Four Split Personalities

Moore touched his bulbous nose and nodded, "Okay, your request isn’t too demanding. Where are the young lads who should be on duty today anyway?"

"They said they had something to do, so they asked me... to help keep an eye on things."

The young man who had graduated from being a novice Knight and was thrown into the minor tribunal office to serve chuckled and smacked his lips, "They said they’d treat me to a drink afterward."

Moore glanced at a few casually placed barrels of wine nearby and gave a dry laugh, "Alright, if you can get rid of your habit of oversleeping and put more heart into your training, you’ll definitely make something of yourself."

The other blinked, looking dumbfounded, "Huh?"

"Never mind that, Uncle has a trick that can get you out of here sooner."

Monk Moore chuckled and asked in a hushed voice, "Want to hear it?"

"Yes, I do!"

"That is..."

Moore glanced at the iron trapdoor not far away leading to the underground, then looked earnestly at his eager junior and said, "Listen less, speak less, look less, ask less! Your duty is to stand guard here every day, and occasionally go downstairs to deliver some food and water. As for anything else, no matter who is brought in, whether they’re strange or suspicious, it has nothing to do with you. Don’t pay attention, don’t care, don’t inquire! Got it?"

The Knight across the table immediately nodded vigorously in agreement, and while scratching an itch inside his armor, he asked, "So, what’s the deal with that woman?"

"..."

Moore’s expression became stiff, and after a long silence, he cleared his throat and said, "Questions like that... are exactly what you’re not supposed to ask. Understand?"

"Oh, oh, oh. So that’s how it is."

The other nodded again, suddenly realizing, "I understand now!"

Moore nodded wearily and casually took out a few silver coins, placing them on the table as he waved his hand, "Go have a good meal, I’ll take your shift."

"Ah..."

The low-rank Knight, who was already covering for someone else’s shift, was startled for a moment. He quickly grabbed the silver coins, counting them several times, then looked up dumbly and said, "Um, Monk Moore, I can’t pay you back."

"No need to pay me back."

Moore looked at him, half-amused, half-exasperated, and shrugged, "Consider it payment for keeping me company in chat."

"By the goddess above, you are so kind!"

The latter’s eyes practically glowed with admiration, "Not only did you tell me how to move up quickly, but you also gave me so much money. I will definitely keep you company in chat every day!"

"No, it’s not every time we chat that I’ll give you..."

"I’m off then! Thank you, Monk Moore!"

Before Moore could finish his sentence, the simple-minded young man dashed upstairs.

"Uh..."

Moore sat there stunned for a while before he pulled a crooked smile and shook his head, "Really, I wasn’t this stupid when I was young, ah well..."

He poured himself another drink, reclined in his chair, and kept toying with the warm brooch in his hand.

"This is also quite nice~"

...

At the same time, on the third underground floor, in Holding Cell No. 13

Behind the mythril bars infused with faint Divine Power, a black figure was fiercely howling as it slammed against the protective enchantments. With each strike, the colorful flashes would jolt the figure back as if struck by lightning. Although the Divine Arts here were not very powerful, it was still enough to suppress these lowly prisoners.

Yet the murmured howls did not cease, and the black figure relentlessly challenged the strength of the Divine Arts, much like a feral beast unwilling to give up, repeatedly going through the vicious cycle of slamming, repulsion, slamming, repulsion, disturbing the peace of the entire floor.

"Not again..."

In another cell nearby, Duoduo Ma, an Ogre in tattered clothes, covered his head with his hands, glaring at the maniacal figure in the cell across, and growled, "Why do I have to stay on the same level as this lunatic? Damn it, the beasts of the Holy Church Union..."

He was a wicked bandit with nearly ten lives on his hands, who during one of his plundering raids was subdued by two priests from a local chapel. After being transferred several times, he ended up in the City of Light. To date, he had already been locked up for a full half-month. With his execution date approaching, Duoduo Ma’s mood was extremely foul these days, not to mention the daily frenzy of the creature in the opposite cell acting out for a few hours every day, pushing this Ogre who would be beheaded in a matter of days to the brink of irritation.

But he could only feel restless. Since he had been brought here, it meant his strength was insufficient to break through those Divine Arts defenses. The possibility of escaping to freedom was absolutely zero, so Duoduo Ma had given up trying to leave after just a week in captivity, after all, the sensation of being struck by Divine Arts was far from pleasant, and he was no masochist who was indifferent to pain.

Five minutes passed, and just as the desperate Duoduo Ma began to consider whether to end his own life, the madman in the cell diagonally opposite suddenly quieted down in an eerie manner.

"What’s going on? Why did it stop so soon today?"

The ogre scratched its buzz-cut head in surprise and curiously stretched its neck to get a better look at the cell opposite, only to find the fellow there standing obediently in front of the bars, quiet as if he were a completely different person.

This was the first time he had seen such a thing; throughout the half month, that ’monster’ had only two states—transforming into a human shape and relentlessly charging at the bars for several hours each day, and a quiet state of swirling black mist. Duoduo Ma had never seen this quiet human form before, without any fits of madness.

How novel!

"Hey, bastard!"

Bored out of his mind, the ogre decided to heckle the madman opposite to relieve his boredom, so he shouted loudly and mocked, "Did you not have your... uh!"

A pair of eyes as black as ink forced him to swallow the rest of his words. His huge body started shaking uncontrollably; his mind went blank, and he froze on the spot as if he had plunged into an ice cellar.

"Shut up."

The ’monster’ said coldly. His voice was soft but seemed to ring in Duoduo Ma’s ears as if it were right next to him, causing him to collapse to the ground, blood oozing from his ears, eyes, nose, and mouth.

Clearly, this person was no ordinary individual—or to say, no ordinary Summoned Creature...

...

[Shadow of Sin]

Summoned Creature

Original Form: Mo/Chaotic Evil

Health Points: 6999/7000

Physical Strength Value: 3600/3600

Magic Points: 3600/3600

Keenness Value: 6200/6200

Rage Value: 0%

Active Skills: Body Imprint (58 available/31 unavailable)

Passive Skills: Body Imprint (45 available/11 unavailable)

Basic Attributes: Strength 370, Agility 300, Wisdom 350, Constitution 350

Traits: Synchronization, Immortality, Growth, Dissipation (Inactive)

Status: Synchronizing

[Note: Shadow of Sin, born of an unnamed Blood Covenant.]

...

"It seems that suppressing its strength to 1% was not a mistake."

Mo, having successfully synchronized with the Shadow of Sin, examined the bars thoughtfully and said softly, "Otherwise, it would probably take only half a minute to completely destroy a place like this."

The Shadow of Sin had the same height, appearance, and voice as Mo, except it didn’t have the mask that covered the upper half of its face, and it had no equipment on its body. It was simply barefoot, wearing a set of black, tattered clothes, looking like an unfortunate refugee at first glance—except for its abyss-like eyes.

Of course, Mo didn’t care about his ragged appearance nor did he plan to use skills to acquire a formidable outfit, so he just gently lifted his right hand and summoned a creature—[Zuo Leng Chan].

The ghost cicada appeared and immediately vanished into thin air, silently passed through the bars and flew unhesitatingly up the stone steps.

Two minutes later, having ascertained through the ghost cicada’s vision that there were no guards on the third and second basement levels, Mo made a cut on his left wrist with his fingernail and used the second skill he had gained after synchronizing with the Shadow of Sin...

A pair of solemn faces, one male and one female, decayed yet dignified, slowly emerged from the air.

Chapter 513: End