色戒无删除版

After Galahad made sure that everything was in place, he returned to the manor and asked for Cygnus's and Ulysses's presence in his study. The father and son were sitting on either side of the table while he was seated at the head. He had his eyes closed as they remained silent inside the room.

The sound of the clock was loud and the tense atmosphere persisted. This situation remained until Duke Galahad finally decided to speak. He took several deep breaths before he opened his eyes and looked at Cygnus.

"I don't know how everything had escalated in the short amount of time you are here. I've been dealing with too many things and you've added to it. How did you do it?" The duke was speaking almost sarcastically while staring at the young man.

Cygnus laughed, "I just went around and took a walk." He grinned which only made Duke Galahad sigh.

"We've seen our fair share of evil spirits and what they can do but this is the first time that an evil spirit killed so many people in a short span of time. It's almost at the level of something malevolent and I'm curious as to the reason why something like that would appear in this place." Duke Galahad leaned on his chair as he waited for the young man to answer.

"I've told you before this place feels ominous," was his only answer. He did not add anything and just stared at him.

Galahad was silent. He didn't know how the young man knew. He thought that it was only an observation because Rigel was uses magic but based on his answer he knew something. He sighed then raised his head and looked at the ceiling.

He was feeling a bit conflicted because of the young man's unusual knowledge. He asked Ulysses before for the young man's origin but even his friend was not sire about it. He only knew that ye young man could do things that no normal human or mage could do.

"This place, according to the records of our ancestors, was a sacrificial ground hence the raised platform. Even after knowing that, they still built the manor because they thought that they could lift the curse left by all the sacrifices made in this place. They used magic to seal the evil aura but it still seeps through. The only way they thought was to create multiple layers of a seal." Galahad explained after he remained silent for a while.

Ulysses and Cygnus did not speak after hearing him admit those things. This must be a secret that only the leaders of the dukedom knew. Since most people in Blackwell don't have magic, they only knew the concept of it. Instead, they were more familiar with spirits and monsters.

Most of them even rely heavily on the tools that the Duke Galahad and his team developed for them. Because of the incidents from evil spirits, the duke also dove into making talismans for their protection but even that was not easy to do. In making these talismans, one still needed at least a substantial amount of mana because the talismans must be imbued with mana which will activate once it comes in contact with an evil spirit.

"Now we are utilizing mana to create talismans that could fend off evil spirits but if a malevolent spirit like that possessed that servant, I'm afraid that those talismans won't hold up." He expressed his concern because of that attack.

He was in a precarious situation. So far, the talismans they've made have been helpful but he was afraid that if an evil spirit like what attacked those nurses and doctors were to appear, the talismans might not be effective. In return, if one of those talismans failed and harmed the citizens, then the blame would undoubtedly fall on him. It would be a perfect time for the enemies to weaken his influence.

"Malevolent spirits only manifests when an ordinary evil spirit absorbs too much evil energy. The evil spirit that possessed the servant just happened to absorb evil energy in this place that it became that violent," Cygnus explained. There was nothing to worry about if the evil spirits didn't have a source of evil energy.

Before they could continue with what they were discussing, several knocks sounded on the door followed by the secretary entering the room. He was panting because the moment that he received the news, he immediately went to see the duke. He calmed himself first before he told them the news.

"I received a report that there was an attack from an evil spirit and there are already casualties," he reported in one breath.

Galahad frowned that he abandoned the conversation in order to go and see what was happening. Ulysses and Cygnus followed behind. They met with the soldiers in front with their horses already ready.

They rode fast towards the place even though the night had slowly deepened. Wails and screams could be heard from a distance as they got near the area. Galahad urged his horse faster which the others also did.

The sentinels that were dispatched tried to defeat the spirit but they couldn't even land a hit on it. It could easily transform its body into smoke. It then solidified once again and was about to claw one of the sentinels but something bright flew towards it and stopped it from approaching further.

Cygnus, who was still riding on a horse, already raised his hand and waved it from left to right and several sharp edged golden lights appeared. With a downward motion of his hand, the individual lights pierced the ground to trap the evil spirit. The dark wisp of smoke tried to escape but everytime it tried to escape through the gaps of the light it would only bounce back.

They all alighted from their horses and Galahad commanded the sentinels to assess the damage created by the evil spirit. The others went to check on the people who were injured. A sob followed by a cry caught their attention. From faraway, Galahad could already see several bodies lying down.

The duke walked towards them as his jaws clenched at what he saw. There were at least five bodies lying on the ground and he could tell that they were all dead. He averted his eyes and instead looked at the children who were crying on the side.

He walked towards them and crouched down to give them both a hug. He gently patted their backs. They remained in that position for a couple more minutes to wait for them to calm down.

Galahad then carried the both of them after they stopped crying and walked away from the bloody scene. He let one of the sentinels carry them away, completely. Ulysses patted his friend's shoulder before they both walked to the cage that held the evil spirit.

"This one's a malevolent one," Cygnus pointed at the wisp of black smoke that was floating inside the cage.

"How did that happen?" Galahad frowned. He couldn't help but feel that there was something going behind this matter.

"Are there any places in Blackwell that evil spirits could take in evil energy?" Ulysses asked after much consideration.

"There are quite a few but those places are far away from here." His forehead wrinkled while he was thinking of the areas where evil energy might occur.

"There's nothing wrong in checking out those places. How about this one? What shall I do with it?" He pointed at the restless evil spirit.

"Just destroy it," Galahad answered.

Cygnus nodded so he went ahead and placed his finger on top of the empty space above the light. He then started to mumble and a golden magic circle appeared from the tip of his fingers followed by a sharp lightning that hit the evil spirit. It shook and resisted the effect of the attack but despite its struggle it still dissipated in the air.

Ulysses helped Galahad with the dead. They carried them and put them inside those body bags. After that, the people who survived were still in mourning because some of them died. They were all shaking in fear even after the appearance of the sentinels and the duke.

"This is not a good sign." Ulysses shook his head and sighed. "What will you do? This event would eventually get out to the public."

"I'll deal with them later," he looked at the scattered remnants of the talismans, "I need to take a look at those areas first. Can you take care of them first?"

"Alright. Why don't you take my son with you?" Ulysses suggested. Galahad's gaze fell on Rigel who was already looking at him.

"Come along." He waved his hand before he rode his horse once again.

Cygnus grinned at Ulysses before he followed. The night had already blanketed the whole territory and yet the duke was still insistent on checking those places. The first place they visited was a cemetery. It was approximately three kilometers away from the site of the attack.