Half an hour later, the two returned to the first-floor hall filled with the scent of blood.
They had walked through every room of this three-story house and found no other victims. It seemed that everyone who had been in the house at the time had been concentrated in the hall and brutally killed.
Angel also discovered that the study and master bedroom had been searched through, but not carelessly—rather with very deliberate purpose. This included the safe hidden behind a hanging painting, which had been properly opened, its contents completely emptied.
It seemed that regardless of whether the murderer had come seeking revenge, he had simultaneously conducted an efficient robbery, very likely threatening the master of the house and forcing him to personally retrieve all valuable items—which demonstrated such "efficiency."
When the two descended the central staircase to the first floor, Old Neil in his black robe had already arrived at the scene. He had placed the wooden box he carried on a low stool by the door and was rummaging through its contents.
Hearing Angel and Leonard's footsteps, the "Mystery Pryer" turned around.
"When that police officer came to find me, I thought it would be like the last time with Riel Bieber—a strange but not bloody scene. I didn't expect..."
He surveyed the hall once, and his wrinkled face also showed gravity.
"Such a bloody, violent scene—in my decades, I've also..." He sighed, then continued, "Well, actually I've seen quite a few."
"The most recent was five years ago, that serial killer who shocked Tingen City. It was a Sequence 7 of the 'Criminal' pathway, also called the 'Demon' pathway—a 'Serial Killer.'"
Old Neil turned back and crouched down, continuing to search for needed ritual materials in the wooden box, his rambling words continuing from under his hood.
"They worship demons and enjoy using the evil rituals they've mastered—rituals that please demons by sacrificing innocent lives. Victims who fall into their hands often die horribly, just like those in this hall now."
"The Captain mentioned this matter. Miss Rozanne's father also gave his life in the process of tracking that serial killer, didn't he?"
Leonard inquired from the side.
"Yes, and he died very... so we told Rozanne that he died in an accident, sacrificing himself while protecting citizens. Dunn hoped she could live happily, rather than pursue extraordinary power and follow her father's path."
Old Neil's words carried some melancholy, making Angel's mood grow somewhat heavy as well. She hadn't expected that Rozanne's father had actually died at the hands of a cruel Extraordinary, rather than the "accident" she had always heard about.
"All right, let's not dwell on these things. My point is, this kind of seemingly bloody murder scene might be isolated—the work of some villain with perverted inclinations—or it might be part of a series of murders, demon sacrifice rituals."
"You were right to call me here."
Holding several thumb-sized glass bottles and a cloth bag, Old Neil stood up from beside the wooden box and turned to summarize.
He uncorked the glass bottles, walked to the center of the hall, found a spot with less flesh and blood to stand steady, and sprinkled the various colored liquids from the bottles around himself, forming a circle.
Then he pinched powder from the cloth bag and scattered it around the perimeter.
"This is Holy Night powder. In this situation, it can substitute for a ritual dagger to quickly construct a spiritual wall."
He explained while scattering the powder.
The powder met the liquid on the ground, steaming up a pungent smell that masked the bloody scent in the hall and, like an invisible wall, separated Old Neil from the other two.
No need to prepare a consecrated blade, but materials must be prepared in advance. It seems each method has its own advantages...
Angel was witnessing "Mystery Pryer" Old Neil use ritual magic for the first time. Her curious gaze closely followed his every movement. Leonard beside her seemed to have seen this many times—his gaze kept wandering, and he even yawned from boredom.
Old Neil half-closed his eyes, entered meditation, held his hands partially open, his lips moving as he recited prayers in a low voice. Due to the spiritual wall's obstruction, Angel couldn't hear the prayer's content clearly, but presumably it praised the Goddess of Night, requesting the Goddess's assistance.
Feels similar to Klein's dream divination—set up the scene, enter meditation, then wake up and tell us what he saw?
Just as Angel was secretly speculating, Old Neil suddenly opened his eyes. The dark red in his pupils deepened, finally transforming into complete black that spread to the whites of his eyes.
He immediately waved his hand to dispel the spiritual wall, quickly walked toward the wooden box he had brought, took out white paper and pencil, closed the box lid to use as a makeshift table, and rapidly began drawing on the paper. His arm moved frantically, his body shook as if convulsing, his entire being radiating an invisible madness.
Angel and Leonard tiptoed closer and discovered that a thin, thick-lipped face was gradually taking shape on the white paper.
"Black hair, brown eyes, approximately thirty years old."
After using words to describe details that the sketch had difficulty capturing, Old Neil's eyes returned to their normal color, and his body ceased its frantic shaking.
"Praise the Goddess."
He drew a crimson moon on his chest, and the invisible sense of madness around him dissipated.
Only then did the Mystery Pryer lower his hood, looking toward his two teammates, a trace of sweat flowing down his neck.
It seemed the ritual had been quite taxing for this elderly man.
"I saw the scene that remained in the room, the process of this intruder killing everyone."
After resting briefly on the long bench in the anteroom, Old Neil began describing what he had witnessed.
"He gathered everyone in the hall, using the wife and children as hostages, threatening the male head of household to bring out all their valuables, or he would kill everyone."
"The subsequent fragments were somewhat chaotic—perhaps interfered with by some extraordinary ability. Of course, we can see the result. Including the male head of household, all five people failed to escape."
He looked toward the door leading from the anteroom to the hall.
"This aligns with our speculation. The study and bedroom upstairs showed no signs of destruction or extensive searching. All valuable property disappeared, and the safe was opened using the correct combination—it should all have been done by Alan Plack himself. Unfortunately, these efforts didn't save him or his family's lives."
Leonard said with considerable feeling.
"What was his method of killing? Normal means couldn't create this kind of scene, could they?"
Angel was more concerned about the murderer's killing method. She had initially even suspected that all this was the work of that Mr. C who had escaped from Enmat Port, but the portrait Old Neil provided seemed unfamiliar.
Perhaps this was another Aurora Order "Rose Bishop"?
Old Neil also frowned, hesitating for a while before answering.
"After he obtained the cash, jewels, and bearer bonds, he forced everyone to drink a cup of red potion—the color was somewhat like red wine. Then, amid his shouting, everyone exploded into clouds of blood mist."
"The subsequent situation couldn't be seen—perhaps it was interference from the explosion, perhaps after this Extraordinary left, there was no target for spirit communication to rely upon. But I discovered that in the divination, the 'amount of flesh' at the scene was much more than what we see now."
Amount of flesh...
Angel found this term somewhat chilling. No wonder Old Neil had hesitated so long before describing the scene.
"So the murderer not only robbed all that portable, untraceable property and killed everyone at the scene, but also took away part of their remains?"
Leonard also looked toward the hall, speaking with a cold expression.