The Devil Inside

Behind the bar stood a strange old man with black lips, smoky makeup, and twelve exaggerated rings on his ten fingers.

He was wearing a leather jacket and leather pants, with large iron chains around his body. Han Solo suspected that he would call for a stand-in to come out and beat someone up in the next second.

Monica also found it offensive, but she could understand and even admire it a little.

Fort Collins is the "Art Capital", where being ordinary is the original sin and rebellion is the mainstream.

Mr. Baphomet has a spirit of dedication.

The Church of God needs to develop, and development requires young people and talents. Fort Collins is an ideal place for missionary work.

There are a lot of people here who are a little cultured, cynical, advanced in thinking, extremely poor and easy to incite young people.

Baphomet was originally a very serious man.

After arriving in Fort Collins, in order to better promote the ideas and teachings of the "Church of Light and Darkness", he devoted himself to the "visual rock music" that was very popular at the time.

Playing guitar, forming a band, singing rock and roll, "Stay angry, stay questioning" has been shouted on the stage for thirty years.

On the one hand, Baphomet has a great voice, and on the other hand, he really put in the effort.

Today, thirty years later, the name of the "Godfather of Rock" is known throughout the country, and this "Love Funeral Bar" is a pilgrimage site. Young people consider it an achievement to open a livehouse here.

His performance was too successful.

So much so that the leaders of the Devil's faction have repeatedly doubted what is going on with this Baphomet?

He seems too devoted. Is he ready to become a real rock singer and betray the expectations of the organization?

As it turns out, Baphomet has not forgotten his original intention.

He never felt happy playing in a band.

Everything was a mission, a test. Over the past thirty years, he has discovered a large number of talents for the church, used his influence to help the organization accomplish things several times, and proved his unbreakable faith with his actions.

"Is this Han Solo? The man you were talking about."

Baphomet made a rock sign.

Han Solo looked at Monica, already wanting to go home.

Monica said bluntly: "He is Han Solo, the helper I specially invited. Baphomet, you can tell me what you know."

"OK. Since you are the Black Mage's friend, I have nothing to hide."

Baphomet poured a glass of water for Monica and mixed a cocktail for Han Solo.

He said: "Mr. Han should know that the 'Tenth Time Device' stolen from the museum is a sacred object of the Church of Time. But you may not know that the Church of Time is actually divided into two factions, the Demon King Faction and the Goddess Faction."

Han Solo laughed: "A church that has been wiped out is divided into two factions?"

There is also devil pie, goddess pie, and apple pie.

"Yes. Some believers believe that the Goddess of Time actually exists; others do not think so. They believe that the Church of Time is the church of the Demon King of Time."

Baphomet mentioned it briefly, as Monica had instructed.

He looked at Han Solo, a little nervous.

The Demon King of Time...

For ordinary people, this is a vicious name. But the young man in front of him didn't react at all.

"The theft of the Tenth Time Artifact was planned by the Demon King Faction, and they succeeded. But no one could have imagined that among the people involved in the operation, there was an undercover agent from the Goddess Faction! He killed everyone and took the artifact away."

The theft was carried out the day before yesterday.

The theft gang planned for several months, and the Royal Museum of Art did not pay enough attention to the Tenth Century Artifact, so the process went very smoothly.

But during the evacuation, the undercover agent deliberately triggered the alarm.

The security forces of the Royal Museum responded immediately and a fierce exchange of fire broke out between the two sides. The theft gang left several lives behind and took away the holy artifacts with great difficulty.

Baphomet showed some anger on his face, and said, "The plan has been made long ago. The people sent by the devil arrived at the safe house according to the plan. In the end..."

Han Solo nodded and said, "The safe house is not safe. The masters sent by the goddess waited for a long time and killed everyone, right?"

"Ugh!"

Baphomet sighed heavily, and the meaning was self-evident.

Monica looked at Han Solo and said, "This is basically what happened. Our mission is to find the people sent by the Goddess and take back the holy weapon from them. Mr. Baphomet said that he doesn't care who the holy weapon belongs to now. He just wants to vent his anger."

Baphomet actually still cares about who owns the holy weapon.

only--

Monica holds a high position in the Demon King's faction.

Among all the priests, she is the youngest and has the most say, almost to the point of having the final say. The Black Mage does not joke with anyone.

the other side.

Han Solo looked at Monica, who was holding her head high and staying out of the matter, and at the Shamatte, who was pretending to be calm and casting prying glances at him from time to time, and he was stunned.

He didn't want to be the Riddler at all.

The situation is now quite clear. Baphomet should be the leader of the "Devil's Faction" in Fort Collins. Teacher Monica is also from the "Devil's Faction" and her status should be higher.

If that’s the case, why hide?

He looked at Baphomet and said, "I see... In fact, I have some connection with the Church of Time."

……what?

Baphomet raised his eyes subconsciously, but not at Han Solo, but at Monica.

Monica's heart skipped a beat and she was a little happy, but she didn't say it.

Baphomet smiled awkwardly but politely: "Really? What is your connection with the Church of Time?"

Am I the totem of the Demon King?

Or, spiritual founder?

Han Solo didn't say much. Actions always speak louder than words. He just asked, "The Demon King of the Church of Time stole the holy artifact at this time. Is it because the Tenth Time Artifact is about to be restored?"

"!"

"!"

Monica and Baphomet were both shocked!

The specific effect of the twelve-hour device is only known by the "Twelve Priests" and the successors trained by the priests.

Even the Witch Hunting Agency, which destroyed the Church of Time a hundred years ago and is still hunting down its remnants, knows nothing about this.

If they had known that the Tenth Time Machine could repair itself and wasn't just a pile of rotten metal, they would never have put it on display in a museum.

Baphomet is Fort Collins' agent, but he is unfamiliar with the "Twelve Hour Machine".

That is, he was given the task of retrieving the Tenth Time Device, which allowed him to know some of the information.

Why is this young man in front of me——

"Dong dong."

Han Solo rapped the bar with his knuckles, making a crisp sound.

He looked at Baphomet with dissatisfaction and asked, "Are you stupid? I'm asking you a question."

"Baphomet, tell Mr. Han everything you know..."

Monica wanted to call him Lord Han.

She restrained herself.

Baphomet calmed down and replied, "Yes, as far as I know, the Tenth Time Instrument is infinitely magical, but it also has its limits—"

Han Solo raised his hand, interrupting him.

Let’s start from the beginning. When should we start?

He said directly: "The Tenth Time Device is used once and destroyed once. Its 'prediction' ability is limited. It can only overdraw a hundred years at most. It cannot be realized beyond this limit. So... someone used it a hundred years ago?"

"……Yes."

Baphomet nodded, Han Solo knew more than he thought.

One hundred years ago, a team of witch hunters discovered an important base of the Church of Time. In order to cover the retreat of others, the tenth priest stepped forward.

He killed six or seven and seriously injured more than ten people by himself.

This record is exceptionally impressive. The witch-hunting agency is a fighting machine composed of elite troops drawn from the ten strongest countries on the continent.

That witch hunting team had achieved great results. Although they were not the elite among the elite, at least their level was up to standard.

No one knows how the tenth priest did it. It was deduced afterwards that he probably made the most of the holy vessel, which could repair itself within a hundred years at most.

The facts were indeed as they expected.

After the Tenth Hour Instrument was exhibited at the Royal Museum, believers of the Church of Time paid close attention to it.

yesterday.

That’s exactly one hundred years since the tenth priest died in battle.

Baphomet said: "If there were no accidents, the Tenth Time Device should have been complete yesterday."

Han Solo nodded and looked at Monica: "Teacher, do you have any positioning spells? The kind that can sense where I am."

"Marking magic? That's not hard to learn."

Monica replied quickly.

“Sign me one.”

“…Is it appropriate?”

Monica hesitated.

Han Solo smiled and said, "There's nothing inappropriate. I know the Tenth Time Device very well. No one knows it better than me. I'm going to teleport to the vicinity of the Tenth Time Device. There are some risks there. You must come as soon as possible."

Although the principle is unclear, the Twelve Hour Meter was forged by Han Solo himself.

It takes a long time for others to master them, but not him.

Just as he reached his peak in the "Sixth Time Device", he can use the power of the time device at will as long as the function of the time device is intact and not damaged.

It’s easy to retrieve the Tenth Hour Device.

Launching a "mandatory recall" and then running away will certainly involve risks, but they will not be too great.

According to common sense.

The person who stole the Tenth Time Device might have fled in a hurry and it is impossible for him to have many people around him.

Han Solo's mark has invisibility, acceleration, and an ability to "immunize one fatal injury". There are many ways to save his life, so if you are careful, there won't be any problems.

Besides, the situation is very tense now.

The people sent by the Goddess might not dare to force their way through, so they put the Tenth Time Device in a warehouse, left it at the homes of relatives and friends, or hid it in the wild woods.

After triggering the "forced recall", Han Solo will appear in an empty place, take the item and leave without looking back.

Monica listened and thought it was feasible, but a bit risky.

The situation around the Tenth Time Device is unclear, and there may be great risks. Lord Han is of noble status and cannot take risks easily.

She responded quickly.

"What am I worried about? Lord Han is the one who killed Diana in her prime! With such fighting power, it would be easy for him to deal with a few small thieves, right?"

She moved the magic power and planted a mark on Han Solo's body.

Afterwards, he said, "The mark has been made. I will rush to your side as quickly as possible. Please... proceed with caution."

"Then I'll start."

Han Solo closed his eyes and concentrated.

The next moment, a spell with a strong sense of rhythm emerged in his mind. It was the "root instruction" of the tenth time device, which had the highest authority.

As long as you recite it silently in your heart, you can immediately trigger the "forced recall" and instantly appear near the Chicken Device.

The spell is...

"Oh ↑ oh → oh ↑"