Chapter 249
With a single stroke, he would feel no harm; the rest would be pure enjoyment.
"You should know what I want to ask."
Xia'er watched as Opode struggled to stand, slowly speaking, "I hope you won't waste my time."
"Heh..."
Opode barely maintained his half-kneeling position, slowly responding, "What’s with the grand investigation, bringing in so many people... Were any high-ranking members of your Holy Ascendancy among the victims?"
"Does that mean I’ve done something good?"
Opode spoke flippantly, seemingly unwilling to cooperate at all.
But Xia'er didn’t indulge him.
With a flash of silver, the "Deadly Blood Roland" was gripped tightly in Xia'er’s right hand, while her left hand revealed a delicate silver pocket watch.
"Heh, low-tier sealing artifacts can’t possibly harm me..."
As Opode continued to boast, Xia'er had already turned the "exceeding limit gear" on the watch.
Click—
A silver gear phantom appeared above the sealing artifact, slowly beginning to rotate.
In an instant, the gun blade in Xia'er’s hand seemed ready to explode; silver cracks spread across the weapon, radiating a brilliant silver light, while a frantic spiritual alarm blared in Opode's mind.
No... How is this possible?!
Opode stared at the gun blade in the girl’s hand, his previously relaxed demeanor evaporating in an instant.
That sealing artifact was made from low-tier materials, at most first or second tier; he felt no threat from it at all.
But after the red-haired girl did something, the nature of that gun blade sealing artifact seemed completely transformed, and a terrifying aura began to emanate from what was once a low-tier item.
I’m going to die.
As he gazed at the flickering silver light that seemed to breathe, that thought flashed through Opode's mind.
If he were at his peak, he might have been able to withstand the attack from this sealing artifact, but he had just come from a battle, was drugged, and felt extremely weak, unable to mount any active defense.
The moment he sensed the threat to his life, Opode decided to stop provoking her—he had no real connection to this matter and was already under immense pressure from all sides. There was no need for him to stir the pot further.
He could see that their only goal was to investigate the attack at the banquet five days ago. As long as he proved he wasn’t involved and was also a victim, that would suffice.
"Wait, I..."
But it was a bit too late for regrets now.
"Boom—"
Xia'er aimed at Opode's left hand and pulled the trigger. The bullet erupted with a deafening roar, the silver projectile carrying immense energy, directly blasting toward Opode's left arm.
Crack—
With a sharp sound, the bullet pierced through his steel left arm, embedding itself at the joint between his arm and shoulder, but it didn’t exit.
The intense pain lasted only a moment.
Just as Opode thought he had withstood the attack, a tearing pain shot through his right arm.
"Ugh... Ah!!!"
Terrifying, dark green branches inscribed with silver runes sprouted from the bullet like vines, draining Opode's flesh and bone, surging from the bleeding wound and relentlessly tearing it wider.
His steel left arm began to swell as if injected with high-pressure gas, twisting and distorting, emitting a screeching sound of metal fatigue. Opode's screams echoed throughout the dungeon.
"Bang!!!"
When Opode's left arm reached its limit, it suddenly exploded, flesh, bone, and metal shards scattering like shrapnel. All that remained was a writhing mass of strange branches, at the top of which bloomed a massive, blood-red Roland flower.
The twisting branches nearly engulfed Opode entirely, wrapping around him as if to devour all his flesh and blood.
Meanwhile, Tara's white figure had already positioned itself in front of Xia'er, shielding her from the flying bone fragments, metal shards, and bits of flesh.
Just as Opode was about to be completely consumed, Xia'er put away the pocket watch, snapped her fingers, and the writhing branches halted.
She looked at Opode, now ensnared by the roots, and slowly said, "Now, can we talk properly?"
The horrifying scene left the remaining extraordinary individuals in stunned silence. What terrified them wasn’t the gun blade’s lethality, but the girl...
She could actually enhance an ordinary sealing artifact to this extent?
Directly altering the properties of a sealing artifact? How is that even possible?
Sealing artifacts and extraordinary items are fundamentally different.
The latter can be created by extraordinary beings, but the former are ancient relics preserved through countless epochs, possessing immense power but also inherent side effects.
Let alone altering their properties or enhancing them; even destroying them is a challenge. Even if one were to forcibly destroy a sealing artifact, somewhere in the world, by sheer coincidence, a similar artifact with nearly identical functions and side effects would emerge.
That’s why everyone was so shocked when the sealing artifact changed.
However, compared to those who had been captured, Tara appeared remarkably calm.
After all, she was a Mother Goddess; anything she did was perfectly normal.
Changing the properties of a sealing artifact was merely one of the divine powers and authorities; there was no need to make a fuss.
At that moment, Opode had lost all his earlier arrogance. His hair was disheveled, and his pupils trembled as he looked toward Xia'er, stammering, "I... I had nothing to do with the assassination. I’m also under investigation by the Queen..."
"Most of the people here are my acquaintances; Aivina is even my cousin. I was injured myself—how could I possibly do something like this?"
"Even if, hypothetically, I wanted to launch an attack, I wouldn’t choose my own banquet. Isn’t that the most foolish thing to do?"
Opode knew that such bland information wouldn’t save his life.
His mind raced, searching for any valuable information.
Suddenly, a spark of inspiration struck him. He quickly glanced at the two remaining people hanging there and exclaimed, "They! They must know! They were at the banquet too!"
"That short-haired one is called Luxichilufa, a senior officer from the Dedton Group. The pink-haired one, I looked into it afterward! She’s from the North Ansu Brotherhood! Her name is Goodwin! I saw them talking at the banquet!"
"Woohoo!!"
Upon hearing Opode's words, the pink-haired woman who had been feigning unconsciousness suddenly began to struggle.
Perhaps due to sheer luck, the ropes binding her snapped, and she fell to the ground, just in time to spit out the rag from her mouth.
Seeing the red-haired girl slowly turn the gun toward her, Luxi quickly said, "I really don’t know anything! The pink-haired one has a record at the Dedton Manor; I know she often goes there for tasks. I recognized her from the extensive research I did, and I only spoke to her for a few moments! That’s all!"
"Also! The Orlando Republican Army was originally the North Ansu Brotherhood! It must be her! I had nothing to do with it!"
Luxi's words came out in a rush, filled with a desperate desire to survive, while regret gnawed at her heart.
How could she be so unlucky? The "Lucky Coin" rolled two tails, and she was directly captured by the cultists.
What bad luck!!!
Chapter 147: "The Butcher" Xia'er.
So that’s how it is... So Xia'er wanted to investigate this...
So... Xia'er is a high-ranking member of the Holy Ascendancy, possessing the power to overturn the entire chessboard of Bole City...
Are all of them extraordinary beings?
At that moment, the only ordinary person still hanging, Isabella, finally understood why she had been captured.
Because she had been present during the banquet attack, and the last person Aivina had seen before the attack was her...
The most critical point was that Isabella's identity was too sensitive...
And judging by the reactions of those in front of her, it seemed that as long as she lied, they would notice.
She needed to find a way to prove her innocence... Isabella looked at the writhing dark green roots and branches on the ground, feeling goosebumps rising on her arms.
Just as Isabella was contemplating how to defend herself, an unexpected turn of events occurred.
Crack—
The sound of a rope snapping echoed.
The pink-haired woman bound to her left fell to the ground, rolling backward and bracing herself against the wall.
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