When Annan woke up, his portrait was already painted.
“Thank you very much for your cooperation.”
Amos’s voice sounded behind Annan, “Really? Are you sure you don’t want dinner?”
“…Wait, let’s get dinner.” There was some hesitation in Annan’s tone.
Amos chuckled lightly, “That’s right. I’m very hospitable…”
These words did sound very polite.
But his tone was filled with impatience, and he had no intention of covering it up. He didn’t invite Annan to see the painting but put it away. Not only did he speak fast when he invited Annan, but he also didn’t even look at Annan directly.
Annan keenly sensed Amos adopting a sense of superiority.
Amos had a great attitude towards Jiu Er. It should be because Jiu Er still showed “curiosity” and “praise” for Amos’s paintings when she played as a homeless man. This fully satisfied Amos’s pride.
It seemed perfectly reasonable.
Amos initially held a Venerated Skeleton’s ritual because he reached the bottleneck of art and didn’t have the patience to attain a breakthrough slowly. After all, the Elegant Elder was also an option for him to improve his art level.
Unlike the Venerated Skeleton, the Elegant Elder was more inclined to propose an effective “training method” or point out the mistakes and improvements in the artistic style. Then, he would have his followers train on it.
Yes, for his followers, the Elegant Elder was a critic who had sharp eyes and spoke blatantly with none dared to offend him at all.
This was undoubtedly a troublemaker for artists, but it was also a good teacher and helpful friend.
Amos did not choose the Elegant Elder but the Venerated Skeleton.
At that time, he had already exposed his inner thoughts.
He didn’t want to work hard for it anymore.
Amos only wanted to draw a better painting and become famous immediately. But even he had overlooked the laziness and restlessness in his heart.
In Elle’s memory, Amos lamented, “I just want to pursue a higher artistic realm,” but everything was lies he painted to himself.
His level of portrait painting had significantly improved because he got the “Elle special paint.” Also, his art level had nothing to do with the customers he chose.
If he wanted to paint better, why would he choose to paint portraits for big shots?
The answer was straightforward.
Amos’s initial sense of morality and respect for the law restrained him. But, he had committed the sins a long time ago. Once his doings were discovered, he would use the “soul fragments” sealed in the painting of these big shots to threaten and curse them.
Compared to when Elle was pregnant a few months ago, Amos’s speech and behavior seemed to be just a stereotyped imitation. However, the vile temperament in him had become more and more prominent.
Not many things could change Amos significantly over a few months.
The only exception would be killing people with his own hands.
After he deceived and killed a large number of homeless men, he lost patience with mortals.
It felt to him just like becoming an actual Transcended.
As a matter of fact, the homeless man played by Annan didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, from beginning to end. He was like a “real” homeless man.
How could a homeless man with an empty stomach be interested in the artist’s paintings?
He was hired. Why would he assess the gallery curiously?
Could he understand it?
—Of course not.
The real homeless man wouldn’t care about these “big shot’s art” at all. They just wanted money and food. Besides, they wouldn’t trust anyone since society alienated them.
The homeless man played by Annan could not be considered “evil.” On the contrary, it was fair to say Annan acted like a homeless man with a good temperament.
But even he didn’t get on Amos’s good side.
In other words, Amos had no good attitude towards these homeless men.
The reason why Amos was confident of keeping the homeless man here was simple.
Because after the portrait was completed, Annan felt a strong sense of hunger in his body.
It was just like in games where you hurt the other players but sell them potions later on.
If Annan were a homeless man, then he would naturally not feel ashamed at this time. Although he said he would not stay for dinner, he was famished, and Amos invited him again. At this time, he would naturally choose to stay to save money.
For the homeless men, there was no freedom of choice from the beginning.
After Amos set his sights on them, they had only one dead end.
Just looking at this unceremonious mannerism and Amos’s familiarity with what he was doing, Annan knew many homeless men were killed in this way.
The portrait hung on this wall wasn’t just a portrait.
It was the “magic painting” that imprisoned the soul of the dead!
Annan had a sense of it.
—What the senior said is right.
Transcended must go through rigorous screening and education.
Amos wasn’t even Transcended!
He couldn’t even fend off bullets!
If Amos didn’t have that curse vessel pistol, he would probably not even be able to beat an ordinary swordsman or wizard apprentice.
But it was such a mortal who committed so many murders out of greed and stirred up chaos right after he obtained a meager Transcended power.
The magical paintings he painted for the big shots would even have a greater impact.
If the magic painting was burned or physical destruction was carried out, the owner’s soul would be weakened, and life span would be significantly reduced. If the magic painting were stolen, the consequences would be even more severe. This was equivalent to having their soul fragment fall into the hands of those with malicious intent. The soul fragment could be used as part of the ritual, and it was entirely possible to cause a greater conspiracy.
Worse still, these big shots were hardly Transcended.
Therefore, the possibility of being made into a magic painting for self-defense—for example, a “feast for the hungry” was small.
The greater possibility was that they were all stolen or robbed.
Annan was agitated.
Amos is a pest.
He didn’t know how much trouble he would cause.
For example, forty-five years ago, Viscount Barber’s wife might have died because of this. Worse still, Viscount Barber might have believed in Rotten Man because of his wife’s sudden death under the intervention of the deities’ power.
That was when Viscount Barber passed the position of city lord to the eldest son forty-five years ago — the year Amos died.
From this point of view, Amos’s quality as a problem stirrer was intimidating.
Annan watched Amos squat on the ground, carefully mounting the new painting with rapt attention. He sighed slightly.
He took out the deposit that Amos had given him—the three silver coins silently. Two in the left hand and one in the right.
Afterward, Annan gently tossed the silver coin in his right hand, giving out a ‘cling’ sound.
Then, he spread out his right hand and aimed his palm at Amos.
Annan’s eyes gradually flickered with a silver shimmer.
“…En?” Amos vaguely heard a strange noise and looked back defenselessly.
At the moment when the silver coin was about to fall into Annan’s palm, it suddenly accelerated. A stream of light manifested and quickly struck Amos with the trembling and loud buzzing sound!
Amos’s emerald green eyeball wriggled.
His body avoided the attack on its own in a weird posture, but it only safeguarded the vitals.
The bullet that the silver coin morphed into had rubbed against Amos’s right shoulder—the wound was deep.
The projectile was launched across the shoulder and hit the wall. A large amount of dust exploded in an instant. The room was filled with sharp and piercing high-frequency noise.
“Puff!“
Although it was only a scratch, Amos’s body trembled violently. A mouthful of blood spewed from his mouth, and his pupils dilated.
Amos leaned forward feebly.
But his emerald green eyeball moved strangely again. His falling body suddenly stopped in the air. Like a marionette, he was touching the ground with toes, trying to stand up again with jerky movements.
But Amos had lost his chances already.
After Annan used the divine art “Clanging Object,” he didn’t plan to stay idle by the side.
He immediately tossed a silver coin from his left palm to his right palm.
As Annan flicked his hands, two slender silver rapiers manifested.
The rapier in Annan’s left hand pierced Amos’s heart, while the other slit Amos’ throat.
Then, Annan moved Amos’ head back with his free left hand skillfully.
Amos’s azure blue eyeball had lost its vitality.
But the emerald green pupil belonging to Elle was still trembling.
Annan didn’t hesitate at all and didn’t show any mercy.
With great precision, he flung his other rapier in the air elegantly and pierced the emerald green eyeball from top to bottom!