Chapter 58

57 The Hanged Man

"Is this... death?"

Looking at the toad statue on the altar that had faded from its golden color and become as dim as a clay statue, the few people in the secret room were shocked.

"How is that possible?!"

One middle-aged man with a full head of blonde hair was the most agitated. Seeing the toad statue that had already cracked, he said in disbelief:

"I clearly investigated it! Besides having a very precise business eye, Old Charle is a completely ordinary person. How could he resist the Holy Spirit of the Weighing Gold Sect? Something we don't know must have happened there!"

"There are too many things you don't know!"

Looking at the shattered statue on the altar with extreme heartache, an old man with a rose crest embroidered on his chest slammed the table and roared at the middle-aged man with eyes full of indignation:

"Thomas! We agreed at the beginning that as long as we cooperated with you to squeeze out Charle Department Store, the Laien family would join the York family to buy shares and make our Masaini family's department store bigger.

As a result, the shares of Rose Department Store were given to you! We invested money in the hydropower company! We also worked together to dig down the dam of the Road Administration Department! But Rose Department Store not only didn't get bigger, but it's about to be squeezed out!"

Speaking up to here, it seemed not enough to vent his anger. The old man of the Masaini family slammed the table hard and scolded the blonde middle-aged man, losing all his composure:

"You said Old Charle's promotion kidnapped too many people, and you had no good way, so you could only use some abnormal means to solve it.

Fine! Then use abnormal means. I even invited the Holy Spirit of the Weighing Gold Sect for you! Is this means abnormal enough?

You bastard, didn't you say that as long as the Holy Spirit descended and caused a mass death event, we could find an excuse to let the municipal side order a forced shutdown of Charle Department Store's promotion for safety reasons, cutting off its last breath...

But what was the result? Tell me, what was the result? The result is that the Holy Spirit is dead!!! How do you expect me to explain this to the Weighing Gold Sect? You fucking are simply..."

"Enough!"

Seeing that the words of the old man in fine clothes were becoming increasingly impolite, the blonde middle-aged man's expression also turned gloomy, and he asked back with an extremely ugly face:

"I am human! Not an omniscient god! How could such a low-probability event be predicted?

Also, I didn't want your Masaini family to get involved in the first place; you insisted on coming up! Even the Holy Spirit of the Weighing Gold Sect was invited by you yourself!

And have you forgotten? To invite that toad, how many benefits did you ask from us? As a result, it was slaughtered by someone without even making a sound! I think that Weighing Gold Sect of yours is simply..."

"Both of you, stop it."

Just as the conflict between the two sides was about to erupt completely, a cold, hard voice full of "ice shards" sounded, curbing the situation that was about to escalate.

"Lord Thomas."

After calling the name of the blonde middle-aged man, the black-robed person in the main seat turned around and stared at him seriously:

"Although the Weighing Gold Sect is not a great sect, it has a True God behind it after all. If you don't want to be assassinated by them endlessly, you'd better watch your words. Also..."

After turning his head to look at the old man in fine clothes who was full of killing intent, the black-robed person continued to speak in that cold voice that made people shiver, without any emotion:

"The Holy Spirit you invited was not killed by anyone, but encountered some incomprehensible situation, which caused it to doubt the philosophy it had always firmly believed in, which is why it moved toward destruction."

After hearing the judgment of the black-robed person, the representative of the York family, who had been silent, couldn't help but ask in surprise:

"Just because it doubted... it died?"

"Not just doubt, but it could no longer convince itself... but it's not impossible for you to understand it that way.

As Holy Spirits born from faith and concepts, their existence itself is an aggregation of beliefs and rules. When it begins to doubt what it firmly believes in, it is equivalent to being deprived of the meaning of existence, and naturally, it will move toward death uncontrollably."

Speaking up to here, the black-robed person shook his head and concluded indifferently:

"Only extremes will be remembered, only paranoia dares to move forward, and only madness can understand greatness."

"For you humans, this extreme paranoia about philosophy may be a bit hard to accept, but this paranoia is precisely the root of the Holy Spirits' strength, and it is also their most fatal weakness.

If you still can't understand, imagine them as Hanged Men who firmly believe that the sky is below and the earth is above, and therefore can walk freely in the sky.

And once they begin to doubt the philosophy they firmly believed in the past, it is equivalent to destroying the rationality of standing in the sky, so they can only fall from the sky while dancing and fall to death on the earth... Do you understand?"

"I probably understand a little..."

The person from the York family frowned and thought for a while, then asked:

"So... what exactly happened to that Holy Spirit of the Weighing Gold Sect? Can you guess?"

"I can guess a little."

Hearing this, the black-robed person narrowed his eyes and said expressionlessly:

"It might not be so easy to guess in other places, but since it's in the Capital... the only person who can completely destroy the philosophy of a Holy Spirit is that one."

"Achoo!!!"

Strange... am I actually still able to sneeze?

After rubbing his suddenly itchy nose with some surprise, the red-haired director in the office sat up straight and opened the file in her hand with curiosity.

【Cleanup Report on the Descent of the Weighing Gold Sect Holy Spirit】

【Event Rating: Disaster Level】

【Event Status: Cleaned up】

【Event Handler: Leon Laien】

【Anomalous Objects Used: Demon's Horn, Witch's Broom】

【Casualties: 1 person slightly injured】

【...】

At the same time...

"I'm sorry! I'm really, really sorry!!!"

Looking at Leon, who was wrapped in a thick circle of bandages on the hospital bed with a neck brace under his neck, the baby-faced girl in a professional skirt bowed to the ground, crying with tears in her eyes:

"When the money box was customized, if I had been more careful during the inspection and had someone reinforce the box body, you wouldn't have been injured by the golden wheels falling from the box! Woo... it's all my fault..."

Uh... this injury of mine is really not your fault...

Looking at the baby-faced girl who was crying very sadly with both eyes swollen, Leon, whose cervical spine and ribs were injured by the golden wheels on the hospital bed, didn't know what to say for a moment.

If I remember correctly, after the incident at the Red Brick Road Hospital was modified by the Evil God's Brain into a gas pipeline explosion, you were the one who took the blame for improper inspection and came to apologize while crying.

And this time, after the Holy Spirit descent event was modified into an accident where the golden wheels in the money box collapsed and injured me as I passed by, you were actually the one who took the blame again and came to apologize to me while crying.

Looking at the baby-faced girl who was crying quite sadly in front of him, Leon couldn't help but smack his lips with a complicated expression.

Miss... is your luck a bit bad?