Chapter 87: Dragon Scale
Just then, a steady sound of footsteps rang out, and before long, Loruze’s figure appeared not far away.
When he saw Sylvia standing in a daze while holding a blue flower, he clearly froze for a moment.
“What are you doing?”
Sylvia emerged from her silence, shook her head, and used two fingers to pluck out from the center of the petal a miniature scale, dazzling like a star.
The instant the scale was removed, the entire flower withered in a flash.
This was the true source of divinity, and the flower was merely a disguise.
When she truly touched this wellspring of spirituality, Sylvia felt her somewhat depleted spirituality stir at once, growing rapidly at an astonishing speed.
Such an effect was clearly beyond her expectations, and it made the corners of her lips curl upward slightly.
Very good. Another power bank collected.
After that, she looked toward Loruze and spoke.
“Nothing much. Just caught a demon that slipped in.”
As she finished, she lifted her foot and nudged the demon who remained frozen in place, half-crouching.
“A demon?”
Loruze also clearly paused in surprise.
Because of his angle just now, he had only seen someone motionless in a half-crouch on the ground and hadn’t noticed the ram’s horns protruding from the figure’s forehead.
At the time, he had thought it was merely a new servant her Grace had brought in.
Now it seemed that was not the case.
He glanced at the blue scale in Sylvia’s hand but did not ask further. Instead, all his curiosity shifted to the demon lying on the floor.
“It’s said they fear the holy light.”
Loruze thought for a moment and, drawing on what he knew, voiced his suggestion.
“We can try.”
Sylvia turned slightly to the side, encouraging her subordinate to conduct a hands-on experiment.
Seeing this, Loruze did not stand on ceremony or decline. After letting his left hand become covered in pure white radiance, he reached out and touched the demon’s raised right hand.
“Hiss—!”
Accompanied by the sound of something searing, a foul stench spread through the air.
At this moment, the demon’s right hand had already become a mangled mess of flesh and blood, and the dark crimson blood had not even flowed before it was vaporized by the pure white holy light.
This demon, however, was certainly tough. Even under such pain, he didn’t let out a single groan; not even his expression changed.
Of course, all of this presupposed that he was still able to control his own body.
Retracting his left hand, Loruze nodded thoughtfully, while Sylvia looked at his blood-smeared hand with a hint of distaste.
“Go wash your hand first.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Loruze inclined his head, then turned and left.
Only, his footsteps picked up pace slightly, no longer as steady as before.
To this, Sylvia guessed that he probably wanted to hurry back quickly.
However, this was only natural. When encountering a wondrous creature one had only ever read about in books, no one could resist feeling curious.
Just as Loruze’s figure disappeared around the corridor corner, another person came walking from that direction.
She looked toward the Lord of Radiance with some puzzlement, and a questioning voice followed.
“What’s the matter, Bishop Labrile?”
“Her Grace caught a demon.”
Loruze explained succinctly in a single sentence.
“Ah?”
Adela’s voice clearly sounded somewhat dazed—
A daze both from having just woken up and from shock.
After that, a series of hurried footsteps echoed from the corner, and Adela’s figure appeared.
Watching her walk in such an ungraceful manner, with hair that was still relatively tidy but not quite decent, Sylvia’s lips twitched faintly.
The composure of the two noble young ladies she knew, combined, could not even match the standard of this demon!
However, at this moment, Adela’s voice reached her ears.
“Your Grace, did you truly catch a demon?”
As she finished speaking, her gaze instinctively fell upon the figure by Sylvia’s feet, who had shifted posture into a prone crawl. Then, her expression transformed—from delight to astonishment, from astonishment to shock, from shock to a contorted rage.
“Carsonette, I didn’t expect you would actually dare to come?”
“Dare?”
Sylvia caught hold of a keyword and let out a soft laugh as she echoed the question.
“Yes, this morning I had a strange dream. In the dream, this demon gentleman told me he was coming to see me tonight.”
“He’s that bold?”
At that moment, Sylvia could not help but let out a laugh herself.
Then she raised the scale in her hand and said in a calm tone.
“However, he did have the means to be so audacious, because he carried this on his person.”
Adela’s gaze followed the star-like scale moving up and down. Though she did not know what it was, whether by spiritual intuition or a sixth sense, she was certain—it was something extraordinary!
An absolute treasure!
Seeing the heat in the other’s eyes, Sylvia pointed toward her own office and spoke.
“Go and call Lakdevo out.”
“When he finishes identifying what this thing is, your task will be to turn it into an ornament.”
Watching Adela’s expression collapse instantly, Sylvia briefly reflected on whether she was overexploiting her subordinates, then chose to abandon the thought altogether and instead released part of her control over the demon.
After that, she gazed down at the demon’s eyes from above and asked in a lightly amused voice.
“Full name.”
The instant he regained control, Carsonette’s expression twisted into a grimace as he gasped in ragged, heaving breaths, casting a look of terror at Sylvia.
She—no, He—was truly terrifying!
This was an instinctive warning that came from his very race!
Almost without hesitation, Carsonette blurted out his full name.
“Carsonette Mogoras.”
“Mogoras family?”
Lakdevo, who had flown out from the office, landed lightly upon Sylvia’s shoulder and spoke in a questioning tone.
The instant Carsonette laid eyes on Lakdevo, his complexion turned even paler.
He recognized Him!
No—Them!
This was the Ferryman of the River Council, the leader of the Death Herald Crows!
A strained smile tugged at the corner of Carsonette’s mouth, and he gave a reply in a low voice.
“Yes, I am a member of the Mogoras family.”
“Mogoras?”
Sylvia echoed the name with a puzzled tone, and Lakdevo offered an explanation.
“One of the demon families in reality. They revere Frankatlus, one of the Abyssal Demon Archdukes.”
“That Abyssal Evil God symbolizes betrayal and corruption, is synonymous with cunning and trickery, and is also the most powerful of the Astuya demons.”
Hearing Lakdevo’s explanation, Sylvia nodded thoughtfully.
Then she fixed her gaze back upon Carsonette.
“So this is what gave you the nerve to swagger straight into the heart of the Radiance Church?”
As she spoke, she shifted the star-like scale from her palm to her fingertip, letting it sway lightly.
“…Yes.”
Carsonette’s voice was tinged with bitter regret as he answered.
He had thought that possessing a holy relic meant he could disregard all danger, never imagining he would end up capsized so utterly.
Meanwhile, when Lakdevo saw the scale, he clearly froze for a moment.
Then, sounding a bit uncertain, he spoke.
“Master, this seems to be a dragon scale.”
Master?
Carsonette, who was still unable to move, nearly fainted upon hearing that title.
This puppet was addressed as Master by a Ferryman?
Who in the River of the Dead was this exalted being? Which seat in the River Council chamber belonged to Them?