In the eastern suburbs of Backlund, amid ruins reduced to broken walls, a group of Nighthawks in black windcoats appeared. They moved in teams of three, quickly searching through the rubble and soon gathering together.
"Your Grace, we found four corpses. The altar has been completely destroyed, seemingly caused by an internal explosion."
A Nighthawk captain reported.
The man he addressed as Archbishop was none other than Anthony Stevenson, the saint of the Backlund Diocese. After the Sealed Artifact "0-17" returned to the inside of Chanis Gate and was resealed, he led half of the Nighthawks to this place in search of traces of the Demoness Sect.
"Try divination to find clues, but remember not to perform spirit channeling. The wronged souls here have not yet dissipated."
He frowned as he looked up at the sky and gave the order, then led a team of Nighthawks to push open the inner doors of the ruins, continuing forward along the downward passageway.
Along the way, they discovered multiple rooms that had been inhabited recently. Some belonged to guards, while others belonged to detained prisoners. It was clear that people had been active in the underground ruins not long ago, and even the casings of the kerosene lamps were still warm. However, at this moment, whether those guards or the imprisoned innocents had all vanished without a trace.
It wasn't until they entered the innermost room that Anthony stopped in his tracks.
"This is the last place they stayed..."
After sweeping his deep gaze around the surroundings, the saint slowly spoke.
Suddenly, the oil lamps in the hands of several following Nighthawks lost their light, and the entire room plunged into pitch-black darkness.
Moments later, everything returned to normal. The walls surrounding the room disappeared as if they had evaporated, yet no