Chapter 3: Life Church

Around 20 silver armored guards sat on the concrete road in front of the compound gate entrance and played Mystic Cards game in the dim street lamplight.

"Mine is Silver Knight. It's a Grade-2 card with a Ranking no-45. Take your card and show it, Jimmy." A slightly obese guy said while rudely licking his lips.

Meanwhile, a lean guy named Jimmy gritted his teeth and spoke while cursing,

"F*ck! It's the Legendary Clown again!"

"Pfff- Hahaha, Jimmy, you really are the unlucky star." The slightly obese guy laughed out loud and added,

"It's my win again. Take out 3 silvers."

"Damn it! Let's try again. I won't lose this time, Henry." Jimmy said as he passed three silver coins to Henry. Those silver coins had an Eye symbol on one side and a lean woman's portrait on the other side.

"You want to play again? But you already lost to Henry thrice!" Another silver-armored guard shouted in surprise.

"I won't lose this time. If I lose once again, I won't play the 'Mystic Card' game for the next three months." Jimmy slammed his fist on the ground and announced loudly.

"What?! Jimmy, then how are we going to earn our pocket money daily? Change your resolution!" Another guy protested.

"Yes, Yes." Other guards also nodded their heads and stared at Jimmy with expecting eyes.

"Real men won't go back on their words." Jimmy proudly stated and soon froze as he saw a black shadow near the half-opened compound gate.

'Is it a G-Ghost?' He blinked in shock and then noticed that there was no shadow near the gate.

'I almost freaked out!' He shook his head and picked the dozens of cards from the concrete ground.

After that, he shuffled the cards like a real expert and stared at Henry with a confident smile.

"Are you ready?" Noticing his smile, Henry stared back into his blue eyes and asked.

"I was born ready." Jimmy smiled as he picked one random card from the shuffled cards and stored it in his pocket instead of seeing it. Meanwhile, Henry picked his card and showed it to everyone.

A picture of a naked female appeared in the card, making others droll in lust. The female picture looked more real and gave off some strange feelings to others' minds.

"Mine is the Card of Lust, Grade-5, Ranking no-34," Henry said with an excited smile on his face.

All those silver armored guards stared at the card while gulping down their saliva and turned their attention towards Jimmy.

Although Jimmy was shocked inside, he didn't show it on his face and showed his card to others. He didn't even look at the card and observed others' reactions patiently.

Nobody moved for three seconds, and soon a guy in the crowd muttered slowly.

"It's the Card of Spark. Grade-1. Ranking number-4. You really are the Unlucky Star of Riverdale, Jimmy."

A heartbeat later, a burst of laughter echoed at the entrance gate.

Jimmy groaned in displeasure and asked the nearby guard to change the topic.

"Jobs, where is Rick?"

Others also stopped laughing as they heard his words and then glanced at each other.

"Didn't he go to take a leak?" Henry asked while furrowing his brows.

"But it was around 10 minutes ago." Jimmy turned his expression grave and stood up while grabbing the sword hilt.

"Let's split up and search." Another guard proposed, and soon the group was split into two. One moved towards the left side while the other moved towards the right side mansion.

…

Meanwhile, John walked out of the mansion and moved stealthily towards the large building. That building appeared brighter even in the dark red night, giving a sensation of warmth. From Charles's memories, John guessed that building must be Life Church.

'Without shoes, it feels rough to walk on this dirt road.' He sighed as he glanced at Eve Nightwind, who had already lost lots of blood, and became puzzled.

'How is she still alive?' He was indeed astounded inside. Her nightgown was already soaked in blood and leaving blood trails frequently. With a single glance, anyone would tell that she was gravely injured.

'Those guards will soon follow after these blood trails.' He narrowed his eyes.

Shaking his head, he glanced at the surroundings and noticed that there were rows of brick houses, shops, wooden houses, and huts that appeared all over. In the dark-red night, he hastened his footsteps towards the tall dome-shaped building that appeared farther away from his vision.

After absorbing the original owner's memory, he understood his current situation and walked towards the Life Church hastily.

From the memories, he learned that Charles was a resident of Riverdale City, located on the Eastern edge of the Arc Kingdom. It was one of the small kingdoms in the Arcane World. Riverdale's city lord was a Baron who had an Expert level strength and had some connection with the Arc Royal family.

He became an Expert Rank Swordsman twenty years ago and obtained the noble title through various schemes. From Charles's memories, John noticed that to get a Class; one must be a wealthy individual. Otherwise, they would stay as commoners for the rest of their lives.

Unlike ordinary citizens, wealthy individuals, nobles, tycoons, and merchants had many opportunities to buy the Class and Sub-Class gems from various Churches.

John wasn't interested in others' business. He skimmed through those memories and soon found out some information about Charles Nightwind and Eve Nightwind.

Charles was born from a renowned wealthy family, and his father had some special status in the family.

But an accident occurred 15 years ago. Charles's father, Harry Nightwind, was poisoned by some mysterious enemy in the Ember Kingdom and died a horrible death in his own house. Nightwind family members accused Eve of killing Harry and disavowed her and her child Charles from the Nightwind family. After that, Eve Nightwind took Charles in fear of assassination and left the Ember Kingdom.

As for those 'True Lords' he heard from James, he didn't found any clue at all.

Mother and son lived peacefully in Riverdale City's El Street for the past 15 years and were already accepted by the locals long ago. They had a sizeable two-storied house in El street and 23 hectares of land outside Riverdale City. As for why she brought that land using all her savings? Even Charles knew nothing about her plan. Whenever he asked about that land, she would say that it was her intuition or some prediction. But Charles felt off about that Wind villa. A few months ago, the Life Church Bishop visited their house and asked them to sell that land for 2000 Arc gold coins.

It was triple the amount of actual land rate!

Charles was beyond shocked by that amount and even persuaded his mother to sell it.

But Eve was very adamant about her decision and declined Bishop Reynolds's offer. After that, their relationship with the Life Church members became very odd.

If his mother were an ordinary woman, Charles would have continued to argue about her. But he knew that her mother was not an ordinary one.

Eve's main Class was Level 5 'Astrologist.' It was a rare Class and would be very hard to obtain even in black markets. She usually spent her time staring at the dark red sky and make money from divination.

'She is good at predicting dangers.' John frowned as he read Eve's information.

Yesterday, she even predicted the impending danger and filed a detailed report to the Security Office for protection. But nobody took her words seriously and sent her back. Once she returns to the house, she told her prediction to Charles and even asked him to escape from the town. Like others, Charles also didn't take her words seriously and locked himself in his room. Then, James kidnapped them when they were asleep and ruined their peaceful life.

'Moreover, the real owner Charles appeared to be more interested in Archaeology. He also planned to buy the 'Explorer' Class gem from the auction and seems to be planning to walk on Explorer's path.' He briefly skimmed through the information and disappointed a little.

'There is no clue about the 'Mystic World' Game. Places and kingdom names are so unfamiliar.' He furrowed his brows and then shook his head.

'I will search for it later.'

John glanced at the timer and hastened his footsteps towards the Life Church direction.

'9 minutes left.' He sighed heavily and began to ponder about the 'True Lords.'

'Hmm, Charles's father's death seems like a well-planned assassination. Are these 'True Lords' behind Harry's death? But why are they after Charles and his mother? Are they Eve Nightwind's enemies?' He began to breathe heavily and noticed that he already arrived near the dome-shaped building.

Unlike the other building, this dome-shaped building looked beautiful even in the creepy dark-red night. Multiple lamp lights were hung on every corner of the white building and illuminated the surrounding areas in dim yellow light.

He retracted his eyes while panting heavily and began to think about the kidnapping.

'From James's earlier words, I can tell that he is specifically targeting Charles's life.' He felt puzzled inside and soon made a bold guess.

'Nightwind! They must be Harry's rivals or enemies. What if the 'True Lords' are actually some high-class members of the Nightwind family? Like those arrogant Family Elders from the lots of web novels.' He let out a chuckle and soon arrived in front of a large white domed building.

Two fair-skinned guys who appeared around 30-years-old stood at the entrance while holding spears in their hands and appeared in a half-sleepy state. Both wore white armor on the linen shirt, brown leather shoes, leather gloves, and black leather pants.

John had already undone his [Conceal] skill and went near them while breathing heavily. Due to Eve Nightwind's massive weight, he looked exhausted and was already on the verge of falling.

Both guards woke up from their sleep due to his footsteps and moved their spearheads towards John's face in unison. Unlike the guards he saw in James's mansion, these two guards looked stronger. John felt threatened by their simple stare!

Meanwhile, those two guards stared at John's face for a second and soon widened their eyes. As they saw John's oval face and hands were wholly dyed in Eve's blood, both became startled inside.

"Charles?" One of the guards shouted in shock as he identified him and quickly retracted his weapon. He had silver hair, a rough face, and silver eyes. John narrowed his eyes for a second and soon learned his name from Charles's memories.

'Mr. Hunt. He is a Rank 2 Holy Knight of Life Church. He lives near Charles's house and has an affair with City Lord's second wife. As expected of a Holy Knight! He already aimed his 'Holy Sword' at City Lord's second wife.' He stopped thinking and turned his gaze towards another Holy Knight.

He had blonde hair, a round face, thin eyebrows, and blue eyes.

'Mr. Robb. He is also a Rank 2 Holy Knight of Light Church. Except for his name, Charles had no information about him.' In a split second, he learned more about these two Holy Knights.

…