Audrey and her friends stood there stunned for two or three seconds, unable to react, and then Lelouch vanished right before their eyes!
"Incredible!" exclaimed one of the noblemen.
Another nobleman remarked, "He must be an extraordinary individual!"
Just then, the pursuers who had been chasing Lelouch caught up and cautiously inquired, "Gentlemen, are you alright? Did Lelouch harm you?"
"No," said Joels, the eldest son of Earl Donat. "You should go and help the others."
After the guards left, the noblemen resumed their discussion, while Audrey couldn't wait to read tomorrow's newspaper.
Just then, a clap of thunder suddenly sounded in the sky. In November, the snowy season in Backlund, a torrential downpour began without warning, soaking everyone in the fighting arena, but also extinguishing the fire.
But the fighting arena was in complete disarray; one arena had been destroyed, and the trees and plants were almost burned.
...
When the "punisher" arrived at the scene, the "night watchman" team had already conducted a preliminary investigation and cordoned off the area.
The Church of Storms is holding a council of prions tonight, so Archbishop Ace Snake, the "Singer of God," of the Diocese of Backlund is not present. The case is being handled by Connor, a senior deacon of the Church of Storms.
Connor asked Carl, the leader of the "Night Watch" squad, somewhat puzzled, "What are you doing here?"
This is the jurisdiction of the "Punishers," and the deceased also worshipped the "Lord of Storms." Theoretically, other official extraordinary organizations have no right to interfere in the investigation of this case.
Karl briefly described their investigation into Lelouch's case, as well as the established practices between the fighting arena and the official Extraordinary organization regarding criminal contestants, which had been maintained with the support of some nobles.
Connor knew about these things, so he began to inquire about the case.
Suddenly, all the extraordinary individuals looked up at the top of the arena, where a noblewoman in an evening gown, exuding elegance, had appeared.
All the extraordinary beings present greeted her; she was the royal demigod Georgina Augustus.
Georgina slowly raised her hand in response, then her gaze slowly swept across the distance.
But after looking around, she didn't find anything.
The next second, Georgina appeared not far from Connor and Carl, and said in a leisurely tone, "I have no intention of interfering in this case, I just came to ask what happened here?"
Karl then recounted the case to the demigod, and by this time, the "Punisher" had obtained some crucial clues from Bishop's bodyguard, learning that the shield used by the murderer Lelouch had once undergone a "shell shedding."
The location of the murderer can be determined by the detached outer shell, but no shield shell was found at the scene.
The members of the "Punisher" team came over to ask Karl if the "Night Watchers" had collected the shells first.
"It's gone," Carl said.
"Can't find it?" Connor was somewhat surprised. "How could it not be found?"
Carl said, "I don't know. Maybe someone took it away. We had limited manpower at the time and couldn't seal off the scene immediately."
Connor frowned: "Did the killer have accomplices at the scene?"
Carl fell silent and did not participate in the discussion.
Connor thanked Carl for his description of the case and officially took over the case.
After Carl and the other members of the "Night Watch" team left, Georgina suddenly said, "He lied when we were talking about that key piece of evidence."
Although the leader of the "Night Watch" squad was well hidden, Georgina was a demigod of the "Arbitrator" pathway, and her spirituality was keenly aware of the lies of others.
Connor was slightly taken aback: "He knows who took the shield's outer shell?"
Georgina shook her head. To find out exactly which aspect of Karl had lied, she needed to use her extraordinary abilities to interrogate him.
But even if she is a demigod and the duke of this country, she cannot arbitrarily interrogate the extraordinary beings of the church.
More than half an hour later, the "punisher" finally found the outer shell of the shield in the woods outside.
However, by this time the murderer had already been on the run for more than an hour, and may have already left Backlund, and made some counter-divination arrangements, so the outer shell of the shield was no longer of much use.
Later, Donat speculated that the shield shell was likely hidden in the woods at Carl's behest, or even by Carl himself, but the scene was too chaotic to provide evidence for this speculation.
By the time he realized this, it was past the time limit for some ritual magic, and he could no longer use mystical methods to prove Karl's innocence.
However, Donat simply couldn't understand why Carl, who never showed mercy to extraordinary criminals, would help hide such crucial physical evidence.
...
After using the "teleportation array" hidden in her coat to leave the fighting arena, Odis appeared in a small alleyway on a street more than ten kilometers away.
It was only a little past nine o'clock at night, and there were still many pedestrians on the street. However, they were all attracted by the explosion and fire at the fighting arena, and no one noticed that there was an extra person in the alley.
However, Odis remained very cautious and hid in the dim light of the alley. He quickly used a "spatial magic circle" to hide his backpack, waist bag, weapons, shoes, knight's clothes, and so on in the "wilderness of knowledge".
At the same time, he took out the clothes, shoes, coat, and top hat that he had prepared in advance from the "wilderness of knowledge". After changing his clothes, he simply climbed over the house on one side of the alley and appeared in another alley.
Then he calmly walked out of the alley and waved to flag down a horse-drawn carriage.
As soon as Odis got into the carriage, he felt as if a gaze was scrutinizing him from behind. Many pedestrians on the street had a similar feeling and stopped to look in the direction of the fighting arena.
That was the scrutiny of a demigod, something that not only extraordinary beings could sense, but also ordinary people with a stronger spirituality could feel.
However, as the scrutiny quickly disappears, ordinary people will only think that it was their imagination.
Odis didn't take it too seriously, because she had already completed her disguise and could face such scrutiny with composure. Only if she felt guilty would she be noticed by the demigod.
After the carriage had traveled seven or eight blocks, Odis got off, walked for a while, and then took a taxi back to 77 Helin Avenue.
When he got home, he made himself some noodles as a late-night snack.
While eating his noodles, Odis was pondering whether the newspapers could withstand the pressure. After all, this was a scandal involving a nobleman, and ordinary newspapers wouldn't dare to report it.
...
In the editor-in-chief's office of the Daily Observer, editor-in-chief Regino had finished his work and was about to turn off the lights and leave.
Just then, Mike Joseph, a reporter with blue eyes and a handsome appearance, knocked on the door and came in carrying a thick file bag: "Editor-in-chief, I found this in the mailbox when I went downstairs just now."
He handed the file bag to the editor-in-chief: "I've seen it. It's evidence of Viscount Wade's second son, Bishop, hiring someone to kill, harming a young girl, and assassinating striking workers."
Regino grew increasingly alarmed as he listened, put on his glasses, and took a quick look.
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
Then the editor-in-chief fell into deep thought, and Mike did not urge him, but stood there quietly waiting.
After a dozen seconds, Regino took a deep breath and said, "I was going to have a car accident in a little while, and then I went to the hospital. I didn't know about this."
"And you didn't know that Bishop was the Viscount's son. According to the newspaper's work system, this information was adapted into a report, and the front page headline for tomorrow was removed and replaced with this report."
"By the time we discovered all this, it was too late. You learned that Bishop was actually a nobleman, and you were filled with regret."
Mike nodded: "That's the best way to handle it."
Based on past experience, if Viscount Veder finds out tonight that someone has left these materials in the newspaper's mailbox, he will likely send someone to his door. Whether at home or at the newspaper, Regino will face pressure from a nobleman, and under his coercion and enticement, the report may very well be dropped.
Therefore, in order to deal with such situations, the newspaper has its own procedure: the editor-in-chief has to find a place to hide, and the whole operation is carried out by the reporter.
This way, the other party won't be able to find the newspaper's manager for the time being, and they can also pretend to dismiss the reporter afterward to give the nobles an explanation.
Mike then added, "Please be mentally prepared."
Viscount Veder will surely confront the newspaper after seeing these reports.
"There's no need to worry too much," Regino smiled. "These old nobles are very particular about appearances. To show their magnanimity and benevolence, they won't do anything to us."
"Well, of course, it's not certain if they have the opportunity to completely bankrupt the newspaper."
Then he gave Mike a deep look: "You should also be mentally prepared."
Mike smiled easily and said, "The era of the old aristocracy is over, and Viscount Wade's theory of 'noble bloodline' is outdated."
"People need to see the truth, which will help awaken the public's mind and give full play to the power of public opinion."
He glanced at the name written on the outside of the file folder and said, "There's more than one Lelouch in Backlund."
...
No. 77 Hailin Avenue.
After Odis finished eating his noodles, he went back to his bedroom and read for a while.
In fact, he had no interest in reading and didn't absorb a single word.
However, Odis's long-standing experience of being monitored led him to develop a habit of using reading as a cover for thinking about problems.
His main concern was whether his actions had revealed any flaws or whether he had left any clues.
The only thing that couldn't be recovered in time was the outer shell of the shield.
However, protected by the "wilderness of knowledge," he cannot be found using abilities such as divination.
After reviewing the events and finding nothing missing, Odis lay down on the bed to rest, and as usual for the weekend, entered the wilderness composed of illusory light and shadow.
He knew the way well and arrived deep in the wilderness, inside a tower made up of spheres of light.
Odis doesn't plan to do any research this week; he intends to finish writing the "Combat Manual" in this space.
But before that, Odis glanced at the three weapons captured in today's battle.
Alva has been the leader of the 3N Party for more than three years and has a lot of good stuff in his possession, which Odis seized today.
The silver-white sword was a magical item corresponding to the 7th level of the sequence, but Odis's spirituality could not sense which specific path it corresponded to.
At that moment, he suddenly looked at the ball of light in the center of the room and had a bold idea.
So he held the silver-white sword in one hand and placed the other hand on the orb of light. Just as he had guessed, using the power of the orb of light and the status of "Wilderness of Knowledge," the abilities and negative effects of the silver-white sword were immediately apparent.