God-Tier Extraction Talent: Reincarnated in a Game-like World! Chapter 652: Interrogation

The battle did not last much longer.

After Edgar stopped the last few members of the Chain of Veylor who tried to escape into the forest, the once relatively intact transport point had been reduced to a complete mess.

More than a dozen wagons stood scattered haphazardly on both sides of the valley, while weapons and shattered wooden crates littered the ground. Knights of the Holy Church and members of the Chain of Veylor lay everywhere, and the thick smell of blood in the air had even overwhelmed the natural scent of grass and trees.

...

Bang!

Matthew was thrown beside a large rock.

His white robes were already soaked with blood, part of his chest had visibly caved inward, and his previously neat gray white hair had become completely disheveled. Yet even in such a state, he had still not lost consciousness.

It had to be said that someone capable of becoming a Cardinal of the Holy Church was at least not as fragile as an ordinary clergyman.

Gabriel planted Crimson Judgement into the ground beside him and crouched down.

"Name."

Matthew raised his head.

"Don’t you already know?"

"Good."

Gabriel nodded. "Looks like your head is still clear."

Matthew: "..."

He suddenly realized that he could not quite understand the way this man thought.

Gabriel, however, had no interest in wasting time with him.

"Who is the Saintess you mentioned earlier?"

Matthew’s eyes flicked slightly, but he didn’t say anything.

"Why do you need elves with highly concentrated life essence?"

Still silence. Gabriel’s lips curled up slightly. It appeared Matthew was quite a difficult one to crack. Unfortunately for Matthew, Gabriel knew how to deal with people like him.

"What is Sophie’s bloodline?"

This time, Matthew’s pupils visibly contracted for an instant.

It was subtle. However, Gabriel had been watching him the entire time, so naturally, he did not miss it.

"Looks like you really do know."

Matthew finally spoke. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"I never told you who Sophie was, yet you somehow know who she is."

Matthew’s expression changed slightly. He realized he had made a fatal slip.

Gabriel smiled. Sometimes, an interrogation did not require the other person to actually speak. As long as the right questions were asked, a glance, a pause, or even an instinctive denial could already reveal a great deal.

Gabriel did not rush to force an answer out of him either. He simply stood up.

"Edgar."

"Hmm?"

Edgar, who was inspecting the battlefield not far away, turned around.

"Come here."

Edgar walked over to the two of them.

Gabriel asked directly, "You said before that someone knew Sophie would exist before she was even born."

Edgar furrowed his brows, his gaze alternating between Gabriel and Matthew.

"You’re asking about that now? With him here?"

"It’s fine. If he doesn’t cooperate, he’s going to die anyway."

Matthew suddenly raised his head.

"Before she was born?"

At that moment, his reaction was even more obvious than Gabriel’s.

Gabriel and Edgar looked at him simultaneously.

Matthew seemed to realize something and immediately shut his mouth.

But it was already too late.

Gabriel’s gaze gradually became somewhat amused.

"Interesting."

This Cardinal knew that Sophie’s bloodline might be special.

But he did not know about what Edgar had just mentioned.

In other words, the intelligence possessed by the Holy Church was incomplete.

At the very least, someone at Matthew’s level was not qualified to know everything.

Edgar had clearly realized the same thing.

He stared at Matthew for several seconds.

"Looks like you people never gave up all these years."

Matthew frowned. "What do you know?"

Edgar smiled. "We’re the ones asking questions now."

Matthew stared at him intently.

"Who are you?"

Edgar did not answer. But Matthew seemed to be rapidly searching through his memories, his gaze repeatedly sweeping across Edgar’s face until, at a certain moment, his expression suddenly froze.

"Wait... I’ve seen your portrait before."

The smile in Edgar’s eyes faded slightly.

"Have you... Stellar City." Matthew’s breathing visibly quickened, so much so that he began saying incomprehensible words.

"You appeared in Stellar City before, and more than once. So you’re from the Sacred Forest..."

At this point, it was as though he had finally connected certain pieces together.

"You found her long ago?"

Edgar did not answer.

Matthew’s expression, however, became increasingly ugly.

"No wonder. No wonder there hasn’t been any news all these years."

"So she’s been..."

Bang!

Gabriel kicked him in the abdomen.

Matthew slammed into the rock again.

"Stop muttering things that only you understand."

Gabriel looked at him.

"Start from the beginning."

Matthew coughed out a mouthful of blood. Then, unexpectedly, he laughed.

"You really don’t know anything."

"That’s why I’m asking." Gabriel did not deny it.

"That girl has been following you for so long, yet you don’t even know what she is?"

"At least she knows she’s human."

"Human?"

The smile on Matthew’s face suddenly became extremely strange.

"If she really possesses the bloodline we’ve been searching for, then there’s no way she’s merely human."

Edgar’s gaze instantly turned cold.

"Shut up."

Matthew, however, seemed to have finally found something he could use to strike back at the two of them.

"What? You’re afraid he’ll find out? Or are you afraid that girl herself will find out?"

Edgar stepped forward. But Gabriel raised a hand and stopped him.

"Let him speak."

Edgar frowned. "Gabriel."

"Let him speak," Gabriel repeated, his tone colder than before.

This time, Edgar did not stop him again.

Matthew stared at the two of them.

"I really don’t know much. The true records concerning that bloodline can only be accessed by the Pope, the Saintess, and a handful of the Holy Church’s most important figures. All I know is that many years ago, the Holy Church obtained an ancient record originating from the depths of the Sacred Forest."

"It described a special kind of life. They are born capable of establishing a connection with the World Tree."

Matthew continued, "Ordinary elves can also sense the World Tree and even obtain power from it, but that kind of connection is completely different. It is said that those who truly possess that bloodline require no contract, no ritual, and no permission from the elven race."

"The forest will respond to her. Plants will draw close to her. Even the World Tree itself..." Matthew stopped right then.

"What will it do?" Gabriel asked.