The next morning, dawn was just breaking.
A grim tension hung outside a church in the Lower City. Large numbers of Clerics stood guard at its entrance, and several surrounding streets had been sealed off early that morning.
Lin En wore a grave expression as he stared at the tightly shut doors. Behind him followed Mogans, Nero, and the other bishops he had brought under his control just yesterday.
When he first received the news,
his first reaction was to wonder whether he had misheard.
Because she was Ophiel, one of Shinsen Saya's Seven Divine Attendants, and the acknowledged strongest person in all of Clockwork City! Just yesterday, she had severed the arm of the Great Demon that dared invade reality with a single sword strike, all on her own. No one could doubt the strength she had displayed.
Yet only a single night had passed.
"Where is she?"
Lin En stopped before the church doors, his face expressionless and his gaze piercing.
The bishop who came out to greet him was already trembling, his face deathly pale and his body bent forward at almost seventy degrees. For him, these past two days had been a nightmare of upheaval. Yesterday, he had endured questioning that was practically a trial, and early this morning, something capable of shaking the entire Church had happened in the district under his administration.
At that moment, he almost wished he were dead.
"In... in the inner hall."
"This morning, an exorcism squad patrolling the nearby streets dis... discovered Her Highness Ophiel unconscious. I only received the news after I returned. I... I never imagined something... something like this would happen."
He was shaking so badly he could barely speak.
Lin En did not look at him. With Clockwork City's senior officials behind him, he pushed