Chapter 33: Storming the Gates!

"What is the most difficult crime to detect?"

"The senseless kind. One with no motive and no apparent capability. You look at the case file and don't even know where to begin..."

Facing the candidates, Lien explained his plan with the air of a seasoned veteran criminal. But the others found this normal; those who truly understood crime were likely the law enforcers themselves. A criminal usually only needs to slip up once and it’s all over, while law enforcers deal with these cunning scoundrels every day—they’ve seen every bizarre thing imaginable.

"Many cold cases are solved by sheer luck... it's the kind where there's no reason for them to kill you. They don't need your money, and they hold no grudge. In reality, it might just be a glance exchanged while passing on the street, or perhaps they just didn't like your hair color and followed you home."

Under Lien's design, the lack of motive or animosity would serve as a cover for his group. After all, if one were to speak purely of logic and reason, Lien had no necessity to clash head-on with the slave market. Lien and Dimon had come to sell goods; was there any need to kill the buyer? It didn't make sense. Was the killing done for justice or for the weak? Such delusions were better kept to dreams—at least, that’s what most people would think.

The second layer of the cover was the question of killing capability.

"Can a stray dog kill a lion? Can an ordinary person kill a high-level transcendent? In reality, the possibility exists, though it is slim, but most people would think it completely impossible."

This was a world of transcendents, and the gap between Dimon and Eugene was far greater than that between a stray dog and a lion. Therefore, as long as Lien—the one with the killing capability—had an alibi, they were safe. When the suspicion surrounding Lien’s group was reduced to near zero, all eyes would naturally turn to the other side of the case.

"The Tail-Hunter. They have both the motive and the capability."

She, or he, had likely tailed someone, discovered the transaction, and as someone already craving "life," would they let such a supreme treasure slip by? Offend the slave market? Given their usual madness, what wouldn't they do?

"But for this logic to hold, there is one prerequisite... the Mad Knight cannot be in the vicinity when Eugene dies."

"Can you do it?"

Recalling the words and expectations of Senior Lien, Larry took a deep breath and drew her longsword. The original six arms had vanished without a trace under the influence of the illusion. Although she was still not quite used to wielding a sword with only two arms, for an opponent of this caliber, it was not an issue.

The artificial justice created by the local church... seemed to be embarking on a different path.

"For the children..."

The children of the orphanage, those little brats who had emptied her pockets, should not become someone’s "life-storage" or reserve rations for anyone to snack upon. The lost knight seemed to have found the banner in her heart.

"...I will draw my sword."

That day, that was how Larry had responded, and now, she said it to herself.

"I am honored to eradicate this scum."

This time, the young spider-kin paladin, though cloaked in another’s guise, was wielding her sword for herself for the very first time.

"Judgment of the Sinful Realm."

Red light guided her to her enemies; these sinful people deserved to die. This time, a supernatural trial was redundant—the children bound by iron chains in the trafficker’s room were their undeniable evidence of guilt.

"Sin-Breaking Slash." A faint silver light fell upon this imitation Sword of Courage. The young Oath Paladin unleashed her first Sin-Breaking strike.

"Clang."

A silver ring bloomed in the room, and in the next instant, flowers of blood blossomed at the center. Before the spurting, headless corpse could even fall, another semicircle of light slashed out. Her sword was relentless; even with only two arms, she displayed efficient and elegant execution techniques. There was a reason she had been chosen—in terms of swordsmanship talent, she was the most suitable successor.

"Don't be afraid, children. I’m here to save you."

This time, she reached out to the children in need of rescue.

"Bastard! How dare you touch the market's business!"

"It's that paladin again! Kill him!"

The thugs behind rushed over, two of them being transcendents.

"Sinful Realm."

What greeted them was still only the red of condemnation.

"Sin-Breaking."

And the silver of judgment, and the red flowers blooming from flesh and blood. Facing the criminals resisting the law, Larry elegantly controlled the distance, guiding them to their deaths with her longsword, while her extra eyes remained fixed on the children behind her.

[I vow: The suffering endured by innocent children shall be returned tenfold upon their tormentors!]

This was her oath. Controlling the power of law was not without a price; the power originally granted by the deity was not enough to open this new "Domain of the Sinful Realm." Thus, she had established her own three oaths.

That day, the desperate looks of the children being dragged away by traffickers played over and over in her memory. If not for that man reaching out his hand, she, unable to face her own heart, might have fallen long ago.

"This time, I can wield my sword for the children..."

This strike was filled with joy; tears vaguely dripped down her cheeks. The children’s expressions of sheer joy made her sword move even faster. And this was only the beginning.

Most of the trafficking organizations on the list had direct ties to the market; if one was going to act, one had to be thorough.

[I vow: The light of order and law, born of goodness, shall be my guide, my restraint, and my direction...]

The judgment of the Sinful Realm became her guide; her sword would swing without hesitation. The trafficking gangs in the wharf district suffered a great catastrophe; her slaughter was elegant and efficient as she happily moved from one den of sin to the next. She encountered obstacles, even corrupt police, but what of it?

"...Power and violence cannot hinder my actions. The only thing that can guide me is my own heart. When I am lost, the brilliance of the law will point the way."

The silver light that flashed again held not a shred of hesitation. Perhaps she was still immature, but this time, as long as the light of the law pointed toward sin, she would one day wield her sword even against the gods.

Slaying again and again, yet unable to excise the infinite sin. Along the path of the sword, she looked toward that presence in the wharf district that could not be ignored—the resplendent imperial palace. She remembered what that man had said before.

"Perhaps we still cannot shake the roots of these evils, but this time, we can make them pay a price..."

[I vow: I shall forever guard the contract of justice, and never abandon my partners on the path of justice. With our swords, we shall carve out an ideal nation where even the weak can enjoy happiness...]

And so, the foolish girl simply continued to swing her sword. As for the thinking, she would leave that to the senior she trusted.

***

Events unfolded rapidly. The news of Eugene’s murder spread quickly.

"Who is Eugene?" Most people in the wharf district didn't even know who he was.

"Oh, I think I've seen him..." The "nobles" who occasionally visited the slave market only had a fleeting impression.

"Oh, he's dead? That's great... I mean, what a pity, he was a good man."

As for the nobles and masters who truly had dealings with him, most heard the news with a mix of pleasure and slight annoyance. After all, having one less person who knew their dark secrets was hardly a bad thing; they just needed to find other proxies. To the slave market as a whole, Eugene was dead—someone else would just replace him. Even with a period of chaos and loss, even with the loss of many connections and private operations... as long as the kingdom's "nobles" and "elites" still existed, still toyed with this kingdom, and still had their various desires, nothing would change.

How did he die? Didn't he have bodyguards?

"Was he killed by the Tail-Cutter? Uh, why did they clash? Forget it, it’s not important."

"Uh, the Tail-Cutter likes children, and Eugene did too... they wouldn't have been reaching into the same pocket, would they?"

His cause of death mattered to no one, naturally becoming a topic of idle gossip. Which, from another angle, proved that once he was dead, everything about him was no longer important.

"Just as I said before, while he was alive, his life and death were of great importance, as if the sky would fall without him. Now that he is dead, no one cares about him at all."

The day after the incident, facing Taliyah who had come to ask what to do next, Lien spoke casually. But would this really not shake the foundations of the slave market? From Lien’s understanding, their losses this time were not small. Too many private connections, assets, and treasures were in Eugene’s hands; he couldn't possibly have trusted anyone else. It was just that, internally, they were likely busy fighting for power and had no energy to manage this side, nor time to calculate the losses.

"Why didn't Eugene’s bodyguard, Cyril, mention the Hero’s Blood? We won't fail, will we..." Taliyah was uneasy; the slave market’s reaction was too sluggish, which made her anxious.

Hearing this, Lien shook his head with a smile.

"Let the bullets fly for a while."

Some things could not be hidden. How could one Cyril completely seal off the news? If he really succeeded in sealing it, it wouldn't be too late for Lien to take action then. Of course, letting it ferment on its own, leaving fewer traces of human interference, was naturally a good thing. Lien could endure it, but it was Taliyah, who had no visible connection, who was the most anxious. Thinking back to that day, she grew increasingly uneasy, fearing she had botched it.

"It wasn't me who affected their investigation, was it? After all, the Tail-Hunter is a woman..."

It had already started to get dark that night, and there were still many witnesses on the street. If they concluded that the Tail-Hunter was female based on that scene, wouldn't it mislead the investigation? Cyril might have already reported that the assassin was a woman.

"It's fine. Too many abilities can change one's appearance. If they want to investigate, they will investigate both men and women..." As he spoke, Lien touched his chin, feeling increasingly satisfied. "Actually, investigating based on a female suspect might even be correct. I estimate that the probability of the Tail-Hunter being a woman is very high."

Lien had always had some thoughts and speculations. The Tail-Hunter was too arrogant, committing crimes constantly as if there were no obstacles. The fear he caused was constant, yet the victims should have been cautious and prepared—so why was every kill a success?

"Many victims died in their own homes, at night, and there were even signs of doors being opened... If a man knocked on your door in the middle of the night, would you open it?"

His easy and frantic crime spree suggested he must have had an unthreatening appearance and identity. The wharf district was quite xenophobic, so it was highly probable he was a local.

"Killing is one thing, but leaving safely after the kill without attracting attention or suspicion is special. Most stealth methods have time limits and are unreliable."

Lien had done a profile and felt more and more that the probability of the killer being a woman, an old person, or a child was higher.

"Wouldn't it be possible to list potential targets based on this condition?" Taliyah still knew some investigative techniques.

Hearing this, Lien gave a wry smile. "Do you know how many people can move around freely without attracting notice? You and I are among them."

There were too many possibilities; even an elderly scavenger could be a candidate. Especially law enforcers—if they knocked on a door in the middle of the night, people would open it, whether it was a paladin or a police officer. If they really assumed the Tail-Hunter was a police officer, it might not only cause a new wave of panic and chaos but also lead them to miss the true culprit of another profession.

"I wouldn't. The wharf district police are highly vigilant," Taliyah said with a bitter smile.

"Is that a good thing..." Lien sighed, knowing it was the truth.

Evaluating criminal characteristics was a way to narrow the scope, but the reliability was insufficient, and intelligence was lacking; it could only serve as auxiliary judgment.

"Then is there no way?"

"There just aren't enough resources. If the Knight Brigade searched and the Thieves' Guild blocked people in the shadows, there would be results... We don't have that, but the slave market and those behind them certainly do." All problems eventually boiled down to insufficient firepower.

What more was there to say? Just wait.

Lien’s group didn't have to wait long; what was meant to come, came.

"Someone sold a piece of Hero's Blood on the black market! It went for a sky-high price!"

Yesterday it was calm, but today it was a thunderbolt. The development of the situation was completely blown open by this news. How could something like Hero's Blood enter the black market? And be auctioned? In an instant, whether in the wharf district or the Brilliance District, whether it was the church or the great nobles, too many eyes turned toward it.

Whose was it? How was it auctioned? How did an ordinary person get their hands on it and throw it directly into the black market to cause such an explosion?

Soon, the news was dug up.

"The former Knight Commander, Lien Sudar, was in a period of regression when he arrived in Brilliance City... He must have entrusted it to his friend Dimon to be auctioned."

"Dimon and 'Black Gold' Eugene had a private deal, only to be hunted by the Tail-Hunter who had a grudge against Lien, and then the Tail-Hunter killed them and stole the goods. It makes logical sense."

"Dimon is weak, just an ordinary person, a trash boss of the wharf district... He couldn't possibly have the guts to cheat the market. He is now severely injured and in a coma, a result of the Tail-Cutter’s handiwork."

"And what about Lien? Isn't it normal for a Mad Knight to go crazy?"

"That’s even more impossible. On the day of the incident, he was in the east of the wharf district hunting down a group of traffickers. He used law-based abilities, which only he in the whole city can do—it definitely was him. Besides, did he have a reason to kill Eugene? There was no reason to act at all."

Yes, the lack of any reason to hunt and kill Eugene was the very root of why Lien and Dimon were not viewed as the culprits. And "Lien's" alibi, in turn, cleared Dimon... how could Dimon alone have hurt Eugene? As for Taliyah? From the beginning, without the guidance of the dream, these people had no contact in reality, and her information was not even in the view of the case.

So, was it really the Tail-Cutter?

"The greed of the bodyguard Cyril, and his private search for the Tail-Hunter, completely solidified the Tail-Hunter’s suspicion."

Just as Lien had said, interference leaves traces; letting human greed run wild would cause things to explode more naturally. He had held back for two days, and Cyril’s attempt to find the Tail-Hunter alone was exposed. Immediately, it caused a massive uproar in the slave market and even among many high-ranking nobles.

When those who lusted after the Hero’s Blood learned that the bag of blood gems had been snatched away two days ago, they fell into total madness.

As for Eugene? Uh, he was a dead man. Who cared about him now?

But this alone was not enough; Lien’s time with the Heroic Soul possession was growing short. He needed them to be even more anxious, even more like mad dogs, ignoring the potential flaws in the case, and more frantically tearing at the Tail-Hunter. Orderly searching in the shadows was not what he wanted; he wanted chaos, a situation where the scene would be completely turned upside down, leaving the sins in the corners with nowhere to hide!

"Then, let's light a fire."

Lien decided to help them along, making them even more anxious. He, as the "victim," also had a reason to act.

"Bang!"

In the middle of the public square, under the disbelieving gaze of countless onlookers, Lien kicked open the door to the slave market and stormed in, fair and square!

"You sinful bastards! How dare you swallow my cargo?!"

In his rage, there was also joy. For this day, Lien had waited too long.