The Church was still under lockdown. Every staff mber wore an unpleasant expression.
Understandable enough — they'd worked through nearly the entire night without rest and found nothing out of the ordinary. Nobody wanted to do grunt work that yielded zero results.
So the Church today was blanketed in gloom.
The only trace of activity ca from the swarm of laborers pouring into the rear courtyard to clear the library's wreckage. Mixed in among the workers, the two of them drew no attention whatsoever and strolled right into the Church without a single question asked.
Halfway through, they quietly broke away from the group and headed for the Head of Church's office atop the tower.
Dayti was different from night — they couldn't very well crawl up the walls. So both of them disguised themselves before carefully making their way up.
But the mont they reached the floor where the Head of Church's room was located, they found a sharp-eyed elderly man standing at the top of the staircase, watching them with a gaze as piercing as a hawk's.
Scorpio flinched and started to draw his weapon, but Cheng Shi grabbed his arm. He flashed a textbook smile at the Head of the Theocracy of Growth, perfectly unembarrassed.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting, Head of Church."
They had never been this close to the Head of Church before. This Berios was nothing like the figure from last night — the stern representative of Birth swinging his staff atop the tower to quell chaos. Up close, he looked more like a shrewd, composed, wiry old man.
His penetrating gaze lingered on Cheng Shi for a mont. Then he slowly raised his staff, pointing its tip — carved with countless infants clustered together — directly at Cheng Shi.
At this sight, before Cheng Shi could even react, Scorpio's spine went rigid. Instinct kicked in — he seized Cheng Shi's hand and yanked him back three paces, then drew his Arc of Ti Restoration and instantly carved a rift of Ti between them and the old man.
Cheng Shi looked at the little assassin beside him with a touch of surprise, then broke into an even brighter smile.
He patted Scorpio's hand, signaling him to relax.
"Easy now. The Head of Church ans no harm."
'No harm?'
'The staff is already raised!'
'Last ti he raised it, the God Descent tentacle obliterated the entire library! How are you not scared, bro?'
Berios cast a cold glance at Scorpio, then eyed the twisted Ti energy spanning the gap between them. He frowned — and then, just as Cheng Shi had predicted, lowered his staff once more.
"So you truly aren't from Dolgod."
At those words, the tension coiled tight inside Cheng Shi finally unwound.
'Phew — that was close. Gamble paid off.'
He wasn't unafraid. He'd simply buried every ounce of fear deep inside. The instant Berios had raised the staff, Cheng Shi's fingers had quietly closed around the Fun Ring — freshly charged by Scorpio — and his other hand had gripped a die.
He had an escape route ready at any mont, which gave him the nerve to test the waters. What he hadn't expected was that the coattail-clinging little assassin beside him would instinctively move to shield him in that mont...
'Interesting. Whether that was genuine or not, I appreciate it.' In that instant, Cheng Shi quietly revised his assessnt of the little assassin, and a new idea took shape in his mind.
But there was no ti for stray thoughts. Right now, he needed to carefully confront the formidable, imposing Head of the Theocracy of Growth.
"Dolgod is an inclusive city. That's precisely why we had the opportunity to et you, great Head of Church, isn't it?"
"Nauseating flattery. You're as slippery as Lis Field. Co up — let
see what sort of people have caused such a commotion in Dolgod."
With that, Berios turned and walked away, striding straight into his chamber.
Cheng Shi exchanged glances with Scorpio, raised his eyebrows, and jerked his chin — ti to drop the theatrics and follow.
Scorpio wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, hastily dispersed the Ti barrier, then whispered breathlessly:
"Brother Cheng, weren't you afraid he'd just straight up kill us? This is a boss-level character! When I saw him raise that staff, my legs were shaking."
"Afraid of what? He knew the mont we entered the Church. If he wanted us dead, he'd have done it already. Why wait until now?
Pull yourself together. Walking in there like this will only drag down our negotiations."
Scorpio exhaled another shaky breath. "Give
a second..."
Cheng Shi laughed in mild exasperation. "Don't put the other guy on too high a pedestal. Think of it this way — he chose to talk after seeing your Ti power. Doesn't that suggest he might be afraid of you too?
He fears unknown forces disrupting Dolgod's peace.
See? Doesn't that feel better?"
Scorpio blinked, and his slightly hunched spine straightened instantly.
"You know what... that actually works."
"..."
Cheng Shi shook his head with an amused laugh and took the lead up the stairs.
Upon returning to this familiar office, Cheng Shi didn't passively wait for the other party to speak first. He cut straight into it with a smile:
"I don't know how the Head of Church regards people like us, but I can assure you — we have no intention of disrupting Dolgod's peace, nor do we wish to challenge your supre authority. We're rely passing through and wanted to collect a few things here."
Berios stood by the window, staff never leaving his hand. He turned and spoke in a deep voice.
"What things?"
"A asure of fear. We follow another deity — one unknown to the world. To make our offering to Him, we need to collect a certain amount of fear."
"Hmph. Heretics, as expected. Followers of false gods have always been despised by every Church. How dare you speak of a false god in my presence?"
Berios radiated authority without raising his voice. He lifted the staff again, eyes boring into Cheng Shi like lightning — as though the next instant, the God Descent summoned through that staff could swat them both dead on the spot.
But Cheng Shi had already seen through the man. He noticed that the Head of Church wasn't entirely indifferent, nor was he unconcerned about their identities. Several tis while scrutinizing Cheng Shi, his gaze had flickered briefly toward Scorpio.
That told Cheng Shi sothing — the old man seed to be searching for sothing as well.
'Now that's interesting. The Theocracy of Growth's dictator. Dolgod's de facto ruler. A man of such stature — what could he possibly lack?'
Cheng Shi smiled faintly, entirely unfazed by the pressure. He took several more steps forward and struck at the heart of what Berios was thinking.
"That which exists has reason to exist. If the so-called false god you speak of has never been hunted down by the true gods, then surely there are still places in this world that need such gods. Wouldn't you agree?"
"You can call your own Benefactor a false god without blinking. You're truly a faith-parasite."
"Correct. The Head of Church has a keen eye. I'm no devout man. I follow Him for nothing more than power. And if I may speak candidly — even here in Dolgod, counting the Theocracy of Growth itself, the number of truly devout followers can probably be counted on one hand.
Even you, Head of Church...
are you truly as devout as the people believe?"
For Berios, Cheng Shi's words were the gravest of insults. And yet this Head of Church said not a single word in response.
He studied the pair with a dark expression, then turned his back to them. His gaze swept over the believers and laborers milling about below the tower, lingering for a long ti before he spoke again:
"Turadin was seduced by you people into breaking the seal on the Uma Sinners' Descent Technique in the library, wasn't he?"
Cheng Shi raised an eyebrow at this, uncertain of the old man's true feelings toward his son. But his mind raced, and in a flash of inspiration, he tossed the bla elsewhere.
"Actually, no. After last night's investigation, we discovered it was soone in your Church nad Lis Field who orchestrated the whole thing.
Last night's thunderstorm was rely us eliminating a traitor. Where there are people, there is betrayal — even we who follow a false god have traitors to deal with.
The disturbance was simply a bit louder than intended, and unfortunately, others used the chaos to make their own moves.
We've co today, firstly to clear up the misunderstanding, and secondly to deepen our cooperation with you — with the Theocracy of Growth.
Of course, if yesterday's events caused trouble for Dolgod, we're prepared to offer appropriate compensation.
Head of Church, please believe
— we have the ans to back that up."
"Oh? And what about the fire at the Inquisition?"
"I can guarantee — that had absolutely nothing to do with us."
Berios turned around. His hawk-sharp gaze fixed on Cheng Shi for a long mont. Then he let out a cold snort and struck the floor with his staff. A resonant thud echoed through the room — and imdiately, the curtain beside the bookcase was drawn aside, revealing a hooded, masked Church mber who stepped out from behind it.
Cheng Shi's eyes narrowed. The spot this person had erged from was the exact sa corner where he and Turadin had hidden before.
But this person...
"An expert — I didn't even sense his presence!" Scorpio stepped forward, curved blade in hand, face taut with vigilance.
The large man walked up to Berios, slowly pulled back his hood, and removed his mask. The instant Cheng Shi saw the full red beard covering the man's face, he froze.
Because he rembered — just before departing this morning, Turadin had told him that Lis Field was a burly man with a thick red beard, conspicuously distinctive within the Church and impossible to miss.
?
So the person before him was... Lis Field?
He was Berios's man?
The Church's only two opposing factions — standing on the sa side all along.
Cheng Shi blinked, took only a mont to process, and imdiately understood everything before him. He looked at the pair and couldn't help but clap in admiration.
"Impressive. I'd assud you two were knowingly playing rivals in so calculated drama. I never imagined it was actually a joint performance — each of you embedded in the other's camp.
Head of Church, you truly live up to your title. I am in awe!"
...
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