Saint Samuel Cathedral, behind Chanis Gate.
The Archbishop of Baekeland, Saint Anthony, stood at the staircase that connected the first and second floors. He watched as a few Nighthawk deacons bustled back and forth. There was no lack of people wearing red gloves among them.
As the spokesperson of the Church of Evernight in the kingdom's capital, Saint Anthony's clean, beardless face didn't show any obvious emotions. His deep, black eyes similarly didn't hide any emotions, but everyone who passed by him could feel their souls tremble. An indescribable fear surged from the bottom of their hearts.
"Your Grace, after an inventory, none of the mysticism ingredients have been lost, including the main ingredients and Beyonder characteristics of the various potions …"
"Your Grace, all the potion formulas are in their original spots. It has been preliminarily confirmed that no one has touched them in the past eight hours …"
"Your Grace, all the prisoners who were locked up on the first floor are all here. No one escaped, and no one died …"
"Your Grace, all the information and manuals weren't damaged, nor were they moved at all …"
"Your Grace, the Grade 3 and 2 Sealed Artifacts are all here. None of them have been taken away …"
"Your Grace, the three Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts are still in a sealed state. There are no signs of them leaving their respective zones …"
"Your Grace, the seal's core is still intact. It hasn't been damaged at all …"
"Your Grace, it has been confirmed that there isn't a single additional item here. There aren't any remnants of dangerous setups …"
"Your Grace, we didn't find the enemy who disguised himself as a Keeper. He seems to have evaporated …"
As the deacons reported in succession, the situation gradually became a little strange.
They found it unimaginable that a cunning and powerful Beyonder would take an extremely high risk, go through meticulous planning, and use all sorts of methods to finally enter Chanis Gate without taking anything. All he did was stroll around the gate and leave!
This made it seem like he was purely trying to prove his abilities, or that he was specifically helping the Church find loopholes in the security procedures of Chanis Gate.
Deacon Sostel, who was leading a team of Red Gloves, surveyed the area and deliberated before voicing his guess.
"Your Grace, could it be a requirement of a particular Sequence's advancement ritual?"
Having done the mission to capture a Devil, he habitually guessed in this direction. And from Sequence 5 onward, different pathways and Sequences had different advancement rituals. There were many that the Church of Evernight didn't understand.
If that was the case, Sostel seemed to have already seen the infiltrator's mocking smile, saying, "Even if it's the Church of Evernight's Chanis Gate, I can come and go freely. It's no different from going to a department store. Those Nighthawks can only fly into a rage from their incompetence after the matter is over."
He must be caught! Sostel quietly clenched his red-gloved hand.
Saint Anthony was just about to speak when another Nighthawk deacon, Daly Simone, raised a second possibility.
Perhaps the infiltrator was affected by the negative effects when attempting to take away a Sealed Artifact. He died on the spot and was devoured clean?
Saint Anthony nodded thoughtfully.
"I'll go take a look at the third floor first."
With that, he walked steadily into the second level of the underground and opened the path to the third level at a hidden location.
As the other deacons' levels weren't high enough, they didn't have the authority, so they could only wait where they were.
Saint Anthony quickly arrived at the small third level. With a sweep of his gaze, he confirmed that there were no abnormal changes to Sealed Artifacts 1-29 and 1-80.
He followed the strict procedures and observed the situation inside 1-80 through 1-29. He discovered that 0-17 was lying there with its eyes half-open, just like usual.
During this process, Saint Anthony approached thrice and widened the distance thrice. At times, he would change his position, and at other times, he would shroud himself in a layer of darkness. He didn't dare to be careless.
Even as a Saint, he did not dare to underestimate every item here. Not to mention "0-17" whose power would occasionally break through the "container" and cause the seal to temporarily fail, even "1-29" and "1-80" were rather dangerous items. Anthony did not want to degenerate into an "amnesiac" who had to relearn how to eat and drink, nor did he want to become a part of the dream between reality and illusion.
There's no problem … Anthony silently heaved a sigh of relief and began to restore the two outer Sealed Artifacts to their original state.
A few minutes later, the Nighthawk deacons saw the archbishop return to his previous state.
"The infiltrator might've already died from coming into contact with the Sealed Artifact." Saint Anthony sounded a little vague when he said the word "died."
He didn't give any explanation and instead instructed, "Regardless, this matter has to be investigated clearly.
"No matter what, we have to investigate this matter thoroughly. The infiltrator might have an accomplice!
"To be able to infiltrate Saint Samuel Cathedral without causing a commotion, it means that the target is very familiar with this place. He's very familiar with the recent rotation of the Keepers, and he's very familiar with the handover process of the Nighthawks. He also has the ability or item to change his appearance. In addition, he has obtained the help of a Beyonder with a Evernight pathway Holy Artifact, or perhaps it's something that belongs to him.
"Combine these conditions and investigate if the servants and priests have encountered any obvious spirit channeling or inducement. Investigate if the bishops have betrayed the Goddess. Investigate the believers who have recently come to the Cathedral … At the same time, investigate the streets where those believers are. Perhaps they didn't deliberately leak it, but it was stolen. As for you, leave it to me.
"Also, find the missing servant and see if there are any clues."
"Yes, Your Grace," Sostel and the other Nighthawk deacons replied in unison.
…
In the office with a tense atmosphere, Leonard Mitchell didn't place his feet on the table like usual. Instead, he sat in a very serious manner with a rather solemn expression.
This was the second time he had encountered something that targeted an item behind Chanis Gate. It stirred up the memories hidden in his heart.
And more importantly, he had once encountered the fake Keeper, but he hadn't discovered any problems!
If — if I were stronger and had better observation skills, perhaps it wouldn't have happened … Leonard Mitchell pursed his lips tightly as he stared at the documents in front of him, but he couldn't read a single word until his teammates entered.
"That Keeper has awakened. He didn't see the infiltrator, and he only knows that he has been possessed by a wraith," the Red Gloves who entered said to everyone in the room.
"How can a wraith move inside the cathedral?" Many Red Gloves raised the question, but no one could answer it.
Perhaps that wraith believes in the Goddess … Leonard mumbled inwardly. While no one noticed him in the corner, he suppressed his voice and mumbled to himself.
"Old Man, didn't you notice anything abnormal back then?"
The slightly-aged voice resounded in his mind.
"It's not like I can observe the outside world all the time, especially when it's near Chanis Gate."
Leonard didn't dare ask further as he joined his teammates in their discussion.
Before long, the Red Gloves' captain, Sostel, entered the room and threw a stack of documents on the table.
"This is the target we need to investigate. The bishops have provided a list of believers who have recently come to the cathedral."
Leonard swept his gaze and saw a familiar name at the back of the front page.
Dawn Dantès!
This … This old fellow who survived since the Fourth Epoch has only been in the neighborhood for two months, and Chanis Gate has been infiltrated. Isn't it too much of a coincidence? Furthermore, he has been coming to Saint Samuel Cathedral often. It's very likely that he's observing the situation and figuring out the pattern … Old Man's excuse isn't very convincing, but if the infiltrator is Dawn Dantès, then everything can be explained. He's afraid of exposing himself, so he pretended not to notice anything amiss … Many thoughts flashed through Leonard Mitchell's mind as he deliberated and said,
"Captain Sostel, what did the infiltrator take away? What clues did he leave behind? "
Sostel surveyed the area and said, "Nothing was taken away.
Nothing was left behind. It's as though he never entered. His Grace suspects that he has died or evaporated due to coming into contact with some Sealed Artifact. We are mainly looking for his accomplices. "
No, it's impossible for Dawn Dantès to die so easily! He's a monster who has lived since the Fourth Epoch … However, why did he infiltrate? Leonard frowned slightly and hesitated for a moment. Then, he took the initiative to include Dawn Dantès into his and his two teammates' scope of investigation.
After the Red Gloves and the local Nighthawks began taking action, Leonard found an excuse to head to the washroom and suppressed his voice.
He suppressed his voice and said, "What do you have to say about Dawn Dantès?"
He didn't expose the lie of the Parasite in him.
The slightly aged voice chuckled and said,
"Didn't I already tell you? I don't know much about him. All I know is that he has something special about him. His aura has an ancient scent.
"However, a case you previously investigated gave me some inspiration. I suspect that Dawn Dantès might be involved in that matter to a certain extent. He's the agent of a particular existence."
"What is it? Which existence? "Leonard muttered in surprise.
The aged voice in his mind replied with an odd tone, "The Fool.
"The Fool that doesn't belong to this era."
...
160 Böklund Street.
Klein finished his breakfast and returned to the half-open room with the balcony. He sat in a reclining chair and rubbed his temples.
When his tense state gradually subsided, Klein found himself in a daze. He kept seeing the corpses hanging in the ancient cathedral, as well as the cluster of translucent maggots deep in his memories. An illusory voice kept echoing in his ears:
"Hornacis … Flegrea …"
Although I quickly severed my connection with my marionette, I was still affected to a certain extent. My mind was slightly corrupted … As expected of a true Mythical Creature … After the initial investigations are done, I'll have to resolve the remaining problems in this regard … Klein slowly exhaled and used Cogitation to calm himself down.
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