Was Dalia Sullivan deliberately spreading corpse poison?
No, perhaps the entire Twilight Council was spreading it. The implications of this were bone-chilling.
If people carrying corpse poison were scattered throughout Kaliron, how many deaths would be caused if they were all detonated simultaneously one day?
It was an undeniably terrifying prospect!
"I have already made various arrangements regarding this matter, and I hope you can help. After all, as you know, our church is currently very short-handed," Melanie Mills said, looking at Olivia Melianne.
"No problem. What do I need to do?" Olivia replied without hesitation.
Melanie thought for a moment and said, "It is currently difficult to determine exactly how many people have corpse poison in their bodies or where they are distributed. Therefore, all we can do is conduct a screening—checking every single location.
"This is destined to be a very troublesome and difficult task, but it is the only way.
"I will grant you the ability to identify the presence of corpse poison. Once you find someone infected, bring them to the cathedral.
"We intend to gather everyone together and use a ritual to completely purge the corpse poison."
It was a simple but effective method.
The only issue was avoiding the 'detonation' of anyone's corpse poison during transit, which would pose a certain level of danger.
Fortunately, even if an ordinary person became a corpse monster, it wasn't something a transcendent couldn't handle. They just had to be wary of transcendents turning into corpse monsters.
The more powerful the individual who turned, the greater the resulting harm would be.
Olivia frowned. "Gathering everyone infected with corpse poison at the cathedral to purge it with a ritual? Isn't that too dangerous? If that group of people were suddenly detonated..."
She even wondered if this was a trap set for the church by the Twilight Council.
Melanie smiled. "There is no need to worry. The cathedral's strength is not as simple as it appears on the surface. Especially when inside the cathedral, the things you fear will not happen."
She told Olivia that the church had already prepared all necessary precautions.
This included the continuous heavy rain.
"In fact, if those infected with corpse poison stay in the sunlight for a long time, the poison will gradually dissipate. But as you can see, there has been no sunlight lately, only constant rain. I'm afraid that is no coincidence."
Melanie pointed toward the sky.
Only now did Olivia notice this issue, and her heart tightened.
Were the transcendents of the Twilight Council manipulating the weather?
If so, the people of the church should also be capable of manipulating the weather to restore it to a sunny state, right?
As Olivia thought of this, a hint of doubt appeared in her eyes.
As if knowing what Olivia was thinking, Melanie said, "The church does indeed possess the means to clear the sky and let the sunlight fall. However... however, as luck would have it, all the people or objects capable of such things are unable to act or be used during these few days."
A chill immediately spread through Olivia's heart. She felt as though some grand conspiracy was brewing.
"Such a coincidence? This... this might not be a coincidence, right?" Olivia said, somewhat alarmed.
"There are naturally not that many coincidences in this world. The existence of every coincidence represents an inevitability," Melanie said with certainty. "The places where the Twilight Council is acting are not limited to Kaliron; they have struck in many locations, drawing away the church's attention."
Undoubtedly, the Twilight Council was unfolding a terrible and dangerous plot.
The church was the opposing side in this game. Countless clashes were unfolding in unseen realms, where every move could mean the loss of innumerable lives.
"I cannot see or manage things that happen at such heights, and neither can you. Therefore, we can only focus on the matters right in front of us," Melanie reminded her.
"I understand," Olivia nodded.
...
A short while later, Olivia left the cathedral and took a public carriage to Huys Street.
The area she was responsible for this time was Huys Street.
Of course, she wasn't the only one responsible for this street; more clergy members were gathering there as well.
Because it was difficult to force everyone to stop working and cease all activities to undergo a church investigation.
This would affect many people's livelihoods. For some poor people, a reduction in income was often fatal.
Furthermore, similar incidents occurred frequently. Heretical organizations always enjoyed planting things on ordinary people. The church couldn't gather everyone for an investigation every single time, could they?
Once or twice... five or six times... if they truly used that method, Kaliron's economy would collapse, leading to massive problems.
Therefore, the method the church chose to face such matters was patrolling.
Olivia and the other clergy members each held a Detection Talisman specially made by a Rune Expert. They moved back and forth through their assigned streets. Once they drew near a target carrying corpse poison, the Detection Talisman would provide guidance, allowing them to lock onto the target.
This was a tedious task, which was why Melanie needed more manpower.
And so, Olivia arrived at Huys Street.
'This street again...'
Olivia stepped off the public carriage and looked toward the rain-slicked street.
Amidst the pitter-patter of the rain, the street appeared extremely damp. Puddles had accumulated in the low-lying areas by the roadside, rippling under the falling drops and reflecting the overcast, gray sky.
Over her nun's habit, Olivia wore a black rain cloak. Moving her feet in her rain boots, she slowly walked down the street.
Inside her sleeve, her palm gripped a pentagram-shaped talisman. She could feel the cool sensation emanating from it.
Once the talisman grew hot, it meant someone infected with corpse poison was nearby. The closer she got to the target, the hotter the talisman would become, helping her identify the individual.
'Rune Experts are indeed more professional when it comes to making talismans. I could never make a talisman like this, even if I become proficient in Sylvan Runes in the future.'
Olivia thought to herself with a sense of helplessness.
Detection Talismans were a broad category of talismans because the targets they could detect were incredibly diverse, offering a vast range of options.
As for which specific aspect was chosen as the detection target, that was decided by the Rune Expert who crafted the talisman.
They could even incorporate a newly discovered substance into the detection range and create a talisman specifically for it.
The Detection Talisman in Olivia's hand had been created for this very reason, specifically to detect the presence of corpse poison.
Just as the thought of the Detection Talisman's effects flashed through her mind, Olivia noticed the talisman beginning to heat up.
She had a target!
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