Storm

Benalu City, high noon.

The streets, which should have been bustling with carriages and noise, were now sparse with pedestrians, the atmosphere cold and desolate.

Every household had its doors and windows tightly shut as if avoiding some invisible plague; only squads of fully armed military police and church executors in white robes moved with hurried steps, giving the entire city a sense of an impending storm.

In this ominous silence, somewhere in the slums of the Black Harbor District, within a cramped, moldy room with peeling walls, Samantha was holding her breath, using secret magical perception to monitor everything around her.

Fearful whispers from all directions, filled with various unpleasant epithets, poured into her ears without missing a single word.

Cult leader.

Old witch.

An ugly monster that eats children, a heartless old lunatic...

Those cloudy, bloodshot eyes snapped open, and Samantha's face showed a mix of gloom and confusion.

What was going on...

She had clearly infiltrated Benalu City in secret, so why did it feel like her name was known to everyone? Even children knew who she was?

Samantha's expression was dark to the extreme; in this situation, there could only be one reason...

Hermit... Ansu!

At the thought of that hateful traitor who had fooled her time and again, leading her to her current wretched state, Samantha's face twisted even further.

The wrinkles on her face trembled incessantly, and her voice grew more venomous. "Ansu... it was Ansu! I must kill him! I will make him taste every pain in this world, using the slowest, most cruel method... crushing his bones inch by inch! Tearing his flesh to shreds!"

Her remaining sanity urged Samantha to immediately spread several magical crystals used for divination across the table.

She used a dagger to slice her withered fingers, and as the scent of blood wafted out, a distorted magic circle slowly manifested in the air.

"I want him dead... I want him dead!!"

"The result... show me the result..."

Samantha muttered incantations, performing one divination after another; until recently, magical divination had always been her proudest trump card, allowing her to seize the upper hand in countless schemes...

But this time...

No matter how Samantha divined, there was only one result.

Peril.

"Impossible! The divination is wrong!"

Samantha stared with bloodshot eyes at the result displayed by the magic crystals, nearly hysterical. "The God of Magic is deceiving me! Why do I lose no matter how I calculate it? This is impossible!!"

Refusing to believe her luck, she continued to divine, her withered hands repeatedly sliced open, the thick scent of blood becoming increasingly pungent.

Scholar and Elder Matthew exchanged a silent look.

Though they were used to their cult leader's daily bouts of madness, if they let her continue like this, everyone would suffer...

"Cult Leader... please stop casting magic, you'll be discovered by those church lackeys!" Elder Matthew stepped forward to dissuade her.

"Get away!" Samantha looked at her three confidants with uncontrollable rage. "You useless things! With you trash dragging me down, I can't get anything done!!"

The magic crystals displayed the divination result once more, and this time, it was exactly the same.

Samantha swept all the magic crystals off the table in a fit of rage, then laughed mockingly, talking to herself as if to find comfort.

"In every previous divination, the God of Magic would give me vague revelations, yet these past few times have been so clear? Even saying I will die? How is that possible? Hahaha... as I thought, the divination has failed."

The more she thought about it, the more she believed it to be true, even recalling her recent experiences. "That's right... the conditions for magical divination are very strict; it must be because my heart hasn't been at peace lately, causing the results to be affected..."

"After all! That damned Ansu was lurking by my side for so long without me discovering his true identity, which proves... I can no longer trust divination; I must rely on myself!"

At this point, Samantha suddenly looked at the three men. "Right! Have you informed the Council of Elders about Ansu's identity?"

"Everything changed after that damned fellow appeared! He is the Chosen One, he must be the Chosen One! The entire cult must be notified! We must eliminate this person who is prophesied to bring the Echoes of Truth to its end!"

Elder Matthew couldn't help but sigh, rubbing his forehead. "We've notified them, of course we've notified the Council of Elders..."

"And? What did they say?" Samantha suppressed her excitement and asked quickly.

The three confidants present were somewhat helpless, feeling that the cult leader had truly gone insane. Could a sane person come up with such a ridiculous way to smear someone?

A low-level mage who was a minor cultist captain and proficient in forbidden black magic... was the Chosen One of the Holy Light faction?

Was she joking?

"I've told Elder Barnes and the others several times..." Scholar didn't dare look her in the eye because not a single person in the Council of Elders believed it; they treated his reports as junk information every time.

Scholar could even imagine the expressions on Elder Barnes and the others when the order 'Ansu is the Chosen One, kill Ansu' was delivered; they were probably laughing in frustration...

However, Samantha didn't seem to notice the awkward expressions on their faces as she laughed repeatedly. "Good! Good! This way, with the cooperation between me and the Council of Elders, Ansu will surely have no way out! We've already won!"

"I have trump cards... I still have trump cards! Ansu and Celia are no match for me!"

She laughed maniacally like a demon; no matter how strong that brat was, she wasn't afraid! As long as she used that ancient magic, Celia would instantly lose her combat power! Then she would easily seize her soul, and at that time...

"Celia, this is the price of your betrayal! I truly want to know... at that moment, what kind of fearful expression will appear on that beautiful, arrogant face of yours... You and your beloved, everything you have... will vanish into nothingness in my hands..."

Seeing that Samantha seemed immersed in her own world, the three of them quietly left her room.

Elder Matthew once again cast a subtle glance at the other two.

No one wanted to accompany that old lunatic in her madness; regardless of the outcome, they had to prepare an exit for themselves...

In the current Echoes of Truth, although there were effectively two centers of power, anyone with a bit of foresight could see that power was slowly shifting toward the Hermit and Celia.

After all...

Compared to a crazed Samantha who did nothing useful, those two were indeed far more normal.

Moreover, were the Hermit and his companion merely normal? They had actually done quite well during this time, allowing the peril-ridden cult to go back into hiding and bringing the chaotic organization back on track... even a few old fogies in the Council of Elders had slightly changed their views on Celia as a candidate for cult leader.

If they didn't defect now, when would they?

...

The atmosphere in the second-floor office of the Holy Dome Cathedral was quiet.

Seance frowned as he flipped through the documents reported from the Benalu parish.

Joshua, the second-in-command of the demon hunter department and currently the highest-ranking clergyman stationed in Benalu City, stood silently to the side, accompanying this Pope's guard whose strength and actual status were unfathomable.

"Have you still not found Freya?" Seance asked in a deep voice.

Joshua reported, "Lord Seance... that night, we found some charred bone fragments in the ruins, but it's currently impossible to confirm if Freya died in the fire. We cannot rule out the possibility that she escaped... I suggest assigning more personnel to search inside and outside Benalu City..."

"There's no need for now." Seance shook his head. "The Benalu parish is currently too short-staffed."

After saying that, he let out a silent sigh.

As soon as he arrived in Benalu City, Seance had heard the rumors that the girl Freya had been burned to death, which truly surprised him.

Naturally, he didn't believe it much; in his eyes, Freya was the most talented clergyman the Church of Holy Light had seen in a century. How could she die so haphazardly in a fire?

However... it would be for the best if she had actually escaped.

Seance still felt sympathy for that kind and upright young Holy Maiden.

What he cared about more now was the nearly out-of-control public opinion in the city. Besides the news of the cult leader Samantha infiltrating the city, the various rumors regarding Archbishop Leonard were also quite intriguing...

Archbishop Leonard's intent to murder Freya, as well as his recent behavior of clearly overstepping his authority to privately detain Archbishop Paul...

"Well done, Leonard..." Seance snorted coldly. "To think you'd dare to take things this far!"

"Lord Seance... Archbishop Leonard was also forced by circumstances..." As Leonard's deputy, Joshua naturally defended him subconsciously. "After all..."

Seance's gaze swept over the young clergyman before him, his heart displeased.

"After all what? After all, Archbishop Paul was standing in his way and was his biggest competitor to be elected as the next Pope?"

A flash of darkness crossed Joshua's eyes as he lowered his head again.

"I will report this matter to the Sacred Cardinal Guard immediately." Seance snorted coldly. "All the archbishops will decide who is right and who is wrong!"

Seance had no way of knowing how the Council of Bishops would deliberate and decide, but at least in his heart, neither Paul nor Leonard was particularly suitable to be the Pope...

"I have a more important task for you now." Seance's gaze swept over the other man as he said flatly, "Lock onto Samantha's location immediately and conduct a house-to-house search for me. I came here specifically to bring that cult leader's head back to the Royal Capital."

...

Compared to Benalu City, which was at the center of the storm and filled with anxiety, the private residence in Maplewood Town presented a different scene.

The warm afternoon sunlight filtered through the glass windows, spilling into the living room where Ansu and the others sat around the table, quietly enjoying lunch in a peaceful and cozy atmosphere.

"Sister Freya, try this!" Vera cut a piece of steak and placed it on Freya's plate. "My brother's cooking is excellent! Have you never eaten anything he's made before?"

Freya put the food into her mouth, chewing with a smile for a moment before nodding repeatedly. "Mhm, it's very delicious..."

As she ate, she stole glances at Ansu, who was smiling gently at them, feeling moved by this warm scene.

They really felt like a family...

Lord Ansu personally cooking for her was a scene she had only dreamed of before...

And such things would likely become the norm from now on.

During these few days living in Maplewood Town, Freya had been happy every day. After all, she could see the person she longed for every day; they were truly living together, and everything felt like a dream...

All these changes were thanks to that all-night conversation with Lord Ansu that evening.

She felt that since then, his attitude toward her had become closer, and he had even told her many secrets without reservation! She must truly be one of his 'own people' now!

At this thought, Freya suddenly asked with a smile, "Ansu, you said you've prepared an inescapable net for Samantha and are just waiting for that old witch to run right into it. So... when are we going to pull the net in?"

"About that, there's no rush yet." Ansu thought for a moment. "We're still missing a heavyweight combatant on our side. Before she arrives, the plan to eliminate Samantha isn't stable."

"Heavyweight..." Freya paused, and almost immediately, a name came to mind.

"Oh..." The smile on her face faded slightly. "Is it the Ash Witch, Celia? When will she be able to get here?"

Ansu replied, "She still has important matters to handle on her end, so we should delay for another three to five days. Once she's finished, she'll definitely rush over quickly."

"Oh..." Freya silently lowered her head.

She had almost forgotten that she still had to deal with that incredibly troublesome existence...

Although she had already thought of countless things to say upon meeting her, she still felt a bit nervous now that the day was actually approaching.

Will she... accept me?