Chapter 41: Chapter 38: Righteous Fury
Baron arrived before the mansion’s antique, cast-aluminum gate. He glanced up at the sky. At some point, the sun and the Black Moon had set; two new moons had risen and fallen.
Baron took a deep breath and pushed open the unlocked door.
The simple hall was empty and in complete disarray, a testament to the thoroughness of Yalilan’s search of the Baron’s Mansion the day before.
The Pure-blooded Fierce Tiger hadn’t held back just because the Baron was the sponsor of their bounty mission.
He didn’t wander around the ancient mansion, but went straight to the basement door the Baron had led him to the night before last.
He used Dragon Flame to melt the iron door, then kicked it in, completely unconcerned about giving himself away.
The lamps in the tunnel swayed. Baron followed his memory back to the small room with the shattered glass from the other night.
He stopped in the room, bending to pick up the small, grayish-green fruits that the wind had scattered across the floor.
The Baron had said this was a type of fruit unique to Mundra.
Dr. Ron, however, had said that yes, it was a fruit, but one from a specific tree: the chaste tree.
The fruit was also known as Holy Berry. Besides its use with Calming Grass to treat malaria, as the Baron had claimed, its main purpose was to help women with conception.
As for the other herbs in this room, Baron had silently memorized them after asking the Baron about them at the time. Later, in the library, he had written them down for the Little Nun to take to the doctor.
After the Little Nun had asked Dr. Ron about the herbs’ uses, Baron pieced together a common theme from the answers—they were everything a girl would need, from birth to death.
’The sound of a child crying that night... And Hira, who came to the basement and smashed the window on the Baron’s orders...’
Baron knelt and, following his memory of the dead girl’s words, felt for a possible mechanism in the corner of the wall.
With a RUMBLE, the floor slid open under some unknown force, revealing a staircase that plunged into darkness. Thick, white steam billowed out from the dark, carrying with it wild, odorless screams and howls.
Baron understood. That was it—the scent of blood he had long since lost.
He drew the twin revolvers from his waist, checked the bullets in the cylinders, and topped them off. He rolled the crossed guns over his long sleeves, producing a sound like hissing snakes.
The moment before he leaped into the darkness, he seemed to remember something. He tossed a white letter onto the ground—one explaining what had happened. Then his brilliant, dazzling Golden Eyes lit up, burning even as he plunged into the abyss-like darkness.
...
The stairs led down to a deep corridor. He followed the sounds of wailing for a while until light finally shone in. He stepped into the light and saw a vast, open space.
A white altar, a rose-red Blood Pool, a tall Cross, and a small girl hanging from it. Her head was bowed, and the tear tracks on her little face glistened.
The ceiling was a transparent, glass-like dome, through which the faint reflection of two moons could be seen. ’This is an underground palace!’
Baron didn’t hesitate. He rushed forward to untie Sessi from the Cross, but as he neared it, he was violently thrown back by an unstoppable force!
He looked up and saw that, for some reason, a transparent, glass-like barrier had appeared in front of the Cross!
’Is this the signal that the ritual has begun?’ His heart sank.
He glanced at the girl on the Cross, drew his revolver, and fired two shots at the barrier. The bullets struck the transparent wall and were immediately deflected.
Baron’s expression darkened.
"You and I are both too late. The ritual has already begun..."
A weary male voice came from behind him.
Baron’s stiff body turned slightly. He looked back to see the wounded Baron emerging from the shadows to his left, struggling to his feet from a spot on the floor concealed by the Blood Pool.
His obese body was so clumsy that he looked like a seal struggling to haul itself ashore.
The Baron gave a bitter smile. "I was deceived by Eliza. I thought she would agree to my request to release the children, but I never expected she’d dare to escape from prison...
"She sacrificed those girls to power the ritual. Now she plans to use Sessi—that poor little girl’s life—as a vessel to contain the soul of the Bloodline Viscount."
Bloodline Viscount... A sudden chill ran down Baron’s spine.
He spun around and only then discovered another altar standing above the entrance he had come through. On this altar was another massive Cross, and from it, another figure was hanging.
It was a tall, silver-haired man with a shriveled face. His body was maimed, missing a right leg. He wore opulent clothes, and his grayish-white eyes glowed faintly in the steam rising from the Blood Pool.
Baron saw three items placed on the altar’s table below:
two withered yet seemingly still-beating kidneys, an upright, blood-red Cross, and the Time Grass that Baron had been longing for.
They appeared to be ritual offerings.
’So this is the dead Bloodline Viscount...’
Baron ignored the Baron’s words and instead spun around, lunging toward the offerings at the foot of the other Cross!
’No matter what, I have to stop this ritual first!’
BANG! Just like with Sessi’s Cross, he was violently repelled by a transparent barrier, thrown back like a bird shot from the sky.
"It’s the ritual..." the Baron said in a low voice. "It has already begun. You were too late, after all."
Baron looked at the distant Baron, tightened his grip on his gun, and called out, "Is there a way to pause the ritual?"
The Baron paused, seemingly surprised that Baron would ask such a question, but answered nonetheless, "Only by killing Eliza. She is the one conducting the ritual..."
"Where is she?"
Constantine walked silently toward the Baron.
"She’ll be here soon..."
The Baron had barely finished speaking when the glass ceiling shattered with a CRASH, and a monstrous figure descended from the sky!
It was the Blood Demon that Baron and Yalilan had seen that day! It was also the Baron’s wife, the former prostitute, Eliza Camberra!
Eliza, now a Blood Demon, shrieked and roared as she seized the Baron by the neck.
The Baron’s face turned a deep, purplish-red. He slapped weakly at Eliza’s Sharp Claws, his eyes darting repeatedly toward Baron, as if pleading for help.
Baron didn’t hesitate. He drew his Broken Sword and leaped over the Blood Pool. His Golden Eyes flashed in unison with fire as he vaulted toward the Blood Demon and the Baron.
The Blood Demon tilted its head back and shrieked at him. Its muscles bulged, and its emerald eyes flashed with white light for an instant as if using a special Authority—but under the gaze of the Golden Eyes, it was all useless!
Constantine remained fearless, thrusting with his Fire Sword!
The Blood Demon dodged. The Baron was pinned to the ground by the Fire Sword.
The Baron spat out a great mouthful of blood. He looked at Baron, his words coming in ragged gasps, "Why..."
Baron released the hilt of the sword, and the Fire Blade dissipated.
He looked at Sessi on the Cross and said flatly:
"Because you are the true culprit behind everything."
"Why..." the Baron said, blood bubbling between his teeth.
"The turning point was the Second War of Faith," Baron said coolly. "During that war, you came into contact with the Blue Blood Faction of the Blood Church. You were drawn to them, joined their faith, and became a Blue Blood Cultist."
"Blue Blood Cultists... I never believed the Blood Race were incarnations of the Blood God... How could I be one of them..."
The Baron spoke in fits and starts, coughing up blood with every few words.
"Being a Blue Blood Cultist has nothing to do with whether you believe the Blood Race are incarnations of the Blood God. But it has everything to do with you wanting to become one of the Blood Race yourself."
At these words, the Baron’s expression did indeed change. He started to say something, but Baron gestured for him to be silent.
"My Lord Baron, interrupting someone is not a good habit."
The Demon Hunter continued, laying out his deduction. "As a Blue Blood Cultist, you were naturally aware of the Sisterhood of the Blood of the Lamb. You contacted them and offered them the corpse of a member of the Blood Race—one you found somewhere—in exchange for their assistance."
"I’m guessing what you exchanged it for was an occult ritual. I’m not interested in what you wanted to do with the ritual, but I am very interested in what you did *for* the ritual."
Baron said, "You were waiting for an opportunity to perform the ritual, and the famine in Mundra all those years ago gave you that chance."
"You used food and money to lure and deceive the local peasant women, who were still relatively young, getting them pregnant. If the child was a girl, you took her to be raised, waiting for her to mature so you could kill her and take her blood for the ritual. If it was a boy..."
He said coldly, "I imagine you either killed those boys or abandoned them."
"This is all speculation, without a shred of proof..." the Baron said. "Mr. L, if I am guilty, then God himself will punish me..."
"Dr. Rod confirmed that the dead girls were all virgins."
Baron said, "Furthermore, there were many clothes in your wife’s room. They were all loose-fitting, with high waistlines—clearly maternity wear..."
"Doesn’t a woman even have the right to choose the clothes she likes to wear?" the Baron retorted with a wheeze.
"I suspect you, my Lord Baron, never paid much mind to those clothes... This is a tag I found on one of them. Perhaps it identifies the garment’s previous owner..."
Baron took a small card from his coat, holding it up before the Baron’s eyes. On it was written the name "Nanali."
Nanali was the name of one of the peasant women who had been confessing at the Blood Church yesterday.
Of course, what the Baron didn’t know was that Baron had forged the card. He just wanted to see the Baron’s reaction.
And the way the Baron’s pupils suddenly dilated made Baron sigh.
"And that’s why I’m afraid God can’t tell good from evil."
He gripped the Baron’s collar and said coldly, "All those carelessly piled-up toys, that chaotic mess of herbs, the confessions of those peasant women, the wails of the children, and the corpses of those girls... I don’t know if God sees any of it."
"You found out about the graffiti I saw in the basement that night, didn’t you? That’s why you made such a show of kidnapping Sessi. She was one of the girls who escaped from you, wasn’t she..."
"I... I don’t know..."
The Baron’s eyes were starting to lose focus, and his lips trembled. He was about to bleed out.
"You don’t know, or you won’t say?"
Baron shoved the Broken Blade into the Baron’s wound. The pain caused beads of sweat to pop out on the Baron’s forehead.
The Blood Demon watching them from the side didn’t attack, but simply stared blankly, its emerald eyes as vacant as a groundhog’s.
The Baron gasped for breath. "But this doesn’t prove anything... Mr. L... It’s all just your speculation...
"If a person’s guilt can be decided by malice alone... then this world is truly finished..."
"I hold no malice toward you," Baron said, shaking his head. "But I hold a great deal of malice toward a Demon who imprisons girls in a basement and treats them like cattle for the slaughter."
"Your wife, Lady Camberra... No, allow me to call her Miss Eliza. In Steel City, she discovered your secret and wanted to expose you, but you poisoned her, silenced her, and fled with her."
"You used some unknown method to turn her into a Blood Demon, preparing to shift the blame. But that night, because I noticed the graffiti in the basement, you realized you couldn’t hide it for much longer... and so you made your wife the scapegoat."
Baron looked at the Lady Baroness, who had at some point reverted to her human form. His gaze was gentle. "Am I right, Miss Eliza?"
The Lady Baroness didn’t speak. She just stared silently at the girl hanging on the Cross, her wrinkled face a mask of repentance and pain.
After a long silence, she nodded.
"Eliza..." The Baron looked at the Lady Baroness in anguish. "Have you finally betrayed me after all?"
Baron grabbed the Baron’s collar, dragged him to the edge of the Blood Pool, and pressed his head against the rim. "One last question."
"I can’t promise I’ll answer."
The Baron dropped his pretense and chuckled. His large, round face wrinkled as he laughed, making him look even more like a seal that couldn’t get ashore.
The Demon Hunter pressed the muzzle of his gun to the Baron’s forehead. "Why did you have Teresa kill Hira?"
The Baron roared with laughter, his expression savage as he snarled, "Because that bitch climbed into my bed when she was eighteen, yet she pretended to be a pure virgin in front of a despicable Demon Hunter like you!"
The sound of a blade tearing through cloth.
Someone was about to die.
Not the Baron. The Lady Baroness.
Her eyes widened in dawning horror as a monstrous, sharp claw pierced through her chest.
Behind her was a Blood Demon, its face twisted and savage, with long horns on its forehead.
