Lord of Prayer

Akita Town Municipal Building, Mayor’s Office.

Mayor Norman lay in a pool of blood, his body still warm.

Nearby, three more bodies lay on the floor—Norman’s personal bodyguards.

They had all committed suicide.

They had used their own daggers to slit their throats, severing their carotid arteries. The gushing blood stained the office floor and furniture, leaving crimson splatters and sprays across the white walls.

Their expressions were calm, as if they had accepted their deaths without a fight.

This was highly unusual.

The experienced Zhou Chen took one look around the scene and quickly came to a conclusion. “The three bodyguards killed themselves first, then Norman picked up one of their daggers and did the same. They were all being controlled.”

“Judging by the time of death, these murders happened at almost the exact same time you all were trying to kill me.”

“The mastermind knew I could break his control over you. He anticipated this exact scenario—that I would help you regain your senses, and we’d come looking for the mayor to demand answers.”

“If he didn’t silence him, the mayor would have definitely given him up. So, the moment you left, he made them kill themselves to tie up loose ends.”

“It’s a shame. The mayor was clearly connected to the mastermind, so this lead is now a dead end… When you were in contact with the mayor, did you notice any details? Like him secretly communicating with someone, making some kind of shady deal?”

“No.”

Yao Hu stood with his arms crossed, slowly shaking his head. “From the moment we set foot in Akita Town, we were already being corrupted. You managed to shield yourself from the corruption’s influence in time, but we didn’t. We gradually became more and more extreme, and the judgments we should have made correctly, we either missed or got wrong.”

“For example, contacting Norman.”

“In our previous conversations, Chengzi mentioned she used a hypnosis Artifact to hypnotize a doctor at the hospital. That’s the most effective way to gather intelligence.”

“As the mayor of Akita Town, Norman must have known a lot of key secrets. I knew this, so the most prudent course of action would have been to bring Chengzi with me to see him, or at least borrow her hypnosis Artifact. Instead, I was confident I could force the truth out of him with brute force. That was a mistake I should never have made.”

“And after I was done, none of you went to see Norman either. That was a mistake you all shouldn’t have made.”

“This shows that the corruption was influencing our subconscious, preventing us from getting closer to the truth.”

“After I threatened Norman to get into the police station, I never sought him out again. Looking back, it’s like I completely forgot about him for the past few days. Not until he came to me a little while ago and asked me to kill you.”

’The corruption is preventing us from getting closer to the truth…’ The thought flashed through Zhou Chen’s mind. He asked, “What reason did he give?”

“That you were bewitched by a Demon.”

“And you actually believed him?” Zhou Chen raised an eyebrow.

“Yes,” Yao Hu admitted frankly. “I had become extremely arrogant by then, and I’d been wanting to fight you for a while. All I needed was an excuse to make a move.”

“Norman came to me and said he’d give me two hundred million US Dollars if I killed you. I was blinded by greed and agreed,” Chengzi spoke up, scratching her hair awkwardly. She lowered her head and apologized, “I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay.” Zhou Chen smiled gently, not taking it to heart. He turned to the ashen-faced Liu Ling. “Liu Ling, I’m more curious about your situation. How did you… get the message from the mayor?”

He had gone looking for Liu Ling earlier. The guy had been lost in a steamy bath with Daisy, completely unreachable. Zhou Chen had no idea how Norman had managed to persuade him.

The moment Liu Ling thought about his global social suicide, his spirits plummeted. He spoke listlessly, as if he already had one foot in the grave:

“Daisy’s phone rang. I don’t know why, but I just… picked it up. A man’s voice on the other end said you were going to destroy my happiness with Daisy. He said that only by killing you could I continue to be happy with her, and that I’d get even more beautiful women…”

’And then you pulled up your pants and came to kill me…’ Zhou Chen nodded in understanding. “It seems Norman knew your situations very well, even which Original Sin each of you represented. He must have had a deeper connection to the mastermind… But he wasn’t a partner, just a puppet.”

“However, the mastermind could have used someone else to give you the mission, yet he chose Norman…”

Zhou Chen paused for a moment, then the answer came to him:

“He’s grown so powerful that he no longer needs the mayor as his puppet.”

In two days, numerous murders had occurred in Akita Town. Combined with the chaos and sin created by the few Ascenders who had become sources of corruption, it was enough for the Demon to recover to its full strength, and perhaps even surpass it.

Its plan was about to be completed—no, it might already be complete. That’s why it no longer needed Norman, or any other puppet.

“The church.”

Yao Hu spoke up suddenly, slowly turning his head to look out the window. “My instincts are telling me a massive wave of malice has appeared at the church. It’s like a beast that’s no longer hiding its Tusk and claws, no longer concealing its ferocious killing intent.”

“Instincts? How come I don’t feel anything?” Chengzi asked, momentarily stunned.

Liu Ling felt nothing at all, but a nauseating sense of foreboding was slowly rising in Zhou Chen’s heart.

Yao Hu lowered his gaze to his arm, where a layer of goosebumps had formed. “A year ago, after I trekked through the Amazon Rainforest, my Spiritual Realm was elevated, and I gained an Ability to sense danger. I can feel a vast malice brewing in that direction.”

“Father Natas.”

Zhou Chen instantly connected the dots. He narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice, “His honesty temporarily fooled me. I didn’t even have a chance to think after leaving the church before you all ambushed me… Thinking back now, Father Natas knew far too much, and with too much accuracy. He answered almost every question I had. If he’s the mastermind, it all makes sense. He was deliberately clearing up my confusion.”

“It’s like a cat playing with a mouse before killing it.”

“From this perspective, it wasn’t Yano who was hiding something. He was investigating the mastermind from the very beginning. Back then, Father Natas certainly wouldn’t have revealed himself, but now that his plan has succeeded, it doesn’t matter if he’s exposed.”

’Tsk… so that was the other reason for having Norman issue the mission. He left himself a backup plan.’

“If I woke you all up, you would definitely see Norman, the one who gave the order, as the prime suspect. By the time we rushed to his office and found him dead, we would have wasted more time investigating and deducing. Even if we figured out the truth at top speed, the back-and-forth would still cost us time.”

“And that time was all he needed to make his move.”

If there had been no interference from outsiders, perhaps things would have gone just as Father Natas said: the Demon would have begun its massacre on Christmas Eve, causing the town to fall just before Christmas Day.

But because of the interference from the “contestants,” and because Zhou Chen had heavily wounded the Demon, the subsequent plot of this “dungeon” had gone completely off the rails.

The plan has been moved up.

Tonight is the day of reckoning for Akita Town!

Zhou Chen’s Spiritual Realm was not weak, second only to Yao Hu’s. He soon felt that immense, ferocious malice and the intense sin it contained: pride, envy, Anger, lust, greed, sloth, gluttony… The seven Original Sins of humanity were more potent than any poison in the world, inspiring Fear, making one tremble, and sending a chill down to the bone.

“Hm? My body is actually… afraid?”

Yao Hu suddenly clenched his fists. His muscles bulged, ripping his shirt apart to reveal a powerful, bronze-skinned torso as his aura skyrocketed.

“Dammit, I command you not to be afraid!”

Zhou Chen, Chengzi, and Liu Ling all stared, wide-eyed in astonishment. Was Yao Hu ordering his own body? But his command actually seemed to work. The dense layer of goosebumps on his skin quickly vanished, replaced by a soaring, formidable fighting spirit.

“Can you still use Instant Teleportation to get back?” Yao Hu looked at Zhou Chen, an iron-like authority surging in his eyes. His presence was terrifying.

“Are you sure?” Zhou Chen didn’t agree with this tactic. “We’re all running on empty. It’s best if we recover our strength first.”

“Just take me. I’m at one hundred percent. I can kill it.”

Yao Hu radiated absolute confidence, even though the aura fluctuating from that malice of Darkness was Tier Three.

In an instant, Zhou Chen was infected by this heroic confidence. His own blood began to boil as he broke into a grin. “Alright, I’ll send you back first. I hope you can pull it off.”

“Let’s go.”

“Chengzi, Liu Ling, you two go to 61 Red Pine Nut Street and find Renie.”

With that, Zhou Chen’s Cyan Flame flared up, engulfing his and Yao Hu’s figures.