infodatos Chapter 262 Scapegoat, Wrong Conclusion, Escalation of Conflict
Chapter 262 Scapegoat, Wrong Conclusion, Escalation of Conflict
Chapter 262 Scapegoat, Wrong Conclusion, Escalation of Conflict
Faced with Prince Grove's loud questioning, Katerina Pelle remained calm and feigned grievance, saying:
"Your Highness is overthinking things. The people who signed were my mother and grandmother. How could I possibly do such a thing?"
Prince Grove sneered, looking at Katerina Pelle with an expression that seemed to say, "Do you think I believe you?", without uttering a word.
The Witch Cult is an extremely monstrous organization, with everyone from top to bottom being both "perpetrators" and "victims." Every witch who becomes a demigod is an extremely twisted being, constantly plotting how to overthrow her mother or grandmother.
Infighting within the witch cult is commonplace. Framed mothers in order to promote others is not considered a heinous crime within the cult; on the contrary, it is encouraged.
Therefore, upon learning of the incident at the Intis embassy, MI9 acted swiftly, disregarding political norms.
They entered the embassy to conduct an investigation and soon found the deceased Beckeron in a villa in Queens.
After expert investigation, it can be basically determined that the embassy massacre was committed by Beckron, who was killed by a Sequence 5 "Witch of Pain". The conflict between the Witch Cult and the Republic of Intis is very deep.
After these facts were presented, all the important figures unanimously turned their attention to the Witch Cult and simultaneously made corresponding speculations:
The Witch Cult had witches who, in order to incite conflict between the Kingdom of Rune and Intis, or for some internal purpose, seduced Beckron into committing the bloody massacre at the embassy.
King George III and Prince Grove, however, had a different perspective. They suspected that the Witch Cult might be using the opportunity of cooperating with them to deliberately stir up trouble and get them to cover for them.
After all, it's not just the hunters who are "chaotic"; witches are also a group of people who thrive on chaos.
Katerina Pelle's smile faded, and she solemnly addressed Prince Grove:
"Whether Your Highness believes it or not, I can solemnly tell you that I have no knowledge of the massacre at the Intis Embassy. Someone is framing us. I swear on God's name!"
Our operation is about to begin, and it's not just you who don't want any complications; we share the same view!
Seeing Prince Grove looking at her with a cold smile, Katarina Pelle knew that her words were not convincing at all, so she could only swear an oath to prove the innocence of the Witch Cult.
Upon hearing that Katarina Pelle was willing to swear an oath in the name of the gods, Prince Grove, relying on the "Chaos Hunter's" ability to discern lies, immediately believed that the Witch Cult truly had not been involved in the massacre at the Intis Embassy.
But if the Witch Cult wasn't involved, then where did the "Witch of Pain" who killed Beckron come from?
"You're saying you were framed, which implies that the Grim Reaper was behind it! But that's only one possibility. Even if you didn't do it, there's no guarantee that other witches in your witch cult weren't responsible!"
Katerina Pelle nodded somewhat uncertainly, then said:
"This is the most likely guess. After all, the formula for a Sequence 5 potion could not possibly have been leaked to the outside world, and the only ones in the Extraordinary World who can cultivate a 'Witch of Pain' are either us or the Gnostic Society."
Furthermore, the Gnostic should have noticed our cooperation, and may even have guessed that our cooperation might involve that extraordinary 'Conqueror' characteristic, so it is quite possible that they would do these things to disrupt our plans.
As for the witch cult itself, I don't deny that we're not a monolithic entity, but our cooperation in exchange for the "Conqueror's" extraordinary traits was decided with the "Primal Witch's" approval. No witch would dare to sabotage things at this time!
The collaboration with the royal family was actually approved by the primordial witch?
Prince Grove was startled when he heard the name "Primal Witch," because his brother had not mentioned this when he told him about cooperating with the Witch Cult. Therefore, he had always thought that the "Primal Witch" was still asleep and that it was the angels of the Witch Cult who were in charge of cooperating with the Augustus family!
Unexpectedly, there was a deity behind this collaboration. Although this deity was a recognized evil god, it was still a legitimate god. This made Prince Grove, who had always been determined, feel genuinely happy and even more confident that his brother's plan could succeed.
At this point, Prince Grove also believed that the Witch Cult was truly unrelated to the massacre, but how to handle the aftermath was another big problem, because all the evidence pointed to the Witch Cult, and the so-called Gnostic framing the Witch Cult was something that couldn't be brought up in public.
If the official announcement from Rune specifically addresses the Witch Cult, it could backfire, arousing suspicion from Intis and potentially leading the three major churches to discover the Witch Cult's collusion with the Augustus family.
It's not acceptable to only mention the Gnostic Society without mentioning the Witch Cult.
For many years, the Gonnosek Society has operated under the guise of the "Witch Cult" Ma Shen, which has been very effective in deceiving the public. In the eyes of most people, the Gonnosek Society is just a branch of the Witch Cult, and they are completely unaware of the inside story.
If the Kingdom of Rune pins the blame on the Gnostic Society and doesn't mention the Witch Cult at all, people who don't know the inside story might think that the Augustus family wouldn't dare to offend the Witch Cult!
Even if no one thinks that way, those who are interested will guide others to think that way.
Prince Grove was getting a headache from thinking about it, feeling like his head was about to explode, but he couldn't pin his hopes on catching the murderer.
If the murderer can be caught, everything will be fine, and all sides can be accounted for. But if the murderer cannot be caught, then the blame will fall on him again.
Who told him to be working secretly for George III?
After a long silence, Prince Grove spoke with difficulty:
"Let's wait for the results of the West Lavis County investigation! It may or may not have been done by the Gnostic."
Regardless of who did it, these two things together have amplified a fact that could have been suppressed to the point where it can no longer be suppressed.
In short, you all need to keep a low profile for now and cease all activities, otherwise, if something happens now, we won't be able to protect you!
Katerina Pelle understood the seriousness of the situation, nodded gravely, and then frowned and said fiercely:
"Even if this crisis is over, we should not rashly restart the operation. We should prioritize cracking down on the Gnostic."
Don't you think that ever since the Gnostic discovered the Red Rose Manor, nothing we do has gone smoothly?
Without a clean house, nothing can be done, let alone achieving your goals.
Although Prince Grove felt that the Witch Cult was using him against the Gnostic, he also acknowledged that the Gnostic had already had a significant impact on their actions, and thus made the same decision to strike at the Gnostic.
"We'll talk about this later. Let's deal with this matter first. I'll let you know as soon as possible if anything comes up later."
Katerina Pelle nodded in greeting, then looked at Prince Grove's face and said with a charming smile:
"If the situation weren't so urgent, I would really like to relive the old days with you. What a pity!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Katerina Pelle turned around and disappeared. Prince Grove had to use a lot of willpower to suppress the flush on his face, and with a cold snort, he turned and left.
Soon Prince Grove appeared at Sodrac Palace, bowed to King George III who was seated on the throne, and then respectfully said:
"I just met with Katarina Pelle and confirmed that they weren't responsible for this massacre. Katarina Pelle suspects that the Gnostic was behind it, specifically to disrupt our plans!"
After listening to Prince Grove's report, King George III rubbed his temples and said:
What's your opinion?
"I think Katarina Pelle makes sense, and she even guaranteed it in the name of the gods. According to her, the cooperation was approved by the 'Primordial Witch,' and no witch within the witch cult would dare to openly sabotage things."
It is said that the "Primal Witch" was involved in this collaboration, which made George III's eyes light up. Nothing can compare to his ascension to godhood. In any case, it is a good thing to have a god's explicit support behind the scenes.
Although, due to the discussions at the Twilight Hermits, George III had already grasped that none of the Seven Gods would personally intervene for the birth of the Black Emperor.
However, without hearing the gods say this directly, no one could guarantee that the seven gods wouldn't meet a terrible fate, and the psychological pressure on George III was immense.
Now that the "Primal Witch" has confirmed her support, George III can at least assume that, barring the interference of the two true gods, his ascension to the position of "Black Emperor" is a foregone conclusion.
"Did Katerina Pelle say anything else?"
King George III was in a bad mood today because of the strong resistance to military reforms, the massacre at the Intis embassy, and the attack on the new ambassador. When he finally heard the good news, his tone became much lighter.
"She suggested that no matter what, the Gnostic should be dealt with afterward, otherwise the Gnostic might cause trouble at a crucial moment in the future, and then it might be too late to regret it!"
I agree with this suggestion. Ever since the Gnostic Society intervened in Red Rose Manor, we've had a lot of bad luck lately, so it's definitely necessary to clean the house!
Prince Grove relayed Catherine Pelle's suggestion, along with his own opinion.
"Let's do it this way! Let's not use this curfew as an excuse to conduct another round of investigations into the Gonjiksha!"
"Your Majesty, I wonder if there has been any news from Siravis County?"
In fact, if they simply hand over Beckron's body, the Kingdom of Rune can give the Republic of Intis an explanation for the massacre at the embassy. After all, the murderer was Beckron, the head of the embassy, and Intis can't blame the Kingdom of Rune for it. The current curfew and search are just hoping to find the witch who killed Beckron.
It's just to completely silence any dissent.
The real issue was the armed attack on Intis's new ambassador in West Lavis County, which is why George III summoned troops into the city overnight.
"We've just received news from West Lavis County that the attack on the train was confirmed to be carried out by a well-trained army!"
King George III delivered the shocking news with a cold laugh, and Prince Grove felt a chill run down his spine.
As mentioned before, the Augustus family, the thousand-year-old royal family of the Kingdom of Rune, has intricate connections with the military, and even the various branches within the family have their own private territories within the army.
The advantage was that it expanded the royal family's control over the army and maintained the rule of the Augustan family.
The downside is that it gives each faction within the royal family corresponding influence in the military and creates special interest groups.
Every reform of the military directly affects the royal family, who are all related by blood. Those who have long-term influence are all descendants of demigods or even angels, making them very difficult to touch.
And unfortunately, West Lavis County was the private estate of Duncan Augustus, an angel of the Augustus family.
Because the County of Silavis borders the Kingdom of Intis and is on the front line of the war between the Kingdom of Loen and Intis, and is threatened by the Fusak Empire to the north, the branch of the Augustus family left by Duncan Augustus has the responsibility to guard the frontier, which has also caused a profound influence on local politics and the army.
"They dare to do this?" Prince Grove exclaimed, unable to hide his shock.
Regardless of whether Duncan or Augustus authorized this, once it happened in West Lavis County, it was already inextricably linked to them, not to mention the confirmed involvement of the military.
"They probably just wanted to cause me some trouble, they didn't expect something so big to happen in Backlund."
Now that he had learned from the Witch Cult that they were not involved in the embassy massacre, George III naturally separated the two events and came to a completely off-topic answer.
In his eyes, the massacre at the Intis embassy was orchestrated by the Gnostic Society in an attempt to sabotage his cooperation with the Witch Cult.
The attack on the new Intis ambassador was a warning act by opponents within the Augustus family.
The two events were orchestrated by completely different people, but they happened to occur on the same day, resulting in a synergistic effect that impacted the entire continent's situation.
"Now that the matter is clear, how does Your Majesty intend to handle it?"
Now that the incident has occurred, the most important thing is how to handle the aftermath. Prince Grove is very nervous, worried that George III might take drastic measures.
King George III was calmer than he had imagined; his face twitched slightly before he regained his composure.
Then he gave the order:
"Now is not the time to turn against each other. Hand over Beckron's body to Intis and announce to the public that both incidents were orchestrated by the Witch Cult."
Will Intis agree to close the case this way?
Prince Grove was very hesitant. This incident had given the Kingdom of Rune an excuse for Intis, and they would certainly not let it go easily!
"As long as they still consider the Fussac Empire their greatest enemy, don't change their fundamental national policies, and give them a reasonable explanation, they won't relentlessly pursue us!"
"I said confidently."