The eccentric doctor never makes a misdiagnosis!

Chapter Thirteen: Half-Priest

Fran gently stroked the brass pocket watch in her hand. Although her expression was no different from usual, Haida could inexplicably sense that she was quite interested.

Even her pale complexion looked a little healthier because of the flush that appeared on it.

Fran seemed somewhat pleased.

Was it because of alcohol, or some other reason? Haida was inexplicably curious.

Heda gazed silently at the crimson, blood-like liquid on the small table, but didn't actually pick it up and drink a drop. Even though the liquid in the slender goblet was pure wine, unmixed with human blood, drinking while on a mission went against her nature.

When hunting, hunters should maintain absolute focus throughout the entire process, except for necessary disguise.

Fran's lips curved slightly, and his amber eyes held a hint of satisfaction.

She'd wanted to experience the "swinging heart clock" like Conan for a long time! And now she finally got her wish with Professor Terence...it felt amazing.

Come on, isn't it really super cool to use a hypnotic needle to stab someone in the neck and then use their identity to solve a case?

Vivian was trying her best to control her body and prevent her muscles from trembling.

The Secret Service agents were extremely skilled at investigation... which made her feel as if countless eyes were watching her.

That gaze was unrestrained and unbridled, its curiosity utterly undisguised. It seemed to pierce through robes, peel away flesh, and stare directly at what lay hidden beneath the skin—something far more profound…

The jovial dancers swayed their hips wildly, slowly approaching the crowd amidst the chaotic, flickering lights of the club.

They were singing, their cacophony blending with the surrounding voices. If you listened carefully, your thoughts would inevitably drift away, and you would find yourself immersed in this grand, intoxicating experience alongside all the guests of the Hungry Club.

A stunningly beautiful, flawless black-haired lead dancer approached Professor Terence with rhythmic steps.

Instead of speaking to him, she began to remove her clothes one by one, the soft coverings of her body neatly folded to one side.

Flowing silk gauze, a thin silk skirt, a close-fitting undergarment, and radiant skin...

The lead dancer stood naked before Professor Terence, proudly displaying the slender, intertwined flesh beneath her skin.

In the center of her chest, one can see a scorch mark left by burning, which is the inverted triangle emblem of the Red Cup.

"Are you the 'Mr. Sayens' that the receptionist here mentioned?"

Terence spoke in a low voice, looking at the lead dancer who was already seated on the sofa in the pedestal.

Sains nodded subtly, but did not speak.

She glanced at another dancer beside her, who, understanding her intention, reached into her own throat and pulled out a bloody, throat-like passage.

She took the writhing, broken organ and put it back on her neck.

"Elder altarman from out of town, it is a pleasure to have you in my club. Please do not stand on ceremony, empty your mind and accept the service of your fellow blood relatives..."

Other dancers slowly surged from around the stage. One of them took a sip of the crimson wine and came to Terence, wrapping herself around him like a water snake, wanting to make love to his lips.

The cheers and whistles of other guests could even be heard from the surrounding area.

"I do not practice indulgence and am not worthy of your warm hospitality. I hope you will understand."

Professor Terence coldly pushed away the dancer's soft body in front of him. He then looked around again, meeting the gazes of every guest who dared to peek into the room.

Under his imposing presence, the noisy commotion gradually subsided. Only the rejected dancer had tears in her eyes, seemingly feeling wronged.

“Oh, I see… You’re an ascetic. No wonder you’re so out of place with the others in the club, even though you’re of the same bloodline.”

Somewhat surprised by Terence's tough attitude, Sayens frowned, but quickly discerned his identity from the other's demeanor and behavior.

"We are all of the same bloodline, and even though we follow different beliefs, we are still brothers and sisters. You have also been called here by the Lord, so you must know about the sacrifice we are preparing recently. If you have nothing else to do... go and prepare the offerings."

"Of course, if you want to join in the revelry, everyone will get along better... Endless asceticism only brings emptiness. To truly ascend, we should experience the ultimate sensory experience."

Sains looked at Terence and sighed, seemingly lamenting that a bloodline had gone astray.

"I stand by my judgment."

Terence refused again; as the White Cup's denier and a professor at Norrington Central College, he naturally could not possibly join such a decadent party.

“Then I can only respect your choice, to choose the path of asceticism for your bloodline compatriots…” Sayens flicked his fingertips, putting the skin and clothes back on.

"Lord Sayens, please take me back to the great Lord now! I can no longer endure this frail body. Please, let me behold the Lord's glory and dissolve into His splendor..."

Heda, who had remained silent all along, suddenly knelt down before Sayens and begged her to be offered as a sacrifice for the ritual.

Her attitude was extremely earnest, almost to the point of tears, like that of a pure and devoted believer. Even Vivian, who was standing next to her, was startled.

Sister Heda's acting was amazing! It was so realistic... no, even more realistic than real! Wasn't she the type who wasn't good with words? How did she become such a master actress...?

Fran seemed somewhat surprised, his eyebrows twitching slightly beneath the hood. But he quickly regained his composure.

A sense of familiarity arises because Haida's emotions are very similar to those of another person.

Hmm... It's Lady Solani, no wonder.

Heda probably received psychological training in profiling, as she was able to simulate other people's behavioral patterns with a high degree of accuracy despite only having one encounter.

Sayens looked Heda up and down, a hint of satisfaction and amazement in her eyes. She then looked at Professor Terence with some confusion.

“Deacon of the priesthood…you even brought a gift? That’s too much trouble.”

Terence had no choice but to continue along with Heda's performance.

"Since you're coming, you should at least prepare something. It's only proper etiquette."

Sayens looked at Heda with a hint of indulgence.

“Alright, let’s go to the ceremony site and make the preparations. My child, I envy you so much… to be able to become part of the cup before us, you are truly blessed by my Lord.”

Vivian bit her lip helplessly in the shadow of the hood.

Wasn't this supposed to be a simple contact mission? Sayens even let us leave just now. Couldn't we have just left and joined the purge forces to massacre these heretics? Why did we inexplicably end up deep in enemy territory again...?

What was Sister Heda thinking?

But suddenly, Vivian recalled the mission report from the night Sister Heda was injured and went missing.

She seemed to have single-handedly wiped out all the evil offspring in a lair, even tearing the head and spine of an acolyte out with her bare hands.

...For some reason, she suddenly wasn't so scared anymore.

-

Passing through the club's noisy main hall, the group, led by Sains, arrived at a spacious, dark room. The room reeked of decaying flesh, and dried, dark blood was scattered across the floor.

A huge ritual array, drawn from pure blood, was engraved on the porcelain floor of the room.

These bloodstains remain almost translucent and vibrant, with a bright color and an unusual vitality, flowing gently like a sweet spring in the array of grooves.

The fanatical frenzy in Heda's grey-brown eyes vanished in an instant, and she regained her reason and focus. Even her breathing and heartbeat returned to normal.

She deactivated her profiling persona and recognized the ritual array before her.

The second type of ritual is to "summon blood offspring".

Using living humanoid beings as sacrifices, the life force of the sacrifices, after being dissolved, accumulates in the ritual array to summon an unknown Crimson Grail Familia. Perhaps it's an ordinary ghoul, or perhaps a Crimson Grail heir.

“Child, throw yourself into His embrace and feel His love and warmth.”

Sayens reached out and gently stroked Heda's waist and abdomen, leaning close to her affectionately, encouraging her to step into the bloody and filthy ritual array.

The next moment, a wooden-handled folding knife engraved with classical patterns slit her throat. Blood gushed out like a burst dam.

"Do it!"

Heda's two folding knives, one slashed Sains' throat and the other pierced his chest.

After delivering the blow, she swiftly withdrew her folding knife to complete the bloodletting process, then took out two black guns and, in an instant, poured two magazines of steel-core bullets at the heretical assistant priest.

The roar of the gun barrels was like the rhythmic vibrato of a piano, playing continuously.

"Is this the combat capability of the funeral maids... It's always so astonishing whenever I see it."

Professor Terence narrowed his eyes, feeling slightly relieved that Sister Heda was his teammate.

This was an assassination attempt at a distance that almost exceeded human reaction speed. If the target had been himself... he had no idea he would have any chance of survival.

"Zaird, finish the job." He raised his hand and gave the order to his assistant behind him.

"Yes, teacher. Watch me!"

Child took the large, somewhat unusual sniper rifle from behind his back and precisely pulled the trigger, aiming it at Sains' torso.

The moment the bullet leaves the barrel, the surrounding air distorts into invisible wavebands.

This sniper rifle is a prototype from the White Cup Order, solidifying the White Cup's unique second-tier lower-level arcane technique, [Redundant Consciousness Intrusion]. It can forcibly inject an extremely large amount of disordered information into the mind of the target, causing a mental breakdown.

At such close range, the sniper rifle in his hand was like a heavy cannon. Sains's slender body was blasted in two.

"A full-scale, unrestrained barrage right from the start, truly a sight to behold... Perhaps I won't get a chance?"

Fran looked at the mangled flesh on the floor, now cut in two, and felt a pang of regret for not having swiped a bucket of popcorn from a guest at the Hungry Club.

After confirming that Sayens was truly dead, Heda approached the bloody ritual array. She whispered the hunting prayer, then plunged her folding knife into the patterns on the ground, leaving a deep gash.

The blood in the ritual trough began to boil violently, even emitting pale smoke. But it quickly congealed into a dark black grime, losing all its vitality.

Although it appeared to be just an ordinary cut, it was actually a Class II lower-level secret technique of the Hunter Order called the "Tearing Ritual".

This secret technique can destroy the vast majority of second and third-class rituals without causing a backlash.

In the previous situation, while it was possible to destroy the ritual array using purely physical means, the entire ritual would be forcibly activated before it was destroyed. That would be troublesome…

-

Meanwhile, the "Outsiders" of the Hunters' Purgatory Force also entered the Hungry Club.

These Funeral Court hunters are fully armed, highly trained, and show no hesitation in taking the lives of the Red Cup believers.

Under near-absolute firepower suppression, the once noisy and joyous heretical lair was quickly reduced to deathly silence.

Just kidding, how can flesh and blood possibly stop a steel-core bullet inscribed with prayers?

……

"Fortunately, the [Summon Bloodline] ritual was destroyed, otherwise if I had actually summoned a 'Holy Heir' level familiar, my old bones would have been donated here."

Professor Terence looked at the dead Sayens and the destroyed ritual array, and his ever-present furrowed brow relaxed slightly. The coldness in his eyes softened considerably.

Fran shook his index finger in correction.

"The offerings are insufficient. The five units of life force stored here are only enough to summon ordinary evil offspring. Even just one ghoul would be considered a huge win. Don't worry."

"The mopping-up operations outside should have been dealt with by now..."

Vivian had clearly heard the screams and gunshots coming from the main hall, as evidenced by the abrupt end of the background music.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Hunger Club incident should now be considered closed.

But the world is always full of surprises, isn't it?

"Watch out for Sayens, she's not dead yet."

Fran's somewhat languid voice suddenly came.

Heda looked at Sayens's corpse with a hint of doubt. The folding knife and bullets engraved with prayers could destroy both spirit and flesh at the same time. She was just a minor priestess, so it was impossible for her to have survived.

Sayens's slender, slender, and tattered body stood up, but only the upper body remained.

She stood up again, relying on the massive proliferation of blood vessels and intestines as her new lower body.

Her broken skull was constantly oozing a red and white fluid, which was the proliferating brain tissue.

"How can this be?"

Professor Terence found it unbelievable; a mere altar priest could not possibly have accomplished such a feat. He considered it a special favor that he allowed Child to finish her off; normally, a few shots from Heda would have been enough to ensure her complete annihilation.

“Yes, that’s impossible for an altar priest. So… Sains is a ‘high priest’.”

Fran gracefully swept past the crowd and arrived in front of Sayens. She unbuttoned her travel robe, took a row of scalpels from her medicine chest, and skillfully fitted them with blades.

“You are traitors to my Lord? No… you are infiltrators, servants of false gods… ahh…”

Sains groaned hysterically, flesh and blood sprouting like buds. She was beyond furious, wishing she could tear everyone in the darkroom to pieces in the next second.

But Fran stared at the other person with a contented and enjoying expression, even a slight flush on his face, and the smile on his lips was almost uncontrollable.

It was pure, unadulterated joy…like receiving a beloved toy. ∽〖｀→￡←

She started making the surgery.

Following the grain of the flesh, he sliced ​​away muscle; peeled away the veins along the bone; opened the lumbar lining to remove organs; the sleek, mirror-like blade of the scalpel was frequently stained with blood. All around him lay the flesh and blood discarded by Fran.