บท 153: Settling the aftermath

"Mr. Cullen, why are you here?" Ebner asked in surprise.

"I was originally chasing after this Demoness… I didn't expect her to die in your hands!" Cullen looked at Ray's headless corpse and replied with a smile.

With that said, his gaze passed the corpse and landed on Madam Daly, who had been smiling without a word since he appeared.

Seeing him look at Madam Daly, Ebner hurriedly introduced, "Mr. Cullen, this is Madam Daly of the Church of Evernight. The Demoness was actually killed by me and Madam Daly."

Cullen nodded slightly. He had exchanged names with Daly, so they knew each other.

As the Church of Evernight and the Church of Earth Mother had a very ordinary relationship, Cullen didn't exchange pleasantries with Daly. Instead, he told them about the intense battle in the vineyard. Finally, he said,

"Because Ray was stabbed by the Sword of the Goddess, I concluded that there was a high chance that an accident would happen during her escape, so I used her blood to indicate her location and chased after her."

"So the Demoness was stabbed by His Excellency Snake. No wonder she was so unlucky," Daly said in enlightenment.

Hearing this, Cullen's lips twitched. Although there was nothing wrong, why did it sound a little off?

At this moment, Ebner finally understood why "Solomon Gold Coin" was so effective today…

"Quickly go back and continue attending the banquet. I'm here looking at the Beyonder characteristic… I believe that the Church's people should be arriving soon." Cullen glanced at the black jelly-like substance that was seeping out of the Demoness' body and said to Ebner and Daly.

Madam Daly naturally had no objections. She trusted official Beyonders, even if they weren't part of Loen's official staff. Therefore, she got out of the car first.

"Alright," Ebner responded first, but he was not in a hurry to get out of the car. He turned back and asked, "Mr. Cullen, Bishop Utravsky doesn't seem to be in a good condition… Do you have any medicine that can help him?"

However, Cullen merely smiled and said, "Don't worry. The bishop is Blessed of God, and his will and faith are very firm. He won't be so easily harmed… He should be awake by now."

"Blessed…" Ebner repeated the term, then relaxed.

At that moment, Cullen suddenly waved his hand to chase away the nearby spirits. Then, he looked through the car window at Madam Daly, who had already walked quite a distance away. He whispered to Ebner, "Ebner, that Madam Daly has a depraved aura and isn't a suitable spouse… In comparison, Miss Xio, Miss Fors, and even Miss Susan who are closer to you are more compatible with you. They are pure girls."

As a member of the Blood Clan, he only liked pure and beautiful girls. He naturally detested women like Daly who had once indulged in debauchery.

"Although Madam Daly has been deprived for a period of time, she has already been redeemed by an upright gentleman…" Ebner first explained to Daly in a serious manner before saying unhappily, "What kind of image do I have in your eyes? You make me sound like a playboy like Emperor Roselle…"

"Roselle isn't as reserved as you when it comes to relationships. Back then, he… Forget it, why am I telling you this?" Cullen shook his head. Suddenly recalling something, he continued, "By the way, do you still owe me a promise?"

"What do you want me to do for you?" Ebner asked warily. He wasn't trying to renege on his debt. He just wanted to assess the risk of what was happening.

"There's no need to be nervous. As I said before, it's not a dangerous thing." Cullen first waved his hand, then deliberated over his words before saying, "I see that you're very well liked by girls, so you should know how little girls think… So I want you to help me choose some gifts for my sister…"

Ebner was relieved to hear this request. He was too lazy to argue with her about whether he liked girls or whether he knew how to choose what girls liked… anyway, he would buy him some gifts. As for whether Cullen's sister liked it or not, what did that have to do with him?

"How old is your sister?" Ebner asked casually.

"Um… less than a hundred years old."

…

Thursday morning, in the basement of the Holy Wind Cathedral.

As he had always been responsible for monitoring Grant's clothing store, the Wind-blessed McConnell had become the only intact Mid-Sequence member in Backlund's Mandated Punishers team, and he had also taken on the role of captain.

At this moment, he was holding a notebook and reporting the information gathered by various parties to the God of Songs, Ace Snake.

"Demoness Ray has been planning to use 2-001 as her future advancement ritual after being ambushed by us.

However, when she went from pleasure to pain, she used a ritual. She was a former Earth Mother believer who believed in the Primordial Moon. As a result, she was corrupted, and her mind showed signs of splitting… Or rather, a new personality was secretly changing her.

"Through her relationship with some of the nobles in MI9, she constantly harassed the believers of the Lord, causing trouble for us and further dispersed our forces.

"Later, through her actions at the Daily Observer's headquarters, she secretly corrupted 2-001. Then, through special means, she could sense the location of this Sealed Artifact… Back then, Detective Bryan had informed us of this through Evan. Unfortunately, we didn't take it seriously.

Demoness Ray likely learned of 1-025's existence through her connection with the nine parts of the plot. She also tried her best to lure us to use this Sealed Artifact to divine her location. And she secretly contacted the Rose School of Thought's demigod and used this Sealed Artifact as bait to restrain you…

"The Demoness's plan succeeded. She successfully used the three Holy Artifacts to escape the Primordial Moon's control and took 2-001 from the Captain.

Unfortunately, she underestimated the influence of the Sword of the Goddess. She was trapped in misfortune without realizing it, and eventually, she was killed by Detective Bryan and a Nighthawk.

"Finally, the Demoness of Afflictions Beyonder characteristic was taken away by His Excellency Saint Anthony. The Harvest Sacrifice characteristic attached to the flower was retrieved by the Church of Earth Mother, and 2-001 was returned to us."

The Wind-blessed McConnell closed his notebook, his eyes filled with heaviness. After all, the Mandated Punishers in Backlund had suffered heavy losses this time. Not only were nearly everyone below the captain seriously injured, even one of the Wind-blessed had died in battle! Furthermore, they had lost a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact.

"We owe the Church of Earth Mother and the Church of Evernight quite a big favor this time… Without their help, Kuhn probably wouldn't be able to return…" After Snake sighed in exhaustion, he said to the only Wind-blessed who could still take action, "I've already reported this matter to the Holy Cathedral. The reply I received is that we can relax the supervision of the Church of Earth Mother."

"To what extent?" Maccon asked.

"they still can't preach in public, but the Harvest Church is allowed to hold Mass once a week," Snake replied.

"Then… the Church of Evernight?"

"Send all the information we obtained from Hazel regarding the Marauder demigod. They suffered a loss last time. They must've wanted to save their face," Snake said after some thought.

Seeing that McConnell had no objections, the SpellSinger of God stood up and was about to leave when he suddenly stopped and asked with his back facing his team member, "How's Kuhn?"

"He managed to preserve his life under the treatment of the Forsaken One… However, he overexerted himself using the Holy Artifact, causing his mind to be severely corrupted. I'm afraid he won't be able to hold the position of the Holy Artifact Contractor and Captain anymore." McConner sighed as his face was filled with gloom.

"Then, after he recovers, let him guard the underground warehouse…" With that said, Mr. Snake seemed to recall something and asked, "You just said that Detective Bryan killed the Demoness… Is this Bryan the detective who revealed the demonic plot at the Daily Observer's headquarters? The one that the Church of Earth Mother values?"

"Yes, Sire," MacConner said, nodding.

"Then, let's publicize this detective's name through the newspapers we control. Consider it our repayment to the Forsaken One's."

With that said, Snake left the Mandated Punishers' headquarters and boarded a carriage to Empress Borough… He wanted to seek justice for his teammates.

…

Empress Borough, Sodrak Palace.

George III, who wore a crown and had a firm face and a mustache, sat on the throne. He looked at Viscount Stratford and smiled.

"Tell me, what happened?"

"Your Majesty, the Church of Storms, and the Church of Evernight wish for you to give an explanation for the royal nobles colluding with the Demoness." Viscount Stratford braced himself and reported.

"Explanation? Hmph, Earl Lorena and his son colluded with the Demoness of Agony and were ultimately killed by the Demoness. That's an explanation!" George III grunted.

"In addition, I remember that regardless of whether it's the Church of Evernight or the Church of Storms, the councilors they support have recently been pushing forward the topic of choosing officials for the public examination… Tell them that in principle, I've agreed to it," George III added when he saw Viscount Stratford's troubled expression.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Viscount Stratford heaved a sigh of relief and replied.

After the viscount left, George III sat there without moving for a long time. After an unknown period of time, he suddenly laughed without any warning.

…

In an unfamiliar city that was shrouded in darkness, there were gorgeous buildings that gave off a mysterious and dark feeling.

In the middle of the church was a church. The church was more than eighty meters tall and was supported by huge black pillars. Each pillar was embedded with a certain number of skulls. Some of them came from humans, while others came from different creatures. However, all of them had their empty eyes pointed downwards as though they were watching every living being that entered the church.

Every detail of the cathedral could be said to be exquisite, but what constituted them were elements of nightmares, horror, and mystery.

In the depths of the cathedral hall stood a huge cross. A grayish-white dragon statue was wrapped around the cross.

Unlike ordinary churches, there were no rows of seats for believers to pray in, nor were there any places for candlesticks. There was only a small long table placed in front of the dragon statue. There were five seats on both sides of the long table. The top and bottom were empty.

At that moment, an old-school gentleman with some wrinkles on his forehead and an abnormally pale face walked in with a man wearing a mask with widened eyes and a wide mouth. He said to the other six people sitting on both sides of the long table,

"This is Mr. Wrath. He has deep attainments in the mind domain. He will be a new member of the council."