Can my Trait Inspection be detected by others?
In Hel's main body dormitory, she frowned as she mulled over what had happened during the day. If she hadn't disguised herself in time, her avatar might already have been exposed.
But the other party's strength was only at Saint Rank Eight Stars—he hasn't even touched the threshold of demigodhood. How could he possibly have detected me? Back when it was the Disease Witch—wait…
At that thought, Hel felt a chill run through her.
Could it be that when she inspected the Disease Witch back then, she had already been discovered? And the other party had merely pretended not to notice, playing along to fool her?
But what benefit would that bring them?
Hel couldn't figure it out for the moment, yet she clearly realized one thing: her Trait Inspection ability might indeed be detectable.
I just don't know whether someone at the early Saint Rank can detect it. If even early Saint Rank can…then I may already have drawn the attention of that Calamity Witch. Though, most likely they can't—otherwise the Radiant Knight would have noticed when I secretly inspected her back then.
Thinking of this, Hel felt more and more that the way Irina had looked at her back then was a bit strange. It was like a beautiful, mature woman who had noticed a younger boy peeking at her, yet chose not to expose him, quietly indulging his little secret.
"No, I can't keep overthinking this. If I go on, I'll start believing everyone knows I'm a peeping pervert."
Hel roughly scratched her hair, abruptly stood up from her chair, then grabbed the catgirl Niv—who was curled up on her bed watching her—and stared into her eyes as she asked:
"Niv, can you tell when I inspect you?"
"I can't sense it, meow. It should be because Niv's strength has only just entered Saint Rank, and my mental power isn't strong enough to constantly perceive others' inspections. Based on Niv's analysis, the reason that envoy from the Holy Tribunal Church was able to sense the Master's inspection was most likely due to the mental fluctuations triggered when the Master inspected him. Judging from his microexpressions at the time, he only realized that someone was inspecting him—he couldn't actually identify that the one inspecting him was the Master."
"Is that so? Looks like this inspection skill really can't be used casually anymore. Even the undead insects might—"
"The undead insects aren't a problem, Master."
Niv waved her cat paw, and a transparent light screen appeared in front of Hel.
"Strictly speaking, undead insects are mindless dead objects. What they see is uploaded directly to the Reincarnation Mainframe before I view it. In theory, undead insects can't trigger mental fluctuations. Coupled with the Master masking their magical aura, they're very hard to detect. Even that Disease Witch back then didn't notice anything unusual."
"Is that so…"
Hel frowned as she looked at the undead butterfly Niv guided to land on the tip of her nose.
To use Trait Inspection, her will had to descend—but once her will descended, there was the risk of being detected again. It felt like a dead loop.
"Forget it. If worst comes to worst, I'll use undead insects for reconnaissance first. Trait Inspection can be my final trump card to confirm results."
Shaking her head, Hel stopped thinking about it and lay down on the bed, hugging Niv.
At the same time, a strand of her consciousness traveled swiftly through the soul network, weaving its way through the Savant Royal Palace. Before long, she found her target—a tiny insect hidden beneath the skin of the Fifth Prince's neck.
The instant Hel descended into that little insect, a surge of mental power invaded the Fifth Prince's mind.
"Tell me—who in the castle knows the most about witches?"
"It's Grandpa Dylan the Second. He's the administrator of the Witch Dungeon, but he rarely leaves it."
The Fifth Prince murmured the words as if in a dream, his eyes still closed.
"What is the Witch Dungeon?"
Hel asked again, voicing the question in her heart. Though she doubted that the witch imprisoned beneath Savant City was the Restoration Witch, learning how they detained witches could still be useful.
But the moment her question left her, it was as if some switch had been triggered. The Fifth Prince suddenly jolted awake, terror-stricken as he tried to use his will to stop himself from revealing any more.
No matter how hard he struggled, it was futile. With a face full of fear, he spoke again:
"The Witch Dungeon is where witches are imprisoned. Only those of royal blood and holders of specific warrants can open it. Even the true entrance to the Witch Dungeon is known only to the guards and the king. And the Witch Dungeon has—"
At that point, blood suddenly began to gush uncontrollably from the Fifth Prince's nostrils, his eyes filling with crimson veins. A single blood-red tear slid from the corner of his eye against his will.
Then, in the next instant, a small hand with pure white wings burst out from his eye.
The hand spread open, and the center of its palm slowly split into a wound—inside it was unmistakably the Fifth Prince's eyeball, still twitching.
In the following moment, countless fleshy tumors and writhing tentacles erupted from the Fifth Prince's body, his form becoming increasingly grotesque. Before long, only a malformed lump of flesh remained.
"Damn it—Blood Pact Prohibition! Who the hell is trying to screw me over, triggering the Blood Pact Prohibition on me?!"
The Fifth Prince let out a hoarse, hysterical roar—and then, with a loud bang, the distorted ball of flesh exploded, scattering fragments of meat and blood in all directions.
In an instant, the once tidy room was dyed a ghastly red.
The very next moment, shrill alarms echoed throughout the royal palace. Squads of palace knights rushed back in unison.
But when they saw the horrific scene inside the Fifth Prince's chamber, even with their mental fortitude, several of them vomited on the spot.
"Blood Pact Prohibition—the Fifth Prince has triggered a prohibition."
After a careful inspection, a squad captain of the palace guards finally reached that conclusion.
Yet such a result clearly couldn't soothe everyone's emotions—especially not the Fifth Prince's mother, nor his esteemed elder brother.
Thus, they began a thorough investigation into whom the Fifth Prince might have offended over the years.
Elsewhere, Hel pressed a hand to her forehead, a headache coming on as she complained helplessly:
"So what exactly is inside the Witch Dungeon? You could at least finish your sentence. Talking halfway like that is how people get beaten up, you know."
As she spoke, Hel flicked her hand, and a dark blue—deep azure—sphere of soul light appeared in her palm.
"What are you staring at? I'm talking about you."