Chương 51: Isabella's Other Side

Inside the cabinet.

Richard only needed to lower his head slightly to see Isabella's long, curved eyelashes trembling gently. Even with his eyes closed, he could smell the faint scent of lavender mixed with sweat on her body and feel her hot breath brushing against his neck.

Fortunately, Isabella was wearing armor; otherwise, it's hard to say how much richer her tactile experience would have been.

At such close range, even Richard, a well-traveled and experienced bard, couldn't help but feel a little restless and embarrassed.

Afraid of being discovered, he dared not make a sound, and finally could only slightly open his mouth, trying to express his apology to Isabella with his lips.

Across from her, Isabella seemed to blush, yet not quite—in the dim light, such subtle changes in expression were difficult for even Richard, with his dark vision, to discern.

The only thing he could confirm was that the other person smiled and shook their head at him.

I don't know if they felt it didn't matter or if they just didn't want to talk about it.

But there was no sign of him getting angry or embarrassed.

As expected of a wise and sensible paladin, it seems I don't need to worry about experiencing the classic slapping scene when I go outside...

Richard breathed a slight sigh of relief and turned his attention to the outside of the cabinet.

Just then, he recognized a familiar male voice.

It's Harald!

At this moment, inside the passageway outside.

Harald was heading to the altar with several close associates.

A young believer caught up with him, reporting in a flustered manner:

"Sir, that red-haired female warrior just broke through the second gate. Ken tried to ambush her, but she ended up cutting off his head!"

"Damn it..."

Harald stopped in his tracks, his brow furrowed.

I've been having such bad luck lately!

First, a paladin inexplicably stabbed him in the house...

After finally managing to trap the enemy, another adventurer party set their sights on the snake people he had recruited to help hunt for the sacrifices...

They had just mustered enough men to go out as reinforcements when they discovered that the snake people had been instantly wiped out...

Intending to avenge the snake people and eliminate the threat, they never expected that the adventurer's party also had a female warrior with near-high-level strength, who, like the paladin, chased them underground...

He initially thought the opponent's berserk state was just temporary, but the opponent only grew stronger with each battle, showing no signs of weakening, which made him hesitant to face the enemy head-on...

Oh shit.

Why is it so hard to quietly and civilly run a cult?

Forget it.

Now that things have come to this, we must be decisive.

Harald sighed and said to his close confidants, "Let's go to the altar and complete the final ceremony."

His confidants hesitated: "But the accumulated strength is not yet enough..."

"There's no time. Let's harvest the wheat we have now first," Harald said, squinting.

"As for that female warrior... go open the valve and use the flood to deal with her. Anyway, we won't be staying here after the ceremony, so there's no need to regret it."

"I understand, sir."

Seeing Harald's resolute expression, the rest of his confidants immediately gave no further objections.

Then they split into two groups. One group turned around to open the valve, while the other group, led by Harald, walked to the end of the passage and disappeared behind a large iron gate.

Ten seconds or so passed.

Once they were sure there was no one else in the passageway, Richard, Isabella, and Amelie emerged from the closet where they were hiding.

Richard and Isabella exchanged a glance and then turned their heads away.

Neither of them commented on the "intimate contact" that had just taken place.

After all, there are more urgent matters that they need to deal with now!

Richard recalled what he had overheard, his lips first curling into a slight smile, then his brows furrowing.

Grace and her group were unharmed, and even managed to fight their way in, causing considerable trouble for the cultists.

The frowns are a sign of the actions the cultists are about to take.

The ceremony, and the flood...

What does all this mean? The literal meaning?

If a flood were to break out in this narrow passage, even Grace would probably be severely injured.

"We have to stop them!" Richard said immediately upon realizing this.

Isabella nodded immediately, looking at the other end of the passage in the direction where Harald's confidants had left, and said, "There aren't any strong people among those people. We can capture one or two to interrogate them, extract information, and then decide on the specifics."

Richard replied, "I agree with that sound idea."

The three set off immediately and quickly caught up with the group, only to find that they had split into pairs and gone off to carry out different tasks.

Seeing this, Isabella acted decisively, working together with Amélie on the left and right to take down two people from one group and drag them into a corner.

"You delusional bastard, you foolish mortal!"

The two men quickly realized what Richard intended to do by capturing them alive, and they fiercely resisted, shouting, "You have no idea how great the God of Slaughter is! Don't expect me to submit to you!"

What a classic example of a stubborn cultist...

I wonder how strong their faith is; how much effort would it take to interrogate them directly...

Richard was really not good at this kind of thing.

So he decided to try using the charm spell directly.

At this moment, Isabella took a step forward and came to the two cultists.

This puzzled Richard, since a paladin whose creed included mercy and honor should theoretically have no way to deal with this situation.

But Richard knew the answer in the next second.

Isabella silently recited some kind of proverb, and then a faint red light appeared on her body.

The two cult members reacted violently. One immediately covered his head and trembled as if he were in a purple mood, while the other simply screamed, his voice shrill, as if he had just sat on the toilet and seen a king cobra crawling out between his legs!

Richard narrowed his eyes.

That's a bit strange.

The scene made it seem as if Isabella was the villain, while the cultists were the innocent victims.

In his mind, just as priests who believe in different gods will learn different spells, paladins who make different vows will also have different skills.

Paladins who follow the oath of devotion typically possess skills related to dispelling evil and strengthening allies, not the intimidation-based abilities Isabella is currently using.

So, did she lie? How could she lie?

It seems...

Just as I have hidden a lot of things from others, they have also hidden a lot from me.

Richard had some doubts, but he didn't say anything.

After all, now is really not a good time.

Seeing the two cultists in a state of panic, Isabella slightly raised her chin, looking down at them with a contemptuous expression, and hissed:

"Tell me everything about the ritual and the flood, or I will tear your souls out and make you suffer eternal fear and pain even in death!"

At this moment, although her appearance was still beautiful, she had completely lost her previous peaceful and elegant temperament. Instead, she resembled a Valkyrie who could decide life and death, inspiring fear in those who saw her.

The two cult members, whose defenses had already crumbled, couldn't withstand this and immediately started talking...