Mystery: Survival from the Secret Doll

Chapter 208 207 May the Storm Fool You
Confirming Nicola Flamel's current condition was both a task assigned to him by the Pope and an oracle from the Lord.

Obviously, the Lord has some doubts about Amon's current state, and even the outcome of this incident will affect some of the Lord's future tendencies and actions.

The Cardinal of the Church of Storms kept recalling the various materials related to ancient times that he had obtained from within the church, as well as the intelligence about Amon and the city of Tingen in recent years that the Pope personally handed to him a few days ago.

"Two or three hundred years ago, Tingen City inexplicably appeared. A thief, through the new angel, appeared in a city closely connected to the Church of Evernight. Numerous strange paintings, suspected to be manipulated by high-sequence Beyonders through the diviner's path, appeared..."

"For a long time, high-sequence battles within the Thief's Path were constantly taking place in various countries and cities. Although they didn't cause a significant impact, the Church itself suspected that these events involving high-ranking individuals were closely connected to the three Sequence Ones from the Thief's Path."

It is suspected to be a chase for the throne of God.

Chases, traps, attacks, and counterattacks—the struggle between High-Sequence and Sequence 1s is inevitable and impossible to circumvent. Sequence 1s on the same path are naturally hostile to each other, and some will inevitably perish or be demoted.

This may decide the outcome in a very short time, or it may last for a very long time, as in the case inside the thief's passage.

But at this moment, under this situation, the Lord sent down an oracle, testing the status of the thief in Tingen City who passed through Sequence 1.

That battle involving the Sequence Conflict, has it already ended...

"No, the current situation does not indicate that."

In fact, in this case, confirming Amon's condition is more effective than confirming Nicolas Flamel's condition.

Even if the battle between Sequence 1s has ended, the winner may not directly absorb that Beyonder characteristic and reach a level above Sequence 1 and below True God. This Beyonder characteristic extracted from the body of another angel can be sealed and preserved, or made into a corresponding magical item. It is not necessary to consume this Beyonder characteristic on the spot.

The status of the winner cannot truly reflect the essence.

As an angel of the Thief's Path that has survived from ancient times to the present day, the probability of being killed and completely perishing is really too low. The high-ranking people always have various strange ways to survive in some incomprehensible state, and the high-ranking people of the Thief's Path are known for their weirdness, so it is difficult for them to completely perish.

As long as one knows Amon's actions, or can get a glimpse of the current status of the descendant of the ancient sun god, it will be easy to tell what the Lord is concerned about and what the outcome will be.

The only problem is that the angel who survived from ancient times, a natural mythical creature, is even more difficult to predict than Nicolas Flamel.

"Nicholas Flamel at least has a regular haunt. Where can I find Amon?"

On the way to Hoy University in a carriage with the Beyonders of the Artisan Church, the Cardinal of the Storm Church looked at his temporary companion who remained silent and seemed to have no intention of speaking. He thought for a moment and asked, "It seems that the Artisan Church has never built a church in Tingen because of that person's refusal?"

The astrologer of the Artisan Church frowned, raised his head and looked at the tyrant's followers in front of him. The corners of his mouth twitched, as if he didn't want to say anything, but his expression revealed a lot.

The astrologer thought about the situation of his own church and gave up the option of remaining silent.

Well, this isn't a big secret. You see, the Church of Storms and the Church of Night can probably guess...

Not long ago, the Artisan Church headquarters in Intis also sent instructions to the Artisan Church branch in Loen to investigate the relationship between Miskatonic University and Tingen City, and asked the investigators to secretly observe the current situation of Tingen City.

Clearly, the church was suspicious.

The astrologer was not aware that the battle between the Thief's Path Sequence 1 had already begun and ended in Intistril, so he was unable to guess what exactly the church wanted to explore.

As the deacon who has been on duty in Hehe City in recent years and is also the closest to Tingen, this astrologer is a complete waste of time.

Although if this matter was done well, his name might appear on the list of candidates to open the door to divinity within the church, he still felt sour in his stomach and wanted to vomit in a corner.

This city is really strange, especially for extraordinary people with high inspiration. It is full of weirdness. Every time I come here, just walking on the street gives me an extremely uncomfortable feeling.

"Yes."

The astrologer, who had nothing to hide in response to the question from the Cardinal of the Church of Storms, could only nod slowly, trying his best to ignore the gazes outside the carriage that seemed to be observing and probing him, but as long as he looked closely, there was nothing wrong.

The church has been discussing the reason for this matter, and their Lord has not made any other oracles on this matter except for the one oracle he sent down two hundred years ago when Tingen University and Khoy University began to gradually show their capabilities in machinery, craftsmanship, and construction.

"We've been trying to contact the city government. The Bishop of the Backlund Archdiocese personally went to discuss this matter with the then King of Loen... Although His Majesty agreed, the Tingen City Government still refused to allow the church to move in."

They ignored the king's orders. Without Nicola Flamel's instructions, they would never believe that a city government would dare to do such a thing, violating the orders of the Augustus family, the ruling royal family in the Kingdom of Loen.

The Cardinal of the Storm Church fell silent. Obviously, why the Artisan Church was not allowed to build several churches in Tingen City was an extremely troubling question for him, and he had no answer.

Because of a conflict of faith? Like the Lord and the Eternal Sun, and the God of Knowledge and Wisdom?

The path of the artisan as a generalist is not an adjacent path to that of the thief.

Or maybe he simply didn't want the craftsman to steal the anchor that belonged to the thief's angel?
But there is also the church of the Church of Night and Storm here. Although according to the internal information of the church, the Lord's church is also in a state of disconnection in Tingen City, and usually does not respond to any internal church affairs at all. Only occasional appearances show that the church is still active and has not disappeared or been banned.

If neither of these two speculations is true, Tingen obviously has no reason to reject the establishment of the Church of Craftsmen. Both Tingen and Hoy Universities advocate freedom of religious belief and do not restrict people from believing in the God of Craftsmen.

Has Nicolas Flamel killed Amon? What is the connection between the various anomalies in Tingen City and Miskatonic University? What exactly does this angel want to do?
There are too many mysteries entangled in this city. The ambiguous behavior of the top leaders of the two major churches, the close connection between the Church of Evernight and Tingen City, and the tacit approval of the Augustus family have all made this city covered with many mystical colors.

The Cardinal of the Church of Storms often breathed a sigh of relief, closed his eyes, and waited for the carriage to drive to Hoy University.

Perhaps there are certain answers that can be obtained there?
Facts proved that what he thought was right. After meeting those missing official and unofficial extraordinary people at Hoy University, he did get some answers to his questions, but then he had more questions.

At Hoy University, the Cardinal of the Church of Storms and the Astrologer of the Church of the Artisans had indeed seen the missing clergy of their church. And not just their own church, but also the Eternal Blazing Sun, the Mother Earth, the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, and even Beyonders from the Moss Ascetic Order and other secret organizations. These Beyonders ranged from official Beyonders, from secret organizations, or from the wild. Their Sequences varied, and their ages varied. There were mid-Sequence powerhouses like Sequence 5, and low-Sequence Beyonders like Sequence 8 and Sequence 9. There were elderly men who looked over fifty, their temples already graying, and young men in their twenties and thirties who looked like they were in their prime. Both men and women were gathered in a classroom, silently and quietly scribbling something down on a piece of paper with a pen.

There was a somewhat depressing silence.

It feels like the person's body is still alive in the classroom, but his soul has been gone for some time.

"Because these people did something not very good, they have to accept a little punishment."

The leader who came with two official Beyonders to look for someone smiled and said.

The Cardinal of the Church of Storms remained silent, and the astrologer of the Church of Artisans looked bewildered.

They waited outside the lecture hall for a while, and only after the ordinary-looking teacher on the podium left the classroom did the other people in the classroom stand up in groups of two or three and walk out.

Each of them did not seem to be hungry or thirsty, nor did they suffer from material abuse, but they had obviously suffered mental torture. It was not even the kind of mental piercing felt by the interrogators, but pure torture in the spiritual sense.

The living are slightly dead.

Oh, except for those nerds at the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom.

The extraordinary person belonging to the Storm Church was stunned when he saw the cardinal of the church, and then tears filled his eyes. He looked like a pitiful little kid who finally saw his parents come to visit him in prison.

"Mr. Evans!"

The Wind-loving member of the Church of the Storm cried out for help, wanting to give his assistant a bear hug to express his grief over the past month of mental torture, but was simply carried away by the other party like a chick.

The cardinal nodded to the astrologer beside him, and with the guide smiling, he led his men away, ready to find a quiet place to communicate.

The astrologer of the Artisan Church also saw the joy in the eyes of the clergy of his church when they saw him.

Well, it looks fine, but I just don't feel like I have any desire to live...

"What happened?"

After obtaining the consent of the guide, the Cardinal of the Storm Church took the person away directly, but did not leave Hoy University. He just found a corner, controlled the wind direction around him, and created a spiritual wall to prevent the sound from being transmitted.

The Wind-Follower who had disappeared for over a month immediately told the story of everything that had happened to him in the past month. A high-ranking person from the church came to rescue him. The Wind-Follower who had been suffering from high-intensity mental torture for nearly a month looked like he was about to break.

Apart from the steam train at the beginning, the appearance of Nicolas Flamel, the true state of Miskatonic University, etc., the most surprising thing is -

"You mean to say that you have been undergoing mystical studies and training at Hoy University for nearly a month?"

"Yes, they said, 'Since you made a mistake, you have to accept some small punishment'..."

Receive professional training in mysticism and combat classes, memorize a large number of various cases and ritual magic structures that conform to your own church, etc.

This Wind-Follower who had been missing for over a month felt like the sky had fallen. Although as a Punisher, he had always hoped to be able to read books in peace without being busy and without danger to his life, but after actually doing it and having a series of indicators such as assessments, he thought that it would be better to fight with the cultists.

This month was extremely difficult for him. Every day he saw various symbols of ritual magic and occultism, portraits of werewolves and vampires, and various bloody and non-bloody cases, and he felt like vomiting all the time.

Apart from the good food here, there was really nothing else he liked...

"Bishop, can I follow you?"

The Wind-Follower asked pleadingly.

In his opinion, since the church leaders came here to see him in person, that strange university should also give in.

The Storm Church is a church that serves true gods. There are a large number of sealed objects and angel saints within the church. No matter how strange the university behaves, it is impossible for it to directly oppose the orthodox church forces that believe in true gods.

The Cardinal of the Storm Church pondered for a moment, then slowly said:

"No, Conches, you stay here."

The Wind-Follower named Wolf Conches was stunned for a moment.

"The Lord has given us a revelation," said the Cardinal of the Church of the Storm. "We need to clarify the relationship between Tingen City, Miskatoke University, Nicolas Flamel's current situation, and them."

"This is a mission given by God, an honor, and an opportunity for you."

“An opportunity to be promoted, an opportunity to transcend social classes, to gain the Lord’s attention, to receive the Lord’s grace, and to hear the Lord’s approval.”

Wolf Conches stood there in a daze, repeating dully: "The Lord's gaze, the Lord's gift, the Lord's approval."

"That's right." The cardinal pounded his right fist against his left chest. "The storm is with us."

May the storm shelter you.

(End of this chapter)