“A higher-ranked Beyonder…”
In the cramped office, James furrowed his brows as he listened to Gregor’s speculation. Based on their past experience, they had assumed that the leader of the Crimson Eucharist was a Black-rank Beyonder. But if the other were above Black-rank… that would mean they were at least White-rank.
A White-rank Beyonder was typically an elder or leader of a mid-sized secret society. Within the entire Pritt Kingdom’s Serenity Bureau, only a handful of key regional directors and a few stationed captains in Tivian’s Central Bureau were White-rank. Altogether, there were barely more than ten of them. The other seventy or so local bureau directors were mostly Black-rank—including James himself.
If a White-rank Beyonder had really come to Igwynt this time…
“Gregor… who do you think orchestrated this attack?” James asked while contemplating. Though in truth, he already had an answer in mind.
“Mr. James, in my opinion, this case has strong similarities and connections with the previous ones. It’s almost certain that it was the work of that secret organization known as Rose Cross Order,” Gregor said.
They had initially suspected Field due to the familiar flower deliveries, so the moment they saw the crime scene at the mansion, the Bureau immediately recognized who was responsible.
“Rose Cross Order… So they specifically came to Igwynt to target the Crimson Eucharist, huh? I never expected that this previously unheard-of group would actually dispatch a White-rank Beyonder here. In just a few short months, they completely wiped out the entire Crimson Eucharist.” James sighed as he leaned back in his chair.
“It seems we greatly underestimated them. Any group with a White-rank Beyonder is far from ordinary.”
“Yes. Fortunately, their objectives are clear, and they don’t conflict with ours…” Gregor said, recalling how lucky they were during the encounter at Buck Mansion. When they first encountered a member of Rose Cross Order, they had exercised restraint and avoided conflict. Otherwise, the consequences could have been severe. “Back then, we all thought that man was just bluffing. Some of us even considered testing him. But in hindsight, thank God we held back. If we had acted rashly, the Bureau might have suffered a heavy, pointless loss.”
Gregor felt relieved. Looking back, he was grateful he had stopped Turner and insisted on caution—it might have saved the entire team.
“You did well in exercising restraint,” James acknowledged.
“But now, I’m curious—what exactly was the Crimson Eucharist hiding? What kind of secret could have drawn the attention of an organization like Rose Cross Order? They even went as far as sending a White-rank Beyonder to Igwynt to wipe them out.”
At this, Gregor suddenly seemed to remember something and immediately spoke up.
“Mr. James, actually, we discovered a hidden chamber inside the mansion. Inside, we found not just ritual tomes and spiritual reserves, but also something on the chamber’s walls.”
As he spoke, Gregor pulled out a black-and-white photograph. The image showed a wall, upon which was drawn a symbol.
It was an inverted triangle. Within it, a few simple strokes outlined the shape of a curled, abstract fetus—as if it were still being nurtured. But the fetus’s head was not human—it was a wolf’s head.
James’s gaze grew serious as he studied the photograph. After examining it for a few moments, he slowly spoke.
“This is… the Afterbirth Cult’s symbol… No, wait—the fetus has a wolf’s head. That means this belongs to the Wolfblood Order.”
“Wolfblood Order?” Gregor asked curiously.
James continued explaining.
“The Afterbirth Cult is an organization that worships the Mother of Chalice. The Mother of Chalice has given birth to numerous divine offspring, and within the Cult, different factions exist based on which offspring they revere. The Wolfblood Order is one of these factions—they worship the Gluttonous Wolf. They are a crucial part of the Afterbirth Cult.”
“In the mysticism world, the origins of beast transformation abilities can almost always be traced back to the Wolfblood Order. However, as time passed, many of these legacies branched out and became independent, with little connection to the Order. But for Luer to still have the Wolfblood Order’s emblem… Does this mean he wasn’t just a stray practitioner, but an official member of the Order?”
James pondered aloud. Though he was only Black-rank, he had worked in the Serenity Bureau for decades and had gained considerable knowledge.
Gregor frowned and asked, “A member of the Wolfblood Order? But… why would someone from such a major secret organization come to Igwynt? What was their purpose?”
“I don’t know,” James admitted.
“Maybe he was just a rogue who split from the Order… or maybe there’s a deeper reason we’re unaware of. Personally, I lean toward the latter—because only if Luer possessed a truly valuable secret would he have attracted Rose Cross Order’s attention.”
Hearing this, Gregor recalled what the Rose Cross Order member had once told them.
That man had hinted that the Crimson Eucharist was deeper than it seemed—that it was entangled with even greater mysteries. At the time, the statement felt like an empty threat. But now, if the Crimson Eucharist was truly connected to the Wolfblood Order, or even the Afterbirth Cult, then calling it "deep waters" was no exaggeration.
James now suspected that Rose Cross Order wasn’t just fighting the Crimson Eucharist, but rather, they were waging war against the Wolfblood Order or even the Afterbirth Cult itself. The destruction of the Crimson Eucharist and the death of Luer might have only been one small part of a much larger conflict. Perhaps, at this very moment, a secret war was raging across multiple fronts.
Regardless, Rose Cross Order—a once obscure secret organization—could no longer be ignored. It was highly likely that they operated on the same level as the Wolfblood Order or even the Afterbirth Cult itself.
James decided to immediately send a telegram to the Central Bureau, reporting everything that had happened regarding the Crimson Eucharist and Rose Cross Order, along with his own speculations.
For the rest of the evening, Gregor gave James a detailed briefing on the investigation at the mansion.
By the end of the report, James nodded and said, “Alright, I have a general understanding of the situation. You’ve all worked hard. Go home early today and get some rest. The investigation doesn’t need to be too urgent for now.”
“Thank you, Mr. James!” Gregor grinned at the thought of getting off work early.
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly asked, “Oh, right—Mr. James, how are the children from the Charity Orphanage doing?”
James hesitated for a moment before replying, “Not too well… On the surface, all seven children seem fine, but after running tests, we found that all of them had been affected by cognitive poison.
“The last child is relatively lucky—only mildly affected, and we’ve nearly cleansed it from their system. But the other six children… they were exposed to severe cognitive poison for a long period of time, along with heavy drug contamination. Even now, their symptoms remain serious. Recovering will be extremely difficult.”