Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 149 Revenge and Communication

Sensing the dissipation of the divine aura, Claire didn't stop Dunn and the other two from running towards the unremarkable house. Instead, she warned them as they ran, "1-63 is inoperable. Someone escaped from the mirror world and fled into the backstreet sewers. It's suspected to be Lanevus!"

The name Lanevus made Dunn's face grow even colder as he sprinted. He immediately said, "Daly, go check on Lord Cecima. Leonard and I will go after Lanevus."

Lifted by an illusory spirit, Daly, like a ghost floating in mid-air, retorted to Dunn, "Dunn, I'm not one of your team members right now. I'm going after Lanevus, and your team should check on Lord Cecima."

After saying that, Daly controlled the illusory spirit, adjusted its direction, and floated towards the back street without looking back. Claire exerted force on her feet, speeding up and rushing directly towards the sewer entrance she had observed.

Watching Daly's retreating figure, Dunn sighed helplessly. He couldn't be sure of Her Excellency Cecima's situation at the moment, so he suppressed the urge to catch up and said to Leonard:
"Leonard, follow Captain Galadilla and chase them. I'll go check on Lord Cecima and Team Soest."

Having "witnessed" the exact entrance Lanevus had taken to escape underground, Claire lifted the manhole cover that Lanevus had closed before Daly and crawled down with a frown.

Backlund's underground network was like a giant, pitch-black dragon, entwined deep within the city.

The cold, damp, and rancid air was filled with a suffocating feeling of oppression. Claire cautiously stopped and watched the intricate sewer system before her.

Less than ten seconds later, Dai Li, dressed in a black robe, floated down from the well. She saw Claire standing there in shock, and glanced unwillingly at the forked underground waterway in front of her. "Didn't you catch up?"

Claire sighed and said, "Laneverus still possesses the power of the evil god. We can't use methods like spiritualism or divination to track him."

At this time, Leonard, who was a little behind, also climbed down. He also saw the fork in the road in front of him, but Leonard did not stop after landing. He directly chose one of the sewers and rushed in, leaving only one sentence echoing: "If you think too much at this time, there will be no way you can catch up! Catch up first!"

Upon hearing this, Daly, who was in an anxious mood, stopped trying to communicate with the spirits and chose another fork in the road to catch up.

Claire looked at the remaining fork in the road and, instead of choosing a new path, she put on the "Psychological Invisibility" bracelet and chose the same direction as Leonard!

Claire, who had no impatient desire for revenge, remained calm and noticed that Leonard had no hesitation in choosing the direction of pursuit.

This is not common sense. Most people will have some hesitation even a little bit when doing this kind of blind selection.

Leonard's decision was so decisive, as if he had already determined Lanevus's escape direction!

But he had the ability to confirm the direction, so why didn't he say it? Was there something hidden?

Claire, wearing the bracelet and disappearing from view, quickly caught up with Leonard.

No matter how many forks appeared ahead, Leonard made his choice without hesitation. He ran, jumped, and turned in the maze-like underground sewers, constantly pursuing deeper into the depths. However, Leonard, who had just arrived in Backlund, could not have been so familiar with the underground network!
Claire, following Leonard, became increasingly convinced of her suspicions—Leonard was indeed hiding a secret! He could track Lanevus down!
Sure enough, not long after, Claire saw a person's back in front of her!
Leonard, who had also spotted the figure ahead, raised his gun and aimed. However, Lanevus, running, twisted his body as if he had no bones, dodging Leonard's bullet.

Although the evil god dissipated, it was clear that a trace of power remained in Lanevus.

Lanevus dodged the attack and leaned against the wall. Using the feedback from the wall, he skillfully moved closer to Leonard and launched a counterattack.

According to the data, Lanevus is suspected to be at most Sequence 8 "Swindler", which is not a sequence that can enhance direct combat power.

Leonard, who had been promoted to "Nightmare," kicked Lanevus without hesitation, but Lanevus's exposed skin suddenly became covered with dense, iron-colored bumps.

These strange bumps are closely connected, just like a set of full body armor!
This is the Beyonder ability of Sequence 4 "Black Knight" of the Secret Prayer Path! Although it is obviously a weakened version!

This was the power of the gods remaining in Lanevus' body!
After enduring Leonard's kick, Lanevus, his eyes bloodshot, suddenly gained strength. He broke Leonard's right hand holding the gun, and the moment he snatched the gun away, he punched Leonard away.

Lanevus pointed his gun at Leonard and sneered, "I remember you! You're the Nighthawks of Tingen, right? You've joined the Red Gloves. Are you here specifically to hunt me down?"

As the words fell, gunshots echoed through the sewers. Half of Leonard's head exploded into a bloody mess. Lanevus laughed wildly and continued to shoot at Leonard, who had stopped struggling. "The Aurora Society smashed and imprisoned me, and you dogs are still chasing me? I told you to chase me! Chase your father!"

After venting his anger and rage at being imprisoned and chased, Lanevus panted and slowly took off the iron armor that protected his body.

Using the extraordinary power of Sequence 4 was a huge burden on Lanevus's spiritual power.

The iron-colored armor slowly broke into dense lumps. The lumps gradually faded, and Lanevus's skin became smooth again.

Lanevus took a deep breath, his signature smile, which seemed to mock everything, plastered on his face again. He was about to flee from here, but a gunshot startled him awake!
Lanevus clutched his chest in intense pain and opened his eyes wide. Leonard, unharmed, stood before him, a smoking revolver pressed against his chest.

"You..." Lanevus was speechless from the pain. This mutated body, tormented by the gods, had kept him alive even after his heart was broken.

But it's just a way to survive.

At this moment, Lanevus couldn't even muster the spiritual energy to regenerate his strength. The pain of losing his heart distorted his face and made him burst into tears.

Leonard's broken body was nowhere to be found in the filthy water nearby.

Not far away, Claire lowered her head and leaned against the wall. That was the common action used to activate the nightmare ability!
It turns out that everything just now was just a dream!

Lanevus had already been dragged into Claire's dream without even realizing it!
Aided by Claire's nightmare control, Leonard viciously slammed the staggering Lanevus into a nearby stinking ditch. He frantically jumped in as well, shoving the muzzle of his gun into Lanevus's painfully whimpering mouth...

Leonard held the rough, beast-like gun tightly in his hand, his green eyes burning with hatred and sad memories for his deceased teammates.

Lanevus whimpered and tried to beg for mercy.

Leonard tried to force a mocking smile at Lanevus, but he couldn't. All he could see reflected in his eyes were the images of Klein's sacrificed companions.

Leonard gave up his smile and muttered to Lanevus with a cold expression, "Don't worry, you won't be the last... In hell, walk slowly."

One sound after another——

Gunshots rang out.

……

In Backlund, in the Hillston district, at Xio and Fors's residence, the two held hands tightly, looking at the woman who had rescued them from the attackers but seemed to have ill intentions.

"What fifth person?" Xio calmed himself down and used his 5'1" body to block Fors. "Who are you? How did you know I'm a Nighthawk?"

Xio emphasized "Nighthawk," hoping that this official Beyonder's skin would make this unidentified woman hesitate.

Tessa tossed the bracelet in her hand and glanced at Hugh who had the courage to ask her a question.

It's obvious that the girl in front of me is the fifth person in the team.

Then... where would she hide?
Tessa sighed inwardly.

Ever since they last parted at the cemetery church, she had tried every possible way to find Claire, but to her dismay, Claire seemed to have vanished without leaving any trace.

Tessa had tracked Daly and found out about the existence of Galadria's Red Gloves team, and slowly tracked down the rest of the team, but unfortunately, she still couldn't find any trace of Claire's activities.

Tessa suspected that Claire was hiding in the Church of St. Samuel, but unlike when she was in Tingen, she had the identity of a Night Watchman and could freely enter and exit the sphere of influence of the Church of Evernight.

Out of concern for Claire's feelings, Tessa did not dare and was unwilling to murder a Nighthawk and take her place.

Helplessly, Tessa could only choose the dumbest way - to wait next to the team members who were suspected to be related to Claire.

In this Red Gloves team, Captain Galadria and "Necromancer" Daly are both experienced and senior Beyonders, and are not easy to track down and investigate.

"Viper" Flora's whereabouts are secretive and she rarely shows up. Tessa even suspects that Flora is Claire in disguise, but she currently cannot find an opportunity to test Flora because she cannot find this person at all.

Only the low-sequence, inexperienced Hugh Dilcha could be considered a breakthrough.

During the investigation, Tessa saw Hugh Dilcha commissioning others to find "Lanevers's traces" and confirmed Audrey Hall's identity by following the clues.

But no trace of Claire's existence was found through the line of Hugh Dilcha.

Instead, he realized that Xio's behavior of outsourcing commissions on a large scale would inevitably lead to the Aurora Society's silencing.

That's why Tessa stayed nearby and secretly protected the two young girls, hoping to win their hearts by offering them a life-saving favor, so that they would help her find out Claire's whereabouts from within the team.

Tessa threw the bracelet back to Xio, and in the surprised looks of the other two, she shrugged and said, "Relax, I mean no harm to you. I'm just looking for someone."

Xio handed the escape bracelet back to Fors. She felt more confident now, able to face Tessa calmly and thank her. "Thank you, beautiful lady, for rescuing me, but I honestly didn't know who my other teammates were... I'm just a newcomer."

"I can tell... you're too young." Tessa tapped the frozen corpse at her feet and gave Xio some pointers. "For example, the Aurora assassin who came to kill you was there because you casually asked someone to check Lanrvus's affairs."

Xio was shocked when he heard this. "Aurora Society?! Isn't Lanevus just a con man? How could he be associated with such a dangerous terrorist organization?"

"Who told you Lanevus is just a con man?" Tessa had just returned to Backlund from Tingen when she learned through the Witch Cult's information channels that Lanevus, one of the masterminds behind the Megose incident, was in the Aurora Society.

Right here in Backlund!

Tessa had originally intended to find Lanevus and kill him, but unfortunately, her provocation was blocked by a Rose Bishop named "Giant". After killing the Rose Bishop, she also lost the excuse to continue the provocation.

Tessa said, "Lanevers is the Aurora Society's key target for protection. I don't know what's so important about a con man, but the fact is that the Aurora Society's lunatics are surrounding him."

"And you, young girl, actually advertised the quest to find Lanevus so loudly... naturally, assassins would come looking for you."

Xio listened silently, looking at the frozen corpse. A lingering fear still lingered in her heart, but amidst that fear, a hint of joy also emerged. Didn't she now know "Laneverus's whereabouts"?
Although it is still far from 200 pounds, it is at least a clue, and I should be able to report it to Miss Audrey.

"This is 'blessings and misfortunes go hand in hand.'" Xio silently recited the famous saying of Emperor Roselle that Fors often said.

Tessa saw, "Although you don't know the actual number of members in your team, you must have a way to contact your captain, Galadilla and Daly Simone, right?"

Quinn nodded and then shook his head. "There's the captain's contact information, not Miss Daly's. And...even though you just saved us, I won't do anything to harm my friends or teammates."

Tessa had expected Xio's attitude. Although he was a low-sequence person lurking in the underground world, from Xio's behavior, it could be seen that Xio had a bottom line in his heart.

This petite girl who looks like a lolita possesses chivalrous virtues and sentiments that are rare in today's society.

So Tessa just smiled softly and said, "I'm not asking you to betray anything... Just a small favor. Please contact your captain, or even Daly Simone, and arrange a time and place to meet. I need to discuss something with them in person."

After hearing the woman's request, although Xio was still wary, she relaxed a little and added, "Miss, I can help you pass on this message, but I can't guarantee whether they will agree to meet with you or even respond to you."

(End of this chapter)