Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 195 Favor
Church of St. Samuel.

Archbishop Anthony Stevenson of Backlund gazed at Alicia's remains placed in the holy coffin. He listened to Claire's account of the events, his brow furrowed, and he seemed to have aged a bit.

"Andrellad, the Blood Cult."

Anthony muttered as he briefly introduced Claire to the three major demon families in the Blood Worship Cult: the North Family, the Andrellad Family, and the Belia Family.

"These families have a long history and were once known as the 'Angel Family'. They spread demonic beliefs and committed numerous murders."

Claire was also aware of this. Beth Lyonness, the demon dog, and Alicia all had blood debts on their hands.

After discussing the Blood Cult, Saint Anthony gazed deeply at Claire and suddenly said, "Galadia, let this body go to where it belongs."

Going where you should go?
Claire was stunned.

Does it mean giving Alicia's body to Tessa?

How could the church allow such a thing? Even if Tessa held the "Life Painting", the Church of Evernight would never make any concessions just because of a magical item.

Claire didn't quite understand Saint Anthony's decision. She spoke from the perspective of the Red Gloves:
"Alicia serves as the chief of the Nightwatchmen. I don't know how many hidden dangers she has planted for the church..."

"Under such circumstances, giving this body... or even the position of High Deacon of the Nighthawks to someone else is simply uncontrollable."

Saint Anthony turned to face the Holy Emblem:
"That's why we need the assistance of the witch Tessa Perslan."

"Alicia's death was sudden. If there are any forces or individuals in the church or the Kingdom of Loen who are in cahoots with her."

"Before those people get the news, we can use the witch's disguise to find them and eliminate them."

Claire smiled bitterly and said, "But Tessa Perslan is uncontrollable."

Claire was certain that if she really gave Tessa the identity of "Alicia," that woman would definitely cling to her completely after gaining the power to freely enter and exit the Church of Evernight!
Although the time she spent with "Sharon" was the most comfortable and peaceful time for Claire, her messy memories and conflicting emotions now made her want to keep a certain distance.

Claire was still thinking about what to say.

But Saint Anthony devoutly drew a crimson moon on his chest and said, "Captain Galadia... the Lord says that Tessa Perslan is her favored one."

Uh……

Since when did the goddess's followers become so common?
Claire even suspected that the goddess wanted her, her beloved, to make a sacrifice!
Saint Anthony then addressed her:

"Because Alicia is still alive, the Church cannot openly launch any investigation into Alicia. Therefore, the task of secretly investigating this matter will be entrusted to your Seventh Squad."

Without waiting for Claire to express her opinion.

Saint Anthony continued:

"The 'Gatekeeper' extraordinary characteristic left by Alicia will be reserved specifically for Daly..."

"Flora will be given the authority to go behind the Chanis Gate and identify Level 2 Sealed Objects..."

"Ms. Tulip will have the opportunity to attend the Holy Temple for training, and your informants' treatment will be raised to the highest level..."

"As for you, Requiem Master Galadria, Cecilis wrote to say that she will not pursue the matter of you escaping training without permission, and that you have the privilege of returning to continue training at any time."

"Besides the above, all the merits, rewards, and spoils you deserve will be distributed without fail. This includes this holy coffin, which already belongs to your team."

Well, the organization is worthy of being an organization, and it has a clear grasp on people. As the captain of Team 7, Claire found it difficult to refuse, even for the teammates she personally recruited.

"Praise the goddess." Claire agreed. The goddess gave her so much, enough for her to sacrifice herself. Or perhaps, deep down, she just wanted to obey this arrangement.

St. Anthony said devoutly: "The goddess protects you."

After parting with Saint Anthony, Claire returned to the office belonging to Team 7. Seeing Daly waiting there, she smiled wryly and said, "Sister Daly, Saint Anthony has completely entrusted the matter to our team."

After hearing Saint Anthony's promise, Daly asked in surprise, "Does Saint Anthony trust Ty Poslan so much?"

Claire hesitated for a moment, then explained, "Saint Anthony said that Tessa is the Lord's favored one."

Hearing the goddess' name, Daly's nonchalant attitude faded, and her expression became pious: "To think it was so..."

Unlike Claire, whether it was Daly, Dunn, or the Nighthawks and Red Gloves in the church, they were all the most devout believers of the goddess.

People like Dunn are willing to sacrifice their lives to defend the city and its citizens. In addition to their sense of morality and professional responsibility, it is also because they are willing to sacrifice their lives and even glory for the goddess.

"I'll go talk to Tessa first..." Claire still felt a bit of a headache, but she could only make arrangements for Daly: "Just pretend nothing happened in the church for now. Rest when you need to."

"Okay, Captain." With the goddess's revelation, Daly put aside all her worries and instead felt free to tease Claire. "From what I've observed, Tai will definitely listen to you...but she's changing from a man to a witch. Captain, can you accept this change?"

Claire rolled her eyes.

Is it Tessa who's changed? It's obviously her...

That's why she found it so hard to forgive Tessa... Even though she no longer had a fixation on gender, and even though she somewhat understood Tessa's complex and twisted mentality back then, she couldn't just let it go...

At daybreak, Claire put on a cloak, dressed as Viper, and went to the Oak Leaf Bar to meet Hugh Dilcha first.

Xio rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked surprised when he saw Claire. "Flora, why are you here? The captain said you left Backlund and therefore canceled the Beyonder gathering tonight."

"The team has a new commission, so I won't be leaving for the time being." Claire explained, "I need to talk to Tessa about something. Is she here?"

Xio nodded and said, "Yes. That's just right... Flora, do you want to join the party tonight?"

"Wasn't it cancelled?" Claire asked doubtfully.

Xio smiled sheepishly and said:

"Flora, without you, the party will indeed attract fewer people. I was originally planning to cancel it. But by chance, I found a Beyonder on the 'Pharmacist' path. By promoting custom potions, I've managed to attract some more people. So tonight's party will go on as scheduled."

Hugh is so capable!

After praising Xio in her heart, Claire, who was wearing a hood and mask, nodded indifferently: "Spread the word. Say that the appraiser has returned. Where is Tessa?"

"underground."

Coming to this underground place, Claire saw Tessa, who was only wrapped in pajamas. This woman's charm increased after she was promoted to the "Witch of Pain".

"It's not that my charm has improved, but that you were... " Tessa, with a smile on her face, was glared at by Claire before she could finish what she wanted to say.

"You came here for the 'Life Painting', right? I've prepared it." Tessa took out the devil painting that had caused so much trouble from the extraordinarily isolated locker.

Claire raised an eyebrow as she took it, then used her ability to identify this magical item that emanated spirituality.

It is a magical item made by mixing the characteristics of the "criminal" path and the "pharmacist" path, and it has obvious traces of craftsmanship.

The function is not simply to keep the user young and enhance vitality, but to control the women painted in it, and even to be able to revive through the bodies of those controlled women.

The negative effect is that a blood sacrifice is required.

"resurrection……"

Claire was slightly stunned. She thought of Alicia's soul, which had strangely dissipated completely. There was no hope for Alicia to be resurrected...

Listening to Claire's detailed description of the effects of this "Life Painting," Tessa frowned and said, "This 'Life Painting' is now in our hands. Is it possible that Alicia can still use it to revive herself?"

Claire's expression was pessimistic. She sighed and said, "In this 'Life Painting', the Beyonder characteristic belonging to the 'Criminal' path is 'Demon'. Then... where did Alicia's 'Apostle of Desire' characteristic go?"

Tessa was stunned for a moment and blurted out, "Such a sinister magical item is actually just a 'demon'?"

Claire commented professionally, "This magical item is a fusion of two pathways, and it bears traces of craftsmanship. Its negative effect is the blood sacrifice that most easily enhances magical items. It's no surprise that it possesses such extraordinary abilities."

Claire thought of the twenty-two cards of blasphemy that Russell had created.

Claire said:
"I suspect Alicia used her Beyonder properties to commission a craftsman to create a series of magical items... Based on the production characteristics of this 'Life Oil Painting,' the remaining magical items are also very likely dual-sequence fusion products."

"It's just that Beyonder traits aren't so easy to extract... The higher the sequence of Beyonder traits, the harder it is to extract. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many Beyonders who have gone crazy."

Claire sighed, "I really don't know how Alicia managed such a thing."

Tessa said at this time: "Birth, death, and purification of the high-sequence 'Sun'... I only know of these three methods related to the precipitation of Beyonder characteristics."

Claire listened thoughtfully:
Reproduction cannot be done so cleanly... What is expelled are all redundant Beyonder characteristics, and it is impossible for Alicia to become an incapable person.

die?

Purify?
Purification is the most likely option, but being able to purify a Sequence 5 "Apostle of Desire" at least involves the power of a demigod.

And death... Although this speculation was incredible, Claire looked at the "Life Oil Painting" in her hand, which had a certain resurrection ability, and guessed that Alicia might have expelled the Beyonder Characteristics from her body through some kind of death.

Of course, the above is still speculation. Claire said, "Next, if we can find any similar magical items among Alicia's belongings, this speculation can be proven."

"That's your business. I'll also hand over the 'Life Painting' to your Church of Evernight..." Tessa yawned, but before she finished, she saw a faint smile on Claire's lips. "What are you laughing at?"

Claire raised an eyebrow and said, "You didn't forget to hand in the reward you wanted for the 'Life Painting', right?"

"Huh?" Tessa exclaimed in surprise. A guess immediately popped up in her mind, but she still couldn't believe it, because at that time she was just expressing her delusion to satisfy her own desire:

"Your church can really give me Alicia's body?!"

Tessa couldn't help but wonder, "Is there some conspiracy..."

Not only did Tessa find it hard to believe, Claire also felt that the church's decision was too bold.

No, not the church.

But the goddess's attention...

Without the Goddess's revelation, even if Saint Anthony was the Archbishop of Backlund, he would not dare to temporarily transfer the power of the chief leader of Backlund's Nighthawks to a witch with an unpredictable mind.

But why would the goddess pay attention to this matter?
Claire had read a great deal of church texts, and no matter how terrible the situations within the church were in history, they rarely attracted the goddess's attention.

Unlike those evil gods who often cause trouble, the righteous gods have always been very quiet.

Even if Alicia was found to be a cultist lurking within the church.

But on the one hand, it has not been discovered that Alicia has caused any obvious damage to the church. On the other hand, Alicia is not a demigod after all, and has not really affected the core of the church.

This state of affairs would never attract the attention and anger of the goddess.

So...what is the goddess paying attention to?
It wasn't that Claire was narcissistic, but she deeply suspected that this kind of attention would eventually fall on her.

Taking a deep breath and suppressing these thoughts, Claire said to Tessa:

"But this is the truth. Since the Holy Coffin is still nominally in Alicia's possession, it's not convenient for me to bring it here directly and give you Alicia's body. But Saint Anthony has agreed to this. Please choose a convenient location for pickup, and I will place Alicia's body there."

"Then..." Tessa narrowed her eyes and smiled, "St. Samuel's Church."

Claire was surprised: "You are so bold."

Tessa smiled fearlessly and said:
"Your church has already handed over Alicia's identity to me, so you won't continue to call for my death, right?"

"Besides, I believe you wouldn't want to let me die."

"Besides, the Church of Evernight has paid so much, they must want me to use Alicia's identity to do something, right?"

Claire ignored Tessa's second reason and said calmly, "You're right. We need you to disguise yourself as Alicia to find out which forces or individuals within the church and the Kingdom of Loen are colluding with Alicia."

"It sounds quite dangerous... What's the reward corresponding to the danger?" Tessa said.

Even if there were no other rewards, Tessa would take on this commission, because Alicia's special identity is itself a reward.

What's more, she initially simply wanted a chance to get in touch with Claire.

But Claire's answer shocked her so much that she almost jumped up.

"The corresponding reward is the favor of the Goddess of Night."

Tessa was stunned for a moment before she smiled with an indecipherable smile: "Interesting..."

(End of this chapter)