CHAPTER 117: GATEWAY TO HELL

The cathedral was in chaos. Some concerned citizens passing by had helpfully called the police, bringing a whole group of officers to the front door. Bishop Keith frantically tried to deal with the mess, having no energy to spare for the officers. He had several clergy members block them at the main entrance, cooperating but not allowing them inside.

If asked, just claim that it was science. The church was conducting educational chemistry experiments using white phosphorus, which caused an accident. Thankfully, there were no casualties.

The police officers looked puzzled, mainly because the clergy members were pale-faced and unsteady on their trembling legs, occasionally covering their throats and dry-heaving. Their strange behavior, combined with the caller’s description of all the crackling and splashing sounds and the wall-breaking and explosions, painted quite a chaotic picture, making the officers’ imaginations run wild. Perhaps, maybe, they had just had an orgy inside.

You damned clergy members, what is this, the second Renaissance?

The officers grumbled as they left, warning the clergy members not to disturb the peace, and that if there was a next time, the person in charge would need to come to the station to give a proper explanation.

Inside the church, Bishop Keith looked at the ransacked second and third sections of the warehouse with tears welling in his eyes like a child. Wayne consoled him: out with the old, in with the new. People should look forward; the Church of Heavenly Father would never move ahead if it always dwelt on its past glories.

It made so much sense that Keith almost believed it.

Recalling the scene before losing consciousness, Keith scowled and said through clenched teeth, “Archdeacon Wayne, did you really wake me up right after defeating the enemy?”

“Absolutely. I’d swear on the goddess’s name!” Wayne’s expression turned serious and displeased. “Bishop Keith, it’s a fact that I defeated the demon’s servant and awakened you from the nightmare. Before questioning me, you should thank me first.”

Keith’s eyes twitched. Before he could say something, Wayne interrupted him, “As a bishop, you failed to protect the dignity of your faith, allowing the demon’s servant to freely enter the cathedral. The Cambrook County’s cathedral fell, and the theology college didn’t escape the same fate. As the highest-ranking official, this is a grave blunder you’ve committed.”

Keith’s heart sank, his entire face distorted with bitterness. Wayne was right. He had to take responsibility for everything.

“Fortunately, the problem isn’t too serious. You resisted the demon’s temptation at the last moment.” Wayne narrowed his eyes, whispering in Keith’s ear. “Remember? When I was struggling during the battle, you stepped forward and joined forces with me to eliminate the demon’s servant.”

“Re-really?” Keith’s voice trembled. He truly remembered nothing.

“Of course. You and I barely know each other. We’re no friends, just simple acquaintances. Without benefits, why would I share the glory with you?” Wayne huffed.

Keith shuddered, stammering, “But, but...”

“Hush. It was you, Keith, Bishop of Saint Dominic’s Cathedral, who stood up at the crucial moment to defeat the demon’s servant, protecting the Church of Heavenly Father’s sacred dignity and preventing God’s glory from being tarnished! It wasn’t me, an outsider and an archdeacon of the Church of Nature who just happened to pass by!!”

Wayne exclaimed sternly, each word deafening and hitting Keith deep in the heart, cementing his resolution. Yes, he needed that glory. Otherwise, his severe punishment would be the least of the problems compared to the damage the church’s reputation would suffer.

“Mr. Wayne, you’re right. I remember now. Everything went exactly as you said.” Keith clutched his chest, feeling the need to confess before the cross. Father, I’ve fallen!

“That’s right.” Wayne patted him on the shoulder. “You’re an excellent bishop who single-handedly bore all the burden to preserve the church’s dignity. Believe me, you’re truly a hero.”

And you’re truly a devil!

Keith was close to having a mental breakdown. After a moment, he stiffly thanked him.

“You’re welcome. It’s all for upholding justice.” Wayne nodded. “Now that we’ve talked about honor, let’s talk business. As we agreed, the demon’s servant is yours, and the Holy Chalice is mine. We good?”

He felt no guilt for asking for payment. They weren’t close, so there was no emotional debt to owe and repay. Money was their only common language.

“Right. Of course. However, I need to examine the blasphemer’s corpse.”

Keith felt like he had forgotten something important. He hurried to the charred body—headless, blackened, emotionally blank. Not even the harshest torture would get the body talking. The scattered pieces of the head were in a similar state. Putting them back together wouldn’t help.

“Bishop.”

A clergy member hurried to the warehouse, his expression grim as he reported the situation to Keith in a quiet voice: the imprisoned criminal had vanished, and the evil god’s statue had disappeared without a trace. They had nothing left.

Keith’s pupils contracted. Ignoring Wayne, he rushed to the wall and cast a spell to open the magical portal to the fourth section. The priceless items were all there, including the paladin’s sword, the Holy Chalice, the sacred tomes, as well as the box containing the Holy Shroud on the top shelf. Even the damaged evil artifacts remained neatly arranged on the shelves.

Keith made a cross sign and breathed out a sigh of relief. He checked the holy relics and evil artifacts one by one.

Wayne trailed behind Keith, shaking his head at the dazzling array of jewelry and gems. The demon’s servant had failed to get to the deepest part of the treasure trove and ended up making off with only the ordinary riches, leaving the real treasure intact. How wonderful!

Keith checked through the items, holding up and touching the Holy Chalice before returning it to its place with a smile. Then he took the wooden box containing the Holy Shroud down and slowly opened it. His smile froze.

It was empty!

He couldn’t believe it, so he closed the box, took two breaths to calm himself, and then opened it again.

Still empty!

After repeating the same thing several times, his legs gave out, and he slumped against the shelf. “It’s over, over...”

“Careful, Bishop Keith.”

Wayne quickly went up to catch the Holy Chalice that nearly smashed Keith’s head. Thank goodness he reacted in time, or the chalice would’ve been damaged. He peered into the empty box, his heart sinking as well. “Bishop, what’s the significance of the shroud?”

“The Holy Shroud itself is nothing special, only an ordinary piece of linen. Because it was used to wrap the remains of Saint Dominic, however, it was imbued with sacred properties, making it a powerful holy relic.”

Bishop Keith closed his eyes with a pained look. “The Thousand-Eyed Demon’s statue and the dark mage disappeared. If I’m not mistaken, the demon has already descended during the days I was controlled. The Holy Shroud was one of the instruments for its descent.”

Keith knew less about the Holy Shroud than the Thousand-Eyed Demon, and he didn’t know that the Holy Shroud had already returned to its ‘rightful owner’. He only knew that he had become the demon’s accomplice, that the demon had likely completed the descent ritual in the cathedral.

“Already?!” Wayne’s expression also turned grim. He asked, “But where is the Thousand-Eyed Demon? I ventured alone into the demon’s nest, but I only encountered the demon’s servant and not the demon. Why?”

“Mr. Wayne, this is a church, not the demon’s nest...”

“Or perhaps the guy I killed was the demon.” Wayne ignored Keith in favor of analyzing to himself, frowning. “That’s not right, either. He was just a human. The Thousand-Eyed Demon had descended into the dark mage’s body. They weren’t the same person.”

He exchanged a look with Keith. Under Keith’s hopeful gaze, he ruthlessly pointed out the most likely explanation, “The demon has descended. I only managed to kill a subordinate of theirs. And since the demon wasn’t in the cathedral, they must have already left.”

Wayne wrapped up the Holy Chalice and said bluntly, “Bishop Keith, I need to report to Londan about this issue, and I hope that you’ll quickly notify your superiors as well. The situation is dire. Pull yourself together.”

His words were like a wake-up call. Keith tamped down his physical and mental pain, leaving the warehouse with Wayne to go to the office, where they called their respective superiors. The Thousand-Eyed Demon had descended in Cambrook County. The demon’s servant was taken out, but the demon remained at large.

Afterward, Wayne bade Keith farewell and returned to the base of the Church of Nature, finding Darcy working overtime. Darcy asked about the purpose of his return.

Wayne didn’t tell him about the Thousand-Eyed Demon’s descent. It was beyond Darcy’s capability, so telling him wouldn’t be any help. He only said that things would be dangerous in the short term, so they should shut down the base temporarily and stay inside.

They should wait for instructions from Londan and follow them.

***

That night, Wayne rushed back to Londan, his trunk packed full with stuff, and even the back seats were filled. In the passenger seat, the black robe was bundled up and stuffed inside the Holy Chalice.

The car stopped at the Lando Estate, where Megan had been waiting. She placed one hand on her chest and bowed slightly when she saw him.

“Young Master Wayne, the mistress is waiting for you in the study. Please follow me.”

“Thank you. Please prepare food. I’ll go to the dining room after talking with Master.” Nodding, he trailed after Megan. “Prepare plenty. I haven’t eaten in a long time, so I’ll be quite hungry today.”

“Understood.”

Megan watched him enter the study room. She instructed the servants to prepare dinner before quietly standing outside the closed door on Auston’s order. It wasn’t for a nefarious reason; he simply wanted to know what the master and student were chatting about and whether it involved stockings or other similar things.

“Explain clearly. What exactly happened with the evil god from hell?” Silvia sat behind the desk. When she saw her student, she lowered the documents in her hands and removed her glasses.

They had talked briefly on the phone, but Silvia only knew that the Thousand-Eyed Demon had descended to the mortal realm and nothing else.

“It went like this. The night I went to the base in Cambrook County...”

Wayne started from the beginning, from Darcy being invited to investigate the millipede infestation, to his own invitation to capture the demon’s followers, to Bishop Keith getting controlled, and finally the demon completing its descent in the cathedral. He spent ten minutes telling her everything he knew.

Silvia looked resigned. Although hell’s demons weren’t mortal enemies of the Life Alliance, the demons belonged to the evil god faction, and the Church of Nature couldn’t ignore them after encountering them. How troublesome!

Traditionally, evil gods fell into two categories: first, the demons inhabiting hell, and second, the mad mages wandering the Astral Plane, like the Lord of the Void. They were both known as evil gods, and having left the Chosen Land, they needed to meet certain conditions before they could descend.

“Master, no one knows what ritual was held to allow the Thousand-Eyed Demon to descend, only that the Holy Shroud was used. It’s hard to tell how powerful the demon would be, and we don’t know where they are...” Wayne was worried and pessimistic. “The world is too vast. It’ll be nearly impossible to find a demon hiding among mortals.”

Silvia smiled at him reassuringly. “Don’t underestimate the Church of Heavenly Father. They’ve fought demons for countless years, and there have been successful descents in the past. The church managed to drive them all back. Just because we can’t find the demon doesn’t mean that they can’t.”

That’s true. They’re the professionals.

Wayne thought about it and realized that his worry had been unwarranted. He said instead, “Master, I heard that the Church of Heavenly Father has very limited influence in Windsor. Will they seek our cooperation?”

“Perhaps, but they may not be able to afford our price.”

Silvia considered the possibility. The Church of Heavenly Father might use the Thousand-Eyed Demon as leverage to renegotiate with the royal family regarding their presence in Windsor. There would be quite a show.

Hell and heaven were mortal enemies. A demon’s arrival would be the biggest headache for the Church of Heavenly Father. While the Church of Nature would take the matter seriously, they wouldn’t consider defeating the demon their primary task.

Their priority was revitalizing the Church of Nature’s influence in Windsor, with the Darkness Knight and the Death Knight as their targets. Both had been off the radar for a while. Silvia hoped that they had gotten into a fight and killed each other somehow.

“Master, my hexagram has been completed.”

“Really? Let your big sister have a look.” Silvia was delighted, her eyes glinting with green light as she inspected Wayne. She saw a peculiar hexagram, with an additional hexagon around the star. Although it was strange, it wasn’t particularly special. Silvia’s own hexagram had been unusual until it normalized during the Golden Triangle stage.

Each mage’s hexagram differed in appearance. They weren’t all cut from the same mold. Most were influenced by the varying amounts of the four elements, resulting in irregular shapes. The hexagram within Wayne’s body was perfectly straight and level, conforming to the textbook standards, which was an excellent sign. As for the additional six sides, perhaps they had something to do with his special bloodline.

Silvia was curious about her student’s hexagram and even more curious about his bloodline. She wondered what kind of offspring it would produce when mixed with dragon blood.

She supported freedom of love. After examining him, she told Wayne to visit Veronica.

Wayne glanced out the window. It was late at night. If he went to Veronica’s room at this hour, it would likely result in his free fall. Another day, definitely maybe!

After leaving the study, he headed straight to the dining room, where dinner was already prepared. The generous portions pleased him. He picked up a plate and began inhaling food.

The changes in his life essence were too great, so he needed substantial nutrition. In other words, he needed to eat more for another growth spurt. Besides, the food was prepared by the Lando family. Eating more now would mean saving money for the Wayne household.

While Wayne was wolfing down food, Megan went to Auston and repeated the conversation between the master and student.

Auston toyed with the antique silver coin in his hand. Hearing about the Church of Heavenly Father getting ambushed and the Thousand-Eyed Demon descending in the cathedral, a look of worry appeared on his face. Based on what he knew about Londan, he suspected that the missing demon had sneaked into the city.

“To open the gateway to hell...”

“Heh, it won’t be that easy!”

He picked up the phone beside him and arranged a meeting between friends.

***

Meanwhile, Dawn Detective Agency, Commercial Street.

Several lamps were on in the office, where workers working overtime had fallen asleep at their desks. In a dark corner that light couldn’t reach, a shadow sat quietly.

The Thousand-Eyed Demon.

Footsteps approached, leaving wet shoe prints. Bo opened the office door. Looking at the millipede crawling at his feet, he stomped it before coldly staring at the man in the dark.

“Who are you?”

“What a sophisticated magical creation. You must be a wraith. I have to say your master is formidable. As expected of the Goddess of Death’s knight.”

The Thousand-Eyed Demon raised his hands.

“Don’t worry. I mean no harm. I’d like you to relay a message to the respected Death Knight—a demon from hell wishes to form an alliance with him.”