The bright starlight was speaking to her and moving towards her - He was sitting on the sofa before, but when He took a step towards her, Agatha felt as if she was looking at a giant that was difficult to describe in words. For a brief moment, she even lost the ability to judge size and proportion. Her confused perception made her unable to understand the size of the house, and the giant formed by the starlight... almost suffocated her soul.

But this was only a brief illusion. The next moment, Agatha woke up from her shock. She realized that her reasoning was not affected by any existence in the room, as if... she had naturally integrated into this place.

“I…” She calmed herself down and stared at the giant made of starlight in front of her. She knew that she was continuously staring at the “reality” of this indescribable being. Under normal circumstances, this behavior was no different from suicide. But after confirming that she was no longer affected by it, she became bolder. “I didn’t expect you to still be here. I just came here to try my luck…”

"Where do you think I'm going? Just walk away when there's a mess here? Like the protagonists in picture books who complete their tasks?" Duncan laughed and said as he turned his body to signal Agatha to come in. Then he paused, glanced at Alice next to him calmly, and added, "I mean those picture books with normal content."

Agatha was a little dazed. She felt as if she could not keep up with the thinking of this great being, but she quickly convinced herself that "it is normal for mortals to not understand the ideas of the ancient gods" and walked towards the house.

Duncan suddenly stopped and looked at Agatha's hand.

"...Can you put Shirley down first?" He said in a strange tone, "Shirley, you too - why do you seem to be enjoying it?"

"Oh, sorry!" Agatha suddenly reacted and quickly put the thin girl in her hand to the ground, but the moment she put her down, her expression suddenly changed.

The situation was chaotic at the door just now, and she didn't pay attention to Shirley. It was only now that she suddenly noticed the abnormality on the latter - the limbs mutated by the symbiosis of the Abyss Demon, the hidden chains extending from the body, and the Abyss Hound hiding in the shadows, furtively looking outside.

"Deep..." Agatha spoke subconsciously, and her muscles tensed up instantly.

But before she could do anything, Duncan's voice rang out from the side: "Relax, it's just a harmless hound. I also need a hound to help me find things occasionally."

"Harmless...hound?" Agatha asked with a strange expression, but her eyes subconsciously swept around.

Those figures came into view again - some looked like those chosen by God, some were blessed by the Warp, some seemed to be inhabited by the power of the sun, and some were empty shells of souls that could not even be seen through...

Her eyes fell on the girl named Shirley again.

The Deep Hound realized that it had been discovered and was squatting in the shadows with its neck shrunk, looking pitiful.

Agatha fell silent.

The ancient gods and their followers gathered here - indeed, any deep demon here could be considered harmless.

"Don't worry, Shirley is not a member of the Annihilation Cult." Duncan patiently explained when he saw Agatha fall silent, "She met Agou for other reasons, and they are now following my orders and will not harm the city-state."

As he spoke, he pointed to a chair not far away and said, "Sit down. You probably have a lot to say."

Agatha walked over slowly, and Duncan watched her movements - she found the position of the chair very accurately, but she was obviously hesitant and groping when she sat down.

"You seem to need some time to adapt to your current state," Duncan said, "Is that okay?"

This mysterious being seemed to be always so kind and peaceful, but Agatha moved her body uncomfortably: "...I am indeed not used to the way I perceive the world now, but there is no need to worry about this body. In fact, the changes that have taken place in me have many benefits. I can now see many things that I could not observe before, but...I need to adapt."

"I'm sorry," Duncan said seriously, "I didn't expect this to happen - in fact, you didn't have to resort to such extreme measures as self-sacrifice."

"But this is the most efficient way," Agatha shook her head slightly, "There is nothing better than a gatekeeper as a carrier of your powerful power."

Duncan didn't say anything else, and then he focused his attention on the other person's special outfit at the moment.

"You look very different from the last time we met," he said casually, "You look... more like a priest now than before."

"I am temporarily taking over the duties of the Archbishop," Agatha nodded gently. "Bishop Ivan is gone, and now the battle in the city is over. Rather than a fully armed gatekeeper, someone is needed here to lead the church to comfort the souls of the dead and the minds of the living."

“Bishop Ivan…” Duncan’s tone was somewhat serious. After a brief silence, he sighed softly, “I have never met him, but at that time, I sensed the protection that descended upon the city-state… Although it was short-lived, his efforts did weaken the connection between the mirror and reality for a short period of time. Without him, many more people would have died.”

"May he rest in peace in Bartok's kingdom," Agatha said softly. "He... has held on for many years, and now he can finally rest for a long time."

"He will - although I don't know what Bartok's domain is, as a righteous god, I believe he will treat those noble souls fairly," Duncan said casually, and then changed the subject, "Now, tell me about the situation in the city-state."

Agatha nodded slightly.

She knew that as the gatekeeper of the Church of Death and one of the only people left in the city-state who could take charge of the situation, she should not reveal Han Shuang's current predicament to anyone, nor should she establish more communication with the unknown existence that was suspected to be an ancient god. But after witnessing the huge figure standing outside the city-state and performing that "self-sacrifice", she knew that both Han Shuang and herself had inevitably established an inseparable connection with this mysterious existence.

Now that this being is obviously still interested in continuing to pay attention to this dilapidated city-state, she has no way to avoid this matter.

If your choice today has committed a sin, then let the church and the Lord judge you.

"The current situation in Frost is... very bad," she began in a low voice. "As you know, we just lost Archbishop Ivan, and the priests and defenders of the church also suffered heavy losses in the process of defending the city-state. Now the city is filled with fear and tension, as well as various negative effects brought about by casualties. If these are not dealt with in time, then secondary disasters are likely to occur, and horror will grow from people's hearts. In the case of a shortage of manpower in the church, 'fear' itself will spread like a snowball in the city-state.

“In fact, the sunset in a few hours will most likely be the beginning of the test. In the previous mirror invasion, the frost had not been illuminated by the sun for a long time, which greatly weakened the city-state’s defense against supernatural powers. No one knows what will happen on the first night.

"On the other hand, the situation in the City Hall is actually worse than that in the Church. In addition to the losses suffered by the City Guards and the Sheriff's Force, the most serious problem is..."

Agatha was obviously a little hesitant when she said this, but after a few seconds of hesitation, she still told the situation - after all, it was impossible to hide the fact that the Archon was missing from anyone.

"The worst part is that the Archon is missing."

Duncan raised his eyebrows: "Missing?"

"He disappeared in the boiling gold mine, and I..." Agatha was a little stuck, as if she was organizing her words. After a few seconds, she continued with a complicated expression, "Another me once led a team to investigate the mine where the Archon disappeared. According to the report of the exploration team that returned to the cathedral, Archon Winston and I both entered an abnormal area blocked by a stone wall and did not return..."

Her tone was low and hesitant, and it was obvious that when she mentioned "another self", her mood was not as calm as she appeared.

Duncan could almost imagine how tangled, confused and contradictory the process was for Agatha when she returned to the cathedral and talked to other priests about the actions of her "other self" in the past few days.

He looked at Agatha calmly: "You can put it more bluntly - the Archon of Frost City is dead. You have already made this judgment, right?"

"Yes," Agatha finally stopped hesitating and said frankly, "Although there is no evidence, I do know that he is dead. He died in some strange and dark space. I guess even his body can't be found."

"You know," Duncan emphasized the word "know," and then adjusted his sitting position in his chair. "It seems that you will go to the Boiling Gold Mine again later."

"That... is where 'she' disappeared for the last time." Agatha nodded gently. "When she disappeared for the last time, I felt something that is hard to describe in words. I seemed to be able to sense her thoughts. I felt... she seemed to have a lot of things to tell me, but she didn't have time..."

Agatha paused, and continued, "Moreover...the members of the exploration team who returned from the mines also mentioned something to me. It was something that the 'other me' told them when I led the team to explore the mines. This made me even more uneasy..."