Chapter 28: The Returning Bishop

Chapter 28: The Returning Bishop

Pavo Court… Cleeves did not directly respond to the woman behind the telegraph office door. Instead, he turned his head and glanced at Gehrman Sparrow, waiting for him to make the decision.

In the eyes of this former adventurer, it was already an extremely difficult matter for a group of over ten people to return safely and smoothly to the White Agate. They could not, and should not, be distracted at a time like this by helping search for someone. However, he also knew very well that the current pillars of the group were Gehrman Sparrow and Blazing Danitz. They were the ones with the authority to agree or refuse.

Klein was silent for two seconds before speaking in a voice neither high nor low.

“What does he look like?”

He believed that grasping a little more information would help them leave this strange, fog-shrouded town. So he asked casually. As for whether he would help keep watch, that depended entirely on what they encountered next.

At the same time as he asked, Klein warned himself once more: do not investigate too deeply, or it will be easy to trigger the danger hidden within Bansy Harbor.

Between understanding the situation and avoiding risk, he had to walk as though crossing a balance beam—not too much, not too little, neither left nor right, without leaning to either side.

This might be easy, or it might be difficult, because no one knew what change a single step might bring. He could only rely on experience and intuition to make judgments, while being aware that he could fall into a pit at any time. This left Klein’s mind highly tense, his thoughts moving with unprecedented speed.

Amid the dense darkness and thin fog, the telegraph office door remained firmly shut. After a pause, the woman inside said, “He is a very handsome man.

“He has two eyes, two ears, one nose, and one mouth.”

Why is that answer so terrifying… This woman probably has problems too, doesn’t she? According to Bansy Harbor’s custom, she should not have responded at all! Blazing Danitz strongly felt like kicking down the door, rushing into the telegraph office, and checking the situation inside.

It was at that moment that he saw Gehrman Sparrow raise a hand, press down on his hat, and turn toward the side.

“The Church of Storms,” Klein said briefly, naming their destination.

He did not concern himself with what was wrong with the woman inside the telegraph office, just as he did not investigate what secrets the owner of Lime Restaurant and the guests staying there were hiding.

The wind grew weaker and weaker. The thin fog remained unchanged. Candlelight from the high, narrow windows of the church faintly shone out, like a lighthouse in a storm.

After Klein used Sun Halo once again, Donna and the others recovered a measure of courage, like people who had fallen into water and were clutching at their final straw. Quiet and hurried, they walked along streets empty of pedestrians.

Very soon, they arrived outside the Church of Storms, only to find that both doors were tightly shut without a crack.

Glancing at the Storm Sacred Emblem on the doors, Klein raised his hand and knocked three times in succession.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

A wary male voice immediately came from behind the door.

“Who is it?”

“Gehrman Sparrow,” Klein answered directly.

He had already recognized that the one asking was Captain Elland.

“Why have you come here?” Elland did not open the door and asked again.

Holding his cane, Klein said calmly, “You paid the compensation to White Shark for me.”

Elland was first taken aback and found it somewhat amusing. Then he preliminarily confirmed that it really was Gehrman Sparrow outside. At the very least, even a monster skilled in disguise should not know something that only the two of them knew.

He still hesitated, until Cleeves, Urdi Branch, Donna, and the others spoke one after another. Only then did he feel reassured and have First Mate Harris undo the bolts and open the doors.

The heavy creaking sound carried far away. Klein saw Elland wearing a bicorne hat, holding a straight sword in one hand and a hand cannon in the other.

“There was trouble here too?” Combining this with the earlier situation, Klein asked keenly.

Elland first stepped aside to let Donna and the others enter. Only then did he point toward the prayer hall and say, “The priest I know, Jess, died inside. His head and body were separated. Bishop Miller has gone missing, as have several other priests. Also, all the servants in the church are gone.”

A priest dead, a bishop missing? The entire church has lost its living people? This is a serious problem… Holding Azik’s cold copper whistle, Klein’s heart grew even heavier.

Of course, he knew very well that priests and bishops were not the main force used by the Church of Storms to manage Beyonder incidents in Bansy Harbor. Beneath this church, there must be a Mandated Punisher team of six to eight Beyonders, as well as a number of Sealed Artifacts. Even a high-Sequence powerhouse might not be able to quietly deal with that force in a short time.

As long as they are still alive and can use the Sealed Artifacts, the problem will not deteriorate too badly… So, at this time, what is the Mandated Punisher team doing? Based on his experience as a former Nighthawk, Klein began guessing from the normal handling procedures.

During this process, he followed Elland to the main prayer hall and examined the dead priest’s body.

Jess had died miserably, as though his head had been cut off while he was still alive. Unlike the monsters outside, his esophagus was separated from his head.

In Klein’s Spirit Vision, this priest had no remaining spirit. Even if he wished to channel his spirit, success would be difficult.

Is this because the killing method itself was special, or because corresponding treatment was done afterward… If he is different from the monsters outside, is that because they acted too hastily? Combining the situation at the scene, Klein completed his earlier speculation.

He believed there were two possibilities. The first was that some living Sealed Artifact originating from the local area, or some mid-Sequence Beyonder, had lost control beneath the church, escaped into the church, and then fled outside, killing Jess along the way and triggering the changes in Bansy Harbor. The bishop, priests, and Mandated Punishers were now doing everything they could to search and pursue it, seeking to complete the sealing or extermination once more. The servants, meanwhile, had been led into some underground area and were being protected by the Mandated Punishers left behind.

But this could not explain the strange behavior of Bansy Harbor’s residents.

The second possibility was that primitive worship of the Weather God had revived among a portion of Bansy Harbor’s population. The flying heads and headless monsters matched the ritual’s description of sharing flesh and burying the head beneath the altar. For some temporarily unknown reason, this group had launched a surprise attack on the church and killed Priest Jess. The remaining residents more or less knew something of the situation but had all chosen silence.

They may already have broken into the underground area and be locked in fierce battle with the Mandated Punishers, priests, and bishop, aided by Sealed Artifacts, and may have transformed all the servants into monsters. Or perhaps they were pushed back and are now being pursued by the Beyonders of the Church of Storms, fleeing along the way, while the servants entered the underground area to receive protection and avoid accidents… Judging from Jess’s corpse not being used, the latter development is more likely… Going underground to confirm the situation at a time like this would certainly result in being attacked. After all, I am an unfamiliar Beyonder… And the force left behind may not necessarily be sufficient… Klein looked at the priest lying on the floor and discovered that his Beyonder characteristic had already condensed at his neck, resembling a blue gemstone.

He withdrew his gaze and did not pick it up. He did not wish to provoke the violent brothers of the Church of Storms into crazed retaliation over a small gain. Instead, he turned to Elland and First Mate Harris.

“Return to the ship first.”

He casually tossed the gold coin and confirmed that there was no battle underground.

Regardless of the situation, and regardless of whether any Mandated Punishers remained to guard the place, the ground-level area of the church was no longer suitable for a long stay. After all, Klein did not dare guarantee that his speculation was correct. He could only choose the steadiest option.

“Alright!” Elland did not wish to stay here either, anxiously waiting for changes to arrive.

As long as he returned to the White Agate, he would have many cannons and many sailors, enough to resist accidents within a certain degree.

After a brief rest, the group left the Church of Storms.

With Elland and Harris joining them, the defenses around the group clearly tightened considerably. Klein no longer needed to toss the copper whistle to attract monsters, and put it back into his pocket.

“Should we send a telegram to the Church of Storms headquarters and report the situation in Bansy Harbor?” After walking a few steps, Elland cautiously offered a suggestion.

That way, even if a major change truly occurred, as long as they held on, rescue would eventually come.

Klein did not object. Walking in the thin fog ahead, he said calmly, “We will pass the telegraph office.”

Whew. Blazing Danitz let out a breath of relief first, only for his heart to tighten again immediately afterward.

What he feared was that the Church of Storms would send people to investigate the entire matter and discover that a famous pirate had played an important role in it. At that time, he would very likely still be trapped on the White Agate.

Although I saved people, the Mandated Punishers are not friendly toward Beyonders outside their own ranks—especially since I am a pirate… Danitz felt deeply conflicted and decided to first endure the danger right before his eyes.

They walked for a while, the telegraph office already coming into view, when yellow light suddenly appeared from a side street, drawing closer from within the depths of the fog.

It was a middle-aged man carrying a lantern.

He wore dark-blue bishop’s robes embroidered with storm symbols. His head was lowered, his face pale, his breathing hurried, and his steps somewhat unsteady.

Elland fixed his eyes on him and cried out, “Bishop Miller?”

The middle-aged man raised his head, lifted the lantern, and said, “Are you Elland?”

At this moment, Klein took a slight step backward, highlighting Elland’s position and avoiding the attention of the Church of Storms bishop.

Danitz shrank his neck even more, using Urdi’s plump figure to hide himself.

“Yes, Bishop. I saw Jess dead. What exactly happened?” Elland was no novice and did not directly approach him.

Bishop Miller coughed twice and said, “Ancient customs are reviving. A group of evil cultists with filthy blood have once again begun using living people as sacrifices and sharing their flesh.

“Jess discovered their problem, only to be killed by them first.

“The matter could no longer be concealed. They used the sacrifice to change the weather and attempted to attack the church, but they were defeated by the Mandated Punishers and fled to the mountain—to the cave where the altar is.

“I was injured in the battle and could no longer continue. I could only slowly make my way back.”

As soon as he finished speaking, within the fog in the distance, a bright mass of light suddenly burst forth, as though countless bolts of lightning were entangled together and striking down.

With the help of that light, Klein and the others saw the mountains by the shore, hidden by fog, and the mountaintop connected to that scene of thunder.

To a certain extent, this confirmed Bishop Miller’s words.

Elland was just about to step forward and support the Storm bishop when he saw Gehrman Sparrow take out a gold coin and recite softly, “He harbors malice.”

Ding!

The coin flew up, then turned and fell, landing in Klein’s palm with the head side facing upward.

This indicated affirmation!

Bishop Miller stared straight at this scene. Within his light-brown eyes, a dark-red glow suddenly surged.