Chapter 257
For those bishops speculating about the forces behind the scenes, Xia Er quietly took note.
**Chapter 150: Tara's QQ Space and the Joyous Gathering**
Bolen City, Jazz Bridge District No. 5, August 1, 04:31 AM.
“Have you memorized your target information, Merritt?”
A gentle male voice broke the tranquility of the manor.
In the manor's collection room, the vast space was nearly filled with various art collectibles and trophies from hunts. At the center, wrapped in silk, was a picture frame that stood out prominently.
Suddenly called by name, a girl with light brown hair looked up in a bit of a panic at the man in the trench coat and stammered, “Y-yes, I’ve memorized everything.”
“Mary will assist you in constructing the dream and the characters, and then it’s up to you to maintain it,” the man said, placing a reassuring hand on the girl’s shoulder. “You remember your task, right?”
“Yes, I just need to keep the dream character’s behavior logical and try to stall that archbishop,” Merritt nodded vigorously.
“You have talent. This is your first mission for the organization, so there’s no need to be overly nervous.”
The man, wearing a black mask that obscured his expression, nodded slightly, seemingly offering her some confidence.
“I understand. I’ll do my best.”
Merritt’s cheeks flushed slightly.
At that moment, the man turned to leave. Watching his retreating figure, the girl felt a flutter in her heart.
A gentle, strong, and reliable captain—who wouldn’t be moved by such a man?
“I can’t believe these cultists are going crazy. It looks like they want to turn the whole of Bolen City upside down… The mission we had scheduled for half a month later now has to be expedited.”
Nearby, a woman named Mary chimed in with a sarcastic remark.
“Isn’t it normal for cultists to go mad?”
From behind an easel, a man with short dark brown hair poked his head out, grinning. “If they didn’t go mad, things wouldn’t be interesting anymore.”
“But there has to be some logic to their madness,” Mary frowned slightly. “Miracles? Oracles? They haven’t even stoked the flames of the Savior Goddess Church; instead, they’ve jumped in to share the fire.”
“What does it matter?” the artist shrugged nonchalantly. “To those above, the Savior Goddess Church and the Holy Ascendancy are no different; both are targets to be suppressed.”
“Are they trying to show goodwill, to unite?” Mary mused, fiddling with a glowing orb in her hand.
If Xia Er were to see this scene, he would definitely recognize the orb—an enchanting sphere made of blue, white, and orange light, with blue being the dominant color.
“Hahaha!”
Her words seemed to amuse the artist, who set down his brush and said, “A month ago, the Holy Ascendancy had over a hundred people taken down. Do you really think those cultists are thinking about uniting instead of seeking revenge?”
At this, the man scoffed, “They’ll probably have to wait for their so-called goddess to descend before they can think about uniting like you said.”
“True,” Mary shook her head, a wry smile escaping her lips.
She realized she might have been overthinking things.
Previously, the Savior Goddess Church had been overwhelmed by the plague in Beian Su, only managing to send a second-tier member to Bolen City to handle matters, nearly resulting in the slaughter of all the city’s followers by a third-tier “Plague Envoy.” This was all orchestrated by the Holy Ascendancy.
When she first heard this intel, Mary wasn’t particularly surprised; after all, this was the norm for these two churches.
But then again… what exactly did the Holy Ascendancy want this time?
If they were trying to help the Savior Goddess Church with an investigation, it didn’t explain why they had severely injured a third-tier member of the church and even captured a second-tier one.
And then there was the new leader of the Holy Ascendancy… The archbishop was a second-tier, which she could understand, as one could rise through theology rather than sheer strength.
But the new leader was a girl who had just stepped into the extraordinary realm, and she had already been leading other second- and third-tier cultists even before she became extraordinary.
What was this girl’s background?
But soon, everything would be revealed.
Meanwhile, Merritt sat on a stool, eyes closed and head bowed, seriously planning her next steps. Just then, Mary spoke up.
“We’ve arrived.”
“What about the boss?”
“She should have already infiltrated their side… signaling now, get ready.”
“Merritt, remember, stall that archbishop. Don’t let her notice. She’s just a second-tier ‘missionary,’ so there’s no need to worry too much, got it?”
“Okay.”
Mary and Merritt raised their hands almost in unison, holding up their glowing orbs, then gradually released them.
The two different orbs slowly merged into their foreheads, and the darkness before the closed eyes of the two girls was overwhelmed by intense light. Their bodies went limp—one slumped over the table, while the other collapsed onto the floor.
The remaining artist, witnessing this, seemed to find inspiration again, returning to his easel and immersing himself in his work.
Meanwhile, in the dream.
Is this the dream that Miss Mary constructed? It feels so real…
Merritt slowly stood up from her seat.
She was still in the manor’s collection room, but now, the other two extraordinary beings were gone, leaving her all alone.
She pulled out a small notebook from her pocket and opened it.
This was her spiritual notebook.
Inside, the once-clear writing had become distorted and blurred, indicating that she had successfully entered the dream.
She quickly moved to the window, watching the two figures entering the room, her gaze locking onto the shorter one, taking a deep breath.
I must stall her…
The red-haired girl had Miss Mary to handle her; as long as she guided her to see that painting, Miss Mary’s task would be complete.
Her own task was simple: just keep the archbishop occupied while Miss Mary executed her mission, ensuring she didn’t wake up prematurely.
The second-tier archbishop seemed to be completely obedient to the red-haired girl; she just needed to exploit that.
Merritt swiftly exited the collection room and headed downstairs, her footsteps making no sound, not even a dent in the carpet, as if she were a ghost.
When she reached the lower floor, guards and other bishops had already begun a thorough search of the manor.
Yet they seemed completely oblivious to Merritt descending the stairs, ignoring her presence entirely.
Soon, Merritt stood directly in front of the red-haired girl and the archbishop.
As the red-haired girl was about to follow the planned route to the reception room, Merritt raised her hand, causing the girl to pause, then turn and head straight for the stairs.
The archbishop, following closely beside her, had no questions, simply trailing along without a hint of curiosity about where they were going.
Thank goodness…
The archbishop seemed unaware that they had entered a dream, merely obediently following the red-haired girl.
First, they needed to distance themselves from the other guards and bishops… She couldn’t maintain the behavior logic of so many people at once without it collapsing. Once they completed the predetermined route set by Miss Mary, everything would fall apart.
Before that, she had to guide them to a place where they wouldn’t see the guards or those cultists.
After finally leading them to the designated guest room, Merritt stepped inside with them and let out a slow breath.
This room was filled with strange sculptures and bizarre inscriptions, a special room crafted by Miss Mary for investigating these meaningless trinkets.
As long as she could manipulate the red-haired girl into saying something that would prompt the archbishop to investigate, her task would be complete.
Based on the captain’s investigations during the cultists’ recent activity, Merritt could predict what the archbishop was about to do.
But just then, a twist occurred.
She noticed that the archbishop, named “Tara,” seemed to take a step closer to the red-haired girl, her nose twitching slightly, a look of confusion crossing her face.
Is she… trying to discern a scent?
In an instant, Merritt felt a cold sweat break out all over her body.
Table of Contents
