Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 22 Experiment
Serenade pursed her lips as she heard the tragic situation of her friends. She clasped her hands together, trying to suppress the pain in her heart. She asked Claire in confusion and helplessness:

"Can you please save them?"

Claire didn't respond for a moment.

She hesitated and thought.

The spirits of Lisa and Paris were twisted into a ball by the powerful cultist. To separate them, the pollution from the power of the hidden sage must be eliminated.

Currently, she is the only one in the entire Tingen who has the possibility to accomplish such a thing.

Release the seal of the holy object "Sword of the Goddess" and use the pollution source directly from the hidden sage to attract the thin pollution of Lisa and Paris.

Claire believes that this idea has a high probability of success.

However, she has to pay a heavy price for making this choice.

If anything goes wrong during this process, and the contamination cannot be sealed with the holy artifact, her body will become a vessel for the advent of the Hidden Sage.

Even if she succeeds, she will increase her own taint—the taint of the Hidden Sage and the need to pray for more blessings from the Goddess of Night.

It's not worth paying so much for two chaotic and strange souls.

The best option is to report the true situation of the mission directly to Dunn. Dispatching Daly over can easily eliminate the contaminated spirit in the pocket watch.

"only……"

Claire sighed softly. She was used to having an old man always reading with her, and used to the old man's unique but always detailed explanations.

Old Neil was more contaminated than Lisa and Paris. If she wanted to clear up the connection between Old Neil and the Hidden Sage later, there would be no better experimental opportunity than this time.

She needed to verify whether her idea could succeed.

"give it to me."

Claire took the pocket watch from Serenad's hand and pushed her away.

The moment she held the pocket watch, she covered her heart with one hand and began to chant:

"The goddess of night, higher than the stars, and older than eternity."

"Lord of Crimson, Mother of Secrets."

"Queen of misfortune and terror, lord of sleep and silence."

The dark holy emblem on her heart flickered crimson, and gradually transformed into a bone sword in the crimson. Claire held it in her right hand and pulled it out bit by bit.

As the bone sword was pulled out, surging pollution spread outward from her heart like a black tide, densely covering Claire's chest, abdomen, and shoulders.

An indescribable feeling came over me like a tide, as if I were sinking into the deep sea. The space around me became thick, and someone was muttering madly in my ears.

Claire, struggling to maintain her composure, took a deep breath and swung her sword towards the pocket watch.

The pocket watch shattered like glass.

The hybrid spirit that escaped from it twisted and wailed.

Wisps of black energy emanated from the mixed spirit body and were sucked into Claire's heart.

The language in my ears became clearer and clearer, and it seemed as if a will was about to descend upon the black air.

Claire gritted her teeth and resisted stubbornly.

During the resistance, scenes from the "past" flashed before her eyes.

She saw Lisa's father, a factory owner of an emerging industry, a pioneer who rode the wave of the Industrial Revolution, and a former farmer who used the Industrial Revolution as an opportunity to allow his family to leap forward again.

She saw Paris's father, an out-of-favor farmer who could no longer maintain his once-decent life after higher-ups kept driving down the price of food commodities.

The wave of industrial revolution brought about by Emperor Roselle has not yet stopped.

Some people, like Lisa's father, made a fortune thanks to the Industrial Revolution, while others' families declined and became the price of the times.

The tragedy of Lisa and Paris is a small microcosm of this.

But compared to them, those at the bottom, those in the fields, those forced into factories, are the real price.

Stolen profits, alienated labor...

In desperation, people pray and plead to the visible "God".

The Industrial Revolution was a breeding ground for evil spirits.

The Industrial Revolution is also a step forward in the progress of human society...it is both glorious and ugly.

As soon as she thought of this, the potion in Claire's body actually underwent a major change.

Her mind was clearer, her own spiritual vision was sharper... like wearing glasses with the right degree, she could observe the world more clearly.

Taking advantage of this moment of clarity, Claire thrust the Goddess's Sword into her heart.

The crimson moonlight shone solely on Claire. No matter how unwilling the black lines on her body were, they were all absorbed and sealed beneath the dark holy emblem.

Claire half-knelt down, sweating profusely.

Breathing heavily.

Serenade anxiously ran over to help her, but Claire chuckled and shook her head in rejection.

Claire was laughing, because her assumption was not wrong, and she had the ability to help others clear the contamination of the Hidden Sage.

Even if the cost is huge, there is always hope of solving Old Neil's problem.

Claire smiled tiredly and relaxedly.

In mid-air, all the pollution from Lisa and Paris was absorbed by Claire, and the two spirits were separated after more than a year.

In the spiritual vision, the two people's spirits were holding hands, as gracefully as when they were alive, sometimes hugging each other tightly, sometimes spinning rapidly, dancing under the night sky.

Beside her, Serena looked up and murmured, "I think I saw Lisa and Paris dancing."

In the darkness of the night, crystal tears fall.

Under the same night.

The woman with black hair and black eyes threw the head in her hand to the feet of the person waiting to pick her up in the darkness.

She was greeted by a charming lady whose charm could not be concealed by her clothes.

"Welcome, my sister who has come from afar. Thank you for your hard work on this journey."

The head that was thrown at her burned at her feet. She didn't even glance at it, her eyes fixed on the woman in front of her. "Should I call you Tai Poslan?"

The tall, dark-haired woman said coldly, "You can call me Tessa."

……

Dragging her tired body in the night, Claire returned to the Blackthorn Security Company.

Late at night is when most night watchmen are most active.

Dunn was also processing some documents in the office, with a packed dinner on the table.

Dunn looked at the slightly disheveled Claire, surprise flashing in his eyes. "You look like you really need some rest."

Claire waved her hand and said, "It's much better now."

Dunn asked again: "Is it a difficult situation?"

“It was a little beyond our imagination, but we managed it.”

Without explaining her reasons for taking action, Claire reported the entire operation to Dunn. Dunn was the only person on Tingen who knew about the contamination of the Sword of the Goddess and the Hidden Sage.

Dunn said sternly, "In a situation like this, the most important thing you should do is report back, not try to show off."

Claire smiled tiredly but happily, "I won't do that next time."

Dunn had no choice but to issue warnings again and again.

"By the way, we've hired a new civilian." After registering Claire's mission, Dunn talked about another matter.

"Is it that Klein Moretti?" Claire asked without surprise.

Dunn nodded and smiled. "He should still be in the armory with Old Neil. Do you want to go say hello?"

"Hmm... I'll go take a look." Claire took the dinner from Dunn's table without any courtesy, stuffing it into her mouth without any image, and even found time to greet Roxanne outside the door.

In response, Dunn lowered his head and smiled.

Claire ate her meal while walking towards the armory.

Pushing open the iron door, Claire found herself in the increasingly crowded little room, where she saw Old Neil and Klein sitting around a table, looking at something.

(End of this chapter)