Remnants

Vana looked up at the woman in the black dress who was examining the mental state of some cultists. The latter noticed her gaze, looked up, and gave a slight nod in her direction.

The woman appeared to be only in her early twenties, yet she possessed a calm demeanor far more mature than her age. Her long black hair was tied up at the back of her head, and the pale blue crystal earrings dangling from her earlobes reflected the light from a nearby gas lamp as they swayed.

"...Heidi is here too... Was she sent by City Hall?" Vana asked the young guard beside her.

"No, Ms. Heidi happened to be nearby when the incident occurred. She heard about it and came straight over—Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing. Although Heidi is an employee of City Hall, she has long-standing cooperative relations with the Church. We can just file a report back at the station," Vana shook her head, quickly shifting her attention back to the matter at hand. She examined the cult priest who had died of madness and casually asked, "What else did those cultists who are still able to communicate say? What exactly happened at the time?"

"Their language was very jumbled. Two of them mentioned that the normal sacrifice ritual had already ended, but suddenly someone caught a fleeing sacrifice near the assembly grounds. So, the Emissary decided to offer this sacrifice to the Sun God..." the guard recalled as he spoke. "Those two cultists were standing far from the altar and couldn't see the specific scene on the platform clearly. They only said that the sacrifice died without dying after being pierced through the heart and instead shouted the Sun God's name, directly designating the Emissary as the sacrifice... As a result, the Emissary was sacrificed."

"...A person chosen as a sacrifice, who then shouted the name of an evil god on the spot, directly sacrificed the one presiding over the ritual?" Vana felt it was utterly absurd, as if she had heard a fairy tale. However, the words came from a strictly trained and reliable Church guard, so she had to take them seriously, which made her expression peculiar. "How could something so ridiculous happen? If this sort of thing is possible, then wouldn't many victims at cult sacrifice sites be able to counter-kill those heretic priests if they were just quick enough with their mouths?"

"You can say that again. Even the most incompetent priest holds an absolute dominant position when presiding over a ritual. How could a weak ordinary person simply cause the ritual to spiral out of control to such an extent with just a few words? Moreover, we have examined this priest, and he indeed bears traces of being eroded by a projection from the 'deep layer' of the world. This is a true 'baptized one,' and according to the cultists at the scene, he was holding a ritual dagger with a blessing at the time..."

The young guard shook his head as he spoke and then moved to another corpse nearby.

"But... please take a look at this. This is the 'sacrifice' who 'counter-killed' the priest."

Vana glanced at the guard before her gaze fell upon the corpse that had completely lost its life. The next second, her gaze sharpened.

It was a thin young man, so thin that his build was closer to that of a boy. The most notable anomaly about him was the empty, gaping hole in his chest.

"...He has already been sacrificed..."

"Yes, this is a sacrifice that has already been offered. Based on the traces at the scene and the cultists' testimonies, this 'sacrifice' likely lost his heart before being pushed onto the platform," the guard said with a serious tone. "So... the real situation at the time was that a walking corpse walked onto the platform in full view of everyone and killed the priest presiding over the ritual as a sacrifice."

"...A Necromancer's trick?" Vana murmured in thought. "No, the power of the Black Sun greatly restrains Necromancers. The ghouls they control wouldn't dare to walk so brazenly in front of the Black Sun's totem... Could it be a risen one controlled by an anomaly?"

"Have you checked the lighting in the vicinity?" she suddenly looked up at the guard beside her. "Within a five-hundred-meter radius, are there any completely lightless underground spaces?"

"We have checked. There are no lightless caverns—even the cultists know the danger of lightless caverns. They left torches and oil lamps in the caves where they discarded bodies. They were very cautious about this."

Vana remained silent for a moment, then bent down over the young man's corpse with a deep sense of doubt. She carefully examined this "sacrifice" who had sacrificed a supernatural being in full view and caused the ritual to completely spiral out of control. She reached out to turn over the stiff eyelids, trying to find any trace of heretical power left on him.

Suddenly, a faint glint flashed in the corner of her eye—she seemed to see the young man's corpse slightly open its eyes, and a faint green fire flickered within the empty eye sockets. A tiny spark shot onto the tip of her outstretched right index finger and then scattered with the wind.

Vana's eyes narrowed. She instantly drew the dagger from her waist with her left hand, unhesitatingly sliced off her right index finger, then turned the dagger around and nailed it into the corpse's forehead. The rune-engraved priest's dagger suddenly burst into raging flames, completely engulfing the corpse.

She completed all this in less than a second. The moment the corpse was engulfed in flames, she had already straightened up and retreated two steps. She then took the blessed holy oil from her waist, bit off the stopper, and poured the oil onto her bleeding right hand—the holy oil hissed and emitted a large cloud of white smoke upon contact with flesh and blood.

A piercing pain surged through her, but Vana's expression remained unchanged. She saw the guard who had been standing beside her quickly draw the steel sword from his waist, decapitate the burning "sacrifice" with a single strike, and then throw a mixture of seaweed extract and silver powder into the flames.

With continuous explosions and flames that shot up towards the ceiling, licking at the roof, the mutated corpse turned into ashes in the blink of an eye.

And these spectacular flames did not spread to any of the other corpses nearby.

The surrounding guards had already reacted. Half of them instantly drew their rune steel swords and surrounded Vana, while the other half drew their large-caliber revolvers and quickly formed a perimeter. The two priests present also drew revolvers hidden beneath their robes, blessed the muzzles with incense burners while chanting the name of the Goddess of Storms, Gemona, and continuously aimed their guns at the frantic cultists who were agitated by the change in their surroundings.

"Your Excellency, Inquisitor!" the young guard holding the steel sword said, approaching Vana. "Are you alright? Just now..."

"There is some kind of power lingering within that 'sacrifice,' and this power bypassed all the protections the Goddess bestowed upon me, even bypassing my psionic alert." Vana waved her hand, her gaze falling on her right hand—the Goddess's Blessing had taken effect. The index finger severed by the dagger was slowly regenerating, but even as she felt the intense pain gradually subside, she felt no sense of relief.

"Something is wrong. Not only was the 'Black Sun' here, but another powerful force may have visited this sacrifice ritual... and this force has not completely left. It has its own agenda," the Inquisitor quickly made a judgment. "Transfer all witnesses and evidence, take them to the church for strict custody. All subsequent examinations and interrogations will be conducted within the church. This scene must undergo thorough purification... Is there anyone else elsewhere?"

A guard nearby immediately replied, "Yes, we rescued a group of 'designated sacrifices' from another cave nearby earlier. They are currently being temporarily housed in the pipe room next door."

"Take them all to the church as well. Although they are victims, they must undergo a strict examination before they can go home," Vana said quickly, then seemed to suddenly remember something. "What about Ms. Heidi? Is she alright?"

"I'm here," a calm female voice sounded from nearby. The "psychiatrist" in the black dress, employed by City Hall, walked over unhurriedly and nodded at Vana. "Don't worry, I didn't react at all just now—so what happened?"

"...As many classic stories tell, the cultists provoked something more sinister than themselves," Vana glanced at the "psychiatrist." "I strongly suggest that you add an extra layer of protection when examining these cultists and when hypnotizing them... A power that shouldn't be here has appeared, and there is a residue."