Devil's Bible

"He's a smuggler..."

"I'm asking you, why do you kill without cause!" Nemus asked again, his tone slightly harsher, accompanied by a slight increase in pressure on his hand.

The knight's sword had already left his hand, spinning and flying before landing on the ground, where it was embedded half a meter deep at an angle.

On the knight's sword, crafted from high-quality metal, several finger marks became exceptionally clear at this moment.

“Nair, don’t even think about sheltering me…” Daros’ hands trembled, blood dripping from them, as he roared angrily.

However, he was interrupted by Nemus's calm yet pressured voice.

"I'm asking you!"

"Why kill without cause!"

Anger was dispelled, and psychological defenses were broken.

Reason, however, returned at this moment.

With Nemes's arrival, the goods intended as evidence of the crime were destroyed. Although there were dead bodies at the scene representing the fabricated agreement, these alone were insufficient to convict Das.

In this case, Das is an innocent person, even a tax-paying merchant with good character.

If we deal with this kind of person decisively and catch them red-handed, all our plans will come to naught.

Chapter 149 Let’s make a deal

Just then, a group of people immediately came towards this side, but their running footsteps gradually came to a stop. It was the paladin team that came to provide support.

At this moment, the paladins felt a chill run down their spines as they watched Nemus and Daros confront each other, realizing they had been drawn into this power struggle once again.

Daros's eyes twitched slightly as he looked at the paladins who had arrived a step too late.

This matter involves too many things, so he can't show up here with people beforehand.

Therefore, we can only wait until the event occurs before informing these 'neutral' people so that they can witness it together.

However, unexpectedly, Das managed to survive and find a way out, and Nemus arrived so quickly to complete the assessment.

"It was this merchant, Das, who attacked me first. I was forced to retaliate." After calming down, Das quickly spoke, no longer hoping to drag Nemes into the mess, but trying his best to protect himself in this way.

"Do you have evidence?" Nemes asked directly, getting to the heart of the matter.

“Dass has already thrown the goods into the crack. I suspect he is destroying evidence. I request that the crack be searched.”

“Doubt cannot be evidence,” Nemes said.

Although almost everyone knows what happened, without actually finding evidence, there is no evidence.

In this battle, Das's decisive actions gave Nems a victory.

The Dartmenley family's long-planned attack was thwarted under these circumstances.

Furthermore, if no evidence of Dass's smuggling is found afterward, Daros may not lose his job as a paladin, since he is of the Iron race.

However, his authority and status within the church will also decline sharply.

After all, he had no evidence, but Nemes did.

Beside Nems, Poole remained silent, while Kru naturally used magic to record everything in the traveler's book.

The records kept by these accompanying priests, combined with the grid-like imprints, are quite authentic and can be used as evidence.

In addition, as a Grand Knight, Nemus had sufficient authority, and his testimony was very effective.

Combining these two points, it's virtually impossible for him to overturn the verdict.

Daros's gaze shifted slightly, and he saw the knight's sword that he had flung away in the distance.

The opening created by the previous impact of Das's water column has now been covered by Das's magical aura, thanks to Nemus's earlier pinching of his fingers.

In this respect, it is no longer possible for him to use the fact that Das attacked him first as an excuse.

His chain of evidence is basically gone.

The only thing that could turn things around is that one point.

"But... if I could think of that, why wouldn't Nair?" Daros stopped trying to explain and went into the solitary confinement room to await further investigation and questioning.

Shortly afterward, he heard a commotion outside.

As a paladin of the Iron race, he was still able to contact the outside world, and he soon received news that the other members of the Das caravan had 'committed suicide'.

Upon hearing this news, Daros closed his eyes and fell silent.

The last vestige of hope for a comeback has been blocked.

"Can the family really win?" Daros had never been in favor of fighting Nemus.

He actually holds a negative attitude towards this matter.

However, Nemus was unwilling to return to the family, and the family head was determined to use Nemus to refine medicine.

Therefore, he had no choice but to follow his family's lead.

"Now it seems I underestimated Nair too much." Daros couldn't understand why Nair had arrived so timely.

It was as if everything was under Nemes's observation.

"Moreover, the family, including myself, has been too arrogant." Daros reviewed his performance and realized that his failure this time was due to two reasons: firstly, he underestimated Das, the merchant, and secondly, although the family used him as a breakthrough to get Lanems into trouble, they were still too cautious.

Throughout the whole affair, the family used many undercover agents, such as those who bought whale products to urge Darth and his men to deliver the goods quickly, the Cleaners, and the moles within Darth's ranks.

However, within the family, only Daros actually took action.

His status was appropriate, his abilities were sufficient, and he often did the dirty work for the family—these were all reasons.

However, the real reason is that others are afraid of getting involved and being caught and investigated, which would expose their secrets and potentially jeopardize their identities.

Even though it was a major matter concerning the future of the family, many people believed that maintaining their own integrity and dignity was more important.

He had once been part of the arrogant group, but now that he had calmed down, he discovered the complacency and arrogance within the family.

Therefore, he became increasingly pessimistic about the family's chances of fighting against Nems.

Soon, new information came in: the suicides of those people might have been orchestrated by a fabricated agreement.

The 'logic chain' of events then became clear.

As a businessman, Das offended the organization Fictitious Agreement for some reason, which is why he robbed them when Das was delivering goods during the rainy day.

As for what role Daros played in all of this, that remains to be seen in the upcoming trial and struggle.

That evening, Nems met Daros in the interrogation room outside the detention center.

“I think you should understand by now, you’ve lost.” Kru, who was next to Nemus, did not open the travel register, which meant that this conversation was private.

"Datmenley will win." Although Daros knew in his heart that he might lose, he could not admit defeat for the sake of his family's honor.

"If I were you, I would either stand still, admit defeat, and then both sides would be fine."

"Either they will gather most of the family's fighting force to launch a surprise attack on me the moment they are identified as enemies."

"Then we'll abandon the Dartmenley family and focus all our efforts on refining the Golden Elixir, gambling that we can become a Golden Seed through it."

“You’re dragging your feet too much; nothing will get done in this situation,” Nemus said seriously.

From the beginning, Nemes did not consider the Dartmenley family as an adversary.

Although the family wields considerable power and possesses a deep foundation, it also faces numerous constraints.

The family is filled with various conflicting wills, and if the head of the family is not capable enough, it will be difficult to unleash the full power of the family.

With your hands and feet tied, it won't be too difficult for you to win.

Daros fell silent after hearing Nems's words.

He thought he had come to his senses and broken free from the family's complacent and arrogant mindset, but after listening to Nems' words, he realized that his way of thinking was still too 'respectable'.

“Let’s make a deal, Daros,” Nemus then said.

Upon hearing this, Daros couldn't help but look up at Nems.

Chapter 150 Duel

Three days later, after all the interrogation procedures were completed and he walked out of the solitary confinement cell, Daros still couldn't believe that Nems had let him go so easily.

The deal proposed by Nemes was not complicated in itself, meaning that he would not be investigated in depth. He could even defend himself by saying that he had misjudged the weather and thus be acquitted.

The condition for all of this is simple: afterwards, Dartmenley needs to produce the materials related to the experiment from back then.

For example, the remains of Nair's parents, and related research records, etc.

Although Nair reported the incident, the Dartmenley family's research was halted and related materials were confiscated.

However, considering that Dartmenley persisted in Gas Spring City for several years before retreating to Tailwood Town, it is likely that the Dartmenley family still kept some things for themselves.

That's exactly what Nemes wanted.

To be honest, this information is already outdated.

These research materials can be backed up at any time.

While it has value, it's not particularly high, at least not comparable to the release of a Steel-type paladin like Daros.

So for the time being, Daros didn't know what Nems was up to.

To Daros's surprise, his family did not send anyone to pick him up.

Even though he was still loyal to his family, Daros couldn't help but feel resentful at this moment.

In his view, the plan failed this time, and he was indeed at fault, but he could not shirk the responsibility for the family's negligence.

It's unlikely that he came out alone and had no one to connect with, so he had to call a church carriage to take him back.

On the way back, however, the coachman looked at him very strangely.

Before Daros could think further, he saw the manor, which looked somewhat dilapidated no matter how much the surrounding workers and servants tried to repair it.

Slightly startled, Daros quickly entered the manor and saw the lawn that had been almost turned upside down, the main house under the repair shed with half of its roof cut off, and the interior decoration that was almost completely destroyed.

It was only at this time that someone discovered Daros.

"Lord Daros, what brings you out?" The servant asked in surprise, as if he were completely unaware that he had been released from confinement.

Daros, disregarding everything else, immediately asked what had happened.

It was only then that they learned that on the very night he was imprisoned, Nemes had visited the Dartmenley family estate.

Daros hurriedly entered the manor to meet the patriarch, Dartmenley.

Upon entering the side hall that was temporarily serving as the main house, they discovered that most of the family members were already there.

The head of the family, Dartmenley, was half-reclining in a chair, his body bearing the marks of medical treatment.

He didn't look well at all; he must have just been seriously injured.

When Datmenley saw Daros return, he didn't seem particularly surprised; instead, his expression turned extremely grim.

Ignoring Daros, Datmenley held a cane in his hand, constantly twirling it. In a sudden moment, he crushed the steel cane head, his long-suppressed anger erupting.

"Waste! They are all waste!!"

The angry roar made all the family members around lower their heads even further.

Raising his hand, Datmenley looked at the fragments of the cane that had been violently crushed and pierced his flesh, and the image of that blood-red sword flashed through his mind.

What they wanted to hide beneath their anger was fear.

The fear that had haunted him for three days since that night had begun.

His thoughts raced, and he seemed to return to that night.

Nemus arrived at the manor, accompanied by several paladins and priests, mostly of the Iron race.

He had assumed that Nems intended to use Daros as leverage in the negotiations.

While he was still debating whether to forcefully protect Daros, Nemus slammed a pair of white gloves directly into his face.

Datmenley was stunned at that moment, so much so that he didn't realize what had happened for a while, and then he felt angry after being humiliated.

Among nobles, throwing a white glove at someone else signifies initiating a duel with one's honor at stake.

The paladins and priests who accompanied him were the witnesses to this duel.