The eccentric doctor never makes a misdiagnosis!

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Albert stepped forward slowly with a solemn expression and almost reverently touched the secret box engraved with ritual arrays.

Although the Sons of the Trees were known for their absolute neutrality and rationality, he still felt an uncontrollable excitement at being able to touch the relics of the ancient gods. His spirit rejoiced, and his heart surged with emotion.

Terence and Child exchanged a glance but did not speak or try to stop them.

The two white-cup deniers were, after all, outsiders, and it was somewhat awkward for them to witness this scene in someone else's old sanctuary. But if one were to put oneself in their shoes, one could understand to some extent.

If he could see the relic of the Pure White Cup lost in the Lost Age, his emotions would probably be even more intense. In that sense, Suki no Ko has already shown enough restraint.

The box was covered with tattered, secret prayers, and as Albert touched it, the last trace of spiritual energy covering it completely dissipated.

Terence stepped forward and stared at the box in Albert's hand.

"Gentlemen, although it may be somewhat impolite... I must make one point: the White Cup Order needs to verify the contents of this sealed box to ensure it does not cause any large-scale damage."

“Of course.” Albert nodded, showing no resistance.

"After all, this was part of our original agreement."

He slowly opened the sealed box, explaining the details of the sacred object to the two of them as he did so. Having achieved his goal, Suju no Son no Michiko no Tsuki ...

"This is the fruit of the ancient banyan tree, 'Shadow of the Future'. Consuming it grants the ability to communicate with one's future self..."

Before Albert could finish speaking, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest... Looking down, he saw that a ceremonial knife etched with prayers had pierced through his chest.

"Cough! Cough, cough..."

The internal bleeding caused him to cough uncontrollably, and bright red blood plasma gushed out uncontrollably.

Albert's first reaction wasn't pain, but bewilderment. Did the Exorcists intend to kill him and seize the sacred relic? But they had clearly signed a pact with him not to harm each other.

I've paid special attention to the relevant clauses; there shouldn't be any loopholes that can be bypassed...

The next moment, he looked up and saw a strikingly similar look of bewilderment on the faces of the two deniers in front of him.

The man who pierced his chest with a sharp blade was none other than his colleague, Nigel.

Because the contract only applies between the Exonerator and the Son of Suju, that is to say... it does not restrict people of the same position from harming each other!

“Niezel, you…”

The damage to vital organs almost instantly stripped Albert of all his strength, leaving him unable to even utter a complete question.

"What are you doing!"

Child raised his unusually large sniper rifle and instantly aimed it at Nigel.

With a black gun barrel pointed at his forehead, the son of the Suju tree showed no fear, but instead played with the blood-soaked ritual knife in his hand with great interest, licking the blood off it.

You could see that his eyes were full of undisguised sarcasm.

“Dear Debunkers, wait a little longer. I haven’t broken the contract and harmed you yet, have I? As for this child, he was the sacrifice I chose from the very beginning.”

"Knowledge, spirituality, faith, and high-quality blood... these will surely enable them, who are trapped in the core layer, to further break free from the shackles of this place."

As Terence watched the secret box gradually become soaked with Albert's blood, he clicked his tongue. The contract was still in effect, and neither side could harm the other... but they could use some non-lethal methods to control each other for now.

Nine “【Blood Control】”.

He raised his hand to the banquet, causing Albert's detached blood plasma to transform into whiskers, which bound Nigel.

"No need to rush. After I 'trigger the Sanctuary facility without consent,' you can try to kill me without any scruples, as stipulated in the contract... right?"

The branches of the banyan tree burst through Nigel's skin, as if expanding and growing from within. At the same time, they broke through the tough layer of blood cocoon, allowing him to take advantage of this momentary opening to open the secret box.

"boom!"

Almost as soon as the box was opened, Child pulled the trigger. At such close range, he wouldn't miss by even a fraction.

Nigel's head shattered with a crack, and bone fragments and brain matter scattered all over the ground.

"Firearms, such brutal and powerful weapons..."

Even though his entire head consisted of only a jaw, his voice still came from his throat.

"—"

In an instant, an unusual light and shadow enveloped Nigel, like a slow-motion shot.

Then, his entire body began to "rewind" like a film reel.

The flesh and blood that had already fallen to the ground reassembled in a very regular manner, and he... returned to the moment before he was hit by the bullet.

"Do you see that? Compared to those empty and delusional pronouncements, compared to the steel and reason you believe in, what I hold in my hands... is the true miracle!"

Nigel laughed so hard that he had to press his stomach to suppress his laughter.

He opened his mouth, and a worm with a translucent green luster crawled out of his throat.

This creature has a large, drooping abdomen and long, slender limbs. Although its size is astonishing, judging from its features... it is an aphid.

The aphids, their bodies shimmering with the reflection of time, darted into the half-open box with an impatient greed, seemingly ready to feast.

Terence tried to stop it, but the aphid was like a phantom, untouchable by either bullets or blood.

—The strange aphid made contact with the inside of the sealed box, and its excitement quickly turned into astonishment.

The ancient banyan fruit called "Shadow of the Future" does not exist in the box.

Inside the box... was a pair of black winter stockings, which looked soft and warm, but also showed signs of being stained with monster saliva.

At the same time, the stockings also carried the faint scent of myrrh and osmanthus from Flamel's body.

"Thank you all for waiting so long outside the Old Sanctuary..."

Fran's voice rose slowly from the shadows, carrying a hint of languor, as if he had just woken up.

"Unfortunately, it seems we arrived a little earlier."

With a smile in her eyes, she gently pinched her index finger and thumb together, making a "little bit" gesture.

-

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Business trip over! Tsuruko-dōdō is back in action!

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Escape of the Aphid

The sudden turn of events made Nigel's expression turn ugly.

This is the most critical moment, and there is no room for the slightest mistake. However, one variable after another is arriving... If it is an omen, then it has a somewhat ominous meaning.

His eyes flashed with a sinister light before he regained his composure.

Currently, Nigel still possesses the power of the Time Aphids and the authority of the Son of the Bearded Tree to control most of the old Sanctuary's banyan branches; he still has the ability to control the entire situation.

Although that hunter's funeral attendant was troublesome... she hadn't reached the level of high priest, so she probably couldn't really turn the tide.

“Ms. Flamel, you always bring surprises.”

Nigel licked his lips, his voice slightly hoarse from the "Time Aphid" crawling out of his throat.

"But if you think that taking that thing ahead guarantees victory, then you are being far too arrogant. You may not know what you are about to face... but soon you will regret not having escaped the library sooner."

"Oh?"

Fran tilted his head upon hearing this, a hint of doubt flashing in his amber eyes.

"You mean, relying on a half-starved Time Aphid and the surrounding extremely weakened banyan trees... is enough for you to eliminate all hidden dangers? Perhaps I'm not the arrogant one?"

She lightly tugged at the hem of her robe, revealing her fair and slender legs beneath the white academic gown; the black winter stockings that had covered them were nowhere to be seen.

"As a traitor hidden within the team, your underhanded tactics are far too obvious, even clumsy."

Fran wagged his index finger and then began his comments on him as he always did.

"Initially, when you were in the library, the number of banyan-like creatures was actually quite normal. They started appearing in large numbers after you used the second type of secret technique, [Wood Manipulation]... The ancient banyan affinity of the Child of the Bearded Tree is indeed very useful. While summoning more creatures, you can even tamper with the ritual array on the door..."

"Such a sudden fall from a great height might have killed an ordinary esoteric Buddhist disciple."

"Aside from these points, you did quite well. You were patient and not in a hurry..."

"enough."

Clearly, Nigel had no intention of wasting any more time on conversation. The Time Aphid was growing increasingly hungry and needed to eat immediately.

He looked at Albert, who was in shock after being pierced through the chest, and gave a command to the aphids that were going berserk beside the box. The aphids immediately changed their target and rushed towards Albert, as if to devour him.

"This mythical creature from the aphid family can manipulate time on a small scale—a very unique racial talent. It makes me want to raise one..."

Fran watched with interest the chaotic light and shadow surrounding the Time Aphid, a hint of excitement in his eyes.

The next moment, a blazing, blinding light swept past everyone and arrived directly beside Albert. The flames surrounding Sigrid carried temperatures high enough to annihilate all living matter, forcibly forcing the Time Aphid back.

"Ho..."

Seeing its food snatched away, it immediately began to hiss restlessly.

However, the burns on his body disappeared in the blink of an eye, just like Nigel's recovery after being shot in the head.

"The ability to reset time on a small scale, based on its type, should be 'backtracking'."

This brief exchange also gave Fran a general understanding of the specific limitations of the Time Aphid's abilities.

"It seems this little guy will be countered by Sigrid. If you have any other tricks up your sleeve, please show them quickly, your time is running out..."

For enemies capable of disrupting time to some extent, the optimal solution is generally to create a sufficiently threatening "sealed environment," preventing them from escaping the killing range regardless of whether they pause time or travel through time.

Sigrid's light and flames from the false sun could perfectly fulfill this requirement.

"Where did this disciple of the Sun Forger come from...? When did he come in?"

Nigel narrowed his eyes to avoid the blinding light emanating from Siegfried. At the same time, the further loss of control over the situation made him somewhat uneasy.

Terence, who was standing nearby, witnessed the whole thing. He was surprised for a moment, but quickly came to terms with it.

Regarding the Sunforge Order incident, the White Cup had already reached a conclusion. It was absolutely impossible for Sigrid, alone and carrying a fragment of the Primordial Sun, to have remained undiscovered in Norrington for so long.

Either she had already escaped the city, or someone was deliberately helping her hide... All the secret sects that knew about this matter were tacitly aware of it. They just hadn't expected that it was actually the Hunters' Order that had taken her in.

"What exactly is the relationship between this insect and the ancient banyan tree, the son of the Xushu tree?"

Child asked, somewhat puzzled.

While trying to distract Nigel with this question, he once again aimed at his opponent's head and pulled the trigger. Another flurry of light and shadow, and his shattered flesh and brains reassembled.

“Fool, you know nothing… Insects? You should use honorifics, use ‘He’ to refer to these miracles of the Creator…”

The Time Aphid climbed onto Nigel's shoulder and then pierced the skin on the back of his neck with its mouthparts, beginning to suck his bodily fluids and flesh.

After Albert, intended as "backup food," failed to serve his purpose, he was left to feed the hungry mythical creature with his own body.

For some reason, Terence felt a chill run down his spine when Nigel said those words.

He recalled the chaotic, scattered dots that enveloped the banyan tree on the murals in the library.

Clearly, it was the son of a tree who wanted to convey something to future generations before his death, and for this he did not hesitate to violently chisel the image of the god he worshipped.

Are those disordered dimples a metaphor for these aphids? In other words... the destruction of the Old Sanctuary stemmed from an out-of-control insect plague?

"Flourishing flowers and leaves, covering branches and foliage, nurturing the buds of spring."

Nigel, who was being devoured, showed no signs of pain; on the contrary, his expression was one of pure enjoyment, as if he were savoring the experience. He even began to recite prayers rapidly, as if he were performing a mass.

"Flourishing flowers and leaves, covering branches and foliage, nurturing the time when..."

“When the aphids multiply, they multiply in countless numbers, penetrating the flesh and marrow.”

"Time is the greatest force propelling the world forward, and also the invisible hand pushing everything to its end... It records origins and bears witness to demise. Everything will turn to dust under the weight of time, irreversible..."

"Noisy."

Heda never allowed a fanatical follower lost in self-admiration to finish speaking. She had been lurking in the shadows for a long time, and now, with Fran's permission, she no longer held back.

In a split second, the nun raised her power sword "Nirvana" and cleaved Nigel's body vertically in two, from his head to his buttocks.

Although he would perfectly restore it to its original state in the next moment, Haida did not stop. She simply brought the blade down again with precise and mechanical movements, until each reversal began to slow down...

The power sword hummed fiercely and excitedly, savoring the spirituality of its opponent, which was imbued with the principles of time.

Nigel seemed unable to withstand the relentless slashes either. He raised his newly reconstructed arm and suddenly used the surrounding serpentine network of banyan tendrils to force Haida to retreat a short distance.

But the funeral attendant sliced ​​through the layers of ancient banyan branches in a mere instant. This wood, indistinguishable from steel, was almost identical to ordinary timber beneath the blade of the adamantite sword.

"Do you know why the original mimic said 'time is His deception'?"

Nigel stroked the slowly healing bloodstain on his neck and asked a question to everyone present in a low voice.