Chapter 113
He felt his body stiffen, his eyes wide open as a terrifying head, riddled with cracks, emerged from within, locking eyes with him above his own shadow.
In the next moment, the monstrous mouth of that head opened wide, and countless white-legged, slender insect limbs crawled out from those fissures, reaching out as if to embrace his own head.
“Ah!!”
He screamed in horror, regaining control of his body as he stumbled back several steps, his eyes still fixed on the shadow beneath him. But the terrifying head and the creature had already vanished without a trace.
Braga raised a hand to touch his cheek, finding no wounds, as if nothing had ever happened.
Thank goodness… nothing happened; it was just my imagination…
Braga looked at his own arms, now covered in cracks with insect legs protruding from them, and slowly exhaled in relief.
He stretched the pair of insect wings behind him and turned his gaze back to the figure with red hair at the altar, his eyes filled with fervent reverence.
At that moment, Shaer observed Braga from a distance, her brow slightly furrowed.
She saw no movement from the spiritual creature, but suddenly, black blood began to flow from Braga’s entire body.
The insect wings on his back, the terrifying cracks on his face, and the delicate insect limbs made it impossible for Shaer not to think of the “Glowing Bishop” Hiu.
She could sense that Braga had been thoroughly corrupted by the potion; with just a command from her, he would instantly collapse, completely consumed by the potion, becoming a mindless killing machine of the third tier.
Yet Braga himself… seemed completely unaware of this.
It was as if he didn’t realize he had become a half-human, half-demon monster.
“Braga, come here.”
Shaer called out to him.
At the same time, the spiritual creature beside her, under her control, positioned itself in front of her.
Shaer noticed that three pairs of insect wings had already dissipated from behind the spiritual creature, leaving only three pairs on its upper body.
The insect wings would fade with the passage of time, and their dissipation rate would increase when the spiritual creature used its abilities.
During the previous confrontation with Nia, the wings hadn’t faded this quickly…
Could it be that Nia’s spirit, or the extent of her corruption, far exceeded that of Braga before her?
The “Glowing Bishop” Braga showed signs of corruption through insect-like features; “Source of Cholera” Shelen had transformed into a hard-shelled creature like a barnacle; and Nia’s corruption characteristics… was it the complete steelification of her body?
Shaer had no idea how much of Nia’s body remained intact. If her body had completely transformed into silver armor, would that mean she had lost all control?
Nia’s situation might be more dangerous than she had imagined; her spirit could be easily corroded by the spiritual creature, and her body had already been severely assimilated by the potion…
Did Aivina know about this? If she did, why would she keep such a dangerous, potentially uncontrollable being as her guard?
Perhaps there were secrets behind this that Shaer had yet to uncover, possibly related to Aivina leaving her family to appear in Boren City.
Shaer pushed aside her thoughts, focusing on Braga, who had knelt before her, lost in contemplation.
Clearly, the situation had already reached the goal Shaer had initially set.
That was to eliminate all cultists in Boren City, then use their power against them, sacrificing the cultists to kill the bishop of the Holy Church who came to investigate.
Reality could develop along this trajectory, reaching this point.
But what would happen after killing Bishop Brack?
Wouldn’t the Holy Church send more people to investigate after the death of a bishop in Boren City?
Wouldn’t that just escalate the situation, like hitting a small target and drawing out the bigger one?
It wouldn’t solve the problem once and for all.
The cultists at Dedton Manor had to be dealt with, and it was imperative that the Ji Ti from Adele’s side also be eliminated; this bishop couldn’t be left alive…
She needed to design a perfect “accident” from start to finish, resolving all three of her pressing issues without anyone suspecting her involvement.
To resolve matters before they even occurred.
Shaer gazed into the distance, her eyes already unfocused. Her index finger tapped rapidly against her chin, creating a rhythm in her mind.
Unbeknownst to her, in this situation, a curious smile had crept onto her lips.
The “Instigator” Shaer seemed to treat the thought of how to rationally kill everyone as a delightful puzzle.
Suddenly, she thought of something interesting, her eyes refocusing on the bishop kneeling before her.
“Braga, tell me how you entered the Holy Church, including your disguise outside and all the tasks you’ve been assigned recently…”
Shaer looked at Braga with a smile, asking, “Tell me everything.”
“Yes, Your Holiness…”
Braga lowered his head, mumbling as he began to answer her questions, starting with how he joined the Holy Church.
The corruption seemed to have affected his insides; his throat felt as if it were constricted by a bone, and his words became slurred, occasionally interrupted by coughing up blood.
Due to the urgency of time, Shaer interrupted Braga from time to time, urging him to get to the point.
At this moment, Shaer was still unsure if she would maintain control over Braga once the spiritual creature returned to its realm. She had to gather all the information while the creature was still present and prepare accordingly.
Soon, from Braga’s mouth, Shaer gradually pieced together the specifics.
Braga was born in Blis City and became a pirate in his youth, filled with rage. However, during one voyage, they unexpectedly raided a merchant ship carrying “missionaries” of the Holy Church.
As they plundered the ship and prepared to set it ablaze, killing everyone on board, the “missionary” intervened, brainwashing all the ordinary people on both ships and marking them with the “Sadana Mark,” turning the incident into a mere pirate attack.
After being baptized, Braga returned to Blis Port, where he fortuitously encountered another “ascetic” with the “Sadana Mark.” With his help, Braga renounced piracy and embarked on the path of the “ascetic,” gradually rising within the organization over the years.
Thirty years had passed; he had leveraged his connections from his pirate days and the networks he built within the Holy Church to transition from shipowner to running his own shipping company, developing the company to gather wealth for the church while turning Blis Port into his cult territory.
At this point, Braga’s disguise was that of a director of a shipping company, and his most recent task was to leverage his position to investigate Boren City.
Although Boren City was an inland city, its canals connected to nearly every port in the Ansu Kingdom, boasting the largest canal network in the entire kingdom. Braga happened to have a business deal to negotiate in Boren City, which led to his assignment.
Braga was extremely reluctant, as he was doing very well in Blis City and didn’t want to pay for someone else’s mistakes. However, he couldn’t defy the church’s orders, so he had no choice but to come to Dedton Manor outside Boren City during the business negotiations.
That was all the information on Braga so far.
Shaer stole a glance at the wings behind the spiritual creature, noticing that only one pair of insect wings remained. Time was running out for her.
“Braga,”
Shaer smiled at him, asking, “I’ve heard that the ‘Sadana Mark’ doesn’t prevent cultists from attacking each other, but there’s a special mark that only bishops possess, right?”
This was information Shaer had learned earlier; the “Sadana Mark” didn’t magically foster goodwill among cultists. The development of cultists relied more on the brainwashing of the “missionaries.”
Loyalty to the church was one aspect; the true purpose of the “Sadana Mark” was to ensure that lower-tier cultists could not resist those with the special mark, who were bishops or above.
It was a means of control.
Shaer’s current goal was to obtain that mark.
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
Braga extended a trembling hand, shakily removing a gold watch from his left wrist.
With a slight exertion, he crushed the watch’s casing and retrieved a coin-sized mark from within, embossed with a half-circle and a circular church emblem.
“Just by holding this, you won’t be attacked by any third-tier or lower extraordinary beings or ordinary people with the ‘Sadana Mark,’ Your Holiness.”
Braga raised both hands, presenting the mark to Shaer.
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