Chapter 215

Chapter 215. Sacrifice and Apocalypse

I was appalled by his courteous explanation.

“Bradley Miller was someone caught up in your schemes. And yet you…!”

“Of course, I’d like to point out that he made his decision knowingly. We needed to deal with Mr. Turner, and Bradley Miller wanted revenge for his family. He requested a list of those directly involved in harming his parents and appropriate assistance.”

Yes, Turner was a disposable card. This man had deliberately approached Bradley Miller and made a deal to eliminate Turner.

Things were finally making sense. The parts that remained puzzling even after hearing Bradley’s confession were all being explained.

Even a well-built adult male has limits to what he can accomplish alone. Yet Bradley Miller had not only kidnapped someone without his housemate noticing and imprisoned them in the basement, but also perfectly transformed them to look like himself, and killed three people overnight without leaving a trace. Turner, Bradley Miller’s double, and the other deceased person were all involved in killing Bradley’s parents.

The timeframe was too tight and the scale too large for one person to commit all these crimes alone. It was all possible with help from the Watchers of Huntington, led by this man. His assistance must have been crucial in making the double resemble Bradley. For someone who freely wielded spells and curses, it wouldn’t have been difficult.

It sent chills down my spine thinking that, given more time, Bradley would have ended up killing everyone in the village.

“This was a well-concluded business contract. Those who followed Turner betrayed him and voluntarily engaged in murder with Bradley Miller. I have never once ordered my members to harm people.”

“Sophistry.”

Would someone who says that use brain-eating parasites to kill people? Nonsense.

Anyway, thanks to this, I could start piecing things together.

Someone among the Company’s executives had been infected by brain leeches. This meant he had already been vaguely monitoring the Company and Liam’s existence before.

Then Liam arrived in the village with me on Ms. O’Brien’s request, and this man observed us to gauge how closely I was connected to Liam and the Company. Finally concluding that Liam, not I, would be the threat to them, they attempted the attack in London. When that repeatedly failed, they left bait to lure us here.

Even if we hadn’t responded to Ms. O’Brien’s request, we would have eventually had to step into his trap to confront him. We were people who couldn’t stay away from such incidents.

This place was a carefully woven spider’s web to gather us here. If successful, it was an opportunity to eliminate all pursuers at once. He had wagered his safety on this grand gamble, as if failure wasn’t even a consideration.

Look even now. His friendly explanation of all these truths surely came from confidence that preparations for my death were complete.

Why do criminals always run their mouths right before killing their victims? This had always puzzled me in movies and novels, and I still couldn’t understand it. Perhaps they wanted to show off. Or enjoyed seeing the fear in their sacrificial lamb’s eyes…

Anyway, I needed to extract as much information as possible now.

“When did it start?”

The man cleverly answered my vague question.

“From the moment you stepped in here.”

The hallucination had begun as soon as we entered this mansion. He had carefully guided us into his trap. He must have moved very cautiously to deceive the sensitive Lucita and Saint-Germain.

“Opening the door meant the hallucination was complete, Miss Jane. Saint-Germain’s agent called you that. But why ‘Jane’ specifically?”

“That’s none of your business.”

I spat out the words. Hearing the name ‘Jane’ from his nauseating mouth made my stomach turn. That name in this world was for Liam. Though anger boiled up, now wasn’t the time. Listen and focus.

“So trapping us in that circular space and making us open doors…”

“Yes, that was the final stage of mental domination. However, those with exceptionally strong mental fortitude won’t open the door. They instinctively feel uncomfortable with such elements. Those Cassfires, really…”

Ian! Ian was the only one among us who didn’t open a door.

I felt relieved realizing Ian was safe. I couldn’t bear it if that boy who looked just like Owen got caught up in our business and died. If Ian hadn’t been consumed by the hallucination, we still had a chance.

The scenery shook once more. This time it wasn’t the man’s doing. The expression of the man slouched in his chair shook as well. After briefly looking upward, he sighed and turned his black, empty eyes toward me. Eyes of similar color met in mid-air. With a faint smile, he spoke to me.

“I’ll wait outside.”

“…Get lost.”

Simultaneously, the hallucination collapsed and my vision was consumed by complete darkness.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, I saw Ian’s terrified, tense face. He seemed to have awakened me.

We hadn’t moved a single step from the circular space. People lay collapsed everywhere.

Jonathan was writhing in agony, his face contorted. Lucita appeared to be merely sleeping at first glance, but an ominous killing intent was emanating from around her. Liam lay with his hands neatly clasped, eyes closed with a serene expression showing no disturbance. Though inappropriate for the situation, he looked just like a sleeping prince in the forest. Saint-Germain could be seen collapsed over there as well.

“Ian!”

“Au-Aunt. Are you finally awake? This place is insane…! We need to get out right now!”

Ian continued rambling while shaking my shoulders, looking like he might burst into tears at any moment.

“Everyone suddenly collapsed. Then all those doors opened. Except for one.”

I kept reassuring the seemingly panicked Ian that everything was okay. Since Ian had awakened me, we should be able to wake the others soon too. His trembling hands gradually steadied. Since things had come to this, I decided to shower him with praise.

“He said you were able to avoid it because of your strong mental fortitude. That bastard was bragging about it in the hallucination. You did well. You held on well. Thank you for waking me.”

Around then, Saint-Germain was also slowly raising his upper body. His blue eyes were hazily clouded. Like someone forcibly breaking free from drug effects. He grabbed his head with a groan while trying to get up. Exhaustion was clearly visible on his face. He muttered,

“Feels like I’ve taken a powerful sleeping drug.”

For being consumed by a hallucination, they were waking up faster than expected. At this rate, the others should regain consciousness soon too.

Come to think of it, what did Saint-Germain see in his hallucination? Looking back now, what appeared beyond each door we opened had significant meaning to each person. Though Jonathan’s passage to an underground prison was… unique.

I let out a dry cough. My throat was terribly hoarse. The aftermath of the hallucination I’d just escaped hadn’t completely faded yet.

“Old man, he’s nearby.”

“I know. I can feel him doing something insane.”

As if proving those words, the magical energy surrounding the mansion was moving strangely for some unknown reason.

BOOM.

Just then, the floor vibrated with a heavy, ominous sound. The floor tiles completely shattered. Sliding down to sit, I stared in horror at the bizarre trees growing to fill the mansion.

The trees were taking human forms! Like people who met their end covered in volcanic ash, they grew into various grotesque and hideous shapes. But I didn’t dare try to split them open. If there really were people inside, it would be too horrifying.

Whether due to the fierce wind or some other force, the mansion’s roof began to tear away. Dark clouds rapidly gathered, and lightning flashed in the purple-tinged sky. Tiles and bricks shot upward as if caught in a hurricane.

It was as if the apocalypse was occurring locally in this area alone. We held onto each other and kept low to avoid being blown away by the wind.

“What do we do now?”

I shouted toward Saint-Germain. He shrugged as if he had no good ideas either. Then he calmly crawled on his knees toward the sprawled Liam Moore and…

“William.”

…began slapping his cheeks repeatedly.