Chapter 52: Chapter 052 Clash
Just then, a cloud of blue mist suddenly erupted around the fallen figure, engulfing much of the room in dense smoke within an instant.
The bullet seemed to have hit something solid, followed by a series of collision sounds from near the window.
With the shattering of glass, something appeared to burst through the window and plummet towards the ground.
Henrik had already stood up. He didn’t even aim, his arm muscles twitching as he fired two shots in succession.
The collision sounds made Henrik’s face change; he obviously hadn’t hit his real target.
Accompanied by a fetid roar, a large portion of the bookshelf howled as it smashed towards him from within the blue mist.
Henrik quickly dodged to one side, and even while evading, he didn’t forget to fire two shots to seal off the area around the bookshelf.
With the sound of breaking wood, a figure dashed out at a tremendous speed. However, its target wasn’t Henrik, who was still dodging to one side, but rather the wide-open doorway.
And standing at the doorway was Roger!
All of this happened too fast. From the moment Roger entered the room until the figure rushed at him with a whoosh, it was only a matter of seconds, and Roger hadn’t even had time to react.
Seeing someone rushing towards him, he subconsciously drew his dagger, not to block but to assume an offensive stance!
A deadly stab from the elven dagger technique.
Using the momentum of his forward thrust and powering through his thighs and waist, he drove the dagger into the opponent’s heart at incredible speed!
In the darkness, Roger couldn’t see the other’s face, but in the blink of an eye, he saw a pair of eyes like those of a wild beast.
But just then, a roar came.
“Get out of the way!”
His vision blurred, a shadow flickered by. Hearing Henrik’s voice, Roger had no time to think; his hand could no longer change the move, so he spun his body, dragging the dagger through the air.
The next second, a violent force traveled up the blade!
The dagger in his hand split, and Roger was sent flying like a straw man, crashing hard against the distant wall.
“What kind of monster is this?!”
Roger was scared sweat was streaming down his forehead. In that moment, he had just instinctively followed his body’s reflex.
If he had reacted a fraction of a second slower, or if his judgment had been wrong, Roger would have been a dead man by now.
Roger was now far stronger than he had been on the island, yet even so, he had nearly been killed in the first encounter.
Moreover, his opponent had just been shot by Henrik.
“Are you okay?!” Henrik called out loudly.
Roger hadn’t finished speaking when he saw Henrik grip his pistol and follow up.
After a moment’s hesitation, Roger gritted his teeth and hurried after him.
As they rushed down from the second floor, Henrik saw Roger following behind and his expression changed, “What are you doing, coming along to mess things up?”
“If I don’t follow you and that monster lures you away, what if it comes back and kills me?” Roger grumbled.
“Why are you so afraid of dying?”
“You’ve got only one life, aren’t you afraid?” No matter what Henrik said, Roger was determined to stick with him.
In his past life, he had seen too many fall prey to diversion tactics in movies; Roger thought it best to err on the side of caution.
The monster they encountered today was indeed strong, but Roger believed that if he was given some time to improve his physical fitness and combat skills, he might have the upper hand in their next encounter.
“If you can keep up, then follow!”
Henrik said irritably, quickening his pace.
Minutes later, surveying the desolate and quiet streets, Henrik stopped walking in resignation.
“Slippery devil, almost had him!”
“Can’t catch up, the guy got away.”
It wasn’t long before the two returned to the manor.
Sherman’s manor was rather isolated with no nearby residents, and since Henrik’s gun was fitted with a silencer, by the time they returned, everything that had happened there was still unknown to the outside world.
The window had a large hole broken through it, and the snowy white curtains were being tugged and floating in the night wind, looking from afar like drifting ghosts.
It was only then that Roger noticed the smell of blood in the room.
By the desk near the fireplace, Sherman’s right hand was propped on the table, a dagger driven through his neck, and blood running down his chest, pooling into a large stain on the floor.
His eyes were wide with terror, filled with confusion, surprise, and the desperation of his last moments.
“Was he killed while attacking?” Roger was somewhat unsure.
“But his expression… it doesn’t make sense.”
“What doesn’t make sense?”
Behind the fallen bookshelf, Henrik found a hidden compartment and pulled out a few bound notes; Roger’s gaze swept over them, noticing the conspicuous triangular symbol on the title page.
“It’s definitely those Three Holy Spirits guys, looks like another internal strife.”
Henrik rummaged through the notes.
“Found it; it was indeed him.”
He handed a piece of paper to Roger, “Think back, any recollection?”
Roger looked at the symbols and text, hesitant for a moment; he had only glanced at it briefly, and the flames had burned most of it.
Henrik analyzed the ritual in his hand.
“We’ll know the exact situation when we try it tomorrow.”
Henrik laughed but did not reply.
“Let’s clean up any traces we left behind; we’ll leave the rest to the police.”
“Leave it to the police?”
“What else?” Henrik yawned.
“Luckily, there was no one else in the house; otherwise, we’d be in big trouble.”
After erasing some unnecessary traces, they left the manor the way they came; after the night’s events, most of the night had passed.
Even as he lay in bed, Roger found it all somewhat unbelievable.
He had always wanted an opportunity to get close to Sherman, to uncover the truth behind everything, but the sudden turn of events was hard for Roger to accept.
All signs pointed to Sherman as the mastermind behind the beast attack incidents, and now that he was dead, it seemed like everything was over.
What about the mysterious person tonight?
Was it Sherman’s accomplice…
Roger’s heart skipped a beat, and he sat up abruptly in bed.
“Is that woman really that strong?”
It was fortunate that tonight Henrik was with him; had he ventured into Sherman’s manor alone, well, that would’ve been quite the show.
With his mind churning, he didn’t continue his meditation, and as various thoughts entwined in his head, Roger drifted off to sleep.
Early the next morning, Adeline knocked on Roger’s door, handing him a few bills.
“You two will go eat at the restaurant at the street corner later; I have other business and can’t see you off.”
Adeline gave a few instructions and hurried off, seemingly heading in the direction of Sherman’s manor.