Chapter 260: Assassin

Susanna looked at Lu Mian, who was wrapped in crimson flames and running wildly toward her, and crazily absorbed energy from the peddlers, pedestrians, and tenants hanging on the tree, trying to recover her combat ability as soon as possible.

In this process, she wasn't worried that Lu Mian would truly harm her, because she was at the top of the canopy, and the other party couldn't climb up at all. Moreover, she was now equivalent to merging with the "Shadow Tree." Attacks without divinity would at most cause her minor injuries, unable to kill her, and there wouldn't even be any serious injuries.

*Thump, thump, thump, * Lu Mian ran wildly to the area occupied by tree branches and vines, where one or two hundred people were already hanging.

Those brownish-green things tried to wrap around him and pierce him, but they were all ignited by the crimson flames on his body surface and retreated in a panic.

At this time, a booming sound came from underground, and that brownish-green giant tree suddenly sank downward, instantly leaving only a height of seven or eight meters.

This brought a violent shaking to the whole wilderness, Lu Mian stumbled, unable to move forward for a while.

…………

*Boom, boom, boom, * the earthquake-like movement made the crystal chandelier in the banquet hall shake to a certain extent. Most of the people present revealed expressions of terror, and those who reacted faster even hid directly under the long tables covered with white tablecloths.

Today, the squad on duty to protect Yu Ge Artois consisted of the mixed-race Imre, Valentine, and a Beyonder of the "Warrior" pathway named Antoine.

They sensed the abnormality at the same time and tacitly split off Imre, who ran to the window and looked at the source of the problem.

Imre saw that in the direction of Chaos Street, Nightingale Street, and White Coat Street, several houses appeared to be tilted, but they hadn't reached the point of collapse yet. Their surfaces all had more or less brownish-green tree branches and vines remaining.

And compared to them, the brownish-green giant tree roughly located at the position of Chaos Street was more eye-catching. Covered with many tree tumors and flowers, it was continuing to sink downward.

Such a scene lasted only a few seconds before it returned to "normal," just like a failed oil painting being covered by another work.

"What happened?" Yu Ge Artois walked to the window and asked calmly.

Imre didn't hide it, pressing his voice slightly, and answered frankly:

"An abnormal incident occurred in the area of Chaos Street, Nightingale Street, and White Coat Street."

Chaos Street, Nightingale Street, White Coat Street… Jianna, who had just approached a nearby window and failed to see the scene just now, stood there in a daze.

Two names immediately popped up in her mind:

Charles, Franca…

Did they encounter an abnormal incident? Jianna's heart slowly sank, and she instinctively cast her gaze toward Yu Ge Artois.

She saw the corner of this congressman's mouth curl up covertly, as if he couldn't hide the joy in his heart.

It was him… It was him and that group of evil god believers who did it! Jianna instantly made a judgment, her eyes went a bit dark, and an irrepressible sense of despair surged in her heart.

Facing the well-prepared attack of evil god believers, facing such an abnormality, could Franca and Charles still be spared?

With my current strength, can I rush over to provide help? Will I drag them down?

At this moment, Jianna felt that the few "pillars" supporting her life, after losing her mother, were about to lose two firm friends standing by her side.

And this was all caused by the evil god believers, caused by Yu Ge Artois!

This reminded her of the words Franca said when she warned her not to contact evil gods after she took the potion and became an "Assassin":

"Contacting evil gods inevitably brings disaster.

"Such people not only become crazy themselves and lose their original personality, but they also drag the people around them, regardless of whether they know them or not, into the darkness together.

"If those people are not cleared out, the influence of evil gods will always exist, pain will come again and again, and it will never end."

And now, Yu Ge Artois was the source of all the disasters in the Market District.

Jianna lowered her head, not daring to let herself look at Yu Ge Artois again, afraid that the pain and hatred she couldn't hide in her eyes would be noticed.

She hated so much!

But she still could only tell herself that Julian was still alive, just that his mental state had some problems, and there was hope for a cure. In this situation, if he lost his sister again, he might really go crazy and never be saved again.

After this banquet ends, after those factory owners "give" compensation and pay off all the debts, I will take Julian and leave the Market District and the Botanical Garden District, go to live in another place, and avoid the pain that will come later… Jianna constantly used such words to soothe herself, not letting the emotions in her heart explode.

"Why are there abnormal incidents again?" Yu Ge Artois questioned Imre, Valentine, and Antoine.

Imre smiled bitterly:

"I just saw that tree. In the history of Trier for so many years, it has appeared several times, but it has never been truly solved."

Since joining the "Purifier" team in Trier, he had known that there were many dangers hidden underground in Trier that were difficult to truly purify. The brownish-green giant tree was one of them.

He and his superiors and teammates couldn't understand why Trier was built on top of those things in the first place.

Before Yu Ge Artois could question again, Imre added:

"Since the abnormality has been discovered, it won't be long before it is quelled."

As a member of the elite "Purifier" squad, he knew that Trier was different from the capitals of other countries. Because of the long-term existence of those dangers underground, the past royal family and the current parliamentary government had agreed to let the two major churches secretly send an Angel or place a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact in Trier to prevent accidents.

Of course, during periods when the royal family and government were very strong, they would also let the church's Angels avoid them, for example, during the period of Emperor Roselle.

Once the abnormality brought by that strange giant tree was exposed, it would soon be met with a thunderous blow. Although it couldn't be completely eliminated, it could at least make it behave for a long period of time.

…………

After the short and violent sinking of the "Shadow Tree," the wilderness became stable again. Gabriel, Paval Nisen, and others were still hanging on the tree branches, their faces beginning to turn pale and black, as if they were exhausted.

Lu Mian stabilized his figure and ran toward the brownish-green giant tree with crimson flames.

At this time, Susanna Mattise had recovered quite a bit, her eyes reflecting Lu Mian's figure, waiting for him to enter the range of her current ability before launching an attack.

And behind Lu Mian, a shadow separated from its original owner and quietly lunged toward his back.

It was Xia Ludi Calvino. She was "acting" as a shadow!

She was not the host of the ritual and was far from the canopy, so she hadn't suffered backlash and strong pollution earlier, and hadn't weakened much. Seeing Lu Mian turn around, she immediately hid, exerting her performance talent, waiting for a sneak attack.

Just at this moment, a gunshot rang out from afar.

The iron-black bullet, because it was too far away, was not accurate enough, flying past Xia Ludi's body, but it also stopped her attempt.

Franca, wearing a lady's shirt, light-colored breeches, and red boots, holding a brass-colored revolver, appeared at the edge of the wilderness, cursing and shouting at Lu Mian's back:

"Damn it, don't you treat me as a teammate?"

…………

Seeing that the street scene had returned to "normal," Yu Ge Artois held the pale golden champagne, returned to the center of the banquet hall, stood in front of everyone, and delivered a speech according to the process:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am very glad that you could come to attend this consolation luncheon. Please let us first mourn for those who unfortunately passed away for one minute…

"Just now you also saw that an accident happened in the Market District again. We cannot go on like this. We must re-establish a more effective and flexible mechanism to deal with similar situations.

"I think you are all full of hatred for the accident and feel fear, because your relatives might have died in the accident, might have suffered serious injuries, or might have suffered stimulation, mental collapse, and become a madman…"

Hearing this, Jianna raised her head suddenly and looked at Yu Ge Artois again.

He just said "suffered stimulation, mental collapse, and become a madman"!

Under normal circumstances, even if listing situations, it shouldn't be said so specifically. A simple "mental disorder" would be enough.

Therefore, Yu Ge Artois knew that someone would have a mental collapse and become a madman due to the chemical plant explosion, and then, as if afraid that others wouldn't know the good deed he did, he deliberately mentioned it clearly in his speech? This was like a criminal who liked to return to the scene to appreciate his masterpiece? Jianna's heart was instantly filled with emotions like absurdity, hatred, and fear.

If her guess was true, Julian's mental collapse likely had the influence of evil god believers!

"Can such a person still be cured, can he still be saved?

"If the source cannot be cut off, even if I take the cured Julian and leave the Market District, there might still be hidden dangers and problems later!" Jianna had never been so desperate as she was now, as if no matter how she walked, she couldn't escape the darkness.

Her pupils gradually dilated, clearly reflecting Yu Ge Artois's figure.

And hearing Yu Ge Artois vaguely point the finger at the two major churches, Imre, Valentine, and Antoine all had their expressions sink, slightly lowering their eyelids.

…………

The different-dimensional space brought by the "Shadow Tree" was already broken everywhere, either flowing with pitch-black mucus or directly missing a piece, as if it had been thrown into an endless void.

Suddenly, at the place where the Star Gate had shrunk back into a crack, a point of light lit up.

It became brighter and brighter, as if it had turned into a sun, illuminating every place in this space exceptionally clearly, without any shadows.

A female figure wearing a white robe inlaid with gold thread appeared at the source of the light. She seemed to be composed purely of light, in a semi-transparent state, with emerald eyes and golden hair raised. Her appearance was beautiful but holy.

The patron Angel of Trier, Saint Viev.

…………

Amidst the applause, Yu Ge Artois, who had finished his speech, continued to hold that glass of champagne and wander among the families of different victims, enthusiastic, kind, and credible.

Jianna closed her eyes, walked slowly to the long table covered with a white tablecloth, picked up a dinner plate, put some food on it, and then took a long silver fork to use.

While eating, she approached Yu Ge Artois slowly and somewhat blankly.

After pulling the distance between the two sides to two meters, she put on a posture of wanting to chat with the congressman.

And Yu Ge Artois, who was surrounded by team members and protected by official Beyonders, also noticed Jianna, revealing a kind smile, waiting for her to walk in front of him.

Jianna passed by Secretary Ron and stood one step away from Yu Ge Artois.

Before the two started the conversation, another tremor and roar came from underground. The direction of Chaos Street and White Coat Street seemed to brighten up a lot.

Cassandra, Yu Ge Artois, and others who cared about the result followed their instincts and turned their bodies at the same time, looking out the window.

Seeing this scene, Jianna closed her eyes again, and then, she took a step out and raised the silver fork in her hand toward Yu Ge Artois!

The emotions that had been suppressed in her heart during this period erupted along with it:

You despicable politician who brought disaster and darkness to the Market District!

You evil god believer whose conscience has been eaten by dogs!

You bastard who killed my mother and drove my brother crazy!

Go to hell right now!

If you don't die, the pain in the Market District will not end, and the darkness will always shroud here, not letting the sun rise.

Yes, you have evil god believers around you, you have official Beyonders protecting you, and you can make anyone who tries to deal with you lose their life here, so you have deterred them and made them dare not launch an attack.

However, what if there is an assassin who never thought about leaving alive!

Even if I can't kill you, I will make your people expose the evil god's gift and be arrested by official Beyonders!

Jianna poured all the hatred, all the unwillingness, and all the pain in her heart into the long-handled silver fork in her hand, used the "full-force strike" of an assassin, and stabbed toward Yu Ge Artois's right eye, which was exposed because he had turned his body.

At this moment, she saw the surprise, confusion, and fear on the other party's face, saw Yu Ge Artois hurriedly look toward Cassandra, trying to seek help.

And Cassandra had her line of sight blocked by Imre, the "Purifier," who had stepped diagonally at some point, failing to notice what had happened at the first time.

*Pop! * The long-handled silver fork in Jianna's right hand was deeply inserted into Yu Ge Artois's eye socket, directly penetrating into his brain, with only a little bit of the handle remaining outside.

Yu Ge Artois's expression became dull. The previous surprise, confusion, and fear were still frozen on his face, too late to change much, only adding a rich sense of despair.

Jianna watched the bright red blood splash and surge, watched Yu Ge Artois's face reflecting the light of the lamp gradually collapse, watched the crimson sparks of unknown whether they were gun muzzles or extraordinary abilities blooming around, smiled, closed her eyes, and gave up resistance.

Mother, I saw the light.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 261 =====