Secret Laboratory
Leylin wandered through the door and over to Isabel’s room. Isabel had grown very reclusive since their meeting, and had even chased out the original maids.
*Knock! Knock!* Leylin knocked the door politely.
“Who is it? Didn’t I say I was not to be disturbed?” Isabel’s voice seemed rather angry.
“It’s me,” Leylin said calmly. The door pulled open to reveal Isabel’s face. However, there was an unnatural flush on her cheeks, as if she had been going through some rigorous exercise, or perhaps a ceremony.
“What’s the matter? I’m preparing to get some rest!” After seeing Leylin, Isabel appeared flustered for an instant.
“Are you not going to invite me in?” Leylin smiled.
“It’s not gentlemanly to enter a lady’s chamber at this time of night, you know! Or perhaps you’ve become a degenerate, my dear cousin?” Isabel’s eyes glinted and she rested languidly against the door, speaking coquettishly.
Leylin secretly had the urge to laugh in reaction to her pretentious pose. When it came to experience, the amount he had under his belt far exceeded hers.
“Have I turned into a degenerate? Would you like to find out?” Leylin closed in with a naughty smile on his face and ruthlessly sniffed her fair neck, inhaling the scent of a girl’s body mixed with a particular smell.
“What are you doing?” The girl dodged him as she turned red, and Leylin took the chance to enter the room.
There wasn’t much of a change in the arrangements here, but there seemed to be a vague bloody scent permeating the air. Though she had cleaned up and made an attempt to conceal it, Leylin’s brows still furrowed.
“Is there anything you would like to tell me about?”Leylin sat on the sofa and tried to sound as genuine as he could, “You’re my cousin after all, and I don’t want you to bear this burden all alone.”
“It’s nothing... That’s all over...” Isabel froze, and then spoke as if she did not care.
Leylin sighed in answer to her attempt to appear strong. Of course, he knew that there was no benefit to revealing the truth. Though there were traces of negative energy polluting the room, her own actions were as pure as those of a little white rabbit when compared to the experiments he conducted.
Leylin changed his mind. He had originally believed that letting her stay behind would be a good decision, but by the looks of it, leaving her in the manor would only attract more attention and trouble. “Fine! I’m here to ask for help!”
“What is it about?” Isabel’s eyes flashed with a chilly glint.
“Well...” Leylin scratched his head and then revealed the news about Marquis Louis and Viscount Tim, and also the imminent attack of the pirates.
“In that case... They were responsible for the annihilation of my family?” Isabel’s hand twitched, and a portion of a black ironwood chair was broken off. Wood shavings scattered from between her fingers.
‘Such physical strength?’ Leylin’s pupils shrank, ‘She exceeds a rank 5 professional, and is close to rank 10... Those devils and demons are really quite generous, though the price is the soul of the sacrificer...’
Leylin had heard about the continous offers of blood required to gain demonic energy. Followers of demons were rounded up and annihilated on the continent. If news of the Faulen Family protecting her went out, there would be troubles even more pressing than Marquis Louis.
“But I don’t know for sure yet. That’s only a possibility...” Leylin stroked his chin and did not lie about this.
“Fine, I’ll verify it for myself. Those pirates even dare trespass and offend our Faulen Family’s territory! We must have them pay the price in blood and have their souls repent in hell!” Isabel’s pretty eyes narrowed, filling with a murderous thirst.
“Thank you so much, cousin!” Leylin silently cursed to himself inside, but in the meanwhile the smile on his face was dazzling.
“Don’t worry, we’re cousins after all. I’ll take care of you!” Isabel promised, looking steadfast and resolute.
After thanking her again, Leylin withdrew, though the smile on his face had dissipated. His eyes flickered, obviously deep in thought. ‘The open sea is vast and filled with all sorts of trash and scum from the continent. Sailors from this era can’t be considered good, and faithless people and followers are mixed in with them. There shouldn’t have any trouble if she hides amongst them...’
As the follower of a demon, Isabel obviously could not stay in the family; It would cause him an endless amount of trouble. After all, the power of the churches were at its peak in the prime material plane, and once it was discovered that the Faulen Family housed a demon follower the consequences would be extremely dire.
Thus, the vast open seas would be the best place for her to hide.
‘On top of that, the demon might have given her a lot of strength, but there’s definitely a price to pay. That might even be her soul...’ Leylin looked grim, ‘A few useless sailors disappearing from the open sea shouldn’t count for much. That can temporarily satisfy the demon and gain her more time...’
In this time, Leylin would obviously become stronger. As long as he was powerful enough, whether it was Marquis Louis closing in on them or the demon contract that his cousin had, he was confident he could eliminate all of those problems, problems that a rank 6 wizard could not solve.
‘Plans constantly change... And right now, I urgently need strength. It might be alright to take a risk...’ Leylin secretly made up his mind.
This attack would evidently expose part of his power. From the very beginning, Viscount Tim had already sent out an assassination squad with a rank 7 leader, which meant that the pirates had to be even stronger. Help from his cousin and the subordinates wouldn’t be enough, he needed to increase his chances.
After returning to his room, Leylin headed straight for his laboratory.By his command, even Claire and Clara could not enter, and there were also a few warning spell patterns set up that were hard at work.
On the glossy laboratory table were many test tubes and glass tools neatly stacked together. There was also various alchemical equipment that was enough for poorer wizard students to go green with envy.
It was a pity that, in Leylin’s eyes, it was all a mere cover.
*Crack!* *Crack!* After Leylin pulled at a handle under the laboratory table, the sounds of gears grinding against each other rang out. Along with the gentle sound, the entire table moved to the left, revealing a pathway that led downwards.
‘While wizards have great trust in magic, there are too many items and techniques in the world which can detect spell undulations. On the contrary, simple mechanisms like these can conceal even more secrets...’ Leylin carried an oil lamp as he went down the staircase. After going about ten metres in, he arrived in front of a large rock.
The large granite gave the feeling that it was indestructible as it stood tall inside, blocking the road completely as if this was a dead end.
“Arcane Mark, activate!” A spell rune flashed in Leylin’s hands, and amongst the light the surface of the granite began to soften as it revealed a shining channel. Leylin did not hesitate at all as he walked in, hanging his oil lamp on the wall.
What appeared behind the large rock was a small-scale laboratory. He had used mechanisms to prevent magic probes here, and created a trap at the bottom. That was enough to show how highly Leylin valued this laboratory.
As this was deep underground, the laboratory had an area of only several square meters. A large, ancient wooden table had already taken up most of the area, and there was little space left for one to stand. The ceiling was also very low and the entire room felt very stifling.
The smell of tar grew obvious on the floor and corners, indicating an even more terrifying self-combustion mechanism. If Leylin suspected anything, just a small spark would be enough to char this whole place and hide everything here.
The reason for this was because Leylin’s experiments were far too shocking. If ever discovered, they would be deemed heresy!
“It seems like it’s almost complete...” Leylin observed the giant solution in the petri dish. Large amounts of boiling, fresh red liquid gave people an ominous feeling that this was blood.
“And then... this!” At the corner of the table was a wooden statue. It had a pair of demonic wings, multiple compound eyes and six fingers that formed a demon, emitting an evil aura.
This was a statue that Leylin had constructed of Beelzebub based on his memories. The possession of such a statue would have one burnt to death if they were caught by the churches, and even a king wouldn’t be spared this treatment.
Of course, these taboos meant nothing to Leylin. His courage was enough to stupefy many gods.
“Looks like Beelzebub has really sunk into a deep sleep. He doesn’t react at all to prayers or sacrifices...” Leylin’s hands caressed the devil’s statue with an unspeakable expression in his eyes.
Come to think of it, he was the main culprit behind this. If he had not stolen so much of Beelzebub’s laws and even destroyed most of his truesoul, the Sovereign King of Gluttony would not be so seriously injured that he had to sleep it off.