Chapter 389: The Entangled Fate

Joseph Buckel… Elle’s biological father, the “Brother Hammer” in the Gallery nightmare.

At that time, Elle Morrison’s name was also called Elle Buckel.

Elle’s mother (Clara) was Joseph’s apprentice back then. At that time, Joseph left Elle and divorced Clara because she planned to use this child to blackmail Joseph.

She sought more benefits from Joseph, like becoming a real wizard or even a Great Wizard and mentor.

Actually, Joseph had already given her a lot of things.

After Annan cleared the Gallery nightmare and spoke to Joseph about the outcome, he explained the whole truth to Annan, which was the last piece of the story.

In fact, Clara had no talent at all to become a wizard.

Joseph had provided many occult knowledge to Claire, including the tome written by someone from the Austere-Winter family in regards to the Black Widow, the tome about the Venerated Skeleton, and many books of other deities.

His intention was clear.

Joseph knew she did not have the talent to become a wizard, so he gave her the books, hoping she could become a ritualist.

Claire was not the kind of person who was particularly keen on being a wizard anyway. Instead, she learned spells hoping the magic could improve her status and become a great person.

It was just that Joseph did not imagine Claire chose to become “the Spider Whisperer” in the end.

He did not want to be with a Black Widow’s believer for long.

After all, he could be poisoned to death unknowingly.

However, Joseph ended up having his family break apart because of his fault.

Clara was elected to the White Tower back then because of his recommendation. At that time, Clara had not started to believe in Black Widow, nor had she come into contact with the taste of power and wealth. She was fourteen years old, an innocent and lovely young girl.

Simply put, Joseph lusted for her, and he changed the trajectory of her life.

As to what Clara looked like, that could be seen from Elle.

Her family background was ordinary.

Her father was a dock worker, and her mother was a female textile factory worker. Not to mention that she wasn’t from a noble family and hardly knew any words. Her biggest advantage was her outstanding appearance and willingness to endure hardship.

That was why Joseph fell in love with her. He even made Clara his Silver Rank Secret Keeper. The oath power immediately boosted Clara on some Perception attributes, barely allowing her to pass the exam.

By the way, Annan’s secret keeper was Dove, who guarded him during the advancement process. Then, he told Kafni about it later, just in case.

There was no additional value in the secrecy anyway.

It was just that “his left eye could not see anything”. Other than that, it was not much.

After Annan found out that the “curse” of Silver Rank could improve his attributes, he planned to set it as a reward for the players’ main mission of the next phase. That would not only strengthen the players but also show that he trusted the players and strengthen the oath power.

In a way, it was “three birds” with one stone.

However, Joseph did not expect Clara’s personality to change quickly after being invited to enter the White Tower. She had already learned of Joseph’s curse and gradually began to blackmail him.

It might not be at the level of blackmailing, but she did keep asking Joseph for more things.

Instead, it was precisely because she was used to a hard life and lacked a sense of security that she cared more about her future quality of life. Due to Joseph’s desire to be in control, she did not get to know other wizards, so she could only ask Joseph for more stuff.

In her original life trajectory, she should marry a foreman, a government clerk, or a teacher. If she was lucky, she might marry a young priest.

Unless this priest suddenly advanced to the bishop level, she would never be able to achieve a rank promotion in her life.

After she came into contact with the wizard’s world, this became possible.

As long as she could graduate to become an official wizard, she would be hired by the local nobles, and she would not be worried about her daily necessities for a lifetime. Even the nobles had to respect her. Coupled with her well-cared-for appearance and figure, she could become a noble lady if lucky.

Even though the status of a Silver Rank Great Wizard was much higher than that of the local nobles.

Clara still wanted Joseph to get a title, preferably a fief, or get more money. But, Joseph knew he did not need that.

As an Edict Wizard, he was the only transcender with “the ability to detect falsehoods”. He could verify the owner of an item, interpret whether the other party was lying, carrying poisons and dangerous items, check the cause of wounds, see people’s real names, and space manipulation abilities. For example, pushing someone away or swapping the two people’s locations.

The Edict school was the most convenient wizard school in real life.

He would be the best cop, detective, and bodyguard. Any nobleman must befriend at least one Edict Wizard, or else trouble would come.

If Edict Wizard had his territory and title, doing things would be much more inconvenient. It was because he was no longer impartial.

However, Clara could not understand it. She even contacted some jobs and asked him to use his spells to do some illegal things. If Joseph refused, Clara would mention that Joseph, her mentor, did not allow her to graduate and advance to become a wizard.

That was actually the direct cause of the intensification of their conflicts.

Considering the age…

Louis was 30 years old this year, and his father died shortly after his birth. Moreover, he was personally taught by his uncle, Alexander when he was in the Silver Knight. Thus, the time when Alexander executed the mission should be 50 years ago. At the same time, Elle’s mother died forty-six years ago.

So, Joseph might have even fought against Alexander back then.

It was because of a major problem with intelligence that Alexander must have spared many people, perhaps including Elle’s mother.

Annan thought of this, so he immediately asked, “Your Excellency Alexander, do you know a man named Joseph Buckel?”

“Where is he from?” Perhaps because the time was too long, Alexander was confused for a while.

After Annan reminded him that this was about Freezing Water Port 45 years ago, Alexander soon came to a realization.

“Do you mean the ‘Hand of Justice’ Buckel? I know him, but I haven’t seen him in a long time. He is probably dead.

“Yes, I’ve seen him. I was hunting down his ex-wife, who believed in Black Widow. Even though I failed in arresting her in the end, she broke her limit and concocted a poison capable of killing me as I pushed her to the edge. However, she was inadequate and died because of the backlash of the ritual’s failure.”

He shook his head regretfully, “It’s a pity because I did not intend to kill her even though she would be subjected to death penalty if arrested. However, Buckel had already talked to me at the time.”

When Alexander talked about it, he paused and added calmly, “I accepted his bribe. Of course, it was within the scope of the ‘transaction’ allowed by the Silver Sire. After all, his ex-wife believed in Black Widow not long ago, which she only had the time to kill one person. She almost killed her second husband, but luckily I came just in time, and the man survived. I remember that the man seemed to be a well-known painter. I don’t know the details, so I don’t have a deep memory about it. Since she didn’t commit multiple murders, her crime can be changed from ‘living sacrifice practice’ to ‘murder’. If she pays for the bail fully, her punishment can be shortened to 10 years in prison.

“It’s just that his ex-wife didn’t trust me… or rather, she didn’t trust Buckel, and she died in the end. I had taken the potion Buckel gave me, and I couldn’t give it back to him. I was deeply sorry about it.

“So after he returned to the capital, I could only compensate him with my weapon. Although he did not want to accept it and said it was not my fault, I gave him the hammer in the end.

“That’s my favorite curse vessel, but not the curse vessel he needs the most. So I need to give up what I treasure most to discipline myself.”

Alexander sighed and said with some regret and nostalgia, “Although I know this is not in line with the value of what he handed me, this is the greatest compensation I can make.”

The Paper Princess asked curiously from the side, “Is it to warn yourself to be serious about making a promise to other people?”

“No, but that’s to stop myself from making random promises, especially things that I may not be able to.” Alexander’s eyes were calm, and his gaze was deep.

Wait, hammer? Annan was surprised.

No way?

Annan was amused.

Fate is the best and worst director.

Alexander indirectly killed Clara, which led to Amos starting to study Ritual Spell, summoning the Venerated Skeleton, betraying Elle, and eventually forming “Nightmare: Gallery”. Amos himself was killed by Buckel, who held the “Barrier Destroyer’s Right Arm”.

Meanwhile, without Annan’s intervention, Louis might end up dying at Freezing Water Port, given his stubbornness. Perhaps, the Angel of Betrayal had hatched by that time.

If Alexander gave that overkill hammer to Buckel, the story was connected.

This was the karma that existed even outside the nightmare.

The power of destiny.

Annan asked probingly, “Can I ask? Do you remember the name of that curse vessel?”

The answer was as expected.

“It’s called ‘Barrier Destroyer’s Right Arm’, and it’s a one-handed hammer. It’s a custom-made curse vessel from the blacksmith in my church.” Alexander replied with nostalgia.