Chapter 2

As night fell, the temperature in the run-down wooden cabin plummeted, turning it into an icebox.

I curled up on Arthur’s chest explicitly feeling that my human servant’s body heat was slowly slipping away.

His eyes were shut tight, his brows twisted in agony, and his breathing was as fragile as a spiderweb ready to snap at any moment.

Worse yet, bizarre purplish-black demonic veins were beginning to creep up his body—the residual Abyssal demonic aura trapped in his shattered spine was starting to backlash.

"Hey, wake up." I extended my noble paw pads and slapped his pale cheek twice. Smack, smack.

No response.

Meow-dammit, you can't die right now, I cursed internally. Setting aside the fact that the crazy woman is sending someone to set the place on fire tonight, if you kick the bucket just like this, where am I supposed to find a long-term meal ticket who can afford polar-ice-sea salmon?

Frustrated, I stood up and stomped hard twice on his chest—the unique feline "biscuit-making" style of CPR. Seeing he was still half-dead, I could only sigh.

Looks like yours truly has to go out and summon some backup.

I leaned into Arthur's collar, grabbed a mithril button engraved with the Holy Knight’s crest on his inner shirt with my teeth, and yanked hard. With a pop, the button fell into my mouth.

Job done. I flicked my tail, skillfully scrambled out through the doggy door in the corner, and melted into the thick night of the Holy Mountain.

The Church’s Holy Mountain was heavily guarded; patrolling Temple Knights were stationed practically every few steps.

But for a Dark-attribute cat born with top-tier stealth talents, their defense perimeter had more holes than Swiss cheese.

Holding the button in my mouth, I dashed over rooftops and walls, following the shadows of the towering architecture.

My target was clear: that silly cleric named Sophia.

Sophia was one of the few normal people in the Church whose brains hadn't yet been completely fried by the so-called "Holy Light."

She had a massive crush on Arthur—even the guard dogs on the mountain knew about it.

Back when Arthur was still the Chief Paladin, this silly girl always loved hiding in the distance to peek at him, and then she’d try to bribe me with cheap chicken-flavored cat treats, hoping to use me to get closer to him.

Although her cat treats tasted awful, taking her pure intentions into account, I decided to give her a chance to shine.

I found her in the backyard of the Cleric's Monastery.

Sophia was sitting on a bench, clutching a holy symbol tightly, her eyes red and swollen, looking incredibly anxious.

Obviously, the Church had locked down the information about Arthur's imprisonment, and now she was flying around like a headless fly trying to get news of her crush's whereabouts.

I hid in the bushes and took a deep breath.

What comes next is the part I loathe the most, but for the sake of a long-term meal ticket, I had to go all out.

I abandoned all my aloof dignity, slowly shuffled out of the bushes, and sauntered into the middle of the moonlit stone path.

Then, I flopped onto my back, exposing my snow-white belly, and forcefully pitched my voice eight octaves higher.

"Mew~~~ Meow~"

The sound was so sugary and soft it made even me want to gag.

Sophia, steeped in her grief, jolted violently and turned her head toward the sound.

In the moonlight, she immediately recognized the black cat rolling on the ground acting cute.

"Murphy?!" Sophia lifted her skirts and ran over, her face full of disbelief as tears instantly welled up. "Why are you here? Where is Lord Arthur? Was he really accused of colluding with the demons... Wait, what is this?"

Seeing her approach, I immediately flipped over, stood up, dropped the humiliating baby-cat voice, and spat the mithril button out onto the toe of her shoe.

Sophia looked down, picked up the button engraved with the Paladin's crest, and her face instantly went deathly pale. "This is Lord Arthur's personal button! Where is he? Is he hurt?"

Ignoring her rapid-fire questioning, I turned around, flicked my tail toward the direction of the abandoned manor at the edge of the Holy Mountain, and shot her a backward glance.

The look in my eyes was obvious: What are you standing there for? Keep up!

Though Sophia usually seemed a bit slow, she wasn't completely useless at crucial moments.

She instantly cast a faint "Stealth Aura" over herself and followed close behind me.

I led her left and right. Relying on the absolute silence of my cat-walk and my precise knowledge of the patrol routes, we slipped through the barricades like ghosts and successfully made it back to the drafty, broken-down wooden shack.

"Lord Arthur!"

Upon pushing the door open, seeing Arthur lying on the broken wooden bed—covered in blood, legs completely senseless, and radiating demonic aura—Sophia completely broke down. She threw herself to the bedside, crying her eyes out while frantically casting weak healing spells.

Phew.

Seeing this woman finally doing some work, I swished my tail in satisfaction.

Backup service complete. Arthur is in your hands now; my mission is officially over.

As for your gooey, sentimental human drama, this kitty has absolutely zero interest.

Strutting with my elegant gait, I ducked back under the dark but slightly quieter bed.

That beat-up Recording Crystal was still lying quietly exactly where it was before.

My sleep had been ruined by that crazy lady during the day, and then I’d been busy running errands. I was wide awake now, perfect time to really play around with this thing.

I stretched out my right paw, placed it on the crystal's smooth surface, patted it to the left, then hooked it back to the right.

The crystal rolled across the rough wooden floorboards with a soft rumble-rumble.

On the wooden bed above me, Sophia was simultaneously channeling her healing magic and sobbing despairingly.

"What exactly happened... How could he be hurt this badly..." Sophia held Arthur's freezing hand, her tone filled with confusion and despair. "Why would the Church claim you colluded with demons? Who did this to you... sob..."

While she was crying tragically up there, I was having a blast under the bed.

Honestly, this ball’s handling was quite mediocre. The most depressing part was that it wasn't lighting up at all anymore.

As a cat possessing an excellent hunting instinct, a ball that doesn't glow is a massive disappointment.

Meow-dammit, I refuse to believe I can't make you light up.

My temper flared. My hind legs kicked out with incredible force, and like a goalie making a dive, I grasped the crystal with both front paws, slid across the floor using the momentum, and SMASHED, cat and ball together, right into the broken base of the wall at the back of the bed.

Click.

Accompanied by the intense impact, the crystal's trigger just so happened to get pressed perfectly.

Hum—

A brilliant ghostly blue light erupted instantly from under the bed, bright as day, piercing straight through the cracks in the bedboards to illuminate the entire shack.

A razor-sharp holographic projection suddenly expanded in mid-air with a whoosh, and ultra-high-fidelity audio instantly filled the room.

Squinting against the blinding flash under the bed, I let out a shocked Meow.

What the hell? Why did this toy suddenly make such a huge racket?

Feeling guilty, I shook my paws, backed up two steps, sat down on the spot, and earnestly began licking my fur—no matter what was happening, as long as I was grooming myself, that embarrassing trick of crashing into the wall had absolutely nothing to do with me.

Meanwhile, beside the bed, Sophia was completely petrified.

She turned her head blankly, looking in astonishment at the projection that had appeared out of thin air.

On the screen was the face of the blonde Saintess, Elena, from half an hour ago, her expression looking incredibly hideous and twisted from the scratches I gave her.

"That's right! Cyril and I gave your troop deployments to the demons! We wanted your army to collapse! You should have died a long time ago, Arthur!"

"Tonight, this unguarded shack will 'accidentally' catch fire and burn to ashes... Just drag that lower half of yours that can't even roll over... and wait to die in despair!"

Elena’s arrogant, venomous, and unreserved confession echoed back and forth inside the freezing cabin, stripping away all the lies and laying bare the absolute truth.

Sophia's crying stopped abruptly.

Her wide, pale blue eyes locked dead onto the projection of the Saintess, the very woman who was normally so highly revered and always spouted words of gods and mercy.

Her lips trembled uncontrollably. Then, her shock mutated into extreme rage; she bit her lower lip so hard it bled.

"These animals... These demons wearing the cloaks of gods!" Sophia's nails dug deep into her palms.

She finally understood that the former First Paladin, who had protected the Church, had been sent to hell by his most trusted comrade and superior.

And the Holy Church was rotten to the core.

"No, I have to take this evidence to the Inquisition! I have to clear Lord Arthur’s name!" Sophia wiped her tears, about to search the floor for whatever was playing the projection, when her movements halted in despair.

Her eyes drifted back to Arthur's lower back, where the demonic veins were corroding deeper and deeper, and the dam broke once again.

"But... even if his name is cleared, what then? His spine was shattered by a higher demon, and the Abyssal demonic aura is corroding his heart meridian. Without a massive surge of life force to reconstruct his bones... he won't survive the night!"

Hearing this, my paw-licking routine paused slightly.

Won't survive the night? That won't do! I haven't even had the chance to eat that Aurora King Crab he promised me!

Crying, Sophia muttered to herself in sheer desperation: "Legend says... only in the deepest part of the 'Abyss of Dragon's Despair', the 'Dragonblood Crystal' guarded by the Abyssal Demonic Dragon, which emits extremely strong life fluctuations, can dispel the demonic aura and rebuild his heart. But... that's a forbidden zone. Even Red Cardinals who go there never return. Who could possibly retrieve it for him..."

Abyss of Dragon's Despair?

Dragonblood Crystal?

My ears shot straight up, capturing the keywords like an ultra-precise radar.

A sparkly crystal? Isn't she just talking about an even better, glowy ball to play with?!

I crawled out from under the bed, shook the dust off my coat, and took one last look at Arthur lying half-dead on the bed.

Hmph. If it weren't for those top-tier cat foods and long-term peace and stability, yours truly wouldn't give a damn if this useless human lived or died.

I scoffed arrogantly in my mind, then turned around.

Before Sophia could even react, I shot out the window like a phantom black lightning bolt, vanishing entirely into the deep night of the Church's Holy Mountain.

Abyss of Dragon's Despair, huh?

Here I come!