The bishop is unfathomable.

"My lord, I am so sorry that such a person was allowed to sneak into this crucial ceremony. What should we do now?"

"Throw it into the furnace and use it as energy." The eerie man with long black hair, delicate features, and a look of pity threw the black-robed corpse in his hand aside.

The men waiting nearby quickly lifted the body and threw it into the only source of light in the dimly lit underground space—a huge crucible that shimmered with a yellowish-green glow.

After watching the corpse completely engulf and dissolve in the crucible, the man finally picked up an envelope sealed with sealing wax and began to read it.

Then a blue spark of psionic energy flashed across his hand, instantly removing the self-destruct mark that was originally hidden inside the sealing wax.

"Is the self-destructing mark accessible only to those bearing the episcopal seal?"

The man stretched out his finger, and his normally long nail suddenly became longer and covered with a metallic sheen.

With a flick of her finger, her razor-sharp nails opened the envelope and poured out the letter inside.

The white letter contained only a single, extremely brief sentence.

[You faceless one, if you're still alive, come back to me immediately—Caldoza]

After reading the letter, the man picked up a photograph that had also been taken from the man in the black robe.

There is this sentence on the back of the photo.

[Confirm the fate of the faceless individual. Confirm the identity of the current librarian of the Noren Grand Library.]

"That's interesting... Does the Invisible Surge believe that those without faces aren't so easy to kill? Or have they received some other information?"

"And the librarian. What's his relationship with the faceless man?"

As the man pondered his plan and wondered why the black-robed figure from the Unseen Surge faction he had just killed had found the hiding place of the Children of Dust, and even located the core of the ritual he was in so quickly, he was lost in thought.

This was a prime location in the city that he had painstakingly found over several months; the possibility of someone finding it without any prior investigation was virtually nonexistent.

Then, his eyes lit up slightly, and he immediately guessed the answer: "Was it a secret method that located the bishop's mark on my body?"

Why would he assume that this mark on me is the faceless one he's looking for?

"Assuming the faceless one is still alive, including me, there would be at least two bishops' marks in the city. Did he make that distinction based on identity?"

"Or...did he only see a bishop's mark?"

A smirk played on the man's lips; he knew things were starting to get interesting. "Is someone trying to impersonate the Faceless One?"

"Because the secret technique cannot be used over long distances, Cardosa sent people to Beldor to find someone. But they didn't know that I had secretly infiltrated Beldor half a month in advance to ensure that the ritual could proceed smoothly."

"So, they subconsciously assumed that the only bishop in the city could be the Faceless One?"

"Furthermore, the truly faceless one is already dead, just as the Bureau of Inspection announced, so..."

"That makes sense, since even the Faceless One himself doesn't know I'm here."

The man gradually understood the situation and then smiled knowingly.

None of this had anything to do with him.

After all, everything will come to an end soon.

The reason he cared so much about this issue was simply because this guy found this place without any obstacles, found the core of the ritual, the most crucial point.

He thought that someone or some force had found the location, in which case he would have to consider leaving or moving to a different location.

But now...

In any case, everyone in the city, including him, would die afterward, calling upon the spirit of the revered god to descend to earth with their lives.

These kinds of petty tricks, which don't even happen within your own faction, are completely unnecessary to worry about.

As the bishop of the Sons of Dust, Agnar felt no obligation to warn of the unseen surge. Besides, they would soon be free to concern themselves with the matter.

Even if the faceless one survived last time, he couldn't possibly escape the city; in other words, he would inevitably die during the divine descent ritual.

……

"Chief, we've found some signs of a battle."

A monitor stood at the entrance of an alley, using a portable walkie-talkie to call Boca, who was a block away.

"Traces of battle?" Boca asked.

"Yes, obvious psionic residue was detected. The ritual used to detect and track the traces was also interfered with by another force. I suspect that the gathering point of the Children of the Sands has been found."

"Wait a moment, Mr. Wag and I will come and take a look."

A few minutes after the communication ended, Boca arrived with Wag and Barney.

In fact, Wag and Barney planned to listen to Li Wei and go to the east or south of the city to investigate first.

But before they had even walked a block, they encountered Boca, who was leading a group to the slums, and they were swept up in the main group.

That's right. As soon as he left the coffee shop, Boca immediately gathered his surveillance team and began a large-scale search of the slums in the west of the city.

He even took the initiative himself, handing over internal affairs to Deputy Director Reed, while he and Black led a group of people outside to search for people.

As for Vera, she was immediately sent out by Boca to find Levi after returning to the station.

After understanding Levi's intention, Wag almost immediately replied to Boca, expressing his willingness to write some teaching materials for the Inspectorate and conduct some teaching to strengthen the Inspectorate's weakness in ritual studies.

Unfortunately, while Wag knew how to identify rituals and deduce the location of their core, he wasn't good at some reconnaissance or tracking rituals, since these involved some knowledge of divination, which he wasn't skilled in.

However, if there are relevant books, he can study them on his own first and then hand them over to the inspectors of the supervisory bureau, which can be regarded as a reward.

Boca naturally intended to give his full support. So he asked Vera to go to Levi and ask if he knew the title of a similar book, since only if the Inspectorate knew the title could they go through the procedures to borrow the book.

Boca hadn't expected that Vera, whom he thought would be faster, might not even have run into Levi who was returning home yet, while he himself had made a breakthrough in finding the Son of the Sands.

The inspector at the scene quickly discussed the details with Boka, and Varg also noticed something strange, pointing to a corner of the scene and saying, "It's the Sands' Child spell, Dry Grip. Some unlucky guy got drained by this spell here."

"Look, there are still some black pebbles on the ground."

Boca frowned upon hearing this, then walked to where Wag had pointed and indeed found some black gravel that had not yet been blown away by the wind.

Then, Varg walked to the vicinity of the scene, and threads of psionic energy began to move above the ground, weaving a simple circular magic circle. On the inner edge of the circle, a string of incantations began to appear.

The magic circle activated the next moment, and the ritual began.

A pale blue afterimage was restored.

A man with blurred features and long black hair grabbed a man in black robes by the neck with one hand and lifted him into the air.

"I apologize for the simple afterimage restoration ritual, Director. This is all I can do."

Wag's tone was somewhat annoyed and nervous.

After all, he knew that the bishop intended for him to play the role of a master.

He originally wanted to show off his skills, since this ritual was one he used frequently and was quite effective at catching traitors and finding clues.

But unexpectedly, they encountered a master this time. One of these two people must have a protective ritual method, which caused the afterimage reproduction ritual, which could have shown at least ten seconds of scene, to only produce a freeze-frame photo.

This is quite a disaster... I hope it won't affect my "master" persona.

But to his surprise, Boca not only didn't suspect anything, but turned around even more eagerly and grasped his hands: "Master Wag, please be sure to hand this technique over to our Beldor Surveillance Bureau. I'll do anything!"