Foolish Game of the Gods Chapter 50

Chapter 50: Completely Different Reactions

The moment he opened his mouth, the holy light of [Order] enveloped everyone.

"Some among you may know me, or perhaps have never heard of me, but that is of no consequence.

Why the Grand Tribunal has come here, I trust you all understand.

Evil is spreading through Everbloom. Sinners, cloaked beneath the night, are wantonly stripping residents of their right to embrace [Prosperity].

This filthy, despicable atrocity is not merely a trampling of the Natural Alliance's faith, but a provocation against the Grand Tribunal's authority.

[Order] above, judgment has come!

No sinner can escape sanction.

I, First-Class Magistrate Moorsius, pledge to the Everbloom Autonomous Alliance and to His followers:

Today, the true culprit will be found, and peace will be restored to you all!"

Moorsius's words were tremendously inspiring. Many people's expressions visibly improved, and the surrounding Enforcement Officers looked especially eager.

But then, his tone turned bone-chillingly cold, dripping with dark amusement.

"Alright, the routine speech is over. Let us discard these cumbersome formalities and get straight to the point.

I have already found the killer. He is indeed among you.

Fear was once your blade, but it shall also be your dirge.

Under [Order]'s gaze, under the Grand Tribunal's verdict, you…

How do you plan to escape?"

Before Moorsius had finished speaking, his gaze began to move slowly, sweeping from the far left across everyone in the lobby.

With each minute shift in angle, every guest within his line of sight subconsciously tensed up, glancing left and right, scrutinizing one another, terrified that the killer was right beside them.

This almost tangible pressure caused many guests' legs to tremble, nearly buckling.

Cheng Shi stood in the crowd and felt the sword-like gaze linger on him for an instant before continuing leftward. He silently exhaled in relief.

Right now, his greatest fear was that this Magistrate would deploy the same technique that had annihilated Yun Ni against him, a follower of [Chaos].

Fortunately, he seemed to have genuinely dismissed the players.

The pressure continued its sweep. Panic kept brewing.

Just as Moorsius's gaze crossed the halfway point and was about to scan the right side, the unexpected struck!

A figure in a cyan trench coat suddenly ducked his head, shoved aside surrounding guests, dropped low, and bolted toward the outer edge of the crowd.

The jostled guests froze for a beat, then shrieked in terror.

"Ah!!!"

"Help! Save me!"

"Run! The killer's going to murder someone!"

But the Enforcement Officers at the door immediately perked up and gave chase.

"It's him! Don't let him run!"

"Grab him!"

The lobby erupted into instant chaos.

At the very first moment of this eruption, several players seized the opening with razor-sharp reflexes, each making a completely different choice.

Fang Jue began chanting aloud, unreservedly unleashing his [Order] power, forging it into golden chains of order that pursued the fleeing figure.

Du Xiguang vanished with a sidestep, seemingly predicting the trajectory as he blocked the fugitive's only escape route.

But he didn't impede the figure's flight. Instead, at precisely the right moment, beneath an unremarkable motion, he "casually" brushed against this "sinner" once.

As for Cheng Shi…

He disappeared.

The instant the crowd scattered, he disguised himself as a panicked guest and broke through the first-floor lockdown, sprinting rapidly up to the second floor.

But this wasn't because he'd been spooked, nor was it to save his own skin. It was to hunt for clues!

Slacking off was not an option in this lifetime.

This game was too thrilling. Slack for one moment and you die. It never gave you a chance to rest.

If you wanted to survive, you had to keep pushing your potential!

As early as the first day of canvassing the hotel, Cheng Shi had silently catalogued every guest's appearance and their room number.

The instant the cyan trench coat moved, he immediately locked onto this person's identity.

A Bard!

A Bard who claimed to hail from the northern Carnivar Empire.

The hotel guests had been in a state of panic over the murders, largely fueled by the rabble-rousing of this Bard and a few other busybodies!

Actually, when Cheng Shi learned about the semi-divine artifact [When Fear Arrives], he had suspected this Bard.

As the saying goes, to do good work, one must first sharpen one's tools. If you wanted to kill with fear, the best approach was to spread fear first!

And the Bard class was perfectly suited to do this openly and legitimately.

They loved telling stories, especially blood-curdling ones.

It was just that at the time, he was still reeling from Wei Guan's death, his mind not sharp enough, or rather, unable to form a clear judgment.

But now, everything clicked.

There had never been any "seeing snakes in a cup's reflection." The reason you saw a snake was because that "bow" was made from a snake to begin with!

The killer had laid every piece of groundwork long ago, simply waiting for this semi-divine artifact to prove itself:

When Fear Arrives!

Cheng Shi was fast on his feet. Weaving through fleeing guests, he reached the Bard's room in no time.

His thinking differed from the other two.

Fang Jue clearly believed that the Grand Tribunal's arrival had established their absolute dominance. Helping them apprehend the killer now might earn the players more convenience in the subsequent investigation and operations.

Du Xiguang's idea was more direct: as long as he could touch the person, reading memories would suffice.

Cheng Shi's thought was:

When a killer confirms he's been identified, his first instinct is to clear suspicion.

And the simplest, most effective way to clear suspicion was to discard the murder weapon.

But a semi-divine artifact wasn't something you could just toss away. So Cheng Shi was more inclined to believe he had hidden his dagger rather than thrown it away.

He came to the Bard's room first because he wanted to find clues that could reveal the trial's true nature.

If he "happened" to find that dagger, so much the better.

However, when Cheng Shi ghosted his way to the room's entrance and personally pushed open the door, inside the room…

Someone was already there.

Before his eyes stood a bare-chested man, veins bulging across his entire body, every muscle straining at full force!

The Ascetic Monk!

The follower of [Silence]!

Cheng Shi was utterly dumbfounded, blinking in bewilderment.

No wonder he could never spot this man. Even when everyone was brought to the first floor by the Grand Tribunal, he'd never shown his face.

It turned out he had also noticed the Bard's identity.

But no matter how solitary a player might be, they were still technically on the same side. Especially since he and Cheng Shi belonged to the same Destiny, [Primordial Chaos], with no faith-based enmity between them. No need for excessive worry.

But the man's current state…

Something was very wrong.

The Ascetic Monk had clearly heard the door being pushed open, but he didn't turn around.

His hands appeared to be gripping something tightly, his entire body taut, pouring every ounce of strength into a struggle.

Cheng Shi spotted the problem and sensed that the man's condition was deteriorating. He hastily slapped a healing spell onto him.

A Priest's duty: he couldn't stand seeing a teammate's health bar below full.

Who knew the follower of [Silence] wouldn't appreciate it at all. He had deployed a [Silence Domain] at some point, and the healing spell simply fizzled out within it.

"?"

Another one who plays solo?

Cheng Shi's temper flared. He opened his mouth and cursed in a low voice:

"Stop playing mute. If you don't talk, I'm calling people!"

The Ascetic Monk's momentum visibly faltered. After a few breaths, he clenched his teeth and tremblingly turned half his body around.

The moment he turned, Cheng Shi saw that both his hands were gripping something.

Looking carefully, it was a dagger radiating an eerie crimson glow, struggling desperately within his restraint.

"!!??"

[When Fear Arrives]!?