Unspeakable bubbles

Therefore, the only option is to turn a blind eye to other aspects.

“Bishop Matthew, I’ve shown you a shameful side of myself.” A man who had remained silent throughout looked ashamed.

He was one of the people who accompanied Matthew to meet with Nakamura that day, and he was also the person in charge of the Apocalypse Tantric Cult in this city.

"It's okay. No one becomes an elite on the first day. Take it slow."

Matthew reassured Roger a few words, and Roger smiled, looking completely at ease, without any of the awkwardness he had when meeting with outsiders.

"I'm fine now, haha, don't look so serious, it's important to keep the atmosphere light."

Matthew was speaking from the heart; he really liked the relaxed atmosphere here and felt a genuine sense of kinship with these non-elite parishioners.

You'll find someone to care if you're injured, and someone to rely on in case of an emergency—something you'd never experience at the headquarters of the Apocalyptic Esoteric Buddhism.

Upon hearing Matthew's words, Roger twitched the corners of his mouth, forcing an ugly smile.

He was a rather serious person, but he didn't dislike this mild-mannered bishop who had been parachuted in.

No, it wasn't just that he didn't dislike Matthew; after spending some time with him, Roger even came to regard him as someone he could trust deep down.

That's why he felt particularly distressed to see his own protégés showing such panic in front of Matthew.

"Bishop, what just happened?"

"The Crimson Codex that I gave to Nakamura was destroyed by the people of the Seven Rings Tower," Matthew said casually.

"Blood, bloody scripture!"

Roger stared in disbelief at Matthew, dumbfounded: "That wasn't just an ordinary scripture, was it? How, how did it become the Crimson Scripture!"

"Ah, I know you definitely won't agree to give the Crimson Codex to Nakamura, so I did a little disguise."

"Disguise... Your Excellency, why would you do this?"

Roger was completely confused: "And why do you, Bishop, possess the Crimson Codex? That's a treasure that can summon A-rank Chaos creatures after a perfect sacrifice, even if you are a bishop..."

“That was given to me by Archbishop Gavin when I left headquarters.”

"Gavin, the Archbishop?"

Roger's face turned deathly pale instantly, and he almost fainted.

"Hey, are you alright? You look like you're about to faint."

Matthew looked at him with concern: "Didn't you get enough rest? It's my fault. I'll arrange a few days for you in a while."

"Now is not the time to talk about such things!"

Roger, his eyes bloodshot and his face contorted with rage, said, “I will immediately mobilize all the city’s fighting force and ask the bishop to accompany us to crush this madman who is destroying the canon.”

"No, that's not enough. We need to deliver a heavy blow to the Seventh Ring Tower to make amends. Hmm, I'll try contacting the heads of other cities and see what they think."

"Stop, stop, stop! Don't panic, it's not that serious," Matthew said, stopping Roger as he looked ready to fight.

"Rather than saying that Kazuto Maekawa destroyed the Crimson Codex, it's more accurate to say that I deliberately led him to do so."

Upon hearing this, Roger sensed that there might be more to the story.

He gestured for the parishioners to leave, and only when he and Matthew were alone in the basement did he say in a deep voice, "Bishop, you just said it was 'intentional'?"

Matthew nodded. "Professor Nakamura chose to trust himself rather than trust us."

"It's a pity that he eventually died at the hands of his own experimental subjects."

A fleeting look of regret crossed Matthew's face. He continued, "Here's the interesting part: the girl who killed Nakamura had a few quirks, and Nakamura happened to be carrying the Crimson Codex with him at the time."

"A little quirk... what kind of quirk?" Roger suddenly had a bad feeling.

“Torture and murder, she tortured Nakamura to death little by little.”

"Eh, the code, torture, Nakamura, could it be that she triggered a sacrifice?"

The scriptures are there, and the sacrifices are there. Torture and killing are a means of sacrifice, so it's not surprising at all if she triggered a sacrifice.

However, Nakamura himself was not an ideal sacrifice.

Coupled with such a simple and crude method of sacrifice, the overall level of the ritual is bound to drop significantly.

Thinking of this, Roger said with a heavy heart, "It's such a pity."

"What a pity? There's nothing to regret. Because that sacrifice was perfect."

Matthew remarked with emotion, "Even I couldn't have done any better."

"How could this be?" Roger looked at him in astonishment. "That girl, could she be one of our secret sect members?"

"No, she's a complete novice."

"That......"

“Nakamura was originally only at the level of the third ring, so he was barely qualified as a sacrifice.”

“But Nakamura put in a lot of effort to ensure the success of his experiment,” Matthew said, his tone tinged with excitement.

Then he revealed Nakamura's original plan: "Five senses resonance, he wanted to resonate with that child's five senses at a crucial moment."

“From a mystical perspective, Nakamura and that girl can be considered ‘relatives’.”

Roger suddenly realized that sacrificing one's own 'relative' would add a lot to the entire ceremony, enough to make up for Nakamura's shortcomings as a sacrificial offering.

“Bishop, but that’s still not enough.”

He cautiously analyzed, "The executor herself is not a skilled priest; she cannot sustain a perfect sacrifice."

Matthew nodded. "That was originally the plan, but there were many subjects for the experiment. Do you know why Nakamura chose that girl?"

"why?"

"Because that child is very likely to successfully awaken."

"Could it be that she happened to awaken during the sacrifice?" Roger said incredulously. "It can't be that much of a coincidence."

"exactly."

Matthew stood up excitedly, “The mystery of awakening has led to an even greater mystery; it was a perfect sacrifice!”

"A demon spirit was born from the ruins of Nakamura. Originally, it could have reached rank A."

"Has something unexpected happened again?"

Roger's eye twitched. The sacrifice was already spectacular enough, but now it seemed there was more to come?

Chapter 74, Section 074: Matthew the Counterfeit

"The demon summoned by the Crimson Codex inherited most of Nakamura's personality, and its intelligence is not low."

Matthew said thoughtfully, "I guess it might want to turn that academy into a base, which is probably also an influence of Nakamura's lingering personality."

“Many hands make light work,” Roger added. “However, converting a Chaos outpost into a territory under the Federation’s control is not a good idea.”

Matthew nodded and continued, "The demon spirit extracted the power from the Crimson Codex, and it vaporized that power, using it to erode the entire academy in the form of mist."

"Originally, it might have just wanted some useful subordinates, but that academy is really interesting."

He held up two fingers. "There were actually two exceptions. Not only did they disobey the demon's orders, they also seized most of the power that should have belonged to the demon."

"By the time the demon realizes something is wrong, it will be too late."

"At that time, it had three options: one was to stop there and retreat with those survivors; the other was to try to devour those two special cases and use that as an opportunity to re-evolve to Rank A."

"Third, we need to find a way to reconcile with those two special cases and reach some kind of mutually beneficial agreement."

“It definitely chose the second one,” Roger asserted.

"Hehe, you're wrong."

"At first, it actually chose the third option."

Matthew shrugged: "Unfortunately, the person it approached had absolutely no intention of cooperating."

"Left with no other choice, the demon spirit could only choose the second option."

"Hmph, the first choice of the demon is to make peace with the enemy. That's quite Nakamura's style."

Roger said sarcastically that he disliked Nakamura very much and still couldn't understand why his master would give him so much help.

"Actually, Professor Nakamura was quite talented. In his youth, he could have been called a genius. Unfortunately... well, since he has already failed miserably, let's not talk about him anymore."

Matthew paused, then continued, "Although the Demon Spirit has the assistance of the Resurrectors and has awakened a decent talent, the other two are not to be underestimated either."

"They took most of the power accumulated by the Crimson Codex and used it all to improve themselves."

"The demons have a numerical advantage, but they are severely lacking in high-end power, and can only barely maintain a three-way balance of power."

He wanted to continue speaking, but he saw Roger hesitate and stop.

"what happened?"

"Bishop, I have a question."

Roger's face showed curiosity: "One of those two special cases is a girl who awakened during a sacrifice, and who is the other one, and why was she able to break free from the demon's shackles?"

"Ah, I know the girl who awakened too, her name is Sakakibara Ikuko."

"Although her talent is remarkable, it can only keep her from being corrupted by the mist; she has not reached the point where she can compete with the demons for power."

“Yuko’s talent doesn’t lie in this area.”

Matthew knew that Roger had misunderstood, so he explained, "One of the exceptions is Nakamura's disciple, who was already on the verge of mutation before Nakamura became a demon."

"Originally, her mutation was suppressed by the medicine prepared by Nakamura, but she was also unlucky and encountered the erosion of the mist."

"Under the dual mutations, a monster unbound by demonic spirits was born. She, well, she gave me quite a surprise."

"In the end, I speculate that it has reached the B+ level, and even has the potential to reach the A level."

Matthew said with some regret, "To be honest, in every respect, it is stronger than the demon spirit. If it weren't for Maekawa Kazuto interfering, I would have definitely found a way to send it to headquarters."

"At headquarters, it might have had a chance to break through to Rank A, what a pity."

Matthew shook his head. "As for the other special case..."

At this point, Matthew suddenly stopped.