Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 80 Ancient Memories

The sun, making people feel a little hot, shines on the earth.

In the small town of Ramde, northwest of Tingen, Claire, wearing comfortable trousers, a shirt, and a short jacket, was surrounded by local townspeople who were selling various "artifacts."

Some were selling antique oil paintings thousands of years old, some claimed they were holding Baron Ramde's hard-made wine glass, and some said with a gloomy expression that they were holding an ancient emblem dug out from an ancient castle...

A little further away, Sharon, who had parked the carriage at the town hotel, trotted over. Although she was also wearing simple trousers, her beauty that could not be concealed still attracted everyone's attention.

Claire squeezed out from the crowd of antiquities vendors and moved forward to reunite with Sharon.

Sharon smiled and said, "The townspeople here are really welcoming."

"Can you call this enthusiasm?" Claire complained with a wry smile.

Sharon laughed at Claire and said, "As the saying goes, 'live by the mountain, eat by the mountain; live by the water, eat by the water.' The town of Ramde is next to an abandoned castle, and you immediately ask about its history. It's no wonder these townspeople flocked to you, bringing out their 'antiques' from their homes, treating you like a sucker."

Claire smiled bitterly and shook her head.

The two walked through the streets of the town and took the fork in the road at the end towards the ancient castle on the hill.

The August temperature makes the grass and trees along the way green.

More than half a month passed by in the blink of an eye.

During this time, Claire was busy practicing combat, participating in arenas, handling strange incidents, and inspecting historical sites around Tingen.

Especially when exploring those historical sites, Claire could feel the magic potion digesting slightly, but this digestion was very slow. Claire estimated that at the current rate of progress, it would take another nine to ten months to completely digest the "archaeologist".

Claire had once imagined that it would be great if she could use the historical knowledge from before the time travel to digest "Archaeologist", but unfortunately, those historical memories were useless.

So today, when Claire found information about Ramde Castle, she took advantage of her free time to rush over.

And Sharon became her personal driver.

At first, Claire was worried about encountering unknown dangers while exploring these ancient sites, and did not agree with Sharon's request to go along.

But after exploring several historical sites, Claire discovered that these places, which were exposed to the public, had long lost their mystery and danger.

In addition, Sharon, who is also passionate about archaeology, has been talking about taking her with her.

And you really need a driver to facilitate travel.

After much consideration, Claire decided to bring Sharon with her on several subsequent excursions to visit ancient sites. She was surprised to discover that Sharon's explanations and understanding of certain historical events actually helped her digest the potion a bit.

Now, whenever they went out to explore Tingen's ancient sites, it was always a trip for two. During this time, Claire had become completely accustomed to Sharon's company.

In addition to these changes in herself, Claire also participated in three Tarot Club meetings during this period.

Unfortunately, the Tarot Club members failed to provide any new Emperor Roselle's diary during these three gatherings. Claire felt bad that she didn't get any new strategy guides for free.

After Claire said at the last Tarot meeting that she would "arrest you personally", she and the "Queen" fell into a relatively calm and strange atmosphere.

At the Tarot Club, Claire had a private conversation with the Fool, hoping to get information about the "Queen", but was rejected by the Fool.

But in the process of courageously testing the Fool with words, Claire realized two things: the Queen had never prayed to the Fool, and the Fool actually did not know more about the Queen.

Claire had also taken the initiative to climb up to the gray fog world during these days.

But it was the same as when I first climbed up to the gray fog world.

She couldn't leave the area where her seat belonged, nor could she connect with the other crimson stars other than herself.

These experiences put Claire's idea of ​​obtaining information about the "Queen" through the Gray Mist World and the Tarot Club on hold.

Among the Nighthawks, the most alarming thing for the teammates recently was Klein's digestion of the Sequence 9 "Fortune Teller" potion.

Klein also spread the "acting method" in a more popular description among the Tingen Nighthawks.

Klein Moretti is truly a good man. Claire couldn't help but sigh in her heart when she heard this.

Afterwards, Klein successfully passed the review of the Templar Commissioner and took the potion to be promoted to Sequence 8 "Joker". However, he vowed not to spread the "acting method" to others anymore.

……

The passage of time has caused parts of the castle to collapse, and the once sturdy gate is no longer visible.

Near the castle with a collapsed outer wall, Claire activated her Eye of Secrets in advance. Just like the ancient tombs and castles she had passed by, there were no mysterious existences that would alert her except for some harmless spirits.

Claire and Sharon walked into the castle, which had lost its gate, one after the other. It was dark and gloomy inside.

This is because the windows in the castle are small and located at a high position, which is also a characteristic of ancient buildings in the late Quaternary and early Fifth Periods.

Carefully and patiently exploring the castle, we found that the interior was in a dilapidated state. The once magnificent murals had long been eroded, and occasionally we could see traces of activities of animals such as snakes and rats.

Since no one was there, Claire immediately began setting up the altar and ritual materials, as if buying a lottery ticket, hoping to uncover some real historical information this way. However, so far, she hadn't found anything.

But this time, after Claire completed the ritual and prayed, she unexpectedly received guidance that was rare.

"There's a hidden room on the steps separating the castle's main hall and the dining room!" Claire suddenly became excited.

"Sharon, go out and wait first!" Claire wanted Sharon to leave.

But Sharon retorted: "If there is danger here, I think it will be safer for me to stay with you."

It's obviously a perverse logic, but it has a kind of persuasive charm...

"As you wish."

Claire began to approach the steps she was directed to, activating her Eyes of Secrets to examine them more closely. She noticed that somewhere on the steps, hidden behind rubble and debris, were intricate patterns inscribed with symbols of secrecy and gathering spirits.

As Claire's inspiration touched her, dust was stirred up, as if an invisible wall was broken. Claire felt a biting coldness in the secret room hidden under the stairs!

It's a vengeful spirit...

To ensure safety, Claire first set up an "interrupt" ritual magic around her. This is a ritual magic that allows one to pause during the ritual, complete other tasks first, and then return to continue after finishing the work, and still get what they want.

This kind of "interruption" ritual magic is often used by Claire as a trap to deal with resentful spirits.

After getting ready, Claire groped for the secret door. With a heavy and teeth-grinding sound, the staircase floor cracked, revealing a staircase leading down.

Claire looked down intently. With her night vision, she saw a black coffin in the basement at the end of the tunnel, with dark red iron nails scattered around it.

Thick black fog filled the opened coffin.

As if startled by Claire, a tall figure wearing black full body armor emerged from the thick fog.

Two balls of flame-like red light lit up in the gaps of the visor.

And looked at Claire.

Amidst the indistinct roars beneath the visor, he angrily shouted in Hermetic language: "You have disturbed my slumber!"

It's a vengeful spirit!

Claire calmly raised her gun and fired, but the demon-hunting bullet was swept away by the broadsword in the ghost's hand, and he rushed towards the tunnel entrance with the broadsword raised.

As Claire retreated, she quickly chanted the follow-up prayer for the interruption ritual magic:
"O High Crimson Lord, great Queen of Misfortune and Terror;"

"I pray for your favor;"

"I pray that you appease the vengeful spirits in the altar!"

The vengeful spirit that rushed out obviously did not have much wisdom left.

Attracted by Claire, he easily fell into the ritual magic.

Before it could react, wisps of mist emanated from its body. These black mists were instantly cleared away and dissipated by the power of ritual magic.

Gradually, some spiritual fragments with auras emerged from the vengeful spirits.

Upon seeing this, Claire quickly began the subsequent spiritual communication ritual, praying to be able to communicate with the spirit of the resentful soul.

As the spell neared its end, Claire's inspiration touched these tattered spiritual fragments.

In the faintly glowing fragments.

Suddenly, a huge ship, covering the sea surface, came into Claire's sight with an extremely oppressive feeling!

It was a magnificent creation that could be called a moving island!

Claire saw countless flags belonging to the Trunsost Empire fluttering in the wind.

"Is this miraculous ship an illusion?"

Claire could hardly imagine that such an island-like ship could exist in the memory of a vengeful spirit.

She remembered an ancient legend she had read in the Nighthawks' materials.

Legend has it that Trunsoest, the last empire of the Fourth Epoch, built a massive ship the size of a city. However, when the empire collapsed, the intended passengers and crew were unable to reach port in time.

Eventually the giant ship disappeared on its own.

Later, people continued to claim to have seen giant ships the size of islands in the Sonia Sea. Gradually, people believed that they were the disappeared giant ships of the Trunsost Empire and called it the "Ghost Empire."

Could this vengeful spirit be an ancient being from the Fourth Age?
Is he a noble from the Trunsost Empire?
Before Claire could think about it, the scene shifted, and she saw the vast battlefield with a sea of ​​people. She heard the whispers of the ancient vengeful spirit, and could vaguely distinguish the following:
"Solomon and Tudor are enemies of the Empire!"

The waves stirred up in Claire's heart by these whispers were even more shocking than the grandeur just now!

Because in contemporary history books, the Solomon Empire, the Tudor Empire, and the Trunsoste Empire were all successive regimes, but when I think about the battlefield scene and these whispers...

Could it be that these three empires once existed at the same time?!

What astonished Claire even more was that after this realization, the potion in her body began to digest at a rapid pace. What had originally needed to be slowly digested was now mostly digested in the blink of an eye.

This is actually true!

Only a tiny bit of spiritual light remained from the fragments of the spirit body. In this final light, Claire saw a blond man with deep features like a statue.

He reached out his pale hand and took the skull's head from the coffin deep in the tunnel.

It was because after the head was taken away, the remaining bones gradually formed the ancient vengeful spirit we see today!

Claire, who had a photographic memory, recognized the blond man almost instantly!

He is a wanted criminal of the church——

Former Archbishop of the Church of Night.

A Sequence 5 "Gatekeeper" who failed to advance.

A defector who was seduced by the devil and took with him the church's most dangerous Level 0 Seal, "0-08".

Ince Zangwill!

(End of this chapter)