【Reality】
【April 23, 625, Radiant Calendar, 23:00】
【Commentary: Although you still haven't changed your destined death, you are now infinitely close to the truth...】
【Rating: C】
【Reward: 40 points】
Opening his eyes again, Ansu returned to that dark alley under the night sky.
This simulation was the longest he had survived, and the information he gained was the most crucial, as he had jumped directly to the day of the open house.
Ansu glanced at Freya, who was keeping watch beside him.
Several consecutive nights of staying up late had finally begun to take their toll on her; she reached out and let out a tired yawn.
After yawning, she realized Ansu was staring at her, and her expression suddenly turned awkward.
"I'm sorry, Lord Ansu..." Freya struggled to keep her eyes wide. "I'll stay alert!"
"Thank you for your hard work these past few days." Ansu gave a grateful smile. "Tonight is the last time. You won't need to accompany me tomorrow, so you can have a good rest."
"Huh? Why aren't we continuing the surveillance?" Freya blinked in confusion. "Does that mean there's no longer a problem with Archbishop Terry?"
"No." Ansu shook his head, because he intended to resolve all the problems tonight.
He looked toward the distant Holy Dome Cathedral, which was flickering with a soft white light.
Archbishop Terry was still working in his office on the third floor; perhaps he was already secretly gathering people to prepare for the next day's operation.
Ansu recalled the scene in the simulation where Terry commanded the Inquisition of Heresy. It seemed the man's objective was a decapitation strike to draw out the leader of the Echoes of Truth, Elder Samantha, and then kill her.
Ansu thought silently; at this point in time, Samantha's influence was indeed greater than Celia's.
Under her leadership, the Echoes of Truth cult had been fighting the Church for nearly a century, making Samantha an existence the Church loathed to the core.
However, these people would never imagine...
That even if they got rid of Samantha, it would be useless. Her successor, Celia, would bring an even more terrifying and desperate gloom upon the Church...
Ansu pulled his wandering thoughts back. The truth had basically surfaced, and as for how to solve it, it was actually quite simple.
That was to deal with Archbishop Terry himself directly.
"Freya, go and notify Archbishop Paul now. Tell him to bring a few more people..."
Ansu gave her a meeting location. "We will meet at this abandoned inn later."
"Oh... okay!"
Freya didn't know why Ansu wanted so many people, but seeing his calm expression, she figured Lord Ansu must have everything planned out perfectly.
Perhaps tonight... they could finally dig out that villain within the Church!
After Freya hurried away.
Ansu pulled out a small pendant-like accessory. This was the magical item Celia had given him, allowing him to communicate with her from a distance.
【Communication Amulet】
This item could only transmit relatively short messages. Ansu didn't dare cast a spell right outside the Church, so he waited until he was a good distance away from the Holy Dome Cathedral before contacting Celia.
But he had barely exchanged two sentences with Celia... when a pale blue magic teleportation circle suddenly lit up in the alley.
Then, Celia's lazy and elegant figure gradually appeared.
She also let out a slow yawn. "Why did you call me here? Is there a situation on your end?"
Ansu looked nervously at the distant cathedral, his tone quite helpless.
"Miss Witch, next time... could you please not use teleportation magic so close to the Church?"
"What are you afraid of?" Celia let out a light laugh. "I'm quite confident in my magical skill. I could cast a spell right at the cathedral's entrance without them noticing, believe it or not?"
"Impressive, impressive..." Ansu was already used to this proud and showy vile witch.
He observed the Celia before him once again.
Although Celia knew nothing of what had happened in the 'future' and didn't know what Ansu had promised her, Ansu's own state of mind was very different now.
But fortunately, the witch didn't know what he had said to her in the simulation. Thinking back on it now, it was actually quite cringey and embarrassing...
There won't be a next time!
"Why do you keep staring at me?" Celia looked at Ansu suspiciously. Ever since she arrived today, this guy had been staring at her face.
"Uh..." Ansu coughed awkwardly. "It's nothing..."
"What, did you miss me after just one day apart?" Celia said with a playful smile.
Ansu nodded. "A single day without seeing you feels like three years. My heart is constantly thinking of you, Miss Witch."
Celia was stunned for a moment, then immediately gave Ansu a massive eye-roll.
"Why is your mouth so sweet today? That's not like you. Do you have a guilty conscience?"
Speaking of which, Ansu was indeed very strange today...
She got the feeling he had something on his mind but was unwilling to tell her.
Celia narrowed her eyes, constantly sizing up the silent Ansu. It seemed she would have to find a time to use hypnosis on him again and ask what was going on...
After telling Celia his plan to deal with Archbishop Terry, Ansu also shared his deduction with her.
"I suspect Archbishop Terry is colluding with a certain elder from the Echoes of Truth, and they intend to move against your teacher."
Hearing this, those beautiful deep purple eyes blinked.
Celia's expression showed a hint of surprise. "How is this related to Teacher? Where did you get this information?"
"It's like this." Ansu was already an expert at fabricating false information in front of her. "Over the past two days, Freya and I followed Terry and found that he was indeed contacting a mysterious person in the Black Harbor District. After I investigated further on my own, I discovered that this person not only uses magic but is also a colleague from our cult!"
Seeing Celia's focused expression, he continued, "This cult colleague is just a low-level cult executor; his superior should be a member of the Council of Elders. I used 【Shadow Stealth】 to hide for a long time and overheard his conversation."
"He seems to be in contact with an elder named Simon..."
"Simon?" Celia's brow furrowed instantly.
Ansu noticed that her reaction to hearing this name was just as subtle as it had been in the simulation.
"Is there a problem with this Elder Simon?" Ansu asked curiously.
"You can think of this Elder Simon as my teacher's lover; he's a confidant she trusts quite a bit." Celia let out a cold laugh. "I truly didn't expect that even he would betray Teacher."
"It seems the internal struggle within the Echoes of Truth is also severe, if they can even turn someone so close to Elder Samantha." Ansu thought to himself.
He instinctively thought of the three candidates for pope; the internal strife between the three archbishops was almost a mirror image. These two organizations, one righteous and one evil, were truly made for each other...
"Humans are always good at internal fighting!" Celia sneered. "Even if the world ends and only three people are left, they'll still split into two factions."
"You seem to have a strong prejudice against us humans, Miss Witch..." Ansu laughed. "I don't believe demons, who are also intelligent life forms, don't fight among themselves."
"Perhaps..." Celia curled her lip, no longer dwelling on it. Instead, she began to explain the two factions within the cult to Ansu. "It's time I told you about the complex situation within the organization. That Elder Hall who I burned to death last time, and elders like Colin among them, belong to the Restorationist faction within the Echoes of Truth."
"The Restorationist faction?" Ansu indeed didn't know much about the Echoes of Truth at this time. After all, by the time the game's timeline began, almost all the disobedient elders had been killed by Celia...
No matter the faction, none of it mattered when they faced the 'Great King of Slaughter' World Ending Witch—kill, kill, kill, kill!
Celia had used 'physical' means to prevent the cult from splitting.
"Yes." Celia nodded. "The members of this faction are dedicated to restoring order and focus more on worldly power. They hope to use certain means to restore the glory of the Magic Empire from the previous era, which is why they constantly plot subversions in various countries across the continent."
"They also have the most followers because the benefits they gain are indeed tangible."
"As for the other side, it's Teacher Samantha's side." Celia continued, "They are called the Truth faction. They are more fundamentalist, believing that the purpose of the cult's existence is magic itself—to seek the truth of the world and obtain the great power of the gods."
"After the Great Magic Collapse, the Truth faction has been dedicated to solving the problem of mana backlash from high-level magic. Because of this, most of these elderly mages spend their time buried in endless ancient texts. Although their numbers are few, their strength cannot be underestimated."
"I see... I roughly understand now." Ansu nodded. "One side has the money, and the other has the muscle."
"More or less." Celia looked at Ansu and asked with a smile, "Judging by your look, you already have a plan? What do you intend to do next?"
"Next..." Ansu narrowed his eyes. "I'm going to run a sting operation."
Rate on N.U.
