Chapter 102: The Death of Earl Jeremy

With a flash of light, Wu Chang and Aileen entered the earl's estate.

Guided by the Starlight Lighthouse, the special barrier surrounding the estate dissolved effortlessly, offering not the slightest resistance.

That the estate's self-defense barrier could be so easily breached made it hard not to suspect this was a backdoor left by Ebert.

After entering the estate, the divine messenger, as the master's representative, soon appeared before them.

Compared to the divine messenger observed through the resentment of the two fat players, the one Wu Chang saw with his own eyes had clearer features and richer detail.

To the two deceased Deepwater Society veteran players, the divine messenger's form resembled a 270p Japanese art film from ancient times—blurry to begin with, and key areas completely pixelated.

They could only see a shadow, unable to discern anything within it.

But Wu Chang was different; his 92-point Inspiration directly upgraded the divine messenger's resolution to 4K, letting him clearly see its true face.

The divine messenger's form was a bloody, unrecognizable pile of flesh—a twisted humanoid mass of mangled tissue, limbs contorted and wounds grotesque, clearly having suffered terrible trauma before death.

Faintly visible within the flesh-pile was a torn garment—a luxurious robe that, despite its damage and bloodstains, still revealed expensive fabric and meticulous tailoring through its patterns and cut.

Only the upper class, true nobility, could afford such clothing.

In Briver, very few met this standard; no guesswork was needed—the divine messenger was none other than Earl Jeremy.

As in the resentment's depiction, the divine messenger began summoning gargoyle statues to attack them.

Due to Wu Chang's high Good-Evil value, the divine messenger summoned only three gargoyles—the scene was pitifully meager.

Wu Chang's True Self didn't even bother transforming into the Whale Form; he casually fired three Palm Lightning strikes at the gargoyles.

The pure yang, righteous lightning art was the bane of these low-level ghostly entities—the gargoyles didn't even survive their opening CG before turning to shattered stone under the electric bolts.

With the gargoyles neutralized, the divine messenger began summoning falling rocks.

The rocks, originally the size of human heads and devastating in power, now shrank to the size of eggs in Wu Chang's presence.

This time, Wu Chang didn't even need to act—Aileen whispered a brief prayer and summoned a halo of holy light above their heads, effortlessly negating the falling rocks.

With her true body restored, Aileen, combined with the Grand Mother's prayers, could be considered an all-around support.

She could summon shields, cleanse debuffs, and restore life with holy light healing.

Nothing was more reassuring than having a powerful healer standing behind you.

And when that powerful healer was also a willing laborer, toiling without complaint, sharing neither experience nor rewards, calling her a mother wasn't an exaggeration.

In terms of player power, Aileen's abilities surpassed those of the same-support-class Fox Spirit by several times—her stats were close to those of a level seventeen or eighteen player.

Her participation was the hidden reward for completing the hidden side quest.

The Arrogant Messenger's falling rocks lasted three minutes—three minutes of continuous bombardment failed to break even Aileen's first protective barrier.

This left Wu Chang somewhat disappointed in the Arrogant Messenger; after all, it was one of the Seven Deadly Sins' leaders—was this really all it had?

Sensing the threat posed by Wu Chang and Aileen, the Arrogant Messenger did not charge forward to fight; instead, he turned and fled into the main house.

Wu Chang had no rush to kill the Arrogant Messenger—he followed behind him with Aileen, like a cat chasing a mouse into the main house.

He still needed the messenger alive, to lead him to more secrets hidden within the earl's estate.

After entering the main house, Wu Chang felt a faint dizziness, and at the same time, whispered prayers echoed in his ears.

As with the two fat players' experience, the massive faceless nun on the ceiling used a mental skill, attempting to break his will.

Interesting.

He deliberately lowered his mental defenses to listen to the nun's prayers—and soon, hallucinations filled his ears.

He heard hurried footsteps behind him, townspeople shouting curses, and the dull thuds of blunt weapons smashing furniture and glass.

Crash! The door behind him was violently kicked open.

Hundreds of townspeople, armed and with bloodshot eyes, appeared before Wu Chang.

Both sides stared at each other, eyes locked—suddenly, the atmosphere fell into an eerie silence.

Protected by his Good-Evil value and his status as a town councilor, the townspeople, even in the illusion, did not attack him.

The townspeople acted as if they couldn't see him, rushing past him in haste, screaming as they charged toward the estate's guards and servants.

From Aileen's perspective, Wu Chang suddenly stopped mid-walk, turned his head to listen intently to something, then abruptly stared at an empty doorway, standing utterly still, fully alert.

Then, inexplicably, he relaxed, his gaze shifting from one door to another.

Throughout this time, Aileen heard and saw nothing.

She waved her hand in front of Wu Chang's face and asked, "Mr. Sycos, have you seen a hallucination? I can use holy light to dispel it." Wu Chang seized her waving hand with one grip and raised his index finger in a shushing motion with the other.

"Follow me."

He pulled Aileen along, following the hallucination of the townspeople deeper into the main house.

The townspeople shouted, "Avenging the Holy Maiden!" and "Overthrow Jeremy's tyrannical rule!" as they rampaged through the main house.

Mattie, wielding his pirate cutlass, led the charge as the vanguard.

Anyone who stood before him—guards, servants, or Jeremy's own family—was cut down without hesitation.

Blood and screams stimulated the townspeople's nerves—not calming them, but unleashing the cruelty and bloodlust buried deep in their bones.

The earl's estate became a hell—everyone connected to the earl died under the townspeople's indiscriminate attacks.

Including unarmed women and children who had not yet learned to walk.

The townspeople fought from the outer grounds to the inner chambers, finally finding Earl Jeremy seated on a sofa, sipping a glass of red wine, in the main reception hall.

Jeremy looked at Mattie, the leader of the townspeople, and said with a hint of resignation, "Was it Ebert who stirred you up? He has disappointed me greatly."

!

Mattie, eyes red with bloodlust, had lost all desire to communicate.

He answered Jeremy with his fists—after a brutal beating, the townspeople dragged Jeremy to the estate's garden.

They drove long nails through his hands and feet, pinning him to the ground.

Then they erected a massive guillotine—but instead of a blade, it bore the estate's five-meter-tall bronze statue of Earl Jeremy.

The blindfolded bishop, supported by a nun, stepped forward from the crowd to pronounce judgment upon Jeremy.

"Arrogance—disrespect toward the gods, cruelty toward others, the abuse of power without restraint, the harming of the Holy Maiden without remorse—shall be punished with a heavy burden!"

Jermaine tilted his head toward the bishop and said disdainfully, "You think killing me will wash away your own sins? Absolutely laughable."

Lies do not wound; the truth is the sharp blade.

Jermaine's words struck the crowd's sore spots like the sting of a scorpion. Mayor Harrison swung the woodcutting blade in his hand and severed the rope suspending the statue.

The enormous statue came crashing straight down, earning Count Jermaine an adorable new nickname.

Jermaine Sauce.

After the townsfolk executed Count Jermaine, they did not weep with joy or celebrate as if the Day of Divine Grace had arrived, reveling in vengeance finally won.

Staring at Jermaine on the ground, the townsfolk froze in place, bewilderment and fear surfacing on their faces.

Jermaine's rule had sunk deep into their very souls. Without him, they no longer even knew how to carry on with their lives.

They had killed the Holy Maiden and murdered their lord—how were they to escape the Kingdom's punitive campaign?

Just as the crowd stood dazed, Egbert appeared. He led the townsfolk in sealing off the Count's estate, and then departed.

The illusion realm, lively moments ago, was now left with only Wu Chang and Jermaine's corpse.

The giant bronze statue, smeared with Jermaine Sauce, broke free of its pedestal, rose from the ground, and advanced toward Wu Chang.

The enormous bronze statue radiated an oppressive presence, like a colossus of brass.

Wu Chang gathered his will and, at the right moment, severed the whispered prayer in his ears.

Looking ahead again, the bronze statue's illusion vanished, leaving only the god's envoy—standing before him like a pulp of flesh.

Wu Chang bared his teeth in a grin and said, "Quite the interesting plot. I enjoyed the show."

With that, he cast two Palm Thunder strikes, then had Eileen follow up with a Holy Light Purification, finishing off the Arrogance God's Envoy for good.

From within the Arrogance God's Envoy's body, he retrieved a chess piece, carved upon which was a little figure pinned to the ground with a massive boulder on its back.

"Item Name: Proof of Arrogance"

"Item Type: Special"

"Item Description: Holding the Proof of Arrogance grants free entry into a special space—the Dominator's Estate. Within the Dominator's Estate, the holder is treated as a god's envoy. The envoy may freely choose one attribute as a standard to judge a target. If the target's attribute is lower than the envoy's, the target will fall under the envoy's domination."

Wu Chang stowed the final piece of evidence. With all Seven Deadly Sins gathered, he looked up toward the roof of the main house—and met the enormous nun's icy face head-on.

She simply sat atop the main house, quietly watching everything unfold, making no move at all—like a true deity gazing down upon the ants squabbling at her feet.

Playing the cold, aloof type, are we? Just you wait.

Wu Chang glanced at the seven hollows within the enormous nun's body and let out a cold laugh.

When the time comes to fill the gaps in your body, don't cry and beg me to stop.

(End of Chapter)