Chapter 177: Light Sleep

The ‘supplementary setting’ mentioned by Gawain sounded like a fresh term to Amber and Philip, but the explanation of the meaning wasn’t complicated. Gawain took just a few words for the duo to understand the meaning of the term.

“It also means that the castle is conducting a theatre show, and each individual in the castle is actually an ‘actor’ who doesn’t know they are inside a show?” Sir Philip spoke of his understanding. “Normally, they are living in a hypnotized state, and due to the long-term spiritual interference, they don’t realize anything is out of sorts in their daily life. But an outsider like us arrived and broke the ‘logic’ of the theatre show, making the plot no longer fitting to the facts and causing the show to be interrupted. Therefore, the mastermind of the show had no choice but to supplement his ‘plot’?”

Amber took a few glances at Philip until the upright and sincere young man felt a chill before she said, “Blech… When you say it like that, I feel like I’ll have even more goosebumps!”

“Your Excellency, I think we should immediately stop this evil ritual!” Philip didn’t bother about Amber and spoke with a stern expression. “The Kant territory probably didn’t just start the capturing of refugees recently. Their hideous behavior might have been conducted in secret for dozens of years! During this period of time, those missing and innocent people that entered this territory must have been sacrificed to maintain the illusion. In order to put the entire castle under the sorcery’s influence, a huge price must be paid!”

“Yes.” Amber displayed a rare proactive attitude. “Every minute and second, people’s lives are being lost!”

Gawain frowned and looked at the duo. “How do you think we should do it?”

“If nothing works, simply put everything on the table with the old lord and confront him directly. If he admits it, you will hack him. If he doesn’t admit it, then think of a way for him to admit it, and hack him,” Amber urged. “There shouldn’t be anyone who can defeat you in the castle. At that time, you will also go first.”

Not only Gawain, even Philip was already used to Amber’s style of ‘it doesn’t matter who goes first, I am not going either way’. He simply looked at the half-elf with contempt before nodding his head. “Your Excellency, without a doubt, Viscount Victor Kant is the mastermind for all this. In the entire Kant territory, he is the only person with the motive and the capability to conduct such evil acts…”

“Victor Kant is the mastermind, huh…?” Gawain didn’t directly respond to the duo’s suggestion and spoke of his own doubts. “Actually, there is something I don’t understand. Even if the Kant territory doesn’t really contact the outside world, there must be at least two or three visits from guests. Could we be the only ones that caused a loophole in the ‘large-scale illusion’ at the castle? Didn’t anyone who visited the place notice it? That Madam Lilith Kant would exit the north tower and would walk around the castle every night. Did none of the servants see her before? If other servants had seen her before, then why didn’t they mention to the people on the territory about ‘the castle having a living viscountess’ when they left the castle to carry out tasks?”

Amber frowned in response. “It is easy to explain about the visitors. A normal visitor wouldn’t act like us and go around investigating and asking for information. As for the people in the castle… they are hypnotized, right? Maybe once they leave this castle, their perception and memory would be completely altered?”

Seeing that Gawain was still pondering, Amber finally couldn’t help nagging, “If I were you, I wouldn’t hesitate. Something is obviously wrong with that old man. You just have to catch him and beat him up to find out everything!”

Sir Philip might normally be very inflexible, but his mind functioned better than Amber in such situations. “Are you worried that if we make a wrong judgment, our actions might unsettle the entire southern region’s noble society and cause them to be vigilant towards Cecil territory?”

“Actually, I am not really worried about them as the feudal lords in the southern region didn’t leave any impression.” Gawain shook his head and said, “I just feel that we are missing out on something. The entire matter might be pointing at Victor Kant, but… is it really that simple?”

An evil cult heretic or a noble enticed and controlled by an evil cult heretic would definitely be extremely vigilant and crafty, especially when he was conducting a shameful evil ritual. His vigilance would be so overwhelming that even if an outsider merely stood in place, he would be extremely uncomfortable. But Victor Kant appeared to be excessively at ease and negligent from start to end.

Was this purely exceptional acting skills? Or was it because he had ample support? Therefore, he wasn’t afraid of being exposed? Or… was the mastermind that controlled everything not Viscount Kant?

Snap… Rumble!

A series of giant thunder suddenly echoed in the skies. The sky outside the window was instantly illuminated like daytime. A few seconds later, bean-sized rain started dropping down with pitter-patter sounds. The castle’s stony walls and crystal windows were sprinkled with concentrated noise.

Subsequently, the curtain of night descended; a new storm had descended on this land.

Lightning flashed and passed through the narrow windows, suddenly lighting up the study. Viscount Victor Kant who sat behind the study table suddenly lifted his head and had a vacant expression. The flash of lightning lit up behind his back and turned him into a bundle of shadows due to the backlighting. His shadows were cast on the opposite side of the study table and onto the nearby old butler, Carter.

When the flash of the lightning faded, the study regained its dusky illumination, and the magic crystal lamp’s radiance made the room eerie and cryptic again. Everything felt as though it was fuzzy and indistinct.

Viscount Victor Kant suddenly spoke without any reason, “Carter, you have served the Kant Clan for many years.”

The old butler suddenly walked forward to the front of the study table, or should it be said that he was walking towards the back of the old master. The butler had an indifferent expression and spoke in a low and vague tone, “The intruders have detected the Grade 2 consciousness, and the barrier on the subconscious mind is starting to loosen.”

Victor Kant could only watch this scene quietly. “Old friend, your devotion has already exceeded your responsibility. I wanted to say thank you to you since a long time ago but wasn’t able to do so. I am very regretful for it…”

The old butler walked around the study table and stood in front of the old master while lowering his head and looked at the person he once swore his allegiance to. “Calculation node is currently being threatened. The risk of exposure is more than 50%… Priority will be given to ensuring that the calculation node is being concealed.”

A silver dagger was drawn, and there was a flash of silver light in the dusky room. Subsequently, the dagger drew a small arc and stabbed into the not-considered-healthy but rather-warm chest.

The old feudal lord’s body twitched, and a strange sound echoed from his throat. It was unknown when his eyes were covered with dream-like starlight as he looked at Butler Carter’s emotionless face and said softly, “Kant Clan… thanks you… for your loyalty.”

The butler released his dagger and allowed the old master’s blood to dye his body. The dark-colored coat and the pure white shirt were dyed with blood. The butler then turned around to open the study room’s door before marching into the hallway.

A female servant that was mopping the floor saw the butler walking out from the feudal lord’s study room. She frantically stood properly and prepared to greet the butler, but she immediately saw the old butler’s clothes stained with blood, and also his blood-stained and indifferent face.

Butler Carter raised his hand, and a bundle of light-purple and faintly indiscernible energy radiance took form in his hand. “You saw!”

The young female servant finally couldn’t restrain her fear and screamed, “Ahhh!!!”

The female servant’s scream instantly resonated throughout the entire floor. Even the rooms on the floor below could hear it clearly. Gawain was still having a discussion in his room with Amber and Philip, and they were interrupted by this scream. From the voice, they could hear intense fear.

The trio looked at one another before they rushed out of the room together.

The servants that were on duty were alerted as the male and female servants were running over from all places. Each hallway had moving figures, and when Gawain arrived on the third floor of the castle, there were already plenty of people gathered.

The female servant who screamed was on the ground, but she didn’t suffer any physical injuries. She had only temporarily fainted due to the fright, and she quickly woke up after a pail of cold water. She then yelled out, “T—the butler has been possessed by a devil”, “His body was drenched in blood”, “He came out from the m—master’s room” and similar statements that were seemingly insane.

After listening to the female servant’s stuttering yells, Gawain quivered for a moment, and a sudden thought flashed in his mind. He took a big step forward and looked at that frightened young lady and asked, “Where did the butler run to?”

“Tha—that side!” The female servant pointed at the end of the hallway where there was a window that was swaying violently in the wind and rain. “He cast a terrifying spell at me and flew out like a ghost!”

“Spell?” Gawain lowered his head to look at the female servant but couldn’t see any traces of magical damage. He didn’t have time to ponder these things as he turned around and said to Amber, “Go and chase. If you find him, don’t fight and immediately report back!”

Before Gawain finished his instruction, Amber was already running towards the window, and when she was running, her figure gradually faded while her voice still echoed in the air, “A reward must be given for chasing someone in heavy rain…”

A dark shadow rushed into the rainy night while Gawain turned around and ran in big strides towards the study.

Viscount Victor Kant sat upright on the backrest of the chair while a sharp knife was stabbed on his chest. It was spraying out fresh blood that dyed the surface of the table red.

The servants who followed Gawain had all exclaimed after seeing the scene.

Philip and Gawain walked over together. The young knight chanted the name of the God of War as he put his hand in between the mouth and nose of the old viscount. Immediately after, he shouted out, “There is still breathing!”

Gawain had also noticed the position of the dagger. The old Viscount truly had exceptional luck. The position of the dagger might be dangerous, but it was actually blocked by a rib and didn’t pierce the heart!

He was currently unconscious due to a large loss of blood, but things would be serious if this carried on.

Gawain immediately took out the special healing medicine that Pittman had concocted and activated the Knight skill ‘Blood Boost’ to temporarily maintain and extend the old Viscount’s life. He then yelled out, “Go and find a healer! A Holy Light Cleric or a Druid!”