Chapter 2580 Suspicion <TOC> Chapter 2582 A Promise
Translator: SumTLMan
At the moment when the contract backlash occurred, the Black Count immediately withdrew the contract’s barrier.
However, the power of the contract did not disperse as a result, and it still tightly enveloped Daus.
It was as though you had signed a contract on parchment, and even if you breached it and tore the parchment apart, the contract would still hold effect.
For Daus, the agonizing screams lasted for a full two minutes.
For Daus, those two minutes were probably the longest of his life. For others, it served as a reminder and a warning of how terrifying the power of a contract backlash can be.
The contract barrier is merely the weakest form of contract backlash. If it were a contract officially signed under the witness of the World Will, the backlash could be a hundred times, or even a thousand times more severe.
Two minutes later, the power of the contract backlash finally dissipated completely. When the brilliance faded, everyone could see Daus again.
There was no apparent change in Daus’ appearance, except that he lay on the ground with a tear sliding from the corner of his eye, displaying a demeanor of utter despondency.
“Is he… alright?” Breaking the silence was Vai, who had recently sworn to himself to refrain from speaking recklessly.
As an old friend of Daus, this was the first time Vai had seen him like this. He appeared as though he was about to die, though he was physically unharmed.
“If it had been you two youngsters experiencing the contract backlash, you’d probably be beyond help by now. But Daus won’t die,” the Black Count said, referring to Vai and Kael.
Vai: “But he looks like…”
The Black Count indifferently replied: “His bloodline’s body has completely withstood the power of the contract backlash, not even tearing his clothes, which shows he’s alright.”
Vai wanted to ask why Daus was still lying on the ground, but before he could voice his question, the Black Count, as if he had foreseen the query, said: “As for why he’s still lying there, he probably feels… embarrassed.”
This answer from the Black Count took everyone by surprise, including Angel, who thought that Daus might have sustained injuries to his sea of consciousness or mental space. But it seemed, according to the Black Count, that he was actually fine?
“After all, the pain was real, he screamed miserably for so long and even shed tears, he probably feels completely humiliated. Unfortunately, you didn’t use a memory stone to capture that scene earlier,” the Black Count paused and then turned to Angel: “Your illusion magic should be able to recreate the scene, right? How about you do it now, and I’ll have Vai prepare a memory stone.”
Before Angel could respond, Daus suddenly sprang up from the ground and rushed to Angel, exclaiming: “No!”
“I’m fine, really. I just suddenly felt homesick, missing my old mother. I wonder how she is doing now. Once this ruin exploration is over, I’ll go see her,” Daus sincerely told Angel.
However, when he turned to Vai and Kael, his expression was ferociously stern, as if to say: You have to believe it, whether you like it or not.
Vai and Kael could only awkwardly nod in response.
The Black Count actually wanted to scoff: “Missing your mother? You’re over eighty years old; if she’s a mortal, how could she still be alive?” But then he thought, perhaps his mother was turned into a talent by Daus, so it’s possible she could still be alive. So, he ended up saying nothing.
Seeing Daus’ behavior, Angel believed the Black Count’s judgment. This guy, despite possibly suffering from contract backlash, certainly wasn’t critically injured; the greater wound was to his pride, having lost face.
Normally, it was Daus who watched others play out their dramas; now that he had become the protagonist in this scenario, he could hardly accept it.
“Angel, my dear good friend, please don’t listen to the slander of strangers. Illusion abilities should rightly be used against enemies, not to torment an already pitiable friend like myself. Wouldn’t that hurt your heart?”
Daus was still worried that Angel might actually follow the Black Count’s advice, so he clung tightly to Angel.
“You have two choices,” Angel told Daus: “First, under the contract barrier, repeat those two sentences you just said. If you don’t trigger the power of the contract, then I believe you.”
Days: “…”
Daus fell silent for a moment, then asked: “What’s the second choice?”
Angel looked down at his wrist held tightly by Daus: “Second, let go of my hand and stay five meters away from me, and we’ll pretend nothing happened.”
Daus hesitated no further, immediately letting go and swiftly retreating to a corner.
“You can let go easily now, but he was planning to trap you within the contract barrier earlier,” the Black Count remarked casually.
“I wouldn’t have fallen for it; I would have chosen to remain silent to any of his problems,” Angel paused, then thought to himself: Besides, I haven’t yet gotten Little Gold’s offspring from Daus; it’s better if nothing happens to him.
“Alright, back to the main topic. Since the Black Count has already clarified things, the appearance of Uisus language here can be seen as both a coincidence and somewhat expected,” Angel continued: “Daus and Kael, you two shouldn’t have any objections, right?”
Kael was a bit surprised that Angel specifically mentioned him because even if the Black Count had ulterior motives, he had no right to object. Now that the Black Count had proven it was a coincidence, albeit not entirely, he had even less reason to object, so he nodded without hesitation.
As for Daus, having just suffered from contract backlash, he no longer wanted to argue and just mumbled something to let it pass.
Confirming that the team had temporarily reached a consensus, Angel then looked to the Black Count: “Lord, can we translate this Uisus language now?”
The Black Count nodded and again activated the contract barrier.
This can also be considered a display of sincerity. Under the witness of the contract, his translation is at least correct on the surface.
The moment the contract barrier appeared, Daus shuddered, slowly retreated to the edge of the light barrier, and eventually left it altogether.
It seems that Daus was truly frightened by the contract barrier.
Accompanying Daus was Vai. Not out of the friendship between them, but purely because Vai also feared that saying the wrong thing might lead to the contract backlash.
Kael, however, was completely indifferent to the contract barrier, which also shows, as Daus described, that Kael is indeed a very pure person.
The Black Count did not care about the departure of Daus and Vai either, but looked at Angel: “From which sentence should we start translating?”
Angel: “Lord, please take a look first. If you can integrate the overall thought process, just give an outline. That way, we don’t have to translate sentence by sentence.”
The Black Count showed sincerity with the contract barrier, and Angel reciprocated with this trust.
The Black Count looked deeply at Angel: “Now, I find you much more pleasing than your foolish mentor.”
Angel did not speak, as long as the Black Count no longer used his “nostril” as if it were an eye, he would take that statement as a compliment.
The Black Count refocused on the podium top, beginning to study the complicated and chaotic characters on it.
With only a nose, it was impossible to discern the Black Count’s facial expressions, but Angel, as a master of emotional perception, could sense the fluctuations in the Black Count’s emotions as he read different characters.
This was probably something the Black Count did not expect.
Throughout the process, the Black Count’s emotions fluctuated significantly, indicating that these characters probably hid many secrets.
After viewing all the characters, the Black Count fell into deep thought, seemingly integrating the information obtained.
After quite a while, the Black Count finally spoke: “You were right earlier; this is indeed a religious organization. However, the deity they worship is very strange, something even I have never heard of. It’s unclear where it came from, whether it is real or fake.”
After hesitating for a moment, the Black Count revealed the name of the deity: “The Demon God of Mirrors.”
Seconds later, the Black Count: “I don’t feel like I’m being watched.”
When mentioning a Demon God, the first thing that comes to mind is surely a Demon God from the Abyss. The basic ability of an Abyss Demon God is to respond to “believers.” Even across thousands of worlds, as long as you call its name, the Demon God will have a vague sensation. If you are “lucky,” the Demon God will turn its gaze towards you.
That’s why the Black Count hesitated just now and made it clear immediately that he was not being observed.
Angel: “Is it a Demon God from the Abyss?”
The Black Count: “I do not know; it is not mentioned in these characters. Everything said about this deity is meaningless praise.”
“Also, these characters were likely inscribed by different people, some as sermon prompts, others purely as records. Like the praises of the deity, they are a form of record.”
“The characters are fragmented, making it fundamentally difficult to find a single logical chain. It’s hard to integrate them, but if you don’t mind, I could guess to fill some logical gaps, though I can’t guarantee it’s correct.”
Angel nodded: “I understand. Please proceed, lord.”
The Black Count paused momentarily before starting his narration.
It seems that when Nightfall City was not yet abandoned, a group of followers of the Demon God of Mirrors came here under the guidance of “someone.”
This “someone,” the Black Count did not know who it could be, perhaps a divine servant associated with the Demon God of Mirrors, or perhaps the Demon God itself.
After these followers arrived here, they built an underground church closest to “some place” under the guidance of this “someone.”
As for why they came to Nightfall City and built this underground church, the supposed purpose was something called the “artifact.”
“They aimed for the artifact, I surmise, because it’s repeatedly mentioned above, said to have been stolen by a thief who then presented it to the ruler of the city at that time. As for what the artifact is, it’s not described in detail.”
After hearing this, Angel’s face showed an odd expression: “An artifact? A thief?”
If this statement hadn’t come from the Black Count, he would have thought it was a fantasy novel written by someone with a wild imagination.
In the real extraordinary world, a thief trying to break into a cult to steal an artifact is practically a fairytale. Unless the thief is a legendary shadow wizard, and he can face an entire cult along with the wrath of the Demon God, such an endeavor would be impossible.
“Yes, it’s recorded like that,” said Black Count: “Moreover, it was ‘someone’ who said this.”
“‘Someone’ said it, huh? Then this person’s identity probably isn’t the deity itself,” spoke Angel, otherwise, this Demon God is too meddlesome, issuing divine decrees for everything.
Black Count thought for a moment and said: “The characters do not mention who this ‘someone’ is, but what’s strange is… When I read about ‘someone,’ I always felt that this ‘someone’ is different from the other followers, somewhat detached.”
Angel asked: “What do you mean?”
Black Count speculated: “I guess this ‘someone’ might never have met these followers face-to-face.”
Angel responded: “That’s an insight worth considering; I’ve noted it down. Any other news? Was the name of the ruler who possessed the artifact mentioned?”
Black Count shook his head: “No, but from the scattered text, it appears that this ruler seemed to govern some institution.”
Angel sorted through his thoughts and said: “So, this group of cultists wants to infiltrate the institution where the ruler presides. And previously, you mentioned that this underground church is close to ‘some place,’ so that place must be where the institution is, or at least, not far from it.”
The Black Count nodded: “That is a fair statement.”
Angel looked up at the Black Count and asked: “Lord, how exactly was that ‘some place’ referred to in the original text?”
The Black Count shook his head: “It wasn’t specified, just referred to as ‘there’ as a geographical placeholder.”
“That’s all the information I can translate,” the Black Count stated: “Do you have any other questions?”
Angel actually had one more question. He noticed a strong fluctuation in the Black Count’s emotions when a certain string of characters was seen. Although the Black Count was restrained, Angel caught it. He pondered whether to ask what those characters meant.
If he asked… he could sense the Black Count’s emotions, and they could hardly be hidden then.
But not to ask would be somewhat unsatisfying.
Angel thought for a moment and then asked: “Lord, aside from the information you’ve mentioned, is there any other important information?”
The Black Count asked: “What do you define as important information?”
“It’s not my definition, but rather what you, lord, consider important. Is there more?”
This time, the Black Count was silent.
“There must be something he’s hiding, otherwise why wouldn’t he answer? This contract barrier is quite something, isn’t it? Tying your own hands,” undoubtedly, the only one who would dare to speak to the Black Count with such schadenfreude was Daus.
“You’ve forgotten the pain after your wounded ego has recovered,” Angel glanced at Daus and said: “Those standing outside should not speak. If you want to speak, come inside the barrier.”
Daus chuckled and actually followed Angel’s advice, choosing not to speak further.
Angel then looked towards the Black Count: “It seems there indeed is information that you, lord, find important.”
With the contract barrier in place, the Black Count had to admit: “There are some things I prefer not to disclose, but they should be unrelated to the ruins we plan to visit.”
“If you, lord, are certain that this information has no connection to our subsequent exploration, then you need not disclose it. But, are you truly certain?”
Before this, the Black Count had used a vague term like “should” to respond, exploiting loopholes in the contract barrier.
With his question, Angel was pressing the Black Count for a definitive answer.