Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1154 Joint action?

Arriving at the archbishop's basement office with ease, Angel looked around and found that the high-back chair that had been placed in the corner had been replaced with a comfortable single sofa, so he sat down on it without hesitation.

Anthony Stevenson, wearing a soft hat and with deep eyes, returned to his long desk and sat in a chair.

Without any movement on his part, the light in the entire office became dim. The light from the candles on the surrounding walls was confined to a very small area, like a few fireflies, while the larger area was plunged into darkness, making people feel calm.

In the darkness, Anthony said in a soft voice:
"Your Highness, the goddess has issued an oracle that requires you to attend a meeting later to discuss important matters."

Meeting? Right here?
Angel nodded, not quite understanding, guessing that all the senior church members in the Backlund diocese might be summoned next, but she saw that Anthony's eyes turned dark, and the look he gave her was filled with a deep, dark power, which dulled her senses and made her fall into confusion.

"Please rest assured that this is a necessary step in the meeting."

The Archbishop's words reached Angel's ears, making her, who was originally a little alert and ready to actively get rid of the "nightmare" power, relax. She simply adjusted her posture and leaned comfortably on the sofa.

Then, she found that her hands, feet and body disappeared bit by bit as if they were erased by an eraser, and the same happened to Anthony who was sitting behind the desk.

This... is not just a "nightmare", but also a "hidden" power? It can easily affect an angel like me. I'm afraid it's not the power of Sequence 3 Anthony, but some kind of large-scale ritual... As her thoughts turned, the candlelight, tables, chairs, and bookshelves in the surrounding office slowly sank into darkness, replaced by a huge stone palace, a large round table, and wooden high-backed chairs surrounding the table.

"We are here, Your Highness, Goddess Shadow. This is the venue for the 'Conference Before the Gods'."

Next to Angel, Anthony, dressed in a robe, suddenly appeared and introduced himself. His eyes lingered on her face for a moment, then he quickly lowered his head and looked away.

Only then did she notice that the disguise she had put on her appearance before going to St. Samuel's Church had completely disappeared, and she appeared in the palace with her true face.

This should be some kind of dream ritual... a meeting before the gods, meaning a meeting held under the watchful eye of the Goddess of Night, like the Tarot Club?
Angel looked around with realization, and found that different figures appeared in the doorways on the walls of the ancient palace. There were the "Secret Servant" Arianna, the "Sword of the Goddess" Cecima, the "Heart of the Goddess" Dunn, and Daly Simone, but there were more men and women she had never seen before.

Fortunately, Archbishop Anthony, who was beside her, took the opportunity before everyone was seated to quietly introduce the other members to her, so that she would not make a fool of herself in the subsequent meeting.

The old man in a black robe dotted with stars, with white hair and beard, a gaunt face and dark eyes is the current Pope, Saint Dabomachi. His gaze lingered on Angel for a short while and he nodded, as if he had known her for a long time.

The woman with beautiful black hair and gorgeous face who looks younger than Arianna is "Eyes of the Goddess" Ilia, a Sequence 3 "Bishop of Fear". Her eyes, which are like twinkling stars, linger on Angel for a long time.

Following Anthony's introduction, the identities of the other two angels and more than a dozen saints were quickly matched with the contents of the church scriptures in Angel's memory.

Including me, there are a total of eight archbishops and eleven high-ranking deacons. Except for those who did not become demigods, almost all the saints and angels who survived the war came to this palace in the dream and participated in the "Meeting before God"... Angel counted them and thought secretly.

The reason why she said "almost" was because the Leonard Mitchell she knew was not present. Although he had become a Sequence 4 "Night Watcher", he was promoted on the front line during the war and had not undergone training and assessment in the Temple, so he had not yet been allowed to participate.

Soon, everyone sat down at the round table with a black surface and wooden texture. Except for the few people Angel knew, almost everyone looked at her. On the one hand, they were attracted by her appearance, and on the other hand, they were confused by her appearance.

Pope Dabo March, who presided over the meeting, spoke at the right time and introduced in a gentle and soft voice:
"This goddess's favored one, 'Shadow of the Goddess' Angel Granger, had been carrying out secret missions before, but now he has officially returned to the church and is attending the meeting as a senior deacon.

"He is also the 'Angel of Disaster' in the Holy Scriptures."

The puzzled looks of the crowd immediately turned into respect, even those of the same or opposite sex who were Sequence 4 or Sequence 3 and could not completely resist Angel's charm.

Because he didn't know how to deal with this situation, Angel was silent for a moment, stretched out his hand and tapped his chest four times, drawing stars, and said in a soft voice:
"Praise the goddess."

It seemed that no one had expected that the new church's earthly angel's self-introduction would be so simple. Everyone was stunned for a moment before they immediately began to praise the Goddess of Night.

Then, to Angel's surprise, the meeting before God did not contain any polite words or praise of the Goddess's power and authority, but went straight to the point.

"The goddess has issued the latest oracle," Dabomachi's words became serious, completely different from when he introduced Angel. "Each parish immediately launched a crackdown on the evil sect. Once there is clear evidence, there is no need to capture them alive, and they must not be believed in their heresies. They must be executed directly!"

"Does that include the Aurora Society?"

The Archbishop of Constantine asked.

"The way to deal with secret organizations such as the Aurora Society, the Witch Cult, and the Psychological Alchemy Society is the same as before. There is no need to deliberately attack them. The focus is on the 'Rose School', the 'Truth Cult', and the following newly emerged organizations..."

Dabomachi answered, and recited off more than a dozen new sects that had appeared in the past six months like a menu. Without exception, they all believed in a strange "great existence", claimed that they could be saved at the end of the world, and acted even worse than the "Aurora Society" at its craziest time.

These naturally include the names of the "Sinner" organization, the "End of All Things Society" and the "School of Deliciousness" that Angel saw in the cell of the "Night Emperor" underground memorial hall.

Of course, most of the senior deacons and archbishops present were just saints, and had not yet reached the stage where they could safely learn about the "Outer Gods". The Pope also made this point vague in his words, and only told them not to believe any of the cultists' words, and to eliminate them immediately once their identities were confirmed. This might cause many accidental injuries, and was equivalent to abandoning those believers who had just come into contact with these evil gods and had not yet been truly contaminated, but in order to protect the more important official Beyonders, they could only "use severe punishments in troubled times".

The members participating in the meeting soon understood the determination contained in the oracle conveyed by the Pope, and the focus of the discussion shifted to how to get the major dioceses to cooperate and make full use of the seals and the mobile forces of senior deacons who do not have fixed duty ranges to eliminate the cult members.

Watching their discussion, Angel suddenly felt like he was back in the Tarot Club, except that there was no Fool hiding behind the gray fog and spying...

Suddenly, Dabomachi looked over and asked:
"Please let Your Excellency 'Shadow of the Goddess' introduce the current situation of the 'Sinner' organization."

ah? I?
Angel could hardly hold back her dumb expression, she just realized the real reason why she was called to the meeting right after praying to the goddess and "handing over" the information. In addition to introducing herself to other senior deacons and archbishops and coming out in the open, the most important point was to share information.

Maybe I will be assigned a task later to fight against the followers of the Outer Gods... She muttered a few words, sat up straight, recalled the information she dug out from the "mendicant monk" in the solitary cell, and said:

"This story begins with a bankrupt businessman in the late stages of the war..."

----

In the Rorsted Archipelago, in Bayam's "Church of the Waves".

Cardinal Alger Wilson walked out of his office with a buzzing feeling in his head.

He had just received an order from His Holiness Pope Gad II, who was far away in Storm's Abyss, to clear out all "Rose School" strongholds in this city and the surrounding islands. Also attached was a long list of "evil sects", which were to be wiped out immediately upon discovery, without the need for the previous complicated interrogation process.

This practice of rather killing the wrong person than letting the wrong person go surprised Alger. Even the violent "Manufactured Punishers" had never done this before. They would at least interrogate the person to avoid killing the wrong person.

Could it be that the "end of the world" is approaching and something big is about to happen... He couldn't help but think of what Mr. "World" said at the Tarot Club before.

But despite his doubts, he did not dare to delay the church's mission, and quickly summoned the captain of the Punishers who was in charge of this aspect and assigned the task.

Although the demigods of the "Rose School" are elusive and know how to cover their tracks, the mid- and low-sequence Beyonders, especially those at sea, often expose themselves due to their indulgence in lust. The Storm Church has found many of their bases before, but most of them were just monitored and not dealt with immediately.

This is a good time to catch them all in one fell swoop.

Thinking of this, Alger was hesitating whether to let the team of "Shadow Guards" he had trained privately join the suppression of the cult, so as to accumulate combat experience and obtain some spoils of war. Suddenly, a familiar gray fog appeared in front of him, and the majestic voice of Mr. Fool also reached his ears.

"...Under the premise of not endangering your own safety, actively cooperate with the major churches in their actions against the evil god sects."

Mr. Fool is going to take action against them too?
Alger was shocked at first, but then joy filled his heart.

He was just worrying about how he should accumulate contributions to exchange for the identity of "Sea God" as the immigration to "Silver City" was about to end. Then a new mission appeared, and it was exactly the same as the mission of the church!
Without further hesitation, he wrote a simple letter and sent it out of the church on the breeze.

----

In the basement of St. Samuel's Church, Angel woke up from his dream.

She let out a long sigh and looked at Archbishop Anthony who also opened his eyes, marveling at the magic of the "Council before God".

She guessed that although the Goddess of Night did not actually attend the meeting, she must have been paying attention to the communication between the archbishop and the senior deacons. Otherwise, even the power of an angel would not have allowed members of multiple churches in the Kingdom of Loen to enter dreams at the same time and go to the palace in the dream.

I wonder how I performed the first time… She muttered, said goodbye to Anthony, and left the Archbishop’s office.

At the end of the meeting just now, she accepted the task assigned by Pope Saint Dabo March to preside over the next operation to the southern continent to combat the "Rose School". This was not only because she was one of the few angels in the church who could move freely, but also because in the process of dealing with the evil god's believers, she could fully digest the last bit of the "disaster" potion and prepare for promotion.

Moreover, because he knew that the end of the world was approaching and the "Outer Gods" might increase their invasion force at any time, Angel was more anxious to wipe out these Outer God believers. Although before the barrier was broken, they could only send one angel to the reality at most, which was almost equivalent to sending extraordinary characteristics and intelligence at the moment when the Earth was on high alert, but what if something unexpected happened...

Thinking about this, Angel returned to the main prayer hall and was about to leave the church when she suddenly found a familiar figure waiting for her at the door.

Dunn Smith!
It turns out that he was also attending the "God's Meeting" in the basement of the church. I thought he hadn't returned from the church yet... Angel gathered his chaotic thoughts and walked forward. Just as he was about to say hello, Dunn pressed his hat awkwardly and whispered:

"I hope you and Klein can attend my wedding with Daly this Saturday."

(End of this chapter)