At dusk, in Glamorgan, the sunset glow sprinkled upon the vast surface of Dazzle Star Lake, creating shimmering orange waves.
On the massive Church that had suddenly appeared in the center of the great lake, the Shining Light Church's Crusaders and Knights were currently searching and exploring. Led by the Sacred Relic Pilgrimage Group, the local Church and the An Yin Bureau had completely taken control of the Church and the surrounding waters. Any boats attempting to approach were driven away, and many ordinary people who had rowed over out of curiosity were turned back far from the Church.
Now, the Church that had suddenly appeared in the lake had become a forbidden area for the public. After the news spread that approaching it would result in being driven away, the citizens of Glamorgan, whose curiosity was already strong, became even more curious. All sorts of rumors quickly spread throughout the City. Countless ordinary citizens were eagerly discussing the origin of the mysterious Church in the lake and why the authorities had taken control of it immediately.
Since this Church had suddenly appeared when Sister Vanya visited Glamorgan, among the rumors circulating among these citizens, one theory was that Sister Vanya was the catalyst for the Church's appearance, that it was a divine miracle bestowed by the Holy Mother, and that Sister Vanya, as the Holy Mother's messenger on Earth, had manifested in Glamorgan, and the Church was a blessing brought to Glamorgan by the Holy Mother through the Sister.
This theory was somewhat outlandish, but it was also the most widely spread among the many conflicting theories currently circulating in the City of Glamorgan. Only this theory connected the two hottest topics in Glamorgan, giving it the highest credibility.
Just as the City of Glamorgan became lively due to the appearance of the mysterious Church, on the shore of Dazzle Star Lake, in a deserted forest on the outskirts of the City, a dense rustling sound was heard among the trees. Tiny shadows flitted through the forest under the twilight.
Countless bats flew within the deserted forest, gathering towards the same location. In the gloomy forest, these bats converged, forming two dark figures, one male and one female. They were none other than two high-ranking members of the Eight Point Nest, Bo Ade and Gothsmore.
When the figures of the Eight-Pointed Nest's Spiderfang Priest and Imperial Witch solidified again, they looked towards the lake not far away, their expressions revealing a hint of solemnity, especially Gothsmore, whose face was already written with an expression of angry displeasure.
"That Fanatics Sister... actually wants to snatch our territory and turn the temple that should belong to the Deep Web Queen into their sheepfold for raising faith. Haven't they snatched enough before? They're still pushing their luck! Disgusting things!"
Gritting her teeth, Gothsmore recalled the information she had just overheard in the Church in the lake and couldn't help but say indignantly. Her hand slowly clenched, drawing blood from her palm.
"Now I really want to capture that Fanatics Sister and slowly torture her to death, to make her understand whose territory she's treading on..."
"Calm down, Gothsmore! Remember what you said earlier, now is not the time to act against that Sister. We... even the entire Nest cannot bear the consequences of the Church's deep intervention in the situation in Prit! That Sister must not have any mishaps in Glamorgan!"
Bo Ade said to Gothsmore in a serious tone. Listening to Bo Ade's words, Gothsmore took a breath and then responded coldly to Bo Ade.
"Hmph, I know... I'm just saying it. I still have the necessary composure. I feel like I already disliked these Fanatics enough before, but I didn't expect them to be able to disgust me like this today..." Gothsmore said slowly, then she shifted her gaze to Bo Ade beside her and spoke again.
"So, what exactly is going on with this situation now? Why did that moon bitch's temple suddenly rise up? And right in front of those Fanatics, don't tell me this is a coincidence, Bo Ade."
"Of course, I don't think this is a coincidence. The appearance of the Nightmare temple at this time is not a normal phenomenon. It's not the temple's self-mechanism, otherwise, the locals here wouldn't be so surprised. Someone definitely deliberately brought the temple out at this time. The key is... who is that person... or who are those people?"
With a serious tone, Bo Ade slowly said, and then he began his analysis.
"First of all, although that Light Sister seems suspicious, I think the possibility is small. If Light really knew the secret of this lake, they would have sent a specialist to investigate instead of a pilgrimage team. We have also monitored that Sister and her subordinates the whole time. Their behavior clearly shows that they don't know about the existence of the Nightmare temple. This is also an unexpected situation for them. So, the ones who brought out the temple are definitely not from the Church side.
"Excluding the Church, the most suspicious ones are those who have been secretly opposing us, the force behind the Wind Art User who fought against Tivian and the Nightmare. It is highly likely to be the vigilant faction within the upper echelons of Prit. They also know the secret of this lake. They might have secretly come here and secretly started investigating, and even achieved results before us. We didn't even discover them..."
Bo Ade said with a stern attitude. Listening to Bo Ade's words, Gothsmore couldn't help but furrow her brows slightly, and then continued to speak.
"Impossible... We monitor the lake surface tightly every night. How did they investigate the lake? And their progress is even faster than ours?" Gothsmore said in confusion. She had known before that there might be other forces coveting Dazzle Star Lake, but she had always thought that she was ahead in terms of the investigation progress of Dazzle Star Lake, until this situation suddenly occurred today. She didn't understand how others could find the temple first when the lake surface was completely under her control?
"This... is still unclear. One possibility is... the secret of that lake is not hidden on the lake surface, but in other places, places we haven't monitored. Another possibility is that among those guys, there are also Scarlet-level'Shadows', and they are'Shadows' with extremely outstanding concealment abilities. They used this to avoid our surveillance, secretly investigated the lake, and achieved results earlier than us..."
With a somber face, Bo Ade continued to analyze with a serious expression. Listening to Bo Ade's words, Gothsmore couldn't help but let out a cold snort.
"Heh, it seems... we really underestimated that group of people. Being able to investigate here proves that they still have some skills. We were... still underestimating the enemy before.
"But there's another problem. Since those guys found a way to make the temple appear, why did they choose to make the temple appear at this time? By directly revealing the existence of the temple, do they not want to have the temple all to themselves?"
After thinking for a moment, Gothsmore asked again, and Bo Ade, after a brief pause, continued to answer slowly.
"Perhaps... they really don't want this temple. The past secrets of this land are no longer well known to the current Despenser. The reason those vigilant factions found this place is because we came to this place. Perhaps they don't know what meaning this temple has? What use is it to them? Perhaps they just saw that we, as enemies, were targeting this temple, so they tried to find it, reveal it, and make things difficult for us.
"Even if they really know the meaning of this temple, they might choose to give up. A temple-level ritual site needs to lift its restrictions and appear in the world to fully function, and lifting the restrictions will inevitably make us aware. They may think their strength is inferior to ours, and after lifting the restrictions, they won't be able to keep the temple from us.
"Therefore, their goal became to prevent us from obtaining the temple. They seized the opportunity of that Fanatics Sister's pilgrimage to this City, released the temple, and revealed it in front of the Church and everyone, letting the Church take over the temple. For them, as long as the temple doesn't fall into our hands and hinders our purpose, the goal is achieved."
Bo Ade continued to analyze like this. Listening to these analytical words, Gothsmore's face turned even darker. She continued to murmur with a dangerous aura.
"Good... It's considered a success as long as it doesn't reach our hands. They successfully disgusted me. If I can catch the person who came up with this idea, I will definitely make him watch his entire body's tendons being drawn out while he's still alive."
Gothsmore said this with a cold tone. Although finding the temple was mainly Bo Ade's responsibility, her main task here was to provide backup. But this backup referred to the bottom line in terms of combat. Gothsmore's presence was to ensure that no other force would forcefully snatch the temple. If the temple appeared, it was necessary for her to ensure that the temple was controlled by their side and the ritual was completed smoothly.
Now the temple had appeared, but the situation at the scene exceeded Gothsmore's expectations. Facing Vanya's pilgrimage team, Gothsmore was unable to use her strength, so she felt very frustrated.
"Now that group of Light Worshipping Zealots are occupying our temple and want to replace it with their own things. Once their replacement ritual is completed, all our previous efforts will be in vain. Hurry up and think of a solution, Bo Ade!" Gothsmore urged Bo Ade, who replied with a clearly troubled tone.
"A solution is not that easy to come up with. The current situation is very troublesome... We cannot wait for the Light people from Tivian to come and perform the replacement ritual. We must control the temple and perform the ritual before they arrive, but this will inevitably conflict with that Sister. If she has any mishaps and attracts the deep intervention of Holy Mountain in Prit, our ritual will be a net loss even if it is successful. Therefore... we must interfere with the temple and perform the ritual while ensuring that Sister is not harmed... and even unaware of any abnormality."
"Not harming that Fanatics Sister is easy to say, just tie her up and throw her aside. Not being detected by her is too difficult. The replacement ritual is not a small ritual, and its time and scale are not small. It cannot be done in a short while. Although that Sister and her subordinates are at most Chalk, they are still 'Light'. It is impossible to perform the replacement ritual secretly in their eyes, unless they are all blind, or we hypnotize them all." Waving her hand, Gothsmore said this, and Bo Ade calmly replied.
"Directly tying up that Sister... the risk is also very high. God knows if Holy Mountain has given her any emergency backup. If we have a direct confrontation with her, the result is uncontrollable, and it is still possible to attract the intervention of Holy Mountain afterward. We cannot do this unless it is absolutely necessary.
"As for hypnosis... among that Sister's team, there are Chalk from the Path of Bitter Discipline. The essence of the Blood Darkness Path's hypnosis ability is embellishment and not too strong. It is difficult for them to be effective in hypnotizing those who are protected by the Extraordinary from the Path of Bitter Discipline, and the possibility of being detected is very high. I do not recommend doing it this way..."
Bo Ade responded in this way. Listening to his words, Gothsmore became a little impatient. She said directly.
"This doesn't work, and that doesn't work? Then what solution do you have now?!"
"As for a solution... I do have one now." With a thought-provoking expression, Bo Ade said to Gothsmore. Listening to his words, Gothsmore's expression showed confusion again.
Thousand!,! Search, Free;,", Novel::Said.";Qun!",?2:?5""5?.!5'9.5?,'"3''0.0 "You actually do? What solution? Tell me about it?"
Gothsmore asked Bo Ade curiously, and Bo Ade continued to speak with a mysterious smile.
"Do you still remember, that Sister said that she herself wanted to perform the replacement ritual to replace the temple with a Holy Mother Church, because she was not clear about how to perform the ritual, so she contacted Tivian and asked them to send an expert over."
"Expert..."
Listening to Bo Ade's words, Gothsmore's eyes widened slightly, and then as if she realized something, a smile appeared on her lips.
"Ah... I understand... This is indeed a method that can be tried..."
...
Time flew by, and soon, a night had passed. When the sunlight of the second day once again shone on Dazzle Star Lake, the mysterious Church that had risen yesterday still stood in the center of the lake, bathed in the morning sun.
Above the Church in the lake, the Extraordinary from the An Yin Bureau and the Church in Glamorgan were moving around, carrying out the exploration of this mysterious ruin under the arrangement of the members of the Sacred Relic Pilgrimage Group. Due to the sudden appearance of the mysterious Church, they temporarily put aside their original pilgrimage plan and stayed in Glamorgan.
"Sister Vanya, as you requested, I guarded this Church with my men all night and found no unusual phenomena. Apart from its sudden appearance, this Church has not shown any other Extraordinary abilities so far."
On the long corridor to the side of the chapel, Sister Vanya was walking with Gasparre Priest, the Captain of her pilgrimage group. After listening to Gasparre's report, Vanya nodded and said.
"Thank you for your hard work, Gasparre Priest. Since this Church has not shown any other Extraordinary signs, that's even better. This proves that the Extraordinary power above has either dissipated or has stabilized, which is beneficial for the unfolding of our next work.
"I contacted the Saint Chant Church last night and explained the situation here to them. Cardinal Francesco agreed to my request and sent an expert in handling otherworld or heretical ritual sites. He will come to take over our investigation of this Church, and if necessary, the Sacred Return Ritual can be performed directly."
...