"Mr. Anderson, I wonder what I can help you with?"
Charles asked with seeming enthusiasm, though wariness lurked deep in his eyes.
In his view, the other party was a dangerous Beyonder possessing many peculiar abilities.
For such an existence, he needed to make use of him while also being careful of the trouble he might bring.
Silas seemed to consider briefly.
"Let me think... How about this? First, change your attitude toward me."
He said.
The smile on Charles's face froze.
"What did you say?"
He didn't understand Silas's meaning.
But Silas couldn't be bothered to explain anymore.
Behind him, M's figure quietly materialized, her eyes staring directly at Charles, emitting captivating golden light.
Charles gazed dully at that golden light. His eyes were quickly dyed the same color.
He was hypnotized.
This gang leader was cunning and disobedient. Considering Silas's future operations, it was best to directly control him.
"Provide me with a house in the East Borough. It needs to be concealed, with no one else knowing about it."
Silas told him.
"Yes..."
The hypnotized Charles obediently replied, turning to walk toward the wall behind the office.
He pushed aside an oil painting's frame, revealing a safe behind it. After opening it, he took out a key.
"Where is this key for?"
Silas asked as he accepted the key.
"A safe house I prepared for myself. I haven't told anyone else."
Charles answered, then reported the address.
"Then I'll gratefully accept it."
Silas put away the key, then said to him, "That's all for today. I'll have other matters to find you for later."
He planned to use this gang to establish his flock. After all, gangs had many people and organization.
Moreover, he could use them to hide himself, concealing all his actions beneath them.
Of course, like with Charles, he didn't expect this group of scoundrels to be very obedient to him.
So he planned to similarly hypnotize and control them. Only this way could he be completely at ease.
"I think I'm gradually beginning to appreciate the terrifying aspects of Spectator Pathway Beyonders..."
Thinking this, Silas silently left the Lemann Gang's headquarters.
***
Queens Borough, in a house that wasn't particularly conspicuous here.
The interior of the dark basement resembled a temple. Stone pillars supported the vault, candles burned on the altar.
A statue of an inverted giant stood behind the altar, appearing even more sinister and terrifying in the faint candlelight.
A group of strange people gathered in the temple, cloaked in black robes, conversing in low voices.
"Mr. A still hasn't returned..."
Someone said.
"It's been a whole day. No matter what, the battle should have ended by now."
"The lamb inside Storm Church passed on news that the 'SpellSinger of God' suddenly left the church yesterday, flying toward the East Borough, but returned empty-handed."
Another person continued. "It looks like Mr. A may have already failed."
"He has returned to the Lord's embrace. He is blessed. The Lord will favor him."
Another person said.
"Praise the Lord."
So everyone chanted in unison, bowing down before that statue.
"Mr. A has already returned to the Lord's embrace, and His Excellency 'Dark Saint' has also left Backlund.
We lack someone who can take charge of the situation." The person who spoke first raised another topic.
"I propose we report to the sanctuary as soon as possible, asking them to arrange a new divine envoy to succeed Mr. A."
"Everything is according to the Lord's arrangement..."
The others also said.
"Hehe..."
Just then, a cold laugh filled with killing intent suddenly rang out in the quiet palace.
Everyone suddenly raised their heads, looking toward the front of the temple.
As core members of the Backlund Aurora Order, they were at least Sequence 8 Listeners, naturally extremely sensitive to sounds.
Who is it?
Who dares to have such audacity, breaking into this sacred place and making such a sound?
Everyone's gaze turned toward the direction of the voice.
They saw before the statue, behind the altar, a human figure quietly materializing.
This was a young man wearing red robes, with ordinary features and no distinguishing characteristics.
He looked at the crowd below, his expression mad and twisted, holding something round in his arms.
"That is..."
When they saw clearly what that round object was, the expressions of the Aurora Order members immediately became terrified.
That was clearly Mr. A's head!
Mr. A was still alive, his eyeballs rolling ceaselessly, but his mouth was gagged as he stared at them!
"Look, you're not even dead yet, and your subordinates are already planning for the next divine envoy."
Silas said to Mr. A in his hands.
"Run!"
Below in the temple, the Aurora Order members immediately scattered, fleeing outward.
They knew very well in their hearts that since the other party could defeat Mr. A and leave only a head to toy with, they definitely wouldn't be his match!
"Swish!"
The Beyonders who had already reached Shadow Ascetic or above immediately transformed their bodies into shadows, diving into the darkness of the temple.
The Listeners were much more pitiful, only able to flee with their physical bodies. The scene instantly descended into chaos.
Of course, there were also some whose brains had completely gone mad, not avoiding at all but directly lunging toward Silas.
Silas looked at this group of lunatics before him and directly opened his mouth, calmly uttering a sentence in Hermes:
"Death."
Boom!
The viscous and profane voice, laden with curses, echoed in the dark temple, entering everyone's ears.
The Listeners reacted most intensely.
Some clutched their own throats, snapping their own necks with a crisp sound of breaking bone.
Others directly clutched their chests, slowly falling in the agony of cardiac arrest, never rising again.
As for the Beyonders above Shadow Ascetic, though they didn't die suddenly, they weren't much better off either.
Most covered their ears, faces showing pain, blood seeping from various orifices!
"Look, your Aurora Order people are truly frail."
Silas said to Mr. A.
"Boom!"
Crimson flames formed from his palm, compressing and condensing into blazing fireballs that shot out, igniting the suffering cultists below.
The firelight illuminated the originally dark temple. The statue cast a long shadow behind it.
It watched indifferently as its own believers bathed in fire, screaming, running, rolling, yet unable to find release until they fell and were completely burned into charred corpses.
By this point, only two Sequence 6 Rose Bishops remained alive in the temple.
"Praise the Lord!"
Seeing they couldn't escape, fervor surged in their faces. They simply stopped fleeing and charged straight toward Silas.
Their bodies swelled as they ran, as if suddenly inflated with large amounts of gas.
Their eyes filled with bloodshot veins, clearly falling into madness.
They were going to self-destruct, to perish together with Silas!
"Self-destruction is forbidden here."
However, before they could rush before Silas, they saw him point forward with his hand wearing a black iron-colored metal gauntlet, simultaneously issuing an inviolable command.
The two people's bodies immediately deflated, as if the inflated gas had dissipated.
The next second, they were cut in half by a greatsword burning with blue flames.