My dear witch, please turn evil according to the script!

Chapter 194 The Time of Stasis

Roland, with Nash and Cellina, navigated the ship following the directions provided by the Origin Tracker.

Strangely, the ship, which should have been carrying many passengers, was now completely deserted.

Not to mention people... there wasn't even any bloodstains or signs of a fight.

The ship was frighteningly clean.

Not to mention any traces of human activity, there wasn't even a trace of wind and rain on this ship that had been drifting in the wind and rain for thirty years.

"Meow... This ship is so weird... Even though I'm nestled in your arms, I still feel a chill."

Listening to the silly cat's complaints in his arms, Roland simply said, "Be content. At least the atmosphere is just strange, and no weird monsters have appeared to attack us."

"There are clearly some... those monsters that emerged from the shadows were just too scared to come closer because of the light spears around you."

Nash continued his rant, while also urging, "So can't we hurry up? Can't we just run straight to our destination?"

Cellina sighed. "Nash, nobody knows what unknown dangers might be on this ship."

"To be on the safe side, let's take it slow."

Nash, who had been lectured by Cherlinina, drooped his ears and looked somewhat unhappy.

Of course, it's also possible that they were frightened.

After all, this guy is a coward, and the atmosphere on the ship is terrifying enough right now.

However, they soon made a discovery.

A corpse, still wearing the uniform of a special agent from the Bureau of Supervision.

The man was sitting at the entrance to the ship's cabin via the stairs, with a huge hole in his chest that had almost blasted him in two. This was clearly the cause of death for the Inspectorate agent.

Nash was so frightened that he immediately covered his eyes with his paws. Roland, on the other hand, noticed something and pulled a group photo out of his pocket.

"The people in the group photo..."

Roland has carried this photo with him ever since he found it in old Lancelot's notes.

As it turns out, this is still quite useful.

Although Roland knew that this was likely something that old Lancelot had recovered during the investigation.

But he still cared a lot about the investigation.

From the perspective of the investigations that Lancelot participated in, the Iris was a shipwreck.

No... or perhaps they did find the ship back then, otherwise it's impossible to explain how these photos came about.

This photo would never have existed if old Lancelot had never been on that ship.

No matter how you look at it, this group photo with the words "I'm so glad you're not here, rookie" written on the back is the last words written by the members of the Inspection Bureau who boarded the ship before they died.

Clearly, it was either old Lancelot or someone else in the investigation team who located the ship and discovered something on it.

So old Lancelot prepared to seek help from Kefas, but unfortunately he couldn't withstand the influence of cognitive interference, and the curse interfered with his cognition.

The initial confusion was gradually resolved at this moment.

The condition of the corpse before him only made Roland more puzzled.

The body was still alive... Well, although using the word "alive" to describe a body is not quite appropriate, in Roland's opinion, it was the best word to describe the body before him.

This inspector, whose name is currently unknown, seemed as if he had just died.

It doesn't look like it did thirty years ago at all.

Rather, it's quite unusual that after thirty years, the flesh and blood tissue is still intact and hasn't turned into bones.

Clearly, Cellina also noticed the unusual nature of the corpse, her brow furrowing slightly.

The remnant soul of the Demon King also manipulated the gauntlet to hover in the air and began to examine it: "Just as I said before... his soul is trapped in this physical body."

"His consciousness had completely fallen into chaos, but his soul could not be freed and was trapped in this scene forever."

"But...it's strange..."

Roland looked at the remnant soul of the Demon King: "What's strange?"

"Logically speaking, even if the soul is bound, the body that has already died cannot avoid decay."

"But the state of this corpse is as if... time has been frozen."

The remnant soul of the Demon King said thoughtfully, "Before or at the moment of the divine descent ritual on this ship, someone used some special power to restrict the spread of the ritual's power."

“Normally, the souls bound to the site of the descent ritual should be located near the array of the descent ritual, that is, near the site of the ritual.”

"But clearly, the body is in the wrong place."

Roland thought for a moment, then asked, "Does the Vatican have similar methods?"

"Hehe, of course they do. As a force capable of establishing connections with the true gods, it's not surprising that they possess various things."

The Demon King chuckled twice, agreeing with Roland's view, but quickly changed the subject: "But... mortals cannot use the power of gods unconditionally."

Roland didn't say much. He closed the eyes of the dead agent and then continued to follow the guidance of the Origin Tracker into the cabin.

There were no longer many abnormalities to be seen inside the cabin.

The corridor was covered in dust.

But at the end of the corridor, two more corpses appeared before them.

An agent from the Bureau of Inspectorate, his body mangled and almost entirely broken, plunged a longsword into the heart of the Chaos cultist before him before dying.

The condition of the two corpses was exactly the same as the previous one.

The display of these corpses seemed to tell the story of what happened on the ship.

Just like the clues Roland already knew.

This surveillance team was originally sent to the ship to arrest and kill these Chaos cultists. However, judging from the current situation, this small team has suffered heavy casualties.

They may have discovered something unusual and tried to stop the Chaos cultists from performing their descent into the gods.

But it was too late.

Or perhaps, they were too late to stop it all.

Or... they are the weaker party, putting up a futile resistance.

Or... are they just buying time for others?
In the same manner, Roland separated the two corpses, burned the Chaos Cultist's body with a fireball, and then moved the Agent's body to a corner of the corridor.

He continued forward and then pushed open the door in front of him.

The thread of origin tracing has finally come to an end.

They were quite lucky; despite the spatial anomalies, they still managed to find their target.

Cellina's pupils contracted almost instantly.

She saw the friend she had forgotten.

The other person's body was limp, the bloodstains beneath him, the blood still wet at the corner of his mouth, and his dull, lifeless pupils all pointed to one thing.

She is dead.

Although this was an answer we knew almost from the very beginning.

But after actually witnessing her friend's body, Celinina still seemed somewhat unable to accept it.

Even though she kept telling herself on the way that Natalia couldn't possibly still be alive.

She always held onto a sliver of hope in her heart.

Roland didn't say anything, but stepped forward and patted Cellina on the shoulder.

Cellina kept her head down, so her expression was not visible.

However, Cellina, whose whole body was trembling uncontrollably, could not hide her emotions at this moment.

She lowered her head and faced Roland, her voice trembling as she asked, "I'm sorry... could you let me be a little selfish just this once?"

Roland smiled and said, "Of course."

The moment Roland finished speaking, something unexpected happened to him.

Cellina hugged him tightly and buried her head in her chest. Soon after, Roland felt a dampness in his clothes.

Nash, who had made an emergency escape and slipped out of Roland's clothes before Cellina could grab him, was now squatting at Roland's feet, looking up with a horrified expression.

Nina! Didn't you say you weren't interested in human men?!

You've betrayed us too!
No, no, no... Impossible, impossible... I must be overthinking it.

Nina must be too heartbroken right now and wants to find someone to hold her and cry. Yeah, that's all.

Must be!
Roland looked down at Cellina, who was sobbing in his arms, and was momentarily at a loss for what to do.

Roland wouldn't be surprised if Kalia or Iluvia were currently in his arms.

But unfortunately...

Roland looked down at Cellina's smooth, long black hair.

This demon female bodyguard, who in his memory didn't have many emotional fluctuations and mostly maintained the image of a cold-blooded killer... could she actually have such a moment?

It seems he underestimated the importance of Ms. Natalia in Cellina's heart.

Roland, with his hands unsure of what to do, finally gently embraced Cellina.

After a long while, Cellina, her eyes red-rimmed, finally released Roland.

"Thanks……"

Cellina didn't say much. After a brief thank you, she wiped her eyes and stepped forward to collect her friend's body.

Roland... took out a handkerchief and wiped his shirt, which was wet with tears.

At the same time, he began to survey the scene.

This looks like a simple... banquet hall?

There was no one else here.

There was no trace of any divine intervention ceremony.

Only Natalia's corpse remained.

And the food and drinks that had been overturned and spilled on the table and floor inside the house.

Clearly, a banquet was taking place here before the anomaly occurred.

Natalia's body was located in a corner at the entrance of the banquet hall, and her weapon lay at her feet.

The weapon is a retro-styled magic gun.

But Roland could tell that this weapon was similar to the pistol that Aslan had made for him.

It can fire special bullets, but it is also a spell amplification device similar to a staff.

Roland examined the gun and found that the muzzle still retained some warmth, indicating that it had fired something before the time stopped.

But what exactly was launched... we can only try to get some clues from its owner's corpse.

Meanwhile, Cellina, who was collecting her friend's body, also discovered something.

She found a delicate little wooden box in Natalia's blood-stained coat.

The box wasn't big; it looked like it could only hold one bullet.

(End of this chapter)