The two stood locked in a tense silence for a moment. Then, the Archbishop slowly spoke, "You... are you alive or dead?"
For a member of the Death Church to ask such a question, it was clear the Archbishop was genuinely bewildered. She suddenly recalled the peaceful corpse and asked, "Did you kill that person?"
After a moment's hesitation, Castorice softly hummed in acknowledgment. Whether she admitted it or not, she had now firmly caught the Archbishop's attention.
The Archbishop's eyes widened, her voice growing agitated. "How did you do it? Such a tranquil death?"
The Archbishop's earlier refusal to authorize a city-wide search didn't mean she was indifferent to the matter. The Death Church simply lacked the resources and manpower for such an undertaking. But with Castorice now standing before her, the situation had changed dramatically.
The Archbishop abruptly threw back her hood, letting her long, deep purple hair cascade down her shoulders. Her crimson eyes reflected Castorice's image as she strode purposefully toward her. Castorice retreated half a step, warning, "Please don't come any closer. Anyone I touch will die instantly..."
But before she could finish, the Archbishop lunged at her with a swift, decisive leap that momentarily stunned her.
What's going on? Castorice thought. We were just having a normal conversation. Why is she attacking now?
Instinctively, Castorice raised her hands. A massive purple scythe materialized in her grip, its blade held defensively across her chest. But the Archbishop wasn't aiming for Castorice at all. Instead, she had leaped toward the ground just ahead of her.
Thump!
With a soft thud, the Archbishop landed. Momentum carried her forward, sliding to a stop right at Castorice's feet. She reached up and clutched at Castorice's calf beneath her black cloak!
In that moment, Castorice stood frozen, scythe in hand, eyes fixed ahead, ready to defend. Her mind went completely blank.
"Huh? What's going on?"
As expected, Castorice's passive ability caused the Archbishop's life force to visibly drain away at an alarming rate. However, perhaps because the Archbishop's strength far surpassed that of any petty thugs Castorice had previously encountered, the time required for instant death was significantly prolonged.
Castorice hastily tossed her scythe aside, pressed both hands against the Archbishop's head, and struggled to free her right foot. But even as death approached, the Archbishop's grip remained tenacious. Finally, when Castorice managed to wrench her foot from her embrace, the Death Archbishop lay face down on the ground, a blissful expression frozen on her face, utterly lifeless.
"This..." Staring at the corpse before her, Castorice's mouth hung slightly agape. Crap! I killed the Death Archbishop, one of the three local tyrants of Chaos City! Now the Death Church will come after me, won't they?
Castorice glanced at the Death Priest standing nearby and blurted out, "I didn't do it! She did it himself..."
But before she could finish her sentence, barely two or three seconds later, the Archbishop, who had just been stone-dead, suddenly gasped for air, opened her eyes, and slowly sat up.
Castorice, "???"
She was certain this girl had been dead just moments ago. So what was happening now? A resurrection?
The revived Archbishop clutched her chest, her body twitching slightly. Her face flushed crimson, and a blissful, foolish grin spread across her features. "This... this is too wonderful! Such a warm embrace, such pure death—there's no mistaking it!"
She turned to Castorice, her eyes gleaming with fervor. "You—no, Your Holiness! You are the Holy Maiden sent by the Death God to dispel our confusion and guide us forward..."
"I'm not," Castorice interrupted sharply, cutting her off before she could finish. This was exactly what she had feared. If she admitted it now, what would the Death God think when He eventually learned the truth?
Undeterred, the Archbishop continued as if she hadn't heard her denial. "For ages, the Death God has remained silent to our prayers. Yet I knew She hadn't abandoned us. Through our tireless devotion, finally... you have appeared, Holy Maiden!"
"I'm really not your Holy Maiden..." Castorice insisted, but the Archbishop continued, "Holy Maiden, you need only issue your commands. All 231 Death Priests in Chaos City are at your disposal! Your will is the very reason we exist!"
It was no exaggeration to say that Castorice felt as if she and the Archbishop were on completely different wavelengths.
After a moment of silence, she asked, "You mentioned earlier that the Death God hasn't answered your prayers in a long time. What does that mean?"
The Archbishop immediately explained that the gods in this world were real beings who routinely issued divine decrees to their believers, instructing them on what to do. Conversely, when believers prayed to a god for help, there was a chance their prayers would be answered. For a Chosen One, such as a Holy Maiden, their prayers were guaranteed to be answered unless the god was occupied elsewhere.
However, about ten years ago, the Death God had seemingly vanished without a trace. Since then, the Death Church had received no further divine decrees, and none of their prayers to the Death God had been answered.
Even more strangely, the power of all Death Priests had stagnated. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't acquire any new Divine Magic.
Normally, strengthening a Priest's abilities was straightforward: simply fulfill the god's will. The more you pleased the deity, the more power they would grant you. Take the Archbishop, for example. She had spent a full decade in Chaos City, burying countless corpses, yet her strength remained unchanged—an utterly illogical situation.
Hearing this, Castorice nodded thoughtfully. "But I truly am not your Holy Maiden..."
The Archbishop countered, "Holy Maiden, we have waited ten long years for this moment! Please, issue any command—we will obey!"
Castorice struggled to articulate her feelings. Hesitantly, she asked, "What... what's your name?"
The Archbishop replied instantly, "Holy Maiden, you may call me Aisha."
As she spoke, Aisha pointed to another Priest who had silently materialized beside them. "This is Kaia, my Adjutant."
Castorice tried again, "But I'm not your Holy Maiden."
Aisha blinked her red eyes and tilted her head. "Holy Maiden, is there anything else you wish to know?"
Castorice sighed in exasperation. "Well... stand up straight, chest out, head held high."
Aisha immediately snapped to attention, standing ramrod straight like a wooden stick. "Right away!"
Castorice tried again. "I didn't mean..."
Aisha interrupted. "Do you have any further instructions?"
Castorice fell silent, finally understanding that the Archbishop wasn't deaf at all. She simply chose to hear only what she wanted, automatically filtering out anything disagreeable.
She sighed softly, feeling inexplicably weary. If the Death God had truly vanished a decade ago, then impersonating his Holy Maiden might not be so wrong after all. After all, the rightful owner was gone. What harm could there be in... borrowing his harem? He wouldn't come looking for her.
Of course, the reality wasn't that she was actively seducing his followers. Rather, the Death God's harem members were practically throwing themselves at her!
Since she couldn't shake them off, she might as well accept it. As long as she didn't order them to do anything too strange or violate her conscience, there shouldn't be any harm, right?
"Do you know anything about the Seven Heroes who once fought the Demon Lord here, and the Seven Divine Artifacts they wielded?" Castorice asked.
"Heroes? Divine Artifacts?" Aisha frowned slightly, racking her brain to recall any such tales. Finally, she shook her head in frustration, as if failing to answer Castorice's question was a grave personal failure. "I'm sorry, Holy Maiden, I've never heard of Heroes or Divine Artifacts."
Castorice pressed on. "What about the mysterious phenomena of Divine Concealment and Extreme Cold? Do you know anything about those?"
Aisha pondered for a moment before shaking her head again. Seeing this, Castorice sighed inwardly. How can this Death Archbishop, a local tyrant of Chaos City, know even less than a Barbarian?
Noticing Castorice's reaction, Aisha seemed flustered. "It's alright, Holy Maiden! I'll immediately order all our believers in the city to scour for any information related to Heroes, Divine Artifacts, Divine Concealment, or Extreme Cold!"
Castorice quickly waved her hand. "That won't be necessary. Don't you have more important matters to attend to?"
Just moments ago, Aisha had rejected her adjutant, Kaia's, request to search for someone, citing "more important matters." Yet now, at Castorice's single suggestion, Aisha was ready to abandon those very priorities?
Aisha blinked innocently, feigning ignorance. "What important matters? There aren't any! All the Death Priests in the city have nothing to do right now!"
Castorice stared at her in silence.
At that moment, Aisha's adjutant, Kaia, bowed slightly and said respectfully, "Holy Maiden, we had been collecting corpses to hold a grand mass funeral. Our aim was to attract a god's attention by simultaneously appeasing a large number of souls. However, now that you've arrived, continuing with that plan no longer makes sense."
After a pause, Kaia added, "In fact, this would have been our seventh attempt at such a mass funeral this year. None of the previous six elicited any response from the gods. We've also tried countless other methods besides mass funerals, but none have worked either..."
Aisha interrupted Kaia, declaring, "What failure? This is clearly a success! The Death God must have recognized our efforts and sent the Holy Maiden to us!"
Listening to their conversation, Castorice couldn't help but feel a strange pity for these priests of the Death Church. They reminded her of lost house cats, wandering the streets in search of their master. After countless years, they had finally stumbled upon someone who bore an uncanny resemblance to their former owner—Castorice herself—and now clung to her desperately.
To put it bluntly, Castorice couldn't help but suspect that the Death God had met with some "unfortunate incident." How could a True God remain silent to the prayers of His believers for a decade?
Having been a staunch atheist in her previous life, Castorice struggled to comprehend or imagine what would happen to believers if the god they worshipped were to die.
Yet, as a Faith God whose very Priesthood was "Death," how could the Death God suddenly "fall"? Did that even make sense?
So, it's more likely that the Death God has fallen into some kind of "special state"? Regardless, the fact remains that He is out of contact, and for His followers, it seems to make little difference whether He lives or dies.
Aisha, meanwhile, was urging Kaia, "What are you waiting for? Hurry and inform all the priests in the city to carry out the Holy Maiden's divine decree!"
Kaia clasped his hands in a fist salute, acknowledged the order, and swiftly turned to leave.
Castorice opened her mouth to speak, but ultimately remained silent. She silently turned and resumed her search for the dilapidated inn Nathaniel had mentioned. Aisha trailed closely behind, her footsteps measured and deliberate, constantly chattering:
"Holy Maiden, please trust in our efficiency. Whether it's the Hero, a Divine Artifact, or the secrets of Divine Concealment and Extreme Cold, if it exists within this city, we will surely find it!"
"Holy Maiden, what are you planning to do now?"
"Holy Maiden, you smell so lovely~"
Castorice fell silent for a moment. Being constantly addressed as "Holy Maiden" felt awkward. "Why don't you just call me Castorice?" she said.
Aisha replied instantly, "As you command, Holy Maiden!"
Castorice: "..."
Finally, after about fifteen minutes, Castorice located the ruins of the inn Nathaniel had mentioned. It didn't take long to find the cellar entrance.
The moment she opened the cellar door, a blast of frigid air surged out, causing both Castorice and Aisha to shiver involuntarily.
While the temperature in Chaos City hovered around a comfortable twenty-odd degrees Celsius, opening the cellar door instantly plunged it to below -20°C!
Despite Castorice's slender frame, she was ultimately a Demigod. A temperature of -20°C posed no real threat. Raising her guard slightly, she slowly descended into the cellar.