OBS Chapter 144 The Pale Hand Incident
Chapter 144 The Pale Hand Incident
Chapter 145 The Pale Hand Incident
Kyle sat on the cold stone platform, taking deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart and the chaotic thoughts that threatened to overwhelm him.
He forced himself to close his eyes, immersing his consciousness back into the terrifying experience he had just had, trying his best to capture every fleeting detail, every touch, and every energy fluctuation.
"They—especially the leader of the deacons, their mental power is extremely—strange."
Kyle's voice still trembled weakly, but his tone was unusually focused, each word sounding as if it were plucked from a taut string.
"That is not any elemental property we are familiar with, nor is it a common form of negative energy—it is more like a highly condensed, forcibly distorted, and extremely polluting entity of will!"
It penetrated my normal mental defenses directly; I even felt my thought frequency being disrupted, and I almost lost control of my own thoughts.
Holm's eyes suddenly sharpened, and he leaned forward slightly: "Pure, corrosive willpower? That sounds like a high-level school specializing in mind control, or—something older, more forbidden art."
He raised his hand, gesturing for Kyle to elaborate.
"There's another butler!"
Kyle suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils still showing lingering fear.
"He was holding a compass! Its silver-gray casing emitted a very faint but extremely eerie glow! That was the thing—it was terrifyingly accurate, directly pinpointing the location where I was hiding!"
Even more incredibly, when I activated all the protective enchanted items in my panic, the compass's light became even more dazzling! It seemed—not only could it track objects, but it could also resonate with high-intensity energy responses!
"An energy-sensing directional tracking compass?"
Holm's brow furrowed deeply, forming a deep furrow.
"The ability to locate something so precisely that it is hidden by multiple magical barriers and physical isolation" — this technology is not something that a place like Anse Academy could possess, nor is it something that can be obtained through ordinary black market channels!
What other features does a compass have? The runes on the dial? The structural design? Every detail can be crucial!
Kyle tried to recall his memories, but ultimately shook his head in frustration: "Too fast—everything happened too fast—and my mind was in shock at the time. I can only barely remember that the pointer seemed to be made of some kind of black material, the patterns on the dial were ancient and complex, and the style—it was definitely not any of the styles commonly seen on our continent of Ekar."
"Non-Eikal style —"
Holm repeated in a low voice, a thoughtful glint in his eyes.
"at last!"
Kyle's voice suddenly rose, filled with disbelief.
"The moment the final alarm was triggered! Their evacuation method was also extremely bizarre! It wasn't ordinary invisibility or high-speed movement; they were more like—"
It either disintegrated directly into the surrounding shadows or made some kind of precise spatial jump within a very small area!
It vanished from its spot in an instant, leaving no trace of conventional magic!
"Shadow Affinity or Short-Range Spatial Teleportation —"
Holm's fingers tapped unconsciously and rapidly on the edge of the cold stone platform, the soft tapping echoing in the silent chamber, making the heavy atmosphere almost suffocating.
"There's one more thing—"
Kyle suddenly remembered something, and although the detail was insignificant, it seemed particularly abrupt in the context of the intense situation at the time.
"When that head deacon was reprimanding me, his fingers would unconsciously tap the table or his own arm in a very peculiar rhythm, and—"
He seemed extremely uncomfortable in his butler's robes, his movements occasionally revealing a subtle stiffness, as if—the clothes made him feel very uncomfortable, even disgusted.
"Habitual body language — discomfort with camouflage clothing —"
A glint of light flashed in Holm's eyes.
"This further confirms that they are definitely not part of the academic system, and may even rarely carry out missions requiring long-term infiltration and disguise. These details are extremely, extremely important!"
Just then, the door to the secret room was knocked on again.
The elderly wizard who had left earlier returned, his expression even more solemn and serious than when he left.
He carefully held a crystal tray in his hands, on which lay the object that had been recovered from the scene.
The miniature space prop has now completely lost its energy glow.
"Lord Holm, the preliminary test results are in."
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The elder wizard's voice was deep and heavy, as if carrying a thousand pounds of weight.
The force that triggered this item was a very special power, a magic that Anse Academy could not possibly possess! More importantly—"
He paused, as if gathering his strength to speak, before presenting the crystal tray to Holm: "We detected an extremely minute, yet absolutely non-negligible, residual amount of a special energy on it! Preliminary comparisons show that the characteristics of this energy—and the characteristics of an unknown energy recorded in our database from nearly three hundred years ago in the 'Pale Hand' incident—match each other by a staggering 73%!"
"A pale hand?!"
Holm abruptly stood up from the stone platform, his face showing genuine shock for the first time!
That was an ancient taboo event recorded deep within the top-secret files of the Tower of Eternity, closely related to two mysterious and powerful foreign level three wizards from back then!
Because the first person to appear was a necromancer, it was later euphemistically referred to as the "Pale Hand" incident.
"And it gets worse, Lord Holm."
The elder wizard took a deep breath and continued his report, his tone so heavy it was as if he were announcing devastating news.
"Our men have taken control of the police station as quickly as possible and located the two deacons."
But they were all dead.
"Dead?!" Kyle exclaimed in shock, his heart nearly leaping out of his chest.
"Yes. The cause of death was an extremely bizarre annihilation of their spiritual essence. Their soul cores were completely destroyed by some kind of force. There were no signs of struggle or resistance at the scene, as if they were instantly silenced by some pre-programmed trigger spell or precise remote control. Moreover—"
The older wizard turned his gaze to Holm, his voice lower and carrying a hint of coldness.
After continuous exposure to the highest intensity of the "Eye of True Sight," we discovered that these two corpses—
Their facial bone structure and muscle texture show extremely subtle, but by no means naturally formed, distortions.
Despite their flawless disguise, which nearly fooled all our previous conventional detection spells, the Eye of Truth revealed that they had likely been replaced long ago! The real deacon has probably already perished!
boom!
The news exploded like a thunderclap in the small, enclosed room!
All the scattered clues seemed to be connected by an invisible, malicious thread at this moment, suddenly pointing to a terrifying possibility that sent chills down one's spine!
Holm's face was so dark it could drip water, his eyes churning with shock, raging fury, and a rare, deep sense of apprehension.
"This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment robbery—it was a long-planned, lurking conspiracy—"
He spoke slowly, his voice hoarse from extreme tension.
"Impersonating a butler might just be one of their many disguises. Their true schemes are probably far more complex than simply stealing this one item."
He abruptly turned to Kyle and the elder wizard, his tone resolute and authoritative: "Immediately! Report everything that happened here, especially the information regarding the residual energy of the 'Pale Hand' and its long-term disguise, using the highest level of encryption in the Tower of Eternity! Immediately request the 'Sun' forces to intervene and investigate!"
"Sunday!"
The elder wizard gasped, his face drained of color—that was the ultimate special forces unit within the Eternal Tower, responsible for handling the most dangerous, secretive, and far-reaching major events!
"Then—then my sister—"
Kyle's heart was once again gripped by a chilling fear.
If their opponent is such a terrifying being, then Senna falling into their hands—
Holm's gaze was sharp as a knife, seemingly able to pierce through all fog: "Your sister, Sena, is currently still under the care of the police station. Our people have confirmed that she is safe and sound for the time being!"
Then, he looked at the elder wizard again, speaking quickly and clearly: "Immediately mobilize all available resources to comprehensively increase the level of surveillance and search efforts in and around Sel City!"
The focus of the investigation is on all locations where abnormal energy fluctuations, missing persons, or cases of unusual behavior have been reported recently! With such a meticulous operation, they could not possibly leave no trace!
"Understood, Lord Holm!" the elder wizard replied solemnly.
Inside the sealed room, the air was so tense that it felt like sparks could fly at any moment.
Kyle felt a bone-chilling cold rise from his spine and instantly spread to his limbs and bones.
The enemy's depth of concealment, the breadth of their plans, and the unpredictability of their methods have completely exceeded his initial expectations.
The massive war machine that is the Tower of Eternity has been quietly activated and is beginning to slowly reveal its terrifying power!
Meanwhile, in a shadowy corner on the far outskirts of Sel City.
"Sean, what exactly was the purpose of all those things you made me do?"
Feeling safe and secure, Hughes looked at the seemingly empty corner and asked a question with dissatisfaction.
"Everything has its purpose, Lord Hughes. Soon, the Tower of Eternity's attention will be subtly redirected toward the Ed family."
A pure white figure, as if solidified from nothingness, slowly emerged from the corner. Sean answered Hughes's question with his unique, calm and even voice.
"Heh, I have absolutely no interest in your schemes and plots behind the scenes."
Lilith's voice cut in coldly, clearly impatient.
"Our mission is complete. It's time to prepare to withdraw and return! Tell your master backing you to prepare a list of what he wants, and the deal is done."
Her only thought now is to leave this troublesome place of Aikar as soon as possible, return to the Holy Temple to report back, and finally put an end to this hot potato of a task.
"Of course, Lady Lilith, this is information about the items my master wants."
Sean seemed oblivious to the coldness in Lilith's words, and casually took out a sealed letter from his pocket and handed it over.
Lilith took the letter made of some special parchment, her fingers not even pausing for a moment, and casually stuffed it into her pocket without even looking at it, as if she were dealing with a piece of trash, since she wouldn't be paying for it in the end anyway.
"Goods received, transaction complete."
Her tone was indifferent and detached, clearly drawing a line between them.
"As for your grudges and entanglements with the Ed family, they have nothing to do with our Holy Church."
All she wanted now was to leave as quickly as possible, leaving all the trouble and conspiracies behind her completely behind.
Hughes nodded silently, clearly agreeing with Lilith's decision.
Although the mission seemed to go smoothly on the surface, the eeriness and potential enormous risks he felt during the process filled him with intense unease, especially the abnormal fluctuations that erupted from the "cargo" at the last moment and the terrifying pursuit that might come from the Tower of Eternity.
A subtle, enigmatic smile returned to Sean's overly pale face. He bowed slightly. "As you wish, Lady Lilith, Lord Hughes. I wish you both a safe journey home. As for the subsequent payment," my master hopes—the delivery can be completed as soon as possible.
As soon as he finished speaking, his figure, like ink dripping into water, silently disappeared into the thick shadows, vanishing without a trace.
Lilith and Hughes exchanged a glance, no longer hesitating.
Their figures quickly became blurry and distorted, like two ghosts without substance, silently rushing towards the pre-set evacuation point.