Set Up

Fifteen minutes later.

Inside the Holy Dome Cathedral on the third floor, a clergyman knocked on Archbishop Terry's office door.

"Come in."

Pushing open the office door, the clergyman walked to Archbishop Terry's side and reported, "Lord Archbishop, there are two people at the door who wish to see you. They aren't members of the Church, and I was going to turn them away, but..."

The clergyman's expression was somewhat confused. "He asked me to convey to you that there has been a change in tomorrow's events and that you should meet with them immediately."

"What?" Archbishop Terry's expression was one of shock, and he quickly walked to the window to look down.

Two unfamiliar faces stood outside the cathedral, dressed very low-key.

But Archbishop Terry clearly recognized their identity. He immediately dismissed the reporting clergyman, his expression turning irritable.

"Madmen! Absolute madmen!"

Are these cultists out of their minds? How dare they show up at the Church so brazenly? They were simply looking for death!

However, his anger quickly subsided.

A change in tomorrow's events?

What did that mean? Had there been a flaw in the plan?

Archbishop Terry couldn't sit still. He quickly left his office and, seeing that few people were paying attention to him, hurried out of the cathedral.

Outside the cathedral doors, seeing Archbishop Terry walking toward him with a blank expression, Ansu slowly lowered his head.

"My apologies, Archbishop Terry. The matter is truly urgent, so I couldn't meet you in the agreed-upon manner. Please come with me for a moment."

"Who are you?" Archbishop Terry frowned as he sized up the two people before him. Both were dressed in simple civilian clothes, but they were not faces he was familiar with.

"I am Kevin Craig," Ansu made up a name on the spot. "I am a subordinate of Elder Simon."

Hearing the name Elder Simon, Archbishop Terry hesitated for a moment.

He glanced back at the cathedral and said in a low voice, "Lead the way quickly. This is no place for talk."

Ansu and the disguised Celia led Archbishop Terry slowly toward the blocks outside the cathedral.

As they walked, the three of them went further and further into increasingly secluded areas...

"Where exactly is this place?" Archbishop Terry could finally no longer contain himself. He frowned and carefully scrutinized the backs of the two people.

"Don't be anxious; we'll be there soon," Ansu said calmly.

The more Archbishop Terry thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. With a grim face, he asked tentatively, "Where is Darren? Why are the two of you interfacing with me today?"

Ansu pondered the name Darren; it seemed he was the cultist who originally communicated with Terry in secret.

He had intended to make up another lie to fool Archbishop Terry, but he saw Celia suddenly glance at him from the side.

Ansu paused for a second and instantly understood her meaning.

Thus, he slowly turned around and said with a smile, "Darren? Is that the alias of the cult colleague you interface with? I'm not quite sure, because we report directly to Elder Simon. Some issues arose within the cult today, so he sent the two of us to contact you urgently."

"Oh? Is that so?" Terry let out a cold snort.

Although he still wore that grim expression, he stopped questioning them.

Ansu breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. This seemingly hot-tempered guy was no pushover; he might have just used a fake name to test him. In such a situation, pretending not to know was the safest bet.

In silence, the three finally arrived at an abandoned inn on a main city road.

The inn was dilapidated due to years of neglect, and a cloud of dust was kicked up the moment the three entered.

"What a dump," Terry said, covering his nose and mouth as he followed the two up to a room on the second floor.

After entering the room, he finally couldn't help but ask, "What exactly happened to your cult? What do you mean there's a change in tomorrow's events?"

"It's like this..." Ansu's eyes inadvertently drifted toward Celia beside him as he replied, "As you know, there are two factions within our organization. A conflict broke out between them last night, so Elder Simon believes it might affect tomorrow's operation..."

Archbishop Terry immediately became irritable. "Didn't we agree? We use the news of the Chosen One to lure that old witch out. As long as we get rid of her, it benefits both your elder and me."

"I'm telling you! The transcendents under my command have already gathered from all over. The arrow is on the string! This is a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity! The credit for killing the cult leader must be mine and the Inquisition of Heresy's alone!"

Seeing that Ansu's expression remained unchanged, Archbishop Terry's tone became increasingly dissatisfied, his words full of threats.

"Hmph! I am taking such a risk to contact you. If this matter doesn't succeed, I'll take my anger out on every cultist you have in Benalu City! Don't think I don't know you rats have been active in the city; I've known where your strongholds were for a long time!"

"Oh? What an unexpected discovery," Celia suddenly let out a laugh.

"I thought your brain was made of muscle, you idiot."

Archbishop Terry froze for a moment, then immediately became alert.

Because this person, who clearly looked like a man, had spoken with a woman's voice!

"You...!" He clenched his fists, the power of holy light instantly reinforcing his body as he opened with a 【Divine Art - Punishment】 that descended directly from the ceiling. "Who exactly are you?"

But in the next second, that menacing divine art was easily blocked by the person before him, and a thick surge of mana quickly spread throughout the room.

"The dead don't need to know my name." Celia's face began to distort, and her body gradually changed, slowly transforming from an adult man into a tall, slender girl with a narrow waist and long legs.

Archbishop Terry stared intently at the girl before him; no matter how slow his reaction was, he should have realized by now...

He had been set up!

He cursed inwardly in anger, and a fist wrapped in a turbulent air current smashed violently toward Celia's position.

With a thunderous explosion, splinters of wood flew everywhere. Even Ansu, who had silently moved far away, was hit by the impact of this force and slammed hard against the door.

He couldn't help but complain in his mind; why did this archbishop's fighting style involve using his fists...

But it had to be said that an archbishop capable of managing the Church's Inquisition of Heresy was naturally a force to be reckoned with.

Terry's best fighting style seemed to be those fists, and they were fists infused with the power of holy light. In the past, he had perhaps used these fists to beat heretics into mincemeat countless times.

While Ansu scrambled to dodge,

Archbishop Terry looked with a cold smile at the large crater he had smashed into the room. "Your acting was quite good, but you seem to have forgotten that I am a transcendent who reached this position through strength!"

So what if they had tricked him into coming here? Did these two really think they could defeat an archbishop?

But the smile on Archbishop Terry's face did not last long...

A ghostly figure instantly appeared behind him. Terry's whole body shook, and he hurriedly channeled the power of holy light, attempting to block the sneak attack with a 【Holy Shield】.

Ansu noticed that Celia's magic possessed an extremely strong suppressive force. The light of Terry's 【Holy Shield】 diminished at a speed visible to the naked eye, and his expression became more and more horrified.

At the exact moment Terry's 【Holy Shield】 shattered—

Celia narrowed her eyes, and a sharp 【Shadow Bolt】 pierced through the opponent's chest from behind like a black spear.

From the start of the battle until now, Celia hadn't even used her strongest Black Flame. The fact that she could unleash such power with a 1st Circle magic like 【Shadow Bolt】 left Ansu, who was watching from the sidelines, in awe.

As expected of the mage with the strongest talent, Celia.

Terry clutched his chest and spat out a large mouthful of blood. He looked in terror at the black-haired girl looking down at him.

"Who exactly are you? How can you have such powerful mana, you..."

"I told you, the dead don't need to know my name." Celia glanced at him indifferently as another death-dealing 【Shadow Bolt】 slowly manifested in the air.