Demon Bible

Chapter 224: To Indulge in Flights of Fancy

"I never expected you all to be so bold, staying this close to the family household," Dartmenerly remarked, glancing at Cici Marie, who had passed out in the center of the magic array.

At this moment, Cici Marie's entire body was covered in golden patterns. Anyone with even a slight understanding of medicine would recognize that these patterns perfectly traced the main blood vessels of the human body.

In other words, the blood flowing through Cici Marie's veins right now had transformed into some kind of golden substance.

And this could already be considered the preliminary form of the Golden Elixir.

They only needed to take it a step further, using the magic array to drain all the blood from Cici Marie's body, and the true Golden Elixir could be extracted from it.

"We figured you would tamper with Cici Marie's body, ensuring that you would immediately know the moment she became the Golden Elixir," a voice chimed in. Purr stood not too far away, addressing Dartmenerly.

"You are... that squire beside Nels?! Does Nels look down on me that much?" Even as Dartmenerly said this, he did not underestimate Purr in the slightest.

Gripping his sword in one hand, he tore off his clothes with the other, exposing his over two-hundred-year-old body to the world.

The absolute limit of an Iron Rank being's lifespan was, in truth, only a little over two hundred years.

Dartmenerly had already reached the very end of his natural lifespan. Although he still appeared relatively healthy, this was merely the result of numerous precious drugs and various Arcane Arts sustaining him.Ever since his defeat at the hands of Nemus, Dartmenerly had aged far more rapidly.

Across his wrinkled, shriveled physique, numerous symbols had been carved, forming a circular magic array.

As Dartmenerly slammed his palm against this magic array, he took a deep breath.

It was as if he had injected a surge of power into his dim Life Aura. In the very next instant, his heavily wrinkled, elderly frame straightened up tall and proud.

Youth seemed to have once again returned to his physical form.

"Come then. You want this Golden Elixir, and so do I. Let us decide who claims it through battle," Dartmenerly declared, his eyes devoid of any major emotional fluctuations.

The moment those words left his mouth, Dartmenerly swung his sword forward, slashing directly at Purr, who was guarding the side of the magic array.

And at the exact same moment Dartmenerly made his move, the other members of the Dartmenerly Family also sprang into action.

Within the Church's prison, the number of inmates was noticeably higher than before.

On one hand, this was because Isabella had uncovered their illicit, unspoken dealings with the nobles.

On the other hand, it was because there were currently several heavyweight figures locked up within the Church's prison.

The first was the owner of the treasure that had recently attracted countless people—Zoven.

His value right now was astonishing. Even though everyone knew that such a figure would inevitably be placed under strict surveillance by the higher-ups, and the various factions were well aware that stealing a small amount of his blood would likely be useless...

...during his time locked up here, quite a few people had overtly or covertly used a variety of excuses to try and draw Zoven's blood.

"Minister Dong He."

"What brings you here?" A vigilant inquiry from a Church official suddenly rang out outside the prison.

"The Missionary Department has uncovered some information regarding a case. We need to question Zoven about the relevant details."

"Relax, this isn't an official interrogation. We'll just do it right here in his cell," Dong He said, lowering his voice and putting on a strictly professional demeanor.

And this was indeed within Dong He's current scope of authority.

Although he had made a grave mistake that resulted in his grandfather's death and completely wiped out his own competitive standing...

...the competition was not yet over, and Dong He was, in fact, still the Minister of the Missionary Department.

When it came to investigating certain cases, he legitimately possessed the necessary clearance.

Thus, the guards at the prison entrance had no choice but to let Dong He inside.

The moment he stepped into the prison, Dong He's heart began to pound rapidly, and the blood pumping through his veins accelerated.

The fact that Dong He's family and Westbin's family were related by blood was actually something very few people knew.

After all, Westbin's family had inherited Lilian's namesake, while Dong He's family had not.

Therefore, despite being relatives, there existed a unique barrier between them that outsiders did not share.

Dong He did his best to steady his nerves, then walked toward the solitary cell where Zoven was being held.

Upon entering the solitary confinement area, he discovered there was still another door separating Zoven from the outside hallway.

There was only a tiny viewing window allowing for communication between the inside and the outside.

Zoven was sitting on the floor. Hearing the knock on the door, he looked up and saw Dong He behind the small window. A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

"Zoven, the Missionary Department has found some information that I believe you need to know. Perhaps you can provide us with some intelligence in return," Dong He said, trying his hardest to fake a formal interrogation while stealing a glance out of the corner of his eye at the prison warden observing them from the side.

Zoven's attention was instantly captured. Seeing this, Dong He immediately took a piece of paper that seemed to have something written on it and slipped it through the window slot.

The observing warden stepped forward, seemingly wanting to get a look at what was written on the paper.

"This is strictly related to the case. It's classified information!" Dong He quickly barked, interrupting the man's advance.

After locking eyes for several seconds, the warden could only relent, stating, "Keep your hands out of the cell."

Hearing this, Dong He put on an expression of nonchalance, crumpled the paper into a ball, and tossed it inside.

Zoven picked up the crumpled ball and unfurled it. After reading over it for a few moments, he shot a glance back at Dong He.

Dong He's expression instantly turned solemn, looking as earnest as if he were taking an oath before a divine idol.

"This guy barely has any of the relevant bloodline left, yet he's still indulging in flights of fancy?" Lilian scoffed. She was sitting on Zoven's shoulder, swinging her finger-sized feet back and forth as she read the contents of the paper along with him.

The paper explicitly stated that if Zoven handed over the secrets of the Historical Number and the items related to the Fey, Dong He swore he would avenge Zoven's family, break Zoven out of prison, and even kill Nemus.

Dong He had even gone so far as to roughly outline his plan.

First, he would take the initiative to expose the Tavern's cooperation with Nemus in smuggling Whale Products. Even if this did not force Nemus to step down from his position as Great Knight, it would still severely limit his power.

Once Nemus lost his footing, Dong He could seize the opportunity to regain control of the Tavern, taking the smuggling business back into his own hands.

Using the massive profits from the smuggling business as bargaining chips, he would win over the hearts of the people, convincing them to elect him as Zhu Jiao.

After that came the revenge.

Using his authority as Zhu Jiao, he would unite the others and launch a joint strike against Nemus.

The only problem was that, right now, Dong He was still lacking a bit of strength. Therefore, he desperately needed the information regarding the Historical Number to uncover Nemus's weaknesses. Furthermore, if he could awaken his own bloodline and gain Fey Power in the process, it would be even more perfect!

His entire grand scheme could only be summarized with one phrase—to indulge in flights of fancy.

It was riddled with an endless amount of wishful assumptions.

It was completely detached from reality, and its actual feasibility was likely absolute zero.

"You can leave. I have nothing to say to you," Zoven replied, shaking his head as he tore the paper in his hands to shreds.

Dong He's eyes instantly turned bloodshot.

He had paid such an astronomical price and poured so much effort into this.

And the result? His family's assets had been swallowed up by Nemus, his grandfather had been burned to death because of his own blunders, and his reputation was completely ruined.

He absolutely had to obtain Fey Power and secure the Historical Number. It was the only way he could turn the tables.

In fact, just to ensure his plan would proceed smoothly, he had already secretly sent someone to report Nemus!