The "Apostle of Desire," once clad in Patrick Jason's skin, immediately halted, looking around in shock and suspicion.
Only now did he vaguely sense the approach of danger.
He was at the edge of a garden. Due to the harsh winter, the vegetation was withered, revealing dark brown soil.
On the street to his right, there weren't many pedestrians on a weekday afternoon. Some passed by sporadically without noticing anything amiss.
Suddenly, a glint of silver flashed in the "Apostle of Desire's" eyes. A full suit of armor was walking toward him from the other side of the garden.
A diagonal streak of clotted blood ran down its left shoulder, exuding an eerie beauty. The armor itself seemed incredibly heavy, causing the ground to tremble slightly with every step.
Just by looking at the bloodstained silver armor, the "Apostle of Desire" felt his breath caught in his throat, as if he had encountered his most terrifying natural enemy.
How did it get here so quickly? Did they see through my tricks so fast? The "Apostle of Desire" calmed himself, turning ice-cold. He focused intently on sensing the emotions and desires of the Beyonder inside the bloodstained silver armor.
However, to his despair, the silver armor completely blocked his supernatural abilities.
It was as if he was touching a stone, touching a cold suit of armor without a wearer!
The "Apostle of Desire" had no choice but to raise his right hand, spreading his enormous bat-like wings. Blue-tinged flames rapidly gathered around him.
At that moment, a silver light flashed at the web of his right hand. His thumb fell to the ground with a clean, smooth cut.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh. Amidst the flashing silvery rays, the remaining nine fingers of the "Apostle of Desire" were severed simultaneously. The suitcase he was holding crashed loudly to the ground.
The pupils of the "Apostle of Desire" instantly contracted into needles. He flapped the pair of massive bat-like wings behind him and frantically fled in another direction.
Unbeknownst to him, the shadow under his feet shrank, gathering into a single point.
The "Apostle of Desire" had only run two steps when countless rays of silver light suddenly erupted from within his body, like blooming fireworks.
The viscous black liquid covering his body fell to the ground like raindrops. His forearms, upper arms, shoulders, ribs, neck, and other parts scattered cleanly from their cut sections.
Where he stood, the fresh blood was thickest. The further outward, the more it was in splatters, together forming a beautiful flower of death.
A Sequence 5 powerhouse, an "Apostle of Desire" who had just completed an impossible assassination, was dismembered without any means of resistance.
This was a Grade 1 Sealed Artifact.
This was the Sealed Artifact "1—42," which had once taken the lives of over a hundred thousand people!
Wearing the terrifying armor, Leonard Mitchell took two difficult steps forward, glanced at the scattered pieces of the corpse, and raised his voice:
"He has not completely died yet!"
He paused and added a sentence:
"Different demons have different specialties. This 'Apostle of Desire' had shadowization. He abandoned his body just now and only left his shadow behind."
"Soul Pacifier" Sost instructed some Nighthawks and Mechanical Heart members to "keep ordinary people away" while surveying the scene and listening to Leonard.
He took out his pocket watch, pressed the button to open it, glanced at it, and asked with a grave expression:
"We only have ten minutes left. Is that enough? Don't push yourself!"
"No problem! '1—42' has locked onto him. I can feel its excitement." Leonard said without hesitation.
Sost spread his five fingers in his red gloves and said to the other Nighthawks:
"You guys bring some hot water and closely follow Leonard. If anything goes wrong, immediately replace them and dig a 'bathtub' on the spot!
"Also, leave a mark. I and the other team members will follow up soon."
Clank, clank, clank. The bloodstained silver armor began to run in pursuit. It looked heavy but was incredibly fast.
Sost watched the Red Gloves leave and turned to look at Iecansa:
"Deacon Bernard, you lead the remaining members of the Mechanical Heart to that building and guard the Duke's guards and the other living people on the scene."
"Guard?" Iecansa subconsciously asked back.
Sost nodded seriously:
"How could the 'Apostle of Desire' be certain that the Duke would go to that building today, even down to the exact time, so perfectly that he could lure away the 'Praise Singer' ahead of time?"
Iecansa suddenly understood:
"Are you saying that a member of the Duke's guard or someone favored by the Duke is an accomplice of the 'Apostle of Desire'?"
Otherwise, the timing couldn't have been grasped so perfectly!
The so-called plot wouldn't have stood a chance of success!