Chapter 98: Dismembered 'Radiance Bishop'

Dismembered 'Radiance Bishop'

“Thank you, stopping here is fine. The mountain path is difficult.”

Creek Hill. A plain four-wheeled carriage stopped on the path at the foot of the mountain.

A man’s gentle voice came from inside the carriage. The coachman in front controlled the horses to a halt.

The carriage door opened, and a left foot stepped down onto the stone-paved road.

It was a pair of high-quality, high-top leather boots, the black matte felt reflecting the noon sun diffusely.

A well-dressed man, holding the brim of his top hat, stepped down from the carriage. He walked to the coachman’s side, took out his wallet, removed a five-shilling silver coin, and handed it to the coachman.

“Keep the change.” The man said with a smile.

After watching the coachman express his thanks and drive the carriage away, the man, holding his cane, walked step by step up the mountain path, looking like an ordinary gentleman enjoying a mountain stroll.

Soon, he reached the halfway point and saw the large manor built on the platform above.

He walked to the outer iron gate of the manor, leaned on his cane with gloved hands, waited for a moment, then showed a slightly puzzled expression.

Where is everyone?

He glanced around in confusion and saw a sign standing nearby, which read “Venue Maintenance, Resuming Business at 15:30.”

The man raised his left hand to look at the gold watch on his wrist. The hour and minute hands pointed to 12:57.

Did I come at the wrong time?

The man looked at the half-open iron gate before him, stood for a moment, then walked straight in.

He walked all the way to the manor entrance, went straight inside, surveyed the luxurious hall, and saw the familiar emblem.

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Not the wrong place.

Following the emblems, he walked into the reception hall on the right, then followed the special markings subtly woven into the intricate patterns of the carpet to the next room.

Why is no one here? Deton Manor... is it usually this empty?

The man’s high-bridged nose twitched slightly. He detected no scent of blood. Soon, he let down his guard and reached out to press the switch for the secret door.

With the sound of gears engaging and chains dragging, a passage appeared before him.

The construction here is quite decent... Unfortunately, the builder, that priestess, botched a very important matter. Upon receiving the news, I had to personally come over to understand the specific situation.

If it is determined that the priestess’s own negligence led to this major error, then I will take her to face judgment and punishment. As for this place... it will be abandoned directly.

After such a major incident, the risk of exposure is too great. Construction here clearly cannot continue. Years of operation reduced to nothing, and I still have to clean up the mess.

Building an underground sanctuary itself was a dangerous endeavor, skirting the edge of the rules.

Not only did it contribute little to the plan, but it also increased the risk of exposure. However, if the plan had succeeded, everything here would have become the priestess’s achievement, allowing her a faster promotion. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

This priestess was a bit too eager for quick success.

Thinking about having to clean up the mess here, and having to quietly arrange for all those who had become cultists to lie low elsewhere, he felt a wave of exhaustion.

“Sigh.” The man sighed. Several figures in long robes emerged from behind him.

One white shadow walked ahead of the man, then slowly solidified. A man dressed in white robes appeared before the secret passage.

His ornate robes covered almost every inch of his skin, and the faceless mask concealed his expression.

At this moment, his aura transformed. The suave gentleman vanished, replaced by a cold, mechanical Bishop, seemingly devoid of emotion.

He somewhat stiffly raised his left hand. The watch hands pointed to 13:00. He could vaguely hear some sounds coming from the sanctuary at the bottom of the stairs.

Are they all down there?

Today isn’t a prayer day. Gathering down there at this time is clearly a violation of the rules.

He stepped into the secret passage. The white shadows followed suit, closing the passage door behind him before merging back into his shadow.

The Bishop descended the stairs step by step with precise movements. Halfway down, he heard a strange gunshot.

Bang—

“Hmm...”

Is something wrong?

Before he could figure out what was happening below, he heard chanting voices rising from below, like a sanctuary choir, echoing in the spiral corridor.

“In the endless darkness, I call to you, Sadhana...”

“In the rift between time and space, your existence transcends all things...”

“...”

The Bishop paused for a second, showing no expression, but in his heart, he had already sentenced this priestess to death.

Organizing a collective prayer without a Bishop present...

Are you trying to rebel?

The Bishop resumed his descent, his pace noticeably faster this time.

As he drew closer, the chanting below grew louder. It was then that the Bishop noticed something was amiss.

This... wasn’t normal chanting.

Those people were shouting the prayers as if screaming, their tones filled with madness.

For a moment, he couldn’t distinguish between the humans praying and the whispers in his own mind.

He stopped at the doorway at the bottom of the stone spiral staircase, looked at the stone door carved with the faceless deity, and placed his hand on it.

But at that very moment, he felt an intense spiritual alarm.

It was a strong warning, like directly gazing upon an indescribable entity. His hand slowly retracted slightly.

Soon, seemingly realizing something, he slowly raised both hands to cover his ears.

The mad chanting... didn’t diminish in the slightest.

He snapped his head up, looking at the wooden door before him, the expression under his mask no longer calm.

Inside... what exactly are they doing?!

Why am I being affected so strongly?

The sounds seemed etched into his mind. No matter how he tried to calm himself, the sounds showed no sign of weakening.

The buzzing of the spiritual alarm resonated in his mind, combining with the whispers to form a symphony, its instruments composed of various bones and organs, its vocals a chorus of screams and wails.

If this continues, the anomaly here might be detected by that heretical Church of the Savior Goddess!

-

Although he didn’t know what the priestess inside was doing, the Bishop couldn’t afford to hesitate any longer. He had to go in and stop her!

The Bishop raised his hand. A white shadow shot out from behind him, punching the large door and shattering it!

Boom—

The two-meter-high sanctuary door was blasted into pieces, revealing the vast interior of the sanctuary before him. The scene inside left him stunned.

In the center of the three massive stone pillars, within this enormous space, knelt countless corpses.

These incomplete bodies, looking as if gnawed upon, all knelt facing the direction of the throne.

A huge blood array enveloped them. Blood threads connected all the corpses, like a giant spider web woven from blood.

At the center of the web, the blood threads intertwined upwards, feeding into a vortex so red it was almost black. The whispers in the Bishop’s mind were being influenced by that black blood vortex.

This is...

Blood sacrifice?!

How could she?!

The Bishop looked down from the blood vortex and saw, before the throne, the shriveled corpse suspended in mid-air... that was the priestess.

She... is dead.

Then... who conducted the ritual?

Thump—

The drained corpse slowly fell to the ground, revealing the red-haired figure hidden behind it.

She wore a half-mask bearing a damaged blood seal. The other half of her face showed a smile as she looked up at the dark vortex above the sanctuary, slowly raising her right hand towards it.

Brilliant starlight drifted out from the dark vortex, floating towards the corpse in front of the figure.

At this moment, the Bishop’s mind felt like it had suffered a heavy blow. All the wails and whispers vanished instantly, as if they had never existed.

He stared blankly as the brilliant light entered the corpse, watching the corpse slowly rise.

Cocooning, hatching, emerging... a terrifying half-human, half-insect figure appeared before him. In that instant, he felt an unprecedented calm, and a sense of intimacy that seemed to originate from the depths of his soul.

The figure, seemingly stepped out of a divine statue, stood real before the sanctuary, its back to him, making it impossible for him to tear his eyes away for even a second.

Summon... summoned?

It really... succeeded?

Something the Divine Advent Church had failed to achieve for countless ages, over generations of effort.

Now, like a dream, it appeared before his very eyes.

The potion could no longer suppress his emotions. Tears streamed down his face inside the mask, eventually gathering and dripping from his chin.

Like any other devout believer, he stepped into the blood array behind the corpses and knelt down, then looked at the lofty, sacred figure that seemed to have walked out of scripture...

Slowly kneeling before the girl in front of the platform.

Bishop: “?”

The Bishop had wanted to ask since earlier.

Who is she?

“Mother Goddess... above...” An ethereal voice echoed in the Bishop’s mind. After a brief stupor, his expression slowly shifted from confusion to incredulous shock.

Ignoring the whispers starting to plague his mind again, he snapped his gaze towards the girl before the throne, his mouth slowly falling open beneath the mask.

What did It say?

Who is the Mother Goddess?!

No... no no no... calm... you must remain calm...

You are a mature “Radiance Bishop.” That girl before you absolutely cannot be the Mother Goddess. If she were, you wouldn’t even be capable of thought right now.

If the Mother Goddess descended upon the world, the world would have long been under the control of the Divine Advent Church.

She... could only have one identity...

The Mother Goddess “Sadhana’s” proxy, her human vessel for observing the world... The Divine Advent Church’s own Saintess!

He knew that Saintess from the Church of the Savior Goddess was fake! Because she still hadn’t awakened any power of her so-called goddess!

Their Divine Advent Church! They were the few who walked the correct path!

Glory and pride surged from the depths of his heart. As a witness to this miracle, his heart was already overwhelmed with excitement.

Right now, he desperately wanted to report this news to the higher-ups, tell them the time for the true counterattack had arrived.

But not yet... He couldn’t bring himself to move even a single step. Even missing a second of this sacred scene, the Bishop felt he would live the rest of his life in regret.

Meanwhile, Ciel also noticed the “Radiance Bishop” kneeling behind the pile of corpses.

Ciel had seen him blast the door open earlier, which scared her into quickly having the summoned brilliance possess Kitty’s corpse in front of her.

But just as Ciel anxiously waited for the half-human, half-insect monster to emerge from its cocoon, the Bishop, upon seeing the emerged monster, knelt down on his own?

Ciel wasn’t affected by the spiritual being, so she couldn’t perceive what the Bishop saw, but she was certain that the Bishop had misunderstood something after seeing the monster kneel before her.

But judging by the current situation... it seemed combat wasn’t necessary?

After a moment’s thought, Ciel shifted slightly to the left, hiding behind the summoned spiritual being, and addressed the Bishop, “Who are you?”

Hearing Ciel’s voice, the Bishop’s form began to distort, gradually changing into the appearance of a well-dressed man. He looked up towards Ciel and said:

“Subordinate is a Bishop of the Divine Advent Church, named Braque,” he lowered his head deeply, speaking respectfully, “I inadvertently disturbed the birth ritual of the Holy Spirit... Please forgive me, Your Highness the Saintess.”

Saintess... Your Highness?

Ciel blinked.

Okay, okay, this is getting ridiculous, right? Why are both the Church of the Savior Goddess and the Divine Advent Church making the exact same mistake?

Every time they see me in a simulation, they call me Saintess... Can you only say this is expected from people originally from the same church?

The Church of the Savior Goddess was slightly better; they only suspected her of being the Saintess due to certain events. Both Uris and Hugh said they needed to take her back to the Holy See to confirm her identity.

This “Radiance Bishop” before her, however, saw her summon a spiritual being and immediately concluded she was the so-called Saintess.

Could it be that the standard for identifying a Saintess was simply the ability to cause some disturbance from the “Other Side”?

Was this a rare feat? Could no one else in this world communicate with the Other Side?

It seemed that apart from the initial instance of faking hearing a divine oracle, every other time she was mistaken for a “Saintess” was somehow related to the Other Side.

-

Ciel temporarily set aside thoughts about the Other Side. Her understanding of it was still limited, making it impossible to figure out.

She looked again at the cultist Bishop named Braque in the distance. After hesitating for a moment, she issued a mental control command to the summoned spiritual being.

Although the Bishop seemed to have completely misunderstood her identity and showed no aggression, he was, after all, a third-tier “Radiance Bishop.”

The slightest misstep, if he noticed anything unusual, Ciel could potentially be controlled by him in an instant, even directly brainwashed, branded with the “Sadhana Mark,” and turned into a cultist.

Only by completely controlling him could Ciel feel at ease.

After Ciel issued the control command, the spiritual being kneeling before her slowly turned its head towards Braque.

Seeing the spiritual being turn, Braque immediately lowered his head, avoiding direct eye contact.

This was not only for his own safety but also out of respect for the Holy Spirit.

A mortal gaze directly upon the face of the Holy Advent was blasphemy... He wasn’t a proxy like the Saintess. Braque was quite self-aware.

But soon, Braque noticed something was wrong.

He looked down at his own shadow. From within his shadow, a pale white arm slowly emerged.

Braque instinctively tried to control his white shadows but found they wouldn’t obey his commands at all, as if he had completely lost all transcendent abilities.

His body stiffened. He watched helplessly as a terrifying head covered in cracks emerged from within, meeting his gaze from his own shadow.

The next second, the terrifying maws on the head opened simultaneously. Countless slender, white-jointed, insect-like legs emerged from the cracks, waving as they reached for his head.

“Ah!!” He screamed. Control returned to his body. He stumbled back several steps, eyes wide, staring at the shadow beneath him. But the terrifying head and monster had already vanished.

Braque raised his hand to touch his cheek. There were no wounds, as if nothing had happened.

Good... nothing happened, it was just my hallucination...

Braque looked at his arm covered in cracks and the insect legs protruding from them, slowly letting out a sigh of relief.

He stretched the pair of insect wings on his back, looked again towards the red-haired figure on the platform, his eyes filled with fervent reverence.

Meanwhile, Ciel watched Braque in the distance, frowning slightly.

Ciel hadn’t seen the spiritual being make any move, yet Braque suddenly started bleeding black blood.

The insect wings on his back, the terrifying cracks on his face, and the dense insect limbs reminded Ciel irresistibly of “Radiance Bishop” Hugh from before.

She could sense that Braque had been thoroughly corrupted by the potion. With just one command from her, Braque would instantly collapse, consumed entirely by the potion, becoming a third-tier mindless killing machine.

But Braque himself... seemed oblivious to this.

He didn’t seem to realize he had become a half-human, half-monster creature.

“Braque, come here.” Ciel addressed Braque.

Simultaneously, the spiritual being beside Ciel moved under her control, positioning itself in front of her.

Ciel noticed that of the six pairs of insect wings behind the spiritual being, three pairs had already dissipated, leaving only the upper three pairs.

The wings dissipated over time, and their dissipation rate increased when the spiritual being used its abilities.

Against Nia earlier, the wings hadn’t dissipated this quickly...

Could it be that Nia’s spirit, or rather, the extent of her potion corruption, far exceeded Braque’s?

“Radiance Bishop” Braque’s corruption manifested as insectification; “Source of Pestilence” Sherlon’s corruption manifested as becoming a barnacle-like hard-shelled monster; “Crown Guard” Nia’s corruption feature... was the full body steel transformation?

Ciel didn’t know how much of Nia’s original body remained. If her body was completely corrupted into silver armor, did that mean she had completely lost control?

Nia’s situation might be more dangerous than she initially thought. Her spirit could be easily corrupted by spiritual beings, and her body was already severely assimilated by the potion...

Did Avena know about this? If she did, why keep such a dangerous entity, constantly on the verge of losing control, as her guard?

Perhaps there were hidden secrets behind this that Ciel didn’t know yet, possibly related to Avena leaving her family and appearing in Berren City.

Ciel pushed aside these thoughts and looked at Braque kneeling before her, lost in contemplation.

The current situation had clearly achieved Ciel’s initial goal.

That was to eliminate all cultists in Berren City, then use their power against them, sacrificing them to kill the visiting Divine Advent Church Bishop investigating the situation.

Reality could progress according to this plan, reaching this stage.

But after killing Bishop Braque?

A Bishop died in Berren City... Would the Divine Advent Church truly not send more people to investigate?

Wouldn’t this just become one of those situations where killing the small one brings the big one?

It couldn’t solve the problem permanently.

The Deton Manor cultists had to be dealt with, Kitty, who had already traced things back to Adele, had to die, and this Bishop couldn’t be left alive either...

She had to orchestrate a perfect “accident” from beginning to end, resolving all three troubling issues flawlessly without anyone suspecting her.

Solve the problem before it happens.

Ciel stared at a point in front of her, her gaze unfocused. Her index finger tapped rapidly against her chin, creating a dense tapping sound in her mind.

Even she didn’t notice that under these circumstances, a smile of keen interest played on her lips.

“Instigator” Ciel seemed to find the process of figuring out how to reasonably kill everyone rather amusing.

She suddenly thought of something interesting, her eyes refocusing on the kneeling Bishop before her.

“Braque, tell me how you joined the Divine Advent Church, including your public disguise, and all the tasks you are currently assigned...” Ciel looked at Braque and asked with a smile, “Tell me everything.”

“As you command, Your Highness the Saintess...” Braque lowered his head, speaking indistinctly, starting from how he joined the Divine Advent Church, answering Ciel’s questions one by one.

-

The corruption seemed to have affected his internal organs. His throat sounded like it contained bones, his words becoming slurred, occasionally coughing up blood.

Due to the time constraint, Ciel frequently interrupted Braque, telling him to stick to the important points.

Ciel didn’t know if she would still have control over Braque after the spiritual being returned to the Other Side. She had to learn everything before the spiritual being disappeared and prepare accordingly.

Soon, from Braque’s account, Ciel gradually understood the situation.

Braque was born in Bliss City. In his youth, he became a pirate, known for his ruthlessness. During one voyage, his ship accidentally raided a merchant vessel carrying a Divine Advent Church “Missionary.”

As they finished looting and prepared to burn the ship and kill everyone, the “Missionary” intervened, brainwashing all the ordinary people on both ships, implanting the “Sadhana Mark,” and staging the event as a common pirate raid.

The baptized Braque returned to Bliss Port and happened to meet another “Ascetic” bearing the “Sadhana Mark.” With his help, Braque gave up piracy, embarked on the “Ascetic” path, and grew within the organization until now.

Over thirty years, leveraging his pirate cronies and gradually accumulated connections within the Divine Advent Church, he progressed from ship owner to starting his own shipping company. While developing his company and gathering funds for the Church, he also established Bliss Port as his own cultist circle.

Currently, Braque’s public disguise was the director of a shipping company. His most recent mission was to use his position to travel to Berren City for an investigation.

Although Berren City was inland, its canals connected to almost every port in Ansu, boasting the largest canal network in the entire Ansu United Kingdom. Braque happened to have business negotiations in Berren City, so he was assigned this task.

Braque himself was extremely reluctant, having successfully managed his affairs in Bliss City and unwilling to pay for others’ mistakes. But he wouldn’t defy the Church’s orders, so he took the opportunity during his business trip to visit Deton Manor outside Berren City.

That was all the intelligence on Braque so far.

Ciel glanced at the wings behind the spiritual being and saw only one pair remained. Time was running out.

“Braque,” Ciel looked at Braque with a smile and asked, “I heard that the ‘Sadhana Mark’ doesn’t prevent cultists from attacking each other, but there’s an emblem that grants immunity, only possessed by Bishops and above, correct?”

This was intelligence Ciel had gathered earlier. The “Sadhana Mark” didn’t magically make cultists friendly towards each other; recruitment relied more on the “Missionary’s” brainwashing.

Loyalty to the Church was one aspect, but the true purpose of the “Sadhana Mark” was to prevent lower-ranking cultists from resisting Bishops and higher-ranking members holding the special emblem.

It was a control mechanism.

Ciel’s goal now was to obtain this emblem.

“Yes, Your Highness the Saintess.” Braque extended a trembling hand and painstakingly removed the gold watch from his left wrist.

With slight force, he crushed the watch casing and extracted a coin-sized emblem bearing the nested semicircle and circle church logo.

“Simply holding this prevents attacks from other transcendents and ordinary people bearing the ‘Sadhana Mark’ who are third-tier or below, Your Highness the Saintess.” Braque raised both hands, presenting the emblem to Ciel.

Ciel took the emblem, examined it closely, then pocketed it—if redeemed in reality and kept in storage, she wouldn’t have to worry about being randomly attacked by Divine Advent Church members bearing the mark.

Intelligence gathered, emblem obtained. Now, she just had to wait for the spiritual being’s time to expire and check Braque’s status.

If he remained under her control, then there was no problem.

If not, then before he lost control, she would shoot him dead.

Voom—

Suddenly, a familiar buzzing sounded in Ciel’s mind. She frowned, watching her right hand flicker.

Temporal Disorder? At this time?

I’m not done playing yet!

Using the “Echo of the Silver-White Timebinder” during the sacrifice earlier had rewound Ciel’s personal time, granting her the one-hour “Temporal Disorder” negative status.

She could only watch her form flicker continuously, frowning, praying she would switch to the desired save file.

If she turned into the gambler, by the time she woke up, she might have already followed Braque to the Divine Advent Church’s Holy See as the Saintess—the “Gambler” still had the unremoved “Sadhana Mark.”

“Tsk...” Seeing her right hand flicker and reveal the still-unhealed burn marks, “Instigator” Ciel clicked her tongue in disappointment.

Soon, a flash of silver-white light passed. Red curly hair, hands wrapped in bandages—”Avenger” Ciel replaced “Instigator” Ciel where she stood.

Ciel stood still for a moment. After a long pause, she slowly shifted her gaze to Braque before her.

The burn on her arm stimulated her nerves. Flames of anger burned in Ciel’s chest.

“Why does it have to be me... encountering this kind of thing...” Ciel muttered to herself, resentment over her disrupted peaceful life festering within.

Her eyes slowly shifted left, seeing only one wing remaining on the spiritual being’s back.

Time was almost up.

A black shadow emerged from behind Ciel and began searching through the pile of corpses.

Soon, a dagger and a hand axe were presented to Ciel by the black shadow.

She glanced at them, ignored the dagger, and picked up the hand axe.

Ciel looked down calmly at Braque kneeling before her and spoke slowly:

“Lie down, Braque.”

Braque obediently lay down before Ciel.

“Spread your legs, spread your arms.”

Braque assumed a spread-eagle position without any resistance.

“Instigator” Ciel was too frivolous, always thinking in strange directions, prone to causing disaster.

Fortunately, the side effect of temporal disorder brought the steady “Avenger” Ciel to the forefront.

And “Avenger” Ciel was very good at neutralizing all dangers.

Like the potential attack from Braque, who might suddenly regain his senses after the spiritual being disappeared.

Ciel slowly raised her right hand and swung down violently.

Schlick—!

Braque’s left arm was instantly severed, connected only by some shattered bone fragments and muscle.

Schlick—!

Blood spurted. Braque’s left arm was completely detached!

Ciel kicked his left arm aside and circled around the tormented, despairing Braque to his right side.

Chop—

Chop—

Chop—

Sounds like a butcher chopping bones echoed throughout the silent sanctuary.

Soon, Ciel, her face splattered with blood, stood beside the now limbless, barely breathing Braque. She slowly raised her hand, pointing the blood-dripping hand axe at the spiritual being.

“Before he dies... get lost.” Ciel spoke.

The terrifying half-human, half-insect creature looked at Ciel and nodded repeatedly. Soon, countless starlight dust motes departed from its body and dissipated directly. Kitty’s corpse, restored to its original state, collapsed onto the ground.

Ciel lowered her gaze to the “Radiance Bishop” Braque lying on the floor and asked slowly:

“Who... am I?”

Braque, his face covered in tears and snot from the intense pain, spat out a mouthful of blood. His breath was weak, yet he spoke with fervent fanaticism, “Saintess... Your Highness...”

“Very good.”

Crack—

Ciel bent down and brought the axe down onto his forehead. Blood and brain matter splattered—Braque, a third-tier “Radiance Bishop,” died completely within the underground sanctuary of Deton Manor in Berren City.

Clack, clack—

Ciel shook the axe, freeing it from where it was lodged in Braque’s skull. She looked at her flickering arm, indicating that “Temporal Disorder” was about to randomly select another save file.

“Your plan... is no longer needed either.”

Ciel raised the hand axe flat to her right side and swung it violently towards her own temple. Simultaneously, under her control, the black shadow behind her plunged a dagger directly into her own heart.

Almost instantly, Ciel succumbed to death. Her vision filled with nothing but vast whiteness...