Chapter 160: Who is the Traitor?
Sisters?
Hearing Ekaterina say “sisters,” Athena couldn’t help but sneer inwardly. Only she and Ekaterina could be considered sisters in this group.
The other three were all suspects. Until the traitor was identified, Athena wouldn’t trust anyone but Ekaterina.
She believed Ekaterina felt the same way.
It seemed that because of Jie Luo’s situation, even the usually impulsive Ekaterina had matured.
Sylph also seemed to realize that her reaction was too strong. She took a deep breath and sat back down, “Sorry, I might have been a bit too agitated.”
Ekaterina smiled gently, “It’s okay, it’s normal. After all, our Hero Squad has encountered too many hardships recently.”
Ten members, united around Lord Jie Luo.
How comfortable and happy their lives used to be, but now one was dead, and another was about to be executed.
At this moment, they must all be feeling very sad.
“What’s going on? Did Brother Karsus really kill so many Holy Knights?” Sylph couldn’t help but ask.
“It’s true. Karsus is too…” Loseweisse couldn’t find the right words to describe it. She couldn’t call Karsus stupid in front of Sylph.
“After the Demon Prince Lomond killed Benson, he left the symbols of the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess and the Holy See on Ben… ahem, Benson’s body. Karsus thought it was done by them and went straight to the Holy Knights’ camp, slaughtered them, and cut off their heads to offer as a sacrifice to Benson.”
Sylph’s emerald eyes widened in disbelief. She knew that Brother Karsus wasn’t very smart, but she didn’t expect him to be this stupid.
Anyone could tell there was something wrong with this.
“And this scene was witnessed by the Hero…” Loseweisse recounted what had happened, emphasizing that it was because of her request that Qin Chu agreed to keep it a secret. This was her contribution.
“Unfortunately, Karsus only cleaned up the heads, not the camp. You know, Karsus’s power is special, and the residual traces of his power were enough for the Church to suspect him. And he even stuffed all those heads into his storage ring without discarding them. They were all released by Augustus right in the sanctuary of the Holy See.”
Sylph was also speechless. Now that the evidence was conclusive, no one could clear Karsus’s name.
“Even so, there’s no need to sentence him to death, right? It’s just 3200 Holy Knights. The number of Demon Beasts they killed combined isn’t even as many as Brother Karsus alone…”
In Sylph’s heart, the lives of 3200 Holy Knights were far less important than the life of someone she cared about.
“Didn’t you try to save Brother Karsus?”
“Of course we did!” Loseweisse sighed helplessly, “Otherwise, why would I, the Saintess of the Holy See, be confined to my room, unable to go anywhere?”
“But this matter isn’t as simple as you think. It has already spread. If Karsus isn’t punished, what do you think the soldiers fighting on the front lines will think?”
“To prevent a mutiny, Wadsworth, Augustus, Saint Monique, and Zimmerman all agreed to execute Karsus.”
Sylph became agitated again, “Then we have to find a way to save him!”
“It’s useless. Unless we break him out of prison, no legitimate methods will work, especially now that the Grand Prince has caused such great damage to the Imperial City by summoning the power of the Evil God. All factions are more wary of dark and sinister powers now. They will definitely not give Karsus another chance. We don’t even have the chance to plead with Augustus and the others.”
Athena added, “Sorry, Sylph, you might be angry at me for saying this, but I don’t want to save Karsus…”
“Because of what Karsus did, many people have lost trust in the Hero Squad, including the Second Hero. This has created a serious obstacle to our plan of resurrecting Jie Luo.”
“If we risk saving Karsus, it will make our future actions even more difficult. We might even be stripped of our identities as members of the Hero Squad. Do you understand the consequences?”
“Karsus’s personality is too impulsive. He even attacked the Second Hero twice in public, which could ruin our entire plan. One time was even in front of Augustus and the others…”
As expected, Athena’s words ignited Sylph’s anger again, and she glared at Athena with her emerald eyes.
But this time, Athena was even stronger and didn’t back down at all. She stared right back, “Don’t look at me like that. Ekaterina and I have already made huge sacrifices to resurrect Jie Luo. You just arrived here and haven’t done anything, what qualifications do you have to criticize us?”
“To make up for the terrible impression the Hero Squad has given the Second Hero, and to allow us to gather Jie Luo’s soul fragments and have a chance to assassinate the now powerful Hero, Sister Ekaterina is now practically the Second Hero’s public lover. Do you know what that means?”
Athena’s cold words stunned Sylph. She wasn’t stupid, of course she knew what a lover was for.
She looked at Ekaterina with disbelief in her emerald eyes. Ekaterina just smiled sadly.
“To resurrect Jie Luo, the Second Hero’s blood is essential. I can’t let the Second Hero die in the duel with the Grand Prince. Three days before the duel, I gave the Second Hero the Mana that I can only give to one person in my lifetime…”
Sylph’s body trembled slightly, her face a little pale.
“We’ve all sacrificed a lot, but for Jie Luo’s resurrection, no matter how painful it is, we’ve endured it…”
“But you, you just arrived in this city and haven’t helped at all, and now you’re criticizing us, wanting to cause more unnecessary trouble for us, like Karsus did,” Athena scoffed coldly.
“Since you’re so capable, then you go deal with the Second Hero. I think with his personality, he probably won’t let go of such a rare elf, right?”
Sylph imagined that scene, and goosebumps immediately appeared on her body.
“Forget it, stop arguing,” Ekaterina sighed, taking charge of the situation again, “As long as Jie Luo can be resurrected, I don’t care what kind of torment I have to endure…”
It wasn’t torment.
Actually, the master hadn’t favored her these past few days, which made Ekaterina very uncomfortable.
Loseweisse also nodded, “Let’s discuss the Second Hero.”
“I increasingly feel that the Second Hero is a huge threat. His growth rate is too fast. After using some special method, he even briefly reached the Champion realm and summoned a being that seems to be a deity…”
“He’s hiding too many secrets, and these secrets frighten me. After he grows stronger, can we really kill him?”
As she spoke, Loseweisse’s face turned a little pale. She was afraid of the future.
“Then should we act now?” Airi raised an eyebrow, the sharp blade in her hand spinning faster and faster, “Kill him and drain his blood before he becomes too strong.”
Athena shook her head, “No… That’s not a good idea. Recently, the Demon Beasts’ attacks have clearly intensified. The areas bordering human territory have already suffered several attacks, with heavy losses.”
“The Hero, after he grows stronger, is humanity’s only hope. If he dies now, the morale on the front lines will plummet, and they won’t be able to withstand the Demon Beasts’ attacks…”
“Once the Demon Beasts overrun human territory, our search for Lord Jie Luo’s soul fragments will be greatly disrupted. Not to mention Demon King Nagath, there’s also the Dark Witch Shaye, the Four Heavenly Kings, and the Seventeen Abyssal Demon Generals. Think about it, if you encounter any of them, do you have a chance of escaping unscathed?”
“We might not care about the lives of others, but once the Demon Beasts overrun human territory, none of us, including ourselves, will be able to escape unscathed. By then, Jie Luo’s resurrection will be filled with uncertainties, and it might even lead to complete failure.”
“Then what should we do?” Airi spread her hands, seemingly at a loss.
“No, we still have a chance. As long as we don’t make any major mistakes, everything can still be salvaged,” Loseweisse said quickly, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
“Sister Ekaterina is still the most important candidate. Qin Chu seems to like you very much. Just as you said, no matter how strong a person is, they can’t avoid a knife in the back.”
Ekaterina was a little confused. Did she say that? She didn’t remember.
“Of course, we also have to consider that after the Hero grows stronger, his strength will be extremely formidable, his perception extremely sharp, and he might be able to detect sneak attacks in advance, he might even be invulnerable to swords and spears…” Loseweisse said.
This was a reasonable concern. In the later stages of the first playthrough, ordinary swords and spears could no longer harm the First Hero Jie Luo.
“So, we have to prepare other things…” Loseweisse’s voice suddenly lowered, “Poison… I’ve been confined and can’t leave the Holy See, but I took the opportunity to look through the Church library and found a magical poison. It’s colorless, odorless, and can be added to food without being detected. And it doesn’t take effect immediately, but accumulates in the target’s body with each dose. When it accumulates to a certain extent, it will make the target weak and in pain, their defense almost completely nullified, and their wounds won’t heal…”
“If Ekaterina and Sister Athena take advantage of their time with the Hero and continuously add this to his food, we will have a 100% chance of success when we assassinate him in the future.”
Sylph and Airi’s eyes lit up. Ekaterina’s eyes flickered slightly, a flash of killing intent appearing in their depths… She hadn’t been able to control her emotions for a moment.
But everyone present saw Ekaterina’s momentary reaction as killing intent towards the Second Hero.
This was a good idea. Ekaterina and Athena were also very good candidates for poisoning. Their sacrifices had also earned them Qin Chu’s trust.
Athena frowned, “No, Loseweisse, you’re wrong.”
“You have to be the one to do this.”
Huh?
Everyone was surprised by her words.
Loseweisse was also puzzled, “Why?”
“Because in the Hero Squad, the only person Qin Chu trusts and likes is you, no one else. Haven’t you forgotten who shielded you when the mutated Grand Prince lunged at you?”
“Qin Chu has never shown such concern for me or Ekaterina.”
“Although Qin Chu seems to treat me and Ekaterina well now, who knows if he’s wary of us? After all, we knew nothing about his ability to suddenly increase his strength or summon a deity.”
“The only person he truly cares about is you, Loseweisse. Only if you do it will he be completely unsuspecting.”
Athena’s words made Loseweisse feel smug.
These gorilla-like women were indeed no match for her. Athena had some self-awareness.
“I understand. I’ll do it myself then,” Loseweisse nodded slightly.
“However, we still need to carefully investigate the secrets Qin Chu is hiding… I have a feeling that those powers will cause trouble for our plan.”
“And I have a vague feeling that although Qin Chu is a Hero summoned from another world, he seems to know a lot about our world.”
“A newly summoned Hero immediately starts hiding his strength, it feels like he’s hiding something, planning something.”
As expected of Loseweisse.
This woman was very sharp.
Qin Chu had hidden himself well, and Loseweisse didn’t have any concrete evidence, but she had a keen sense that something wasn’t right.
“Leave the investigation to me,” Airi stood up, “Tonight, I’ll move into the residence and be the Hero’s thievery teacher. I’ll use this opportunity to dig up all his secrets.”
“I’ll be the Hero’s archery teacher and help with the investigation,” Sylph said.
Ekaterina and Athena had already made huge sacrifices and contributions, which made Sylph feel that she also had to do something.
Ekaterina silently memorized the conversation between these women. Some of the content was very important.
“By the way, regarding Jie Luo’s soul fragments, has there been any news from Ronald?” Ekaterina asked abruptly.
Speaking of this, Loseweisse’s face darkened again, clearly not going smoothly.
“Everything was fine at first. Ronald had successfully obtained a piece of Lord Jie Luo’s soul fragment…” Loseweisse frowned, “But that damned Lomond… Killing Benson wasn’t enough for him. He somehow learned about Ronald and directly invaded the Third Demon Beast Princess’s territory, leading his subordinates to hunt down Ronald…”
“The border is completely sealed off now. Ronald can’t return from the Demon Beast territory for the time being, he’s trapped inside.”
“That damned Lomond, how did he learn so much?” Loseweisse’s face was filled with irritation.
Athena’s expression turned grim. A traitor, there was definitely a traitor.
Perhaps the person who betrayed Lord Jie Luo and the person who betrayed Benson and Ronald were the same person?
That person not only ruined Lord Jie Luo, but now they even wanted to destroy the entire Hero Squad.
Was it Loseweisse or Sylph?
Was it the Twin Thieves or Muse the Mad?
Who was the traitor?
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