The imposing Holy Wind Cathedral stood tall, and even in the darkness of night it gave off a sharp, storm-like aura that rushed straight at one's face.
Panatiya felt her scalp go numb, her face turning slightly pale, especially when she saw the archbishop inside the cathedral gates looking at her with a puzzled gaze.
Her heart seemed to miss a beat. She hurriedly lowered the carriage curtain, sat properly inside, and, as calmly as she could, told the coachman to turn around and head back.
Forget standing right at the cathedral gates, even the surrounding several hundred meters were forbidden territory for people like them, who were labeled heretics.
Without a surface identity that could stand up to scrutiny, no one would dare approach this place.
The only thing Panatiya felt fortunate about now was that the carriage hadn't rushed straight into the Holy Wind Cathedral earlier. Otherwise, there would have been no way for her to escape.
At this moment, she no longer cared about how she had ended up here.
Leave, leave immediately.
She absolutely could not let the archbishop of the Holy Wind Cathedral discover her!
Just as the carriage was about to move again, a young clergyman came over and stopped it.
"Respected lady, is there some difficulty troubling you, for you to visit so late at night?"
"Nothing. I was just passing by," Panatiya replied perfunctorily, pretending to be calm.
"Lady, there's no need to feel embarrassed. Seeking the protection of the gods is perfectly normal. The god is willing to accept all devout believers."
"I do not believe in the Storm."
"The god welcomes every lost lamb. Would you mind stepping down to have a brief chat?"
Panatiya was already annoyed by how troublesome this young clergyman was, but she quickly realized something was wrong.
The Storm Church usually acted in a simple and brutal manner, how could they possibly have this kind of patience?
Not good!
Damn it!
He's stalling for time!
Panatiya no longer cared about exposing her identity. She directly tore open a passage to the Spirit World, intending to leave by traversing it.
Boom!
The instant she entered the Spirit World, she was blasted back out by thunder that had been waiting for her!
The Beyonders of the Storm Church had long anticipated that she would escape this way, and had set up an ambush in the Spirit World in advance!
Damn it, since when did these storm believers become so cunning?!
Panatiya was both terrified and furious. She smashed through the carriage and fled toward a densely populated area in the distance.
All around her, rings of lightning suddenly formed, like a prison of thunder, isolating her from the real world!
Dark clouds gathered overhead, and even more terrifying lightning was about to descend!
Panatiya wanted to break through the blockade, but the raging storm blocked all her escape routes. Other than forcibly tearing open this lightning prison, there was no way out.
And brute force had never been what the Assassin pathway excelled at.
She could only gather layer upon layer of solid ice around her body to shield herself, blocking the surging lightning.
Just as she could no longer hold on and was about to kneel beneath the overwhelming might of the thunder, someone tore open the Spirit World, grabbed her by the shoulder, and carried her away at extreme speed.
"Pity, we didn't manage to catch her."
"The one who rescued her is very strong. Not just Sequence 4."
"The Demoness Sect suddenly sending so many strong figures to Backlund, what are they plotting?"
"Strange. Why would a Sequence 4 Demigod suddenly come to the cathedral gates tonight? She shouldn't be that stupid."
"Perhaps even she doesn't know why she appeared here."
"What kind of existence could completely blind a Demigod's perception?"
"No idea. Too many terrifying beings are hidden in Backlund."
"Still pursuing?"
"Forget it. The situation in Backlund is far too complicated right now. We should be careful and not let ourselves be used as pawns."
"The god's gaze is focused on the Southern Continent. At a time like this, we shouldn't create unnecessary trouble."
The surrounding lightning dispersed, and the Holy Wind Cathedral soon returned to its usual tranquility.
...
Smack!
"Stupid!" In a forest near an estate, Panatiya was slapped to the ground.
Yet she didn't dare voice even the slightest complaint. On the contrary, she was grateful that the other party had risked a divine descent to save her.
That was right at the gates of the Holy Wind Cathedral, any unexpected incident there would immediately draw the attention of the Lord of Storms.
"You actually went alone to the gates of the Holy Wind Cathedral! Were you really trying to deliver merit straight to the archbishop guarding that place?"
"If I hadn't happened to be in that area, you'd already be blasted into fragments by lightning!"
Panatiya lowered her head, too frightened to speak. She had truly been scared witless.
Her original intention had been to take a look at what kind of person Baron Hastur Campbell was.
For safety's sake, she had even chosen the time-consuming carriage, but who knew the coachman would drive straight to the gates of the Holy Wind Cathedral, and she hadn't noticed a thing.
Even worse, the moment she lifted the carriage curtain, she met the archbishop's gaze head-on.
Everything had been far too perfectly timed.
If not for the Demoness of Black before her lending a hand, she would certainly have been neatly arranged and then died in utter confusion that very night.
Only after the Demoness of Black's anger had mostly subsided did Panatiya get up from the ground. Her cheek was already swollen and red.
She had long heard that this Demoness of Black liked slapping people. Sure enough, the slap was both fierce and painful.
"Talk."
"Tonight I originally wanted to take a look at Baron Hastur Campbell, but somehow I ended up at the gates of the Holy Wind Cathedral. I-"
"No need to say more. Stay away from that Baron Hastur Campbell in the future. Don't go prying into his matters again. It is no different than courting death."
Before Panatiya could ask why, the Demoness of Black had already vanished.
Just like her title, fond of darkness, merging into darkness, disappearing into darkness.
Just who exactly was that Baron Hastur Campbell? And who had arranged her movements in secret tonight? Was it someone even the Demoness of Black feared?
After standing there blankly for a while, Panatiya finally realized that her injuries were severe and needed treatment.
With only a little over ten days left before the plan entered its final stage, there was no way her injuries could recover in time.
...
That night, Hastur slept soundly. It was only when his spirituality warned him that something had happened that he woke from his dream.
Will's folded paper crane was behaving abnormally, there should be some important message from Will.
He threw off the covers, got out of bed, lit the lamp, went to the window, and found the paper crane responsible for delivering messages.
On it was written: Stop sleeping! Remember to bring the latest ice cream tomorrow!
Tch, what a tone of asking for credit. Did Will do something big tonight?
Hastur thought about it, then untied another paper crane and placed it in his palm before going back to sleep.
In the dream, Will didn't appear, but instead played a short video for Hastur.
From the moment Panatiya began paying attention to him, to taking a carriage to look for him, only to end up at the gates of the Holy Wind Cathedral.
She wore a look of utter bewilderment as she was brutally beaten by the Beyonders of the Storm Church. If not for the Demoness of Black stepping in, she would definitely have died in a muddled fashion.
"Well done, Will."
Hastur was very satisfied with Will's way of handling things. In the future, if people from the Demoness Sect came to disturb him again, he'd have Will send them one by one to the cathedral gates.
Today it was the Holy Wind Cathedral; tomorrow it could be Saint Samuel Cathedral. He was sure they'd be happy to welcome guests from afar, after all, it was a massive amount of merit delivered right to their doorstep.
It was just a pity. Why hadn't that Panatiya been beaten to death directly by old Storm?
Hastur was about to treat it as if nothing had happened, but then he thought again, something wasn't right.
This time, the Demoness Sect had disturbed his sleep. Shouldn't they pay some price for that?
After all, even Will, the Snake of Mercury, had taken action. At the very least, they should recover some ice cream expenses, right?
He couldn't just let Will help him for nothing.
Perfect timing, Ariella's Assassin potion was almost fully digested, and he was worrying about the next potion formula.
"Heh. It's fine that she didn't die. If she had, it'd be hard to collect mental distress fees."
With that thought in mind, Hastur went to the Hall of Stars.
By peering into the relevant destinies, it was easy to locate that unlucky witch's residence.
Early the next morning, a letter was delivered into Panatiya's hands.
After reading its contents in a daze, anger surged straight to her head. The fingers gripping the letter turned stark white.
She had clearly been the victim last night, yet the other party still had the nerve to demand compensation for his mental distress!
And not just that, he was asking exorbitantly, demanding Assassin pathway potion formulas from Sequence 8 to Sequence 5!
The total value was close to ten thousand pounds! What made it even more infuriating was that she didn't dare refuse the demand at all.
She didn't want to be walking down the street someday only to suddenly find herself at Saint Samuel Cathedral, surrounded and beaten by the Evernight Church's Beyonders.
Last night's experience had been far too terrifying. From beginning to end, she hadn't noticed anything abnormal at all.
That alone was enough to show that the person behind the scenes was far stronger than her, possibly not even just Sequence 3.
Such a person, no, that was an Angel in the flesh!
Panatiya's heart trembled. Just thinking about how she had been under an Angel's gaze last night sent a deep chill over her entire body.
In that instant, she felt as though her injuries had worsened by several degrees.
Through this incident, she deeply understood one truth: in Backlund, it was better to keep a low profile, best to tuck your tail between your legs.