Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 44 Trajectory
The sun is shining brightly.

Leonard stayed behind to monitor Old Neil's house.

Claire met up with Dunn, who came to support her, in a hidden corner.

"What's going on?" Dunn stood in front of Claire with calm gray eyes, while Klein followed her from behind, panting.

From this we can see that they came here with all their might.

Dunn was not as calm as he appeared.

Claire spoke quickly and clearly, "Nothing unusual is happening right now. But based on my perception of the evil god contamination in Mr. Neil, Mr. Neil... has performed the evil god ritual at least once."

Dunn didn't ask how Claire had sensed the evil god's contamination. He simply confirmed, "Does that mean Old Neil could become a Corrupted One at any time?"

Claire nodded gravely. "Judging from his previous state, he might just need a little provocation. I could sense that Mr. Neil was showing signs of corruption when he mentioned his 'deceased wife.'"

Claire then added, "But as long as he's not stimulated by external factors, Mr. Neil will still be able to maintain his current cognition. This also gives us time to rescue him!"

"Can you save her?" Dunn stared at Claire with his deep grey eyes.

Claire faced Dunn's gaze calmly and said, "Yes, I'm quite confident that I can remove the contamination from Mr. Neil."

Dunn said, "Tell me what you think."

Claire glanced obscurely at Klein beside her.

Dunn turned sideways and said to Klein, "Klein, go help Leonard."

Klein obeyed the order and moved closer to Leonard.

Without anyone else, Claire confessed part of her story to Dunn:

"I also have a similar contamination to Mr. Neil, but the goddess's holy relic suppressed and sealed it. I have a way to absorb the contamination from Mr. Neil and seal it in myself."

Claire's explanation made Dunn understand some things.

Especially since Claire was a follower, he would not doubt the truthfulness of Claire's words.

But Dunn still had doubts in his heart:
The church specially arranged for a holy object to seal the pollution on Claire's body. Would this act of absorbing pollution cause problems with the seal?
Seeing Dunn's silence, Claire guessed his doubts and said firmly, "I've tried it once before and it proved that this method is feasible. And I can handle it."

Dunn was silent for a moment, but ultimately did not adopt Claire's opinion. He made cautious arrangements:
"Before coming here, I already reported the situation to the Holy Temple via telegram and requested assistance. For now, we will focus on monitoring Old Neil. Do not act rashly and wait for the Holy Temple's assistance."

Just as Claire was talking to Dunn, a boy walked through Old Neil's garden and rang the doorbell.

Old Neil opened the door and started talking to the boy.

Leonard, who discovered this situation, immediately came over to report to Dunn.

In front of Old Neil's door, the round-faced boy spoke to him in a soft voice: "Uncle Neil, long time no see."

Old Neil looked at the boy, a smile appearing on his wrinkled face. "Tris, I have to thank you for finding me the Elf Spring that I needed most last time."

"It was just a fair trade," the boy said shyly.

"Remember you said you were going out to sea. Are you back after finishing your work? Come in and sit down." Old Neil invited the boy into the house.

The boy, who looked only about eighteen or nineteen, shook his head. "I'm not going in. I came here because I have news I must tell you, and after that, I'll be leaving."

"Oh? What's the matter?" Old Neil's slightly confused eyes fell on the boy's face, and his eyes became slightly unfocused.

The boy's voice became full of bewitching tone, "Uncle Neil, the Night Watchmen discovered your ceremony to resurrect your wife."

"The Nighthawks are here to capture you..."

"The Nighthawks are going to destroy your resurrected wife!"

"If you don't believe me, look over there."

The boy glanced to the side and smiled sweetly and contentedly.

Old Neil turned his head and looked to the side. He saw a familiar figure walking towards his house.

Dunn, Leonard, Claire, and Klein.

Old Neil's eyes instantly turned blood red.

Everywhere I looked, there were monsters.

They were all monsters that stood in his way of resurrecting his wife. …

When Claire and the others pretended to be in their normal state and walked towards Old Neil, they saw a wave of energy suddenly burst out from Old Neil's body!
"Oh no! It broke out prematurely!"

Claire, Leonard, and Klein all rushed forward amidst their exclamations.

Dunn closed his eyes, clenched his hands, lowered his head, and stood there in a strange posture.

Dunn used the nightmare's ability to pull people into dreams to forcibly control Old Neil, who was on the verge of losing control!
Under Old Neil's feet, red water like blood continued to flow out like a spring.

Claire and Leonard quickly approached Old Neil.

Klein rushed to save the boy who was blown away by the gust of air.

The boy was thrown high into the air by the gust of wind and fell into Klein's arms.

The boy was in Klein's arms, his body trembling as if he was frightened.

"It's okay." The moment Klein spoke to comfort him, a strong sense of crisis forced him to throw the boy out!

But his movements were still a little slow.

The boy stabbed the dagger in Klein's chest!

The boy's petite figure floated like a goose feather, and fled into the distance the moment he touched the ground.

At this moment, Claire was holding Old Neil's shoulder, who was being controlled by Dunn, with one hand, and pulling out the Goddess's Sword from her heart with the other hand.

Layers of eyes appeared on Old Neil's skin exposed outside his clothes. He opened his mouth and began to roar, his body trembling as if he was about to escape Dunn's control.

Leonard hugged Old Neil tightly and chanted a poem for sleep.

Old Neil's arm pierced Leonard's abdomen, but Leonard did not fall down. He took out the potion from his arms and poured it into his mouth, continuing to chant poems.

Under the dual control of Dunn and Leonard, Claire finally unlocked the seal of the holy object. Countless pairs of cold eyes overlapped in her pupils.

A bunch of black lines were wriggling around his heart.

The pollution on Old Neil's body, which was invisible to others, turned into black mist and rushed into Claire's heart like a river flowing into the sea.

As this process progressed, the blood fountain beneath Old Neil's feet stopped gushing and slowly dried up.

When she could no longer sense any new contamination, Claire raised the white bone sword with both hands and sealed the surging black lines again.

But this time, Claire felt her body was so heavy.

Her vision went black, and Claire fell.

……

In the house with red chimney.

The pale hand holding the quill continued to write the story:

"Tris, the perpetrator of the Clover tragedy, has been discovered by the Tingen 'Mechanical Heart' team."

"The Mechanical Heart requested a joint investigation with the Nighthawks, but Tris, who hadn't yet received the Ascension Potion, was unwilling to flee Tingen."

"Tris is going to cause some trouble for the official Beyonders in Tingen."

"Tris knew that Old Neil, a former member of the Nighthawks, was exposed to a dangerous ritual. He decided to induce Old Neil's hidden dangers in order to strike at the Nighthawks."

"'Instigator' Triss successfully caused the contamination in Old Neil to erupt prematurely."

"With the help of her teammates, Claire absorbed the contamination and saved Old Neil, but Klein tragically died in the incident."

"What Ince Zangwill didn't anticipate was that Klein had foreseen the danger and dodged his body, preventing his injuries from being fatal. Klein miraculously survived once again."

"Leonard was pierced through the abdomen by Old Neil's arm."

"But Leonard, who was hiding a secret, was only seriously injured and fell into a coma."

"However, no matter what, the story remains under control. The sacred object in Claire's body was ultimately weakened by the more intense pollution."

(End of this chapter)