Red Angel at Sea

After fussing around for quite a while, Luther finally finished the work at hand for the time being. Rather than resting inside Samuel Church, he found an excuse to return home.

Only after confirming that it was safe did he sink into a soft, high-end sofa and let out a long breath.

What a long night...

In one night, he had fought three battles, defeated a Sequence 4, captured a Sequence 3 alive, and been forcibly promoted from senior deacon to diocesan head... Although the official appointment had yet to come through, Arianna had personally spoken, so it was probably a done deal.

And after the fighting, he still had to shoulder the responsibility, put on his second identity, do the Church's dirty work, and handle the aftermath for himself...

Besides that, his only spoils were that bronze-rusted cross.

Swish!

At that thought, Luther immediately sat up from the sofa. That cross seemed to conceal many secrets. He needed to study it carefully...

Although he was already quite mentally exhausted, he still forced himself to hold on, imagining a tide overflowing and drowning him, thereby ascending onto that illusory, profound sea.

Splash!

The illusory, viscous black tide slowly surged. Rising above it was a white tower. Its body contained many recessed spaces, and within one of them lay the cross covered in bronze rust.

Many glowing motes of prayer floated up and down around the cross.

"Don't touch my believers."

Luther waved a hand, sweeping those motes aside.

He stared solemnly at the cross.

The last time he had seen it, many illusions had surfaced in his mind. The circumstances had been urgent then, so he had not thought much of them. Now, he could properly analyze them.

The illusions roughly consisted of two parts. In the first, the cross's