Chapter 88

Chapter 88: Rosy Cross

“If I were a member of the Holy Communion, then all of you would have met the same fate as those corpses in the study below.”

Standing quietly under the stormy sky on the pinnacle of Buck Manor’s roof, the man in the gray-black cloak uttered dangerous words. Hearing this, Gregor and the others heightened their guard, gripping their weapons tighter.

“Are you threatening us?”

Listening to Edric’s words, Turner continued to shout loudly, while Edric responded in turn.

“Threatening? No, no, no. I don’t need to threaten you; I’m just stating the facts.”

“You…” Listening to Edric, Turner couldn’t help but want to act, but was immediately restrained by Gregor.

“Hold it, don’t rush.”

After restraining Turner, Gregor looked seriously at the man nearby, then turned his head to whisper to Elena beside him.

“Elena, do you still have enough spirituality? Check his condition.”

“Understood.”

Hearing Gregor’s words, Elena fixed her gaze intently on Edric. As she focused, orange-yellow light rings appeared at the edges of her pupils.

Elena stared intently at Edric for a moment, then slightly furrowed her brows.

“It’s no good, I can’t see anything. I can’t determine what kind of extraordinary being he is—he might be a Shadow, or he might have extraordinary items associated with a Shadow, and his spirituality is not low. Currently, I can’t see through it…”

Elena said seriously. Hearing her words, Gregor and Turner became even more solemn.

If Elena’s detection didn’t work, it proved that the other party had very strong counter-detection capabilities. Given her current reserves of spirituality, she couldn’t see through it. Under such unclear circumstances, all choices must be made more cautiously.

“Heh… Actually, there’s no need to be so tense. I am not your enemy. Put down the guns aimed at me. If they accidentally go off, it could get messy.”

Laughing lightly, Edric glanced around. Although it seemed like a casual sweep, he noticed all the snipers covertly aiming at him from the hunters. This surprised the two team leaders who knew about the hunters’ deployment.

That guy knows our defensive layout. He has a clear grasp of the current situation. How did he manage it?

Thinking this, the hunter team leaders were shocked, making the atmosphere even more tense. The information disparity made the hunters more cautious, constantly raising their assessment of the man’s psychological state, which made them even less likely to act rashly.

For a moment, silence prevailed for a few seconds before Gregor broke the silence.

“Those people in the study below… were you the one who killed them?”

“Just a simple cleanup, a minor mishap occurred,” Edric responded, and Gregor continued questioning.

“Did you come here specifically to assassinate the Holy Communion? Was Burton’s case also your doing? Did you deliver the messages twice in the Bureau?”

“Yes, are you satisfied with the information about me?” Edric said with a smile as he spread out his hand. Listening to his words, the three exchanged glances, and Gregor continued seriously.

“Are you using us as pawns?”

“Not exactly. We believe that since we came to Igewent, we should show proper respect to its secret rulers. Those flowers were just a friendly reminder. We think it would be impolite to act in Igewent without notifying the owner.”

As he spoke, Edric kept his gaze fixed on Gregor and continued.

“Do not misinterpret our goodwill. Otherwise, we cannot guarantee who will pay the price for the misunderstanding. Believe us, we are always happy to cooperate with official entities. Didn’t the flowers help you avoid a loss this time? Mr. Meyshos…”

Edric’s words were vague, initially confusing the trio, but his direct mention of names startled Gregor and the two beside him.

‘He knows our true identities. This organization knows far more than we thought…’

This thought surged in their minds, making their nerves taut and their vigilance at its peak, yet also making them even more hesitant to act directly.

“What is your real purpose in coming to Igewent?!” Gregor continued to ask sternly, and Edric waved his hand in response.

“Our purpose… Well, it’s not impossible to tell you, if you’re not afraid of the risk of losing control on the spot…”

After saying this lightly, both the three and the surrounding hunter team members were stunned. They quickly understood the meaning behind his words.

The organization’s purpose involved significant secrets, containing forbidden knowledge. Hearing his purpose was akin to receiving a secret transmission orally, and if they heard everything at their current level, they might be infected by intense poison of knowledge and lose control—extremely dangerous!

A purpose involving such poison, what could it be? The hunters were both fearful and curious, though some remained skeptical.

“Hmph… It’s just a small Holy Communion affair. What big secret could there be?” Turner said bluntly. Although the Holy Communion caused trouble in Igewent, they were far from being an influential ancient society. It was hard to imagine what major secrets could be hidden in their actions.

Facing Turner’s words, Edric continued speaking without any change in expression or tone.

“The tip of the iceberg, the morning star barely visible, a ship never assumes the water surface only has tiny reefs and proceeds safely. Acting based solely on appearances can lead to disaster. As a hunter captain, you should understand this better, Mr. Turner.”

Hearing Edric’s words, Turner was momentarily speechless. He had intended to force the truth out of Edric, but if it really involved intense poison, it would be disastrous.

At this moment, although Edric hadn’t moved, his words alone had already exerted sufficient pressure on the three hunters. Even the more reckless Turner didn’t act rashly.

‘The tip of the iceberg… His meaning is… The waters of the Crimson Eucharist are deeper than we imagined? There are more unknown layers involved?’

Reflecting on Edric’s words, Elena thought. At this moment, Edric gave a slight smile, looking at the silent scene ahead, then spoke.

“What I just said was a warning… I waited here to convey this warning. Now, I must leave… Until we meet again…”

As he spoke, Edric turned around. Seeing this, Gregor quickly asked the last question.

“Hey! What is the name of your organization?”

Hearing Gregor’s words, Edric paused for a moment, then slowly spoke with his back to them.

“You can call us…

“Rosy Cross.”

With that, Edric leaped from the pinnacle in full view, diving from a great height towards the ground, disappearing from everyone’s sight. On the ground was the rolling Iron Mud River.

…

In a hidden place among the dense grasses by a riverside in White Galaxy, a dried-up sewage pipe outlet concealed within emitted sounds. A small hand finally pushed open the decaying iron grating of the outlet.

Dorothy struggled to crawl out of the dried-up sewage pipe, dusted herself off after standing up, took a deep breath, and looked toward the towering Buck Manor in the distance.

“Phew… Telling riddles is exhausting. I’d better get going…”

With that, Dorothy picked up her suitcase and ran away from Buck Manor. Brandon, who emerged from behind, followed closely.