The Versatile Hobert

Chapter 34 The Versatile Hobert

Hobert paid the fare and waited until the carriage was far away before he and Hugh climbed over the wall and entered the abandoned factory.

This place is on the southern edge of Backlund, a secluded area, perfect for doing shady things.

The sun had already set. After observing for a while and finding no danger, Hobart and Hugh rushed to the front of the factory.

Just then, a crow landed in front of the two people.

Hobart glanced at it briefly and found that the crow had no obvious external injuries; it seemed to have fallen because it was too tired from flying in the sky.

Looking up, the crows were still circling and flying, like vultures preparing to enjoy a feast.

Both of them had a bad feeling at the same time. Hobert leaned against the wall of the factory and said, "I sensed some kind of evil force. The ritual that Zachary mentioned in the letter is unlikely to be a prayer to the seven gods."

He paused for a moment before saying, "I'm good at hand-to-hand combat, but I'm not good at dealing with evil forces!"

Hobart said, "Since none of us felt any danger, it means that although Zachary's ritual is evil, it is not very dangerous."

"However, for safety's sake, we should immediately flee if we sense any danger in our spirit, and then report it to the True God Church!"

While arbitrators and lawyers may not be as spiritually as fortune tellers or esoteric practitioners, they still possess the most basic warning signs of danger.

In addition, "reporting" is a common skill in Tarot Clubs, so Hobart has no psychological pressure in this regard.

Hugh nodded, and without further ado, the two of them immediately began to act.

The factory was very empty, with only some dusty debris piled up at the base of the walls. It was clear that anything of value had been sold off before the factory was abandoned.

Hopper took out his gun and released the safety, while Hugh pulled out the triangular spike hidden in his trouser leg. The two headed straight for the stairs, but before they even reached the top, they heard some noises coming from upstairs.

Both of them tensed up, because there was no sign of danger throughout the entire process, so they simply took the lead and Hobert followed, and immediately rushed forward.

Regardless of which route of potion Zachary took, both Hobert and Hugh, both Sequence 9s, were confident they could defeat each other.

Fearing that Zachary might have a gun, Hugh used his agility to leap and roll forward after reaching the second floor, drawing the other man's attention.

Hopper followed closely behind, pointing his gun at any movement, ready to fire at any moment.

However, they did not encounter the fierce counterattack they had expected, and Hobart swallowed back the "Don't move" that was on the tip of his tongue.

In an abandoned office, there was indeed a figure with disheveled hair, a face as dry and wrinkled as a mummy, and a body covered in pustules. He was pacing back and forth in front of a makeshift altar, completely absorbed in his task.

Hugh took out a portrait of Zachary from his pocket and could roughly recognize that the person pacing was Zachary.

"He's not right," Hobart said. "He seems to be on the verge of getting out of control."

At this moment, Zachary seemed to finally see Hobart and Hugh. His left eye was numb and lifeless, while his right eye was flashing with an eerie light.

Hobert and Hugh, who were being stared at by Zachary's right eye, immediately felt a chill run down their spines and a general sense of unease, as if they were being watched by a filthy, evil creature.

Hopper said, "Don't make eye contact with him!"

He quickly turned his head away to avoid getting contaminated.

"Hahahaha!" Zachary's dry throat emitted an evil laugh, and he solemnly proclaimed as if he were reading God's will: "I have seen it! I have seen the Kingdom of God!"

"On the golden earth, I held a torch and gazed upon the kingdom of God! The ancient gods roamed the earth, they were so tall that they blotted out the sky, and they exuded an aura of filth and pain!"

"A giant raven circled in the sky, carrying a human skull in its beak, feasting on the souls of the dead..."

These words were like a spell, giving Hobart and Hugh a splitting headache!

With trembling hands, Hobart fired a shot, and the loud bang finally pulled him and Hugh out of their nightmarish state.

Zachary was clearly affected by the powerful evil presence. Hobart's first shot missed the target, but he fired two more shots, one of which finally hit Zachary in the abdomen.

Zachary collapsed to the ground, too weak to continue reciting his obscene words.

But he immediately climbed toward the altar, chanting: "Creator of all things; Lord behind the veil of shadow; the fallen nature of all living beings!"

"I pray to the power of corruption..."

A subtle change occurred on the altar, as if an evil and corrupting force was descending.

Hobert quickly stepped forward to finish him off, firing a shot at close range that pierced Zachary's head.

This guy is actually praying for the power of the true creator! Isn't he courting death?!

As Zakri's incantation was interrupted, the corrupting power gradually dissipated.

Suddenly, the crows in mid-air let out a strange cry of "Ya~", and they finally stopped circling and flew around, instead landing on the surrounding trees to rest.

Hugh let out a long sigh of relief. Although she didn't quite understand what had just happened because she didn't know much about ritual magic, she knew in her heart that Hobert's clean and efficient move had prevented the evil power from descending, and the two of them had escaped a disaster.

Hobert was still uneasy, so he put away his pistol and dismantled the altar that had been pieced together from discarded tables.

He glanced again at the convulsing corpse and guessed that Zachary had most likely taken the "Mystic's" potion.

Sequence 9 "Mystic" is one of the most easily out-of-control potions. First, the true creator has a great influence on the lower-level extraordinary beings, which is the kind of rambling mentioned in Zakri's letter.

In addition, they have a high level of inspiration and can always hear things they shouldn't hear and see things they shouldn't see, so they are prone to losing control.

Because of their high level of inspiration, "Mystic Prayers" can easily master some ritual magic. However, when performing rituals on evil beings, they are either unknowingly corrupted or their personalities change drastically.

Hugh, suppressing her nausea, quickly examined the body and confirmed that Zachary was truly dead. She glanced at Hobart: "The trail has gone cold again."

"Not necessarily!" Hobert leaned against the wall to rest for a moment before picking up three candles from the ground and lighting them as required by the ritual.

The tension of his first murder, and the excitement of having just walked on the edge of death, made his muscles tremble slightly.

But now they needed to hurry and communicate with the spirits. As Hobart drew the symbol of the goddess of night in the middle of the candle, he asked Hugh, "Miss 'Arbitrator,' have you ever heard of spirit communication?"

Hugh's mouth dropped open: "You can communicate with spirits?"

For wild extraordinary beings, psychic abilities are a very high-level ritual magic.

Hobart smiled and said, "If Zachary were still alive, I wouldn't dare to use psychic abilities with my current spirituality, but now that he's dead, things are much easier."

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(End of this chapter)