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*****
A Sequence 5 Desire Apostle was, in George's eyes, about as fragile as a literal eggshell. Even when the apostle underwent complete demonization and unleashed a barrage of formidable abyssal sorcery, he remained utterly helpless. In the end, all that power was no match for a single, casual slap from George.
However, after killing Jason Beria and performing a soul-search to extract his memories, George discovered something rather intriguing. It turned out that not long ago, this Jason had accepted a commission from a mysterious Beyonder.
The client's request was simple yet audacious: assassinate Duke Negan.
Under normal circumstances, Jason would never have touched such a mission. He had spent over a decade meticulously crafting a perfect, unassailable civilian identity for himself. If he were to target Duke Negan, the risk would be astronomical; even if he succeeded, his carefully built cover would be blown beyond any hope of recovery.
But the price offered by the mysterious party was simply too high to ignore.
It was a Blasphemy Card—a legendary artifact containing the complete path to godhood from Sequence 9 to Sequence 0, along with all the hidden knowledge associated with it. Specifically, it was the card for the Abyss pathway, the very sequence his own family belonged to.
How could he possibly refuse?
While his family did indeed possess the secrets of the Abyss pathway, their knowledge stopped abruptly at Sequence 4, "Devil." They lacked the formulas and rituals for the three highest sequences. This gap in power was one of the primary reasons his family had withered away over the years, left with virtually no high-level experts and forced to live like rats, hiding in the shadows of major cities.
With their strongest member being a mere Sequence 4, there was no way they could withstand the relentless, year-after-year purges conducted by the various orthodox Churches.
Driven by this desperate ambition, Jason had planned to let his Devil Dog loose to go on a killing spree. The goal was to lure out the Church's main forces and create a distraction massive enough to give him a window to strike the Duke.
Unfortunately for him, he died before his plan could even truly begin. His Devil Dog had barely reached its third victim before its head was pulverized, and Jason himself had been dragged down into the grave along with it.
"In that case, you shall be my very first marionette. Let's see exactly who is wealthy enough to offer a Blasphemy Card as a bounty," George mused.
With a flick of his wrist, George caught the soul of Jason Beria—which had just begun to drift away from its mortal coil—and slammed it back into the corpse.
"I'm... I'm alive again!"
When Jason Beria's eyes snapped open, he didn't even have time to process the shock and joy of his sudden resurrection. Before the thought could fully form, his body lost all autonomy, transforming into George's marionette. His soul was now eternally imprisoned within his own flesh, a passenger in a vessel he no longer steered.
Controlling the Jason-marionette, George flew directly into the skies above Duke Negan's manor.
Indeed, George intended to complete the task Jason had accepted. He would kill Duke Negan, claim the Abyss Card for himself, and take the opportunity to meet the mysterious figure who had issued the mission.
As for the act of killing Duke Negan, George felt no moral weight on his conscience. Based on the scenes he had witnessed while wandering through Backlund at night, he had come to a grim conclusion: more than half of the Backlund aristocracy—especially the high-ranking nobles—deserved a death sentence.
Duke Negan, the prominent leader of the Conservative Party, was a prime example.
George had previously killed Qilangos, the pirate who tried to assassinate the Duke, but that had only been because of a commission from Alger of the Tarot Club. Had it not been for that request, George wouldn't have bothered to lift a finger to save him.
If the leader of the Conservatives were to fall, the New Party's series of reform policies would likely proceed without a hitch. For the commoners of the Kingdom, this was arguably a positive development.
The Kingdom of Loen was currently divided into two major political factions. One was the Conservative Party, led by the Great Nobility, and the other was the New Party, composed primarily of industrial capitalists.
To be honest, neither side was particularly virtuous. However, some of the New Party's reforms were objectively better for the average person. For instance, the King of Loen, who currently seemed to lean toward the New Party, appeared to be pushing for environmental protection policies and a merit-based examination system for civil servants.
There was also the previous repeal of the Grain Act, which had successfully lowered the price of food, allowing commoners to buy more sustenance with less money.
Of course, George wasn't naive enough to believe the New Party did this out of the goodness of their hearts. After the Grain Act was abolished, prices dropped, but so did the income of farmers. Unable to survive on their land, these farmers were forced to flood into the cities to work in factories.
Thus, George suspected the New Party's true motive was simply to ensure a surplus of cheap labor for their factories.
As for who wanted Duke Negan dead and could afford a Blasphemy Card as payment, George already had a strong suspicion. It was likely the New Party, and not just any member of it.
Those factory owners and wealthy capitalists might have Beyonders in their pockets, but they rarely commanded anyone truly powerful. They certainly wouldn't have access to something as high-level as a Blasphemy Card.
The only entity with that kind of strength—and the one that had been staunchly supporting the New Party for several years—was the Loen Royal Family.
The Augustus family of the Loen Royalty had long ago mastered the entirety of the Arbiter pathway. They had true powerhouses sitting at Sequence 1, 2, and 3. It was entirely plausible that they had discovered one of the Blasphemy Cards created by Roselle and decided to use it as a reward.
Presumably, to avoid suspicion, they chose not to act personally and instead hired a cultist like Jason to do their dirty work.
Still, one doubt lingered in George's mind. Logically, the Loen Royal Family was the greatest "Noble" of them all. Why would they abandon the Conservatives and support the New Party's reforms? Was the King truly so compassionate that he wanted to improve the lives of his subjects through radical change?
"Eye of Insight," George whispered.
After observing the defensive layout of the Duke's manor, George tucked the Jason-marionette into his private space.
"He still needs some modifications to boost his strength," George noted.
Duke Negan himself was a Sequence 6 Judge. Although he held a high position and lacked actual combat experience, he was still a Beyonder. Furthermore, he was surrounded by numerous Mandated Punishers from the Church of Storms, as well as his own elite personal guards. Among them were several Sequence 5 Beyonders.
If this were a standard assassination attempt, a Sequence 5 like Jason would have zero chance of success. Before he could even get close to the Duke, the guards would have coordinated to strike him down.
But that wasn't even the biggest obstacle. The most critical piece of information George had learned came from Rader of the Church of Storms.
After the previous assassination attempt by Qilangos, the Archbishop of the Backlund Diocese of the Church of the Lord of Storms—"Spellsinger" Ace Snake—had given a mystical conch to Duke Negan.
The moment the Duke encountered danger, he only had to blow the conch, and Spellsinger Ace Snake would be able to ride the wind and arrive as reinforcements within seconds.
Duke Negan was the leader of the Conservatives, but he was also a key figure used by the Church of Storms to balance the power of the Loen Royal Family. The Royalty possessed High-Sequence powerhouses that even the Churches lacked; without a proper counterweight, they might develop "unfavorable" ideas toward the ecclesiastical authorities.
The Church of the Evernight Goddess had their own representative near the King as well—Earl Hall, the father of Miss Justice, Audrey. This was why the Church of Storms placed such immense importance on Duke Negan's protection.
Jason's original plan had been to use his pet dog to distract the two major Churches while a mysterious collaborator lured the Sequence 4 Spellsinger away. Simultaneously, they would lead Duke Negan into a trap where Jason would be lying in wait to finish him. Afterward, he would flee Backlund and hide in another country with his Abyss Card.
George, however, had no patience for such elaborate waiting games. He intended to finish the task tonight and wait for the mysterious employer to deliver the card to his door.
But relying on Jason's base Sequence 5 strength wouldn't be enough to guarantee a clean kill. Because of this, George decided he would have to "upgrade" his new puppet first.
(End of Chapter)