He was afraid that when Bela, the Vampire maid, helped him wipe his face later, her hand would suddenly turn into countless swarming Blowfly.
After all, up until now, Javier had not yet overcome the fact that Lady Dimitrescu's three Vampire daughters were all made of insects.
About ten minutes later...
"Clack, clack, clack, clack..."
Having finished washing up, Javier, now neatly dressed, immediately headed downstairs from the castle. He was still in his familiar Demon Hunter attire: a black trench coat and hat.
This outfit was quite similar to that of Heisenberg, the "top scholar in martial arts." As for his firearms, Javier kept them hidden inside his trench coat.
After all, he was about to meet Mother Miranda, and there was no guarantee she would trust him, or that a conflict wouldn't break out. Thus, Javier had to be prepared for both combat and retreat.
"Father God... no, Mr. Javier, did you sleep well last night?"
"Pardon me for praising your wisdom, but your prophecy has come true. Mother Miranda has indeed issued a summons to us, the four noble lords. We are to head to the Cave Church in the village now. According to the plan, you may accompany me..."
Seeing Javier come down, Lady Dimitrescu set down her glass of sanguis virginis and elegantly wiped the wine from the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief. She then respectfully explained the situation to Javier.
She was not stingy with her words of praise, except... as she bowed her head, her large black wide-brimmed hat happened to hide the extreme, yearning possessiveness in her eyes.
Facing Javier, such a mouth-watering reservoir of blood viruses, it was hard for Lady Dimitrescu not to feel a deep sense of desire...!
Volume 10: Resident Evil Village, Revenge: Chapter 15: Cave Church
"I see..."
"Since we're ready, let's head out now. If anything unexpected happens during the council and Mother Miranda attacks me,"
"then Lady Dimitrescu, do not worry about me. Stick to the plan and attack me as if I were just an outsider attempting to invade the village."
"I only need you to strike at the critical moment, Lady Dimitrescu. You don't need to expose your identity otherwise; I have my ways of moving freely within the village."
Seeing Lady Dimitrescu, who had been waiting for him in the castle hall for a long time, Javier nodded and gave his instructions.
The key to being a traitor... is to deceive even yourself.
Because the werewolf monsters in the village alone weren't enough to pose a threat to Javier.
Even if Mother Miranda and the other four noble lords attacked at the same time, they wouldn't have the means or certainty to keep Javier there.
This was the source of Javier's confidence in coming to the village personally.
He didn't need Lady Dimitrescu to expose her identity and help him so early.
In the event that something truly unexpected happened, Lady Dimitrescu could simply join the others in attacking him.
Dimitrescu's sole purpose was to act as a fail-safe. She was to survive until the end while making Mother Miranda lower her guard, then launch a sudden sneak attack.
This way, even if Mother Miranda had some extra trump card from the butterfly effect, it would be nullified by the backup sneak attack Javier had arranged!
After all, that fellow Heisenberg has always had ulterior motives.
Mother Miranda had long known that Heisenberg wanted to overthrow her rule, but because he was crushed by her absolute strength, Heisenberg didn't dare to act rashly.
In the original plot, Mother Miranda handed Ethan, who was a hostage, over to Heisenberg to deal with. This was also to test Heisenberg and see if he would commit an act of betrayal against her.
And as it turned out, Heisenberg indeed intended to betray Mother Miranda.
So... it was impossible for Javier to have Heisenberg sneak attack Mother Miranda.
When Mother Miranda was on guard, Heisenberg wouldn't even have the chance to get close to her.
Lady Dimitrescu, however, was the opposite.
Mother Miranda certainly trusted Lady Dimitrescu more than a potential traitor like Heisenberg.
Therefore, at the critical moment of the ritual, as long as Lady Dimitrescu survived to the end, Mother Miranda would surely have Lady Dimitrescu stay by her side as a guardian.
From such a close, personal position,
Lady Dimitrescu could launch a sneak attack without any restraint.
This was the difference between the two, and the real reason why Javier had gone to the trouble of turning Lady Dimitrescu to his side!
Two traitors—
one with long-held ulterior motives, and the other relatively honest.
Even a fool would know who to pick, but Mother Miranda could never imagine that Lady Dimitrescu, who was so loyal to her, would sneak attack her.
To be honest... playing at conspiracies felt really good.
Javier was starting to understand the dark psychology of those traitors, and he couldn't wait to see the shocked expression on Mother Miranda's face.
"Yes..."
"Father God, everything will be according to your arrangements!"
To this, Lady Dimitrescu also nodded in understanding.
To be honest, even the Lady herself hadn't expected that she would choose to betray Mother Miranda.
But she had no choice. Who told Mother Miranda to try and use her as a vessel for resurrection? Besides, the reward Javier offered was far too tempting.
Since Mother Miranda was being heartless, she couldn't blame her for being unjust. When the stakes of interest are large enough, even an enemy's enemy becomes an ally.
With that, the tall Lady Dimitrescu slowly stepped forward and reached out her gloved hand to take Javier's.
The two of them then slowly left the castle in the strange posture of a mother holding her son's hand. To be honest, Javier had wanted to refuse,
but after hearing Lady Dimitrescu's explanation that only this way would the werewolves of the village not attack him, he reluctantly endured it. However, he couldn't help but feel that this was just a mischievous prank by Dimitrescu to tease him...
...
Ten minutes later—
"Rustle, rustle..."
Javier followed Lady Dimitrescu through the vast village, turning here and there, until they finally arrived at the location of the Cave Church.
The entire church looked quite strange; it was surrounded by various cave openings. It was as if the church hadn't been built on the ground, but rather inside an underground mountain cavern.
There were only a few seats belonging to the four noble lords and a prayer altar at the very front; there was nothing else at all.
As the open-air light projected into the cavernous church, it did indeed create a feeling of being bathed in holy light.
Located at the very center was a black eight-winged crow statue of Mother Miranda; this was her unique symbol.
Not a fallen angel, but a crow.
When the plague and influenza spread during the Middle Ages, a group of doctors wearing black bird beaks would come to treat and eliminate the source of the plague.
During the Middle Ages, the Black Death ravaged Europe.
To prevent infection, doctors of that time wore linen or canvas shirts soaked in wax, black hats on their heads, and masks shaped like bird beaks that could filter the air.
Their eyes were protected by transparent glass, they wore white gloves, and they held a wooden stick used to lift the sheets or clothes of patients, or to direct patients on how to treat their illness.
They deeply believed that such equipment could protect them from infection by the Black Death. These plague doctors were the personnel who fought on the front lines against the Reaper.
Therefore, Mother Miranda also used the beak-masked crow doctor as her symbol, shaping herself into a great deity who could dispel death!
At the same time, looking up, Javier also saw Mother Miranda herself, the true master of the village...
She had a somewhat tall stature and was clad in a black feathered sacrificial robe, looking like a human embodiment of a crow.
On both sides of her shoulders were draped Pristine-patterned shawls, and on her back were eight unfurled black feathered wings. Her skin was a pale gray.
Behind her head was a large golden-patterned disc, like a divine halo, and the front of her face was covered by a golden bird-beak mask.
One could only faintly see those deep black eyes, filled with a thick aura of mystery and loneliness.
The suffocating sense of pressure surrounding her made it impossible to look her directly in the eye; one could only look up at her from a humble position, observing from afar but not daring to approach.
This was the unique aura that Mother Miranda had cultivated over a period of a hundred and fifty years.
In a sense... she had indeed become a god, because the temperament she exuded was no different from that of a so-called religious pope.
It was the highest status above all power.
Coupled with the light shining down from above the open-air Cave Church, it indeed made Mother Miranda before him radiate a strange, holy beauty. If one had to describe it,
Javier felt that saying was very appropriate: the black angel is weeping, the white reaper is laughing—the alternative contrast was immense...
Of course, besides Mother Miranda standing on the prayer altar,
Javier also saw the other three noble lords with his own eyes.
First was the famous top scholar in martial arts, Karl Heisenberg, with his black hat and work trench coat, and his messy, ash-gray hair.
He had a cigar in his mouth, puffing out clouds of smoke, which, combined with his black round-framed sunglasses, did indeed make him look like a "top scholar in martial arts."
Of course, the most famous thing was the huge mechanical iron hammer he carried on his shoulder, decorated with gear parts.
Because he possessed the power to control magnetism, for Heisenberg, any place where metal existed was his most powerful domain.
In essence, Heisenberg was indeed the strongest among the four noble lords, with Lady Dimitrescu ranking second.
Then there was the woman in black standing in the furthest corner, Donna Beneviento.
Her dress was similar to Lady Dimitrescu's, both in the style of noblewomen from the late 19th century. A set of black gauze clothing wrapped her body tightly, and even her head was wrapped in black gauze, making her look a bit like a peculiar black-veiled bride.
She sat upright in a formal posture, holding a half-meter-tall white doll in her hands.
That doll was a complete wedding-dress bride, and it was also her main body, Angie.
Compared to the other three noble lords, Donna was the most socially anxious one. She hated socializing; if it weren't for Mother Miranda's command, she wouldn't have stepped a single foot out of her mansion.
Of course, judging from the quirky behavior she displayed while controlling her main doll, Angie, Donna wasn't actually truly socially anxious.
She should naturally be someone who likes making friends,