BLOODY LOVE'S
Episode 173's

Xavier broke down until his tears flowed. He even patted his thigh because it was so amused. "Argent," he said with a sting. "I thought when you showed me that talisman, you'd say great things! If I had known you were this funny, we'd have been friends for a long time."

Marco was silent because he was not being funny and felt it impossible to be friends with a drunkard.

"You've seen the golem. You know you're dealing with something magical. As you say, we're dealing with magic." Xavier sighed, rubbing his cramped stomach as it unfolded. "And you want to eliminate Sir William with the capital of human power? By besieging and storming it, strafing it with bullets?"

"Buyers are expensive, indeed" Marco admitted, thinking about how much it would cost to rent weapons from the black market. Renting will be cheaper and not eating places than buying. "But my budget is enough."

"Not the money I'm worried about!" Xavier glared in gaiety. "He's the devil!"

"The golem is not human either, but I can exterminate it. All it takes is a little bit of determination. As long as the creature has a physical body, then it can definitely be destroyed." Marco is still trying to see things from the rational side.

He actually had wanted to invite the Jesuits to try exorcism, considering the holy water brought Lady Chantall a little efficacious. But the woman told him that inviting a credible exorcist team of Jesuit priests would take time. They have to send a letter to the Vatican, wait for their answer, then if it is received then the Vatican will send first people to ascertain whether the exorcism is necessary. They need to gather enough evidence and data, then the person will go back to the Vatican to ask for permission. That process could take over a year while they don't have much time. Jose mentioned the eclipse and Marco knew it must be their deadline. Just four days.

"He can make Duke Ashington immortal. You know why we can use the castle on the mountain freely, why do we have access to it and know every trap and secret room there? Because Duke Ashington himself allowed us!"

"And Duke Ashington wants to exterminate Sir William" said Marco calmly. "I'm right?"

Xavier looked at the man with his eyes wide. Now he's really shocked. "How far do you know, Argent?"

"I'm the one asking here" said Marco coldly. "Tell me everything you know. Starting from the origin of this necklace, what Scholomance does, also who the previous tumbals."

Xavier glanced at Mr. Stuart, suspecting that the man must have discovered a lot and told Marco. And now, these two men before him were verifying, matching what was right and what was wrong from all the available facts.

"I didn't get the necklace, but Charles." Xavier felt he had no choice. He will try all the way. "We met Duke in Romania. We don't recognize him. Well, we didn't memorize the faces of all the old aristocrats, did we? Charles and the Duke were talking a lot, they fit in. Then when we returned to Bjork, Charles brought the necklace. He said the necklace could make us rich. I don't know anything about the necklace. I think he's kidding. Until ... until he makes a golem and introduces Scholomance." Xavier's jaw is hardened. His expression turned angry. "The necklace belongs to the devil. Duke Ashington just used us to hide his necklace from the devil. 'Bring to Bjork, ' he said at the time. 'I have a castle there, hide the necklace there for seven years, then riches will come to you!' That's complete bullshit!"

"And Sir William is that demon?" ask Marco carefully.

Xavier nodded steadily. "He's chasing his necklace. He suddenly came and said I stole his necklace! He asked me to give it back! And I ..." He closed his eyes, still able to hear the shrieking sounds and screams of hundreds of heads from the mouth of the demon he saw. "I don't have a choice."

Marco tapped a finger to his knee, matching everything he knew. "Why seven years?" tanyakanya. "Why should Bjork? Why didn't Sir William take his necklace himself if he was that strong?"

Xavier shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know about any other questions. Regarding the tumbals, Scholomance just did it this time. According to the Duke, there is a condition to be able to open the door of Eden, namely sacrifice. Do you know how Christ died on the cross to atone for man's original sin?"

"Well .. I know the story," said Marco, not expecting Xavier to be religious enough to know the contents of scripture and dogma. The seven basic sins revealed are clearly the seven basic sins according to the Church. "Do you mean that the fall is a substitute for Christ?"

"That kind. Christ is the Innocent Lamb" Xavier continued. "Non-kill, that's the key. That is why Scholomance overthrew men who represented the seven basic sins of man, so that those left behind would be taken up and allowed to enter Eden as the Immaculate."

"And who sacrificed only one person? Just one sin?" Marco recalled that Jose only saw one sacrifice at a time and not seven.

Xavier. "I don't know. It may be easy for Scholomance to find everyone else for the six sins that exist, but the hardest is Pride. I think that's why you're kept."

Marco chuckles. "So killing in the name of religion doesn't make you sin? Very practical. I'll remember to make the sign of the cross first every time I'm gonna hit people's heads."

Xavier gave an harassing grunt. "Eclipses will be here any minute. And you'll be done by then, Argent."

"Omong empty," said Marco Ketus. He got up and turned around, followed by Mr. Stuart. "I will decide for myself when and where my life will end" he said before leaving the room. "Not you, not Sir William, not even your God who can't save you."

***

"I even feel my ears rot hearing that" Marco said. He stopped in the middle of the road and frowned, suddenly feeling dizzy and sick. "Light," he murmured as he rubbed his wounded waist. He should have gone slower.

"You need help? Should I call the waiter?" Mr. Stuart was watching with great anxiety.

"Don't" Marco said as he leaned back against the wall, letting the chill run through his entire body in a soothing manner. Sweat appears in small dots on the temples. Marco searches for a handkerchief in vain, forgetting that he gave his own to Nolan. "How did you conclude you heard that, Ray?"

Raymond Stuart is beating. "We've got two sides fighting here. Sir William and Duke. Let us assume that all we know is true—Duke Ashington is indeed alive and Sir William is a demon. From the story, Duke stole Sir William's necklace and gave it to Hastings to hide in Bjork. That's the first fact."

"The second act," Marco continued, seeks to focus on the puzzle so that the pain is diverted. "They both need a sacrifice to activate this damn necklace. Jose saw Sir William topple one for each period. Rolan guessed one person represented one basic sin."

"And I think it's true." Mr. Stuart rubbed his chin, thinking. "We go back to the law of transmutation, which is equal exchange. One life can only be exchanged for one life. I suspect that behind Duke Ashington's longevity lives have been sacrificed for him. Eternity is impossible. Maybe every death's life was absorbed by him?"

"You mean, Eden's door can't really be opened? No ladder to heaven to the fruit of eternity?"

Mr. Stuart laughed. "Maybe it's just a lie to lure people into joining. I know some sects that ended up committing mass suicide to reach heaven. It could be that in Duke Ashington's eyes they are not his people, just a stock of lives. He made religion a container of cattle."

Marco grimacing. "Lumayan makes sense, but that's just a guess."

"Indeed. I'm totally blind."

"We can feel in the dark until we find its shape. Continue!"

"Perhaps seven years is the deadline for Sir William to continue his sacrificial ceremony" Stuart continued. "Maybe that's why he had Charles Hastings in hiding for seven years. But why Bjork? Is it because there's an Ashington castle there?"

"Because Mount Bjork is a sacred place."

Both Marco and Mr. Stuart spontaneously turned their heads in shock at the sound, both too serious to feel that anyone else was approaching. Marco was especially preoccupied with his pain.

On the left is Dave. His body was thin dry and his cheeks were sunken. The man was still weak and not strong enough to stand up so that Rolan pushed him in a wheelchair.

"Lord Dominic," said Marco in wonder, removing his back from the wall. "How are you doing?"

Dave lowered his head respectfully. "Better thanks to your help, Marquis."

"Jose helped you" Marco said. He stood up straight and walked over to the man. "If you don't mind, we can continue this discussion in the library."

The library is on the first floor. Marco actually preferred them to talk in his second-floor study, but that's not possible with Dave's current condition.

"By pleasure, my lord." Dave smiled with his pale face. "I'll say everything I know."

***