The Deadly Assassin Robin novel Chapter 1348

Robin agreed to enter the castle as Caius's guest to gather information about the origins of the Soul-Capturing Technique of the Netheris.

Caym had stolen Shirley's soul, all to trade it for an ancient relic.

Suppose Robin resorted to brute force and tore through the entire Netheris Domain. In that case, it might push Caym and his cohorts to desperate and extreme measures.

In that case, Shirley's soul might never return to her body.

For the sake of the woman he loved, Robin was forcibly suppressing his seething rage, handling the matter with the utmost caution.

This journey into the Netheris Domain had one objective: retrieve Shirley's soul intact and unharmed.

Years ago, Old Fred mentioned a method of extracting someone's soul—once removed, the soul needed to be housed within a living vessel for preservation.

That vessel could be a human, animal, or even a plant.

To ensure Shirley's soul wouldn't dissipate, Caym would have forcibly implanted it into another life form under his control.

However, such hosting had a time limit—just 49 days.

After that window closed, one of two things would happen.

The hosted soul would merge with the vessel's original soul.

Or the vessel's original soul would destroy the intruder, making resurrection impossible.

Either outcome would mean Shirley could never wake up again.

Wandering aimlessly in search of her wasn't an option—he had to find her before the time limit was up.

Gyro Castle sits at the farthest edge of the Netheris Domain.

Long ago, this place used to bustle with warriors traveling to the Dark Woods to hunt beasts and pick Bloodshade Fruits. But as time passed, fewer made it out alive—and the place faded into silence.

Caius explained this to Robin.

In recent decades, only few warriors who ventured into the Dark Woods ever made it out alive.

As a result, people gradually stopped taking the risk.

The castle had grown desolate, with barely any outsiders arriving anymore.

Daphne, meanwhile, had been quietly observing something odd—why did the poor people in this land seem content?

They looked like they enjoyed being enslaved, mistreated, humiliated—even beaten down.

Caius explained to her that this was the doctrine of the Crownward Syndicate of the Netheris Empire.

The syndicate established churches across various regions and mandated that commoners undergo ceremonial baptism starting at the age of five.

According to the supreme oracle of the Dark Syndicate, the lower-class citizens of the Netheris Domain were burdened with heavy sins from their past lives.

As a result, in this life, they were destined to suffer—through poverty, hardship, relentless labor, and the obligation to serve the syndicate without compensation.

Only by doing so could they shed the shackles of sin and hope for a better reincarnation, where they might rise above others.

Should one defy this fate—seek wealth, reject the syndicate, or violate its doctrines—the Supreme God would condemn their soul to the Soulforge Prison, a place of eternal torment and annihilation.

The lower-class civilians, thoroughly indoctrinated, had come to embrace ugliness as beauty, groveling like dogs in hopes of currying favor with the syndicate. All for the slim hope of a better afterlife.

Robin had already heard of these trash teachings of the Dark Syndicate back on Earth.

But for Daphne, hearing it now was shocking—almost incomprehensible.

She couldn't understand how these people, deemed 'sin-ridden commoners', actually believed such absurd dogma.

It was nothing more than a lie crafted by the power-hungry leaders of the Dark Syndicate to justify their exploitation.

Looking at the masses kneeling in the streets, Daphne was utterly speechless.

All lives are born equal—how could such a thing as noble or lowborn exist?

Like the castle lord, the class that served the syndicate were called high citizens.

They were bound to obey the syndicate's every order, or else the syndicate—or its clerical enforcers—had the right to execute them.

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