Lord of Mysteries:The Good Witch

One hour earlier...

The Nighthawks' two-wheeled carriage rolled silently through the streets of Tingen's East District. Due to the impending confrontation with a Beyonder, Dunn Smith had not allowed Seizer, their usual driver, to accompany the team. Instead, Frye sat at the reins while Dunn, Royale Layton, and Seeka Tron sat quietly in the carriage, taking turns holding the sealed artifact to disperse its negative effects.

2-105, "Blood Vessel Thief," was the name of this sealed artifact. The "2" in its code indicated it was a level 2 sealed item - dangerous and requiring cautious, restrained use. Its confidentiality level was restricted to bishops and Nighthawk team captains or above. Tingen's Nighthawks possessed only three artifacts of this level, and for dealing with Madam Sharon, the "Blood Vessel Thief" was most suitable.

Resembling a thick, rigid blood vessel, it allowed the wearer a chance to steal one of the target's abilities, even potentially affecting high-sequence powerhouses. Used by Seeka Tron, a Sequence 8 "Midnight Poet," there was a high probability of successfully stealing the invisibility ability of Madam Sharon, a Sequence 7 or 6. If successful, Madam Sharon would lose this ability for ten minutes, while the holder of the "Blood Vessel Thief" could use it as if well-trained. A "Midnight Poet" with strong close combat skills and invisibility would become a formidable opponent for Madam Sharon.

Of course, the artifact's powerful ability came with equally dangerous side effects. Regardless of gloves or other protection, anyone touching it would gradually have their life stolen. Initially unnoticeable, after half an hour of continuous contact, there would be visible effects. Even a Sequence 5 demigod couldn't withstand two hours of continuous contact.

However, repeated testing by the church showed that with three or more holders, the negative effects could be greatly mitigated. In the carriage, the team members took turns holding the thick blood vessel, each persisting for three minutes before passing it to another.

With this rotation, even a Sequence 9 wouldn't experience fatigue significant enough to affect combat within two hours, let alone show signs of aging on their body.

Dunn took the "Blood Vessel Thief" from Royale. Despite wearing gloves, his hand tingled upon contact with the artifact, and a faint electric current seemed to flow through his body, though it was barely noticeable without careful attention.

He glanced out the window. On the dark street, gas lamps moved steadily backward. Compared to the chaotic docks and the lively yet orderly North District, Tingen's East District seemed peaceful and quiet. This area housed Tingen's wealthy merchants and political figures, mostly in garden villas with low population density but high social status.

Just around the next intersection would be Olsner Street...

Dunn tapped on the movable partition behind him, and Frye's low voice came through: "Captain, what is it?"

"Stop at the intersection, don't get too close to the target."

"Understood."

With Frye's "whoa," the horse obediently stopped, and the carriage halted at a corner of the intersection.

Dunn was the first to step down from the carriage. In the dim gaslight, he observed Olsner Street. Royale and Seeka also disembarked, and seeing no one around, Frye casually tied the horse's reins to a nearby lamppost.

Not far from them stood Madam Sharon's residence, a two-story house hidden within a garden.

According to plan, Dunn Smith would first use his "Nightmare" ability to pull Madam Sharon into a dream state. Even if she wasn't asleep, "Nightmare" would make her drowsy and quickly fall asleep, like lulling a baby. If there were other servants in the house, Dunn could also quickly put these ordinary people to sleep, thus avoiding involving them in the conflict.

Once Dunn succeeded, the rest of the Nighthawks would swiftly enter the residence, heading towards Madam Sharon's location to capture or kill her, depending on the situation.

Killing her would be best... Dunn mused silently.

In a situation where one's strength was similar to or weaker than the opponent's, attempting to capture an experienced Beyonder alive was unrealistic. For Beyonders, restraining hands and feet wasn't much of an obstacle, and they could potentially counterattack even while unconscious. If they harbored any wishful thinking about capturing Madam Sharon alive, she might exploit an unknown ability to escape or even kill the team members in a counterattack.

This was also why he was unwilling to let Daly come along, despite her repeated expressions of willingness to join the operation. He had firmly refused her, resulting in Daly's somewhat downcast mood during the battle planning meeting.

Dunn surveyed his team members around him; Frye, Royale, and Seeka were all looking at him, awaiting his orders.

His team members trusted him so much; he must protect them well...

Shaking off his somewhat chaotic thoughts, he handed the "Blood Vessel Thief," which he had been holding for three minutes, to Frye and instructed in a low voice: "Prepare to begin the operation."

The Nighthawks nodded in unison, indicating their understanding.

Dunn sat down on the footboard next to the carriage door, clasped his hands tightly, and closed his eyes. The surrounding night seemed to deepen.

This was him exercising his "Nightmare" Beyonder ability. Within a hundred meters was the effective range. With just a little time and an undisturbed setup, he could make the target fall into a deep sleep, entering the dream state set by "Nightmare."

The other three Nighthawks waited patiently nearby. Based on their experience, it would take about five minutes for the captain to silently pull a Beyonder into the dream state. Then he would bring one of the team members into the dream, signaling that they could begin the attack.

This was also the biggest limitation of the "Nightmare" ability. To pull a Beyonder of similar strength into the dream state, one must necessarily enter the dream as well. If the "Nightmare" interrupted the dream state and woke up, the target would also awaken and receive a spiritual warning as a result.

But this time, in less than a minute, Dunn Smith opened his eyes to the surprise of his teammates and stood up.

Meeting the puzzled gazes of his teammates, Dunn also wore a strange expression. He frowned and explained: "There are only two maids in the residence, both ordinary people. I've put them to sleep, but Madam Sharon isn't home. In the dream, I questioned the servants; she left hurriedly half an hour ago."

"Could Miss Granger be lying? Madam Sharon didn't invite her here tonight after all?" Royale Layton, with his black hair, blue eyes, and fine eyebrows, immediately suspected that they had been deceived by the so-called informant, Angel Granger.

"That's unlikely. In my dream state, and with Daly using the 'Truth-Spitting Cup,' it's improbable she could have lied without us two detecting it," Dunn dismissed this possibility.

"Then Madam Sharon must have had some urgent business? Perhaps a politician's banquet or a lover's invitation. After all, this is the busiest weekend night in social circles," suggested Seeka Tron, the white-haired lady skilled in novel plotting.

That does make sense... Dunn thought, considering that given Madam Sharon's status in Tingen, the possibility of her being invited to some political "event" at short notice wasn't small.

So what now?

Everyone's gaze focused on Captain Dunn Smith's face.

Dunn rubbed his temple with his gloved right hand, deep in thought.

...

"I told you, since we're already here, how can we just go back empty-handed?"

The team helped each other over the wall, climbed up to the balcony from the back of the house, and entered Madam Sharon's residence from the second floor. Seeka, while pulling up Frye, the only one not belonging to the "Sleepless" pathway, onto the balcony, spoke softly.

"You sound like a burglar breaking into an empty house," Royale whispered back, climbing up to the second floor behind Frye.

Knowing that Madam Sharon wasn't home and the servants were all asleep, the four Nighthawks didn't bother concealing themselves, but strode forward as if in their own home. Based on the information obtained from questioning the servants in the dream, Dunn led the way, heading straight for Madam Sharon's bedroom door.

Looking left and right, seeing his teammates ready, he turned the doorknob and opened the bedroom door.

The bedroom curtains were tightly drawn, but the gas lamp was still on. In the lamplight, the bedroom's decor was extraordinarily luxurious, completely at odds with the modest exterior of the house. In the center of the spacious room was a large bed, with velvet bedding messily piled on one side. A dressing table against the wall held various cosmetics, jewelry boxes carelessly left open, revealing glittering jewels and accessories inside. Suggestive lingerie and stockings were casually thrown over a rocking chair, and the half-open walk-in closet was filled with dresses of different styles.

The air was permeated with an intoxicating fragrance.

The most eye-catching item in the room was a full-length mirror placed in the center of the carpet. The mirror's surface was smeared with some unknown deep red liquid, and in front of it stood an extinguished candle, surrounded by scattered petals Dunn didn't recognize.

"Looks like mirror divination," came the hoarse voice of Frye the "Corpse Collector." He shared the same pathway as Daly the "Spirit Medium" and had considerable knowledge of spiritualism and divination.

Everyone immediately tensed up, standing back-to-back and carefully surveying their surroundings.

Divination, a method both loved and feared by Beyonders.

Divination by allies could help them understand dangers ahead, find missing items, or even communicate with the dead like a spirit medium. However, attacks on enemies capable of divination often lacked the element of surprise. Diviners could foresee their ambushes or sudden attacks, or even set traps in return, foiling the operations of official Beyonders.

Could it be that Madam Sharon had divined tonight's Nighthawk operation and fled in advance?

Fleeing was one thing, but the fear was that she might have used divination to gain an information advantage and set an ambush instead, turning the hunters into the hunted.

Frye pressed his forehead, entering spirit vision, and carefully examined the surroundings.

"No signs of spirituality detected. She probably ran."

Everyone relaxed at this, though Royale frowned and muttered to himself, "Madam Sharon wouldn't use mirror divination without reason. Who could have warned her?"

"It's likely that when the captain brought Miss Angel Granger back this morning, quite a few civilians witnessed it. If Madam Sharon has information channels, it wouldn't be difficult for her to learn about this," Seeka analyzed.

Dunn opened his mouth, trying to explain that he had informed the surrounding civilians it was just an investigation into Colle Granger's disappearance. But thinking back now, he also felt it was inappropriate to wear a police uniform and use a police carriage to visit the Granger house. Following his usual habits, he should have picked up Angel Granger in the late night and brought her back to the Black Thorn Security Company for protection, and should have been as discreet as possible on the way.

But at the time, the Nighthawks' own carriage was out, and he also wanted to use his police identity to intimidate Angel Granger... No, these reasons didn't hold up. How did it seem reasonable at the time?

Regardless, this operation could be considered a failure. Now they could only try to collect evidence of Madam Sharon's crimes, then notify the church and Tingen police to issue a wanted notice upon their return.

"...Then she must have asked the magic mirror questions like 'Has Angel Granger betrayed me?' and 'Where is she now?' We were naturally exposed to her," Seeka continued, mimicking a divination tone and gesturing in front of the mirror.

The expression on Dunn's face froze.