Volume 1 Chapter 649

Chapter 649: The Entangled Situation

Blood, organs, a temporary altar…

A terrible smell of decay filled the air.

If Lolth were here, she could easily tell from the lingering magic essence that an "old friend" from an alternate plane had visited.

Although Kanor and Lalea didn’t know much about Hell, they could tell…

Everything in front of them was built to summon something.

Recently, the Heretic Tribunal seemed to have "stirred" those who had been hiding for a long time within The Church of Light.

Their activities had become more frequent.

"Is this a protest against the Heretic Tribunal…?"

Lalea whispered this, and Kanor shook her head.

"Rather than a protest, it’s more like a provocation—’Since you want to take us all down, go ahead and try.’"

Kanor was very sure that they chose the dark branch of the Wizard Association as a sacrifice or, you could say, as a calling object…

Just like the Spawn of these evil gods informing the Heretic Tribunal.

"We know everything here better than you do."

Kanor saw the "Ice Crystal" lying on the ground…

This epic mage, not only still "lived" after losing his organs, but even retained his consciousness.

He looked at Lalea, who wore the Heretic Tribunal uniform, and at the strange little girl, Kanor, and there was a hint of relief in his eyes.

"Kill me…"

He moved his lips, whispering with a faint breath.

Even Kanor and Lalea understood…

This guy was beyond help.

His life force and soul had been entirely used as a "sacrifice" or as food to open a special passage for a powerful being to enter the Holy Capital.

This state of "being alive" was a torment and a misfortune for him.

Even though she was his enemy, Kanor sighed.

"Help him find peace, Sister Lalea."

As she said this, Lalea gently nodded.

She pulled out a priest’s staff from her wide sleeves—this came from a certain cardinal and was also a trophy of Kanor’s.

Calling upon her own magic, and using the vibrations of the priest’s staff as cover, bright white flames burst from the tip of the staff and instantly ignited his body.

In almost no pain, he was completely consumed in an instant, including his separated organs and the blood on the ground.

In the moment just before being consumed by flames, "Ice Crystal" showed a look of shock, then tried hard to reach out, pointing at the wall in front of his feet.

At that moment, footsteps continued to come from the doorway.

The young sorceress entered here at such an inappropriate time!

Seeing the terrible scene before her, she froze for a moment, then started to tremble uncontrollably.

"What have you… done…"

The sight of innards, blood, and broken bodies burning in the flames clearly shocked her greatly.

"It wasn’t us. Someone acted first before we arrived… we were just helping him find peace."

"We think it might be some cultists."

Kanor explained calmly, then did not say anything more.

Lalea shrugged, showing an expression that suggested she was indifferent to believing it or not.

The sorceress girl stood frozen in place again.

"Are there others… How could there be cultists in the Holy Capital?!"

She asked, almost on the brink of breaking down in confusion.

Kanor glanced at her and shook her head.

Then, she looked at the hand that was dropped as the other person lost all breath, thinking for only a short moment.

She walked over to the wall pointed out by the other person and pressed her palm against it.

The liquid metal flowed like mercury, quickly covering the surface of the wall, moving and seeping as if it ignored gravity…

Soon, she found a hidden compartment carefully concealed by magic.

After breaking the magic circle, she dug through a thin layer of bricks, and inside was a scroll that recorded many pieces of information with magic.

"Sister Lalea’s last magic… made the others think she was a friend…"

Kanor understood why the others did this.

Perhaps, at the moment of death, they saw someone using official magic in the Holy Capital and didn’t have time to think about whether it was a real friend and took a desperate chance.

And this information was a list…

It was a list of high-ranking church officials who supported the Wizard Association, which had been hiding in the Holy Capital for a long time.

Her fingertips touched the names of bishops and high-ranking paladins, mixed with a few nobles from the Holy Lieto Empire…

Finally, Kanor lingered on one name for a long time.

"Dena Bennett!"

The dead Holy Light swordsman… the duke where the incident of the evil god’s arrival happened in his mansion!

Kanor could clearly tell that the evil gods she had encountered there, including the "Queen of the Undead," Sister Dorothy’s ancestor, and the magic essence left behind here were not the same.

Within that mansion, there were also shadows of the Wizard Association and a third evil god!

"Things are getting more and more interesting."

After a moment of reflection, Kanor put away the scroll and turned to walk outside.

"Sister Lalea, set a delayed magic… maybe in about fifteen minutes create some noise to let the church people discover that something has happened here."

"Understood."

Lalea snapped her fingers, and the unstable magic spell was quickly constructed.

Then, she followed in Kanor’s footsteps.

"Where shall we go next?"

"Let’s find the cultists’ main base… and have a talk about ‘cooperation’!"

A pure and innocent smile appeared on Kanor’s face.

Behind the two, the young mage hesitated for a moment, then bit her lip and followed them.

And at the same time…

On the other side of the Holy Capital!

Dorothy, acting in the residents’ area as the Lady of Light, had already endured so much fake smiling that her face ached.

"To the faithful lambs who believe in the ‘Holy Light’, may the Lord bless you…"

"And may I always be here to help you with your troubles."

As she said this, she handed her Magic Potion to an old man who looked like he had caught a cold. He was coughing severely, but still showed a grateful expression.

"Thank you, Your Holiness. Your kindness will also bring comfort to the Lord."

As he said this, he accepted the "Holy Water."

The Holy Water blessed by this generation’s Lady of Light had a much better healing effect than the Holy Water received before—this fact had spread throughout the neighborhood.

This was only natural… because it was obvious that what Dorothy gave was not Holy Water at all!

What Dorothy provided was a Magic Potion she made herself—then she added a little bit of Holy Light to keep it hidden.

After studying with Lolth for a while, even though Dorothy did not master much of the extraordinary powers, in this Holy Capital without magical beasts, it was as if she knew nothing.

However, her knowledge of Magic Potions was nearly at a master level.

After all, Lolth’s own ideas and skills in Magic Potions were ahead of the entire continent by several eras…

The current study of Magic Potion on the mainland plane is still at a vague stage, where combining this dark mushroom with this tree root and boiling it until it becomes thick seems to give people a bit more strength for a while.

The so-called "Magic Potion guide" is nothing more than the conclusions made by those Magic Potion masters after long experiments and observations, like how cooling certain Magic Potion ingredients for half an hour before heating them can yield better results.

Lolth has reached the stage where she can extract specific ingredients from Magic Potion materials, refine their magic, and mix them in a 3:7 ratio, heating them in a low magic environment for 15 minutes to create an effective oral liquid for treating neural migraines.

Although Dorothy is still far from Lolth’s level, her progress is especially rapid because she has the right "direction" and a solid foundation of thinking.

Compared to the Magic Potion she concocts, Holy Water may have the effects of driving away evil and strengthening the body, and it’s good to take a couple of sips when feeling unwell.

However, it is definitely not the first choice for curing illnesses.

Therefore, Dorothy’s special holy water, the "Lady of Light," has gained an excellent reputation among the followers in the Holy Capital over the past few days.

While they don’t have actual voting rights for the choice of the Pope, at least public opinion has been firmly held by Dorothy.

Together with the swift actions of the Heretic Tribunal, it has clearly communicated a "message" to everyone.

The Director of the Heretic Tribunal and the Lady of Light are working together in light and shadow.

Patricia watched Dorothy, who was handing out medicine, giving a speech, and wearing a kind and gentle smile, feeling a bit helpless.

"How much longer…?"

As a newly promoted Cardinal, she kept showing awkward smiles and warmly greeting the crowd around her.

Even though she held a high position as the Great Sage Morning Star in the Wizard Association, Patricia at the Wizard Association…

But she never had to interact with "commoners."

Because Cloud City simply had no common people!

Daily operations, maintenance, and food growing, like cleaning, were mostly done by automatic magic devices and rotating wizards using spells.

Hard and dirty work… which wizard didn’t have a few apprentices?

Apprentices were meant to be used.

In short, at the Wizard Association, the Great Sage did not need to deal with small talk.

As for the little pretenses between each other, Patricia had never played those games.

She was the only apprentice of the Morning Star lineage, and she had great talent. Since she was also young, even if she was with other Great Sages, she didn’t have to be overly polite.

After all, it was understandable for young people to be a bit bold.

This was why the Wizard Association loved to give Patricia tasks that might offend other factions and Great Sages.

On one hand, it was because Patricia was lively and willing to take on these jobs.

On the other hand, her interests were not too entangled with other factions.

So when it came to these matters… she was the best choice.

While Patricia was bored, playing with her fingernails…

A young man dressed in rough clothes quickly walked up to her.

"The line for medicine and blessings is over there with Her Holiness…"

Patricia spoke without looking up, but the man lowered his voice to reply.

"Your Grace, Morning Star…"

This one sentence made Patricia, who had been so relaxed, jump in surprise.

She lifted her head and saw a face that seemed somewhat familiar, finally remembering her purpose for coming to the Holy Capital.

To find her troublesome colleagues from the Wizard Association.

Did they actually come looking for her?!

She stood up and quietly cast a spell to silence the sounds.

"Do you still dare to come here…"

"Do you know that your actions have already broken the top ten rules of the Wizard Association?"

"Interfering with the internal affairs of other organizations and countries without reason… This is a great crime that can lead to fifty years in prison and the lifelong loss of rights to publish and name spell models!"

Although Patricia did not know why the other person came to find her, she started by giving a fierce scolding.

"Do you think you deserve all the training from the association and your teachers over the years? Who is your mentor? How could they raise someone like you, who ignores the rules and causes trouble instead of studying spells?"

The young man ran a hand through his messy hair…

"Your Grace, Morning Star… I am a graduate of the Wizard Academy’s class of ’74… I majored in Arcane studies."

"You should be my mentor…"

He said it weakly, and Patricia was taken aback.

It turned out to be her own student?!

Although brought out by the academy, it was not quite the same as a true disciple…

But this was indeed her own student.

Patricia showed a very awkward expression on her face.

"How did you listen in class… Don’t tell anyone you are my student!"

Her authority weakened a little.

After a long silence, she finally spoke again.

"What on earth is going on?!"

Although it was still very serious,

there was less blame and more a sense of inquiry in her tone.

She vaguely felt that the old turtles at the Wizard Association had probably tricked her!

Before she came, she had heard news that a few Great Sages had colluded with some high-ranking members of The Church of Light to provide some convenience for the Holy Lieto Empire’s heir.

But…

Seeing her own student here made her feel that something was off.

Upon hearing Patricia’s question, the young man sighed.

"My Lord Morning Star… I came to find you out of necessity…"

"Two of the three leaders of this operation are already dead. Lord ‘Silence’ died for unknown reasons at Bennett Manor a few days ago, and just now, Lord ‘Ice Crystal’s’ soul stone has shattered…"

"’Silence’ and ‘Ice Crystal’—how do they have such courage… Even a Great Sage cannot control these two, right?"

Knowing the nickname of the person in charge of this operation, Patricia remembered who they were.

Her doubts grew stronger.

"Who is the other person in charge?"

"It’s the overall leader… ‘Never-ending Night.’"

As he answered, Patricia’s mouth dropped open.

"Which ‘Never-ending Night’?! He’s not dead?!"

Her student nodded.

"Yes, teacher… he is not dead."

"Then where is he?"

Patricia asked this, and the other person showed an embarrassed expression.

"In the dungeon of the Heretic Tribunal…"