Assistance

Liao Ji was woken by a series of kicks against the door.

His eyes hadn't even opened when he felt the warmth of someone nestled in his arms. Once his vision cleared, he saw a petite nun curled up beside him like a cat. She wore only a thin undershirt on top, and nothing but a pair of white stockings below.

"Uh..."

Before Liao Ji could even react, the kicking at the door had already done its job. With a loud crash, the poor security door—already damaged once and propped shut by something Liao Ji had wedged against it—was kicked open a second time. Judging by the completely wrecked lock, it was probably beyond repair now.

Just as he'd expected, Irin stood in the doorway.

Because the girl had a Contract with Liao Ji, she could sense his location within a certain range, as long as he didn't deliberately block her.

Irin had slept through the night. By the time she opened her eyes, it was already six or seven in the morning. After hurriedly learning what had happened the night before from Brian, who had stayed up all night keeping watch with two dark circles under his eyes, the girl came straight to Liao Ji.

"Old fossil—"

Irin rushed inside, frantic with worry, but before she could even finish saying his name, the room's suggestive, intimate scene brought her to a halt.

By some unlucky coincidence, perhaps the noise Irin made had woken her too. The nun in Liao Ji's arms, Maria, stirred and slowly opened her eyes. Still groggy, she knelt beside the young man with her legs bent into an M, and found herself staring straight at Irin in the doorway.

"..."

Well.

Just as Liao Ji thought he was going to have to explain himself at length again,

the girl's next move caught him by surprise.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Irin didn't unleash the string of furious accusations he'd expected. Instead, she let out a long breath and seemed to relax.

"...?" Liao Ji was at a loss. He swallowed the words he'd been about to say.

Maria, sitting on the sofa, seemed to have finally woken up properly. When she realized she had "actually" slept in the young man's arms and had been caught in the act by the woman of the house, the nun hurriedly got up from beside Liao Ji and repeatedly shook her head at Irin, apologizing.

"I-I'm sorry! It wasn't like that. I was the one who made the first move last night. Ah, no! I mean, I asked him to take me home. We didn't do anything last night. No, we did do some things... some things..."

Liao Ji figured that if he let the panicked Maria keep talking, she'd make them look guilty even if they were innocent.

He waved at the nun, signaling that she shouldn't worry and that he'd handle things from here.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Mm."

"Good."

Liao Ji briefly explained what had happened after Irin had fallen asleep the night before, including Maria's background and the information about Nolan that he'd gotten from the nun through her "Divination."

Irin didn't interrupt once. She just listened quietly and attentively.

"That's about it. After the Divination, Maria probably passed out from overexertion, so we stayed at your place for the night. As for why she woke up sleeping beside me..."

Liao Ji glanced at the nun beside him, who looked on the verge of tears now that she realized she'd done something wrong.

Maria immediately bowed to him over and over again, apologizing.

"I'm sorry! I-I'm really, truly sorry! The storm was so bad last night. I'm afraid of thunder, so... so I couldn't help..."

But Liao Ji clearly wasn't satisfied with that explanation.

After all, his concern wasn't that Maria had come over to sleep beside him. It was that he hadn't noticed at all. That meant if Maria had gotten up in the middle of the night to do something other than "share his bed," he still wouldn't have known. He would have been completely unaware and defenseless.

That was strange.

The main reason Liao Ji had felt safe sleeping under the same roof as a stranger was the Contract. Since she was Corrupted, any unusual movement from her should have woken him immediately. That was part of the Contract's power.

But why—

why hadn't the Contract reacted last night, even when Maria had quietly approached him and climbed into bed beside him?

Was it simply because she hadn't meant him any harm?

Or was it...

Liao Ji studied Maria as she apologized, his brow slightly furrowed.

"Enough, Old Fossil. Stop making things difficult for her!" To his surprise, Irin stepped in.

Seeing Liao Ji staring at the nun, she took a quick step forward and shielded the slightly trembling Maria.

"You don't understand. We—we're the kind of people who grew up without parents, and we're naturally more afraid of thunder and strong winds. Whenever the weather turned bad, I..."

"Hmph! I used to sneak into my mom's bed too! So what?!"

With her hands on her hips, Irin looked like a tigress protecting her cub. Maybe she saw her younger self in the timid, fragile nun, or maybe it was because Maria had helped her get news about her mother.

Liao Ji was a little speechless. Going by the script, Irin wasn't supposed to get jealous and start competing, but surely she should have at least been angry with them. Especially when she first walked in: from her perspective, she'd entrusted her most important person—her mother—to him, only for him to turn around and sleep at home with a nun in his arms.

The girl seemed to read his thoughts and gave another huff.

Her explanation was simple. So simple that Liao Ji couldn't argue with it.

"Because I believe someone who's powerful enough to compare himself to that Great Emperor wouldn't break a promise so easily. If he promised to do something, he'll definitely follow through!"

The girl looked so proud as she said it that anyone who didn't know better would have thought she was talking about herself.

"So when I saw you sleeping soundly with a woman in your arms, I knew my mom was safe. At least for now. With your personality, Old Fossil, you wouldn't still be sleeping if she weren't, right?"

Whoa.

Did advancing to Danger Rank upgrade her brain too? How had she suddenly gotten so good at talking? Had someone swapped her out?

To test his theory, Liao Ji tried a simple experiment. "Then you're not jealous? Seeing me sleep with another woman?"

"W-what?! Y-you! What the — are you talking about?! Jealous of you? Not a chance! So what if you sleep with women?! I-I've slept with women too! Besides, we're — brothers! How many women you sleep with has nothing to do with me, Irin!"

Watching the furious girl babble incoherently and swear up a storm, Liao Ji felt reassured.

Okay, the results looked right.

Now he was sure no one had swapped her out. It was definitely her.

As the two of them went back and forth, neither Liao Ji nor Irin noticed the nun quietly watching them. Maria lowered her head slightly. There was no trace of timidity or fear on her face now. There was only...

a twisted, gloomy expression.

But soon, when Liao Ji changed the subject and brought the conversation back on track, the nun's expression instantly returned to normal.

"All right, Maria. You passed out last night, so I couldn't ask you then. Do you have any good ideas about what to do next? For instance, could you weaken the Corrupt Calamity there, like you said?"

"No, it doesn't have to be that complicated." Maria suddenly spoke up.

She shook her head, then looked at Liao Ji. Perhaps the young man and girl's behavior had made her change her plan. She spoke to them one word at a time.

"After resting last night, I... I feel much better. I think I can take us straight there."

"Tr-take us there?" Irin wondered if she'd heard wrong.

The answer she got was—

"Yes. My Divination ability isn't limited to seeing the future. It can also transport us directly to the coordinates I've divined—in other words, to the underground area where your mother is."

"W-what? That's incredible!"

Maria's face was completely serious. Irin's eyes widened, and she let out a delighted exclamation, as if she'd just hit the jackpot.

It felt like the protagonist of Saving Succubus being sent straight back to Demon City by a magic circle on the very first day.

Saving Succubus was a short film jointly produced by Demon City and the Mechanical Alliance. It told the inspiring story of a young Succubus who escaped a barren, juice-drained hell of androids and returned to Demon City.

Irin immediately looked at Liao Ji.

Even the girl seemed to think that this was a little...

Liao Ji asked, "Maria, I'm a special case. The Relics there might go berserk as soon as I arrive. Can you mask my presence?"

"I can, sir."

"Good. Then let's not waste any time. Miss Maria, please start the transport now."

Having gotten the answer he wanted from the nun and dismissed his last concern, Liao Ji nodded and asked her to begin. Irin immediately grew anxious.

She kept giving Liao Ji meaningful looks. Her instincts told her something was off. Everything was going a little too smoothly, a little too quickly. Were they really going to let the nun transport them just like that?

But Liao Ji gave the girl a reassuring look, telling her not to worry or overthink it.

And so,

after Maria made a few simple preparations for the ritual, Liao Ji and Irin stood on either side of the nun. A burst of holy light flashed, and all three of them vanished from the room.

At that same moment,

elsewhere,

at the Church,

in the Sacrament Library.

As the Holy Kingdom's only official institution, the Church was naturally also responsible for educating the public. Every church had a library. The three aboveground floors were open to all citizens of the Holy Kingdom for free, and anyone could enter and browse the books.

The two additional underground floors of the Sacrament Library housed the Archive Room. It wasn't open to ordinary people. Only members of the Church and specially invited guests were allowed in to read and research.

Early that morning, Dulin strode inside. Four knights wearing Holy Armor stood guard at the entrance to the library's underground floors.

The Holy Armor was the Knights Order's advanced equipment. It combined the mechanical exoskeletons of the Mechanical Alliance with the power of the Saintess. Once equipped, a well-trained member of the Knights Order gained a massive boost in ability.

The machinery provided immense strength, while the Saintess Cross at the center supplied power and holy light that greatly suppressed the Corrupt Calamity. A holy knight equipped with both could easily subdue a Common Rank Corrupted alone. There had also been numerous records of teams containing even Danger Rank Corrupted.

"Captain Dulin!" Seeing him, the four holy knights immediately grounded their weapons, stood at attention, and raised their mechanical arms in salute.

They assumed Dulin had come to enter the Archive Room, so they cleared the way. One of them prepared to register him, but Dulin waved them off and shook his head.

"You four will join us on patrol for the next week, starting today."

"What are you standing around for? Take off your Holy Armor."

The four holy knights finally recovered from their surprise and hurriedly protested. "B-but Captain Dulin, Father's orders were that the Archive Room must be guarded at all times—"

"You've all heard about what happened last night, haven't you? Kalleva's leader is dead, and the Black Cave Settlement is in complete chaos. The usual patrol force isn't enough. The Saintess's teachings tell us to protect the people, not to have you guard a damn Archive Room that nobody's visited in eight hundred years!"

"Y-yes, sir!"

Under Dulin's stern reprimand, the four holy knights were quickly persuaded. It was clear that he commanded great respect among the knights. Not one of them doubted him.

After removing their Holy Armor and handing it over to Dulin, they saluted again and hurried off toward the Knights Order, where they would join the patrol going out shortly.

And just like that, the entrance to the Archive Room fell silent. Dulin was alone.

The captain of the knights cast a cold, disgusted glance at the dim staircase leading underground. Then he drew a dagger he carried with him and skillfully pried out the Saintess Cross at the center of the Holy Armor, which powered it. After returning the armor to its place, he turned to leave, abandoning the Archive Room with its doors wide open and no one guarding it.

Even if more members of the Knights Order came to stand guard later, they wouldn't be able to use the most important part of the Holy Armor.

He'd kept his promise.

Now it was up to—

Dulin remembered the young man from the café the night before.

However,

before Dulin had taken more than a few steps, someone emerged from the shadows behind a pillar and blocked his way, as if they'd been waiting for him all along.

He wore a black robe, with a conspicuous cross hanging over his chest. His hands were clasped in front of him, holding a copy of the Holy Scripture.

A few rays of the early morning sun fell through the window onto the man, making his already peaceful face seem even more benevolent. He inspired a sense of closeness and trust, as if people would be willing to confess all their sins to him.

Indeed.

Only one person in the settlement could have such an air: the leader—the ruler—of the Black Cave Church, Father Gelong.

"Captain Dulin, the people of Black Cave are fortunate to have a knight like you."

The priest applauded, wearing a kindly smile.

He walked toward Dulin, who stood frozen in place.

"You deliberately left out the clues about the person who killed Falmu last night and the mastermind behind the factory's destruction in your report. Now you've suddenly reassigned the guards I placed at the entrance to the Archive Room. And even..."

Gelong circled behind Dulin and took back the four power-generating Saintess Crosses Dulin had just pried out of the Holy Armor.

The priest shook his head.

"Dulin, I'm deeply disappointed in you. I thought you could become one of us, but it seems..."

"You haven't merely given up the opportunity to rise in rank. You've also abandoned your wife."

At the mention of his "wife," the veins in Dulin's forehead bulged. The knight, unable to hold back any longer, suddenly lunged at the priest in front of him.

Unfortunately—

the priest didn't even move. A tremendous rebound threw Dulin backward.

The kindly old man was gone. In his place stood a priest with a twisted, wrinkled face, wrapped in a red mist of Corrupt Calamity.

He was Corrupted, and judging by the fluctuations of the Corrupt Calamity, he had already surpassed Common Rank and reached Danger Rank!

"Spit! You son of a —! One day, the true Church will wipe out filthy, despicable maggots like you!" Dulin struggled as the priest pinned him to the ground with one foot, cursing furiously.

Instead of getting angry, the priest seemed even more interested.

"Dulin, I used to think the same way you do. I was afraid the Church's superiors would come and discover my heretical actions, find out I was conducting forbidden experiments. But..."

"Yesterday, one of the Church's bigwigs really did come. And she came straight to me. She was a true bigwig, someone who could even outrank a bishop: a Light Bearer."

The priest's face filled with fervor and respect as he spoke. Then he crouched beside Dulin, who glared at him viciously, and whispered in a tone of mockery and scorn:

"But do you know what that Lady Light Bearer chose to do after learning everything about me?"

Even now, the priest still found it unbelievable. But that didn't stop him from stating the facts. With a brazen, arrogant air, Gelong spread his arms, as if the beautiful and flawless figure of the Light Bearer from the night before stood before him. He was enamored with her—perhaps even in love.

After all, only a Light Bearer as beautiful and wise as she was could understand him. Only she would—

"She chose to..."

"Help me!!