章 32: The Fallen Saintess (28)

(Temple of The Varion Church)

(Private Study Room)

Night had fallen. The sky was nothing more than a terrifying void of darkness populated by thousands of flickering stars.

Claire sat silently on a chair and browsed through the documents on the table in front of her.

The roaring fireplace in the corner of the room provided a dim lighting that made it possible to see the reports.

Claire's golden eyes gleamed with rage as she read through the ledger list that Father Simon had kept in his private study.

The extent of the church's corruption and depravity was far beyond what she could have ever imagined.

Bribes, smuggling, drugs, prostitution… and more…

These were just some of the worst offenses on the list.

Father Simon had formed connections with all the major crime families in order to ensure that his illegal businesses continued to flourish.

Claire let out a heavy sigh as she gently placed her hands on the desk and thought about what to do next.

The remaining members of the church were locked up in the basement.

It was not that Claire was feeling merciful but rather she wanted to interrogate them for more information.

No one was innocent here.

The priests and nuns who entered the banquet hall did not seem surprised when they saw the half-naked children with scars on their bodies.

Whether they directly participated or silently pretended not to notice did not make a difference.

Evil was evil.

Claire knew that her thinking was slowly morphing into the extremes.

It was not from the influence of the original Claire's memories but rather a side effect of using the newfound power that flowed through her body.

But could she afford to not use it?

This city was a dangerous place and strength was the only thing that mattered.

Claire could feel the barrier that prevented her from becoming a tier one knight slowly loosen the more she killed those who betrayed the church.

Tier one knight could be classified as superhumans.

Their bodies would become impervious to normal attacks whether by arrows or by blades.

Extreme reflexes, speed, healing and enhanced strength were just some of the abilities that they possessed.

A legion of hundreds of tier two knights would be nothing but cannon fodder when faced with such a powerhouse.

But it was not easy to reach that level.

The number of active tier one knights in the continent could be counted on both hands.

Claire rubbed her temples and flipped another page.

"You son of a bitc…" Claire's voice trailed off in shock as she saw the information on the sheet of parchment paper.

It was a list.

Father Simon had recorded the names of every guest who had visited the church within the last five years.

The list included at least one hundred names and most of the individuals belonged to various underworld forces in the city.

Sinners… sinners… THEY WERE ALL SINNERS!

Claire shrieked in agony as a fierce burst of pain erupted in her mind.

Her golden eyes shone with an eerie light as two large translucent wings sprouted out from behind her back.

The holy knight fell to the floor and convulsed as muscle spasms ravaged her body.

The pain was unlike anything that Claire had ever experienced before, and it felt as though someone was burning her soul.

"Stop… stop…" Claire hoarsely groaned as she tried to grab the leg of the chair to support herself.

Her fingers trembled as she grabbed onto the chair's leg and tried to stop her body from uncontrollably shaking.

Claire closed her eyes and bit her lip in an effort to stop herself from screaming out at the top of her lungs.

It hurt… it hurt so much…

She fell into a strange state where her mind tried to fall unconscious, but the sharp bursts of pain kept bring her back to sanity.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the pounding headache inside her mind slowly disappeared and she could think once more.

Claire opened her eyes and discovered that most of the room was now completely destroyed.

All the pages and documents were scattered across the floor and the desk and chair had collapsed.

"What was that?" Claire whispered to herself as she summoned the last reserves of strength in her body and tried to stand up.

She didn't notice at the time, but her body felt a lot lighter and more powerful than usual.

Claire's eyes burned for a moment and then something magical happened.

She could see dozens if not hundreds of tiny golden threads flowing out from her body and travelling off in different directions.

It was a strange sight that caused Claire to freeze in place.

The holy knight cautiously reached out and touched one of the threads with hesitant movements.

The image of a handsome middle-aged man currently smoking a cigar inside what appeared to be a brothel appeared in her mind.

Somehow Claire could automatically tell how far away this brothel was and the name of the man in her vision.

His name Martin Bruno.

She loosened her grip on the golden thread and the mysterious image disappeared from her mind.

Claire waited for a few minutes to make sure that there weren't any dangerous side effects and then touched another thread.

This time she saw a seductive woman in her early thirties with a plump voluptuous figure and two massive mountains that swayed hypnotically from side to side.

She wore a sexy red lingerie set and was currently swimming in a pool outside a two-story white mansion.

Her name was Lilian Ward.

Claire continued to experiment with these golden threads and soon she saw more faces and information about people whom she had never met.

Some were old. Others were young.

Ugly and beautiful. Tall and short.

The only commonality was that they all seemed to be fairly well off.

Wait a minute… where had she seen those names before?

Claire furrowed her brows as a sudden idea popped into her head. She hurried over to the pieces of paper scattered across the floor and looked for the one with the list.

It was hidden behind a stack near the destroyed chair.

Claire quickly picked it up and scanned the list of names.

What the….

Most of the people who were connected to the golden threads were individuals whose names were written down on the list.

As for the ones that weren't, Claire had a sneaking suspicion that perhaps their names would be on the records kept that spanned a period of time beyond five years.

"The ability to find those who used the church to do evil?" Claire muttered seriously.

She felt a strong desire flow through her mind and her body started to move like a puppet dancing on a string.

The holy knight unsheathed her longsword as a trace of killing intent leaked out of her body.

A tremendous pressure descended on the study room and cracks began to form on the ground.

Claire's eyes shone with purity and righteousness as she jumped out of the window and the two wings on her back unfurled to lift her up into the skies.

It was time for a hunt.