Demon Bible

Chapter 187: Demon Butler

It was not until the Church personnel appeared at the gates of the Ben family estate with a search warrant in hand that the household finally realized what was happening.

The family's butler sensed that things had taken a dire turn the very moment they arrived.

In Noble households, a butler was sometimes more trustworthy than the actual family members.

Or rather, the butler was essentially a member of the family themselves, as their position was often passed down through generations.

The butler's ancestors had likely served the ancestors of the current Nobles.

They shared a bond of mutual prosperity and ruin—one prospered, all prospered; one fell, all fell.

Furthermore, whenever the Nobles wished to execute any plans, it was nearly impossible to completely bypass the butler.

Because of this, while the actual family members might remain ignorant of many deep-seated secrets, the butler was almost always entirely aware.

The moment the search warrant was produced, the butler's heart began to pound violently. He had no idea how they had been exposed, but he knew with absolute certainty that they were in massive trouble.

Despite his best efforts to maintain a calm facade, he frantically searched for an opportunity to send a warning, hoping to alert the family head so he could prepare and swiftly destroy the crucial evidence.However, to the young Church clerics who were eager to prove their worth, his subtle tells were far too obvious.

"Restrain him, and follow me to search the premises!" Dong He shouted decisively.

At this point, the butler realized his cover was completely blown.

He abandoned any thoughts of using Noble privileges to shield himself or finding a way to retreat unscathed.

The very next moment, a surging dark aura erupted from his entire body. The overpowering stench of a Demon instantly struck fear into the hearts of the clerics who had been preparing to detain him.

"It is a Formal Demon!" one of the priests screamed.

A Formal Demon was equivalent to an Iron Rank, and under normal circumstances, they were significantly stronger than their human counterparts.

Although Dong He was also startled, his initial shock was quickly eclipsed by the thrilling realization that he had caught a major target.

Regardless of anything else, if the butler of the Ben Noble Family was a Demon, then the entire household could not escape implication.

Fueled by this excitement, Dong He's Mental Power rippled outward, and he swiftly completed his Spell.

Holy Affinity Spell: Prison of Light!

Several pillars of radiant light shot up from the ground, encasing the Demon butler—who was now completely wreathed in dark aura and resembled a charred ghoul—within their bounds.

While some of the clerics panicked, others remained calm and strictly followed their contingency plans.

A signal flare was immediately fired. The Knight Brigade, which had originally only been tasked with surrounding the perimeter, began to close in on their location.

Among their ranks were several Iron Rank combatants, a necessary precaution for such a large-scale raid.

The standard protocol for a search party ensured the inclusion of Iron Rank priests, primarily for the initial reconnaissance.

If any irregularities were discovered, or if the target of the search offered resistance, the Knight Brigade stationed at the borders would immediately intervene and establish full control.

Beyond that, depending on the scale of the operation, covert emergency plans had to be established to guarantee that top-tier experts could provide immediate reinforcement.

Naturally, this was the exact moment for those emergency protocols to take effect.

A massive influx of clerics, led primarily by Holy Knights, began to breach the estate. Any individual who was not a cleric was swiftly subdued and restrained.

Simultaneously, the majority of the priests did not scatter. Instead, they gathered together to collectively sing a Holy Chant.

The Holy Chant was paradoxically both the simplest and the most complex of Divine Arts.

During the chanting process, the priests would pour their own Mental Power and Faith into the hymn. To a certain extent, this guided the surrounding Power of Faith of a similar nature into a Resonance, manifesting the profound effects of the Holy Attribute.

When chanted by a single person, its power was relatively meager.

But when an entire congregation of priests chanted in unison, the intense Resonance would push their individual Faith to its absolute peak, exponentially amplifying the resulting echoes.

The surging melody swept through the surroundings like a torrential tide.

The Demon butler, who had just barely managed to break free from the Prison of Light, instantly felt as though he was drowning.

And he was drowning in damn Holy Water, no less!

It was at this very moment that the true nature of the Demon butler's condition was fully revealed.

Copious amounts of dark aura wreathed his form, exuding a dense, tangible distortion of Desire. Among the crowd, Morkania, who was also feeling quite unwell from the holy energy, distinctly sensed a familiar presence.

The aura of this Desire and the unique traits of his demonic Transformation were strikingly similar to Xiaobi's mutation.

It was almost a certainty that the technique used to transform Xiaobi into a Demon shared the exact same origin as the one used on this Demon butler.

Naturally, such a massive commotion did not go unnoticed by those deeper within the estate.

Many members of the Ben family had no idea what was happening or why a Holy Chant was suddenly echoing through their home.

However, a select few felt the blood drain from their faces.

These were the individuals who knew the hidden truths of the family.

When the Ben family first rose to power, their foundation was built primarily upon Warlocks.

In the shadows, they secretly conducted research related to Demons.

During the chaotic era of the past, such practices were actually quite common.

Because of this, they had even managed to latch onto the Church's coattails, utilizing the Church's resources to luckily achieve Advancement to the Golden Rank. This allowed them to complete a Class Transition and establish themselves as Nobles.

However, since they had taken an unorthodox Path to power, their foundational strength was severely lacking.

Later on, whether through orthodox Cultivation as priests and Holy Knights within the Church, or by relying on their ancestral Meditation Method, producing a second Golden Rank expert proved to be an insurmountable challenge.

This became especially true after their previous Golden Rank ancestor passed away. Their relationship with the Church grew cold, making it nearly impossible to leverage Church resources any further.

Thus, in this current generation, the family head chose to take a desperate risk and focused heavily on researching demonic knowledge.

After all, out of the four main resources required for Advancement to the Golden Rank—aside from the Orthodox Church, Whale Products, and Earth Creations—the only remaining option was Demons.

A few core members within the family were fully aware of this secret.

They had simply run out of options.

The family had originally relied on personal connections with the Church, but those ties had long since frayed into nothingness.

Whale Products were monopolized by various major factions, making them incredibly difficult to obtain.

As for Earth Creations, they simply did not have the courage to even try.

So, after exhausting all other possibilities, they inevitably turned back to the Demons they had dealt with in the past.

Now, it was blatantly obvious that their secret had been exposed.

Summoning and researching Demons was a capital offense. In the face of such a grave sin, even their Noble privileges were entirely useless.

"The family is in grave danger! Head to the warehouse, take the secret passage, and flee!" an authoritative family member immediately roared.

As a Noble household, their combat strength was certainly not weak.

But against the absolute might of the Church, no single family stood a chance of victory.

The branch of the Church in Tail Fin Town alone publicly commanded nearly twenty Iron Rank experts.

Even if their family head had reached the Iron-Species Extreme and, as a Demon Warlock, could summon multiple Demons, what difference would it make?

There would still be only one outcome—being swarmed and beaten to death.

Even if they managed to gain the upper hand for a short period, it would be utterly futile. The Church could call for reinforcements from Sky Spring City at any given moment.

The instant a Golden Rank expert arrived, all rebellion would be mercilessly crushed.

Because of this, no one within the Ben family harbored a single thought of resistance.

Their only instinct was to flee. They wanted to grab whatever family assets they could carry and escape into the wilderness, or find an opportunity to conceal their identities, change their names, and start anew on the back of another Floating Whale.

Meanwhile, deep within the family's secret chamber, Jacquard Ben, who had been meticulously Sensing the Demonic Elements, slowly opened his eyes, his entire body radiating with steaming dark aura.