Chapter 171 Heading to the Promised Land
"Who killed Crane?"
Without hesitation, Angel asked the first question.
Of course, he also killed me, but I am alive now, so does he really kill me?
Such a strange question popped up in her mind, and she fell into a circular argument, but was immediately brought back to reality by Arianna's soft and quiet answer.
"His name is Ince Zangwill. You should have seen him on the church's internal wanted poster."
Ince Zangwill...
Angel recalled in her mind, and with the clue of the name, she quickly found the wanted poster deep in her memory.
"Ince Zangwill, forty years old, a 'Gatekeeper' who failed to advance to a High Sequence. He was seduced by the devil and fell into evil. He absconded with Sealed Artifact 0-08 three years ago."
He has short dark blond hair, deep blue pupils, a high nose bridge, and most importantly, he is blind in one eye.
Comparing that person's expressionless face with the one she saw before her death, she was sure that the man was the defector wanted by the church.
"But why did he want to kill us? Was it to let the evil god descend and make the Aurora Society's conspiracy come true?"
She asked eagerly, and Arianna smiled slightly but didn't answer immediately.
The surrounding lights suddenly dimmed, and the surrounding stone walls and the wooden table in front of him disappeared from Angel's sight, leaving only Arianna, who was dressed simply.
Then the latter opened his mouth to answer.
"Our communication with it is limited to this place. Once you step out of this room, the more detailed your understanding of it, the easier it will be to be sensed by it and to be written into the story it weaves."
"it?"
Angel asked back in confusion, his mind suddenly recalling the description on the wanted poster.
"You mean the stolen Sealed Artifact, '0-08'?"
In the internal church documents she had access to, this sealed artifact had only a number, no other description. The only thing she knew from the number was that it was a "Level 0 Sealed Artifact," extremely dangerous, forbidden to be inquired about, passed on, described, or spied on. It could only be sealed underground in the "Holy Hall," the headquarters of her Church of Evernight.
"Yes, it's an ordinary-looking quill. Once it writes on paper, any story becomes reality. Zangwill used this stolen seal to plan everything that happened in Tingen City, allowing coincidences to gradually piece together the story he needed."
"coincide……"
Angel was struck by lightning. At that moment, she remembered the countless coincidences she had encountered, Mr. Azik's reminder to her, and the "red chimney" that Klein had divined.
Could it be that the efforts he made to join the Nighthawks, get to know his colleagues, integrate into this new world, and all the emotions he interacted with were all "stories" manipulated by Zangwill and "0-08" behind the scenes?
I feel like a ridiculous hamster, struggling to crawl in a transparent tube. What I thought were free choices were actually all set paths?
At this moment, she shuddered and felt her hands and feet become stiff, like a puppet being pulled by strings.
"You don't have to worry too much. From what I know, everything Zangwill and '0-08' planned wasn't aimed at you, but at Dunn Smith."
As if seeing the thoughts surging in Angel's heart, the abbot of the Night Monastery showed a comforting expression on his ordinary face, and reached out to press her right hand that was placed on the table.
Only then did she realize that her hands were shaking constantly.
Under Arianna's cold, yet soothing touch, Angel calmed down a bit and began to analyze what he had just heard.
"Captain Dunn? But why him?"
She asked hesitantly.
This should involve a higher level of confidentiality within the church. She had been prepared for the other party to refuse to answer, but unexpectedly, Arianna spoke without hesitation:
"This involves certain secret knowledge. Although you are..." she stopped talking midway with a faint smile, "...you also need to swear an oath not to reveal this to others who are unaware of it."
After swearing an oath in the name of the goddess in front of the goddess' servants, Angel learned the truth that Dunn Smith had been arranged by Zangwill using "0-08".
"Ince Zangwill survived after failing to ascend to Sequence 4 'Undead' on the Corpse Collector Path. However, due to safety concerns, the Church did not allow him to ascend again. This led to him harboring resentment towards the Church, and he eventually defected from the Church, carrying Sealed Artifact '0-08'."
"When advancing from a mid-sequence to a high-sequence, that is, from Sequence 5 to Sequence 4, certain pathways can be swapped with the corresponding sequence of another pathway. Unfortunately, Zangwill knew this."
"He used '0-08' to create a series of coincidences within Tingen City, putting Dunn Smith in a critical crisis that could lead to Tingen's destruction. His goal was to have him retrieve the saint's relic, Saint Selina's ashes, from the Chanis Gate beneath Saint Selina's Church, to counter the impending arrival of the evil god's offspring."
"I believe that after obtaining the saint's ashes containing Sequence 4 Beyonder characteristics, Zangwill will immediately use them to create a potion and transform to Sequence 4 of the 'Sleepless' pathway."
As Arianna described, Angel's eyes gradually opened wide. Only then did she realize that in this seemingly coincidental series of events, there was actually a law of "path interchange" hidden. A Beyonder who pursued High-Sequence Power, and what allowed him to accomplish all this was a Level 0 Seal that could turn stories into reality.
After a long while, she digested all this information, took a deep breath, looked at the room that had become bright again, and asked:
"Ince Zangwill should have killed me then, but why am I still here?"
Apart from the identity of the mastermind hidden behind the scenes, this is what she cares about most.
"I'm sorry, I don't know anything about this either." Arianna smiled apologetically.
"ah?"
Angel cried out in surprise. She had originally thought that her life depended on the help of this High-Sequence Beyonder—she could tell from Crested's attitude towards her—but she hadn't expected him to give her such an answer.
"After the Holy Temple received the telegram from Tingen City, I immediately rushed there, but I was still a step too late. The True Creator's attempt to descend failed, and there were heavy casualties on the scene."
Arianna said slowly, the smile on her face faded, and there was a strange color in her eyes.
"But strangely, your fatal wound healed quickly, and even the dagger that was stuck in your heart was expelled from your body." She pointed at the bloody dagger on the table. "To protect you, I brought you back here and used some means to hide it from your teammates and the people at the funeral."
funeral?
Angel was stunned.
"So, I, I'm already buried?"
"That's right. You will be buried next to Mr. Klein Moretti. This was the suggestion of your teammates. Since his family was unable to arrive, the church respected their opinion."
"By the way, your pension, approximately 8,000 pounds, will be given to your only registered dependant, Ms. Lily Granger."
Angel didn't have much affection for this "cousin" whom she had never actually met, but the memories of living together with Cole that she inherited from him made her still have some concern for Lily Granger who was studying in Backlund.
8,000 pounds... This should allow her to live comfortably.
Even Ms. Arianna didn't know the reason why he was resurrected. Could it be because of some changes brought about by time travel?
Angel didn't dare to say this thought out loud. She sighed and decided not to think about this unanswerable question for the time being. Instead, she asked:
"Where is Ince Zangwill now?"
No matter why I came back to life, my ultimate goal remains the same...
Just revenge.
"This is the task I'm going to give you." Arianna left the heavy topic and regained her amiable smile. "Ince Zangwill has already gone to Backlund, but the Level 0 Seal in his possession will render any overt pursuit futile, so..."
——————
Woo——
The whistle sounded, and more than twenty steam train carriages slowly entered Tingen Station, dragged by a locomotive that was like a steel behemoth.
Klein, carrying a huge suitcase that was not in proportion to his thin body, squeezed into the second-class carriage with his half-tall silk hat pressed against the crowd.
It is not as crowded as the third-class carriage, but the conditions are far inferior to the luxurious first-class carriage. Looking around, the carriage is full of well-dressed ladies and gentlemen. They either lower their heads to read newspapers or close their eyes to rest, and they don't care about the passengers getting on and off.
After finding his seat, Klein was surprised to discover that a middle-aged woman was sitting there.
"Hello, this should be my seat."
Considering that the other party might have made a mistake accidentally, Klein decided to have a friendly exchange first.
A few seconds later, with an embarrassed look on his face, he lowered his hat to hide his expression, and left the place amid the laughter and curious gazes of the crowd, heading for another adjacent carriage.
When he got on the train, he kept thinking about Melissa and Benson whom he had met in the morning, and about No. 6 Daffodil Street, which was not far from his home and was already empty. He actually got his carriage by mistake and made a fool of himself.
Ugh, I feel like a clown now...
He even wanted to paint his face like he did in the morning, make an exaggerated face at the passengers looking at him and then leave, but the last bit of shame in his heart stopped him.
…
Ignoring the brief noise and laughter around him, Angel hid in the corner of the carriage, wearing a hood, looking out the window at Tingen City.
If the steam train line had not passed through Tingen, she would not have wanted to return to this sad place at all.
Once he dealt with Ince Zangwill, he might return here and apologize to Melissa, Benson, and Klein...
Squinting her sore eyes, she looked away and looked at the citrine pendant wrapped around her right wrist, as well as the emblem of the goddess of night tied to the pendant.
This was given to her by Ms. Arianna before she left.
She was also given the "magic pocket watch", her own wand, the amulet given to her by Klein, as well as a new dagger and revolver.
Aside from the "Thirst Blood" that was damaged in order to unleash the full power of the "Shattered Light Ray," he was now fully armed...
She rolled down her sleeves to cover her wrists, took out her ticket and handed it to the ticket inspector who came forward.
Printed on the ticket was her destination: the capital of all cities, the land of hope—Backlund.
Thank you all for your support over the past two months. This is the end of this book...
Please tune in to watch Volume 2 at 7pm.
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