Chapter 496

Chapter 377 – bl**d Mist

On the forest path far from Duke Barret’s villa, southwest of Tivyán.

Under the dark streets, a black carriage was parked here. Dorothy sat in the dimly lit interior, using her Puppet Master abilities to influence events several kilometers away at Barret’s villa.

Under Dorothy’s influence, her zombie puppet inside Barret’s villa moved stealthily. Besides the butler zombie puppet that kept searching through documents in the underground secret room, Dorothy also switched control over the villa’s zombie puppets to monitor the movements of the Eight Pinnacle Nest assassins within.

Thus, Kenk’s earlier conversation with the human-faced spider and his action of injecting someone were all seen by Dorothy.

‘The Spider Fang Priest… A White Chalk Tier vampire shows such respect for him. This old man must be a Red Tier Extraordinary Being! He must be a high-ranking member of the Eight Pinnacle Nest…’

Using the viewpoint of a corpse inside the villa, Dorothy observed the elder who had painfully transformed from George after being infused with bl**d. She pondered in her heart, never expecting that the importance of Barret’s data would draw out a Red Tier personally.

‘From their previous conversation, this series of actions against Barret was all planned by the Spider Fang Priest. At least four White Chalk Tier individuals involved should be his subordinates. It seems he couldn’t come to Tivyán because he fears the Radiant Archbishop in the Church District.’

Dorothy thought deeply, having some understanding of the Radiant Archbishop in the Church District due to Vania.

‘Francesco… The archbishop sent from Sacred Summit to oversee all religious affairs in the entire Prit Diocese, the highest representative of Sacred Summit in Prit. It looks like he might be a Red Tier Extraordinary Being. Apart from him, each country’s major dioceses should have a Red Tier archbishop stationed. The position of Radiant Archbishop might be synonymous with Red Tier.’

‘According to what those guys said, the archbishop far in the Church District has a power called “Tiered Vision.” Because of this ability, the Spider Fang Priest can only approach Tivyán covertly. Therefore, he has been using White Chalk Tier subordinates to cause trouble.’

‘This so-called Tiered Vision seems to be a specialized detection ability targeting high-tier Extraordinary Beings. Although this ability appears to be a Red Tier “Lamp” ability, I don’t understand why even a Red Tier “Shadow” Extraordinary Being like the Spider Fang Priest cannot resist it. In theory, a same-tier “Lamp” shouldn’t have such strong suppressive power against a same-tier “Shadow.”‘

‘So, this Tiered Vision may not be the archbishop’s own ability; it could be an Extraordinary Item or something else. However, this item can probably only be used or possessed by a Red Tier archbishop.’

Dorothy analyzed, having already witnessed the Radiant Church’s extraordinary detection tools during the werewolf Smith’s mansion incident. As the largest organization in the world, they have abundant extraordinary resources that other organizations cannot match.

‘This Spider Fang Priest seems to have directly taken over a Shadow Faced Man using bl**d, not the original but a derivative body. Plus, he mentioned using some tools, so this derivative body somewhat evades Tiered Vision. It looks like the Eight Pinnacle Nest truly values the data in Barret’s possession. Even a Red Tier wouldn’t hesitate to use their extraordinary resources.’

‘The method of creating a derivative body by eroding others’ bodies with bl**d, bl**d-Eating Path, is somewhat similar to Lu Ke’s Curse Bone Clone technique. Both create clones using a part of their own body as a medium, but this old man is bl**d and bone, whereas Lu Ke is just bone. It feels like Lu Ke is at a disadvantage…’

‘Although I don’t know how this old man will find the secret room, I need to speed up my efforts.’

Dorothy continued thinking, monitoring the situation inside the mansion to see how the newly arrived figure would find the secret room, while controlling the butler zombie puppet to accelerate its search through the documents.

At this moment, Dorothy’s bird zombie puppet had successfully removed the iron grating at the entrance of the secret room ventilation. Through the ventilation duct, the zombie bird made its way to the surface, reaching the exit of a concealed vent outside the villa.

However, at the exit, the crow zombie encountered a second iron grating. Faced with this situation, Dorothy felt helpless momentarily. She could only let the bird zombie, buffed with bl**d-Eating, continue to use its claws to dismantle the grating. Fortunately, the efficiency was good, and it wouldn’t take long to finish.

Even though the other side suddenly brought out a Red Tier derivative to find the secret room, Dorothy remained calm. She only had a group of zombies on her side, and her main body was eight kilometers away from the villa. At this distance, her safety was assured. With only zombies on her side, if the bird zombie could break through the iron grating and return with the holy emblem, everything would be fine.

With this mindset, Dorothy multitasked. She controlled the butler zombie puppet to search for documents, monitored the Eight Pinnacle Nest assassins inside the villa, and directed the bird zombie puppet to attempt breaking through the final iron grating.

Just then, inside the mansion, the newly transformed derivative, known as the Spider Fang Priest, began his actions.

The moment the Shadow Faced Man named George was completely corrupted, the Spider Fang Priest’s consciousness successfully descended into the young man’s body. As his body completed its transformation, the surrounding Eight Pinnacle Nest assassins instinctively felt a powerful, inner pressure and sense of submission, including Kenk, who all immediately knelt down, bowing deeply to the bald, gaunt old man. No one dared to express dissatisfaction or fear about George’s fate.

Many of the Eight Pinnacle Nest assassins didn’t recognize the old man, but they could feel his unparalleled aura of power. Under this pressure, they only felt a desire to obey, understanding that the advanced chapters of “The Queen’s Procession” were taking effect.

All members of the Eight Pinnacle Nest had read the secret transmission “The Queen’s Procession.” Those influenced by this transmission would develop varying degrees of reverence depending on the chapter read. The higher the chapter, the greater the suppression over lower chapters. The reverence this old man inspired in the assassins was even deeper than Kenk’s, causing them to naturally kneel down before he even spoke.

Inside the mansion, the Spider Fang Priest remained silent facing the kneeling assassins. He silently twisted his neck, adjusting to his new body amidst the sound of cracking joints. Then, he stood still, unchanged in expression, surveying the surroundings for a moment before slowly walking to a window, gazing at the night scenery outside.

“Lord Spider Fang Priest…”

Kenk, kneeling on the ground, prepared to ask something when, standing by the window, the Spider Fang Priest blurred and then transformed into a swarm of bats flying out the window.