The mansion in the distance was, for some reason, empty. No one was there. Jonathan Steelwill or Colten Steelwill weren't inside nor anywhere in the mansion, even the maid. It was lifeless and looked like an empty mansion.
"Sandra, are you sure that you only lost sight of Mair Steelwill and not the others? What about the Viscount and the first son? Or even the first and second wives?"
"Yes. The others also reported the same. They are still in the mansion." The Dark Elf answered without hesitation.
Sandra wouldn't lie to me, so the report must be accurate. So… What happened?
'Is it an <Illusion Magic>? If it's something like <Mind Control>, it shouldn't work on Sandra as I have dominated her and had full control of her mind already.'
Anyway, it became troublesome. I also couldn't check inside the mine because it was considered another area by my radar.
"Follow me, Saandra. We will check the mansion first."
I took [Shadow Cape] from my inventory and wore it to hide my face. If I were seen, I had no doubt that the citizens would make a commotion, and I wanted to avoid that if possible.
Just like I ordered, Sandra followed behind me without saying anything. She was like a machine now, someone who would move only with an order. The cute Dark Elf that nibbled on bread whenever she had a chance was nowhere to be seen.
Soon, we arrived at the mansion and entered through a balcony on the second floor.
"Show me Viscount Steelwill's room," I ordered Sandra, and she nodded in acknowledgment.
With her in the front, we navigated inside the mansion and went to the second floor. She stopped in front of double wooden doors with intricate details.
"It's here, Master."
I nodded at her.
"Step aside."
My instinct honed through countless battles in Horizon Online was screaming at me. It was here. Not anywhere else but here.
I was wrong. No, we were too blinded by the information I got.
The information was real and confirmed, but I didn't count on one extra possibility that was always there.
Bam!
I kicked the door open and entered the room. My nose squinted from the strong smell of blood, and so was Sandra. I frowned as I looked over the room.
"What is this?" Sandra asked in a trembling voice. She didn't even dare to enter. "Master… This…"
"Don't say anything about this." I immediately ordered her.
The room was covered in some kind of magic circle made from blood.
Yes, blood.
It was usually impossible to draw anything on blood because it disappeared once people were revived. It was only possible when the owner of the blood was still alive.
But this huge amount of drawing that filled this large room should've needed more than 50 or 100 people's worth of blood.
I saw two heads propped on a table in the middle of the room. They belonged to women around 50 years old. I assumed they were the first and the second wives of Viscount Steelwill.
I wasn't a magic expert and knew almost nothing about it. But I could still read and see.
And what was written on the magic circle around the two heads, which somehow hadn't disappeared from the revival process yet, was one word.
Hell.
This room was used for a ritual to manifest a part of Hell into the world.
"This is bad news." I frowned deeply as I took out [Caliburn] from my inventory. "Sandra, go to the church in this city and inform them to evacuate the citizens! Fast!"
I threw a cape with the Castitas Church's logo to her, which she caught easily.
"As you command!"
Leaving those words, Sandra disappeared from the hallway, and I heard footsteps running away from the mansion.
That cape was a part of my paladin uniform, which I didn't often use. The people in the church should trust Sandra with that in hand. Besides, she also wore a hood that belonged to the shadow squad. Any Bishop or Archbishop would also recognize that.
"For now… I should deal with this."
I unsheathed [Caliburn] from its sheath, stabbed it on the ground, and began chanting.
"Oh, Holy light."
There were a few requirements to use the highest level of <Holy Magic>, the ultimate skill like <Dimensional Breaker>.
One, a person must've had a Max Lv <Holy Magic>. Second, that person must have more than 90 INT stats. Third, there should be an item that has the effect of enhancing <Holy Magic>.
I had all of that, and so I just needed to chant to activate it.
"The light that cast away the darkness."
Because I didn't know how strong the Lv of this ritual was, I had no leeway to use anything other than this.
Hell was another part of the dimension where the dark creature lived. They mostly had <Darkness Magic> or <Curse>, and the opposite of that was <Holy Magic>.
"Give me warmth and dispel evil."
So, in theory, I should be able to stop this ritual with <Holy Magic>.
"<Sanctuary>."
[Caliburn] exploded in light that basked the entire room as soon as I activated the skill, the highest Lv that <Holy Magic> could achieve.
Everything disappeared. All evil, the bad feelings, and the smell of blood.
An illusory golden castle appeared in front of me before slowly covering the whole mansion.
Two heads on the tables looked relieved before they turned into motes of blue particles. Something that stopped them from entering the revival process had been purified.
After a few seconds, [Caliburn] turned dim, and the illusory golden castle disappeared. Magic circles that filled the room were also gone without any trace.
"Fuu…" I exhaled in relief and opened my status, looking at my MP.
Name: Arthur Vainglory
Race: Human
Lv: 100
Sins: 626
Virtues: 80
Status:
HP: 12200/12200 (MAX 100)
MP: 9420/9920 (MAX 100)
That skill alone took 500 of my MP. I would faint immediately if I used it without <Limit Break>. Thankfully, my status was out of the world right now, so I could use it many times without any problem.
But the effect should be able to purify anything related to Hell in this mansion. It achieved what I desired.
"Bastard." I cursed whoever created this ritual. They reminded me of the criminals in Horizon Online. "I hope there won't be something like this anymore. As if that would be the case."
I shot down my own words because I was pretty sure they had prepared a bigger one inside the mine.
"Damn it. This fucking family is nuts. To think that bastard would use his second son and his wives as a distraction and sacrifice… What a scum"
Everything was just a façade. The Assassin's Den and the information they intentionally spread by making Mair Steelwill become Mr. C.
I admitted that he was smart. No, they were pretty smart.
"Jonathan Steelwill and Colten Steelwill. I don't know what their goal is, but they fooled me."
If their goal was Queen Eve, they surely would launch an attack on that charity event. But that didn't seem to be the case. They just created a distraction by trying to assassinate the Queen and shifted our focus.
"Whatever." I jumped out of the window and ran toward the mine at full speed. "I will know when I torture them later. I just need to beat them up now."
