Miss Emily, the alien spawn of White Mist, was terrified. Since the wraith crisis in the cathedral, she had lived in fear nearly every day. Memories that did not belong to her made her heart tremble, and the darkness of this world made her shiver.
But life is tenacious, and Texans have the courage to face all difficulties!
After the initial panic and Vicar Sophia's accusations, Miss Emily frantically tried to clean up the mess.
Secretly absorbing the ghost fire of the wraiths was not part of Vicar Sophia's plan, and the escape of the real Bishop Lacus nearly caused a disaster. Fortunately, Vicar Sophia did not pursue the matter because they all knew the most important thing was to recover from the losses.
They ordered heroes directly under the Vatican to secretly pursue Lacus because maintaining silence was the best option for the Vatican and Lacus. If the scandal were exposed, the Vatican and Lacus would be locked in an irreconcilable conflict.
"Is it truly impossible to mobilize a Platinum Hero? If you could submit a request..." Vicar Sophia and the messenger from the Holy City were talking secretly in the sacristy of the Cathedral of Luminous Pragis. The two held similar positions, both being Level 5 priests.
In fact, Vicar Sophia was the de facto bishop of the Stellaxis diocese, so her authority was equivalent to that of a Level 6 priest. However, the messenger represented the will of the Council and His Holiness the Pope, so Vicar Sophia was very humble.
Even in the sacristy, the envoy remained mysterious, wrapped in a thick cloak. He slowly shook his head. "At this time, sending a Platinum-ranked Hero directly subordinate to the Holy See to Stellaxis would be tantamount to declaring war on the royal family. The limit of what I can mobilize is three Golden-ranked Heroes."
Vicar Sophia nodded helplessly. She knew the situation in Stellaxis and was merely testing the waters. Even the street laborers had heard rumors about the conflict between the royal family of Stellaxis and the Holy See, which troubled her and the envoy the most.
"Neither the royal family nor we are ready. It is far too soon to go to war, but the rumors in Stellaxis have already spread far and wide." The envoy continued.
Vicar Sophia immediately responded, "I have already refuted those absurd rumors in the name of Bishop Lacus. It is clear that someone is secretly stirring up trouble."
"Light cannot illuminate every corner. There will always be rats hiding in the darkness." The envoy nodded. "Who do you think the rats are that are causing trouble?"
"I've received information that Nyx recently appeared in Stellaxis. The Shadow Legion is good at spreading rumors, but the Cult of Entropic Lies is more likely behind this. J of Diamonds just escaped from prison and is clearly not prepared to stay quiet."
"J... That incident three years ago isn't over yet." The messenger slowly raised his hand, revealing a shriveled head in his old, dry palm. It was a sealed mechanical wraith core.
"Currently, we don't have concrete evidence that they'll restart the textile factory. However, if it's a continuation of the disaster from three years ago, three Golden-ranked Heroes won't be enough." Vicar Sophia said with concern, her eyes fixed on the shrunken head in the messenger's hand. "Especially now that Lacus has escaped and Selvia Luminia has done such a thing."
This referred to the fake Lacus secretly absorbing the power of the wraiths.
Using the power of wraiths was not taboo; however, Selvia Luminia had been secretly coming here every day for three years to steal the wraiths' ghost fire. Her purpose was highly suspicious. Especially considering the relationship between this wraith and the textile factory.
After a moment of thought, the messenger spoke. "Right now, we don't have enough power in Stellaxis to deal with both the real and fake Lacus and the royal family at the same time. First, let's stabilize Selvia Luminia and wait for the Holy City's knight order to arrive.
As for Lacus, find her if you can, but don't push too hard. Our main focus should be on the royal family and the Pureblood Order."
"The Knights? I thought we would only have the heroes' support. Mobilizing the Knights will anger the royal family," said Vicar Sophia doubtfully. After all, the three great knight orders of the Holy See were well known on the continent of Arcanis, and mobilizing their forces would make other countries nervous.
The messenger shook his head without answering, just looking calmly at Vicar Sophia. After a moment of silence, Vicar Sophia seemed to realize something. "Could it be...?" she asked. "The Knights of the Round Table are coming!"
Vicar Sophia was shocked. This knight order had only a dozen or so official knights and was made up of elite warriors responsible for special missions who were rarely deployed. "Could the Holy City really believe that the textile factory is related to the deities?"
...
"Wraith magic is not taboo!" When Vicar Sophia conveyed the Holy City's intention to allow Selvia Luminia to continue investigating Lacus's whereabouts, Selvia Luminia was clearly shocked. She had been scared for a long time and never expected the Holy See to ultimately decide not to pursue her for absorbing the power of the wraiths.
Even more surprising was that the Luminous Pontificate did not prohibit the study of wraith magic; there were legal, licensed mages within the Holy See.
She couldn't help but imagine the bizarre scene in Luminism Online, where a mage sang praises to the holy light to heal his teammates while summoning wraiths to attack the boss.
"Well, after all, we need to deal with wraiths all the time." Vicar Sophia looked at Selvia Luminia as if she were mentally challenged. For some reason, ever since that night, she had felt that Selvia's mental state was unstable and that she was easily startled.
It was no wonder Vicar Sophia thought that way. Selvia Luminia, or rather Emily herself, was truly panicking. She had only gained Selvia Luminia's memories; she hadn't fused with them. If she hadn't deliberately accessed the relevant memories, she wouldn't have known that she possessed such knowledge.
This was the drawback of maintaining one's original personality during time travel.
The Church isn't pursuing the matter now, but that doesn't mean they never will. Emily isn't stupid. She's just an ordinary person who is overwhelmed by so many sudden changes. She knows that, once the Church resolves the current issue, they will definitely come after her.
After all, she collected those ghost lights for the Cult of Entropic Lies.
After her meeting with Vicar Sophia, she quickly disguised herself and rushed to Blackbeard's Pier.
When her leather boots stepped on the green stone slabs, her heels crushed three fluorescent mosses clinging to the corner of the wall. The fog at Blackbeard's Dock was thicker than usual, like a ball of tar-soaked cotton stuffed in her throat.
The glass bottle she held contained seven ghostly flames, emitting a sickly blue glow—the remnants of souls stolen from the church cemetery by the grave robber last week. Besides providing light, these things had some unexpected uses.
The back door of the Red Anchor Tavern was ajar, and the kerosene light leaking through the crack cut the fog into sharp wedges. Blackbeard sat on a broken wooden barrel, sharpening his knife, and looked up at the sound.
"Sir, the patrolman just left." His voice sounded like an old bellows with a damp, rusty smell. Still, he instinctively moved aside to make room for her. Emily noticed a tin box at his feet, neatly stacked with Luminous Pounds, with a yellowed letter on top. It was his "mission statement" for the year.
Suddenly, the ghost fire in the bottle shook violently, and the blue light reflected Emily's tense jawline. She reached out and pressed down on Blackbeard's knife-wielding hand. Her palm touched the grains of sea salt embedded in his palm lines. This man, who always said that "the fog at the dock can hide all secrets," was now looking at her intently, as if waiting for the next command.
"I'm sorry." As the dagger slipped from her sleeve, she finally understood what her father had meant during his anatomy lesson: "Strike with the same decisiveness as cutting a throat." When Blackbeard's blood splattered onto her white lab coat, she didn't scream. Instead, she touched her wrist with her bloodstained fingers and whispered, "Sir, your skirt is stained with blood."
Was Blackbeard really that loyal? Emily was taken aback. Taking a life with a knife and defending herself with a gun felt completely different, but she did both to survive. Blackbeard knew too many secrets. She couldn't leave any traces behind.
The bottle containing ghost fire shattered on the ground as Blackbeard drew his last breath. Emily knelt down, placed the dagger in his hand, and positioned it in a defensive stance. The shards of glass scattered around his feet.
These ghost lights would confuse the souls here. Even if some of those investigating Blackbeard's death were skilled in necromancy, they would not be able to summon his soul in this situation. This was one of the many useful applications of ghost lights.
As she left, she dared not look back. Drops of blood from her heels fell onto the pebbles and were quickly diluted by the morning dew. When she reached the empty nest on Soot Street, she realized that she still had the licorice candies Blackbeard had secretly given her in her pocket. The wrapper's edge bore small print: "For the lady who fears the dark."
The lingering heat of the ghost fire burned her palms, and she realized she was no longer an ordinary person who needed a hunting rifle for protection.
She easily disposed of Blackbeard, who had been loyal to her all along. However, when she went to Soot Street to find Mordy, she discovered that the gang leader had already fled.
"This guy was pretty sharp," Emily said, frowning but feeling no remorse for the killing.
First, she had witnessed too much death in Selvia Luminia's memories. Second, she hadn't exactly been a saint when she was Emily.
"Need some help, my queen?" A seductive female voice sounded from behind her, and the relevant memories automatically surfaced. Emily didn't even have to turn around to know who it was.
"You caused quite a stir in Obsidian Spire," Emily replied indifferently, adopting the attitude she remembered. "Too much attention. That's not good for our future plans."
"In terms of results, it was beyond my expectations. However, if you could provide more assistance, it would make things much easier." VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth's curvaceous figure appeared in the dark alley, accompanied by a figure wrapped more tightly than Lacus. He wore a heavy cloak, and not a single strand of hair was visible, making him look highly suspicious.
"Helping you contact the Aether limiter in the room is the most I can do. If I do any more, there's a risk of exposure," Emily said, turning her gaze to the suspicious man. As an extraordinary being, her keen intuition made her feel as if she had seen this person somewhere before. "Who is this guy?"
"He's probably a royal spy," said VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth casually, with no intention of hiding anything. "I found him interesting, so I brought him along. Besides him, I also found another reliable ally—a person who... well, inherited the Linen surname."
Emily was relieved that she was wearing a mask and disguised clothing and had cast a sacred spell with a hiding effect. She turned to look at the woman she had never seen before on Earth. In her memory, she had only met this woman a few times. "J of Clubs, don't forget: We're not here to make friends."
Emily faced the woman with an air of superiority because she had the right to do so. Since she had begun pretending to be Bishop Lacus three years ago, she had been promoted from Jack of Spades to Queen of Diamonds.
This was Emily Boone's third identity in this world. Her real name was Selena Gray. The Cult of Entropic Lies had kidnapped her as a child, secretly trained her, and then sent her to the Vatican as a mole.
"Of course I know, My Queen," the Jack of Diamonds said, half seriously, half jokingly. "But when I was in prison, thinking about finally meeting my new superior, I couldn't help but get a little excited..." After all, the previous Queen of Diamonds had been missing for so long, and the new boss had just appeared and was already causing trouble at the Linen Textile Factory. It was simply too thrilling.
As she spoke excitedly, she deliberately shook her impressive bust.
Emily, being a woman, couldn't help but glance at the expanse of snow-white twice. She didn't hide her gaze. "Causing such a commotion at Obsidian Spire is one thing, but there are still survivors? What's the deal with Velena FitzLobkowicz?"
"That woman...she's peculiar. She seemed to know what I was going to do before I acted. I didn't see her at all before she escaped. But it doesn't matter. I've already had Sebastian take care of her."
A psychic? Emily searched her vast knowledge for anything related to ethercraft and found several forms of divination, such as astrology, physiognomy, and tarot cards. However, they were all very vague and ambiguous. She had no idea which one Velena FitzLobkowicz was good at.
"The linen factory is the gate to the tomb of the deity. Three years ago, you failed shamefully and let the little girl who awoke from the deity's tomb escape. This time, Cult of Entropic Lies, we will not allow you to stumble on the same stone twice," Emily threatened in a cultist tone after taking a deep breath.