"Would you like to pray to the goddess?"

To be honest, at this moment, Duncan's instinctive reaction was that there was something wrong with the storm goddess Gemona - this god who was supposed to protect mankind had another sinister side, which led to the terrifying shadow hidden deep in the city-state, and the distorted appearance of the statue that was accidentally revealed was the evidence.

But the next second, he had another suspicion: If there really was something wrong with the storm goddess Gemona, then why were all other churches in the city normal?

It's not that he hasn't seen other deep-sea churches before - there is a community church near the antique shop, and there was also a church next to the original ocean museum. Even if he didn't go in to investigate carefully, he had wandered around nearby, and the aura released by those churches... was obviously different from the strange church in front of him.

He had also come into contact with other clergy, including the most basic priests and guardians, as well as inquisitors like Vanna who were at the top of the city-state. These people who served the Goddess of Storms day and night were all normal, and even more determined and clear-minded than most people.

He ignored the nun and looked up at the icon.

After the stunning glimpse just now, the strange crack on the statue's head never appeared again. Even in the other image superimposed in the church, the statue was only blackened by smoke, as if the crack had sensed something and hid itself on its own initiative.

Duncan frowned.

The weirdness of this church is obviously a special case. So if the problem is not with the Storm Goddess... the scene I just saw could perhaps be explained as some kind of force using this church as a node to try to erode reality.

But what exactly is that?

The shape of the crack didn't seem to have anything to do with the Sun God, and it didn't remind people of the fragments of the sun at all. If he had to say... the dim light and shadow surging in the crack reminded him of the chaos outside the bottom of the Lost Homeland.

"Would you like to pray to the goddess?"

The nun's voice came again. She was neither impatient nor urging. It was as if some key words were triggered. She began to repeat the question over and over again when Duncan and Shirley stood next to the statue.

Shirley seemed a little overwhelmed. She instinctively looked at Duncan, who finally responded at this moment. He looked at the nun calmly: "Are you praying to your goddess?"

This should be a question without any doubt, and any normal believer would give a clear affirmative answer at this time. However, the nun's reaction made Shirley open her eyes wide.

"I... don't know," the nun shook her head calmly, as if she didn't think there was anything wrong with her response. "I'm just praying. He told me to pray here."

Duncan immediately frowned: "Who is 'he'?"

"Great existence." The nun smiled.

Shirley felt a chill in the nun's gentle smile.

"I don't pray to any god," Duncan said calmly. He calmly pulled Shirley back half a step and left the prayer platform, "including the goddess you mentioned."

"Oh, that's a pity." The nun sighed softly, lowered her head again, and ignored Duncan and Shirley.

Duncan stared at the squirming human-shaped ash for a few seconds, confirmed that the ash was no longer paying attention to him, and then turned and walked away.

The chapel was limited in size and there was almost no area that could be hidden. Apart from the main hall where the holy images were enshrined, there were only a few rooms connected to the main hall and a basement.

Duncan first took Shirley to check several surrounding rooms, but did not find anything worthy of attention. Finally, they found the stairs leading to the basement at the end of a corridor outside the main hall.

"Are we really going down?" Shirley was obviously a little uneasy when she saw the dark stairs in front of her. She subconsciously turned her head to look in the direction of the main hall. "Will that weird nun suddenly come to kill us?"

"That 'nun' is obviously trapped in the main hall and can't leave the statue too far away," Duncan shook his head. "But if she really comes to kill us... we have no choice but to take action. After all, with that posture... it's hard to say that she is still a living human being."

Shirley swallowed her saliva. She was usually very brave, but no matter how brave she was, this was her first time to cause trouble in the Deep Sea Church. The nervousness and awe that had accumulated over the years made her heart pound.

But she knew that she'd better not refuse - compared to a nun who had transformed from a mortal and a shadow from the warp, she had some idea which one was more dangerous.

At this time, Duncan suddenly said something, which made Shirley's determination, which she had finally made, shaken up again: "By the way, summon Agou."

Shirley's eyes widened instantly: "Ah?! Summoning Agou? In the church of the Goddess of Storm?!"

"I'm afraid this is no longer the church of the Goddess of Storms," ​​Duncan shook his head. "It's hard to say what has the upper hand here now. Don't worry, just summon Ah Gou. Look, even I'm standing in this 'church'. How could a Deep Demon be more out of place than me?"

Shirley thought about it and felt that what he said made sense. Of course, she didn't dare to disagree even if it didn't make sense, so she had to raise her arm obediently and summon Agou to the real world.

Pitch-black flames and swirling smoke rose up, and the huge Deep Hound appeared in front of Duncan in an instant.

As soon as the summoning process was over, Agou skillfully knelt down at Duncan's feet, and began to swing his skeletal tail like a five-speed electric fan: "Salute to you, the great Duncan..."

"Okay, you don't have to do this every time," Duncan interrupted the other party before he could finish. He was already annoyed enough by having a noisy goat head, and he really didn't want to have another dog with a similar style around him. "You should have sensed that something is wrong with this church. Now come and see for yourself - next, I may need your 'eyesight'."

Agou climbed up from the ground nimbly, turned his head to look at the corridors around him and the stairs leading to the basement at the end of the corridor. A faint light flickered in his empty scarlet eyes.

"It's really a weird place..." The Deep Hound said in a hoarse and low voice, "It makes me dizzy just looking at it..."

It paused, as if making further judgments, and then turned its head slightly to Duncan and said, "It's somewhat similar to the situation in the abandoned factory before, but it's more distorted than there. This distortion may have approached the threshold that the real world can withstand... Yes, it seems that we have really found a key 'point' on this layer of curtain."

"Has the distortion approached the threshold of the real world... No wonder I can observe it directly," Duncan nodded in understanding, his eyes falling on the stairs in front of him, "The entire church has been checked, and the only thing left... should be this basement. According to the structure of most deep-sea churches, the area in front should be the 'underground sanctuary'."

"I'm getting excited," Agou shook his ugly head, and the chain around his neck rattled. "This is the first time in my life that I've openly entered the forbidden area of ​​the Deep Sea Church... I haven't seen what it looks like down there yet!"

Shirley immediately gave Agou a strange look and said, "Can you please stop acting like a pervert who's about to break into the ladies' room?"

Agou: “…”

Duncan ignored the two bastards. He had already walked past Agou, walked down the stairs, and came to the gate leading to the underground temple.

As a small community church, the so-called "underground sanctuary" here is just a spacious basement. The door leading to the underground sanctuary is a blessed oak door reinforced with a steel frame and sacred runes.

Duncan placed his hand on the door and pushed it slightly, only to find that it was not locked. However, when he continued to push, he felt some resistance, as if something was pressing against it, preventing the door from opening.

"There's something on the other side of the door." Duncan stepped back slightly and observed the dark oak door in front of him.

For some reason, when he arrived at the entrance of the underground temple, the strange "superimposed" scene disappeared, and all he saw before his eyes was this door.

It seems that the "two branches" superimposed in the church have finally intersected here, leaving only one "reality".

"How about we break the door down?" Shirley followed from behind. She had already picked up the chain in her hand, and her face showed an eager expression. Agou beside her was also ready - specifically, he held his head with his paws and curled himself into the shape of a meteor hammer.

"...it might destroy the clues," Duncan stopped the dog-whirling girl who was about to use her traditional skills. He placed a hand on the door covered with runes. A small flame ignited between his fingers and quickly moved along the lines and grooves on the door. "In theory, this door should be an extraordinary item, so..."

The next second, the once blessed gate of the temple turned into firewood for the spiritual fire. Burning rapidly with the dim green flames, the gate loyally carried out the orders of its "master".

It burned itself out.

As the door turned to ashes, the thing that was leaning against the door on the opposite side appeared in front of Duncan and others, and fell to the ground with a thump.

It was a nun in a black robe - covered in scars, but still holding a sword in her hand. Even in death, she was still glaring at something in the darkness.

Shirley saw the other person's face clearly, and a chill rose from the bottom of her heart.

"Is it... the nun we just met?!"