Inside a mana vehicle traveling a road in the northwest district of South Vantina, the air grew exceptionally quiet.
Aside from the driver praying to his god, a black-haired, green-eyed girl had appeared in the passenger seat at some point, softly humming a discordant rhythm from time to time.
It seemed originally to have been a hymn chanted during morning prayers by the Church of the Goddess of Fate, but altered by her strange pitch, it sounded remarkably like a funeral dirge.
The singing burrowed into Elaine's ears, stirring her very brain, terrifying her to the verge of collapse.
She had heard that in certain lawless parts of the Northern Continent, healthy people were sometimes kidnapped so their organs could be harvested for money.
The people before her looked like the sort of seasoned veterans who wouldn't even bother using anesthesia while carving out her organs.
She couldn't understand.
Why had they targeted her with such precision? Why was there such a terrifying entity beside her capable of restraining her? Why was she so unlucky?
Her mind was an utter mess. The more she thought, the more her vision flickered between light and shadow.
Yet at that moment, amidst the dimness of her sight, a single glint of emerald-gem green caught her eye, strikingly conspicuous.
It was a gaze.
The brown-haired, green-eyed young driver's gaze remained gentle, seemingly devoid of malice.
In that instant, it felt as if a sole lifeline had been thrown to her as she drowned.
"Take a deep breath. Don't be nervous," Lanqi gently prompted.
As his words fell, the black-haired, amber-eyed girl to Elaine's left began softly rubbing her back, helping smooth her breathing.
"Phoo—"
Elaine drew in a breath with all her might, filling her chest, and breathed it out. A bout of heavy panting followed, her chest rising and falling continuously, until she finally felt the rhythm of her heartbeat gradually returning under her control.
"Feeling better?"
Lanqi's tone remained just as gentle.
Elaine came to her senses, her muscles tensing all over as her guard sprang back up, glaring fiercely at the driver in the front.
Just now, without even realizing it, she had actually complied with what the driver said, and for a fleeting instant, she had even developed an inexplicable reliance on him in her heart.
This was the very bastard who had tricked her into this unlicensed cab in the first place!
"Who on earth are you people?"
Elaine swallowed, unable to relieve the parched dryness in her throat, asking in a slightly hoarse voice.
She knew a terrifying powerhouse was sitting right beside her, so she dared not make a move.
"..."
Lanqi gazed at her without answering.
He held her gaze until fear crept back into her heart, stripping away her confident facade and causing her to instinctively avert her eyes.
"You're far too careless," Lanqi finally sighed, looking at her with utter helplessness.
"...?"
Elaine's brow twitched slightly, not understanding his meaning.
Yet at that moment, she couldn't help feeling that he didn't seem quite like an enemy.
"We are direct retainers of Bishop of Destruction Ivanos. Having spotted a Great Cleric like you, it was only natural to warn you. The Wilfort residence is perilous—do not go there rashly. If you do, you won't be returning today."
Lanqi took out a spark-shaped Holy Sigil shrouded in purple mist and set it before Elaine. At the center of the emblem was a skeleton entwined with red spider lilies, its petals appearing both part of the bone and detached from it, blooming forth from the flame itself to symbolize the eternal essence of fire—transformation, consumption, and cycle.
It was terrifying yet exquisitely beautiful, a delicate balance between life and death, creation and destruction.
Hyperion, disguised with black hair, also produced an identical one.
Before setting off for the Northern Continent, Lanqi had acquired this [Proof of Resurrection - Destruction] from Phoenix, the direct retainer who had attacked Boss Cat Restaurant. Its encrypted information could only be deciphered by a bishop.
The one in Hyperion's hand was the Destruction Holy Sigil obtained from Priestess Sticela, whom they had roped into their group during the Shadow World's Banquet of Sanctuary Villains.
The stone hanging in Elaine's heart finally dropped.
Thank goodness they weren't enemies.
Her organs probably wouldn't be harvested after all.
Besides, if they were enemies, how could they possibly have discovered her identity?
They had to be direct retainers on a far more secretive and important mission, possessing higher intelligence clearance and already aware of her identity, which was why they could recognize her with such pinpoint accuracy.
"The two of us are direct retainers lying low in South Vantina. Usually, we don't contact other clerics. Unless an emergency arises, we remain dormant. Right now, major upheavals are indeed unfolding in South Vantina, and we need to synchronize our intelligence so we can determine how best to assist you moving forward," Lanqi looked intently at Elaine and spoke with solemn gravity.
Elaine nodded.
"What about her?"
She pointed a finger slightly toward Talia beside her, inquiring tentatively.
In Elaine's view, the Destruction branch shouldn't have had a mysterious entity stronger than Son of Destruction Salomon.
"..."
Talia merely took out a Pink Sacred-grade [Proof of Saint]. Without letting Elaine get a clear look at its face or its sigil pattern, she promptly stowed it away.
Its shape was something Elaine had never seen before. It wasn't a forgery, yet she was certain that no branch of the Resurrection Church across the entire Southern Continent possessed such a Saintess!
Elaine's heart pounded wildly. She felt many pieces clicking into place.
Perhaps all of this had been authorized by that mysterious Cardinal from the Northern Continent!
"Do not ask who this lady is. If you know too much, Ivanos might not let you live," Hyperion said coolly, yet her voice carried the tone of a well-meaning warning.
A shiver ran down Elaine's spine. She nodded meekly, no longer daring to look at the golden-eyed woman.
"Late tonight, our Destruction branch will cooperate with a mysterious group to assassinate Duke's Daughter Hyperion residing at the Wilfort house. Our task is to disguise ourselves as civilians within designated areas of South Vantina, equipped with self-destruction spells, ready at any moment to receive orders from Lord Salomon, Son of Destruction. We don't know the exact details of what we are to do; we'll only understand once the orders arrive,"
Elaine spoke slowly, laying everything out for them.
Her explanation plunged the interior of the vehicle into silence once more.
Lanqi, Hyperion, and Talia exchanged glances for a moment.
Talia nodded, signaling to the other two that Elaine wasn't lying.
Although none of them knew she possessed a lie-detecting innate magic, an eighth-tier powerhouse proficient in mana detection could readily deduce the credibility of someone's words simply from mana fluctuations.
Fortunately, Lanqi had managed to capture this Resurrection Church cultist and extract intelligence; otherwise, they wouldn't have discovered ahead of time that the Resurrection Church had a major operation planned for tonight.
Unfortunately, information had been locked down tight, leaving them still unable to ascertain what the Resurrection Church had prepared for tonight.
"Can you locate Salomon?" Lanqi asked again.
"No. He only gives us orders, but we can't actively contact him." Elaine shook her head.
Hyperion forced herself to remain calm, maintaining her act.
She had known enemies were coming, but she hadn't expected them to arrive so swiftly, so resolutely.
Talia could sense Hyperion's fear and wanted to comfort her.
Just as Talia was about to knock Elaine unconscious again, Lanqi spoke.
"Just as I suspected..."
Lanqi murmured,
"Ivanos and Salomon intend to abandon you tonight. What a pitiful child..."
His emerald eyes were clear and bright as he looked upon Elaine with profound compassion, as though yearning from the bottom of his heart to save her.
Hyperion: "..."
The fear Hyperion had felt just moments before instantly morphed into a different, all-too-familiar kind of dread.
Seeing the expressions of Tata and Lanqi, she knew both had wanted to comfort her just now.
And Lanqi's comfort was still that very same flavor.
Hyperion gave a relieved smile.
Chapter 505