Leonard rushed all the way to Saint Samuel Cathedral of the Evernight Church and ended up staying there from the afternoon well into the evening.
On the way over, the old man had filled him in: the "Amon" he'd mentioned was the very entity who had been hunting Pallez relentlessly and reduced Him to His current sorry state.
An angel of the Marauder Pathway. A being brazen enough to blaspheme the gods themselves. The Blasphemer, Amon.
Leonard had long suspected the old man wasn't simple. But only now did the full weight of it land: the old man wasn't just "not simple" — He was a fully legitimate angel.
And this kind of being was living inside him, coaching him without charge, providing free mysticism knowledge at will. What on earth was He after?
Pallez gave a quiet laugh. "Heh. Starting to doubt me, are you?"
"..."
Leonard was quiet for a moment, then said flatly: "You think I shouldn't?"
"Weren't you always convinced you were the protagonist destiny chose? Weren't you perfectly happy to enjoy my guidance?"
Hearing that, Leonard's mind went straight to his own pathetic mindset back in Tingen — watching everyone get thrashed helplessly by the evil god's spawn, watching Melissa get killed by Ince Zangwill, and being unable to do a single damn thing.
What kind of protagonist was that?
Pallez snorted softly. "Use your head. Look at where we are right now."
"???"
Leonard blinked and looked up — the icon of the Evernight Goddess was hanging on the wall not far away. He murmured: "The Evernight Church?"
"That's right. I'm actively letting you come here. Actively letting you run under the Evernight Goddess's holy radiance. What does that tell you? If I truly intended to use you for something, do you think your Goddess would allow me to strut around right under Her nose?"
"Or do you think the Evernight Goddess simply can't detect my presence?"
Hearing Pallez casually toss around "the Evernight Goddess" and "the Goddess" like she was some old acquaintance, Leonard's eyelid started twitching uncontrollably. He had no idea what the old man's history was, or whether He and the Goddess knew each other — but he himself was just a Sequence 8 small fry. If the old man's casual disrespect brought down consequences, it'd be him who suffered.
"Please — stop. I get it."
Leonard cut him off quickly, closed his eyes, and gathered his thoughts. "Based on what you've said about Amon — you spotted Him just now. Does that mean He's spotted you too?"
"I'm not certain."
Pallez's tone turned heavier. "Amon makes no effort to conceal the auras of those He's parasitised, but I've been very careful to keep myself hidden. And whatever Amon is operating in Backlund is, at most, a demigod-level avatar. Unless I actively expose myself, He'll have a hard time finding me."
"But…"
Before Leonard could relax: "Amon's most favourite trick is making you believe you're safe — and then showing up at the exact moment you've let your guard down completely, to deliver the maximum fear and despair."
"..."
Leonard clicked his tongue. "That's just petty and sad. He's a Sequence 1 King of Angels — what does He get out of that?"
"Which is why He's also known as the God of Mischief."
"Uh."
While the old pair were in the middle of this conversation, footsteps approached. Leonard looked back and spotted two familiar faces. "Ms. Daly? Klein?"
He jumped to his feet and looked around. "Is the Captain here too?"
"Dunn will be recovering in Tingen a while longer."
Daly said: "I was just looking for both of you anyway. Come along."
"What's going on?"
"I'll explain on the way."
Klein fell into step beside Leonard and explained: "This afternoon, not long after you left, Ms. Daly came looking for me. She told me we're both being assigned to her Nighthawk squad going forward. Then she gave me a task — investigate a serial murder case in the East Borough and the Docks."
Leonard nodded. "And?"
"The case isn't complicated. The killer is a man named Sherman, and he's an Assassin."
"An Assassin?"
Leonard immediately thought of Trissy. "The kind that turns into a woman?"
"Exactly."
"Now, the thing about this Assassin is that he has his own set of principles when choosing targets — he only goes after people who've done serious harm. So the Nighthawks working the case haven't immediately moved to apprehend him."
"Why not?"
Leonard frowned, not quite following — then something clicked and he stopped himself.
Beside them, Daly said evenly: "You were going to say 'roleplay,' weren't you? That's fine — all three of us figured that method out early on. No need to dance around it."
Leonard shot Klein a startled look, coughed, and continued: "Right, so — this kind of pathway where you need to kill to roleplay, even if he's managing to keep to his 'principles' for now, further down the line he's going to start cutting corners, isn't he?"
Daly said: "Catching one Assassin isn't the real objective. What matters is finding whoever's behind him. Based on the timeline, Sherman became an Assassin not long ago, and the murders started almost immediately after. That practically confirms someone told him about the roleplay method right from the start. The person behind him is very likely the Demoness Sect."
Leonard scratched his head, still not entirely tracking. "So?"
"You should both know by now — the three major Churches have been running a series of investigations in Backlund over the past two weeks. I don't know the reason, but the process turned up traces of both the Demoness Sect and the Aurora Order. These two evil-god organisations appear to be planning something dangerous in Backlund."
At that, Daly's footsteps slowed. She stopped at a door, and knocked lightly. "Lord Cesima."
"Come in."
A dim room, both walls lined floor to ceiling with bookshelves. A man in his thirties — black coat, white shirt — stood with his back to the door, reading. When the three entered, he set the book down and turned with a mild smile. "Sit down."
"Yes, Lord Cesima."
Cressida Cesima's gaze paused on Klein and Leonard in turn, then he said warmly: "Klein, Leonard — I have a task for each of you."
Both sat up straight. "At your command."
"I need you to infiltrate the Demoness Sect and the Aurora Order separately. Find out what they're planning to do in Backlund, and when exactly they intend to move."
Both of them went rigid. Klein asked carefully: "You mean… go undercover?"
"Correct."
Cressida Cesima continued: "Klein — you will need to join the Demoness Sect in the role of a witch."
To be continued…
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