Klein, do you worship an evil god?

"Mr. Neil, please explain what these are." A Mandated Punisher pointed at the sheets of parchment covered in strange runes on Old Neil's desk, then at the glass bottles filled with dark red liquid in the cabinet.

"Old Neil..." Frye had mixed feelings as he looked at the evidence. He wanted to say something in Old Neil's defense, but he did not know where to begin.

"This must be the core of the ritual, right?" Another Mandated Punisher brought an exquisite urn out of the room.

"No! Give her back to me!"

Old Neil lunged at him like a madman and snatched the urn from his hands.

Then he clutched it tightly to his chest and collapsed onto the floor.

The chance to see her again was right there, and yet...

Everything had happened too quickly. He broke down.

"Please, let me go."

"I've always upheld the Mystery Pryers' maxim. I've never hurt anyone."

"The blood in those bottles is all my own."

"The ritual was so close to being ready. It really was."

He gave a sob.

"I miss her so much. I just want to see her one more time."

"Just once."

At the sight, everyone present lowered their heads and fell silent.

Some time later, Klein, Leonard, Seeka, and the others rushed over after hearing the news.

"Frye, how is Old Neil?"

Klein looked at the acting captain, his expression anxious.

Frye did not answer. He merely shook his head slightly.

When they saw Old Neil kneeling on the floor with the urn in his arms, they froze as well.

"This... must be a misunderstanding, right?"

"Doesn't Old Neil always like tinkering with strange rituals?"

"Maybe this is just an accident."

Frye looked at Klein's worried face beside him, torn. The captain of the Mandated Punishers had just told him something else, but seeing Klein like this, he could not bring himself to say it.

There had already been one tragedy. He did not want another.

Without a word, the Nighthawks gathered around Old Neil, shielding him from the Mandated Punishers.

Looking at his teammates around him, Old Neil stopped sobbing and spoke, sounding both broken and ashamed.

"They're right. I... I really was planning to..."

He did not continue, but Klein and the others understood what he meant.

Seeing Old Neil admit it, the Mandated Punishers began closing in.

Leonard and Frye were the first to step into their path.

Klein stayed beside Old Neil to protect him, almost pressed against him.

Seeka and Royale moved closer as well.

The air was thick with tension.

Acting Captain Frye stepped forward.

"He's one of ours. We'll handle this ourselves."

Whether out of loyalty or principle, he could not hand a teammate over to the Mandated Punishers.

"As for the other matter..." He turned his head slightly, glancing at Klein out of the corner of his eye, then continued.

"We'll investigate that thoroughly as well."

Perhaps the sight of the Nighthawks protecting their teammate had moved them.

Or perhaps dealing with members of another Church's team really was against protocol.

The Mandated Punishers, notorious for their tempers, actually backed down.

In fact, if a letter of accusation had not happened to reach a police station within their jurisdiction, they would not have interfered at all.

Normally, when encountering something like this, they should have notified the Nighthawks first and allowed them to conduct an internal investigation. Their actions today had overstepped their authority.

The captain of the Mandated Punishers reined in his temper and looked at Frye.

"I hope so!"

Then he turned to his teammates.

"We're withdrawing."

In the underground cells of the Blackthorn Security Company.

Old Neil sat behind the bars, his jaw clenched as tears trickled through the furrows left by time.

Leonard Mitchell leaned against the back of his chair with his legs together, sitting properly for once. His eyes were vacant, betraying no emotion.

Klein had his back to everyone, unwilling to let them see his expression.

Seeka was silent as well.

Royale was still on her way back.

Apart from the civilian staff still waiting for news and Kenley, who was bedridden with his injuries, almost every full member had come.

"That's what happened. I heard the Hidden Sage's murmurs..." Behind the bars, Old Neil gave a full account of what he had experienced over the past few days.

He had learned of a resurrection ritual from the Hidden Sage's murmurs. Longing for his late fiancée, he had set aside his duties as a Nighthawk and attempted the dangerous ritual.

"But I really didn't hurt anyone..."

"The Hidden Sage?" Klein raised his head slightly. The name had caught his interest.

Old Neil seemed to still be repenting.

"I know that, as a Nighthawk, doing something like this..."

After a few seconds, he lowered his head and said in a low voice.

"I'm willing to accept any punishment."

"I never imagined so much would happen so soon after the captain left." Frye clenched his fists. Too much had happened over the past two days, leaving him with a profound sense of helplessness.

The basement door opened, and Royale walked in.

She had been assigned to stay at Old Neil's house and catalog the materials on black magic. It seemed she had finished her task.

She nodded at them in greeting. Clearly, the situation had left her at a loss for words as well.

As their current pillar of support, Acting Captain Frye stood up. He let out a soft sigh, then looked at his dispirited teammates, gritted his teeth, and spoke.

"The Mandated Punishers already know about this. We can't hide it, nor should we."

"I'll write up Old Neil's experiences in a report and send it to our superiors exactly as they happened."

After a moment of silence, Frye continued.

"There's no need to be so anxious."

"Old Neil hadn't acted yet. His ritual was still in the preparation stage."

"He hasn't completely lost control, either."

"He only did this because he was influenced by that evil god called the Hidden Sage."

He looked back at Old Neil, the oldest of the Nighthawks, with a trace of sorrow in his eyes.

"I believe Old Neil's faith in the Goddess remains

steadfast."

"And I believe the Holy Cathedral will deliver a fair judgment."

He forced a smile and looked at his teammates.

"So rest assured, everyone.

Old Neil will be all right."

"Go back to your posts for now. We can't neglect our work as Nighthawks."

No one said anything, tacitly agreeing. There really was no better option at the moment.

"Klein, Leonard, stay behind for a moment."

As everyone began to disperse, Frye asked Klein and Leonard to stay.

Without explaining, he led them into another interrogation room.

He first approached Leonard and whispered something in his ear.

As Leonard listened, his eyes widened slightly, filling with disbelief.

"What's wrong?" Left standing to one side, Klein noticed something was off about the atmosphere and suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Actually... besides the accusation against Old Neil, there was another one."

"Klein, you..." Frye hesitated. He did not want to lose another teammate.

Leonard stepped forward and asked in his stead.

"Klein, do you... worship an evil god?"

"Huh?"