Hm?” Piaget sniffed. “I don’t smell anything. Do you have some kind of allergy?”

Bede shook his head. His gaze swept over the villa again, especially the windows on each floor.

When someone of his status went out, it was either with great fanfare, surrounded by a full bodyguard detail, or done quietly with his trail concealed. It was not that it was absolutely impossible to run into an assassination attempt from hostile forces, but at the very least, the probability would be reduced to very low.

Yet the feeling now was different. Bede glanced at Piaget once more. Had he betrayed him? It did not seem so. Then what was it?

Bang!

At that moment, the front door on the first floor opened, and Gerson walked out.

The next instant, the windows on the first and second floors shattered as six Raphael family bodyguards in black suits charged out.

There were no greetings, no pleasantries, no introductions. Bede was merely standing in the yard, and he looked as though he did not intend to walk any farther inside. If Gerson had chosen this moment to say something like, “What a coincidence, Mr. Bede, meeting you here,” he likely would not have finished the sentence before Bede retreated into the car.

Among the six bodyguards behind Gerson, the skin of two turned to stone. They sprinted straight forward. Their weight seemed altered, as each footstep stomping a deep imprint into the garden soil.

Two more had razor-sharp bone spurs sprout from their forearms, tearing through their sleeves. They also advanced, staying half a body behind the stone-skinned pair. It was a practiced formation that used those in front as shields.

The last two thrust out their tongues. Their limbs bent in unnatural angles as they dropped to all fours and crawled like spiders, racing around from both sides to cut off the rear.

Gerson spread his arms. His red wool sweater ripped apart, two blood-red wings unfurling as his body lifted into the air.

All of this amply demonstrated just how chaotic the Raphael family’s faith system really was. Their progenitor had followed Earl Rekar as a pirate, but had not been the sort to board ships and fight or take the helm and to read the wind. Their progenitor’s job had been to procure women for the other pirates.

Strictly speaking, the Raphael family had never had a “pure” progenitor. They latched onto the Allen family to complete their initial accumulation, then used extensive intermarrying to collect bloodlines from other families’ faith systems.

If the Allen family was a feeble, fallen noble, then the Raphael family was a feral dog clawing its way up from the dirt, eating anything to fill its belly.

Back when Karon lived at the Allen manor, after Master Anderson described the Raphael family’s “rise of the ungrateful wolves,” Karon had even sighed to Pu’er at the foot of the bed.

Putting positions aside, the Raphael family’s rise really was inspiring. Of course, positions could not truly be set aside, because Karon’s fiancée’s surname was Allen, not Raphael.

At that moment, the Allen family driver who had gotten out with Bede stepped in front of the man, shouting, “Patriarch, get back into the car!”

As he spoke, two balls of fire started unfurling in his hands. He hurled them at the two stone-skinned men charging forward. Flames caught their clothing, but did not slow their steps. The two bone-spurred attackers behind them, screened by those in front, were not affected at all.

Piaget froze in place, murmuring, “What is going on?”

Bede frowned. Was the mural’s prophecy going to be wrong twice in a row?

Bede did not retreat. By the time he turned, the two Raphael clansmen who were crawling like spiders had already completed their wraparound.

The stone-skinned men were closing in, the bone-spurred attackers behind them already poised to rush for the kill. Despair showed on the driver’s face. He was only Tier-2. In this situation, there was not much he could do.

Even so, he made a decisive choice. He pressed his burning hands to his own chest. Flames instantly spread over his entire body, and in the next instant he charged straight at the stone-skinned men.

One of them threw both arms forward, stopping the driver. The man drove his fist into the man’s chest. A scream rang out. The flames that had barely harmed their stone skin before now burned through it, scorching a wide patch across the man’s chest. However, a long bone spur pierced through the driver’s neck, slicing across. His head fell away, and the flames covering his body were snuffed out.

The injured stone-skinned man crouched, clutching his chest. The others continued, tightening the encirclement in the same rhythm as before.

The two crawling “spiders” did not pounce. They kept sealing the retreat. Gerson, still in the air, did not join the melee rashly either. He was waiting for the best point of entry.

It was laughable, because their “rigor” came from ignorance. They had no idea the Allen family’s patriarch had never even managed to awaken his family bloodline. He was simply an art enthusiast.

The reason was simple: the Allen family had protected this secret well.

The Raphael family kept their guard up, ready for the Allen patriarch to suddenly summon a suit of fire or water armor and charge out of their encirclement.

Yet no matter how careful they were, the moment of contact had arrived. The uninjured stone-skinned man charged Bede. The two bone-spurred attackers shot out from behind him, raising their razor-sharp spurs as they pounced. Gerson beat his wings hard. A jade-green steel blade appeared in his hand as he dove straight at Bede.

It was about to end.

It did end.

Because at that very moment, a flash of light blossomed above Gerson. Before he could even twist his head to look up, something long punched straight through his chest, and the next instant, he slammed into the ground.

An old man in a white robe stepped onto Gerson’s back. A staff inlaid with magic stones had already skewered through his body.

“Light—Incineration.” A milky-white flame appeared at the tip of the staff and spread across Gerson. Beneath its scorching heat, his body began to vaporize instantly. He did not even have time to scream.

Buzz!

Buzz!

Two rotating halos of light flew in from nowhere, slicing across the two spider-men. A deep cleft opened across each of their chests, and their bodies split apart.

“Light—Shield!” A wall of light rose in front of Piaget.

By sheer coincidence, Bede was standing behind Piaget, so although the stone-skinned man had been charging Bede, he was caught by the wall of light. His fierce momentum rebounded, and the stone-skinned man was flung away.

The next instant, a swordsman appeared beside the wall of light, longsword in hand and his body seemingly covered in a layer of white radiance. One bone-spurred attacker stabbed at him by instinct.

Instinct could be laughable at times, because it could not compare to trained experience. The longsword rose with a simple flick. The attacker lost his balance, and the swordsman pulled him in, the blade cleanly slicing across his throat.

The swordsman was then in front of the second bone-spurred attacker. That man swung his spur out of reflex, but the swordsman merely held his blade level and thrust in the simplest way, driving the point straight into the man’s forehead.

The longsword was pulled free and the man walked over to the injured stone-skinned man, who was still crouched on the ground. The man let out a low roar and sprang up to pounce, only for a beam of white light to pierce his chest from behind. When he fell, he revealed the old man with the staff standing there.

The old man said in a deep voice, “Vernon, gather all of their bodies.”

The white radiance receded from the swordsman to reveal a young face. He wore no armor, only a white trench coat. “Yes, Elder Dock.”

“Helen, you will incinerate the bodies cleanly. Leave no traces.”

A young woman in a blue coat and a red hat rose from the shrubbery. She was dressed in vivid colors, and while the landscaping in the yard was already a withered yellow, somehow no one had noticed her before. The two halos of light that had appeared earlier were almost certainly her work.

She also held a staff. “Yes, Elder.”

Elder Dock’s eyes swept his surroundings again. “After the bodies are incinerated, perform two rounds of cleansing on this place from top to bottom.”

“Yes, Elder. I understand. I won’t be lazy.”

Elder Dock nodded and sighed. The apostle’s message had said that the Berai Church kid would appear to put on a show for those family vermin, which should have allowed them to peel off an incident that had never been connected to them in the first place.

What was laughable was that the apostle had even specifically commented that no matter what happened between that Berai Church kid and the vermin, they were not to move.

The family vermin had arrived, but where was the Berai Church kid? The one who had returned was Piaget.

Elder Dock had long been dissatisfied with that apostle from the central altar, but he could not watch Piaget come to harm in front of him. If he did, then what had they been doing staying in York City at such a high risk for so many days?

It had also been clear that those family faith vermin had been targeting Mr. Piaget. They did not even bothered to speak a single line before charging for the kill. There had been no choice but for Elder Dock to act.

Besides, given the Church of Light’s current situation, they either did not act at all, or once they did, they had to do so thoroughly and cleanly.

If the apostle had not said that the young man was already entangled with Piaget and that they could not harm someone Piaget held dear, Elder Dock might have already moved to silence that kid from the Berai Church.

A group that believes in Light, yet cannot be exposed to light. What irony. Elder Dock coughed twice and walked toward Piaget.

At that moment, Piaget spoke to Bede. “Are these people your bodyguards?”

Bede’s eyes flicked to the driver on the ground, who was already burned to charcoal. “They are not here to protect me.”

Elder Dock stopped in front of Piaget and said with deep respect, “Boss...”

It was a form of address that made Piaget uncomfortable. He could accept the doctors and staff at the clinic calling him boss, and there were even occasions when he looked forward to hearing Karon calling him that, even though he never seemed to...

However, when facing these people who had just been glowing, who had killed that snarling group with just a handful of moves, and who were now methodically destroying all evidence of the battle, hearing them call him boss made Piaget uncomfortable in both body and mind.

Elder Dock seemed to realize that as well. It was an inappropriate term of address. It was practically selling out Bertha’s side, plainly telling the man that they had people planted within his company.

Even though the truth was that nearly half of the clinic, top to bottom, were their people.

To cover his slip, Elder Dock corrected himself, “Mr. Adams, hello. We are a reclusive family with a faith system from the Mosley Archipelago. Because of certain matters, we came to York City. By coincidence, we happen to live next door to you. We are neighbors, hehe.”

He even pointed at the detached villa beside Piaget’s. “Between neighbors, helping each other and looking out for each other is only right, isn’t it?”

Even Elder Dock felt his explanation was a bit forced and stiff, but he still stubbornly maintained his smile.

Piaget licked his lips while looking at Elder Dock. “Well...”

“If you have something to say, please speak, Mr. Adams. We are neighbors and friends. Although we just saved you, there’s no need for you to be so formal.”

Piaget nodded. “I’ve seen many religious murals.”

Elder Dock laughed. “Oh, have you? So Mr. Adams is also an enthusiast of religious culture, hehe.”

Bede fought to keep his expression calm. The awkwardness of this old man’s small talk was genuinely hard to endure.

Piaget continued, “That glowing appearance just now, I’ve seen it in murals. He should be a Light Knight, which means you are not a family from the Mosley Archipelago. You are believers of the Church of Light.

“As far as I know, the Church of Light is currently being hunted down by the orthodox churches.”

Elder Dock fell silent.

“Furthermore.” Piaget pointed to the villa next door. “That villa is also my father’s property. I simply can’t live in multiple places on my own, so it has always been left unattended.”

Elder Dock fell silent again.

***

Seven o’clock. Night had fallen. A secondhand black Pons sedan stopped on the road in front of Apple Street 3-06. Karon killed the engine and looked at Alfred in the front passenger seat. “I didn’t plan to have you discharged this early.”

“Young Master, my wounds are already fine. Since there is no longer any risk of infection, so long as it’s bandaged, it will barely affect anything. It’s like nicking your skin while sharpening a pencil; There’s no need to lie down for long.

“Most importantly, Young Master, your safety is what matters most. I truly am shocked. In just the few days I was lying in the hospital, so many things happened.

“The greatest pity is that when you became a Divine Shepherd, Young Master, I could not stand at your side and witness it with my own eyes.

“Still, it’s fine. There will be many opportunities in the future, and I think it will be very soon.”

Sure enough, after hearing everything, Alfred had shown none of the confusion Pu’er and Kevin had, nor did he try to persuade Karon to reconsider. Whatever Karon wanted to do, Alfred would support unconditionally.

“Young Master, if I go in with you to perform this act, what should my identity be?” Alfred asked.

“Make one up,” Karon said.

“Wouldn’t that be too perfunctory?” Alfred hurriedly clarified, “I’m not questioning you, Young Master. I just don’t want my performance to be a mistake that creates flaws in your act.”

Karon said, “Mr. Tadel was a two-way plug.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is.”

Alfred did not need an explanation. He immediately understood what that description meant.

Karon had not learned this from Little John, who had mentioned his father going to a monastery to meet his lover. In fact, when a normal person heard about a man going to a monastery to meet his lover, they would probably assume he went to see a nun.

Karon had seen it for himself that day while treating Little John. There had been certain body language and micro-expressions Mr. Tadel had revealed. When a man faces a beautiful woman, or a woman faces a handsome man, there would be a primal, instinctual craving for sex. Even for those who were refined and upright, those instincts still produced telltale details.

Mr. Tadel had shown those telltale details when facing Karon.

“I think the investigators on that side are probably very familiar with Mr. Tadel. They should know this about him, and since Bertha arranged for me to stay here at my boss’s house, we might as well follow that rhythm and allow the investigators to think that Mr. Tadel came to see me about psychological problems purely because he had that pursuit in mind.

“The thread of logic then becomes clear and simple. They won’t waste effort following this thread. If I bring the handsome you along, isn’t it perfectly normal? When the time comes, I’ll say I plan to recommend you to my boss Piaget.”

“Young Master’s arrangement truly convinces me,” Alfred said.

“This is the most efficient and concise way to clear myself. Otherwise, if they focus on me and keep investigating, my own investigation won’t be convenient later on. I don’t want to enjoy the same treatment as Mr. Pavaro.”

Karon and Alfred got out of the car. After they walked into the yard, both of them almost simultaneously stopped.

“Alfred, do you feel that the air suddenly became very fresh after entering this yard?” Karon asked.

“Young Master, it’s the entire yard. It’s much cleaner, abnormally so.”

“The atmosphere is a bit strange.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“Heh. I suddenly feel a bit afraid to go in.”

At that moment, the front door opened and Bede walked out. He was calm and confident, carrying the bearing a patriarch ought to have. Karon studied his future father-in-law, but the corner of his eye swept over the house behind the man.

While Bede walked down the steps, Karon placed both hands over his chest. “Praise Nature. May I ask who you are?”