Hiroshi’s comment about Ulu’s “backdoor being too loose” completely threw Ulu off.

As an experienced, emmm, Ulu knew exactly what Hiroshi meant. He didn’t even bother trying to figure out what was wrong with his body; he simply assumed it was because of his severe injuries. After all, his entire shoulder had been bitten through, and it was still bleeding.

So, after confirming that he hadn’t left any traces at the scene, Ulu quickly made his way out.

Seeing that Ulu didn’t press further, Hiroshi felt a bit more relaxed. He’d managed to get through this one, for now.

One day, Ulu would inevitably discover that his body was deteriorating, and he’d understand it was because he was “parasitized” by Hiroshi. But Hiroshi hoped that day would come as late as possible.

Because right now, Ulu still had an escape route. Even though his situation seemed dire, if he were truly desperate, he could abandon his current identity and status, cut Hiroshi out, toss him in a church, and run for his life. He could live as a fugitive, with a good chance of survival.

Ulu could think of this route, of course. But the cost was too high—throwing away his entire past and living the rest of his life in fear. He absolutely didn’t want that.

But compared to his life, Ulu would choose survival. If he knew that using Visah'Su's power meant a slow death, Hiroshi was certain he’d run, and that would make things difficult for him.

So, Hiroshi needed to lull him into a false sense of security—make him believe he’d gained the most powerful force in the world, leading him to walk willingly into his own doom. By the time Ulu realized something was wrong, he’d already have one foot in the grave, with no other options.

Tsk, it sounded a bit evil.

If this were an ordinary person, Hiroshi might have felt some guilt. But since it was Ulu, it didn’t matter.

At this moment, Ulu had no idea that Hiroshi had already mapped out several paths leading to his death. He simply dragged his wounded body back to the church, naturally sneaking in through the back door without being seen. Of course, that was partly because Kelser hadn’t stationed guards there—the arrogant knight captain didn’t think Lugi had the guts to return after escaping, allowing Hiroshi to exploit the oversight.

Once back in his room, Ulu immediately stashed his bloodied clothes and cast a few healing spells on himself.

At Ulu’s level, the healing spells couldn’t fully close his wounds; they could at most stop the bleeding and make him look less pale.

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But that was enough. Just like with Lugi’s room next door—if the knights had been thorough, they could have found something off, but they didn’t bother. It was the same for Ulu. As long as he wore his clothes, those who weren’t already suspicious wouldn’t notice anything wrong.

After finishing everything, Ulu looked out the window, estimated how much time was left until dawn, and muttered, “I still have time, I still have time,” before collapsing into bed and falling into a deep sleep.

But what Ulu didn’t know was that after he fell into a deep sleep, his entire left arm began to move.

It even thoughtfully propped him up, turned him over, and covered him with a blanket.

Then, it gave a satisfied thumbs-up before falling still alongside him.

…

At the “House of Pleasure” tavern, Kelser stared at Lugi and Roger’s corpses, his expression dark.

“Have you figured out who this guy is?” Kelser asked the knight examining Roger’s body.

The knight immediately took a flame insignia from Roger’s body and walked over to Kelser. “Report, Captain. This man seems to be from the [Wildfire] cult.”

“[Wildfire Cult]…” Kelser narrowed his eyes, mumbling to himself. “These guys were fast. How long ago did we find that black-market dealer? And now they’ve already found Lugi.”

Another knight, examining Lugi’s corpse, called out to Kelser, “Captain, take a look at this…”

Kelser turned his head to see the knight holding up Lugi’s left hand.

The left hand was missing its middle finger.

“Tsk, still a step too late?” Kelser’s frown deepened. “Looks like that finger was with him earlier, but…”

He turned, his gaze falling on Roger’s body with a puzzled expression.

“If this guy was here to take the finger, why is he dead too? And the finger’s gone… Is there a third party involved? Another [Wildfire] cult member?”

Kelser couldn’t figure out why Lugi had come here after getting the finger.

Why did he die with this [Wildfire] guy? Who killed whom? Was there a third person? And did that third person take the finger… though that much seemed likely.

“More and more people are getting involved,” Kelser said quietly. “If we don’t retrieve that finger soon, things will get even more complicated.”

Visah'Su’s body parts were undeniably the most unique existence in this world.

Everyone wanted them, even the Four Faiths and the Four Cults.

Now that one of the Major Faith, Rhyo, and one of the Major Cults, Wildfire, were both involved, things were already troublesome. If this spread further and the other six parties got wind of it, it’d become even more of a headache. In fact, having the cults find out would be worse than the other churches. After all, the cults were enemies—heretics. If they dared challenge Rhyo, Kelser would just crush them.

But if the other three Faiths stepped in, there’d be no crushing. It’d come down to who was quicker—whoever retrieved and secured it first would own that finger.

So, there was no more time to wait.

Kelser realized that his small team wouldn’t be enough to find the finger in time. He turned to his knights and spoke in a low voice, “Immediately notify Bishop Corry and ask for reinforcements. Make sure to mention that we’ve already gathered substantial intel and can at least confirm…”

He paused for a moment, then glanced at Lugi’s left hand before continuing.

“At least confirm that the body part in question is Visah'Su’s left-hand middle finger. Please ask Bishop Corry to seal the regulations regarding this body part…”

Before he could finish, the knight examining Lugi’s corpse interrupted him, “Captain, something seems off.”

Annoyed at being cut off, Kelser glared at the knight. “What’s wrong?”

The knight pulled out Lugi’s right hand, which had been pinned beneath him.

“Lugi’s right thumb… is also missing.”

Kelser’s eyes widenead.