Coastal City.
"Is this where you'll undergo that... ritual?"
Hoshino got out of the car. Having a potential mental patient behind the wheel had put her under quite a bit of pressure, but fortunately, Specter was a decent driver. The ride had been remarkably smooth—so smooth it could even make people drowsy. It was a stark contrast to her appearance.
Her driving skills were already on par with some Catastrophe Messengers.
"No. The chapel where they performed the so-called [ritual] on me was destroyed by my own hand long ago. That was why I had the chance to flee to Rhodes Island and ask them for help."
"Filthy and ugly. Though I hate using religious terminology, the words they use to describe others fit them perfectly."
"Especially that Aldrich..."
Hoshino caught that last sentence, and an odd feeling suddenly rose in her heart.
The ones who captured Specter probably weren't from the Church of the Deep, were they?
Hoshino had earned every achievement in Dark Souls III. She was no Souls scholar, but she knew the factions and characters well enough. Aldrich was the legendary Saint of the Deep. While drawing power from the Deep, he had also been deeply corrupted by it, until his entire body was made of sludge and corpse fragments...
Hoshino thought of what she had seen in the Lungmen sewers.
A massive ball of flesh piled together from corpse chunks and mud.
Maybe... it was just a coincidence?
Hoshino could not be sure at all. Naturally, she had no way to voice this suspicion, so she could only bury it in her heart and let it quietly ferment.
"This place seems pretty lively. There's none of that mysterious cult atmosphere at all."
"Because this is a secular city. And... it looks like they're holding a