Sorcerer’s Handbook
Chapter 167: Gerard and the Four Pillars Cult

On the evening of his 24 years, 1609 months, and 16 days, Gerard sat on the steps of a high platform, looking down at the adventurers receiving their blessings, his mind drifting back to himself 134 years ago.

Back then, he had struggled through three times to prepare for the exam, finally getting admitted to a research institute just before the human age limit of 25. However, disinterested in academics, Gerard joined the Heresy Court as a common hunter.

His mentor was a former member of the sacred bloodline, a smoker with a lazy disposition, famously known as the ‘Restroom Hunter’ for his timely bathroom breaks during clerical work. This mentor taught young Gerard a valuable lesson.

Hunting wasn’t a glamorous job. The daily grind was just as annoying as trivial matters, especially in an era still riddled with racial, gender, and class discrimination. Many people weren’t outright evil, but like fishbones in rice, they caused an indescribable aversion.

Interacting with them felt like accumulating fishbones in one’s throat, which eventually needed to be cleansed with blood.

However, the unreliable mentor could always precisely discern Gerard’s low spirits and occasionally took him to Tea Cafés and Casinos to alleviate stress. Gerard was usually reluctant, but the mentor’s scruffy, sleazy smile indeed cleared the clouds in his heart.

Until one day, Gerard and his mentor were assigned to a special task force to eradicate the Four Pillars Cult. Initially, Gerard didn’t take the organization seriously. Under the benevolent Blood Moon, evil seemed like a puddle after rain, bound to evaporate under the fierce sun.

But the operation encountered unexpected setbacks. The main force got separated, cult members fought fearlessly, dying alongside the hunters. When they finally reached the cult leader’s location, only Gerard, his mentor, and another veteran hunter were left.

His mentor asked Gerard to stand outside the door to prevent escapes and give a warning if needed.

This was a reasonable request, and Gerard couldn’t refuse.

Sensing Gerard’s eagerness to prove himself, the mentor chuckled, “When you lead a team in the future, you’ll have plenty of chances. Now it’s my turn to show off. You just wait here— but come in quickly if something goes wrong with me.”

Even in grim times, the mentor could dispel the darkness in Gerard’s heart. So Gerard watched as the two hunters pushed open the door, holding up Hunting Lamps and stepping into the dark room, searching for the hidden cult leader.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes passed without any sound from inside. Impatient, Gerard also raised his Hunting Lamp and stepped into the room.

The darkness in the room was thick, almost tangible, the light from the Hunting Lamp unable to penetrate it, and even the New-style Handgun seemed powerless against this unknown fear.

He stepped on a liquid — blood. Gerard looked down to see a strange corpse on the ground, and following the blood trail, he saw two figures entwined.

His mentor was biting the throat of the old hunter, who had thrust his sword through the mentor’s heart.

“How beautiful, don’t you think?” the strange corpse spoke.

Startled, Gerard fell to the ground, pointing his gun at the corpse.

“I’m not a Sorcerer, nor do I have a weapon. You don’t need to be so tense,” the corpse sat up, smiling. “If you pull the trigger, I’ll die.”

“You… they, they—“

“The Vampire feared the hunter’s attack and bit him first, then the hunter retaliated, killing the Vampire. I was just here, sleeping.”

Gerard said fiercely, “You’re lying!”

“The rebuttal was decisive. If it doesn’t align with your own truth, it’s not the truth, right? I quite like this kind of straightforward thinking,” the corpse tilted its head. “You must be wondering, why would a vampire fear an old hunter taking action against him? It’s because of a longstanding grudge between them.”

“But the senior was so kind, how could he—“

“Just because he was kind to you, does that mean he’s been a good person all his life? Never offended anyone, never did anything bad?”

Gerard was momentarily stumped, but quickly retorted, “You’re the leader of the Four Pillars Cult!”

“So, because I’m a bad person, everything I say is wrong, right?” The corpse flashed a sweet smile. “I really like your straightforward thinking.”

“But, do you know why the Four Pillars exist?”

“Desire!” Gerard panted, gritting his teeth. “You’re just a group of demons seducing people into corruption—“

“It’s for peace of mind.” The corpse placed a hand over its heart. “To become stronger, smarter, more popular, to find more happiness… People seek peace of mind, so the Four Pillars answered their wishes.”

“They both sought peace of mind, that’s why they fought each other to the death here. If they hadn’t, they couldn’t have vented the darkness in their hearts.”

“You’re lying!”

“In your heart, you’re already agreeing with me, aren’t you, Hunter Gerard. You’re a child with great insight. During your investigation, you discovered that the senior and the old hunter were at odds. You’ve already guessed their untold story…”

“Shut up!”

“You also know, the senior’s smoking habits, his laziness, his unkempt appearance, all stem from his dark and massive past. From the bits and pieces, you’ve deduced that the senior was a tragic loser, harboring a madness under his smile capable of destroying sanity…”

“I said shut up!”

Gerard pressed the gun’s muzzle to the corpse’s forehead. But the corpse just smiled, raising a bloodstained finger, drawing two bloody tear tracks under Gerard’s eyes.

“Rain may evaporate in the sun, but some of it seeps into the soil, nourishing the earth. The evaporated water doesn’t disappear; it follows the natural cycle, waiting for the next downpour. The rain doesn’t stop; it keeps falling, because I exist, because you exist.”

“In a world where the law becomes a slaughter, crime isn’t shameful.”

“So Gerard, for whom are you crying?”

Bang!

The corpse finally fell silent. By then, the other hunters had belatedly arrived, concluding the hunt.

A century passed in a flash. Gerard became lazy, arrogant, rule-breaking, but also stronger. Just when he thought he could sleep in Caimon City’s paradise, a familiar name awakened memories buried under the dust.

So Gerard volunteered, devised a detailed plan, and in his strongest form, wiped out the reborn Four Pillars Cult, trying to make up for past regrets with his current achievements.

But Gerard felt no satisfaction—because this generation’s cult leader was the weakest he had ever seen.

Naive, clueless, speaking in a soft voice, almost like a recent college graduate. Catching him was hardly harder than catching a cat.

So when Ashe claimed amnesia during the interrogation, Gerard believed him on the spot, thinking he was just an unlucky scapegoat whose memory was erased by the mastermind.

Later, Professor Sylin approached Gerard to discuss Ashe’s danger, even at the cost of favors, asking him to ‘measure’ Ashe’s potential again. Although Gerard spared Ashe out of respect for a fellow citizen, his opinion remained unchanged—he still saw Ashe as a lamb unworthy of attention.

Then a series of events erupted like a storm: the escape, control of the prison, the Blood moon trial, Sylin’s disappearance…

Just a moment ago, Gerard received a message that the president of the Elf Rights Association, Schilling Dorr, was missing, unable to confirm his life and death, and the news was temporarily blocked.

A hundred years later, when he was clearly sitting under the bright blood moon, Gerard felt that he had entered that dark room again.

Ashe-Heath, unquestionably the leader of the cult of the Four Pillars Cult, is the source of chaos, the secret head, whose mere existence causes disaster, who is himself a vortex of evil!

With his perfect disguise, he earned the trust of the Tri-wing Artisan, and the imprudence of the law enforcement captain!

“So just like last time…” Gerard murmured in a voice only he could hear: “Am I going to have to make it up after the fact again?”

Suddenly, there was a disturbance in the blessing group.

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