Chapter 307 - 143: The Next Time We Meet, I Will Kill You
At least part of it was Dawn’s fault!
The Dawn Radiance surrounding more and more people began to flicker, showing that Wei’en’s words were genuinely causing them to waver in their faith in Dawn.
"How could you...?" In the crowd, the commanders of the Ascetics and support-class Holy Professionals froze for a moment before shouting, desperately trying to snap them out of it.
"Don’t believe him! He’s trying to shake your faith!"
"Wake up, all of you..."
’So the deception talent really works?’
The same thought occurred to both the Clown and Wei’en.
This was unbelievable!
To think a few mere sentences could make even devout believers start to doubt the very object of their faith.
’Let’s try again. Deception—Illusion Creation!’
The Clown’s interest was piqued, and he casually snapped his fingers.
Then, right before the eyes of all the Holy Professionals, his body gradually transformed into the likeness of Archbishop Andrews.
His face was deathly pale, and he looked extremely weak, as if he had just survived a major battle.
"We’ve been deceived... Deceived by Dawn, deceived by the Covenant! It isn’t real—it’s a monster!"
All the Holy Professionals were stunned, blinking to confirm that it was indeed the spitting image of Bishop Andrews.
Except, he wasn’t emanating any of Dawn’s divine power. He seemed like an ordinary person.
"Lord Bishop Andrews?!"
"What are you saying? How could you..."
"The Lord Bishop... he wouldn’t deceive us, would he?"
"Damn it, don’t believe him! This is all an illusion..."
"He’s not the Lord Bishop at all! The real Andrews already sacrificed himself!"
Just then, Kali rushed over. She looked at the person standing among the Holy Professionals. That wasn’t her teacher. It was clearly Wei’en, wearing the Clown’s mask.
"Lady Kali, you must talk to the Lord Bishop! How can he blaspheme against Dawn?!"
"Yes, my lady, please say something..."
Although these Holy Professionals were asking her to persuade him, Kali felt no joy in it.
They still saw Wei’en as Bishop Andrews!
"I’m going to kill you!"
The Clown grinned. ’Here she is again, the woman who wields a portion of the Desecration Authority’s power.’
However, a portion of the Holy Professionals had already drawn near, entering the range of his Corpse Explosion Skill. That was enough!
"Siyaam, Sir, Sute!"
"..."
To kill more Holy Professionals before Kali could intervene, the Clown used the Blink Spell and the bewitching power of his phantom clones to throw their ranks into chaos.
At the same time, he fired his gun relentlessly, each bullet taking the life of a Holy Professional.
[You killed Kaylo Corall with a sniper rifle, triggering Blast Rune and the Death Trait: Plague. Instant Death progress: 45/30. Evaluation: Hmm... Reward: Survival Points +10, Marksmanship +3, Resilience Level +1, Spirit Level +1.]
"Wei’en, don’t—"
Kali swung her great black sword, slashing at him. She didn’t believe it, couldn’t believe that the Wei’en who always had a smile on his face would do something like this.
’The Clown... it’s that damn Forbidden Object!’
’No, it *was* Wei’en who did it!’
The Clown looked at the thousands of fallen Holy Professionals, then glanced back at the pillar of light that had vanished from the square. "That’s right, Wei’en told me to do it. Don’t blame me, okay?"
"You—"
Furious, Kali watched as Wei’en Blinked away and swung her greatsword at him again.
"Goodbye! Oh, and he probably doesn’t want to see you again, so don’t bother chasing."
"WEI’EN!!"
The Clown waved back over his shoulder, disappearing with a playful skip.
When he reappeared, he was standing next to the Revival Sarcophagus.
The Clown watched the petite figure climb out. He looked her up and down, confirmed the Calamity Power was still there, and chuckled. "Awake now, are we?"
Hearing his voice, Tina rubbed her eyes. It was the ugly fellow, but it was also Brother Wei’en.
"Tina... is back."
"Good girl." The Clown patted her head. "We have to go."
"Are we going home?"
"Of course... Hmm? Is it time already?"
The Clown paused, then broke into a wide grin. "Well then, let’s talk next time, Tina."
"Next time?"
Wei’en took back control of his body. The Clown mask turned into a doll, which he held in one hand. Watching Kali charge toward them in the distance, he shook his head and sighed. "Let’s go, Tina."
"Mhm, Tina’s going home." Tina stepped forward and took his hand.
[You have witnessed "Forbidden Object 0-34: Revival Sarcophagus." Your fate has been altered. Current encounter progress: 88/100. Evaluation: If you intend to use it, do it soon! Special Reward: Survival Points +20, Source +2, Spirit Level +4, Resilience Level +4.]
After a moment of thought, Wei’en took the Revival Sarcophagus and Tina into the Clown Theater.
"Don’t touch that. It’s dangerous and could go out of control. We’ll talk later."
He only had time to give that one instruction before immediately returning to the real world and running toward the Basil District.
"Shawa, your master is certainly busy. He brought back another one..."
Clelia watched another girl appear in the theater and gave a wry smile. ’So typical... of a man!’
Miss Zombie didn’t respond. She had seen Tina before, and now her eyes were fixed on her.
’Hmm, something about her seems... different?’
Tina looked at the two of them curiously, their reflections appearing in her bright eyes. After a good while, she waved and said, "Hello. I’m Tina. Tina Klosterman."
...
...
"Wei’en, the next time we meet, I will kill you!!"
Within Caster City State, almost everyone heard Kali’s shrill, furious roar, and complex expressions appeared on every face.
This was especially true for Lisi and the others.
"How many Holy Professionals did Wei’en just kill?" Marco asked bitterly.
"I don’t know..." Lisi said quietly, gazing toward the church. "The red moon tonight... it’s really ugly."
Yegor looked at the two of them thoughtfully, stroking his chin. "Say, do you think we should remove Wei’en’s name from the Secret Investigation Department’s roster? I just feel like it’s not quite appropriate to keep his file in the Department anymore..."
BANG!
"What’s not appropriate about it? Director Ales alone caused countless casualties. Wei’en only killed a fraction of that number, so what’s the big deal?"
"...I was just making a suggestion..."
The members of the Storm Church who had just arrived at the church square, however, paid no mind to this.
’He killed Dawn Saints?’
’Thousands of them?’
’Good for him!’
"Take over Crimea! Don’t let them take those believers away! In the future, these people will all be devout followers of our Storm Church!"
"Igali, contact the High Priest! Tell him to send reinforcements immediately! We need more Holy Professionals to protect Caster!"
"Yes, Lord Bishop!"
"Koriff, move quickly! I’ll go hold off the Dawn’s Favored. No matter what..."
"And you! Get a move on! Rescue our dear believers below!"
Meanwhile, the new Director of the Secret Investigation Department watched Wei’en whistle past and was also lost in thought.
’In the end, was that prophecy referring to Ales, or to this young Investigator who defeated him?’
"Sigh... The red moon tonight really is too ugly..."
Regardless of who the prophecy referred to—
The events that transpired in Caster City State today were bound to make waves across the continents!
...
...
"Clelia, you mentioned before... about inviting me to join the Eternal Life Association?"
"Hm? Are you going to accept?"
"Well, it’s not out of the question. I just don’t know how strong your Eternal Life Association is."
"We’re as strong as they come!"
"Compared to the Dawn Church?"
"Dawn? Who are they? As long as you didn’t go and kill thousands of their believers, we can protect you. Relax~"
"Ah, about that..."
"Don’t tell me you actually did that?"
"I might have... maybe... probably killed quite a few..."
"How many?"
"Around five thousand, I guess. Not that many..."
"Heh heh. What was that question you asked at the beginning?"
"About inviting me to join the Eternal Life Association..."
"Sorry, we’re full!"
"..."
PS: This is the end of Volume One. I hope everyone is satisfied with the conclusion.
I forgot to mention, there’s one more Chapter to wrap things up.
It’s too late now. I’ll write the end-of-volume notes tomorrow.