Black mist descends, and I and the witches take refuge in the dungeon.

"Lord Mir!"

Watching Mil turn and walk towards the basement, the old priest suddenly spoke, his voice not loud, but carrying an unprecedented solemnity.

"Are you sure the goddess's voice guided you to see what was in the basement?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Is it possible that it wasn't the goddess at all, but rather the voice of something else impersonating her, bewitching you to go down?"

The old priest hesitated for a moment, wanting to persuade Mil not to go down.

After all, Mir now carries the lives of everyone on his shoulders.

Before Mil could refuse, the old priest continued:

"I have lived for seventy-three years, and I have spent forty years in this church."

The old priest looked at Mil and lowered his voice:

"I have never heard the voice of the goddess, but I have heard another voice, a voice that came from the basement."

As the old priest spoke, he lowered his head slightly and took a sealed sheepskin bag from his pocket.

Then, the old priest opened the bag and poured out some black soil.

"Twenty-seven years ago, a family in the north of the town was digging a well. When they dug to a depth of ten meters, they found black soil that looked like it had been soaked in blood."

At the very center of the soil, there is a half-human-sized statue, which is the one now in the basement.

Did you know? The man of that house went insane on the spot after just one glance at that statue.

He went berserk, grabbed a shovel, and began attacking the people around him.

When I arrived, he had already hurt three or four people, but everyone had already thrown him into the well, so the situation was temporarily under control.

But when I jumped down, I saw that man, grinning, digging open his own heart.

He crushed his still-beating red heart, and then, empowered by an unknown force, smeared the heart fragments onto the statue.

In the very end, he seemed to regain his senses.

The man glanced at me, then cried and told me to leave.

But I'm definitely not leaving. Seeing this, the man pounced on the statue.

Only after the man pounced on the statue did my previously uneasy heart inexplicably calm down.

I immediately wrapped the statue, along with the man's corpse, with the highest-level demon-sealing cloth.

Because I always felt that if I laid that man's body down, even for just a moment, I would end up like him.

The statue remains exactly as it was in the church's basement. Are you sure... you want to see it?

Mir crouched down and took out some black soil from the bag to examine it carefully.

How should I put it? This black soil gave Mir a strange sense of familiarity.

It's somewhat like the sound of mist I heard earlier in the black fog.

Although one is a sound and the other is soil, they don't have any similarities, but they just feel very alike.

Do not!

Mir remembered that the soil looked a bit like the dried-up flesh covering the surface of things that he had seen before!

But the black fog didn't appear decades ago!

In other words, the appearance of the black mist is inextricably linked to that statue?!

For a moment, Mir felt as if he had discovered something extraordinary.

"I have to go and see. This is my deal with the goddess. Believe me, Father, what I heard was definitely the voice of the goddess."

As for why Mir was so certain, the reason was simple: the system told him in his mind.

"The gaze of a goddess" is not "The gaze of an evil god".

Moreover... after so much time, Mil has come to know some of the true nature of the Papacy.

With the believers generally being fairly decent, Mil didn't think the Goddess of Light could be some kind of evil god.

He chose to take a gamble.

After all, going all in is a form of wisdom.

Seeing Mil's resolute expression, the old priest stopped trying to persuade him. He simply said to Mil:

"If we fail, don't come back. I will lead the residents to the town of Heron as planned. The witch beside you can come with us too. What do you say?"

Before Mil could speak, Anderbel spoke first.

"Thank you for your kindness, merciful priest, but I have made up my mind. Even if the statue is as evil as you say, I will be the one to stand in front of it for my husband."

When Andre Bell said these words, he did not hesitate at all, and there was an indescribable determination in his eyes.

Mil wanted to persuade Andrebel, but after seeing the look in Andrebel's eyes, he silently shut his mouth.

At such a time, saying something inappropriate would only humiliate Anderbel.

Of course... if something really happens, he will still find a way to get Andre Bell away.

The old priest, having lived for many years, naturally knew what the two men before him were thinking. He nodded and smiled.

"Well then, I wish you both good luck and a happy and wonderful marriage."

After saying this, the old priest left to organize the refugees with Renee.

Watching the departing old priest, Mil turned and glanced at Anderbel.

The girl had already picked up the soul lamp and stood half a step behind him, her gaze fixed on the entrance to the basement that the old priest had pointed out to them, her eyes filled with determination.

Anderbel's expression was calm, but the fingers gripping the lamp handle tightened slightly, and his knuckles turned a little white.

"If you're scared, this is your last chance to leave."

Mil whispered to Anderbel.

Andrebel's eyes were a little red. She looked at Mil, her voice choked with emotion:

"I'm not afraid of death, I'm just afraid something will happen to you here."

Hearing Andrei's words, Mil was momentarily speechless.

He simply reached out and gently took Andre Bell's hand.

The girl's hands were very cold.

Mir squeezed her palm.

"No, we'll all be fine."

He muttered to himself, as if comforting Andrebelle, or perhaps comforting himself.

Then, Mil stepped sideways into the somewhat narrow basement passage.

The stone steps at the entrance are very narrow, and the stairs have not been repaired for many years. With each step, you can hear a slight sliding sound of gravel under your feet.

Anderbel followed closely behind Mil.

The light from the soul lamp in her hand illuminated the dust in the basement very clearly.

There weren't many stone steps, only about twenty. After reaching the end, the space suddenly opened up. It wasn't exactly spacious, but it was much better than the narrow passageway where you could barely turn sideways to walk.

Before them was a circular stone chamber about ten square meters in size, containing some long-burning [Troll Oil Lamps]. The oil from those blue-skinned monsters could burn for more than ten years.

The walls are made of gray-white stone bricks, which are now cracked and look much older than the church itself.

The stone chamber was filled with miscellaneous items, and the statue the old priest had mentioned was now wrapped in a dark red, goatskin-like substance.

The thing was inconspicuously placed deep in the clutter, seemingly nothing special.

But as Mir approached the thing, he felt a pang of fear.