Jessica, having received the Luck Talisman, did not stay long. After thanking Olivia once more, she left the prayer room.
Next was the next believer.
...
A day passed in the blink of an eye.
As night fell again, Olivia finished her day's work. She ate a reasonably hearty dinner in the cafeteria and then visited the treatment room to check on her colleagues who had not yet recovered.
Throughout the entire day, her state of mind remained exceptionally peaceful.
However, she still didn't feel that sense of personal completion. It felt as though she was only a tiny distance away from piercing that final layer of paper.
'No need to rush, no need to rush. The more you hurry, the harder it is to succeed.'
Olivia whispered to herself, trying her best to clear her mind.
...
In the blink of an eye, it was a new day.
As soon as she opened her eyes, Olivia heard the pitter-patter of rain outside. Fine droplets struck the exterior walls of the cathedral and drummed against the windows in a ceaseless rhythm.
The clouds hung low, and the wind howled fiercely.
"Why has the rain been getting heavier lately..."
Olivia muttered as she got out of bed. She changed her clothes, meticulously putting on her nun uniform. After finishing her morning routine, she headed to the cafeteria.
Bread spread with butter and stuffed with beef, accompanied by a glass of milk, was her breakfast for the day.
Just as she picked up her breakfast and was looking for a place to sit, an unfamiliar but kind-faced nun approached her.
"Sister Olivia, Administrative Nun Melanie Mills is looking for you."
"Melanie?"
Olivia was certainly familiar with Melanie, but the prefix 'Administrative Nun' made her pause for a moment.
Then she remembered that today was Monday. The administrative seat of the Sunlight Cathedral had changed. Gareth Pierce had stepped down, and a new person would take the seat.
The administrative seat wasn't reserved solely for Priests; chanting nuns could also hold it. The two sides rotated; next week, it would be a Priest's turn again.
Having cleared her thoughts, Olivia took her breakfast and followed the nun to the Administrative Office.
...
Inside the Administrative Office.
Melanie sat behind a wide desk. Her long purple hair, visible beneath her nun's hood, was smooth and lustrous. Her emerald eyes crinkled with a smile as she saw Olivia enter with her breakfast.
"You certainly are natural. Other full nuns are quite respectful when they see me."
"Maybe it's because we're familiar?" Olivia shrugged.
Melanie was essentially her guide, having led her onto the path of the Ascetic and even teaching her combat for a time. They had quite a bit of contact, so Olivia naturally didn't feel any sense of distance when facing her.
She took a bite of the bread, feeling the flavor of the beef spread through her mouth. She chewed a few extra times before asking, "Is something the matter, Lady Melanie?"
Hearing the question, Melanie's expression immediately turned serious.
She spoke slowly, "It's an extension of the previous matter. Regarding Dalia Sullivan, after a careful investigation, we finally confirmed her identity last night."
Olivia instantly perked up.
This was the cold-hearted individual who had nearly caused their entire team to be wiped out. Olivia cared quite a bit about this.
If given the chance, she wouldn't mind standing in front of the woman and landing a heavy punch right on her face.
"Who is she?" Olivia asked.
"She is from the Twilight Council," Melanie replied.
Various pieces of information regarding the Twilight Council immediately surfaced in Olivia's mind.
Even among the numerous heretical organizations, the Twilight Council was particularly conspicuous because they were larger and more powerful.
And also because they specifically targeted the church.
Members of this organization advocated that everything in the world would eventually meet its end. Finality was the outcome of all things, and death was the ultimate destination. Only through death could one return to the embrace of the gods.
Therefore, they chose to spread death and manufacture death. They were known for their bloodthirstiness and cruelty, using methods without bottom lines that made people shudder. They deeply believed that death was the only truth and that the act of spreading death would bring them the favor of their lord.
Without a doubt, they were a group of extremely mad and twisted individuals.
"It seems there is an evil god behind them," Olivia whispered.
"There is no doubt about it. That evil god representing death is exceptionally powerful, beyond what we can fathom. But at the very least, we cannot allow the followers of the death god to run wild," Melanie said firmly.
The Twilight Council was always active, never ceasing their movements. The damage they dealt to the church remained high, making them a true thorn in the church's side.
Any trace of such an organization appearing was enough for the church to take it seriously.
"Do you remember the corpse poison Dalia Sullivan spread?" Melanie mentioned this point again.
Back in the tavern, whether it was the bartenders, waiters, or guests, once they perceived a certain trigger, they would turn into corpse monsters and cease to be human.
The reason this happened was that their bodies had long been injected with the corpse poison from the Corpse Poison Goblet.
Naturally, this corpse poison wouldn't exist only in the people present at the scene. After all, Dalia wouldn't know exactly when the church people would arrive; she couldn't have arranged the poison with such precision.
Therefore, what Dalia had done was secretly inject corpse poison into everyone who had visited the tavern over a certain period, making it possible for them to mutate at any time.
These people couldn't have all been present when the church arrived at the tavern. This meant that these unstable individuals with corpse poison in their bodies were still living their lives.
Once they perceived the existence of a trigger one day, they would immediately mutate into terrifying corpse monsters. The destruction and bloodshed caused then would be unimaginable.
"We need to find these people and find a way to clear the corpse poison from their bodies," Olivia understood the key point.
"Yes, but we already arranged for people to do that yesterday. And because of that, we discovered something even worse." Melanie's expression grew increasingly heavy.
Olivia pursed her lips and didn't ask further, but her heart instinctively tightened.
Melanie said, "We found that the number of people carrying the corpse poison far exceeds our expectations.
"It's not just people who visited the tavern. Even people who have never been there have corpse poison on them.
"Some have never even been near the tavern's social circle, yet they carry it too.
"These people come from all walks of life, entering and leaving a vast variety of places every day. This means that in many locations, there is a possibility of a sudden outbreak of corpse poison.
"So the answer is clear: Dalia was deliberately spreading the corpse poison!"
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