In the attic of the mansion that Simba and the other Players couldn't see, Mephisto was standing in front of a glass that was clearly imbued with divine spells, looking down at the Players' movements in the courtyard.
"They actually broke through the Sharktooth Sharks' encirclement so quickly, huh …"
Mephisto's brow rose in surprise.
Beside him, Angora, who was tied to a chair, was more interested in Mephisto's reaction than the Players. The man had been calm from the moment he showed up, and while his expression wasn't exactly paralyzed, there was still a hint of hypocrisy. It was only now that his surprise didn't feel like he was wearing a mask.
Clearly, the Players' behavior was out of his expectations.
Still, the man was quite adept at managing his expression. His surprised expression was gone in a flash as he returned to his indifferent smile, his voice becoming nonchalant as well. "Forget it. They're just beasts with no intelligence. What awaits them now is the main course."
"Are you really an interrogator from the Brilliant White Church's Heretical Tribunal?"
Though his body was tied up, Angora's ability to speak was not taken away, and he couldn't help blurting out what was on his mind under the influence of the potion.
"I'm the real deal … What would you say if that's what I say?"
Mephisto, who appeared to have lost some interest in the Players, turned to look at Angora curiously.
He was still smiling, but that smile was strangely bizarre.
"Even if Lionel's believers are quite aggressive because of their doctrine that 'light will eventually shine upon the world' …" Angora said, glancing at the shark-like monsters that were tailing the Players. "But I don't believe that the Brilliant White Church would work with shadow creatures."
This was an otherworld with gods, unlike Earth where religion was unregulated and could do whatever they wanted.
The relationship between the gods determined the relationship between churches.
Most of the time, even if there was no conflict of interest between churches, and they could even make up for each other's shortcomings in business, the gods they worshiped were always at odds with each other, even to the point of war.
The Brilliant White Church worshiped Lionel, the head of the Seven Divine Fathers, the God of Light. His divinity was the bane of all darkness, and to most shadow creatures, Lionel's light was their natural enemy. To the believers of the Brilliant White Church, shadow creatures were enemies that must be defeated.
And yet, Mephisto, the self-proclaimed torturer of the Brilliant White Church's Heresy Tribunal, was using shadow creatures to guard his own home. It clearly didn't fit his identity, since the Heresy Tribunal was an organization independent of the church and directly responsible to the pope and the Holy Child (the Saintess was in charge of the Pure White Courtyard, the Obliteration Mechanism). Not only were the torturers of high rank in the church, they should also be fanatics of Ryan — it would be more realistic to get two archbishops from the Brilliant White Church to guard the door!
"… This is not my original intention. It's just a little toy that His Majesty gave me."
Mephistopheles paused for a moment, then continued to speak as if nothing had happened.
This was a lie.
Angora could tell at once that Mephisto was being perfunctory.
Taking a step back, the new Emperor of Valla didn't need to send shadow creatures to keep an eye on Mephisto. He could just send them to the interrogator's residence with servants or something like that. That was too stupid, and basically a provocation to the Brilliant White Church.
"Let me guess … His Majesty is already dissatisfied with the Brilliant White Church's reach?" Angora didn't believe Mephisto at all, and continued theorizing instead, intending to wear out the potion's effect. "You've never used any methods of torture from the start, and the only thing that proves your identity is a bottle of truth-telling potion … Granted, it's not fake, but if you think about it, it's not something that can't be obtained at all …"
"Oh?" Mephisto's expression became a little more animated as if he had suddenly discovered something interesting, and studied Angora carefully. "What are you trying to say?"
"You're actually a confidant of the new Emperor, aren't you? Perhaps an assassin whose past was wiped clean since the pressure is real, and you could even control the shadow troops that supposedly serve Valla's Emperor. That's why I didn't make a move because I saw a hint of your ability … Did you get that truth-telling potion from the corpse of the Brilliant White Church's heretical inquisitor? "
Angora realized that something was wrong even as he said that.
He had gone too far — Mephisto had pretended to be an inquisitor from the Brilliant White Church's heretical inquisitor to sow discord between the Church of Games and the God of Games. Now that he had exposed himself, Mephisto might just kill him to silence him!
Even so, the truth-telling potion's effect was so overbearing that he really couldn't stop halfway. By the time his mouth stopped, the words were already spilled.
Clap, clap, clap.
Mephisto clapped.
"I thought I had overestimated you, the future Silver Eagle Duke, but I still underestimated you. As I thought, age really does make people prejudiced."
He sighed regretfully. "It's a shame that knowing too much isn't a good thing. Also, the group of saviors that you've been thinking about all this time should end here. "
Meanwhile, the Players who were about to reach the mansion gates were ambushed by a group of assassins who could move freely in and out of the shadows.
They must have been the ones who kidnapped Angora back at the Unnamed Town.
Though there were almost thirty of them, their level was equal to the Sharkteeth, and even a little lower on average.
Still, with teamwork and combat skills, the assassins were able to deal considerable damage even if the Players were using light to limit the distance they could approach. Moreover, some of the Players who were maintaining illumination spells were unable to attack, leaving the Players lacking in combat ability and appearing to be in danger.
"Don't even think about drawing their attention. You should have noticed that the glass in front of us is imbued with a shadow spell. It looks like a normal wall from the outside and has the ability to block out sound. They would never notice us, and even if you scream your lungs out …" Mephisto's expression changed halfway through his words.
A girl who was being protected by the Players was drawing her bow, and the arrow was aimed at where they were!
Angora didn't bother to be polite and easygoing now. After spending so much time with the Players, he preferred the feeling of letting himself go rather than the rigid etiquette of nobles.
Hence, he grinned at Mephisto.
"You didn't expect me to have a forum, did you, silly [beep]!"
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