By the time Annan woke up, his portrait was already complete.
"Thank you very much for your cooperation."
Amos’s voice came from behind Annan, "Really... You don’t need to prepare dinner?"
"... No, let’s prepare it anyway."
There was a hint of hesitation in Annan’s tone.
Amos immediately chuckled, "That’s more like it. I am a hospitable person after all..."
Although those words sounded indeed polite...
the near-overflowing impatience in his speech was in no way concealed. He did not invite Annan to look at the painting; instead, he put the painting away by himself. When he invited Annan, he spoke very quickly and did not even look him in the eye.
Annan sharply sensed a kind of superiority in his behavior... as well as a not very apparent sense of inferiority.
He treated Jiu’er especially well, probably because, while Jiu’er was playing the part of a homeless man, he still showed "curiosity" and "admiration" for his painting, which fully satisfied Amos’s vanity.
Because he originally conducted the ritual for the Viscount of Skeletons mainly due to hitting an artistic bottleneck, lacking the patience to choose to break through it gradually. But it is worth noting that Yawen also offered services that could improve artistic skill.
Unlike the Viscount of Skeletons, Yawen tended to propose an effective "training method" or point out mistakes and areas for improvement in the artistic style, and then let his followers return to continue their grueling practice.
Yes, to his followers, Yawen was a critic with extremely sharp eyes, who spoke bluntly, and who could not be offended in any way.
For artists, this was undoubtedly a difficult and demanding person, but also a good mentor and friend.
Amos chose the Viscount of Skeletons over Yawen...
At that moment, his true thoughts became apparent.
—He did not want to make an effort anymore.
He just wanted to paint better pictures immediately, to become famous quickly... But even Amos himself did not realize the indolence and restlessness in his own heart.
The "I only want to pursue a higher realm of art" he showed in Elle’s memory was actually just a deception to himself.
The significant improvement in his portrait skill was due to his acquisition of "Elle-chan Brand Special Paints". It had nothing to do with his choice of customers.
If he really just wanted to paint better pictures, why did he specifically choose to paint portraits for prominent figures?
The answer is simple.
Although Amos’s original sense of morality and reverence for the law restrained him—he had long been prepared to use the "soul shards" of these prominent figures sealed in the paintings to threaten and curse them should he be discovered.
Compared to a few months ago, before Elle was pregnant,
Amos’s behavior today, although it appeared to be a rigid imitation... The ruthless temperament he carried had become increasingly evident.
During these few months, there were not many things that could change Amos.
—For instance, committing murder by his own hand.
After he deceived and killed a large number of homeless people, he lost patience with mortals.
... Just like he had become a true Transcendent.
You should know that the homeless man Annan was playing never made any inappropriate actions from beginning to end. He was more like a "real" homeless man.
How could a homeless man who couldn’t even fill his stomach be interested in an artist’s painting?
Being employed by someone, how could he be curious enough to look up at the gallery?
Could he possibly understand it?
Real homeless people simply could not care about the "art" of these prominent figures. They just wanted money, they just wanted to eat... Beyond that, they were distrustful of anyone and alienated from the whole society.
The homeless man Annan played was not only far from being "bad". He could even be considered one of the best-tempered among the homeless.
Yet even he never received any favorable treatment from Amos.
In other words, Amos never had a good attitude towards these homeless people to begin with.
The reason Amos was confident in keeping the homeless men was simple.
Because after he painted Annan’s portrait, Annan felt a strong hunger arising within him.
In other words... It was like injuring someone and then demanding whether they wanted treatment.
If Annan were truly a homeless man, at this point, he would naturally not care about his pride. Although he said he would not stay for dinner, he was truly hungry, and Amos invited him again. At this time, in order to save the little money he had, he would naturally choose to stay.
The homeless, from the very beginning, had no choice.
Once Amos set his eyes on them, they were left with only one path to death—
Just by seeing the unapologetic, assembly line-like proficiency... Annan could tell how many homeless people he had trapped and killed with this trick.
This wall of portrait paintings was not just a wall of portraits—
It was even the "cursed painting" that imprisoned the souls of the dead!
Annan seemed to understand.
—The senior was right.
Transcendents must undergo stringent selection and education.
Amos wasn’t even a Transcendent!
He didn’t even have the ability to resist bullets!
If it hadn’t been for that cursed pistol, he probably wouldn’t have been able to defeat a common swordsman or wizard’s apprentice.
Yet such a mortal, who had gained only a slight Transcendent power, killed so many people under his own uncontrollable greed and caused so much chaos...
The cursed paintings he made for those important people could even have a greater impact.
If a cursed painting were burned, or physically destroyed like Annan did, the original owner’s soul would become powerless, and their lifespan would drastically decrease... and if the cursed painting were stolen, the consequences would be even more severe—those voluntarily detached soul fragments falling into the hands of anyone with ill intent could be used as part of a ritual, potentially leading to greater conspiracies.
Almost none of these important figures were Transcendents.
So the possibility of them being made into self-defense cursed paintings—like the "Feast of the Famished"—was very slim.
More likely, they were all stolen or robbed...
Annan felt a toothache coming on.
This Amos... really caused harm to many.
He had no idea how much chaos he would cause.
For instance, the wife of Viscount Barber might have died because of this forty-five years ago. Even Viscount Barber’s choice to worship the Rotting Husband could be because of his wife’s sudden death under divine intervention.
Because the first time Viscount Barber passed on the lordship to his eldest son and initiated the ritual was forty-five years ago—the year Amos died.
In this sense, Amos’s quality as a troublemaker was incredibly strong...
Annan watched Amos squatting on the ground, carefully and intently mounting a new painting, and sighed softly.
He silently took out the down payment Amos had given him—those three silver coins. Two in his left hand, one in his right.
Then, he lightly flicked the silver coin in his right hand with a resonant clang.
He then opened his right hand, palm facing Amos.
The corners of Annan’s eyes began to twinkle with a silver glow.
Amos vaguely heard a strange noise and turned around without any guard.
And the moment the silver coin spun down into Annan’s palm.
It suddenly accelerated, turning into a streak of light, and swiftly struck at Amos amidst the quivering, loud buzzing sound!
Amos’s emerald green eyeball suddenly wriggled twice.
His body dodged in a strange posture, but he only managed to avoid the vital parts.
The silver coin turned bullet grazed his right shoulder—the wound was deep enough to see bone.
The bullet passed through the shoulder and hit the wall. Suddenly a huge cloud of dust erupted, filling the room with a very sharp, piercing high-frequency noise.
Although it was just a graze, Amos’s body shook violently. He suddenly spurted a mouthful of fresh blood, and his pupils instantly diluted.
He fell forward, powerless.
But that emerald green eyeball of his moved strangely once more, and his nearly tumbling body suddenly paused in mid-air. He touched the ground with his tiptoes and tried to stand up again in a very awkward manner, like a marionette...
But he no longer had that chance.
After using the Divine Art "Resonating Object," Annan had no intention of being a dazed onlooker.
He immediately transferred a silver coin from the palm of his left hand to his right.
With a flick of Annan’s wrists.
Then two slender silver rapier blades silently extended from between his fingers.
The one in his left hand aimed for Amos’s heart—while the other slashed Amos’s throat from the front.
After that, with very skilled movements, Annan used his freed left hand to twist Amos’s head back.
Amos’s sapphire blue eyeball had already become somewhat dim.
But the emerald green pupils belonging to Elle were still trembling...
Annan was precise and without hesitation or mercy.
He elegantly twirled the second rapier, and then from above, it pierced through the emerald green eyeball!