Chapter 384: Communication
“The night demon has some means to hinder soul summoning… This is one of the main reasons why he has managed to escape capture after so many incidents. Clearly, he also used this method during this assassination…
“We still don’t know exactly what this means of sealing souls from being summoned is, but we can confirm that once it’s activated, even the Eight Pinnacle Nest can’t summon the soul back. That’s why they specifically didn’t seal Barret’s soul, as the Eight Pinnacle Nest needs to summon Barret themselves and extract the exact location of the secret room from him… However, because of this, we were able to use the Great Shaman’s power to snatch Barret’s soul.”
Dorothy was thinking to herself. Now it seemed that the night demon was either an Extraordinary Being on the “Silence” path or possessed an Extraordinary Item related to “Silence,” using its power to seal the soul.
“Do you know the specific identity of that night demon?”
At this moment, Misha asked Ed again, and Ed shook his head in response.
“I don’t know. Regarding the true identity of the infamous Tiwian Ghost Killer of the capital, even within the Eight Pinnacle Nest, it’s classified information. Our informant inside the Eight Pinnacle Nest isn’t high enough to access such top-level intelligence. So, unfortunately, we don’t know the truth about that killer either.
“However, based on your description, this night demon can block souls with some means, so he might be on the ‘Silence’ path?”
Thinking, Dorothy had Ed slowly say, and Misha continued to respond.
“It’s possible, but unlikely. Based on the many cases the night demon has committed before, his methods are highly skilled, swift, covert, and deceptive. He is a truly powerful assassin… These are characteristics of a senior Extraordinary Being on the ‘Shadow’ path. I’ve always leaned towards him holding a powerful ‘Silence’ Extraordinary Item, using it to achieve the purpose of sealing the soul.”
“It’s someone on the ‘Shadow’ path, huh…”
Hearing Misha’s words, Ed couldn’t help but mutter thoughtfully. After pondering for a moment, he looked at Misha again and said seriously.
“Based on the intelligence provided by our informant within the Eight Pinnacle Nest, there were survivors in the central area of the assassination scene that night.”
“Yes, your information is correct. Although Princess Isabel was severely injured, fortunately, the healing nun from the Church arrived in time, so Her Highness survived. Currently, she remains unconscious with no signs of waking up yet.”
Misha responded directly, and after hearing her words, Ed began to ask again.
“So, did you carefully examine the princess’s personal belongings? Did you find anything unusual?”
“Examining the princess… Haha, listening to you, are you suspecting Princess Isabel is the night demon? I admit, Princess Isabel is the only survivor at the scene. The destruction was almost entirely caused by wind-related Extraordinary Power, making her seem very suspicious at first glance. But Princess Isabel could never be the night demon.”
Listening to Ed’s words, Misha chuckled in response, while Ed countered solemnly.
“You’re so sure?”
“Of course, I am. Princess Isabel is naturally kind-hearted and has a strong sense of empathy. From childhood, she wouldn’t even step on an ant, let alone k*ll anyone. In the past, when asked to go hunting, she couldn’t bear to sh**t the prey and often persuaded other royal family members to give up hunting. Eventually, no one wanted to bring her along anymore.”
Misha said like this, as a knight serving the royal family, she knew quite a bit about internal royal matters.
“Princess Isabel’s kindness is well-known. You can understand a little just by reading about her charitable activities in the newspapers. This kind nature is innate and has remained unchanged since childhood. Besides, although Princess Isabel received extraordinary education from a young age and is an Extraordinary Being, her rank is merely a Black Tier Wind Mage. By contrast, the night demon’s rank is at least White Chalk Tier.
“Furthermore, the strong killer qualities the night demon possesses cannot be achieved without long-term training. However, Princess Isabel has been under formal royal education since childhood and could not have received such specialized training. Lastly, we did check her personal belongings, but found nothing suspicious.”
Misha said to Ed with certainty, and Dorothy nodded thoughtfully after hearing her words.
“Kind-hearted from childhood… Always under formal royal education… Still only a Wind Mage… No suspicious Extraordinary Items found… If what this knight says is true, then the possibility of Princess Isabel being the night demon is indeed very low…”
Dorothy was deep in thought when, in the church, Misha spoke to Ed again.
“We’ve had many encounters with the night demon. He is extremely cautious and cunning, making it very difficult to directly uncover his true identity. Therefore, I want to investigate the motive behind the Eight Pinnacle Nest’s assassination of the duke and princess this time. Do you know if your informant knows their motive?”
“Motive… According to our informant, this operation was planned by at least a Red Tier high-ranking member, with the lower levels carrying out the execution. Thus, our informant doesn’t know much about this aspect. What we do know is that it’s likely related to Duke Barret’s ongoing research on the Mirror Moon Statue. On the night of the incident, a small team from the Eight Pinnacle Nest went to Barret’s research site in the southwestern suburbs to completely destroy the research results.”
Dorothy had Ed answer, and upon hearing Ed’s words, Misha sighed.
“Sigh… It is indeed related to that research? The villa where Duke Barret conducted his research, we visited it early yesterday morning. When our people arrived, it was already burning fiercely, and everyone inside was dead. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any valuable items among the ruins; the research materials were probably destroyed by the fire.”
Misha sighed, feeling slightly disappointed as she hadn’t gotten more useful intelligence about the Eight Pinnacle Nest’s motives from Ed. At this moment, Ed continued to smile and speak.
“Not all of them were burned. To understand how far Barret’s research had progressed, the Eight Pinnacle Nest didn’t destroy all the documents but took some back for analysis. Our informant inside the Eight Pinnacle Nest risked getting involved to access these documents and copied a portion, successfully delivering them to us.”
“What? You have part of Duke Barret’s research materials?”
Hearing Ed’s words, Misha’s eyes lit up, and Ed continued to respond.
“Yes, though not complete, I believe it’s enough for Ms. Misha to partially understand the progress of Duke Barret’s research. It involves in-depth studies of Prit’s history and culture. To be honest, although we have some Prit people here, few study this type of knowledge. These materials would be more useful if given to you.”
Ed said to Misha, then raised his eyebrows and continued.
“We are willing to hand over these important documents to Ms. Misha, provided you can pay the corresponding reward…”
