"Is this the city?"
Outside New Centralia, a white-robed nun with a black cloth covering her eyes got out of the car and gazed at the distant city.
It was already six in the morning. In May, Maine should have already welcomed the dawn, but the white-robed nun could only see the haze above the city.
"Yes, Ms. Iris."
A middle-aged man in a black suit got out of the other side of the car. This middle-aged man had ordinary looks, the kind you'd forget the moment you passed him on the street, but his eyes revealed a shrewdness that marked him as someone out of the ordinary.
More than a dozen other people in similar black suits, looking sharp and capable, followed behind the middle-aged man from the other cars.
"Then let me see the fate of this city!"
Iris's eyes, covered by the black cloth, seemed to pierce through time, seeing the future of New Centralia.
But after a few seconds, Iris suddenly swayed and covered her eyes.
"Damn it!"
"Ms. Iris, are you alright?"
The middle-aged man beside her tried to help Iris, but she refused.
"Agent Edgar, I'm fine!"
"Ms. Iris, what did you see?"
Iris took a deep breath and answered the middle-aged man.
"I saw the cataclysm of this city!"
Just now, Iris had seen thick fog, ashes, flames, an inverted pentagram, and countless wronged souls.
But towards the end, the images Iris saw became increasingly blurry. When she tried to concentrate to see the future clearly, she felt dizzy.
Something was wrong. The future Iris could see wouldn't be so short unless this future was being interfered with by some being.
To do this, one would have to be at least at the level of the Seven Demon Lords.
Thinking of the inverted pentagram symbol she had seen, could Samael be manipulating all of this?
Then she had to be prepared!
Iris's expression became serious. She turned to look at the middle-aged man.
"Agent Edgar, this incident may be even more terrifying than previously estimated. My suggestion is that the FEA immediately go to the highest alert level and bring in more agents from the surrounding areas and headquarters!"
The middle-aged man hesitated, looking somewhat uncertain.
After all, issuing the highest alert was a huge responsibility, one that even he, as a high-ranking agent at FEA headquarters, couldn't easily bear.
"Ms. Iris, is it that serious?"
"If you don't do this, you may witness a completely destroyed city and hundreds of thousands of wronged souls!"
Seeing how serious Iris sounded, Edgar had to take it seriously.
"Ms. Iris, I will report this to my superiors immediately! However, I don't have the authority to decide on the specific course of action. All I can do is transfer agents from Portland and FEAR members over here."
Portland was the largest city in Maine. FEA branch offices were generally located in big cities. Interestingly, there was another Portland in America, in Oregon on the West Coast.
Both Portlands happened to be the largest cities in their respective states.
Iris understood after listening to the middle-aged man. In her few months in America, the Angel of Wisdom had already understood how this country operated.
However, understanding was one thing; Iris found it very difficult to accept the stupidity of some politicians.
She guessed this time would be the same. By the time the FEA higher-ups and the White House finished their meetings, it would probably be too late.
"I need more help!"
Iris first thought of Roy. Although this half-demon had a complicated relationship with Michael, he was indeed reliable.
The Angel of Wisdom had once fought alongside Roy against the King of Greed, Mammon, so she had a very good impression of him.
Should she contact Roy Black?
The Angel of Wisdom didn't know that Roy had also just arrived in New Centralia at this time, but because he entered from the north of the city, while Iris was in the south, the two hadn't met yet.
At this moment, Iris's phone suddenly rang.
Well, although she was an angel, Iris had already adapted to local customs and was using various high-tech gadgets.
For example, the satellite phone she was carrying was provided by the FEA. It used the most cutting-edge technology and could also provide global positioning.
Iris was well aware of the FEA's intentions, but she didn't care about these petty tricks. Anyway, she had ways to block satellite positioning.
Current human technology posed little difficulty for the Angel of Wisdom. In just a few months, she had already obtained several doctoral degrees, just to better understand the changes in modern humans.
There were very few people who had Iris's number, probably only Isabella, Roy, Gerald, a few FEA higher-ups, and the current President.
The caller was somewhat unexpected to Iris. It was actually Isabella.
Since more than a month ago, when Iris went to the church in Waterfall Town to confirm that Michael had returned to Heaven ahead of schedule, she hadn't contacted her again. She didn't expect to suddenly receive a call from Isabella today.
"Hello, this is Iris."
"Lady Iris, Lord Michael told me a message. Lord Raphael has descended to Earth."
Although Michael had left Isabella's body, the connection between her and Isabella had not been severed.
So, as long as Michael was willing, he could transmit messages from Heaven to Isabella.
Hearing this, Iris's heart stirred. Wasn't this helper arriving just in time?
Raphael was also one of the four archangels in Heaven, but unlike the other three archangels, he wasn't very good at fighting. His abilities leaned towards healing and he was known as the Angel of Healing.
At the same time, Raphael was also skilled in music, poetry, painting, sculpture, and other artistic pursuits, which was quite unusual among angels.
However, Uriel's relationship with Raphael was rather ordinary because the Angel of Wisdom had a calm and rational personality, while the Angel of Healing was free-spirited and undisciplined. Their personalities could be said to be completely opposite.
So, Raphael hadn't even told Uriel about his descent to Earth.
Of course, it was also possible that Raphael had a sudden whim and decided to descend to Earth without telling anyone, and Michael discovered it afterward.
Raphael had done this kind of thing quite a few times before, often causing headaches for the other three archangels.
"Isabella, is there a way to contact Raphael?"
Hearing this, Isabella on the other end was silent for a moment before replying.
"I, I'm not sure if I can contact Lord Raphael. Should I go ask the Vatican?"
If it was about contacting the Church, Iris could contact them herself. Why would she need Isabella as an intermediary?
Iris's intention was actually to have Isabella pass the message to Michael, and then have Michael use Gabriel's abilities to pass the message to Raphael.
This process sounded complicated, but it was actually the fastest method right now, since no one knew where Raphael was.
"Isabella, I've discovered that the King of Wrath is plotting something sinister. I need Raphael's help. Do you understand what I mean?"
As soon as she heard that Samael was causing trouble, Isabella, who had a strong sense of justice, immediately changed her attitude.
"Lady Iris, I will do my best to contact Lord Michael! Please wait for my news!"
"It must be fast. I'm currently in New Centralia, Maine. Once you contact Raphael, have him come here immediately!"
The phone hung up quickly. Iris saw a ray of sunlight pierce through the dark clouds, bringing a brief moment of light to the city of New Centralia.
"I hope everything is still in time."
A trace of worry appeared on Iris's usually calm face.
The scene shifted back to Roy. He had just driven Bumblebee, following Cybil, the local, to the outside of the three-star hotel where the three little witches from the Apocalypse Society were staying.
However, Roy didn't go in directly, afraid of alerting anyone.
From Madison and the others' experience, it was clear that New Centralia had been heavily infiltrated by the King of Wrath's cult. No one knew if there were any cult informants inside the hotel.
So, Roy wanted to learn about the city's situation from Cybil outside.
Unsurprisingly, most of the people in New Centralia believed in a religion called the Follower Sect. This situation was even more serious than the King of Gluttony's cult in Los Angeles.
The King of Gluttony's cult mainly infiltrated the high ranks of the Los Angeles Police Department and quickly disintegrated after Iris took down its leader.
But in New Centralia, hundreds of thousands of people fanatically believed in that holy maiden, Jennifer.
Cybil herself didn't believe in the Follower Sect, but many of her colleagues at the police station did.
The entire city could be said to be full of informants for the Follower Sect. So, the three little witches thought they had escaped the cult's pursuit, but they were actually still in the cultists' grasp.
It was just that the three of them were indeed capable fighters, and the cultists didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble, so they simply used magic to seal their room.
"Looks like I still need to be careful."
Roy pondered for a moment, thinking about how to rescue the three little witches from the Apocalypse Society under the noses of the Follower Sect.
Cybil looked hesitant, as if she wanted to say something but didn't dare. Roy noticed her condition.
"Officer Bennett, do you have something you want to tell me?"
"Mr. Black, is there something wrong with this Follower Sect?"
Actually, Cybil had already seen something from Roy's attitude, but she still wanted to confirm it.
"Yes, it's a dangerous cult organization."
"Why is that? My parents believe in this religion!"
Hearing this, Roy looked at Cybil with some surprise.
Religious beliefs in America were generally family-based, meaning that whatever the elders believed, the younger generation would often follow the same religion.
"Oh? Then why don't you believe in this sect?"
"Our family originally believed in Protestantism. About ten years ago, I went to serve in the military. When I returned after my discharge, I found that my parents had converted to the Follower Sect, and they've been trying to get me to convert ever since."
Roy's heart stirred.
"Then you should have some clothing or token of faith from this sect on you, right? Could you lend it to me for a bit?"
Cybil was taken aback for a moment.
"I think so! Today is the Follower Sect's Sabbath, my parents should be at the cathedral for worship right now."
"The cathedral, is it over there?"
New Centralia wasn't large, with only a few hundred thousand permanent residents. It was a typical tourist and cultural city, with basically no tall buildings in the urban area. The most obvious landmark was the large cathedral in the city center.
The top of this cathedral was the large cross formed by four smaller crosses (the one in the screenshot of Chapter 253).
At this moment, the cathedral bells were ringing, and the entire city seemed to awaken with the sound of the bells.
"Yes, that's it! Devout believers will go to the church to worship all day today."
So, today might be the time when the cultists are most relaxed?
Roy showed a thoughtful expression and then looked at Cybil.
"Let's go get your things first!"
At Cybil's house, Roy obtained a red robe specifically for believers, as well as the Follower Sect's scripture and a cross.
After putting on this outfit, Roy immediately looked very much like a genuine cultist.
"Very good, this disguise should work. Officer Bennett, you wait for me outside. I'm going into the hotel to rescue my companions."
"Mr. Black, are you sure you don't need my help? I should be able to help out a bit!"
"Officer Bennett, how about this? You stay outside and back me up. If I don't come out within twenty minutes, you try to create some commotion to attract the attention of the people inside the hotel."
"Okay, no problem!"
After instructing Cybil, Roy entered the three-star hotel.
As expected, Roy's disguise didn't attract anyone's attention when he entered the hotel. Many staff members even nodded and greeted him after seeing his attire. It was likely that these staff members were also believers in the Follower Sect.
He arrived at the floor where Madison and the others were staying very smoothly. Roy had already learned the specific room number of the three from Motel beforehand.
"Let me see what's going on!"
On the phone, Motel's description of Madison's situation was rather vague, possibly because she thought Roy wouldn't understand even if she explained it.
Through visual observation, there was nothing unusual about the three little witches' room. But when Roy tried to push the door, even with his current strength attribute of 60, there should have been some reaction from just a casual push.
Seriously, with Roy's current strength, a punch on the wall could collapse an entire wall. This situation was clearly abnormal.
"Looks like something is hidden."
So, Roy activated his Eyes of Truth. A scan with his golden pupils revealed a red magic circle drawn on the door of this room.
(Halo of the Sun)
This magic circle didn't appear in the Key of Solomon, so it must have been created by someone later.
Roy could roughly see many runes within the magic circle, perhaps a magic circle combining the Solomon magic system and the Norse rune magic system.
Just by looking at it, Roy could feel the powerful magic contained within this magic circle.
No wonder the witch Motel sent to protect Madison and them couldn't handle this magic circle. After all, with the current meager resources of the Witch's Union...
He still had to rely on himself!