Chapter 68: The Solomon Family
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Thud, thud...
Hobert drew his gun once again, cautiously looking upstairs.
The banging sound on the door continued for a few moments before stopping. Hobert, however, had no intention of investigating it like a typical horror movie protagonist would.
He hurriedly grabbed a notebook and retreated to the yard to flip through its pages.
Upon opening the notebook, he saw an abstract design of a scepter and a sword on the title page. It resembled a family crest.
As for which family it belonged to, Hobert wasn't sure, but he soon found the answer within the notebook: it was the crest of the Solomon family. It turned out that the Henry family were descendants of the Solomon lineage.
Hobert smiled as though he had expected this all along—it was indeed the family of a Lawyer pathway Beyonder.
After the fall of the Ancient Sun God, Solomon, with the support of the True Creator and Rose Redemption, became the ruler of the Northern Continent, ushering in the era of the Solomon Empire.
Later, the Six Gods reached an agreement to jointly eliminate the True Creator. Under their combined assault, the True Creator was forced to retreat to the Forsaken Land along with a portion of his followers.
The Black Emperor Solomon, too, became a casualty in this struggle. From that point onward, the Solomon family was hunted down by all the Churches of the Orthodox Gods.
A large family like the Solomons naturally had survivors, and Solomon himself had even revived once, founding the Second Solomon Empire, which revitalized this Beyonder family.
During the War of the Four Emperors, Solomon fell once more. The Six Gods supported the reign of families such as the Augustus and Castiya, ensuring that no true god ruled over human secular powers anymore. Thus began the history of the Fifth Epoch.
The Solomon family went into hiding again, awaiting Solomon's eventual return. However, in the last few centuries, there had been no word of any descendants of the Solomon family. Presumably, over the long passage of time, their strength had greatly diminished.
More than a hundred years ago, Emperor Roselle forcefully jumped to non-adjacent sequences, becoming the new Black Emperor, signaling Solomon's complete demise. This must have been another heavy blow to the Solomon family.
The contents of the notebook corroborated what Hobert already knew. In the early Fifth Epoch, in order to escape the persecution of the Orthodox Churches, the surviving members of the Solomon family scattered across the Northern Continent, organizing themselves into smaller family units.
The Henry family was a descendant of one such scattered family. According to the notebook, the last contact with other family members was over two hundred years ago, when a young member of the family sought to bring everyone back together to form a secret Beyonder organization, hoping to restore their ancestors' glory.
However, due to long periods of separation, the Solomon family had become fragmented. While it wasn't clear how other families had responded, the Henry family chose to refuse.
And so, they lived peacefully for over two centuries until the present day, where only the three members of the Henry family remained.
Aside from the family's history, the notebook also contained much Beyonder knowledge. For a wild Beyonder, this knowledge was invaluable, showcasing the depth of experience held by a Beyonder family.
The notebook also mentioned that the family possessed a Sealed Artifact from the Solomon family, though unfortunately, it did not detail how to seal it.
Hobert also noticed some new handwriting in the blank sections under descriptions of certain rituals from the "Death" domain. Coupled with the fact that the occult symbols used in the Henry couple's ritual included an inverted triangle, it was almost certain that the ritual that led to the Henry couple's deaths was from the "Death" domain.
Such boldness!
Hobert marveled at their recklessness. Without a proper response from the Death God or enough mysticism knowledge, they had dared to attempt a "Death" domain ritual.
At that moment, two policemen arrived at the Henry house, accompanied by Mr. Polly. Upon seeing the scene inside, the middle-aged officer immediately instructed the younger one, "Go send a telegram, say there's a case here we can't handle, and request special support from headquarters."
It seemed the officer was somewhat familiar with the process of dealing with Beyonder cases. Instead of going inside, he began questioning Hobert and Ailey to understand the situation.
Hobert's account was clear and logical. The officer smiled and said, "If every witness could explain things as clearly as you, our workload would be halved."
He then introduced himself, "You can call me Officer Daniel. Mr. Hobert, until police reinforcements arrive, I'll need your help guarding the scene."
Since Hobert was the one who made the report, they couldn't let him leave just yet.
Hobert was well aware of this and replied, "I'd be happy to help."
Upon seeing the giant dog's corpse in Ailey's backyard, Polly tried to complain to Officer Daniel, "Look, officer, that dog, it..."
But Daniel waved him off. "I don't have time for your trivial matters right now."
Having heard Hobert's account, the officer had already realized that this was a case involving supernatural elements. He had no intention of speaking carelessly before the "special support" arrived.
Polly shrank back, saying nothing further.
Daniel approached the door to the Henry house, pulling out a handkerchief to cover his nose as he asked Hobert, "Has anyone been inside?"
Hobert raised the notebook in his hand and said, "Only me. I went in and grabbed this notebook to take a look."
Thud, thud, thud...
Suddenly, the sound of the door banging upstairs rang out again.
Hobert was filled with curiosity. He knew that the sound might signify danger, but he still found it hard to suppress his curiosity.
Daniel took a step back in surprise, then recalled something: "Didn't the Henry family have a seriously ill child? He should still be upstairs.
"If we let young Henry cry for help inside while we ignore him, that would be a shameful failure on my part."
Moreover, with his superior and the special department personnel arriving soon, he couldn't afford to do nothing.
"I'll go with you," Hobert said, realizing that his curiosity might be linked to the Sealed Artifact's influence.
It wouldn't be a bad idea to see the Sealed Artifact's effects firsthand before the official Beyonders arrived.
Considering how the Sealed Artifact seemed to be drawing him in, Hobert surmised it was likely from the Lawyer or Arbiter pathways. Such Sealed Artifacts typically involved rules or laws, which was Hobert's area of expertise. There shouldn't be too much danger.
"You're quite the helpful young man," Daniel remarked.
The two of them checked their weapons and headed upstairs together.