The sun dipped below the horizon, painting the Capital’s sky with a magnificent blend of golden reds and purples.
On the open ground outside the Abandoned Workshop, Allen de Laval stood with his hands behind his back, quietly admiring the breathtaking dusk.
The colors stretching across the sky were so dazzling they seemed to intoxicate the soul, as if the Creator had carelessly spilled a palette of vibrant hues.
Allen squinted slightly, savoring this brief moment of peace and grandeur.
Not far off, the Heretic Inquisition Squad brought by Victor Solen was tensely watching him. This five-man team was well-equipped:
The Heavy Shield Knight was burly, wielding a massive tower shield like a moving fortress; the Elite Crossbowman’s sharp eyes gripped a fine steel crossbow; the Combat Nun’s demeanor was gentle, but she held a menacing Wolf-Tooth Club; the Swordsman carried a greatsword on his back, radiating steady calm; and the Field Medic bore a bulging Medical Kit, her expression somber.
The tense atmosphere in the air eventually affected Allen’s enjoyment of the sunset.
He shifted his gaze to the squad, beginning to assess their combat capabilities with interest.
Tank, healer, ranged damage, melee damage, support… a very standard RPG party setup.
Allen had initially thought the nun was a healing class.
But seeing the Field Medic, then glancing at the nun’s Wolf-Tooth Club that sharply contradicted her gentle aura, he realized the Combat Nun might actually be capable of weakening Marks, fitting perfectly into a support role.
Though lacking an Engraved Mark, the Heavy Shield Knight’s steady steps and effortless posture revealed physical fitness far beyond normal, clearly the result of special training or enhancements.
This squad should handle a single Pseudo-Mark Knight without trouble, and could even contend with an average Mark Bearer.
Thinking of Anna’s exaggerated brute strength, Allen guessed the Church likely possessed some kind of bio-enhancement technology far ahead of its time.
Still, Anna’s ability to knock out a Pseudo-Mark Knight with a single punch was a bit over the top.
Allen had reason to suspect Anna was actually one of the Heretic Inquisition’s trump cards.
Sending their ace to shadow Allen as an “Observer”?
How did the Heretic Inquisition know Allen was lacking high-level combat power? They were surprisingly thoughtful!
After sizing up the others, Allen’s scrutinizing gaze finally settled on the unfamiliar Combat Nun.
She looked about sixteen or seventeen, with a delicate face, dressed in a form-fitting battle suit modified from the nun’s habit for greater mobility.
Her outfit wasn’t particularly alluring, but strangely matched Allen’s aesthetic for a “military-armed girl.”
What truly piqued Allen’s interest was the material of her clothing. Though it seemed like ordinary fabric, it subtly exuded an extraordinary toughness.
Allen was curious—just how advanced had the Church’s materials science become?
If the Church could manufacture high-strength Carbon Nanotubes, then the biggest obstacle to the Space Elevator—the cable—would be easily solved.
The “Observer” had only given humanity half a century; there was no time to reinvent the wheel.
Allen could only hope the Church already possessed a large cache of advanced technologies; otherwise, even the fastest development couldn’t possibly reclaim all the technological prerequisites for the space age in just fifty years.
Under Allen’s probing gaze, the young Combat Nun blushed faintly and awkwardly shrank behind the tall Heavy Shield Knight, only revealing a pair of wary yet curious eyes.
Instead of retreating, Allen smiled and waved at her.
“Ah!” The nun let out a small exclamation, like a startled rabbit, and instantly hid her entire head behind the shield.
Before arriving, Victor had repeatedly warned the squad members that Allen de Laval was an extremely cunning and dangerous individual who must be treated with vigilance.
Now, that warning seemed justified.
It was probably only a dangerous fellow like Allen who dared to tease members of the Heretic Inquisition so shamelessly.
“Allen, is teasing innocent nuns fun for you?” Marianne’s sharp voice came from behind.
She and Anna had just emerged from the Workshop and caught the scene.
Anna was quite happy, excitedly waving at the familiar face, “Sister Sophia! Come play! Allen’s super interesting!”
The nun named Sophia only peeked out cautiously upon hearing Anna’s voice, gently but firmly declining, “Anna, you stay by his side. After all, you’re stronger than all of us combined.”
Allen was a little surprised by Sophia’s words.
Anna alone could hold her own against a fully trained squad?
This naturally naive little creature really was one of the Heretic Inquisition’s trump cards!
Getting such a top-tier warrior with just food was a great bargain.
Allen grinned inwardly.
His eyes flicked back to Anna’s similarly material battle suit, and a mischievous idea formed.
“Anna,” Allen said with a smile, “If I buy you some cake, can I touch your outfit?”
“Sure, sure!” Anna agreed instantly, her big eyes sparkling.
“Really?” Allen feigned hesitation, “The Inquisition doesn’t have any secrecy rules about that, right?”
“Uh… I forgot? Should be fine, right?” Anna tilted her head innocently.
“Then I won’t be polite~”
Thump thump thump, the Church’s secrets, I shall unveil them!
Allen’s lips curled into an “evil” grin as he rubbed his hands like a cat ready to steal a fish.
The five in the squad instantly tensed!
The crossbowman’s finger hovered over the trigger, the swordsman gripped his sword’s hilt tighter, and the Heavy Shield Knight instinctively stepped half a pace forward.
Sophia muttered softly, holding her forehead, “Little Anna, you’ve been tricked by this evil man! Use your iron fist on him!”
Smack!
A precise chop struck the back of Allen’s head.
“Idiot!” Marianne crossed her arms and glared at him, fuming, “If you want to touch someone, you can touch me anytime!”
Allen rubbed his head and glared back, “What’s so special about you? Are you wearing Nanomaterial Armor?”
Marianne looked down at her blood-stained Noble Dress, then at Anna’s cool battle suit, her expression suddenly dimming as she murmured, “Can I still become a Combat Nun?”
“Definitely not, you idiot!” Allen said, half amused, half exasperated.
Just then, Victor Solen came out of the Workshop, having finished gathering testimony and confirming Old Jack’s heretic status. He happened to overhear the phrase “Nanomaterial Armor.”
His steps halted, pupils constricting.
That term… he’d only seen it in ancient Church fragments recording lost history!
Was “Nanomaterial Armor” just some nonsense Allen blurted out, or did he really know what it meant?!
Victor’s wariness deepened.
He suppressed his rising emotions and scanned the scene.
The squad maintained their alert stance; Anna clung affectionately to Allen’s side.
Their interaction gave Victor a strange illusion: their relationship didn’t feel like peers, but more like master and pet.
Suspicious! Very suspicious!
What kind of mind-altering potion had Allen de Laval fed to this pure nun?
Anna, the representative Combat Nun, did not derive her core ability from Marks or Pseudo-Marks, but from a rare “Negation Field” born purely from faith and spiritual will.
The existence of Combat Nuns could greatly weaken or even temporarily “silence” nearby Mark Bearers’ powers.
Pseudo-Mark Knights’ abilities would become unstable or even fail, and Mark Bearers’ powers would be interfered with.
Blood Priests might resist some of the suppression with stronger spirit or special means, but the effect remained significant.
The Church first discovered this trait centuries ago during the brutal war with the Crimson Spiral Cult.
Anna was no ordinary Combat Nun.
Her combat power was immense, and she was pure beyond the possibility of corruption.
She was the Lord’s most steadfast believer, absolutely impossible to bribe.
Victor had sent her to the Laval household precisely because of a special ability—she could instinctively sense nearby Mark bloodlines and Demonic Corruption like a hunting hound tracking scents.
Before her, no heretic could hide.
Yet, this nun who instinctively rejected Marks and Heresy showed Allen de Laval nothing but complete love and trust.
This bewildering contradiction pointed toward a shocking truth—
Could Allen de Laval be not a servant of the evil gods, but instead bear some higher-order Divine Power granted by the Lord?
At that thought, Victor’s heart almost skipped a beat.
As an Inner Circle member, he knew well the Church’s ultimate trump card hidden in the Holy Land.
He had long suspected the “God’s Messenger” was not a miracle, but some project—like the Nirvana Project’s product.
Archbishop Luthien’s special attention, the cryptic hint that “He has already come among men”… countless fragments now pieced together to a chilling conclusion—Allen de Laval was the prophesied one?
But Victor’s gaze caught Allen’s devil-may-care villainous smile and recalled the pitiful corpse in the Workshop, and that absurd idea instantly shattered.
No, impossible! If he were a Messenger, he would be a walking disaster for humanity aligned with the evil gods!
Victor Solen clenched his fists.
Humanity was on the brink; he must expose this dangerous figure’s true face and never allow an evil god’s apostle to run rampant among men!
The Crimson Spiral Cult’s Star Listener was the bloodiest cautionary tale.
The Star Listener’s true name had long been erased from all Church records. Once a core Inner Circle member and a brilliant, esteemed scientist.
His research focused on the essence, origin, and potential applications of Marks; he was among the Church’s top Mark scholars.
Centuries ago, during a forbidden and deeply probing study, he claimed to have “heard the voices of the stars.”
He declared those voices revealed the universe’s “ultimate truth,” showing him humanity’s true enemy—
Not some evil lurking in the stars, but the Creator who fashioned this world and imprisoned mankind within it.
He believed the flesh was the Creator’s shackle, and only by breaking free and embracing the “truth” of the stars’ depths could humanity gain ultimate salvation and freedom.
His words were deemed madness and blasphemy by the Church hierarchy, who believed he was either mentally broken or corrupted by unknown forces, and tried to “put him to rest.”
Yet he had already stolen and deleted core Church secrets on Mark research, especially dangerous technologies for artificially inducing and transplanting Mark powers, and escaped the Church.
He then founded the Crimson Spiral Cult, proclaiming himself the Star Listener, launching a long and fierce clandestine war against the Church.
The Star Listener’s greatest “achievement” was perfecting and mass-producing Pseudo-Mark technology.
Ignoring Church ethics, he conducted countless brutal live Sacrifice Experiments, forcibly implanting unstable Mark power into ordinary humans to create units like Pseudo-Mark Knights.
Many terrifying folktales that linger to this day stemmed from the Star Listener’s horrific experiments!
His defection and the disaster he wrought shook the Church’s foundation to its core.
In response, the Church transformed from a secret guardian of civilization into a true religious institution.
The Heretic Inquisition was born from this context, with a single unchanging goal—
“Purge all enemies of humanity, by any means necessary, to ensure the continuation of human civilization!”
The Star Listener himself, after years in exile, had continually altered himself with evil god knowledge and become an indescribably terrifying entity.
When the Crimson Spiral Cult’s power reached its height and posed a massive threat to humanity, the Church risked everything, even exposure to “Him,” to deploy an ultimate weapon from lost pre-civilization technology.
This weapon had the terrifying power to instantly wipe out a city. Still, even this attack only severely wounded the Star Listener; it did not destroy him.
He then went dormant for a time, continuing his shadowy schemes.
Just one such evil god apostle had already battered human civilization. If another appeared…
Humanity wouldn’t survive long enough to face “Him” before being utterly destroyed by the evil gods!
To purge human enemies like Allen de Laval—that was Victor Solen’s ultimate mission as an Inquisition judge!