Chapter 31 “Residue”
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Vanna looked up, taking in the sight of the woman standing before her. The woman, dressed in a simple black gown, was intently assessing the mental state of the cult members with a somber and thoughtful expression. Upon noticing Vanna’s gaze, she acknowledged it with a slight nod.
Despite her youthful appearance, the woman exuded a wisdom that seemed far beyond her years. She appeared to be in her early twenties, yet her features radiated profound maturity. Her raven-black hair was neatly twisted and tied at the nape of her neck, complemented by pale blue crystal earrings that sparkled under the nearby gas lamp’s light.
“Heidi is here too… Did City Hall send her?” Vanna asked the young guardian beside her.
“No, Miss Heidi was nearby when the incident occurred. She came immediately upon hearing the news. Are you worried about something?” the guardian replied.
“No, not at all. Heidi may work for City Hall, but she has a longstanding connection with our church. She’ll be able to document everything about this scene upon her return,” Vanna responded, dismissing her concern with a shake of her head. She then turned her attention to the cult’s high priest, who was unmistakably dead, and casually asked, “What have the surviving cult members who can still communicate said? What exactly happened here?”
“Their stories are inconsistent, but two of them mentioned that the regular sacrificial ceremony had just concluded when someone caught a fleeing victim near the congregation area. The messengers then decided to sacrifice this person to the Dark Sun,” the guardian explained. “These two were far from the altar and couldn’t see exactly what occurred on the platform. They only noted that the victim was stabbed in the heart yet did not die. Instead, the victim called out the name of the Dark Sun, designating the messengers as the sacrifice… and indeed, the messengers were the ones sacrificed.”
“A sacrificial victim, invoking the name of the dark deity and turning the sacrifice against the high priest…” Vanna struggled to believe the account. It sounded like something from a fantastical story, highly improbable. But the information came from a church guardian who was well-trained and deeply loyal, prompting her to consider it seriously. She looked puzzled. “How could something so remarkable happen… If this is possible, couldn’t numerous sacrificial victims in various cult rituals simply speak out quickly to kill the heretic priests?”
“Who knows? Even the least competent priests maintain full control during the rituals. How could they be so easily overthrown by the words of a mere, ordinary person? Moreover, we examined this high priest and found signs that suggest an intrusion from the deeper planes. He truly was a ‘Baptized One.’ And according to the cultists at the scene, he was armed with a powerful ritual dagger…”
The young guardian, finishing his explanation, shook his head and turned his attention to another dead body nearby.
“But… I think you should see this. This is the ‘offering’ who allegedly ‘killed’ the priest.”
Vanna shifted her gaze from the guardian to the corpse laid out before her. Her eyes, in a blink of an eye, grew sharp and alert.
The body belonged to a young, slight individual, so thin they appeared more adolescent than adult. Most striking was the gaping hollow in their chest.
“…He’s already been offered in sacrifice…”
“Yes, this is indeed an offering that had already been used for a ritual. According to the evidence at the scene and testimonies from the cult members, it is likely that this ‘offering’ had lost their heart before being brought onto the stage,” the guardian explained with a grave tone. “So… the actual scenario is that a walking cadaver, in full view of everyone, ambled onto the stage and murdered the officiating priest.”
“…Necromancer’s handiwork?” Vanna mused aloud. “No, the power of the Dark Sun effectively suppresses necromancers. Their reanimated corpses wouldn’t dare approach the totem of the Dark Sun so casually… Could it be a puppeteer controlling the dead?”
“Have we verified the lighting in this vicinity?” She suddenly looked up at the guardian beside her. “Is there any completely dark subterranean space within a radius of five hundred meters?”
“We have checked and found no such unlit underground spaces. Even the cultists understand the danger of such areas. They have been careful to leave torches and oil lamps in the caves where they dispose of bodies. They have shown caution in this aspect.”
Vanna fell silent for a moment. Then, driven by a strong sense of curiosity, she crouched in front of the lifeless young person who had publicly sacrificed a high-level entity, plunging the ritual into complete chaos. She closely scrutinized the “offering,” lifting the stiff eyelids to search for any signs of heretical influence.
Just then, a twinkle caught her eye. It seemed as if the body of the young individual slightly opened their eyes, and within the vacant eye sockets danced a flickering emerald green flame. A tiny spark emerged from the tip of her outstretched right index finger, disappearing into thin air.
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Instantly, Vanna’s eyes hardened. With a swift movement, she drew the dagger from her waist with her left hand and, without hesitation, she cut off her right index finger. Reversing the dagger, she plunged it into the forehead of the lifeless body. The priest’s dagger, covered in runes, burst into a ferocious flame over the corpse.
The entire sequence of actions took less than a second for Vanna to execute. As the flames engulfed the lifeless body, she swiftly stood up and stepped back. Immediately, she reached into her waist pouch and pulled out a vial of blessed holy oil, uncorking it with her teeth. She poured the oil over her bleeding right hand. Upon contact with her flesh, the holy oil produced thick, white smoke that sizzled and curled into the air.
Despite the intense pain that followed, Vanna’s expression remained stoic. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the guardian, too, had drawn his steel sword swiftly, beheading the ablaze “offering” in a single stroke. He then hurled a mixture of seaweed extract and silver powder into the dancing flames.
Accompanied by a series of explosions and flames that reached the ceiling, the burning body quickly turned to ashes.
Remarkably, the ravenous flames did not spread to the nearby corpses.
The surrounding guardians reacted promptly to the situation. Half of them drew their rune-inscribed steel swords and formed a protective circle around Vanna. The other half took out their large-caliber revolvers and established a defensive perimeter. The two priests at the scene also pulled hidden revolvers from under their robes, blessing the gun barrels with censers and invoking the Storm Goddess, Gomona. They aimed their weapons at the increasingly agitated cult members.
“Your Honor!” a young guardian armed with a sword approached Vanna, his voice filled with concern. “Are you alright? What just happened…”
“There was some residual power in that ‘offering,’ a power that managed to bypass all the divine protections from the goddess and even my psychic vigilance,” Vanna answered, dismissing his concern. She examined her right hand, where the goddess’s blessing was slowly regenerating her severed index finger. Although the pain was easing, she remained uneasy.
“Something is wrong. It’s not just the Dark Sun. There might be another powerful force that influenced this sacrificial ritual… and it hasn’t left yet,” the inquisitor quickly concluded. “Send all testimonies and evidence to the church for secure storage. All examinations and interrogations will be conducted there. This crime scene must be completely purified… Are there any other survivors?”
A guardian quickly replied, “Yes, we rescued a group of ‘designated offerings’ from a nearby cave. They are now in the utility room next door.”
“Move them to the church as well. Even though they are victims, they must be thoroughly examined before release,” Vanna instructed firmly. Then, struck by a sudden thought, she asked, “And Ms. Heidi, is she unharmed?”
“I’m right here,” a calm female voice responded from nearby. The “psychiatrist” from City Hall, dressed in black, walked over slowly and nodded to Vanna. “Don’t worry. I wasn’t affected by the incident. So, could you tell me what just happened?”
“…As many classic tales warn, the cultists have unleashed something even more malevolent than they anticipated,” Vanna looked at the “psychiatrist.” “I strongly advise extreme caution when examining and hypnotizing these cultists… Unwanted forces are definitely present, and traces remain.”
Duncan is truly powerful then it seems.
indeed, he is.
>even more malevolent than they anticipated
Lmao Duncan’s just fumbling around in the dark, blind. Malevolent more like ignorant.