Sister Devlin had apparently been busy with something lately. Since the beginning of 1854, Shade had never encountered her whenever he visited Cassandra Auction House. Only after this meeting did he learn that Sister Devlin had left Middlesburg some time ago to assist Miss Aurora, who was in contact with the Earth-Shaking Worm Cult.
Old Woman Ilal had been unwilling to hand over the god-summoning ritual so easily, but she had eventually agreed that if Miss Aurora completed three tasks for her, the ritual's materials could be given to the Witch Council. Sister Devlin had gone to assist the witch in killing a giant devouring worm that lived deep underground, then burning it as firewood.
Now, only Old Woman Ilal's final task remained. It was expected that Miss Aurora would obtain the materials for the god-summoning ritual by the end of the month.
Though Sister Devlin had spoken of it lightly, Shade could still sense how dangerous the matter had been.
After waiting for the nun to finish, Shade first described the current situation in Randall River Valley, even mentioning the unknown demon. The nun wearing a silver eyepatch merely listened quietly.
The two were on the lowest level of the Sacrificial Ground. In the empty circular sacrificial site, tiers of steps extended upward around the central open space. More than half of the Sacrificial Ground was shrouded in darkness and shadow, with only the fire basin burning at the center offering a little light. The nun's sword, the Angel Level Relic Ashes, had been thrust diagonally into the center of the fire basin, left to be scorched and licked by those strange flames.
Once Shade had finished recounting recent events, Sister Devlin did not discuss who was most likely to be the Chosen One of the Earth. Instead, she