Mystery: Survival from the Secret Doll

Chapter 180 Chapter 179 Report
"A supernatural case involving high-level matters recently occurred in Tingen City. Therefore, we have conducted an investigation with the clergy of the Church of Storms and have submitted a summary to the Holy Church."

"The following is the investigator's written statement:"

"The incident originated from several large taverns in Tingen City. Some people who make a living by telling stories and identifying characters recently received a commission from a painter named Irwin Whitaker."

"According to the investigation, these storytellers, at the same time, received a well-paid and simple commission at their respective homes or workplaces."

"From the data collected from the major taverns in Tingen City, it seems that all storytellers receive commissions to tell stories involving the supernatural at large gatherings where crowds gather."

"It has been confirmed that these stories all involve elements of the extraordinary and the horrific. After being noticed by the church, because these stories themselves have a certain correct orientation, the Church of Night and the Church of Storm in Tingen City did not impose too many restrictions until they were sure that these stories themselves contained certain extraordinary elements."

“The following are the stories collected:”

Addendum 1: Sister…

Appendix 2: Hachishaku-sama…

Appendix 3: Newly Married…

Appendix 4: Scarecrow…

Addendum 5: Bloody Mary...

Appendix 6: Doll...

……

"That's a total of thirteen stories."

"According to eyewitness accounts, the supernatural elements involved in the stories told by these storytellers, such as the 'Girl in the Rain,' the 'Nun,' and the 'Eight-Foot-Sir,' have been confirmed to have actually appeared in the urban area of ​​Tingen City. There is a certain trend of spread, and the number of known eyewitnesses is increasing."

"Gregor Richards, captain of the Beyonders of the Tingen Church, discovered an abnormality and noticed that one of the witnesses also had an abnormal reaction. The following is the witness's corresponding information:"

Addendum: The carriage driver, Early King, one of the witnesses to the story of 'Yashikami-sama', has been confirmed to have signs of contamination. When undergoing purification with Sealed Artifact '2-051', an illusory black line similar to a spirit thread appeared. This black line has a certain connection with the 'oil painting'... For more details, see the 'oil painting' section.

"Through certain divination methods, we've determined that this series of stories involving the extraordinary all originated from a writer named Alvin Whitaker, who relocated from Backlund to Tingen City six months ago."

"When this unremarkable painter was entrusted with the task by the storyteller, he was hiding in the basement of a house that had been uninhabited for twenty years. When he was found, he had collapsed into a monster due to unknown contamination, with no trace of his extraordinary characteristics remaining. We speculate that Alvin Whitaker was influenced by a hidden entity and gained a certain degree of extraordinary power.

"In the process, he wrote those stories and created the corresponding paintings, and because of our influence, he got out of control."

"In Irwin Whitaker's mansion, we discovered paintings corresponding to those stories circulating in Tingen City involving supernatural factors. Each of these paintings seems to symbolize a story... For details, see the 'Paintings' section."

"While tracing the source of the story, Gregor Richards, Bev Fraker, and Francis Houston were drawn into a place suspected to be the Church of the Fourth Epoch Church of Darkness. There, they heard a legend about the 'Demon Seal.' It has been confirmed that this legend is closely related to the experiences of the three Beyonders and the nun mentioned in Appendix 1 of the Storyteller's story."

"Based on relevant documentation, we've determined that the location suspected to be the Fourth Epoch Church doesn't exist in the real world. As for the fictional church, our three official Beyonders haven't explored it in depth. The following is what we know about the fictional church:"

"Sister: A woman who claims to be an ascetic from the Church of Night. She wears the traditional clothing of an ancient church clergyman. She has not been found to have any traces of contamination or otherworldly elements. She is a fairly normal person. She claims to have been ordered by the Holy Church, the 'Church of Tranquility' to guard the seal of the demon. She is currently waiting for a church clergyman who can reinforce the seal..."

"Church: It is an early-style church, essentially no different from a normal church. However, upon entering, the corresponding extraordinary abilities of the entrant will be lost. The reason is unknown..."

"Cemetery: A cemetery with certain funeral customs from the early years of Tingen City. It has been confirmed that there are no bodies buried in the cemetery. However, those who are locked in the coffin will also lose their extraordinary powers. The reason is unknown..."

"It has been observed that after entering that anomalous space, the activity of Sealed Artifact '2-051' has almost completely ceased, rendering it unusable. Currently, there is no reasonable explanation for this phenomenon. It is suspected that the anomaly was sealed due to the influence of a higher-level existence..."

"..."

"After confirming that Ivan Whitaker had become a monster, we worked together with the clergy of the Church of the Storm to destroy that area."

"For unknown reasons, three Beyonders from the Church, Gregor Richards, Bev Fraker, and Francis Houston, were forcibly removed from that space. No method of re-entering that area has been found. It is speculated that there may be a connection with the painting corresponding to 'Appendix 1: The Nun.'"

"While we were investigating the Irwin Whitaker case, we discovered several paintings depicting extraordinary monsters from the storyline. Due to the influence of an unknown supernatural force, all but one of these paintings, related to 'Appendix 1: The Nun,' survived. The other paintings, 'Appendix 3: The Wedding,' were found in the home of a man named Erihog Stevenson in the northern suburbs of Tingen."

Appendix: Arrihog Stevenson, a widower who lost his wife at an early age, claimed to have dreamed of a lady in red sitting in a sedan chair the night after this painting inexplicably appeared in his home.

The lady in bright red married him in his dream, and after waking up, Ariehog Stevenson found that he was not at home. He appeared beside the Tussock River and seemed to be about to walk into the river, but was discovered by passers-by in time. Church staff quickly intervened and found the corresponding oil painting.

Erich Stevenson shows signs of contamination, similar to the carriage driver in the appendix. It is speculated that the illusory black lines seem to be related to the hidden entity behind the contamination of these oil paintings.

"Based on the plot of the corresponding Appendix: 3 story, it's reasonable to speculate that the lady in red that Elihogg Stevenson dreamed of was a bride who died unexpectedly due to a happy event. In contrast, Elihogg Stevenson played the role of a person who died from drowning. This combination is referred to as 'Red and White Clashing Evil' in the story. We speculate that this 'Red and White Clashing Evil' may be a small-scale sacrificial ceremony held to a non-existent entity..."

Appendix 1: The painting 'The Nun' depicts a nun who appears to be possessed by a demon, with dark, demonic skin... It can cause surrounding shadows to appear active, allowing demonic powers to manifest. It possesses the extraordinary ability to perform psychic attacks, is mobile, and possesses a corresponding entity. The issues surrounding the fictional church in the Fourth Epoch are also related to this painting. The painting itself may be one of the keys to entering the fictional church.

Appendix 2: The oil painting 'Newlyweds' depicts a marriage between a drowned young man and a bride who died on her wedding night. Within a certain range, this allows a person to enter a world constructed by the painting while asleep. Depending on the affected person's gender, it is determined whether the affected person plays the role of 'bride' or 'groom' in the 'marriage' in the painting's world. Preliminary determination is that the bride's manner of death was 'wedding funeral', meaning she died of various unknown causes during the wedding, while the groom's manner of death was 'drowning'.

According to the Beyonders who participated in the test, when they came into contact with the 'Newlyweds' painting, they smelled the aroma of food... "Although there is no clear evidence that the supernatural events involved in the stories told by these storytellers will actually occur in the real world, we have still conducted a certain degree of inspection of their actual situation.

"We later discovered that one-third of these storytellers did not have complete identification documents. Communication with churches in other regions also confirmed that the identification documents submitted by these storytellers could not prove their true identities."

"There are certain fabricated facts in the family backgrounds of these storytellers. We are trying to check the information of the floating population in Tingen City in the past year, hoping to find some clues."

“Currently known things that need to be dealt with:”

"1. The remaining paintings disappeared from our sight in a manner that countered divination and prophecy. Based on the abnormalities of the two remaining paintings, we can confirm that there is clearly something wrong with these paintings by Irwin Whitaker. I hope the Sanctuary can provide some assistance."

"2. The oil painting itself has a certain 'alive' quality. How should this type of sealed object be handled?"

"3. Where does this anomaly originate from?"

“4. How should these stories be handled?”

"According to the investigators' suggestions, we believe the paintings need to be temporarily placed behind the 'Abendeng' gate and sealed to a certain extent, pending further processing by the Holy Temple. The remaining paintings also need to be retrieved as soon as possible..."

-

After a busy day, storyteller Francis Calvin finally returned to his somewhat shabby and remote home.

When he pushed open the door, the family members inside raised their heads.

"Welcome back."

"I am back."

The door was slowly closing. Inside, from one oil painting after another, hands stretched out. The people in front of them were standing or sitting, cooking or cleaning. One after another, illusory and transparent black lines emerged from their bodies and were firmly captured by those oil paintings.

After the storyteller finished speaking, one after another illusory and transparent black threads emerged from his body, and he turned into a monster covered with threads that seemed to extend to the dome.

The door closed, and the world inside and outside were separated again.

-

The story of Tingen City did not stop due to the intervention of the official Beyonders. Instead, it showed a trend of intensifying.

This seemed to have become a trend in Tingen City for a while. No matter whether it was the elderly or children, nobles or commoners, everyone had a great interest in these stories. The literate people began to create their own stories based on the first thirteen stories. More stories were constantly circulated, and they were updated and iterated at a rapid pace. There were even drama performances that arose from this. It was one of the few cheap forms of entertainment currently.

Archbishop Chanis put these stories aside and looked at Nicolas Flamel in front of him. "Mr. Flamel, the Pope means that as long as these things are controlled within Tingen and the surrounding cities, no church forces will take action against this matter."

The extent to which the Church of Darkness indulged in this matter was beyond Tang's imagination.

Nicolas Flamel could not help thinking, and he said with a smile: "Should I praise the goddess?"

Before Archbishop Chanis could speak, he lowered his head and tapped his head a few times, drawing a crimson moon on his chest before speaking, "The Church of Storms' leaders won't know about this. I stole the memories of the Beyonders of the Church of Storms who knew about this."

The Church of Night has an angel-level foreign aid, but the Church of Night did not inform the Church of Storm. This is not very polite.

So Nicolas Flamel simply stole the corresponding memories. As long as no one knew, nothing impolite would happen, right?

Ah, of course, when he stole the memory, he also retained part of the smell of the monocle, so that at some point in the future they would know that it was Amon who did it.

Go ahead, go ahead. If the Lord of Storms had a more violent temper, he could just kill Amon from the air.

Nicolas Flamel thought maliciously.

"It may not be a bad thing to let the people of the Storm Church know, Mr. Flamel."

Archbishop Chanis said calmly.

"Speaking of this, I'm a little curious, Your Excellency."

Nicolas Flamel seemed to have remembered something and looked at Archbishop Chanis. "How did you come up with the idea of ​​telling the Beyonders in Tingen City about Amon's honorable name?"

Or, Archbishop Chanis, how do you know that the honorific name of Amon now refers to me?
Tang was also very curious about this matter. Logically speaking, Amon's current situation was a bit complicated.

On the one hand, he had lost the Beyonder characteristics of uniqueness and Sequence 1. On the other hand, He had tried many times to interfere with the situation in Tingen City. Although he had failed in the end, it was clear that the large-scale appearance of Amon's clones would indeed attract the attention of some gods.

After all, as the god of fraud and mischief, Amon is so naughty that he even wants to steal the authority of the gods.

(End of this chapter)