Chapter 114: Investigation Targets

Chapter 114: Investigation Targets

Saint Samuel Cathedral, behind Chanis Gate.

Archbishop Saint Anthony of Backlund stood at the stairway connecting the first and second levels, watching several Nighthawk deacons hurry back and forth. Among them were no lack of Red Gloves.

As the spokesperson of the Evernight Church in the kingdom’s capital, Saint Anthony’s clean, beardless face currently showed no obvious emotion. His deep, dark eyes likewise concealed no ripples. Yet everyone who passed him felt their souls tremble, as an indescribable, irrepressible fear surged from the depths of their hearts.

“Your Grace, after taking inventory, none of the mysticism materials are missing, including all the main potion ingredients and Beyonder characteristics…”

“Your Grace, all potion formulas remain in their original positions. It has been preliminarily confirmed that no one has touched them in the past eight hours…”

“Your Grace, all the prisoners held on the first level are present. None have escaped, and none have died…”

“Your Grace, none of the information or ancient texts have been damaged. Nothing has been moved at all…”

“Your Grace, all Grade 3 and Grade 2 Sealed Artifacts here are present. Not a single one has been taken…”

“Your Grace, the three Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts remain sealed. There are no signs of them leaving their respective areas…”

“Your Grace, the sealing core is still intact and has not suffered the slightest damage…”

“Your Grace, after confirmation, there are no additional objects here, nor any dangerous arrangements left behind…”

“Your Grace, we did not find the enemy who disguised himself as an internal caretaker and infiltrated this place. He seems—he seems to have directly evaporated…”

As deacons reported one after another, the matter gradually became rather strange.

They could not imagine that a cunning and powerful Beyonder had taken enormous risk, planned meticulously, exhausted all methods, and finally entered behind Chanis Gate—only to take nothing and stroll around before leaving!

This made the other party look as though he had acted purely to prove his ability, or as though he had specifically come to help the Church find the flaws in the guard procedures behind Chanis Gate.

Deacon Soest, who led a Red Gloves team, looked around and carefully voiced one guess:

“Your Grace, could it be the requirement for some Sequence advancement ritual?”

Having once taken part in a mission to capture a Devil, he habitually guessed in that direction. From Sequence 5 onward, different pathways and different Sequences all had varied advancement rituals. The Evernight Church had not learned about all of them.

If that were truly the case, Soest seemed already to see the infiltrator’s mocking smile as he said, “Even the Evernight Church’s Chanis Gate is somewhere I can enter and leave freely, no different from a department store. Those Nighthawks can only rage in helpless incompetence after the matter is over.”

We must catch him!

Soest quietly clenched the hand wearing a red glove.

Saint Anthony was just about to speak when another Nighthawk deacon, Daly Simone, proposed a second possibility.

“Perhaps when the infiltrator tried to take some sealed artifact away, he was affected by its negative effects, died on the spot, and was devoured clean?”

Saint Anthony thoughtfully nodded.

“I will go to the third level first.”

With that, he walked steadily into the depths of the second underground level and opened the route to the third level at a hidden location.

Because the other deacons were not of high enough rank and did not have authority, they could only wait where they were.

Saint Anthony quickly arrived at the third level, whose area was not large. Sweeping his gaze around, he preliminarily confirmed that sealed artifacts 1-29 and 1-80 showed no abnormal changes.

Following strict procedures, he observed the interior of 1-80 through 1-29 and discovered that 0-17 lay there, half-opening its eyes as usual.

During this process, Saint Anthony approached three times and pulled away three times. Sometimes he changed position; sometimes he let a layer of night cover him. He did not dare be careless in the slightest.

Even as a saint, he did not dare look down on any item here. Setting aside 0-17, whose power might occasionally break through its “container” and briefly invalidate the seal, even 1-29 and 1-80 were extremely dangerous items. Anthony did not wish to regress into an “amnesiac” who had to relearn even how to eat and drink, nor did he wish to become part of the dream between reality and illusion.

No problem…

Anthony let out a soundless sigh and began returning the outer two sealed artifacts to their previous states.

A few minutes later, the Nighthawk deacons saw the archbishop return to the upper level.

“The infiltrator may indeed have died because of contact with certain sealed artifacts.” Saint Anthony was somewhat vague when he said the word “died.”

He offered no explanation. Instead, he instructed, “No matter what, this matter must be investigated clearly. The infiltrator very likely has accomplices.

“To infiltrate Saint Samuel Cathedral without creating any disturbance means the target is very familiar with this place, very familiar with the internal caretakers’ recent duty rotations, very familiar with the Nighthawks’ handover procedures, and possesses an ability or item that can change appearance. In addition, he received help from a Beyonder holding a sacred relic of the Evernight pathway—or it belongs to him.

“Combining these conditions, investigate whether the servants and pastors have experienced any unobvious spirit channeling or guidance. Investigate whether the bishops have betrayed the Goddess. Investigate the believers who have recently come often to the church… At the same time, investigate the neighborhoods where those believers live. Perhaps they did not deliberately reveal anything, but had it stolen from them. As for all of you, I will investigate you myself.

“Also, find the missing servant and see what clues he provides.”

“Yes, Your Grace,” Soest and the other Nighthawk deacons answered at the same time.

…

Inside an office with a rather tense atmosphere, Leonard Mitchell did not put his feet on the desk as usual. He sat very properly, his expression rather solemn.

This was the second time he had encountered a matter targeting items behind Chanis Gate. It stirred memories hidden deep within his heart.

More importantly, he had once met that false internal caretaker, yet failed to discover anything wrong!

If—if I had been a little stronger and possessed better observation, perhaps it would not have…

Leonard Mitchell pressed his lips tightly together, staring at the document before him, yet unable to read a single word, until a teammate entered.

“That internal caretaker has awakened. He did not see the infiltrator. He only knows that he was possessed by a Wraith,” the Red Glove who entered said to everyone in the room.

“How can a Wraith move inside the cathedral?” Quite a few Red Gloves raised the question, yet no one could answer.

Maybe that Wraith believes in the Goddess…

Leonard muttered inwardly. Seizing the moment when no one noticed him in the corner, he lowered his voice and spoke as though murmuring to himself.

“Old man, did you really not notice anything abnormal at the time?”

The slightly aged voice echoed inside his mind.

“I am not constantly observing the outside world—especially not near Chanis Gate.”

Leonard did not dare ask further and joined his teammates’ discussion.

Before long, Soest, the captain of this Red Gloves team, entered the room and tossed a stack of documents onto the table.

“These are the targets we need to investigate. The bishops provided the list of believers who have recently come to the cathedral often.”

Leonard swept a glance over it. Near the middle-lower portion of the first page, he saw a familiar name:

Dawn Dantes!

This… This old fellow who survived from the Fourth Epoch only moved into the nearby neighborhood less than two months ago, and Chanis Gate was infiltrated already. Isn’t that too coincidental? And he keeps coming to Saint Samuel Cathedral. He may very well have been observing the situation and figuring out the pattern… The old man’s excuse just now wasn’t very convincing. But if the infiltrator was Dawn Dantes, then everything can be reasonably explained. He was afraid of exposing himself, so he pretended not to notice the abnormality…

Many thoughts flashed through Leonard Mitchell’s mind. After weighing his words, he asked, “Captain Soest, what did the infiltrator take? Were any clues left behind?”

Soest looked around and said, “Nothing was taken. Nothing was left behind. It is as if he had never gone inside at all. His Grace initially suspects that he has already died and evaporated because of contact with certain sealed artifacts. Our main task is to look for his accomplices.”

No. Dawn Dantes cannot die that easily! He is a monster who has survived from the Fourth Epoch… But why exactly did he infiltrate?

Leonard frowned slightly, hesitated for a while, and then took the initiative to place Dawn Dantes within the investigation range of himself and two teammates.

After the Red Gloves and local Nighthawks began their operations, Leonard found an excuse to first visit the washroom. He lowered his voice and asked, “Regarding Dawn Dantes, do you have anything to say?”

He did not expose the parasite inside him for lying earlier.

The somewhat aged voice chuckled and replied, “I already told you, didn’t I? I do not know much about him. I only know that there is something special about him, and his aura carries the scent of antiquity.

“However, a case you investigated earlier gave me a little inspiration. I suspect that Dawn Dantes may have some connection to that matter—perhaps as the proxy of some existence.”

“What matter? Which existence?” Leonard whispered in astonishment.

The aged voice inside his mind answered in a rather strange tone:

“The Fool that does not belong to this era.”

…

160 Böklund Street.

After finishing breakfast, Klein returned to the half-open room with the large balcony. He sat in the easy chair and lifted a hand to rub his forehead.

Once his taut state gradually receded, Klein discovered that his mind had become somewhat dazed. Before his eyes, he kept seeing the corpses hanging in midair inside that ancient church. He kept seeing that indistinct cluster of transparent, squirming worms deep in his memory. By his ears, an illusory voice seemed to echo continuously:

“Hornacis… Flegrea…”

Although I quickly cut off my connection with the marionette back then, I was still affected to a certain extent. My mind suffered a little pollution… As expected of a true mythical creature… Once the initial investigation passes, I need to start dealing with the residual problem in this area…

Klein slowly breathed out and used meditation to calm himself.