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n80 Joint Investigation Team

nLeah sensed Michel’s abnormality and turned to Ryan, asking with her eyes if she should knock him out.

nAt this moment, Lumian spoke up. “Is the padre not here?”

nMichel’s eyes lit up, unable to hide his excitement. “The padre is resting. You can pray to me.”

nHis face was filled with pleading.

nLumian hesitated, obviously uneasy, before reluctantly saying, “Fine.”

nSeeing Michel’s elated expression, Lumian turned to Leah and the others, feigning annoyance.

n“What’s wrong with you lot? Coming to the cathedral to pray is what any true believer would do. What is there to be afraid of?”

nWhat he really meant was that they had already escaped the basement without getting caught. Why worry now? As believers of the Eternal Blazing Sun, it was perfectly normal for them to come to the cathedral to pray. Using a side door was a trivial matter. As for the padre and his lackeys taking an extended lunch, what did that have to do with them?

nLumian knew such excuses would only fool dimwits, but they should placate the padre, at least for now. The padre wouldn’t expose them until Ryan’s group tried reporting the irregularities to the higher-ups and put an end to Cordu’s depravities.

nAs long as Leah and the others continued strolling around the village, casually chatting with people as if they hadn’t found anything incriminating in the cathedral’s basement, the padre would be content to maintain the status quo.

nAdd to that, Ryan had demolished their underground altar. It would take time for them to restore it. Lumian estimated the padre wouldn’t gain any boons for at least a couple of days, if not until after Lent began.

nBy then, it wouldn’t matter if the padre suspected them or not. Appearing “normal” was the most pressing concern.

nUpon hearing Lumian’s words, Deputy Padre Michel Garrigue vigorously nodded.

n“Absolutely! No matter your past sins, if you pray sincerely and repent, God will forgive you.”

nIs that so? What if the padre repented to the Eternal Blazing Sun and confessed that I had strayed long ago, believing in an evil god? Now, I want to return to the righteous path? Lumian appeared pious as he strode to the altar, but he didn’t buy it.

nMichel hastened ahead, seeming poised to take flight in his zeal.

nLeah couldn’t help but glance sideways at Valentine, seeing his complicated expression at the fanatical clergyman. This should have earned Valentine’s praise, but he knew the deputy padre was clearly deranged.

nRedirecting her gaze from Valentine, Leah rushed to Lumian’s side and whispered in his ear, “Did you consider that half those present don’t believe in the Eternal Blazing Sun?”

n“You’re not?” Lumian seemed genuinely surprised.

nNot because he was perceptive and grasped her hint, but of the five there, aside from the unhinged deputy padre, Valentine was certainly one of the remaining four. Lumian himself barely counted as half.

nLeah nodded slightly, her bells chiming.

nShe smiled and whispered, “Ryan hails from the Machinery Hivemind. I’m from Bureau 8, we don’t belong to the Eternal Blazing Sun Church.”

nLumian had heard his sister mention that the Machinery Hivemind was on par with the Eternal Blazing Sun Church’s Inquisition. It was a branch of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery dealing with matters concerning those from beyond. Bureau 8’s full name was Bureau 8 under the Intis Intelligence and Homeland Security Committee. It was the Republic’s most official organization in the domain of the Beyonders.

n“Weren’t you sent by the Church?” Lumian asked curiously, finding a chair and sitting down.

nLeah sat beside him, smiling thinly.

n“Too many dangerous run-ins with those from beyond have happened at country borders in recent years, especially in disputed territories. When Cordu called for help, the higher-ups decided to set up a joint task force to get into Cordu, figure out what’s really going down, and give the best recommendation for how to handle it.

n“Who knew that this place…”

nShe shook her head, seeming at a loss for words while her bells chimed.

nThe strangeness and horror of this place was beyond her imagination.

nAt times she felt Valentine was right to suggest reporting everything and requesting Cordu’s destruction.

nBut she wasn’t ready to die yet. She had to choke back her professional instincts and morals.

nAt that moment, Deputy Padre Michel Garrigue picked up the book on the altar and glanced at the four praying.

nLeah then crossed her arms over her chest and bowed her head.

n“…” Lumian was a little stunned.

nAnd you claim not to believe in the Eternal Blazing Sun!

nLeah sensed his gaze and turned, flashing him a wry grin.

n“God won’t fault me for posing as a sheep of another flock during a crusade. If you doubt it, look…” She jerked her chin to the other side.

nRyan, hailing from Machinery Hivemind, folded his arms over his chest in a pious fashion.

nSo your moral compass possesses flexibility when questing… Lumian longed to jibe Leah and Ryan, but worship had commenced. He couldn’t lag behind.

nAfter adopting a reverent mien and closing his eyes, the deputy padre, Michel Garrigue, riffled through the Holy Bible and intoned gravely, “God spake, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light…”

nLumian suddenly felt a surge of nostalgia as he listened to the familiar sermon in the cathedral.

nThough he used to just go with the flow and float through the service, whispering and gazing around, he now longed for the simplicity of the past—even if he had to pray with the greatest devotion.

nEven the unpleasant events that had once annoyed him were now a source of comfort.

nBy the time Lumian and the others left the Eternal Blazing Sun cathedral, the padre and servants were still knocked out cold.

nRyan glanced toward the castle and sighed emotionally.

n“That woman’s far more powerful than I realized.”

n“How powerful?” Lumian asked, curious.

nRyan deliberated a moment. “It’s like she’s touched the threshold of godhood, yet not quite.”

nYou seem to have said something yet not quite… If Lumian didn’t need Ryan and the others recently, he’d have spoken his mind.

nHowever, thanks to his extensive knowledge of mysticism, he could roughly guess what Ryan meant by “the threshold of godhood.”

nSequence 4! The beginnings of a demigod!

nHe pondered a moment.

n“I think Pualis seemed off when she appeared as Madame Night.”

nHe’d told them about Madame Night in Paramita.

n“I got the same impression,” Leah said with a smile. “Like a botched patchwork monster.”

nRyan nodded.

n“We have an understanding of Madame Night to some extent. In the border region between Intis and Feynapotter, similar incidents have occurred frequently in recent years. Some call her Madame Night, some call her Madam Härt, some call her The Benevolent, and some call her The Vile. But so far, we haven’t caught any of them. We still lack a systematic grasp of them.

n“Yes, this is the first time I’ve heard of Paramita.”

nLeah strode to the edge of the village square with a tinkling gait. “Something about Paramita occurred to me from the description.”

n“What?” Lumian never felt embarrassed to inquire.

nLeah glanced southward. “In Feynapotter’s Church of Earth Mother, there’s a saying: ‘The soul returns to the land.'”

nThe soul returns to the land… Images of the wilderness and wandering undead surfaced in Lumian’s mind.

nHe had to admit Leah’s association made sense.

nArriving at the elm tree at the village entrance, Ryan surveyed the area and remarked,

n“Let’s not provoke that madame further. Regarding escaping the loop, even if she doesn’t provide aid, she won’t become an enemy. We just need to monitor her movements and see if we can utilize the specific temporal node she mentioned.”

nWasn’t it because you clearly couldn’t defeat her if you didn’t provoke her? Lumian suppressed his mouth, ready to retort.

nHe then asked Valentine, “How many minutes?”

nHe worried that if he mistimed, his sister would trigger the loop and restart everything.

nValentine extracted a gold pocket watch and popped it open.

n“Ten minutes remaining.”

n“That’s good…” Lumian sighed in relief and waved at Ryan and the others. “I’m going to search for Aurore. If you’ve nothing else to do, help me locate Sybil’s husband, Jean Maury. Investigate who’s spreading the rumor that the horoscopes are about to change and everyone will usher in good fortune. If you discover anything, come to my house to find me. Goodbye, my cabbages!”

nThat was what Leah and the others had planned to do, so no one objected.

n……

nLumian fell into deep thought as he bade farewell to the Joint Investigation Team and walked to the agreed-upon spot at the edge of the village.

nAfter completing his exploration of the cathedral’s underground, he had a darn good hunch about the anomaly in Cordu.

nThe ones responsible for the loop were definitely the padre’s group. They’d been secretly worshiping an evil god for at least six months and had secretly sacrificed quite a few foreigners under the cathedral in exchange for loads of boons.

nBefore Lent, the padre, Pons Bénet, and their lot had received a boon using the three Beyonders that Shepherd Pierre Berry had brought back—or at least one of them. The former instantly became a pretty powerful Beyonder. Hence, they kicked off a grand ritual at the start of Lent.

nOn the twelfth night, in the final stage of the ritual, the hidden being with the name of Inevitability would accept the large-scale sacrifice and complete something that the padre and company had prayed for. But at that moment, something unexpected happened. The ritual failed to complete, and the power involving the past, present, and future dissipated, bringing about a time loop.

nAs for what unexpected event had occurred, Lumian recalled something the mysterious lady had once said: “You belong to the group of individuals who are on the brink of being corrupted. Luckily, the mark left by that great existence was activated, and the corresponding power descended upon you, sealing the source of corruption and establishing balance…”

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