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A hint of surprise flashed through her beautiful eyes. "The Blood-Sealing Formation has been broken!"

"What? The grand formation was broken?!" The gathered followers of the Nightmare Cult were equally stunned.

No one understood better than they did how deep Tia's mastery of sealing magic ran.

There was no way anyone in Emerald State could have broken her Blood-Sealing Formation—not even Ryan could do it.

So how could the formation suddenly be destroyed?

Tia herself was puzzled. A faint purple glow emanated from her pale, jade-like palm as she waved it through the air.

In the next moment, a ghostly image appeared mid-air. The image faintly showed the figure of a young boy.

He wore a black robe with golden patterns, his features delicate and refined, as he drew runes in the air.

And then, to the shock of everyone present, the Blood-Sealing Formation shattered in an instant!

"Tia's secret formation was broken by a mere boy?!" One of the deacons stood there, frozen in disbelief. He could hardly believe his eyes.

"It's him again," Tia muttered, her alluring face now covered in frost.

She immediately recognized Luca—the same boy who had previously removed the Nightmare Parasite from Lady Lenna's body at Howard Manor.

She had even specifically instructed Rudolph to capture the boy and bring him to her for study.

But not only had Rudolph failed to bring Luca back, this boy had once again sabotaged her plans.

"Rudolph, you useless fool!" Tia cursed quietly as she glanced at the nearly completed summoning ritual.

The reason she had left Rudolph in Riverfall City was to stall the city's powerful figures.

Yet that idiot couldn't even manage such a simple task!

One of the deacons, his face full of concern, asked, "Lady Tia, what should we do now?"

With the Blood-Sealing Formation broken, it wouldn't be long before the powerful figures of Riverfall City arrived here.

However, the summoning ritual would still need at least three more hours to be completed.

Even if they could somehow hold off the forces from Riverfall City, the fewer people they had for the ritual, the longer it would take to complete.

If things continued like this, the Nightmare Cult's plan might end in complete failure!

Tia was fully aware of this.

"We need to accelerate the process!" She stared at the dark glow pulsing faintly from the summoning ritual. A cold glint flashed in her eyes, and without even turning around, she issued her next order in an icy tone to the deacons behind her: "Prepare some of the followers for a blood sacrifice. At any cost, we must ensure that Hydra's projection descends as soon as possible!"

"Blood sacrifice" was a special secret spell that required live humans as offerings.

There was no time to find ordinary civilians now, so they could only use the Nightmare Cult's own followers.

When the deacons heard those two words, their scalps tingled with dread.

With a formation of this magnitude, who knew how many followers would need to be sacrificed to complete it!

Tia glanced at them, her beautiful eyes narrowing slightly. "What's wrong? Are you unwilling to give your lives for the Church?"

Her tone was calm and devoid of emotion, yet it filled every deacon with an overwhelming sense of fear.

They knew full well what Tia was capable of.

Compared to death, falling into her hands would be a fate worse than death itself.

Seeing the cold expression on Tia's face, the deacons quickly swallowed any words of protest.

They lowered their heads and, trembling, responded, "We will carry out your orders immediately!"

...

Riverfall City, City Lord's Mansion.

"What did you just say? Rudolph is a traitor?!" Franklin and Lucia's eyes widened in shock, blurting out in disbelief.

Thankfully, Luca had anticipated this reaction and ensured that no one else was around to hear.

As Luca nodded, Sophia was equally stunned but quickly forced herself to regain composure.

She knew Luca wouldn't make such a claim without reason. With a serious expression, she asked, "Junior, have you discovered something?"

Luca shook his head. "It's just a suspicion at this point."

The three of them let out a brief sigh of relief.

But then Luca added, "Though I'm about ninety percent sure."

Franklin immediately rolled his eyes and exclaimed, "If you're ninety percent sure, what's the point of suspecting anything?"

Lucia and Sophia couldn't help but laugh, though they were still a bit tense.

"I'm just being cautious," Luca said with a smile before turning to Sophia. "Senior, do you remember who had contact with Lady Lenna before she fell ill?"

Sophia froze for a moment, her face quickly changing as she asked in shock, "Are you suggesting it was one of those women?"

Before Lady Lenna became afflicted by the Nightmare Parasite, she had been on an outing near Riverfall City with a group of ladies. This wasn't a secret and could easily be checked.

But since those women were all trusted acquaintances, Sophia hadn't considered them suspicious at the time.

Luca nodded. "I didn't think much of it either at first. It was only after the Nightmare Cult revealed themselves that I realized the timing was too convenient. Lady Lenna was infected with the Nightmare Parasite right when Count Ryan was away. I suspect this was part of the Nightmare Cult's plan to hinder the count."

"In other words, when Lady Lenna was on that outing with the other ladies near Riverfall City, it's highly likely that one of them was connected to the Nightmare Cult. This person must have been very close to her—otherwise, they wouldn't have had the chance to act, and Lady Lenna wouldn't have remained unsuspecting until now."

"That narrows things down considerably, and it should be easy to figure out who this person is,"

Luca said, pausing briefly before cutting straight to the point. "If I'm not mistaken, Lady Lina was present during that outing, wasn't she?"

Lady Lina, Matthew's mother, had left for Southwind City a few days ago and had yet to return.

Sophia remained silent, but the answer was already clear in her mind.

Her expression turned complicated.

An unsettling mix of anger and disbelief.

After all, Rudolph was her mother's full-blooded brother, her uncle.

Franklin and Lucia looked at Sophia, concerned. "Wait… is what Luca's saying true?"

They hadn't been aware of the situation beforehand.

Sophia shook her head slightly, not giving a direct answer, instead saying, "Regardless, we don't have solid evidence right now. Without proof of Rudolph's connection to the Nightmare Cult, we can't act against him."

Luca wasn't surprised by her response, but he knew this much was already enough to move forward.

He continued, "The reason I suspect him, aside from the fact that he is in the best position to help the Nightmare Cult execute their plan, is because Matthew and Freeman used several bottles of high-grade Demon Lure Potion in Beast Forest, in an attempt to have us killed."

"As a result, they triggered the monster uprising in the forest, leading to the large-scale monster horde we're dealing with now."

"This fact is known to several people. We can confirm it later with Catherine and others."

Compared to the suspicion that Rudolph had allied with the Nightmare Cult, the incident involving Matthew and Freeman would be much easier to verify.

Even though both of them had already been killed by Luca, there would be plenty of evidence and witnesses to support the claims.

"Matthew caused the monster horde?" All three of them were shocked, instantly recalling the city guard's unfinished report from earlier.

An indescribable rage welled up within Sophia.

She had always known that her cousin had a nasty character, but she never imagined he would stoop this low.

"Does he even realize what he's done? Does he know how many lives have been lost because of him?" Lucia's face darkened, her voice cold and severe.

She had heard rumors about Matthew's misbehavior before, but she had written him off as just another useless, spoiled noble.

She never imagined he would be responsible for the deaths of thousands of Iron Mountain soldiers.

Franklin's expression was no less grim, a rare flicker of murderous intent crossing his face. His voice turned icy as he said, "He dared to target my student? He'd better hope I don't cross paths with him. If I do, I'll make sure he learns what it means to offend a Witch Doctor!"

Franklin wasn't particularly concerned about the lives of others, but Luca was the prized student he had worked so hard to take under his wing.

If Matthew had succeeded in killing Luca, Franklin would have had nowhere to vent his grief. Now, he could only feel a burning fury at the thought.

Luca sighed with a hint of regret, saying, "If we could have followed up on that lead, it might have been easier to find more clues about the mastermind. Unfortunately, I didn't know what was happening in the city before, and both Matthew and Freeman are already dead by my hand, so the trail has gone cold."

Hearing that Matthew had been killed, the three of them froze for a moment.

Sophia pressed her lips together, her gaze complicated, but she said nothing more.

After all, Matthew truly deserved to die.

Franklin, on the other hand, burst out laughing. "Good job, kid! He deserved it! Scum like that shouldn't be allowed to live—who knows how many more lives he would've ruined!"

Lucia nodded in agreement.

Matthew had spent his days terrorizing the people of Riverfall City, bullying the weak, and preying on the innocent. Who knew how many civilians had suffered at his hands?

Even if the Beast Forest incident hadn't happened, someone like him was better off dead.

Sophia then asked, "What do you think we should do next, Junior?"

Luca thought for a moment before responding, "The Nightmare Cult likely already knows that you've escaped, so they'll definitely take action soon. Whether or not Rudolph has truly sided with them, we need to place him under control for now. Once everything is resolved, we can investigate thoroughly and gather evidence."

"If he's innocent, then great. But if he has been secretly helping the Nightmare Cult, that'll be even better—it'll save us a lot of trouble."

The three of them nodded in agreement with Luca's plan.

Detaining Rudolph might reduce their fighting strength, but it would also eliminate a significant wildcard.

Given the urgency of the situation, this was the safest course of action.

After a brief discussion, the four of them left the City Lord's Mansion, intent on temporarily imprisoning Rudolph in the dungeon.

By this time, dusk was settling in, and the city was cloaked in dim light, silent and eerily still.

As they walked, Lucia seemed to remember something. She took out two scrolls and handed them to Luca and Sophia.

With a serious expression, she cautioned, "The upcoming battle will likely be extremely dangerous. These are high-grade magic scrolls. When used, they can release a single cast of Heavenly Thunder Purple Fire. Keep them with you and use them at a critical moment."