Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 10 "The Gathering Storm"

Now that he had made up his mind again, Angel did not take the stagecoach to the steam train station in Tingen City as originally planned, but went directly to a hired carriage parked at the corner of the street.

"Go to the Dragon Bar in the dock area." She said to the coachman sitting on the driver's seat with his legs crossed and waiting for work. The dock on the outskirts of the city has the largest underground trading market in Tingen City. Before dealing with Mrs. Sharon, she must make adequate preparations.

"It costs 12 pence to get to the wharf area. If you want to take a carriage back, why not hire a carriage, it costs 2 soli an hour, and you can go wherever you want." The coachman gave a quotation.

Without hesitation, Angel chartered the carriage, and now it was time to race against time. She had no time to find another carriage to go back.

Looking at the rapidly moving street scene outside the window, Angel closed his eyes, planning his next move.

Originally in her plan, dealing with Mrs. Sharon required at least two weeks of preparation time.Not only does she have to transform her knowledge and technology that doesn't belong to this world into combat power, but she also needs the cooperation of several official Extraordinary people to have a chance of winning in a sneak attack.Once caught in a frontal battle, with her current strength of Sequence Nine, injuries or even death are very likely.

Now that the preparation time has been shortened to 24 hours, the success rate has undoubtedly dropped significantly.

Angel wasn't sure when his words in St. Selina Church would reach the ears of the official Extraordinary. Maybe they had already started to act now. When he returned to Narcissus Street and opened the door of his house, he would be knocked down by a group of big men. Maybe until he made an appointment on time and went to Mrs. Sharon's house, the group of dull people didn't respond.

All she can do is to increase her strength as soon as possible.

It is definitely too late to continue to improve your own sequence. Maybe after the promotion is successful, Cole Granger of Sequence 7 can deal with Mrs. Sharon of a higher sequence in one fell swoop under a sneak attack, but now he is just an "assassin" of Sequence 9.

What's more, Angel doesn't intend to use the precious lives of ordinary people as his own upgrade experience according to the name of the "Assassin" potion like Cole did.

That being the case, they can only arm themselves with foreign objects to increase their combat capabilities.

……

Passing through the entire city of Tingen, from the church in the north to the wharf area in the south, the flow of people on the street gradually thinned out, and there were fewer and fewer gas lamps on the street.

If it wasn't for the fact that Cole Granger came to buy Extraordinary materials a few times in his memory, Angel would almost have thought that the coachman had taken her to other places with some strange intentions.

It wasn't until the low and narrow buildings disappeared from the window and the Tussock River reflecting the crimson moonlight appeared that she was sure that she had arrived at the dock area.

The coachman parked the carriage beside a small road by the river. At the end of the road was a stretch of wharf work area and cargo warehouse. During the day, it was a busy scene for loading and unloading goods and selling goods, but it was extremely quiet at night.

"Ma'am, the security here is not very good at night. If you want to go to that bar... well, I didn't say anything." He kindly reminded Angel who got out of the car and put on the hood again, but when she saw her pat the holster on her leg, she immediately shut her mouth wisely.

The "Dragon Bar" is the only entertainment facility in Tingen City Wharf. During the day, it is crowded with workers who have a drink or two in their spare time. After nightfall, there are also drunks who do not want to leave. There is also a dog-and-mouse game like "Wild Heart".

Pushing open the heavy door, there was a whistling sound mixed with a strong smell of alcohol. Two shirtless men on the boxing ring were vigorously waving their fists to attack each other. The collision of fists and flesh caused bursts of cheers. More than a dozen drinkers around waved wine glasses to cheer for the players they supported. No one paid attention to Angel's arrival.

She bypassed the boxing ring and came to the billiards room behind the bar, where two people were playing, and several other people were discussing around the table. When they saw her enter the room, they immediately fell silent.

Angel explained the purpose of coming, and several people looked at each other, and quietly moved away from the deep part of the room, where there was a secret door.

She pulled the candlestick by the window to open the secret door, and then walked through several empty rooms to a wide area.

This is a warehouse backed by the Evil Dragon Bar, which was rented out as an underground trading market. It is now the peak period of trading, and there are people everywhere setting up stalls, standing or sitting, waiting for customers to come, and more people walking between the stalls, exchanging prices.

Most of the items sold here do not contain Extraordinary attributes, but are just ordinary mystic items, such as prayer candles, spices used in various real or fake ceremonies, crystals and ores that are more like ornaments than materials.The people who came to buy were mainly mysticism enthusiasts. They bought these things only to meet their own needs or the needs of the small circle, and they did not involve extraordinary events.

Of course, Extraordinary people like Cole Granger are also among the buyers. The auxiliary materials needed for various potions, materials for divination or cursing rituals, and base materials for making Extraordinary items can all be found here.

Walking around in the market and listening to several transactions, Angel selected the items he needed.

She first bought most of the reagents from a vendor who sold the prepared chemical reagents, and bought the wooden box with a lining and a handle that he used to store the reagents.

Then she took the wooden box and wandered among the stalls, and quickly filled the wooden box with glowing lizard scales, scream grass and other materials. The last piece of star crystal weighing about ten grams was packed in a cloth bag by herself and put into the pocket of her jacket.

Declining the market guard's offer to help carry it, Angel carried the wooden box back to the billiard room along the original road, passed through the crowded boxing ring, and returned to the hired carriage waiting for her by the side of the road.

"Let's go to Narcissus Street... No, let's go to Iron Cross Street first." She explained the destination to the coachman, and before returning home, she had to retrieve the lady's pistol that was left there a few days ago. Now any weapon is precious.

Regardless of the filthiness of the wooden box, Angel carefully placed it on her lap, standing on tiptoe to isolate the bumps of the carriage, which was an important guarantee for her survival tomorrow night.

……

Pushing open the door of No. 6 Narcissus Street, a note used to warn of intruders fell down, and Angel didn't know whether to regret or be thankful for a moment.

When she came back in the afternoon, she dropped the paper bag containing bread, potatoes, and celery on the table in the living room. Now she didn't have the mood and time to cook. She just picked up a loaf of bread, tore off half of it, and took a bite, carrying the wooden box to the basement.

The mutton that was thrown down two days ago had already begun to emit a peculiar smell, successfully masking the slight smell of blood, but at this moment she regretted doing so, because she would be accompanied by this unpleasant smell in the basement for the next night.

"If the study wasn't full of inflammables, I wouldn't be here to work."

Holding his nose and walking into the basement, Angel lit a candle, looked around, and finally decided to endure the discomfort.When the fire is lit later, the temperature in the basement will rise, and the chimney effect will suck most of the smell away.

She sorted the materials she bought on the stone table, lit the stove next to it, preheated the crucible she picked up from the kitchen, and then processed the materials with the alchemy tools left by Cole.

The surface part of the lizard scales was scraped off with a knife, soaked in nitric acid in a test tube, the screeching grass was extracted with alcohol, the calcium carbide was ground into powder, the resin was opened and kept warm next to the crucible, and the star crystal was cut into small pieces of the same amount...

As the movements changed from jerky to proficient, Angel seemed to have returned to the time when she made her own combat equipment in the Knights Templar, recalling all the memories of the past, her eyes were sour, and she almost shed tears.

Ah, it turned out that it was smoked by the vapor of the etching solution, that's all right.

Slightly heat a brand new .0.45-inch pistol bullet to melt the adhesive, remove the bullet, and pour out the propellant.Angel picked up the carving knife, concentrated his energy, concentrated his own spirituality on the tip of the knife, and spewed it out.

The first spell was engraved with precision like a machine.

"Storm Convergence", this is the easiest type of special ammunition that the Illuminati Church possessed on Earth. By repeatedly hitting the same position, it can superimpose higher and higher damage. Even if it is used alone, its penetrating power is far stronger than that of ordinary bullets.

Due to the characteristic that repeated hits can superimpose damage, "Storm Gathering" is usually used on automatic weapons, but in the Kingdom of Loen, automatic weapons such as repeating rifles and six-barreled machine guns and semi-automatic weapons are all military-controlled equipment, and it is impossible for Angel to get them. Therefore, she can only make revolver bullets, and use the "Assassin"'s physical coordination ability to aim at the same part as much as possible to trigger the bullet's characteristics.

The manufacture of "Storm Convergence" requires engraving complex patterns on the shell, and then filling it with spiritually-rich materials. The bullet is made of mithril mixed with crystal powder. The soft bullet can reduce the occurrence of ricochet and make the hit point more concentrated. After the bullet hits the target, it will be more easily broken and release powerful energy.And after receiving the blessing of the goddess in prayer, these characteristics will become more prominent.

Although the engraved patterns representing the characteristics of various bullets belong to physical principles, they should be common in this world.But separated by a whole world, praying obviously cannot get the blessing of the Goddess of Light. Angel is not sure how effective the engraving will be.

The materials could not use the original formula, but Cole Granger's poor mystic knowledge, used the same type of deterioration in this world instead, and the bullets could only use lead with a lower melting point. Fortunately, the star crystal was rich in spirituality, which improved the grade of the bullets a bit.

Angel carved engravings all over the shell, and filled it with the essence of scream grass after further processing with resin and etching solution. The lead mass was melted in the crucible, then added with star crystals, poured into an iron mold to make a new bullet, and reinstalled after cooling, it was a completed "Storm Gathering" bullet.

Her craftsmanship is not unfamiliar, and after calculating the time spent, Angel reckoned that she would be able to deal with all the bullets on hand before dawn.But before that, she planned to try to see if praying for blessings was effective.

Holding the cartridge case tightly in her hand, she drew a circle with four points on her chest with one finger, and said a prayer in her mouth, praying for the blessing of the Goddess of Light.

Unsurprisingly, there was no reaction to the bullet.

Sighing secretly, Angel opened his palms, and the brass bullet case reflected the dim light of the candle in his hands, which was no different from before.

Such an incomplete "storm gathering" only has the characteristics of the material and the engraving itself, and its lethality to Extraordinary people will be greatly reduced.

Although she was disappointed, it was also expected by Angel. She did not expect to be able to get help from the gods on Earth through prayers in a different world.Picking up a bullet casing again, she planned to replace the part of the engraving representing the power of the gods with a normal engraving, which would at least increase some physical damage.

When she was about to complete the engraving of the bullet, she suddenly remembered the strange events that happened in St. Selina Church tonight, and what the mysterious voice said.

"Those who move forward bravely will be rewarded."

After all, Cole was also a believer of the Evernight Goddess before he was alive... With the mentality of trying, Angel replaced the engraving of the part where he prayed for divine power to the Goddess of the Evernight, which he had seen in the church before—the crimson moon dotted with stars and surrounded by half.After processing the second bullet casing in the same way, she held the bullet casing in accordance with the previous praying ceremony, drew a crimson moon on her chest, and prayed to the goddess:
"The Goddess of the Night, higher than the stars and older than eternity.

"You are Lord Crimson, Mother of Secrets, Queen of Calamity and Fear.

"Lord of Sleep and Silence..."

These are the prayers of the Church of the Evernight Goddess in Cole Granger's memory. He was once a less devout believer of the Evernight Goddess, but since he became an "Assassin" and had his hands stained with the blood of innocents, he never dared to step into the church again.

"I beg you...

"I pray that you bless this item...

"Give it the power to fight against evil and injustice..."

Body of apostate, soul of a pagan, does such a prayer really work?

After Angel silently said the prayer, he opened his eyes, and a little blush leaked from the clenched right fingers.

She opened her palm in surprise, and there was a red electric light jumping and flowing in the originally dim engraving, and the brass bullet casing emitted a dazzling crimson light as if it had been ignited, and it took a long time to dissipate.

Undoubtedly, this is already a complete "Storm Gathering" bullet with the power of prayer added, without even testing, it can be confirmed that this is no less than the standard ammunition produced in batches in her original world.

Prayer... worked?

Angel took a deep breath. She wasn't sure whether it was the blessing of the gods, or whether the production method coincided with the laws of this world, so she successfully reproduced the complete bullet effect.

But this does not prevent expressing gratitude to the Goddess of the Night.

She tapped four times on her chest, outlining the crimson moon. Compared with the performance of the ceremony in St. Selina Church, this prayer is more or less from the heart.

(End of this chapter)