North Shore of Conquest, Navaja.
In the Church in the western part of Navaja at night, many pilgrims from the Church fleet were praying devoutly. Among them was Sister Vanya, who was usually very focused on prayer, but at this time, due to the intervention of extraordinary ability, she fell into a deep slumber.
Sitting on a bench in the Church, Sister Vanya, who had fallen into a deep sleep, had already fallen into a dream dominated by others. In this dream, her heart was forced to open completely, unable to keep any secrets. Although the scene of her falling asleep on the bench did not attract the attention of the people in the Church, outside the Church, a pair of eyes were staring at her.
"That white Sister is completely asleep. It seems that Pablo's dream trap was successful. I should find other dream trap targets."
Outside the not-so-large Church, in front of a window, a young man in simple clothes was standing here, looking through the window at the scene inside the Church. He looked at the sleeping Sister Vanya for a while, and then looked at another window not far away. At this time, there was another man closing his eyes and resting.
These two men were carrying out a special detection mission at this time. They needed to select suitable candidates from the people praying in the Church, and then use their abilities to make them sleep and enter their dreams to steal information. At this time, one of them had already selected his target and started the mission. He targeted the Sister in the Church who was dressed differently and launched a dream trap. Now the remaining one also needed to choose his target.
Their purpose was to obtain the real purpose of the Church fleet hidden under the appearance of transporting refugees, so they needed to find some people who seemed to have a higher status and were more special in the fleet to conduct dream traps. The previous Sister was chosen as the target because her white Sister's clothes were different, and now the remaining man also needed to find a suitable talent.
Finally, after several rounds of careful observation of the interior of the Church, the man chose his target. It was a young male sitting in the front rows of the Church. He was wearing the uniform of a Church Knight officer, and he looked like a lower-level officer.
Looking at the officer sitting in the front row, the man standing outside the Church began to use his ability. While slowly making the already tired officer fall asleep, the man also closed his eyes.
...
Meanwhile, in the dream of the white Sister.
"You said your fleet... is going to Iweig for pilgrimage? If that's the case, why did you suddenly come to Navaja?"
In the dream of Sister Vanya, in the Church square, the blurry humanoid Shadow couldn't help but ask after hearing Sister Vanya's words, and Sister Vanya in front of him still spoke with a confused look.
"Our fleet came to Navaja to drop off the passengers from the original shining white pearl. Since the location where the shining white pearl sank is closest to Navaja, we came here."
"It really is just to drop off passengers..."
Listening to Sister Vanya's words, the humanoid Shadow couldn't help but nod and murmur. They originally thought that there was some hidden purpose behind the sudden visit of the Church fleet to Navaja, and dropping off passengers was just a superficial excuse. Now it seems that dropping off passengers might really be the purpose of the fleet.
'These Fanatics are really here to drop people off. It seems that Ms. Garcia is suspicious... Or perhaps this Sister's level is not high enough to access more core information. In short, to be on the safe side, I should ask more questions...'
Thinking like this in his heart, the Shadow planned to continue to ask Sister Vanya for more information.
"Besides dropping off refugees, does your fleet have any other purpose? Especially any hidden purpose that needs to be kept secret?"
"No." Sister Vanya answered the Shadow's words concisely, and the Shadow continued to speak.
"Then what was the abnormal noise at the port yesterday afternoon?"
"The noise at the port yesterday afternoon... was caused by the battle between Lord Jode and his subordinates and two exposed Ebergrass Church members."
"Ebergrass Church? Those water ghosts?"
Listening to Sister Vanya's words, the Shadow showed a surprised look. He had not expected that this matter could be related to the Ebergrass Church. The people the Church were targeting were not on their side, but the Ebergrass Church!
'I didn't expect that this matter is related to those water ghosts... This is extremely important information. Since the Church's target is not us, then Ms. Garcia can rest assured.'
The Shadow then thought in his heart. For them, it would be best if the Church was not staring at them. They didn't need to make any excessive responses, as long as they were careful not to expose themselves.
After confirming that the Church was not here to cause trouble for them, the Shadow breathed a sigh of relief and then continued to ask Sister Vanya.
"Also yesterday afternoon, there were explosions and several gunshots on the Stone Beach in the east of the city. Do you know what happened?"
"Yes, this is because Ebergrass follower Massimo Russo was intercepted by an ambush set on the shore after swimming there. The gunshots and explosions were the sounds of battle." Sister Vanya still answered the Shadow's words expressionlessly, and the Shadow paused slightly after hearing it, and then continued to speak.
"The sound of the battle that broke out after being ambushed? Did the Church people predict his escape route and specifically set up an ambush on the Stone Beach?"
The Shadow asked Sister Vanya this, and Sister Vanya's answer was very unexpected to the Shadow.
"No, the people who set up the ambush there... are not the Church."
"Not the Church? Besides the Church, are there any other forces in Navaja?"
The Shadow asked in a tone of surprise, and Sister Vanya nodded and confirmed the Shadow's statement. After confirming that there were indeed other forces in Navaja besides the Church, the Shadow couldn't help but be startled, and then immediately asked.
"Who is it? Who ambushed that so-called Massimo? What is that other force besides the Church?"
"That's... Dorothy..."
Opening her mouth, Sister Vanya was about to tell the Shadow everything she knew when an unexpected situation occurred.
In Sister Vanya's dream space, on the vast Church District square, the passers-by who were originally coming and going around Sister Vanya and the Shadow, acting as background boards, suddenly stopped. They stood in place, looking up at the sky with confused expressions, and then, together, they uttered various chants.
"We are all born from the blood and water of our mother's womb, so when offering sacrifices to the Holy Mother, we should worship our birth mother as a substitute idol..."
"Blood and wine are mixed, I am with the Holy Mother as I am with my birth mother, I am from my birth mother's womb as I am from the Holy Mother's womb..."
"Ah... Great Judge of Heaven, please forgive our sins, degeneration is for continuation, betrayal is for loyalty..."
"Wind Knight Arthur wants to pursue Agello, but does not know the way forward, but at this moment, the eight-eyed and eight-fingered witch appeared in front of Arthur..."
Suddenly, on the square in Sister Vanya's dream, various sounds sounded at the same time. The passers-by who were originally just background characters in the dream all spoke at the same moment, chanting different contents in either high-pitched, sad, or devout tones.
Immediately, different words lingered in the sky above the dream square, and mysterious and forbidden chants were in every corner. In the mid-air of the square, strings of text appeared out of thin air. These texts, shimmering with a faint light, floated and wandered around the square, filling every corner.
"This is... uh..."
Facing the sudden situation, the Shadow, who was asking Sister Vanya questions, was stunned. Just as he was about to figure out what was happening, countless chaotic forbidden sounds had already filled his ears, and countless dangerous texts floated before his eyes. In just an instant, the Shadow was completely surrounded by forbidden knowledge.
Whether seeing, hearing, or comprehending... at once, countless pieces of knowledge entered the Shadow's mind through various channels, and at the same time, the violent toxin contained within also arrived.
Between the constantly echoing words and floating texts, the humanoid Shadow covered his ears and let out a painful scream. In this scream, the Shadow's entire body began to twist, and finally, in extreme exaggerated deformation, rapidly dissolved and finally completely disappeared in Sister Vanya's dream space.
"Ahhhhhh!!!"
In the real world, next to the Church in Navaja, a heartbreaking scream suddenly sounded. This exaggerated scream directly interrupted the evening prayer that was being held in the Church. Countless pilgrims who were praying stood up from their chairs with furrowed brows and looked towards the direction from which the scream came. Some people directly pointed at that direction with dissatisfaction and shouted loudly.
"Who is there!"
In the direction pointed to by the pilgrims, outside the Church window, a young man was at this time grabbing his head with wide eyes, blood flowing from his nostrils, eyes, and ears at the same time, with unspeakable extreme pain, the man with blood flowing from his seven orifices directly fell backward, directly falling to the ground.
Not far from the man, his companion who was in the process of dream trapping was also awakened by the heartbreaking scream. When he released his ability and looked at the falling man next to him, he quickly ran over.
"Pablo! What's wrong with you?!"
Calling his companion's name, the young man who had just woken up immediately squatted in front of Pablo and began to check his condition. After a brief check, he found that his companion, who had blood flowing from his seven orifices and a terrifying face, was already dead. This discovery made the young man's heart churn rapidly, and he was so scared that he almost sat on the ground.
"Dead, dead... How is that possible? He's actually dead? Why did he suddenly die for no reason?!"
Looking at his companion's corpse in front of him, the young man covered his chest and gasped, saying that he was really very confused, confused as to why Pablo, who was just doing dream trapping well, suddenly died violently! No one was attacking him nearby!
Although his heart was filled with fear and doubt, since their current location had been exposed, the people in the Church were rushing towards them at this moment. The young man did not have time to think too much. When he heard the dense footsteps approaching him, he immediately got up and ran, disappearing into the night in the blink of an eye.
And the crowd who rushed from the Church arrived at the place where the scream had just occurred and only found a corpse with blood flowing from its seven orifices.
And in the Church on the other side, Sister Vanya, who had been in a coma, was slowly waking up at this moment.
"Ugh... uh... What happened just now, I suddenly feel so sleepy... I actually fell asleep during evening prayer... This is too outrageous..."
Sister Vanya, who had woken up, took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. Just as she put her glasses back on and was about to continue praying, she found that the whole Church was a bit noisy, and everyone seemed to be not praying, but all gathered together and discussing with each other.
"Huh... What's going on? Did something happen while I was asleep?"
Looking at the scene in front of her, Sister Vanya murmured in confusion, and at this moment, a familiar voice sounded in her heart.
"Sister Vanya... are you awake?"
"Huh... Is it Miss Dorothea? Are you... talking to me through Aka?"
Hearing this familiar voice, Sister Vanya immediately responded in her heart, and soon, Dorothy's words came again.
"Yes, I'm talking to you now... I need to remind you of some things that just happened. This Navaja we are in now may be far from as simple as it appears..."
...
In a room somewhere in Navaja late at night.
Garcia sat on a comfortable single sofa, looking at the panicked young man in front of her with a stunned face, and said in an unbelievable tone.
"What! You said Pablo is dead? And he died suddenly without any warning?"
"Huff... huff... That's right, Ms. Garcia, I was originally dream trapping a Fanatics officer, and suddenly I heard Pablo's scream. When I released the dream trap and went to see, I found that Pablo was lying on the ground dead. Blood was coming out of his nose, eyes, and ears, and he died terribly..."
Standing in front of Garcia, the young man said breathlessly, and Garcia continued to ask.
"How did Pablo die? Did anyone attack him?"
"No... I don't know! I don't know how Pablo suddenly became like this? I didn't see anyone attacking him, and there were no obvious injuries on him, but he died inexplicably... It's too scary..."
The young man answered in fear. After listening to the young man's words, Garcia paused slightly, and then slowly spoke in a serious tone.
"Pablo died inexplicably. He might have been secretly targeted by someone... You were next to him when he died, and you not only failed to find any clues about the murderer, but you also ran back without even handling the body? So what's the use of you?"
Garcia stared at the young man with dangerous eyes and said. After sensing the ominous aura, the young man immediately spoke.
"No, Madam! I didn't come back empty-handed. I also successfully found some information through dream trapping, and I think it's very important information!"
"What information?"
"It's, it's about those Fanatics. I dream trapped an officer, and from him, I learned why these Fanatics keep staying in Navaja!" The young man said to Garcia tremblingly, and after listening to the young man's words, Garcia paused slightly, and then spoke.
"You know why those Fanatics stayed in Navaja? What is it?"
"They are waiting! Ms. Garcia... They are waiting! The officer I dream trapped said that the entire fleet is now waiting for the Judge to come from Truva!
"Now the Church is gathering more forces towards us, and the Judge has also come! Since the Judge has been dispatched, it must be targeting us!
"Ms. Garcia, we have been completely targeted by the Church!"
The young man told Garcia the important information he had just obtained from the officer's mouth, and as soon as Garcia heard the young man's words, her face became very gloomy.