TBR CH49

Chapter 49: Shattered to Pieces

The Holy See’s carriage stood out among the many, its pure white roof outlined with golden trim.

Following the palace guard’s directions, Tar looped around to the back to park the carriage, then hopped down nimbly and swiftly.

Coachmen were, of course, not qualified to enter the royal palace, so they all waited here. Before the nobles concluded their visits, someone would come in advance to inform them to have the carriages ready.

A group of coachmen serving various noble houses were gathered here. As one could imagine, it was also the most enthusiastic venue in the entire capital for exchanging gossip.

Of course, the Holy See’s coachmen were often volunteers, not doing it for a living, so they always disdained to befriend them. Tar had just gotten off the carriage when he heard someone whistle, calling him “the new face from the Holy See.” The tone was a bit sarcastic, yet not without envy.

The demon shrugged.

It took him fifteen minutes to make everyone on the scene feel that he was an easygoing person, unlike the arrogant ones before him. This was second nature to Tar.

As long as you followed their topics of conversation, chimed in from time to time, and occasionally complained about the workload, even if you didn’t reveal any information, the crowd would soon see you as one of their own.

And then you could most easily obtain a large wave of fresh intelligence.

This continued until the crowd’s clamor suddenly quieted down. Tar followed their line of sight towards the gate and, sure enough, saw a gorgeously dressed palace attendant, who even had dyed feathers stuck in his hair.

It was actually quite comical, but no one laughed.

The person announced the order he was to proclaim in a high-pitched, arrogant tone, full of self-importance: “The Bishop’s carriage is to be prepared. Who is the coachman? Come with me immediately.”

He had a smell about him that made one uncomfortable.

Tar walked out from the crowd and, for some strange reason, smiled—a cunning smile of one who has sniffed out danger.

Edwin couldn’t possibly be coming out at this time; it hadn’t been long at all.

Of course, this thought had no basis. If Tar were just an ordinary coachman, he wouldn’t know the Bishop’s schedule for the day and would naturally, and foolishly, think everything was normal.

And the other man frowned, looking at this seemingly unremarkable coachman, appearing somewhat perplexed and dissatisfied with his baseless laughter.

But it wasn’t worth commenting on. So he turned around and demanded that Tar follow him.

There was some distance from the rest area to the gate, and clearly, this was not the way they had come. Tar lightly pointed this out, and the other’s excuse was that the original path was now occupied by a person of high status, so they couldn’t risk a collision and had to take another small path to reach the gate.

The small path was silent and deserted. There was a corner up ahead.

The corner radiated a thick malevolence.

Tar pretended not to have noticed anything. He didn’t even change his pace, nor did he ask any more curious questions to provoke the attendant.

And the other man finally let out a breath of relief when he saw Tar, as he had expected, get knocked out by the people lying in ambush as soon as he rounded the corner.

He couldn’t afford to mess up the Prince’s errand.

In the small hut just ahead, there was a master of disguise. In the next step of the process, he just needed to drag this coachman in, have that person assume the coachman’s appearance, and take his place in the Bishop’s carriage. Then the matter would be foolproof.

The attendant waited patiently for a while.

Soon, a person walked out of the small hut. He looked exactly the same as the original coachman. It was a remarkable skill, successfully impressing the audience. He respectfully addressed him: “Master…”

And the “Master” nonchalantly raised his eyes, revealing a confident smile, and nodded lightly at him: “The body of the person inside, I have already disposed of.”

Prince Angelo’s connections were truly extensive. The attendant knew that the person before him was both a master of disguise and a skilled assassin. He looked at the other with awe, feeling that his eyes were faintly steeped in the aura of slaughter. However, what needed to be said still had to be said: “You should still remember, your mission is to take him to…”

“If your progress is normal, of course—” the other man elegantly bowed to him. “And in the worst-case scenario, please have your people prepared.”

“Yes, yes.” Cold sweat beaded on the attendant’s forehead. “Please continue to wait here. If there is any new information, I will notify you.”

Tar was Tar. Since he wasn’t Edwin’s real coachman, he was also not the real assassin at this moment. Although what he did was no different.

Edwin had made many speculations but had misjudged that Prince Angelo would make a move on the coachman.

However, the demon had a protective spell cast on him by the Bishop. In itself, he wouldn’t have been knocked out by a single blow. It was just that things were developing in an interesting direction, so he went with the flow and accepted his newest grandiose identity.

Edwin actually stayed in the royal palace for a much longer time than that.

Under the effect of the soul contract, Tar could sense whether his condition was good or bad. For example, now, the sun was already setting, and a strange smoke was rising from the direction of the palace, emitting a shimmering purple light under the setting sun’s rays.

The Bishop’s condition was extremely bad.

His soul was struggling rapidly, falling, fiercely resisting. But the situation was not optimistic. Tar began to wonder what had happened, while Edwin seemed to have used all his strength to launch a fatal attack, and then weakened.

Just then, the attendant hurried over to inform him: “Master, you should get ready. The Bishop is already heading towards the palace gate… Our men can’t stop him.”

It didn’t sound good.

Tar sat once again on the carriage pulled by two fine black horses. This time, he used his demonic sense of smell to detect that some new, extraordinary things had been added as decorations to the carriage, having the exact same smell as the smoke from the burning incense in the palace.

There was only this one carriage in front of the royal palace, and the road was wide. The usual bustling crowd of pedestrians was much smaller.

Edwin walked out from inside.

He looked much better than Tar had imagined. Edwin looked no different from when he had set out in the morning, his appearance still neat and proper. Those gray eyes looked indifferently at the people behind him who were hurriedly trying to stop him.

Those people didn’t dare to get truly close to him. The Bishop’s hand was still resting on the ruby of his scepter, the dangerous edge fully exposed.

It was completely different from the word “fleeing.” Edwin was walking very slowly at this moment.

It was only upon getting closer that Tar realized this was not out of reserve or intentional threat, but because the Bishop’s true condition had worsened to a certain point. Many things cannot be seen for what they truly are if one does not get close.

The Bishop’s black, curly hair was wet, and his face was even paler than usual. He had to use all his strength to maintain a certain precision in his hands, so as not to tremble.

There was a carriage at the gate, waiting for him.

This was the carriage he had taken this morning, and a familiar coachman sat inside. If he weren’t alert enough, he might have thought it was all over. But even if he realized something was wrong… this was the only way. He couldn’t walk on the road like this.

“Bishop,” the coachman smiled at him. “Get in.”

Edwin almost raised his hand to immediately launch a Light magic attack at him, but he quickly saw from the fleeting pomegranate-red in the coachman’s eyes that he was indeed the familiar demon.

Tar knew the Bishop’s tense nerves relaxed for a second, then became alert again.

A blade condensed from Holy Light was held to his neck.

Tar didn’t struggle. He knew Edwin wasn’t trying to hurt him, and couldn’t hurt him. This was a show for the people behind them.

“Please drive.” The Bishop said softly, his voice hoarse. He tried hard to ignore his strange physical state, but he couldn’t. Even here, already far from the royal palace, there was still no turning back—

What kind of situation is this? Tar thought. For the Prince, it must be a rather tricky situation. Prince Angelo had not expected Edwin to be so difficult to deal with, to even have the strength to kill someone at this time, and even kill an assassin.

But the Prince’s trump card was time, and the transformation was irreversible.

As long as the accelerated changes happening to him were still ongoing, Edwin would continue to weaken at this moment, eventually reaching a state where he could be slaughtered at will.

That was a material that only ancient demons could find. Even Tar, as the Dark God, had to think for a while to remember the existence of this lost incense.

The scent had no effect on ordinary people. It even had a beneficial effect on demons, able to stimulate a demon’s potential…

The Bishop was not yet ready to be a succubus. But the potential of a nascent succubus had been stimulated, almost causing a backlash that would consume him.

“Edwin,” Tar said, “I am now taking you back to the Church. This is their slightly inferior plan, applicable to the situation where you still have the ability to resist. And you do look like you still have it. But, you have to understand, the situation is not optimistic.”

Edwin bit his lip tightly. He closed his eyes weakly, trying to rest for a short while and regain some rationality. But it was completely impossible.

During the middle of the ceremony just now, certain influences had permeated his body, but only he could smell that sickeningly sweet fragrance. Everyone else was completely unaware…

Prince Angelo had introduced it: “This fragrance can strongly affect a demon’s state. Bishop, I believe today’s exorcism ceremony must be based on this.”

So he couldn’t escape, at least not at that time.

The Bishop also knew that the important thing was time.

Angelo did not expect that it would only take him this little time to set up an attack formation that he had completely not anticipated.

And the target of the attack—Edwin placed the rose rosary in his hand into the center of the formation. As he endured the discomfort of his body, a strong light surged up, and the one who was swallowed was the prince who had been wearing a sharp and cloying smile.

The formation was not the common one most used by the Church.

The person Prince Angelo had designed for Edwin to be possessed by a demon was curled up on the ground, watching the scene before him, astonished beyond belief.

And Edwin swallowed a weak gasp. He used all his strength to force out the demon lord possessing Angelo, even if only for a brief moment.

Even if it was only for a moment, Prince Angelo had not expected it. That in itself was a kind of victory. According to his plan, the Bishop’s power should have been weakened by more than half by now. He shouldn’t have been able to perform such an action—

Edwin raised his eyes and gave him a deep look. His eyes held none of the confusion and vulnerability he had expected to see, but the most solid frost. The inorganic gray pupils turned slightly, staring straight at the attacked prince.

But, it was still not enough.

As expected, fighting a demon as a human was still impossible. The damage the demon lord received would only make it more furious after a brief stagnation. Edwin knew that what he should do now was to leave as soon as possible.

So he began to quickly withdraw from the scene.

But, as expected, Prince Angelo’s arrangements did not stop there.

“So,” the demon’s tone was even somewhat relaxed. His carriage reached the interior of the Holy See without any obstruction, stopping below the white tower where the Bishop lived, without being stopped at all.

“Now you can choose to kill me, I mean, if I were the person Angelo arranged. But in the room upstairs, there is still someone waiting for you. There are also other spies who have infiltrated the Church.”

“And, how should I put it…”

“Edwin, I think you know, you now have to have someone by your side.”

Succubi also have a scent. Edwin knew this. He had first smelled the scent on himself two days ago, and then Tar had helped him cover up that strong, lingering fragrance. And now, even a demon’s illusion couldn’t block the extremely rich scent flowing from him, like some kind of marker.

The bloodline that had been suppressed for thirteen years had finally backfired on him completely.

Although it was only half a bloodline, this frivolous creature’s bloodline had been suppressed for so long, so its counterattack was also sufficiently intense. At this moment, Edwin unconsciously reached for the silver buttons on his clothes. What he thought of was not how to fasten it tighter.

The clothes… were almost unbearable. Following the curve of the buttons, Edwin slightly pulled it away from his body, so that the fabric would be looser and not rub against his skin, leaving too many marks.

Even at this stage…

Tar jumped off the carriage first and held out his hand to the Bishop, only to find that his left hand was clenched tightly, showing no intention of letting go, and his nails were already digging deep into his flesh.

Noticing his gaze, Edwin only then dazedly realized this. His fevered mind was somewhat unable to process things, but he still subconsciously kept his hand closed. Now, Edwin slightly opened his fingers. In his palm lay a small piece of black cloth, stained with mottled marks.

A corner of the demon lord’s clothing.

“Wow,” Tar exclaimed with sincere admiration. “A remarkable trophy.” This thing was definitely very useful.

And the other thing tightly clenched in his palm was a small silver cross. Its sharp edges had already cut the Bishop’s skin, perhaps helping him to clear his head a little.

Even at the final step, Tar thought, Edwin still had the strength to counterattack. The fatal weapon was hidden in the palm of his hand.

The Bishop clearly had no room to react to these comments. He was walking a bit unsteadily. Tar tried to support him. When the demon’s knuckles touched Edwin, he subconsciously tensed up all over.

But there was no better way. And Tar, at least his scent was familiar, reminding him of a little earlier, how the demon had乖乖地 let him hold his hand to get used to it. This association made things develop in a familiar direction, and he could tolerate it a little.

If someone was upstairs, they would already be able to see the calm and self-possessed great bishop leaning weakly on another person, looking as if the plan was proceeding smoothly.

This was also why when Tar helped the Bishop push open the door, he saw the assassin inside walk up to them with a malicious smile—

The lingering scent of roses in the room slightly masked Edwin’s aura. And the demon gave this human a beautiful smile, as if confirming his judgment. So he walked more confidently towards Edwin, almost touching him.

Edwin closed his eyes and reached out to him. A corner of the cross in his palm was exposed, and a weapon sharp enough to slit a throat extended from the cross. The blade condensed from Holy Light slashed across the other’s neck.

He didn’t even have time to react how the Bishop, who was already so weak he was completely leaning on the coachman, had unleashed this attack. He clutched his neck, making a “heh-heh” sound, and fell to the ground.

“Too dirty,” the Bishop opened his gray eyes. The gray in his eyes was stained with a thick mist. He stared at the corpse on the ground and murmured.

He needed to lean on Tar now, but he couldn’t stand Tar touching him.

“Edwin,” the demon warned him again, “if you are still hoping to suppress this on your own… I can tell you clearly, it won’t work. But I can help you find a cleaner person—”

“…No.”

Tar finally felt a little helpless. Edwin’s current situation was the standard succubus in need of comfort. If this continued, he would lose his reason and temporarily be completely lost in intense desire. To put it bluntly, Angelo didn’t really care if the person he arranged would be killed by an out-of-control Edwin. It wasn’t important. On the contrary, an out-of-control Edwin would leave the white tower on his own. The situation would only get worse, which would be more to his enemy’s delight.

Until this moment, Tar seemed to have not really considered how Edwin would solve this problem. In the demon’s mind, the other’s plan was doomed to fail, because he himself had appeared in this plan. And even as just a low-level demon, it would have been enough to deceive all eyes and find a temporary object for the Bishop to deal with this chaotic night, and then erase the memory the next day.

But Edwin clearly did not quite agree.

The Bishop leaned against the demon, was helped onto the sofa by him, and asked for a glass of water in a hoarse voice.

It was useless.

Even so, Tar still got him a glass of water. The Bishop took the cup, but he couldn’t stop his hand from trembling. The water in the cup spilled out, wetting his clothes. He had knocked over the cup again, but at the same time managed to drink a few sips, so Tar did not stop him.

So pathetic, Edwin thought, and so pale and powerless.

“Tar,” the Bishop heard himself speak. He was surprised at how stable his voice still was at this moment, as if nothing had happened. Reason was the foundation of this sentence; he could still control everything. “I need you to help me.”

“I don’t have time to find another suitable and trustworthy person.”

The demon froze for a moment, then looked down at him.

Tar’s pure black and soft hair fell. His beautiful red eyes flickered with an uncertain light, clearly at a loss as to what to do with Edwin’s words. The Bishop suddenly felt a little ridiculous.

Was he asking the other party?

Asking for that kind of thing?

“I thought, Edwin,” Tar began softly and slowly, “you could distinguish between humans and demons…”

“So am I.” Edwin interrupted him. It took a lot of effort to say this sentence, but he still said it. “I am a demon now.”

Tar, no, the Dark God Tarksius behind him, rarely felt that the situation at hand was a bit tricky. He had originally thought that no matter what, the Bishop would at least demand a human as a bottom line. And the god had no intention of establishing a relationship based on emotion or close to emotion with any being in the world. There was no need to agree to help a human in this way.

“…It’s a transaction.”

Edwin let his gaze lose focus, wandering on the ceiling. He looked dazed and lost, but these few words were clearly transmitted to Tar’s ears.

This self was shameful, but if it had to be done, this was the most acceptable sacrifice—

“I will pay you a portion of my soul in exchange for your help.”

Although they were forcibly linked by a soul-binding contract, they both knew very well that the contract would never be completed. The Bishop’s soul would ultimately not fall into the demon’s hands, because a low-level demon could not afford his ambition. They could only be entangled in vain, until the end, the day Tar was willing to take back the freedom he wanted.

And this, now, was the real contract.

The demon blinked. He smiled slowly in Edwin’s line of sight, like a rose. Edwin thought a little dazedly, unable to tell whether this was a real sensation or an accidental association when his gaze happened to sweep over the vase on the table behind.

“Actually, there’s no need,” Tar’s voice was as if steeped in honey, with a kind of innocent cruelty. “You are being too formal. Why must everything be tied to a transaction? I don’t think this is any loss for me—”

“This is a transaction.” Edwin repeated, very stubborn about this concept, unwilling to give it up.

“Alright, my dear Bishop, this is a transaction.”

Tar seemed to have no choice. Both obedient and friendly, he agreed to his unreasonable demand. The end of his words rose slightly, like a tiny hook, stinging Edwin’s already precarious reason.

He agreed.

As the demon’s words fell, Edwin felt a slight burning sensation in his chest. Tar had taken a small piece of his soul. At the same time, the demon knelt on one knee before him, bending his leg, and went to touch his hair.

The Bishop didn’t know what would happen next. He only felt an indescribable thirst suddenly sweep over his body again, and the skin under his clothes had already begun to burn. In this situation, his gaze wandered everywhere, with no focus, and finally had to look at Tar’s eyes.

They were a pair of eyes as bright as garnets, almost clear.

They were also looking at him.

Without blinking.

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