Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 182 Roulette
"Thank you very much for your teaching."

After hearing Audrey's sincere words of thanks, Claire declined her invitation to dinner and boarded the private carriage she had arranged for the Hall family. "Ms. Hall, this is a very fair deal. Besides, you're the teammate I'll be counting on for future missions."

Audrey was extremely satisfied with the results of this course and was also happy to build a good relationship with Viper, a teammate who excelled at identifying extraordinary items. She took the initiative to ask:
"If I want to ask you for advice or to authenticate an item, how can I contact you?"

Claire replied, "With your current status, you can leave a message at any church belonging to the Goddess, and it will be delivered to me. Alternatively, you can leave a message at the Oak Leaf Bar."

Hearing the name of the Oak Leaf Bar, Audrey thought of Hugh, the manager there. This Red Glove teammate was now a member of her Tarot Club.

After saying goodbye to Audrey, Claire was taken to the steam station by a carriage, and then took the steam subway to the Harvest Church on Rose Street. Claire planned to try the Nightmare Candle again.

However, when Claire arrived at the Harvest Church, she found that Bishop Utravsky was receiving someone.

It was a gentleman with a cane.

Despite his beard and disguise, Claire recognized him immediately as her former teammate in Tingen, a fellow countryman from Earth, the mysterious Fool, Klein Moretti!
When Claire saw Klein and Bishop Utravsky, they also noticed her arrival.

"Beyond the ordinary?" Claire muttered deliberately.

At this moment, Klein, who was talking to Bishop Utravsky, became noticeably tense.

“Father Utravsky, is this your friend?” Although Mother Earth was allowed by the three major churches to build a church here, there was a strict review system for the personnel of the Church of Mother Earth, especially those with extraordinary abilities.

Claire's question allowed Klein to instantly determine her identity as a member of the three major churches.

But, which church is it from?
While Klein was making his own judgment, Bishop Utravsky remained silent and did not respond to Claire's questions.

Klein keenly sensed that the priest had no intention of shielding him, so he took advantage of the woman before she could attack him and fled towards the side door of the Harvest Church.

Claire noticed the gentleman's actions.

But the side door chosen by the other party led to the storage room of the Harvest Church and was not connected to the outside world.

Without further deliberation about the other party's decision, Claire moved faster than the other party, arriving first and blocking Klein.

Claire pressed her palm towards the man's shoulder, intending to block his ability to move, but the gentleman dodged Claire's move with an illogical movement.

and--

boom!
Klein puffed his cheeks and whistled. An invisible air bullet shot out from a very short distance, hitting Claire's calf.

But in a short time, very close to the "bang", another gunshot was heard.

The air bullet collided with the silver bullet, causing it to deflect, and both bullets simultaneously pierced Klein's feet!

Klein, feeling pained, saw that the female official Beyonder in front of him had unexpectedly been holding a small gun in her hand.

Guns don't seem simple.

and……

What an unscientific gunmanship!

The injured Klein quickly squatted and rolled over, rubbing the wound on his foot with one hand. In the blink of an eye, as if by magic, the injury on his foot that affected his movement was immediately transferred to his arm.

It turned into a trivial flesh wound!
This is the magical skill of the Sequence 7 Magician, "Damage Transfer"!
In fact, Klein also has a "Paper Man Substitute" skill that allows him to avoid the gunshot wound without injury, but that is a life-saving trump card that he can only use once at the moment, and naturally he will not use it when there is no life-threatening situation.

Furthermore, while casting "Damage Transfer," Klein pulled out a paper whip from his arms. It was a whip made from a stack of playing cards, and he swung it fiercely in the direction of the gun-wielding woman.

Inside the Harvest Church, several gunshots rang out again.

However, under the influence of the magician's ability, the hardness of the paper whip was no less than that of a real stick. It withstood several consecutive shots from Claire before completely shattering. With a snap of the magician's fingers, the shattered paper fragments turned into a grand firework that obscured Claire's vision.

The paper whips and fireworks bought Klein a lot of time, allowing him to get past the obstruction and get closer to the side door. But at this moment, Klein felt a familiar and unnatural sleepiness invading him—

It’s the nightmare’s ability to enter dreams!

This woman is a believer of the night!

Klein, who had fought alongside Nightmare, knew very well that even Sequence 6 and Sequence 5 Beyonders would be affected by the dream and their movements would be restricted. This was Nightmare's most tyrannical method as a controller.

"But unfortunately, lady from the Church of Evernight, I am immune to this kind of ability."

Klein glanced at the remaining fireworks and saw the female Nightmare lowering her brow as she used her ability to enter dreams. He whispered an apology in his heart.

Klein snapped his fingers lightly.

Thus, his body was completely unrestricted, and he used the flames that splashed in front of the side door to perform a graceful "flame jump", crossing the last ten meters to the side door.

Arriving at the locked side door, Klein, holding the prepared "master key," deftly opened the sealed door...

When Claire opened the utility room, no one was inside.

This ending was exactly what Claire had expected, including the final use of her ability to enter dreams, which was a deliberate choice she made so that the other party could escape from her.

But... the newcomer back then has now become a Sequence 7 "Magician".

Claire felt a sense of regret, and speculated that the Gray Mist's increasingly obvious rejection of her onlookers during the recent Tarot Club gatherings might be due to the Fool's increased Sequence Level.

"It's the 'Master Key.'" Bishop Utravsky, who had remained silent throughout the battle, came to Claire's side and explained, "After this young man completed my commission, I gave it to him as a reward."

Claire didn't complain about Bishop Utravsky's inaction. The Church of the Earth Goddess had neither the responsibility nor the authority to capture wild Beyonders in Backlund.

Claire frowned, doubtfully saying, "Based on the abilities he just displayed, I suspect he's a member of the Secret Order. But what puzzles me is that he's not affected by my dream-entering ability. Could it be that the Secret Order has found a way to counter our 'Nightmare' ability?"

Bishop Utravsky did not express any opinion on this. The two-meter-tall man just lowered his head and said nothing.

"This bishop is truly... slippery."

Claire changed the subject: "Father, it seems like you have someone imprisoned here?"

Bishop Utravsky said honestly, "He's a vampire who strayed into my care. I'm following fate's will and reciting scriptures for him, hoping he can truly understand the Mother Goddess's teachings and become a better person."

Vampires. Claire couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. She happened to have heard the "Sun" boy talk about this at the Tarot Club. In the creation myth, this was a race created by Lilith, the ancestor of vampires.

But even more interesting is that the name of Sequence 7 in the "Pharmacist" pathway is also "Vampire." "Sun" claims to be unclear about which of these two conflicting descriptions is true.

Knowing that the True Gods at the top of the sequence would affect the Extraordinary people in the entire sequence, Claire speculated that there was a high probability that the two were related.

Bishop Utravsky said slowly, "Mother God is merciful. I very much want to save a lost soul, but if you want to take him away, Madam, I have no objection."

Bring that vampire in the basement back to the church?
"Do vampires really feed on human blood?" Although it was recorded in the church's scriptures, Claire had never actually encountered a living vampire, so she asked.

Bishop Utravsky nodded and said, "Yes, I am feeding him with my own blood so that he won't die of hunger."

In church texts, the official written name for vampires is "blood clan".

These vampires have now been completely integrated into human society. They have voluntarily abandoned the practice of attacking humans, and obtain blood as food from human society in a civilized manner. They will also punish their fellow vampires who break the rules.

The Church of Darkness will not directly eliminate the vampires it discovers. Of course, necessary detention is still necessary for these wild extraordinary people.

"Is that member of the secret order interested in this vampire?" Claire asked again.

Bishop Utravsky replied gently, "This vampire is the former owner of the 'Master Key,' and that friend wants to inquire about its origins."

This was quite consistent with Klein Moretti's cautious personality. Claire nodded slightly. "Did he achieve his goal?"

Bishop Utravsky answered calmly, "32 Verdi Street, Daqiao South District. The vampire said that the previous key holder stole the 'Master Key' from this place."

Claire actually had no intention of tracking down Klein Moretti's whereabouts.

Although she was also curious about how this fellow Earthling became the master of the gray fog space, and she had a certain degree of greed in her heart, but as Claire became more and more familiar with the strange and crazy power system of this world, she did not dare to act rashly.

Moreover, Claire was unwilling to do anything that would cross her bottom line towards this former colleague and fellow countryman.

This is not about morality, but about the heart.

Come to think of it, the benefits she gained from this "Fool" were comparable to the favor she received from the Goddess of Night, and it was one of the greatest factors that allowed her to survive in this world.

Although the other party doesn't know.

This time, she had completely unexpectedly run into Mr. Fool by such a coincidence.

"Maybe this is fate."

Claire sighed, then said to the bishop beside her, "Since this vampire has the honor of listening to the teachings of the Earth Mother, I cannot disturb him. His fate will be determined by the priest."

Claire glanced at the exposed stone door of the basement. The door was engraved with the "Holy Emblem of Life" and many mysterious symbols.

Logically speaking, since the vampire inside was able to communicate with Klein Moretti and Bishop Utravsky through this seal, he should be able to hear her conversation with the priest beside him.

But there was no sound at all behind this stone door.

"Is it because you're afraid of my official Beyonder status that you dare not even make a sound?"

Claire was quite interested in vampires, or more precisely, in the historical records they held. Ancient records indicated that vampires lived long lives, and that these vampires, with their own tribes, must have recorded authentic history that was difficult for human society to preserve.

"If this vampire is still here when I return from the temple, I might as well get in touch with him then..."

Suppressing this thought, Claire borrowed the Nightmare Candle from Bishop Utravsky.

Claire skillfully entered the spiritual world, looking for the figure hidden in her heart, but perhaps the inner personality's strategy of delaying time last time did not work. This time, the other party said nothing and did not reveal anything to Claire, wasting time in vain.

"As expected, it's not very realistic to expect to get the information you want from 'hidden dangers'."

Claire left the Harvest Church with some regret. By the time she returned to St. Samuel's Church, it was already late at night.

What Claire didn't expect was that Anthony Stevenson was actually waiting for her.

"Your Excellency Saint Anthony." Claire looked puzzledly at the archbishop in front of her, who was wearing a black robe with red stripes. She didn't know why the head of the Backlund Diocese, who was so busy with work, had come to her.

The archbishop calmly answered Claire's doubts: "Captain Galadilla, the church has sent a message to summon you back."

Claire was stunned.

According to her plan, she intended to deal with Backlund's affairs and hold another Beyonder gathering to completely consume the "Appraiser" potion in her body before setting off for the Holy Temple.

The Holy Temple, also known as the Church of Tranquility, was located in the Amanda Mountains in the northernmost part of the Kingdom of Loen. Claire expected to stay in the Holy Temple for quite some time due to the promotion issue and many other matters she wanted to get answers from the Holy Temple.

Therefore, Claire had never thought about going to the temple so early.

Is there something that caused the temple to summon me?

"Do you need me to leave as soon as possible?" Claire did not object to the church's arrangement. Although Backlund still had many problems, with Daly, Tessa and others here, Claire believed that these reliable teammates and collaborators were capable enough to solve various problems.

"Yes," Archbishop Saint Anthony smiled gently. "The call from the Cathedral is urgent, but at the same time, the Cathedral allows you to reach it via a special route, so you don't have to endure a bumpy journey. Although this bumpy journey is also a kind of experience."

"Special means?" Claire was a little confused, but from Archbishop Saint Anthony's words, Claire thought of the ability of long-distance teleportation that she had been thinking about.

Even lone wolves like Tessa possess this ability. So, as the Orthodox Church that occupies the orthodox position in this world, the huge Church of Night must have a reserve of this strategic ability!

Living up to Claire's expectations, Saint Anthony took out a small roulette wheel from his arms. The wheel was stacked with gears of varying sizes, giving it the appearance of a mechanical wonder. The outermost ring had six different symbols and a small cover buckled onto it.

Saint Anthony handed the item to Claire.

Claire took the item with a wonderful attitude.

St. Anthony explained, "This is a magical item the Church occasionally acquires. It's called the 'Wheel of an Unknown Destination.' Six coordinates are recorded within it, and each of these six symbols represents a coordinate. When you turn the smallest gear, the entire wheel begins to move. Once it stops, it will transport you to the obscured location."

The preparation time is long, and the teleportation location is relatively random...

Listening to Archbishop Saint Anthony's explanation, Claire easily identified the flaws of this magical item.

But no matter how serious the flaws are, they cannot hide the fact that this is a rare item that can allow people to teleport over long distances!
Saint Anthony continued:

"Originally, recording the coordinates on this wheel was a hassle, and its use was also highly random, making it somewhat impractical. But now, the Holy Temple has used special means to locate all six coordinates within the Amanda Mountains. Using this can save you a significant amount of travel time."

(End of this chapter)