Bab 244: Chapter 244: The Holy Grail Hidden in the Painting
Clare didn't know what Robert and Constantine had discovered. She knocked on the door instinctively, wanting to ask her neighbor what had happened. Given the noise upstairs earlier, if the neighbor was home, she should have heard it.
With a creak, the door quickly opened. A dark-skinned old lady appeared but before Clare could say anything, the old lady's expression changed upon seeing Robert and Constantine, and she instinctively tried to close the door.
"Witches, huh? Interesting!" Constantine said with a surprised smile, then squinted his eyes and added, "Since you're a witch, it's impossible you didn't notice what happened upstairs. Speak up…"
Before Constantine could finish, the witch launched a surprise attack under Clare's bewildered gaze. A mysterious magic rose from her.
The witch thought her casting speed was fast enough that even a fellow magician might not be able to react in time…
But Robert taught her what a real magician was. What's the use of being a magician if you can't throw a punch?
With a thud, Robert threw a punch, shattering the witch's magic. The witch was thrown out, landing on the ground in a mess, looking at Robert in disbelief.
"You! Who are you?!" The witch on the ground gritted her teeth and asked. She couldn't accept being defeated by Robert so easily.
"What's going on here?" Clare was even more confused. From the strange symbols in her dreams in the morning, her mother's disappearance, the demon's attack, to Robert and Constantine's rescue, and now Robert suddenly attacking her neighbor, Clare was struggling to keep up.
But even Clare, slow as she might be, realized her neighbor was not ordinary. Not only was she a witch, but she also attacked Robert and Constantine. Could she be connected to her mother's disappearance?
Thinking of this, Clare glared at the witch who couldn't get up, while Robert walked in and said indifferently, "Speak, tell us everything you know."
As Constantine had said, being a somewhat powerful witch, it was unreasonable for her not to know anything about what happened upstairs, whether it was about Clare's mother, Joselyn, or the demon attacking Clare.
Moreover, the witch didn't intervene when Clare was attacked by the demon, so Robert wasn't polite. He gathered a ball of Qi in his hand, ready to obliterate her if she didn't speak the truth.
Before he could act, the witch hurriedly said, "Wait! I'm not a bad person!" Sensing death from Robert's Qi, she continued, "I was friends with Joselyn. I have a set of Tarot cards she left here, maybe there's a clue…"
Following the witch's gaze to a cabinet, Clare instinctively walked over, picked up the Tarot cards, and looked at them uncertainly.
"You live downstairs and you're telling us to find clues in these Tarot cards?" Robert was momentarily stunned, especially seeing Clare actually looking for the cards, which made him somewhat speechless. The witch obviously seemed off.
"I…" The witch tried to argue but saw Robert's Qi turn into a powerful current, trapping and continuously shocking her, causing unbearable pain.
Grand Qi Palm!
But as Robert bound the witch with the Grand Qi Palm, he suddenly discovered something. A dark force emerged from the witch's body, which Robert recognized immediately. Even Clare could tell it was almost identical to the demon she encountered earlier.
"Feeding demons with one's body, she's that kind of witch!" Constantine said in surprise, "But it makes sense, with demons from hell appearing so frequently lately, it's normal for witches of this line to emerge…"
As the witch tried to break free from the Grand Qi Palm, it was futile. Even though this demon was stronger than the one that pursued Clare, breaking free from the Grand Qi Palm was nearly impossible.
"Let's just read her memories," Robert sighed, sensing their struggle. He reached out to the witch's head but was shocked to find his mind-reading failed.
"Thinking you can read my memories is a dream!" The witch and demon glared at Robert, "You won't get any useful information from me!"
With that, they exploded into a cloud of blood mist, attempting to corrupt everything around them.
But Robert's current seamlessly turned into flames, incinerating everything and leaving nothing behind.
"Looks like we need to find another clue…" Robert shrugged. Mind reading had its limits, and it seemed the witch was adept in that area, blocking him was expected.
"Exploring memories isn't easy. Many magicians can lock their memories and are skilled at probing into others', so trying to explore a magician's memory can easily be blocked," Constantine explained, unaware of the limitations of Robert's mind-reading.
"And even if you're stronger and forcefully invade their memories, they can alter or destroy them to prevent you."
"Is that so?" Robert nodded, then turned to Clare, "Do you have any other clues?"
After the neighbor's death, Clare was shocked but steadied herself, especially knowing her neighbor was a witch and not a good person, her emotions didn't fluctuate much.
"This Tarot card seems useful…" Clare said hesitantly, holding up a card depicting a Holy Grail, feeling a strong connection to it.
"Hmm, you keep it. Any other clues? With the witch dead, we might lose the lead on your mother," Robert said, not taking the Tarot card but asking Clare for more information.
With the current leads, finding those after the Holy Grail seemed impossible. Constantine's Angel's Blood had no further reactions, so they relied on Clare for clues.
"This Tarot card feels off!" Constantine frowned, examining the card.
"Do you want to check it?" Clare, hesitating, handed the Tarot card to Constantine.
"I'll take a look…" Constantine didn't hesitate, taking the card depicting the Holy Grail and conjuring a magical seal. He tried to pull the Holy Grail out of the card.
The Holy Grail moved under the magic's pull, almost flying out of the painting, but ultimately, Constantine failed, and the Grail returned to being still in the painting.
"Is this the Holy Grail? Did I fail because of insufficient power?" Robert asked, surprised.
"It's because this isn't the right way to retrieve it," Constantine explained. "If we force it out, not only will the Grail be destroyed, but the Tarot card as well, and both items will be banished to the void, never to be found again."
"Then, those after the Grail would never succeed?" Robert brightened up.
"Um…" Constantine twitched, then said, "Indeed, but it means we can't find those plotting against us, understand the purpose behind Angel's Blood leading us here, or find your mother."
"Oh, then let's not," Robert sighed, turning to Clare, "You see, we found the Grail, but can't retrieve it. We don't know where your mother is. Do you have any other clues?"
"Luke!" Clare perked up, "My mom called before she disappeared, telling me to contact Luke…"
"Who's Luke?" Constantine asked, seeming to recall something.
"My mom's suitor, but they weren't officially together. I thought she
wanted me to seek refuge with him, but now it seems more complicated…" Clare took a deep breath.
"She left this for me. I'm what you call a Shadow Hunter, so my mom's identity must be similar. The person she wanted me to contact in danger must be able to protect me. He must have special abilities!"
Accepting her situation, Clare became more coherent. She pocketed the Holy Grail Tarot card and nodded at Robert and Constantine, leading them to Luke's house.
"Wait! Someone's there!" Near Luke's house, Robert stopped Clare, signaling to Constantine to tread lightly.
Clare almost gasped in shock but covered her mouth in time. Robert gave her a look and then vanished.
Behind the door, Luke was tied to a chair, being interrogated by a group of men unaware that Robert had appeared beside them.
In an instant, Grand Qi Palm emerged, trapping the men. But then, Luke broke free and charged at Robert.
With a thud, Robert kicked Luke, sending him flying into a wall, which collapsed. However, Luke's condition barely changed, his expression filled with disbelief.
"Wait! That's Luke! Luke, we're on the same side!" Clare rushed out, fearing Luke would be killed by Robert's powerful blows.
"Hmm? Clare? Who are they?" Luke, recovering, saw his transformation subside with Clare's arrival.
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