Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 516 The Gates of Hell
Back in the floating city, Li Wei saw the Holy Maiden again, but...

"It looks the same as before?"

Li Wei looked the saintess up and down and voiced his question.

"I thought you would change after the seal was broken."

"If you're referring to combat prowess, then you'll be disappointed. I'm an alchemist, and direct combat isn't my forte."

Indeed, this person's specialty is creating a large group of dolls and then F2A.

"However, I am not without any strength."

Li Wei seriously doubted whether the saintess could read minds; it seemed she could hear all his inner thoughts and complaints. The saintess stretched out her hand and drew a strange gesture in the air. Then, Li Wei and Katie saw images appear out of thin air around them, like surveillance footage.

And what's in the picture is Huadu.

However, at this moment, the scene inside had nothing to do with the city's name, Huadu. A thick, dark fog covered most of the city, and within it, many bizarre monsters could be seen darting about. The remaining Krant soldiers raised their weapons, firing at the monsters as they retreated rapidly.

They did send out chimeras to attack, but those chimeras collapsed to the ground in agony after rushing into the black mist, and then gradually began to twist and transform into another bizarre and terrifying appearance.

"So, does this mean the gates of hell have been opened?"

"It should be said that it is not fully open."

"?"

"As I told you before, because of the different nature of our worlds, it's not easy for demons to come to our world."

The saintess then explained to Li Wei.

"The demon army that attacked my castle before only manifested by possessing the bodies of the Holy Lord's followers. Once the gates of hell are truly opened, the boundary between the two worlds will be completely destroyed, and countless demons will enter this world."

"Yes, you mentioned that."

Li Wei nodded.

"now what?"

"At least I can confirm that the seal has failed."

The saintess stared coldly at the large hole before her.

"The reason why demons haven't emerged in droves yet is not because of the seal, but because the barrier between the two worlds still exists—Mephisto is right. If I use the floating city to destroy this city, I will completely destroy the only remaining barrier between the two worlds. At that time, demons will truly flood into this world."

"So they can only appear in the form of possession now?"

“That’s right, and it can only happen within this black mist, a mist formed from the condensation of hellish magic. You can think of it as water, and demons are like fish in the water; they can only survive in water. But the problem is…”

"This fog will keep spreading, right?"

“That’s right, it’s better than just opening the gates of hell, isn’t it?”

That's certainly better than a whole bunch of demons just charging out.

Is there any way to stop all of this?

Looking at the city ravaged by demons, Li Wei frowned and asked a question.

"For example, sealing it away again or something..."

"If you want me to give advice, I only have one suggestion."

The saint gave a soft snort. “Tell others that the holy bishop's claims are false; these demons come from hell, not from heretics. Once enough people realize this, then…”

"Will the seal work again?"

"Yes."

The saintess nodded.

"The Holy Bishop distorted the meaning of demons in order to bypass Arthur's seal. When the people of this world have a distorted concept of demons, the seal will lose its effect. Therefore, as long as they regain a correct concept of demons, the seal will take effect again."

Upon hearing this, Li Wei raised his own question.

"But according to your logic, even if the Holy Bishop hadn't been involved in this incident, the demon would have appeared, and wouldn't a similar situation have arisen then?"

"I think they are planning to wait for the gates of hell to open completely."

The saintess thought for a moment and then spoke.

“As I said, the barrier between the two worlds is the real reason that separates them. All Arthur did was repair the wall that was once opened and put a lock on it. Now the lock is gone, but demons can only invade this world through the cracks. And as it stands, those who have come to this world so far are all low-level demons; high-level demons should not be able to get through.”

"So you mean that once the barrier between the two worlds is broken, even if everyone changes their views on demons, the seal will no longer be effective?"

"Yes."

The saintess nodded.

"Speaking of which, a question suddenly came to mind."

Upon hearing this, a thought flashed through Li Wei's mind.

"How did this gate to hell open in the first place? According to you, there should have been a barrier here originally, right?"

"Oh, that's easy."

The saint quickly provided an answer.

"This place used to be the capital of a lord named Solomon. Arthur originally intended to recruit him, but for some reason, this guy went mad and slaughtered all the people in his territory. He even sacrificed them here, using this terrifying power to open the gates of hell. Later, Arthur went to great lengths to seal the gates of hell and deal with that guy... Hmm? Why do you look so pale?"

"It's nothing, just a little...unexpected."

Li Wei touched his twitching lips, unable to manage a smile.

He truly hadn't expected that this matter would be related to King Solomon. But thinking about it carefully, unless someone was of King Solomon's stature, an ordinary person couldn't possibly create a hole between the barriers of two worlds. Come to think of it, the murals at the place where King Solomon's remains were sealed did indeed depict the process of those people turning into monsters…

These two regions are worlds apart, so it's surprising that they could be connected... But thinking about how King Solomon could fly, it doesn't seem so unexpected.

So the question is, does the Wisdom of Solomon offer any solutions to this situation?
Li Wei thought about it carefully for a moment, then sighed helplessly.

Okay, it seems not.

"So, what should we do now?"

Katie looked at Levi, then at the saint, and Levi didn't have any good ideas about it either.

"In short, let's report the current situation first and see what the higher-ups decide."

Anyway, the mission that sent me to Francis was given by the Queen. Now that the Saintess has been rescued, there's just a little trouble. As for how to solve it... well, that depends on what the higher-ups think.

(End of this chapter)