Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam-Chapter 933 - 198: Seeds of Suspicion (2)

His death not only removed the Church Court's last opposing faction for Carlo but also provided a perfect reason to launch a holy war. It incidentally tarnished Ave-Margaret and the empire's reputation, putting them at a significant disadvantage in public opinion before the war commenced.

This inevitably led Veronica to recall another strange event.

Similarly opposing the war against the empire was the Spirit Communication Sect's leader "Spirit Mother" Yayouma. On the day Carlo publicly declared war, someone in the Church Court witnessed Yayouma aggressively confronting Carlo at the Dawn Cathedral entrance.

What happened later was known to everyone.

Carlo used a miracle to heal Yayouma's eyes, which had been blind for many years, and Yayouma changed her stance, becoming a supporter of the war.

Yet, there were still some peculiarities.

When Yayouma left, her two followers did not come out with her, and after so many days, those two have never been seen again.

Veronica rolled up the parchment, took off her boots, and lay on the bed, trying to push these dangerous thoughts to the back of her mind to focus on the deaths of Dalant and Aurora. She closed her eyes, knowing she had to utilize daytime to replenish her energy, as she sensed that, in the days to come, she would live a life that defies normal hours.

The murderer used fear to turn the Crown of Dawn Cathedral into a "closed room," and even during the day, those who witnessed Aurora's death among the sect leaders dared not leave the cathedral. They even ate and used the restroom in groups.

Clearly, the murderer's aim was achieved.

After working for a day and night, the already exhausted Veronica quickly fell asleep.

She was awakened by the cold.

Opening her eyes, she felt as if she lay in an ice cellar, the cold invading not only her body but also her soul. The weak starlight shone through the slightly open window, enveloped by the cold. As a Judge of the Life Divine Teachings, she rarely experienced such negative emotions like fear.

Veronica inexplicably felt that someone had entered this room while she was asleep, perhaps the murderer.

The thought of being watched by the murderer while defenseless intensified her fear, allowing her to somewhat understand the feelings of the sect leaders.

She lay frozen like a wooden doll in bed until the urgent footsteps interrupted her thoughts.

"Miss Veronica!"

The call from her subordinates regained her control over her body, allowing her to flip out of bed, only then realizing her undergarments inside the secret silver armor were already drenched with sweat.

"The Pope requests your immediate presence at the Praise Sanctuary!"

"Understood."

Veronica immediately grasped the Pope's intention—to bring people under the Goddess's protective barrier, the most effective strategy to soothe the populace at the moment.

The Praise Sanctuary is not the main hall of the cathedral but is located deep within a complex, housing an ancient and concealed circular hall.

The Praise Sanctuary is claimed to be the original foundation of the Crown of Dawn Cathedral, where the Goddess of Life once appeared and injected vitality into a withered world tree sapling.

Residual blessings from the Goddess of Life remain there, making it an absolutely safe and warm haven in the eyes of the believers.

At this moment, Ethan was also tailing the group, and he found his way to the dome architecture outside the Praise Sanctuary. A layer of soft yet solid emerald light blocked his path, and despite his attempts, this light remained like a hard wall.

A quarter-hour earlier, Carlo had led several sect leaders into the light.

"This is an advanced ancient barrier magic, capable of recognizing the identity of intruders. Only high-level believers acknowledged by the Goddess of Life can take people inside."

Lindong touched the light encircling the cathedral and explained to those outside.

Little Dark imitated her, but when her hand touched the light, it was bounced back, causing her entire body to bristle, and her two pigtails stood up in defiance of physics. She let out a brief "Meow!" in pain.

Lindong slightly curled her lips and added, "It seems it also contains a defensive barrier that can launch counterattacks against any dark creatures attempting to enter."

Few are more versed in barrier magic than her.

Back in the academy, professors brought out all their restrained ancient magic books to prevent her from sneaking into forbidden areas.

Given the intensity of this barrier magic, if a weak dark creature attempted to touch it, they would be purified instantly. It's no wonder Carlo would gather sect leaders to hide here, "Given Carlo's skills, he would never be able to set up a barrier of such strength and scale—this is most certainly a barrier personally imposed by the Goddess of Life."

"Go die! Eat my black hole, wuwu oh oh—"

Little Dark's chanting abruptly stopped. Before the black hole formed, Ethan picked her up from behind; her arms flailing in the air.

"Stop!"

If one violently breaks the barrier, everyone will notice something amiss, which is far from Ethan's plan.

An unexpected "absolute safe zone" has sparked a more brilliant idea in him.

He guessed Carlo was now delivering a rousing speech to all the sect leaders, boasting about how unbreakable this barrier, created by the hand of the Goddess of Life, is.

As Lindong suggested, only a few high-level believers in the Life Divine Teachings have permission to pass through the barrier. After Julius's death, Carlo likely became the only one holding such permission.

Fortunately, he happens to know a friend.

Thinking this, he picked up the communication crystal and dialed Miss Keroy at the Holy City hotel.

"Hello? Miss Keroy? Let me speak to Mary…Yes, it's Senzi. We're in the back garden of your home, a place called the Praise Sanctuary, and we're facing some issues. Great! We'll wait for you here."

...............

"Rest assured, there's no safer place on earth than here!"

Carlo stood before the goddess's statue, delivering a speech to the sect leaders.

The apprehension and restlessness began to subside with the energy filling the barrier. The only downside was the desolate and dilapidated environment due to the sanctuary being seldom used. Untrimmed vegetation covered the building, and the house was only equipped with the simplest furniture.

The last time the cathedral was renovated was 130 years ago when only the vegetation was trimmed.

No one anticipated that one day the believers would be forced into the Praise Sanctuary, much like nobody believed that before Dalant and Aurora's murder, an assassin could be wild enough to kill at the Crown of Dawn Cathedral.

Carlo then brought Veronica into the barrier, introducing her to the sect leaders.

"Veronica, whom I personally appointed as Judge, I believe she will uncover the truth and find the murderer soon. Until then, please stay here and await her good news!"

Veronica sneaked a glance at Carlo; her earlier "bold" speculation made her somewhat unnatural when facing him.

"Veronica."

Carlo looked at her with eyes full of righteousness, "Bring us some good news."

"Yes, regarding Mr. Dalant and Miss Aurora's murder…"

"And Bishop Solari."

Carlo immediately interrupted her, adding, "Don't forget our beloved ascetic was also brutally murdered by the killer."

"…Yes, and Solari."

Veronica faced the silent crowd, with all eyes focused on her.

The sect leaders looked eager, yet such eagerness lasted less than a minute.

Afterward, fear once again climbed onto their faces.

Everyone's gaze focused anxiously on Veronica, or more accurately, below her nose.

"Nosebleed, you have a nosebleed!"

The speaker's voice trembled.

This sentence immediately enveloped everyone present in fear once more.

Just a day earlier, they witnessed the same scene.

It was before Dalant's death, coincidentally, when he too faced everyone and delivered a speech.