“Use 【Detect Thoughts】 directly,” Guardian ordered Blaine, glancing at him.
“I’ve got you covered with my 【Mental Barrier】.”
“Just focus on extracting the information!”
Guardian fixed his gaze on the investigator who was babbling nonsense.
“If what lies in this godforsaken stone sarcophagus really is that damned Goddess of Slaughter...”
Guardian took a deep breath.
“Then I believe we need to get out of here and notify headquarters immediately.”
“This is no longer an incident a small branch like ours can handle.”
Hearing this, Blaine nodded heavily.
He raised a finger and pressed it against his brow.
Spirituality surged.
Since the investigator himself was in a state of incapacitation and unconsciousness, his brain was like an undefended, empty room.
Thus, the target of 【Detect Thoughts】 was very clear.
It pointed directly at the eerie spiritual body usurping another's nest.
The moment he read the information...
Blaine’s legs went weak, and he slumped heavily back onto the cold stone floor.
“What’s the situation?”
Guardian frowned, looking at the shaken Blaine on the ground as he questioned him.
“It’s... it’s the Goddess of Slaughter.”
Blaine forced the words out through gritted teeth.
Every syllable felt like a curse weighing a thousand pounds.
In this suffocatingly oppressive underground room, even though he was currently bathed in the Moonlight Blessing he had worked so hard to summon, he still felt as if an invisible giant hand was squeezing his chest.
“What did you say?!”
Guardian’s lone eye widened in shock.
His worst premonition had come true.
This undoubtedly verified the most absurd of the theories in his mind.
It wasn't just because those goddamn Slayers were mad.
What a tragedy!
In this day and age, even the words of those anti-social cultists were actually true!
“This... this is indeed the Goddess of Slaughter,” Blaine said, now drenched in a cold sweat.
“Except...”
Blaine’s Adam’s apple bobbed with difficulty.
“It’s just a shell.”
“It really can be considered a ‘masterpiece’ by these Slayers!”
“Those bastards!”
Guardian couldn't help but curse loudly.
“This goddamn Hope County!”
“It was bad enough having a Soul Pendulum hanging over it, but how is there such a massive, world-shaking mess hidden underground?!”
“The Goddess of Slaughter!”
“She’s been fallen for at least a thousand years!”
“And yet, a shell of hers was hidden beneath Hope County?!”
At this point, it had to be mentioned.
The North District of Hope County had always been the exclusive extravagant district for high officials, noble elites, and financial tycoons.
It was filthy rich and filled with hedonism.
Under normal circumstances, the Seventh Agency’s law enforcement activities in this area were usually superficial.
To put it bluntly, they were just going through the motions.
If their actions were too large and disturbed some noble lord with royal connections, they would have to personally bring gifts to apologize.
They had to save face for those nobles who sat in their gardens every day drinking sweetened black tea.
If there was an obvious bloodbath, that was one thing; they could grit their teeth and investigate. But if there was no case and they dared to bring people to search the North District, it would be a major problem.
Guardian had suspected more than once that these arrogant, morally bankrupt nobles were secretly engaged in some malicious, transgressive activities.
After all, the wealthier people were, the more they feared death.
And the more they feared death, the easier it was for them to get involved with the shady world of mysticism.
However, as time passed, the boundaries, suspicions, and sense of justice he once held had gradually become blurred in the face of daily compromises.
But looking at it now...
This wasn't just transgression.
They were literally manufacturing a god for themselves underground!
If Hope County could rot to this extent right under the noses of these nobles—and even the Seventh Agency—without anyone noticing, then there was a high probability that other prosperous cities in the Kingdom of Velen were facing equally lethal, or even more terrifying, problems.
The roots were rotten to the core.
“Boss?”
Blaine looked at the grim-faced Guardian and called out cautiously.
“In the memories I just read...”
Blaine’s voice was trembling uncontrollably.
“There’s something even more lethal.”
He glanced at the empty stone sarcophagus, his scalp tingling.
“Regarding this body...”
Blaine swallowed hard and dropped a bombshell. “The memories show that it isn't remains.”
“It was artificially manufactured.”
“What?!”
Guardian could no longer contain himself.
Manufacturing a divine shell?
What on earth were these lunatics trying to do!
...
Meanwhile.
While the chaos capable of subverting all of Velen was growing in the shadows beneath the North District and West District, the prosperous world above ground remained unchanged.
Ash Street.
Just one hour ago.
During the height of the grand Spark Festival parade, Charlotte had already returned home.
The three exhausted girls had exerted every ounce of strength to stuff the large George into a carriage and send him home.
Afterward, having rarely gone out, they hurried to the crowded main road to watch the parade for a while, just for the excitement.
Seeing the hands of the pocket watch approaching midnight, the time for the city-wide Great Blackout was near.
The three of them should have waved goodbye at the intersection and gone their separate ways.
Of course, that was indeed the original plan.
However, at the moment of parting, Victoria suddenly stopped.
A suspicious flush appeared on her delicate face.
She nervously twisted the corner of her clothes and actually proposed to stay with Charlotte for “a little longer.”
Her reason was that she was “a bit scared to go home alone.”
So in the end, only Mary got into the carriage to go home.
Charlotte, meanwhile, helplessly led Victoria back to Ash Street.
As soon as they entered, Charlotte collapsed onto the not-so-soft sofa in the living room.
She now fully understood why her brother lacked interest in Victoria.
It was because this girl was simply too enthusiastic.
All along the way, Victoria had been asking about everything related to Elias.
What were his hobbies?
Did he usually prefer sweet or salty food?
Did he snore when he slept?
She even asked about the most trivial details of Elias’s childhood with glowing eyes.
Charlotte was mentally exhausted from dealing with her.
She felt as if her brain cells were being drained dry.
Seeing the streetlamps outside being extinguished one by one, the moment of the city-wide Great Blackout was about to arrive.
To forcibly shut Victoria’s incessantly chattering mouth, Charlotte’s eyes darted around, and she suggested they play “Star Whisper Pendulum” together.
If Elias were standing here right now, watching his sister bring this out, he would surely criticize her mercilessly.
What Star Whisper Pendulum?
This was just a pure superstitious game similar to “Ouija” or “Spirit of the Coin”!
However, no matter which world it was, these were the tricks young girls used to pass the time when bored.
This was also a fun divination game Charlotte had heard about back at Rockaway Women's College.
The rules of the game were very simple.
Light a white candle in a dim room.
Then spread a sheet of paper covered with Velen letters on the table.
Take a silver coin or a brass pendant and hang it above the paper with a red string that had been dipped in sea-salt water.
The player holds the red string, closes their eyes, and silently recites an incantation in their heart.
They would ask the legendary “Ghosts in the Spark” about their destiny or the whereabouts of missing relatives.
The letters the swinging pendant pointed to would spell out the answer.
Originally, Charlotte was just curious and wanted to play it casually as a bit of pre-sleep entertainment.
For instance, she could ask if her future life would be wealthy, or calculate where Victoria’s true love actually was—anything to shift her attention away from Elias.
But Victoria didn't buy it.
Her beautiful large eyes sparkled with a cunning light in the candlelight.
She proposed: they could ask about marriage, no problem.
But as a practical divination game, they could also divine the precise location of their friends or family at this very moment.
Not only that, Victoria excitedly threw out an interesting proposal.
After the Great Blackout, the two of them would sneak out together based on the divination results to find people!
She called it a way to test whether the divination results were absolutely accurate.
Charlotte knew exactly what she was plotting.
She was clearly lusting after her brother!
Rate on N.U.
