The night was deep, and the crimson moon had already vanished from sight, perhaps hidden away by dark clouds.
On the streets, the few streetlights that were lit emitted a dim yellow glow. Very few people were walking about, but there were many vagrants hiding in the corners, sheltering themselves from the cold night wind.
At the entrance of one long, narrow alley, beneath a streetlight, four vagrants were wrapped together in a filthy quilt, huddled close as they lay side by side.
Seeing Hastur and Seraphina approach, they merely cast a dull glance their way, then slightly turned their bodies and continued sleeping.
The last time Hastur had seen so many vagrants was quite a while ago.
During the day, there were hardly any signs of them, yet once night fell, they emerged from every corner, perhaps because there were patrol officers during the daytime.
Backlund, the City of Hope, how ironic.
Hastur merely observed everything around him and did not speak, instead letting Seraphina lead the way ahead.
Since she did not speak, he had no desire to speak either.
As for where they were going, he was not particularly worried.
In matters of life and death like this, he still trusted Will.
After walking for some time, Seraphina saw that Hastur was remarkably patient and finally spoke. "Baron Hastur Campbell, last time your subordinate injured my people. Shouldn't you give me an explanation?"
"That madwoman came to assassinate me in the middle of the night. The fact that she's still alive is already me giving you face."
Hastur's voice was cold, his tone confident. "You seem to know who I am?"
"I could smell the stench of your witch sect from far away. You don't really think you're hiding that well, do you?"
"Hehe, you have quite a big mouth. What are you relying on?"
"This is Backlund, a place watched over by the gods. Even you need to keep your tail between your legs when you come here."
Seraphina did not respond to that, instead changing the subject. "The aura on you is very strange, hard to fathom. There are very few people in this world who can give me this kind of feeling."
"Heh, that's only because you're too ignorant."
"You keep provoking me. Do you really think I won't kill you?"
"You certainly have the ability to kill me, but likewise, someone can kill your two daughters."
"I don't have much maternal affection for them."
"If you hadn't appeared in time that night, I might have believed what you just said."
Seraphina stopped walking, turned around to look at Hastur, and said with a playful smile, "I haven't been threatened in a long time. You really shouldn't threaten a witch who is indifferent to familial bonds."
Just as she was about to make a move, a sudden, inexplicable panic surged up in her heart. Her body stiffened in place, and a faint sheen of cold sweat appeared on her forehead.
She understood that if she truly intended to strike with lethal force, then the first one to die would be herself.
There was a higher-sequence existence watching this place, and protecting the young noble before her.
An existence that could give her such a feeling was at the very least a Sequence 2 angel, or even higher, a terrifying Sequence 1 King of Angels.
Sequence 1, a tier of power beneath true gods.
Within the entire witch cult, aside from the Primordial Demoness they worshipped, the strongest witch was only Sequence 2.
Seeing her like this, Hastur knew that Will was already watching her in secret.
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly as he mocked her, "I haven't been threatened in a long time either. You really shouldn't threaten a promising young noble in Backlund."
"..." After a long silence, Seraphina finally dispelled all of her killing intent and chose to back down and compromise.
Back then, the other party had been able to save her daughters at a critical moment, so they surely also had the ability to save Baron Hastur Campbell before her.
What she couldn't figure out was why a powerful existence of at least Sequence 2 would lower themselves to protect a young noble.
And just a baron at that? Could it be that this Baron Hastur Campbell was also the direct descendant of some powerful being?
Backlund, Sequence 1… an illegitimate child of a royal prince?
Seraphina was finally shaken, and the look she gave Hastur became complicated.
Such a young and handsome noble, so he was merely someone's illegitimate child as well. How pitiful.
"Don't go scheming anything crooked. There's no real hatred between us. Why not chat a bit? I'm quite interested in your witch sect."
"I'm equally interested in your origins."
Seraphina turned around and continued leading the way, with Hastur keeping a distance of about three steps behind her.
"The Witch Card left behind by Emperor Roselle, is it in your hands?"
"That's right."
"Any intention of selling it?"
"Can you afford it?" Seraphina's tone was calm. This was not mockery, but a statement of fact.
"Fair enough. I'm just curious about Emperor Roselle's image on that Witch Card."
"Just as you imagine, it's a female image, Witch Roselle."
Seraphina's voice was tinged with pleasure, and faint mockery.
"Emperor Roselle really is something."
Hastur sincerely admired the thickness of Roselle's skin, this was already at a level of not fearing social death at all.
He had actually used a female image to represent the Witch Card.
He increasingly wanted to take a look at the Witch card, even if it was just to see Roselle's witch form with his own eyes.
He didn't know what it would look like, would it be ugly or beautiful, would the figure be flat or well-endowed, and what kind of changes would there be to the facial features?
"You're very interested in Roselle's affairs?"
"I'm just very interested in what he looks like wearing women's clothes."
"Why?"
"Don't you think that's a very interesting thing?"
"I don't think so."
Seraphina clearly had a different way of thinking from Hastur's. She said calmly, "The division between male and female genders isn't set in stone. Men can become women, women can become men. Roselle's female form isn't anything worth making a fuss about."
No, you don't understand. You completely don't understand just how much fun there is in this.
Just imagine, if one day you were holding that Witch card, standing in front of Roselle, and then called out Roselle's name, what kind of expression would Roselle have?
Is there anything more interesting than watching Roselle socially die right in front of you?
It would be even better if Bernadette were standing nearby to witness that historic moment.
When that time comes, how would Roselle respond, no, how would he try to explain away his state of mind when he created the Witch card back then?
He would probably put on a solemn face and say in a deep voice that it was a necessary part of the process.
Hastur didn't refute her on the surface, but in his mind he had already played out an entire drama.
"If you're willing to join us, perhaps I can let you take a look at the Witch card. That contains the ultimate secret of a Beyonder pathway, the secret of blasphemy"
Seraphina spoke with temptation in her tone, her voice threading its way into the depths of Hastur's heart.
This wasn't her deliberately displaying a witch's charm, but rather a natural, unintentional allure that she could exude effortlessly.
Just like her conversation with Leonard, from beginning to end, she hadn't used any Beyonder abilities, merely chatting normally, yet Leonard had still been completely captivated.
"The secret of blasphemy? Shouldn't it be the advancement ritual of becoming a god?"
Hastur didn't mind giving this ageless witch a small shock.
Just one sentence like that, and you're still being secretive about it? And you want to tempt me with just that bit of knowledge? At the very least, you'd need to bring out something with more value.
Seraphina froze for a moment. "You've seen Roselle's other tarot cards?"
"Do you think this kind of knowledge would be some astonishing secret to the existence behind me?"
Seraphina fell silent again. If the other party were a Sequence 1, then they would surely have long since known such information.
"I want the Assassin potion formula. What price do I need to pay?"
Hastur steered the topic toward the Assassin potion formula, no need to wait for another day when today would do.
Since he was already speaking openly with this ageless witch, he might as well trade directly with her, saving himself the trouble of going after Germani instead.
"Oh, are you tired of being a man?"
"Such provocation is far too childish."
Seraphina thought for a moment, then a faint smile appeared at the corner of her lips. She stopped walking and said, "I can give you the Assassin potion formula. The condition is also very simple. For the rest of the way, you must let me hold your arm. Of course, if you want something more intimate, I don't mind either."
"??!"
What kind of condition is that?!
Hastur was stunned. Wasn't this blatantly trying to take advantage of him?
Holding arms, and even something more intimate.
Could it be that Leonard hadn't gone to sleep either and was waiting by the roadside ahead?
Putting on a clichéd love triangle drama?
"I refuse."
"Why?"
Seraphina looked puzzled. Just holding an arm, was that really such a difficult condition?
When nobles dance at social gatherings, the posture is far more intimate than simply holding an arm.
"Do you think I'm as cheap as you?"
"..." For a moment, Seraphina actually forgot to retort.
"If we're negotiating terms, then negotiate terms. Don't be thinking about other people's bodies all day."
"..." Seraphina finally understood. The Baron in front of her was extremely narcissistic, exceptionally narcissistic!
But she didn't get angry because of it. Having lived for so many years, what kind of people hadn't she seen?
She had seen plenty of narcissistic people as well.
But someone who could resist her charm and still remain narcissistic, there was probably only Hastur.
"Interesting. I'm becoming more and more interested in you." Seraphina laughed. She flicked her finger, and several lines of densely packed text appeared at the corner of Hastur's clothing.
"Consider this Assassin potion formula as payment for escorting me home tonight."
"Do you know how many pounds this piece of clothing of mine costs?"
"..." Seraphina froze for a moment, then ultimately chose to ignore Hastur's words and continued leading the way ahead.
In the end, the two arrived outside a large house, beneath the window of a room on the second floor.
After a while, the window upstairs was opened.
Mrs. Germani appeared at the window, staring in disbelief at Hastur and Seraphina below.