She is not an investigator.

The sun is about to set.

Ling and the other police officers eventually arrived at the church entrance and surrounded it.

She was unsure what she would encounter next, or what dangers her next actions might pose.

But she had no other choice.

For everyone's sake, and for her own.

"action!"

"Yes!"

At her command, the church doors were kicked open, and two or three police officers rushed in with guns at their ready, with Ling following closely behind.

In the center of the church, in front of the prayer altar, a man with a worried expression looked at Ling and then at the other police officers who were holding weapons.

"What are you trying to stop, the setting of the sun, or the rising of the moon?"

He was Father Constantine, the only priest of Maulkenson and the heir to this church.

"It's not too late to back down! If you give up resistance, we'll show you some leniency!"

“You have no idea what you are doing.”

The priest closed his eyes, gently closed the Bible in his hands, and casually turned around.

The next moment, several hidden doors suddenly appeared in the church wall, and cultists dressed in black robes rushed out, waving their weapons at the police officers.

"Fire at will!"

Ling slightly sidestepped a cultist's slash and kicked him away. The bullet in her hand burst out, knocking him to the ground, and she tried to rush towards Constantine.

But in just a moment, the cultists of the Gelugpai swarmed forward (up 9). They seemed fearless, charging desperately at the police officers. Gunshots rang out continuously, and people in black robes fell one after another. But then, the next cultist would rush forward again, fearless of death, endlessly.

Fresh blood and corpses filled the church furniture, and the stained glass windows shone through the battlefield, also falling on Ling, who was constantly firing bullets.

Then, the light slowly disappeared.

The sun has set.

The Gods' Fool's Play - Eternal Night Worship: Chapter Twenty, The True Mastermind

"stop!"

Ling pushed away the cultists who were trying to entangle her and, without hesitation, fired at Constantine, who was about to leave. With a piercing gunshot, the bullet flew rapidly toward the priest.

But he didn't care at all, letting the bullets fall on him.

The bullet, which should have pierced straight into flesh and blood, suddenly stopped in mid-air, unable to get any closer. The bullet, having lost its kinetic energy, slowly fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

"No one can stop the night from coming."

He turned around, and the Bible in his hand suddenly began to burn. In the dim church, the firelight quickly illuminated everything around him, and within it, a white radiance slowly emerged.

Everyone involuntarily stopped attacking. They revered the greatest god before them, kneeling down with their hands clasped together, trying their best to look directly at the radiance.

The police officers also unconsciously lowered their guns, and even disregarded the wounds on their bodies, and like the other believers, silently knelt on the ground, looking up at the miracle.

It was the moon.

The moon that should have been in the sky.

A perfect, pure, and desirable moon.

So beautiful, so peaceful.

How I wish time could stand still at this moment, at this exact time when the moon rises.

……

A sharp pain suddenly shot through Ling's chest, and an unprecedented sense of fear instantly filled her heart, pulling her consciousness back from the moon.

That was a little thing she had specially retrieved—the necklace of fear.

It can absorb abnormal emotions and transform the absorbed emotions into fear.

It might sound useless? But the fear was so intense that it was enough to free her from most of the mental pollution and even mental control.

At least now, she is no longer affected by the moon.

This was a golden opportunity, one that Constantine couldn't possibly react to.

So, now is the time!

Ling rushed straight at Constantine, but he had his back to her and had no chance to react.

By the time he came to his senses and saw Ling rushing towards him, it was already too late.

"it's over!"

Ling kicked him, and the frail priest fell to the ground. Before he could react, Ling pressed her sidearm against his forehead.

"Constantine! Your plan has failed! Surrender!"

"..."

The priest opened his mouth, then suddenly burst into laughter, a laugh that was both exceptionally joyful and exceptionally sarcastic.

"You think you've succeeded? You think you can escape His gaze by not being affected by the moon? Night has fallen, the ritual will not stop. Kill me, even if you kill me, my corpse can still become His vessel. As long as the moon is here, as long as two moons are in the sky, then nothing will end!"

boom!

Without hesitation, Ling punched the priest and grabbed his collar, angrily berating him.

"You'll kill everyone, including yourself! It's not too late to stop now!"

"...I won't kill anyone."

Constantine murmured to himself, as if talking to himself.

"I am saving them, saving everyone. Only He, only He can give us a chance to live. Can't you hear me? The sound of the waves is coming. Stop resisting... Night is our only refuge. It's the only way...!"

"Madman...! Where is Krisuna?!"

"Crisona? Who is Crassula?"

Ling paused, then pressed the gun against Constantine's head again, who also looked puzzled.

"Florist Krisuna, didn't you take her away?"

"...Why should I go and capture an irrelevant person who is of no help to the ceremony and might even expose the mission? Is this some kind of cruel joke?"

"Not you?"

"I don't understand what you're saying at all."

Constantine looked at Ling with a serious expression, while Ling frowned slightly, her expression showing a hint of confusion.

"Isn't your ritual... supposed to use her as a vessel?"

"Her? Who told you that?"

Ling shook her head and said softly.

“Your people.”

“That can’t be one of ours. I am the vessel. Only I can successfully trigger the miracle of eternal night. No one else can do it.”

Constantine pulled up his sleeve, revealing a strange black symbol.

“Without this mark, He would not look upon anyone, and eternal night could not descend. Only I possess it, and only I can have it.”

"Engraving? Engraving..."

Suddenly, Ling thought of something and, disregarding Constantine beneath her, stood up abruptly.

“Krisuna also has markings on her body! If she wasn’t captured by your people, then someone else is after her. Another group is after her! They want to use her to summon something else!”

"What did you say…?"

Constantine also stood up and shouted angrily at Ling.

"What are you all doing?! How many cults have infiltrated this town?! If this ceremony is intercepted, we'll all die! No one will survive! You've ruined everything!"

"You fucking have the nerve to blame us?! You've got the most cult members among us! Stop talking nonsense! You have no choice now, find Krisuna!"

"Where the hell am I supposed to find it?!"

"Enough with the nonsense!"

Pop, pop, pop.

Applause suddenly rang out in the church, drawing the attention of both of them simultaneously.

A familiar figure slowly appeared in front of the church door.

"I'm glad that you two have finally realized what's wrong with things."

Derain took the pipe out of his mouth and smiled gently at Ling.

“Officer, I’m so glad you escaped. You know what? Pasa and I are old friends. If he had been here, I would have been in a real predicament.”

"You did it...!"

Derain did not deny it, but chuckled lightly.

“At least I would be more willing to face you and this priest.”

Constantine's expression was grim. He couldn't understand why the moon had no effect on the man in front of him. Its pollution was phased, yet he seemed unaffected by anything. Even Ling, who was free from mental pollution, would inevitably be affected and couldn't be completely ignored.

Is the other person really human? Or is he/she abnormal?

"The mystery of 'O' has ended, and the tears have ceased. The mark on Krysna's body is the emblem of the sea god. Constantine, are you still thinking about the so-called eternal night? Why not come and see the most profound history in the world, the ancient legends originating from the deep sea, and the unknown greatness of the ancient kingdoms."

Delien's expression turned somewhat fanatical, a look he had never shown before, and in response, Ling fired a bullet at him.

The bullet struck him easily, staining his clothes red, but he seemed oblivious, continuing to laugh wildly.

"The two moons will not rise at the same time... Everything of Him is destined to become nourishment for the storm! Constantine, this is all thanks to you, all thanks to you, all thanks to those things that the Church of Eternal Night has nurtured."

The next moment, his humanoid body suddenly began to change.

His limbs suddenly began to swell uncontrollably, accompanied by strange sounds as if something was swimming under his skin, before a tentacle pierced through his skin.

The next moment, countless limbs resembling octopus tentacles surged out of his body and exploded completely amidst his final, wild laugh.

His body transformed into fragments of moonlight, scattering across the ground. In their place stood strange, ancient creatures, resembling clumps of sea urchins. Anba Jing stood still in place.