Chapter 184: The Stirrings Within the Theocracy; That Red Dragon and the Sun Anglerfish Are Having an Affair!
Slane Theocracy.
At dawn, a fiery red had already emerged from the darkness in the east.
Creak!
The majestic door of the Temple's great hall was pushed open a crack, and two figures walked out, one after the other.
Walking in front was a black-haired youth. His still somewhat boyish face was clearly etched with gloom and irritation.
With every step, he seemed to intentionally use extra force, leaving footprints of varying depths on the solid stone slabs beneath his feet.
He exuded a frightening aura.
Following behind this black-haired youth was a girl wrapped in a white priest's robe. From beneath her loose hood, strands of messy, light-silver hair and a weary face were visible.
Anyone would feel exhausted after being woken up in the middle of the night to cast several large-scale spells, not to mention it concerned the death of a team member.
"Captain, I'll be heading back now," Stargazer Far-Sight said softly to the sulking figure ahead after closing the door.
She, of course, knew why her captain was angry. The direction and location of Quinn Esai's death had been fully confirmed late the previous night.
But they had been held up until now, only just emerging from the hall. This was enough to show that the Supreme Cardinal and the Cardinals of the Six Pillars had no intention of dispatching their Black Scripture.
Stargazer Far-Sight surmised that hours ago, the Wind Flower Scripture or the Water Bright Scripture—units that specialized in covert operations and intelligence gathering—had already been dispatched.
Furthermore, the Cardinals had given up on Quinn Esai. The entire meeting, which had lasted since midnight, centered on the Cardinals' belief that if Quinn Esai were resurrected, he would very likely leak the Theocracy's intelligence.
In other words, the very reason the enemy had resurrected Quinn Esai, the incident itself, was a covert operation against the Theocracy by an unknown faction.
The basis for this conclusion was her inability to detect the enemy who had killed Quinn Esai using her detection magic, though there was, of course, the possibility of multiple enemies.
This outcome clearly meant they had used anti-detection countermeasures.
A pained expression flashed across Stargazer Far-Sight's weary face as she glanced from the corner of her eye at the tightly shut door behind her.
The Cardinals were still in discussion, likely confirming all the intelligence about the Theocracy that Quinn Esai could possibly know and making a series of adjustments based on that information.
Thankfully, she didn't have to do that kind of work.
This thought flashed through Stargazer Far-Sight's mind, and she let out a nearly inaudible sigh.
The only good news was that the enemy probably wasn't that strong; otherwise, they wouldn't have gone to such lengths to take these specific countermeasures.
"Yeah, okay."
Hearing Stargazer Far-Sight's words from behind, the black-haired youth paused. He forced a smile onto his unhappy face and nodded.
As the Captain of the Black Scripture, he had a slight understanding of all his members' abilities, but he didn't know the detailed information for each individual.
After all, this bunch wasn't very strong; he could take care of all of them by himself.
Only Quinn Esai had been rather agreeable in his eyes, not because of his strength, but because Quinn Esai could temporarily manage the Black Scripture for him when he wanted to be a hands-off leader.
He had sought out the Earth Cardinal, that old man, specifically to find out where Stargazer Far-Sight lived so he could rush to the location of Quinn Esai's death at the first opportunity.
The result!
He was held up by a bunch of old geezers until now, and they wouldn't even let him act, claiming there was a Dragon Lord in the Angelicisia Mountain Range.
A Dragon Lord?
Was it stronger than him?!
Sensing the shift in her captain's mood, Stargazer Far-Sight bowed slightly and quickly turned to leave.
Just as she arrived outside the Temple, Stargazer Far-Sight saw a blonde figure standing outside, waiting with a broad smile.
Ninth Seat, Gale Stride.
"Hey, my lovely Silver-Haired Maiden, I heard my brother died," the blonde woman said to Stargazer Far-Sight, her smile never wavering.
Another troublesome one.
"My condolences."
Stargazer Far-Sight nodded expressionlessly and, after speaking, quickly walked away.
The corners of the blonde woman's mouth curled upward, revealing snow-white teeth. She quickly followed, her cheerful voice ringing out, "Tell me about it. How did he die?"
By the time the black-haired youth finally suppressed his emotions and emerged, the fiery red sun had fully risen in the east.
Hm?
The black-haired youth suddenly looked up. A figure had appeared out of nowhere in front of him.
It was another girl.
Except her appearance was truly bizarre. Half her hair was silver, and the other half was black. Even the pupils of her eyes were one silver and one black, a perfect inversion of her hair color.
This silver-and-black-haired girl looked to be only about fifteen or sixteen years old. She carried a war scythe shaped like a cross and was looking at him with an expressionless face.
It was a true indifference, a boredom that suggested she couldn't muster interest in anything at all.
But just by standing there calmly, she was like a black hole, devouring the intangible aura around her.
She wasn't really only fifteen or sixteen, either. In the black-haired youth's memory, the silver-and-black-haired girl's appearance had never seemed to change.
"Wanna have a go, Senior?"
The black-haired youth's previously foul mood seemed to have found an outlet, and he suddenly laughed.
"Alright," the silver-and-black-haired girl nodded, her delicate lips curling into a smile.
***
Five days later.
Lava Zone.
A unit of about fifty people, dressed in simple gray-blue attire with veils covering their faces and exuding an air of silent, travel-worn exhaustion, entered the area.
"Captain, this is the place where the Lord pinpointed Quinn Esai's disappearance," a member said, panting slightly as he spoke.
The temperature here was already extremely high, and their attire made their bodies feel stuffy and unventilated.
"[Mass · Increased Fire Resistance]." The scripture captain nodded lightly, raised his hands, and softly began to chant.
A red light of magic immediately flashed over all the members, and the scorching heat they felt dissipated considerably.
"Search!"
The scripture captain raised his hand and waved, his voice stern.
The next moment, the people behind him sprang into action, and flashes of magic flickered one after another.
"Residual magic power!"
"Traces of combat!"
"Suspected residual faith-based magic."
"Signs of a giant creature's presence!"
"…"
"No personnel departed."
A stream of simple or vague pieces of information quickly converged on the scripture captain.
The scripture captain's brow furrowed behind his veil.
The previous pieces of information were understandable, but the last one, "No personnel departed," left him somewhat puzzled.
"Captain, all traces indicate that there were likely two individuals who killed Quinn Esai: one was a faith-based magic caster, and the other was a warrior."
The vice-captain began his report immediately after gathering the various pieces of information.
Hearing this answer, the scripture captain was not surprised. As a member of one of the Six Scriptures himself, he knew that only true powerhouses could join the Black Scripture.
Moreover, Quinn Esai himself excelled in group combat; it was nearly impossible for a single person to defeat him.
"Based on the current intelligence, we've concluded that after killing Quinn Esai, the two assailants were likely attacked by a giant creature," the vice-captain continued to report in a monotone voice.
"Are you saying those two also died here?" The scripture captain's brow furrowed deeper.
The vice-captain did not answer. This was just a conclusion drawn from the evidence, so it could not be truly confirmed.
BOOM!
Suddenly, in the distant Lava Sea, a massive wave of lava surged.
A huge fire dragon burst from the Lava Sea, dripping magma as it beat its wings to hover above the molten surface.
"Humans!"
An angry roar echoed throughout the Lava Zone.
All the members of the scripture unit stared in terror at the horrifying figure in the distance.
At that moment, everyone knew what kind of giant creature the two enemies who killed Quinn Esai had encountered.
"Run!" the scripture captain's voice turned to terror as he roared with all his might.
BOOM—
A berserk force of attraction converged from above the Lava Sea, instantly sucking the foremost members of the scripture unit into its depths.
"Ahhh—"
"Ahhh—"
Before these people could even get close to the Lava Sea, their bodies were affected by the high temperature and burst into flames in mid-air, letting out blood-curdling screams.
***
At this very moment.
Elsewhere, in an unknown land.
Thick smoke that blotted out the sun enveloped the sky. The air was filled with the dense smell of sulfur. In all directions were active volcanoes spewing billowing black smoke.
Scalding, crimson lava periodically erupted or actively flowed from these volcanic craters.
In the distance, the terrain was rugged, formed from black rock.
In the lava flowing from an active volcano, an orange-yellow light swam rapidly by. It was a strange-looking red fish.
With a rhythmic eruption of lava, this strange, red monster fish used the force of the surge to leap from the crater, then sped down the scalding rock wall.
Finally, this red fish-like monster stabilized itself in mid-air and, with a flash of light, transformed into a human figure.
After canceling his transformation, the searing, burn-like pain all over his body made Tang Zheng suck in a sharp breath. He quickly activated a spell and rose into the air, shouting:
"Damn it, that red dragon and the Sun Anglerfish must be having an affair!"
"And what the hell is this place?!"
(end of chapter)