Chapter 207: Mission Failed
"What’s the structure of your religion? Because when something like this happened, no one came except for the guards. Even Paragon Evern ran away." Daniel ignored her previous words and asked the question that had been on his mind.
The other religions he knew, like the Church of Destiny, had very organized and powerful hierarchies.
If any issue arose, they would immediately dispatch powerful forces. But today, he saw no such response from the Church of Eternity.
Even the Paragon had fled, and it had taken nearly twenty minutes—maybe more—before the guards arrived.
From his point of view, it was just plain stupid. If this was the full structure of the Church of Eternity, then no wonder it had started falling apart.
"Well, at the top is the Prophet, then me and the Paragons, and after that... not really anyone. I guess you could say the followers? As for the Paragon running away, I’ve told you before—two of them are just cowardly fools." Evangelin hesitated a bit, then replied.
"That’s it? What kind of crappy structure is that?" Daniel raised his eyebrows in disbelief.
"It’s what my Master wants. I used to complain to him a lot about it too, but he just says there are things I don’t understand."
Daniel went quiet. As much as he wanted to believe Evangelin, his instincts told him that this Prophet was just lazy and didn’t feel like dealing with extra responsibilities.
"Anyway... I wanted to thank you. Really, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for helping today. Without you, a major disaster would’ve happened." As they arrived at the inn, Evangelin slightly bowed and expressed her gratitude.
And by "disaster," she didn’t just mean the deaths of pilgrims. It was also the consequences their deaths would have.
Once the world found out that two factions of the Church of Eternity had massacred each other, God knows how much of a laughingstock they’d become. Most likely, no one would ever follow their religion again.
Daniel nodded and accepted her thanks. After that, Evangelin said goodbye and left.
She still had to return and explain everything to her Master. Also, Paragon Evern had to be punished for his cowardice.
"What an interesting girl," Daniel muttered to himself after she left.
Evangelin was an interesting person to him. Even though she occasionally acted silly, she was actually intelligent—and clearly very talented. Based on the aura he sensed from her, she was without a doubt extremely powerful.
And even as the disciple of what might be the most powerful being in the world, she remained humble and respectful.
He really wanted to know what had actually happened to Evangelin—and honestly, he was even more curious about what had happened to the Church of Eternity itself.
"It’s time to go after them." For now, he pushed those thoughts aside and activated his [Fallen Vision] skill, using it to see everything Nariok saw.
Once he confirmed that the timing was right, he immediately used [Fallen Step] to move.
At the same time, in one of the deepest sections of the Holy City, Rowan and Velina were sitting in chairs around a table.
"Damn it! How the hell could this happen?!" Zarek, who was standing alone, slammed the table in anger.
"Calm down. What’s done is done—we can’t change it now." Though Rowan was furious as well, he tried to keep Zarek calm.
"Who the hell was that white-haired bastard? How did he break my skill?" Velina muttered in disbelief.
Her skill, [Enchanter of Hearts], was an S-rank ability that allowed her to manipulate thoughts and emotions however she pleased.
Of course, it had limitations. She could only use it on people weaker than her, and only a limited number of targets.
That’s why she had only used it on the Ashbound.
She was absolutely certain that there was no one present who could detect or even break her skill.
But that white-haired boy did.
"I know him... or at least I’ve seen him once." Zarek said as he tried to calm himself.
"When? Where?" Rowan asked with a frown.
"Today, maybe an hour or half an hour before the sermons started. I saw him in the Golden Luck with another girl they were calling the Saintess. But I don’t know anything about the guy himself."
"Saintess?" Rowan took on a thoughtful expression. He had also spent a lot of time roaming around today, gathering information to ensure their plan didn’t fail.
If he wasn’t mistaken, Saintess was the title of the Prophet’s disciple in this religion. But not many people had seen her face. To be precise, the Saintess wasn’t that well-known outside the Holy City.
’Anyway... the Saintess doesn’t matter right now. That white-haired boy does... Could he be the Prophet’s secret disciple?’ Rowan thought, and his eyes lit up.
Now that he considered it, it made sense. If he were the Prophet’s disciple, it would explain how he was able to break Velina’s skill and ruin their plan.
"That white-haired boy is probably the Prophet’s hidden disciple." He shared his reasoning with the others.
"If that’s the case, then it adds up." Velina nodded—she agreed.
"Damn him! A hidden disciple of the Prophet? No wonder conquering this floor is so hard! What the hell do we do now?" Zarek growled in frustration.
"Calm down. Don’t forget, this floor is marked as Hell difficulty." Rowan said, and Zarek relaxed a little.
Hell difficulty... All three of them were familiar with it. In fact, their anger and fear both stemmed from it—because if you die in a Hell-difficulty floor, you really die.
"As for what to do now—our mission is to carry out the Paragon’s request. We failed one of their tasks, but that mysterious Paragon will probably contact us again with another request."
Zarek and Velina nodded at Rowan’s words. For now, all they could do was wait.
"So, your mission is to carry out the Paragon’s request? ...Interesting. But which one of them, I wonder?"
Suddenly, a male voice echoed through the room—a voice that belonged to none of them.