“You got a letter too?” Luo Wei frowned. “Then why didn’t you say so earlier?”
Hol and Laura both stared at Theodore. Right—why hadn’t he?
“How was I supposed to know it was for ?” Theodore said, perfectly self‑righteous. “Just a scrap of sheepskin. No na. How would I know whose it was?”
Hol couldn’t take it. “It was handed to you. If it wasn’t for you, who else?”
“It could’ve been delivered wrong!”
“Where did you get it? What did it say?”
“On the street. So guy bumped , dropped a parchnt on ,” Theodore recalled. “I didn’t look at what was written. I just shook it off.”
Honestly, you could hardly bla him—crowded street, people jostling everywhere, and he was rushing to his shift at Escore Dessert Shop. A random parchnt fluttered onto him; of course he flicked it away.
The others all facepald. Was this sothing a normal person would do?
A normal person would at least glance at it—or stop the man and return it.
Not Theodore. He didn’t even keep it—just tossed soone else’s thing aside.
Crowds trampling through muddy water: the parchnt would’ve turned to pulp in monts. No one would recognize it as a threatening letter afterward.
If Laura and Hol hadn’t shared their stories, Theodore wouldn’t have rembered the episode at all. Fortunately the octopus had a good mory; a quick rummage and up it ca.
Even though the letter never properly reached the ill‑mannered big octopus, the mastermind still achieved the goal.
Theodore liked Laura. If she entered, of course he’d go with her.
Of the Death Penalty Squad’s five:
Luo Wei—tempted by rewards.
Gladys—dragged in by Axina’s spite.
The other three—coerced by mysterious threatening letters.
Whoever delivered Theodore’s (and the others’) letters was surely connected to that small rchant.
Hol said the ssenger looked like an outsider—easy to explain.
The rchant’s mories had been wiped, and the letter headed for the Temple was swapped by Troy. The mastermind never received a reply, sensed sothing was off, and sent new people.
“Be careful,” Luo Wei told the three. “The sender likely already guessed your identities. This tournant is stacked against you.”
“I know,” Hol said darkly. “If they’re forcing us in, they’ll show up too. Then we’ll see who they are.”
Luo Wei nodded. She thought the sa. Soone who could toy with them through a few letters wouldn’t skip watching the play he scripted.
“By the way, I heard the Divine College students all know Light Purification,” she said, worry creeping in. “If their light magic hits you, will you—”
“No,” Hol cut in. “Light magic only harms beings born of darkness. We aren’t.”
Luo Wei blinked. “But everyone says werewolves and liches are dark beings.”
“That’s Church slander,” Hol replied, helpless. “Only undead, demons, monsters, and Dark Deities are true dark beings.”
Luo Wei was stunned. “But don’t you worship Dark Gods? Aren’t you descendants of Dark Gods?”
She distinctly rembered books stating: werewolves descend from the Wolf God; liches from the Lich God—embodints of evil. Were the books wrong?
Hol didn’t get why she was so confused.
“Believing in a Dark God doesn’t make you a dark being,” he sighed. “Humans believe in Dark Gods too—do they stop being human?”
Most commoners worship several gods; so change devotions day by day. Belief can’t define inherent nature.
“And yes, we’re descendants of ‘Dark Gods,’ but two thousand years ago, before the Beast God fell, the Wolf God and the Lich God weren’t classed as Dark Gods.”
Gladys clenched her fists. “Right—weren’t!”
Luo Wei recalled related records.
The Wolf God, Cat God, Dragon God, and others had once been attendant gods of the Beast God. Only after the Beast God’s fall did they turn toward darkness.
Still, she doubted. “Was the Lich God also an attendant god?”
Hol shook his head. “Not exactly. The Lich God, Cretis, was originally a powerful witch. She and a swamp dryad created the lich race, so she beca our patron.”
“After the Beast God fell, humans slaughtered Beastfolk. Cretis sheltered the hunted harpies—that’s when the Church lumped her into the dark camp.”
Harpies were ssengers of the Beast God; through them Cretis was implicated and branded a Dark God.
But that wasn’t the whole story. Even without sheltering harpies, once Beastfolk were wiped out, the followers of the Gods of Light would have pointed their blades at the lich race anyway.
Luo Wei understood. “So Dark Gods aren’t all Dark Deities.”
“Correct.” Hol nodded. “Only gods like the God of Undeath, the God of Lust, the God of Plague—those born in darkness—are true Dark Deities.”
Luo Wei felt a knife twist through her heart.
“What about followers of Dark Deities,” she asked stiffly, “can light magic identify them?”
“No,” Hol said. “Like I said—belief doesn’t change what you are.”
Luo Wei was about to exhale in relief when Hol added, “But Blessed Ones are different. They’ve received divine power—unlike ordinary followers.”
Luo Wei: …
Next ti finish the sentence in one go, thanks.
So she was the only Death Penalty Squad mber who couldn’t risk light magic exposure, right?
She gave a tired smile.
Seeing her expression, Hol asked, “Miss Luo Wei, are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” she deflected. “I was just thinking—Axina is also a Blessed One of a Dark God. She’s in the tournant too. Will she be okay?”
“Hard to say,” Hol replied. “Depends on her luck. If her magic power tops the Divine College students’, she should be fine.”
Just as dense darkness can swallow light, if her magic is strong enough, a few sparks can’t harm her.
Light magic isn’t Holy Water—nowhere near that potent.
Gladys tilted her head, icy blue eyes puzzled.
Axina—a Blessed One of a Dark God?
Wasn’t she a Blessed One of the Goddess of Love?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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