Chapter 41

Chapter 15 The Gate of Truth

Carlos was doomed.

I watched the bearded swordsman, who had a struggling figure in one hand and was striding over, his face dark with contemplation.

This was not a simple matter of removing the head to eat.

First, I would have to skin him, remove the hair, drain the blood, cut him into pieces, and then boil them in hot water. Afterward, pour on some cooking wine, add scallions, ginger, garlic, black pepper, and other seasonings, simmer slowly over low heat for two hours until it becomes a flavorful broth.

Do not forget to add some vinegar at appropriate times; this will not only eliminate the fishy smell but also help break down the calcium in the bones, making the broth more nutritious—a stroke of genius.

To ensure the natural freshness of the ingredients, wait to add the salt until after it’s cooked.

Carlos, you dared to drop my pie on the ground and even dirtied my clothes!

I will eat you!

My heart seethed with murderous intent, and my fierce gaze made Carlos shiver from afar, looking around in confusion.

“Let me go! Let me go!”

The figure in my grasp screamed hoarsely. Carlos impatiently punched him in the chest.

“Be quiet!”

He certainly did not use much force; otherwise, that punch would have killed him. The figure grunted after receiving the punch and finally closed his mouth, probably too painful to speak.

Carlos threw him in front of the knight commander and weighed the stolen bag. Under the terrified gaze of the merchants, he sniffed it and opened it to take a look before raising his head with a resolute expression.

“Guilty as charged. It’s kusokuchigusa leaves.”

The knight commander nodded upon hearing this, his gaze toward the lead merchant no longer indifferent but rather ruthless.

“Do you have anything else to explain?”

At this point, any denial would be pointless. The lead merchant trembled, hesitated for a long time, and could not utter a word. He kept looking at Carlos, who had been formidable moments ago, filled with fear.

“Take them all away.”

The knight commander’s words caused an uproar among the crowd.

“What? Respected knights, please tell us what happened. What did that person do?”

“Yes, sir, we don’t know anything! Why must we all be taken away?”

Some merchants were still confused as they saw the knights preparing to take them all away, quickly becoming panicked.

Seeing their fear, I felt a slight sympathy in my heart.

But I also understood the severity of the situation. Selling kusokuchigusa leaves under the church’s nose and using a dedicated transit route clearly implied something more sinister. The orphanage was likely just a cover. To uncover the truth, taking everyone back for questioning was the right choice.

The knight commander did not need to answer them. After giving orders to the knights, he turned to leave.

I glanced at Carlos, who was about to leave, and quietly approached him, ready to knock him out when the opportunity arose.

Suddenly, chaos erupted behind me.

“Hey, what are you doing! Stop!”

“What’s he doing!? Is he trying to kill himself?!”

Hearing the voice, I turned my head in surprise.

Luz, who had been lying on the ground, now looked like he had bathed in blood. Most of his body was stained black and red. One hand clutched his bleeding neck, while the other swung a dagger, stabbing himself in the lower abdomen repeatedly.

“Cough… Gag—Hah… Haha.”

His mouth twisted into a mad laugh.

A knight attempted to grab the dagger from his hand to stop him from self-harming, but Luz punched him away, causing him to stumble backward several steps.

The punch hit the knight’s armor with a loud clang, denting it slightly. The knight stared in disbelief at the figure slowly rising in front of him.

“Clang—”

The other knights immediately drew their swords at Luz.

“Hah… Haha…”

Ignoring the knights surrounding him, Luz staggered to his feet, muttering something unintelligible.

“Whoosh—”

Suddenly, flames burst forth from his body.

The fire was not normal, but a darker shade, blending with his blood to form a terrifying crimson.

“Ugh—Ah—!!”

Despite having his throat slit and engulfed in such terrifying flames, Luz let out a roar like a wild beast, clearly not a cry of agony but one tinged with excitement.

He moved towards the knights.

“Crack—”

In the next moment, freezing frost rushed forward, extinguishing most of the flames on Luz’s body. Tiny frost crystals spread rapidly, freezing half of his body and blood within seconds.

At that moment, a bolt of lightning flashed overhead, and Carlos suddenly appeared in mid-air, kicking towards Lutz’s head.

“Zizz—boom!”

This time, he aimed to end Lutz’s life with one blow, showing no mercy at all. The instant his foot touched Lutz’s head, Lutz’s neck twisted at an odd angle, and his body was smashed into the snow by tremendous force, rolling through the crowd and stopping about ten meters away.

He lay motionless.

The flames on his body gradually died out.

People were stunned by this bizarre scene, but before they could recover, another shout rang out.

“Ah—!!”

The lead merchant pulled out a dagger from his pocket and rushed at me unexpectedly.

Thinking to take me down first? You’ve chosen the wrong target.

I easily dodged the dagger with a sidestep and grabbed his face with my delicate hand, pressing hard.

“Thud!” I slammed his head into the snow. The snow wasn’t thick enough to provide much cushioning; this should have injured him severely.

“Ah—ugh…”

The merchant let out a scream, still struggling. I immediately choked him and, with my other hand, clenched it in a blue glow, creating a sharp ice spear aimed just above his right eye.

A slight push would pierce his eyeball.

“Don’t move,” I said to him.

“Little Hill, don’t touch them!”

Carlos shouted, and before I could react, the merchant’s face showed a fierce expression as he lifted his head and rammed it toward the ice spear in my hand.

“Puff—”

The ice spear pierced the merchant’s eye socket, and the sensation of the blade entering flesh came, blood splattering onto my pale hand.

In the next moment, a wave of heat washed over me, and flames ignited on the merchant’s face.

The fire spread along his blood to my hand. I reacted quickly, using frost to extinguish the flames on my hand while stepping back to create some distance.

Then, I looked with shock and uncertainty at the leading merchant whose entire head was now burning.

“What is this?”

“We’ll discuss it later. For now, don’t hold back, finish him off,” Carlos told me.

Finish him off? I hesitated.

Since his face is already burnt like this, he won’t live long anyway, right?

However, the reality was the opposite. The merchant suddenly stood up and lunged at me again, moving several times faster than before.

“Tsk.” Carlos clicked his tongue, pulling me away and kicking the merchant to the ground.

“Do not show mercy to your enemies.”

The merchant’s chest caved in significantly, clearly broken ribs, yet he seemed unaffected and quickly got up for a suicide charge.

“Click… cannot… fail…” His face was blackened by the fire, lips stuck together, making it hard for him to speak coherently, looking very terrifying.

“Swoosh—”

An ice spear pierced the merchant’s right leg, causing him to lose balance and fall. Immediately after, frost mist rose, freezing his body solid.

Carlos swiftly moved forward, kicking the flaming merchant’s face like a ball, sending him flying far away.

This time, the merchant couldn’t get up again, and the flames on his body gradually began to die out.

Carlos stomped out the sparks on his pant leg and turned to look at the dazed knight commander.

“Take these people back, guard them strictly, and do not let any of them escape… Also, try not to let them bleed.”

“Mr. Carlos, what was that just now?”

Carlos glanced at him and murmured a word.

“The Gate of Truth.”

Hearing this, the knight commander changed his expression.

As if realizing something, he stopped talking and turned to organize the aftermath, preparing to bring the bewildered merchants back to camp.

I looked down at my hand, which had been singed and was slightly swollen, but it wasn’t serious. Such minor injuries meant little to me.

But I felt somewhat embarrassed. Quietly following the team back to camp, only after getting on the chariot did I ask Carlos, “What is the Gate of Truth?”

“A group of heretical sects who worship demons, cultists. They claim to save the world, offering their blood to demons in exchange for power rivaling the gods… The Holy Church has repeatedly tried to eradicate them, but they’ve never succeeded completely.”

Carlos gazed at the detained merchants, a rare worried look on his face, “They’ve always been active in the East Continent. Why are they here?”

“Demons?” I tilted my head, puzzled.

Does this world not only have gods but also demons?

“Yes, demons. Even though these cultists call it the God of Truth, I haven’t understood its true form despite spending many years in the East Continent. Perhaps it’s just a facade… There was a man who claimed to be a demon, who died at the hands of a sword saint more than twenty years ago.”