Viscount Ashby and Alvis looked to Alex for his opinion after the valet had finished speaking. However, before Alex could say anything, a male servant burst into the room, not even bothering to knock. He was in a panic and shouted, "No, it's not good! There are so many people coming! They want to burn us!"
Everyone was stunned by the sudden announcement, and Alvis immediately ran to the window to see what was happening. Sure enough, there were hundreds of people gathered around the gate of the Goldert castle, confronting the patrols guarding the gate as if they wanted to break in, but they had not yet succeeded.
Viscount Ashby demanded to know what was going on, and the male servant explained that a group of people with signs had gathered in front of the Goldert castle just a few minutes earlier. They were led by a middle-aged man with a tin horn who was speaking loudly and making demagogic statements. He was claiming that there was something strange happening in the Goldert castle and hinting that it was because the Goldert family had done something harmful to cause this weirdness. He insisted that the only way to make the weirdness leave PARSLOV City was to burn the castle down. The people outside the gate were mostly ordinary citizens of PARSLOV City who had been stirred up by the man's words and were excited and indignant, as if the Goldert castle was inhabited by heinous devils.
Alvis recognized the leader of the group as Cheating Chad, a former patrol leader of the Goldert castle who had been kicked out for molesting the maids and stealing things. He couldn't believe that Cheating Chad had come to this.
Viscount Ashby went to the window to see the situation outside the gate, his face growing more and more grim. Although he was trying to remain calm, he was anxious and angry.
Alex took charge of the situation, offering to go outside and assess the situation. He also planned to go to the stable to see what was happening there. Using spiritism, he summoned all of the skeleton soldiers from the cemetery and headed outside.
The sight of the fully armed skeleton soldiers with their imposing presence immediately calmed the scene outside the castle. The people who had been noisy fell silent, their throats seemingly pinched shut for more than ten seconds.
Cheating Chad glared at Alex with resentment and fear in his eyes, secretly gritting his teeth. He stepped forward and shouted, "Don't be afraid, everyone! We are all citizens of PARSLOV City. He does not dare to harm us. Magicians who kill innocents are amoral! Let us burn down the castle and drive out the weirdness
Cheating Chad words were very agitating, and there seemed to be a hint of magic in them. Alex's eyebrows raised as he sneered to himself, "I see, he's using the charm technique. No wonder he was able to gather so many people, but it's a shame he came to the wrong place." As Cheating Chad secretly used the charm Technique to try and stir up the crowd's enthusiasm again, Alex ordered the skeleton soldiers to shoot without hesitation. With a loud bang, Cheating Chad head exploded and his blood and brain matter splattered onto the faces of those nearby. Everyone was stunned for a moment before screaming.
With the source of the seduction technique gone due to Cheating Chad death, the bewitched people regained some clarity. Many of them began to wonder why they had come there in the first place. Seeing the row of skeleton soldiers waiting at the castle gate only increased their fear and panic. Someone started running and soon, even a few old men and old ladies who reacted slowly were fleeing.
In the blink of an eye, the huge parade ended in a farcical manner. The patrol officers guarding the gate looked at Alex and the skeleton soldiers, swallowing nervously. They were filled with fear and awe for Alex and his decisiveness and ruthlessness had refreshed people's inherent impression of him.
Alex did not say much. He did not want to cause any more trouble. He needed to deal with the other five Erzoron banshees. If the messy group of people broke into the castle and caused destruction, it would be a problem. As for the conspiracy behind their instigation, it was not difficult to guess that Viscount Ashby had many enemies in PARSLOV City, but only a few people had the ability and daring to come up with such a plan. Alex did not want to worry about these issues. After dispersing the crowd, he ordered the patrol people to guard the gate and shoot anyone who tried to cause problems. He made it clear that the viscount would take responsibility for any deaths.
Alex then walked a few steps to Cheating Chads body, first absorbing the spiritual energy, then searching for the soul and completely squeezing out its remaining value before walking towards the stable next to the castle. The patrol members let out a long sigh of relief as they watched Alex leave. They had barely dared to breathe while under the pressure of Alex and the skeleton soldiers. Meanwhile, in the study of the castle, Viscount Ashby and Alvis watched the events unfold in the city. They were especially impressed by Alex's appearance with the dozens of skeleton soldiers, divided into two teams, and the shooting of Cheating Chad.
"It's a shame he's not a descendant of our branch," Viscount Ashby sighed, wishing that Alex were his own son. "Could it be that the power of a magician can really change a person's heart?" Alvis sighed, but from a different angle. "If it was in the past, even if Alex was ruthless, he wouldn't have killed people so casually. But just now, he ordered the skeleton soldiers to shoot Cheating Chad like crushing an ant, indifferent and unfeeling."
"My son, this has nothing to do with magicians," Viscount Ashby explained. "Ruthlessness is a by-product of strength. Whether it is a magician, a knight, or an official in a high position, magic, vindictiveness, power, money... whenever you have power, you must be prepared to be eroded. It's just that some people are more resistant to erosion and can maintain their kind hearts, while others are not so resistant and become ruthless
Alex used his tough tactics to quell the citizens who had gathered outside the castle gates to cause trouble, and then headed straight to the stable. The stable was located on the east side of the castle courtyard and was large enough to hold over twenty horses. While they were mostly used as working horses and to pull carts, the rest were delicate thoroughbred racehorses which had become a form of communication between nobles. However, when Alex arrived at the stable, he found it in a state of disarray with over twenty horses lying in pools of their own blood, some still kicking their legs, clearly having just died.
Upon smelling the pungent blood, Alex summoned Mari and asked her if she could sense who had been there. Mari nodded and replied that it was the breath of Vivi and Kyra and only they could make flesh and blood blurry. Alex asked Mari how their strength compared to hers and if they had any weaknesses. Mari thought for a moment before replying that their individual strength was not as strong as hers, but because they were twins, they were stronger together. As for weaknesses, Mari pointed to the Ghost Eye pendant on Alex's wrist, saying that they would also be restrained by it and had no other weaknesses.
Alex had mainly summoned Mari to sense whether there were any other Erzoron banshees nearby, as they were originally one entity and still had a sense of each other even though they were now separated. Unfortunately, Mari shook her head, saying there were no banshees nearby. Alex then sent skeleton soldiers to check the inside and outside of the stable as planned. After ten minutes, there were no surprises and Alex was about to return to the castle.
Suddenly, a dark cloud appeared in the sky, coincidentally blocking the sky above the city centre of PARSLOV City and casting a large shadow over the entire city. Alex frowned and looked up, his face grim. Within just a few seconds, the light became darker and it appeared as if it was evening during the rainy season. Alex stopped and watched, feeling the aura around him becoming more and more gloomy and causing negative emotions to grow.
Just then, Mari's reminder came that she had sensed Vivi and Kyra nearby. Alex raised his vigilance and summoned all the ghost troops, wondering what was happening on such a cloudy day. He worried that the Erzoron banshees might have the ability to control celestial phenomena. However, his worries were quickly dispelled as he realized that the sudden dark clouds and cloudy day were not targeting Goldert Castle, but the entire urban area of PARSLOV City was shrouded in darkness, with lightning and heavy rain, especially in the direction of City Hall.
This made Alex suddenly think of the powerful weirdness he had encountered with Ella before, which could bring heavy rain and affect people's sanity when it passed by. He wondered if it was that weird man attacking City Hall. It had been many years since there had been a strange attack on the kingdom's government departments. The existence of the Erzoron banshees was a secret and only a few people knew about them.
The Kingdom Knights and Enchanted Guns have given governments on the continent the ability to defend against the powerful and strange beings known as "weird." This has led to a non-aggression pact between governments and the weird. However, the sudden attack on the city hall of PARSLOV City by the strange beings breaks this fragile balance and understanding and will likely have significant effects on the Northwest Province and even the entire Kingdom of Alzora.
Alex realizes that, with his current strength and status, he cannot directly intervene in this level of event. His primary focus must be on capturing the remaining Erzoron banshees. If he can gather six Erzoron banshees, he can do everything in his power to obtain a Erzoron corpse. Even if it is a juvenile Erzoron python, with the assistance of the cemetery, he can synthesize it into a giant corpse witch, a high-level undead creature second only to dragons with the strength of a great magician.