In the dead of night, the hazy dark clouds obscured the bright moon in the sky. In the western suburbs of Tivian, a river meandered through a desolate stretch of land, flowing toward the distant city.
On the riverbank, far from the bustling city of Tivian, stood a villa. In the darkness, illuminated only by the sound of the waves, the villa’s windows glowed with light.
At this moment, inside the villa, in a tastefully decorated room, Davic, covered in wounds, lay on a bed. The bandages on his chest had been removed, revealing a large, gaping scar. Beside him stood Vania, dressed in a white nun’s habit, her hand placed gently on his chest. With a focused expression, she was healing his wounds. Under the warm, orange-yellow glow emanating from her hand, Davic’s injuries slowly began to mend, and his previously labored breathing gradually eased.
On the other side of the room stood two men dressed in different attire. They watched Vania’s healing with cold, indifferent expressions, keeping a close eye on her to ensure she didn’t make any suspicious moves.
After a period of continuous healing, Vania let out a sigh of relief and stood up. She turned to the two men who had been monitoring her and says.
"Mr. Davic’s condition has stabilized for now. There’s no immediate danger to his life, but he will need plenty of rest afterward."
Vania spoke to the two men in the room. After hearing her words, they exchanged glances, and one of them turned to Davic and asked.
"Jones, how are you feeling now?"
"Huff... huff... I feel... much better than before... Thank you, Sister Vania... You’ve saved my life again."
Davic replied, still breathing heavily. Vania responded politely."No need to thank me. I’m just fulfilling the duty of the Holy Mother..."
Vania’s saintly demeanor left the two men momentarily stunned. They couldn’t help but think to themselves that there really were people like this in the world—devout followers of the Holy Mother who would heal even their enemies without discrimination. Truly, a servant of the Holy Mother.
"Mr. Smith has ordered that as soon as your injuries are stable, you are to report to him immediately. He’s waiting for you in the secret chamber. Also... once the nun is done healing, take her straight to the dungeon. Sister, please follow him."
One of the men spoke, and the other stepped forward, giving Vania a quick glance before leading her away. Vania, with a hint of panic in her eyes, glanced back at Davic on the bed before being escorted out of the room.
Now, it was Davic’s turn to meet with Smith. Not knowing the location of the secret chamber, Dorothy, who was controlling Davic, had an idea. She made Davic slowly put on his clothes and get out of bed. Then, pretending to stumble, Davic fell toward the man who had been monitoring him. The man quickly reacted and caught him.
"What’s wrong, Jones? Are your injuries still not healed?"
"Huff... huff... No, the injuries are fine. It’s just that my body is still very weak... I don’t think I can walk on my own like this. Could you help me to the secret chamber to see Mr. Smith?"
Under Dorothy’s control, Davic spoke these words. Hearing this, the man hesitated for a moment, then, seeing how weak Davic looked, agreed to help him walk.
Supported by the man, Davic began to make his way through the villa. After navigating countless twists and turns, they arrived at the end of a corridor. Here, the man activated a hidden mechanism by moving a candlestick, causing a painting of a banquet on the wall to slide open. Davic was then helped inside.
Behind the painting was a spacious secret chamber. The floor was covered in red tiles, and on the arched ceiling was the symbol of the Wolf Blood Society—a wolf’s head inside an inverted triangle—painted in blood. At the far end of the chamber stood a bloody altar made of human bones, shaped like a cup, filled with writhing flesh. Dorothy had seen similar altars before, in the homes of Crimson Eucharist members in Igwynt. These blood altars were tools for long-distance communication among their members.
In the chamber, sitting on a sofa by a fireplace, was a middle-aged man. He wore a dark red suit, had brown hair, and a stern expression. His thin face bore claw marks, and Dorothy immediately recognized him as the werewolf who had brought them here earlier, now in his human form. His name was Smith.
"You still look quite weak. Take a seat."
Seeing Davic arrive, Smith spoke and gestured to a seat in front of him. Under Dorothy’s control, Davic nodded and was helped into the seat.
"Mr. Smith, I’ll take my leave now."
After delivering Davic, the man who had been monitoring him quickly left the chamber. Now, only Davic and Smith remained in the room. Smith lit a pipe, took a few puffs, and exhaled a cloud of smoke before speaking.
"Davic, you’ve been captured by those black dogs for so long... Tell me honestly, did you reveal anything?"
Smith asked with a serious expression. Davic paused for a moment before replying.
"No, don’t worry, Mr. Smith. Those black dogs got nothing out of me. After they ambushed me in Basket Neighborhood, I passed out. When I woke up, I pretended to have amnesia."
"Pretended to have amnesia? You’re quite clever... Did they really believe you?"
Smith took another puff of his pipe and continued. Davic nodded and replied.
"Yes... To be honest, I’ve done some research on amnesia before, so I acted convincingly. They believed me. To get information out of me, they tried everything to make me regain my memory, even going so far as to show me things from my past to see if it would trigger any memories. That’s why they took me to their headquarters. But I never expected to be rescued on the way back. Mr. Smith, where did you get the information about me?"
Under Dorothy’s control, Davic asked curiously. Smith answered directly.
"Of course, we paid a hefty price to the Spider’s Nest for it. They have a very deep mole within the black dogs, and the information came from there." (T/N: He really call it Spider’s Nest so I will keep it as it is)
"A deep mole within the Serenity Bureau... Mr. Smith, does that mean... you knew I was in the hospital from the beginning and planned the rescue?"
Davic continued to ask, and Smith immediately replied.
"No, we only found out about your whereabouts this afternoon. Initially, we asked them to investigate your situation, and they said it might take a long time. We waited for days without any news, but today, suddenly, we received very accurate information. It seems their mole is a bit unstable."
Smith spoke, and hearing his words, Dorothy couldn’t help but pause and think. Earlier, when the Eight-Spired Nest was trying to track Davic’s whereabouts, they even sent out Gregor, who hadn’t fully infiltrated the Serenity Bureau, to gather information. This showed that their deep mole’s intelligence capabilities were indeed quite unstable. If the mole had been able to provide steady information, they wouldn’t have needed to send Gregor on such a risky mission.
"How did they manage to infiltrate the Serenity Bureau so deeply?"
Dorothy continued to make Davic mutter thoughtfully. Smith exhaled a puff of smoke and replied.
"I don’t know. The Spider’s Nest has always been skilled at infiltration. They might have some special tricks... But right now, I’m more concerned about how your whereabouts were exposed. It’s possible that we’ve been infiltrated as well."
Smith spoke gravely, and Davic immediately responded.
"When I was pretending to have amnesia, they showed me a photo of Alex... I think they might have traced me through that."
"Alex..."
Hearing Davic’s words, Smith’s expression darkened, and he spoke with disgust.
"Hmph, that fool. He thought he could toy with the black dogs and Adèle after getting his hands on the Butcher’s Toy, but instead, he not only failed miserably but also dragged others down with him..."
Smith spoke angrily, clearly dissatisfied with Alex’s reckless actions against Adèle, which had led to their downfall. After taking a few more puffs of his pipe, he thought for a moment and then continued.
"By the way, what about the nun we brought back?"
"After healing my injuries, she was taken to the dungeon," Davic replied.
Hearing this, Smith immediately said.
"Since your injuries are stable now, to be safe, we should deal with that nun as soon as possible. After all, she’s from the church."
Smith’s words sent a jolt through Dorothy’s mind. She quickly made Davic speak up.
"Mr. Smith, we can actually keep the nun. She has significant value to us."
"Significant value? You mentioned that before... Now, explain it clearly. What exactly is her value?"
Pointing his pipe at Davic, Smith spoke with a serious tone. Dorothy made Davic take a moment to collect his thoughts before responding earnestly.
"Mr. Smith, you might not know this, but the Holy Mother faith that Sister Vania follows... it’s not the orthodox church doctrine."
"Not orthodox? What do you mean..."
Hearing Davic’s words, Smith’s eyes narrowed with interest as he looked at him. Davic continued.
"When I was in the hospital, it was mainly Sister Vania who took care of me. Occasionally, when the black dogs weren’t around, I would talk to her. I noticed that her faith in the Holy Mother was... problematic. For example, she often referred to the Holy Mother as her true mother..."
Davic spoke with a hint of suggestion in his tone. Hearing this, Smith paused, then seemed to recall something.
"Referring to the Holy Mother as her birth mother... That’s heresy for the church. Could this nun have been influenced by the cognitive poison of the True Red Holy Mother? Is she connected to Cork?"
Smith said this, and Davic immediately confirmed.
"Yes! Exactly, Mr. Smith! I asked the nun, and she used to work in the Historical Scripture Department of the church. She was once Cork’s subordinate, though she was later promoted to work in the hospital. But even after being transferred, she maintained contact with Cork.”
"According to her, when Cork tried to corrupt his subordinates with mystical texts, she happened to be visiting the Historical Scripture Department and read part of it. As a result, she was also successfully corrupted. But because she no longer worked there, when the church conducted a mass cleansing of the Historical Scripture Department staff’s cognitive poison, she was overlooked. So, she has secretly been a heretic all along... someone we can potentially develop..."
Davic spoke to Smith in this manner. Hearing Davic’s words, Smith paused, then his eyes lit up.
"Is that so? When I was pretending to sleep, I heard the nun praying beside me. I could tell there was something off about her prayers, so I wondered if she was connected to Cork. After that, I tried talking to her when the black dogs weren’t around, and sure enough, I discovered her secret..."
Under Dorothy’s control, Davic spun this tale to Smith. Seeing Smith’s reaction, Dorothy knew her bluff had worked.
Cork, the former head of the Historical Scripture Department, had attempted to corrupt his subordinates with cognitive poison over a month ago, aiming to steal mystical texts from the church’s library. Under Dorothy’s manipulation, Cork had been exposed by Vania, and while Cork himself had been killed while trying to escape, Vania had been promoted to the Black Earth rank for her role in exposing him.
In this incident, Cork had an external supporting organization. After stealing the mystical texts, Cork had planned to send them to this organization for study before retrieving them. When the plot was exposed, his first move was to flee the church and seek refuge with this organization. The mystical texts Cork had used to corrupt his subordinates were likely also provided by this organization.
At the time, Dorothy had begun to suspect what this organization might be. The mystical texts provided by this organization seemed to twist the image of the Holy Mother toward the Mother of Chalice, suggesting a possible connection to the Afterbirth Cult. When Cork had fled the church, his destination had been the West District. According to Adèle, the Wolf Blood Society’s main area of influence in Tivian was the West District. Alex’s previous base had been in the West District, and now Smith’s hideout was also in the western suburbs. Combined with the fact that the church’s Holy Mother faction secretly supported Adèle’s Crimson Heart in opposing the Wolf Blood Society, Dorothy had ample reason to believe that the organization collaborating with Cork—the one that had supported and possibly even corrupted him—was most likely the Wolf Blood Society. The earlier conversation had been Dorothy’s way of testing Smith, and the results confirmed her suspicions.
The Wolf Blood Society was also attempting to infiltrate the church and wanted to obtain a specific mystical text from the church’s library. With this information, Dorothy now had a way to persuade Smith.
"I never expected... Cork still had influence within the church after all this time."
Hearing Davic’s words, Smith muttered with a nod. Seeing his reaction, Dorothy quickly made Davic press on.
"Mr. Smith, losing Cork was a significant blow to us, but now we have a chance to make up for it. I heard from the nun that the church is currently struggling to decide who will manage the Historical Scripture Department. Since the nun used to work there and is now a Black Earth-rank Beyonder, it’s very likely that she will take over Cork’s position once the department is restored. If we can control her like we did with Cork, we might still be able to get what we need from the church’s library!"
Davic spoke to Smith in this manner. After hearing Davic’s words, Smith fell silent for a long time. After taking several puffs of his pipe, he nodded slightly.
"Hmm... What you’re saying does make sense. If the nun can truly replace Cork, then that would be ideal for us…”
"But the premise is that the nun must be reliable. I need to personally check the extent of her corruption by the cognitive poison. If she is indeed influenced by the True Red Holy Mother, as you say, then I will report to the higher-ups and continue our infiltration of the Tivian church, using her to try and retrieve the original text of the True Red Holy Mother."
…
While Smith and Dorothy-controlled Davic were plotting and discussing in the villa, a storm was brewing in the night sky above the distant city.
Amidst the howling winds, countless figures were flying rapidly toward the western sky. Among them were Hunters in black uniforms, but there were also armored figures in white robes, resembling knights, with the sun emblem of the Radiance Church on their robes.
In the distant sky, a crow soared, watching the figures flying through the storm.
Below the crow, on a small path, a carriage was speeding westward. Inside the carriage, Dorothy sat, using the crow marionette’s vision to observe the flying figures in the distance.
"This time... it’s not just the Serenity Bureau. They’ve even called in the church. It seems the Wolf Blood Society’s hideout won’t last long. But before they arrive, I need to buy some time."
Sitting in the carriage, Dorothy, who had a clear view of the situation, murmured to herself.