Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 448 Deep in the Cave

After stepping forward for a brief inspection and confirming that Layton was simply asleep and not dead from some unknown curse, Angel felt relieved. She picked up the two used charms on the ground and left. This suite.

Before leaving, she found a small wooden box in the corner of the room. The lid of the box was open, and it contained a lot of strange-shaped copper ore.

This is the "result of your hard work" over the past week... Angel smiled secretly, locked the door, and left the hotel invisible again.

----

Early on Thursday morning, Angel, who was fully prepared and carrying all the charms and magical items, came to the entrance of yesterday's mine before the tourists who mined during the day and mined in their dreams at night had not yet arrived. , took the lead in entering the mine.

Summarizing yesterday's various clues, Angel was almost certain that the source of the abnormality in the mine and even the town should be the location where the collapse accident occurred half a year ago, and the location where Layton and others were digging pointed to that place. A deep filled pit.

After seeing the map inside the mine yesterday, she realized that the mine dug underground from the other side of the hill outside the city had gradually returned to the vicinity of the town.

After twists and turns, she arrived at yesterday's excavation location. In the vast cave, a pit dug several meters deep was extremely conspicuous in Angel's dark vision.

She reached out and took out the "Good Luck" revolver, cocked the hammer and was ready to fire at any time. She then carefully leaned forward and looked at the rock wall that was pitted with the mining pick. Except for some gravel that had not been transported away, there were also The other passages in the mine are no different.

No... there seem to be a few cracks deep down?

Angel manipulated the invisible thread to penetrate into the hole, groping back and forth on the stone wall that had several cracks after being excavated. She quickly stretched into the thickest crack until she reached the limit, and then she used a handful of black flames. Follow the silk thread to the stone wall, and then...

Flame jumps!

After activating another extraordinary ability of the "Hypocrisy" ring, Angel instantly passed through the crack in the stone wall that even a finger could not penetrate and came to the other side.

At this moment, she was extremely grateful that the new "Faceless Man" magical item had a more powerful flame jump, and she did not need to use the "Magic Pocket Watch" herself, otherwise she would face the dilemma of having another fatal weakness in ten minutes.

She took back her reverie and looked at the area behind the stone wall.

This is exactly the "collapse area" designated in the accident report in the archives of the Government Affairs Department. The only access to the main trunk of the mine has been sealed, and it was almost brought to light through the excavations of Layton and others.

Behind this supported passage is an equally wide mine, but there is a cavity in the center of the ground that occupies almost two-thirds of the area. The stone walls beside the hole are irregular, as if they have collapsed naturally. , rather than being dug manually.

Whether it's the man in the trench coat in the dream, or what attracts Layton and others to keep digging, or even what makes the residents of Lingang Town weird, everything should be under the cave...

Angel took out a magic mirror that had been smeared with his own blood and strengthened his spiritual connection, and placed it in the corner of the passage as a last resort to save his life. Then he jumped down and slowly fell under the effect of "floating".

The cave is about twenty meters deep and about the same width as the mine above. The ground is rugged and rubble, and no one should have cleaned it after the collapse. There is a new passage on one side of the cave wall, which slopes downward with a very steep slope. , she came to the bottom of the narrow cave amid a gradually increasing rancid smell.

This place seems to be closer to Lingang Town... As soon as this thought came to her mind, she was stunned by the scene she saw.

In the cave, the simple wooden furniture has decayed, and the uneven ground is covered with dried blood. In the center is a mass of flesh as tall as a person, flowing with yellow-green pus, which looks decayed and bloated, with several sticks stuck in it. Slender white feathers with some yellow oil stains.

Out of control monster!

Angel immediately raised her gun and took aim, and several black flames surged out around her. The surrounding environment quickly cooled under the erosion of the ice under her feet, and even a hazy ice mist appeared.

"You came."

A weak voice came from among the pieces of meat.

"Are you the person in Leiden's dream last night?" Angel asked hesitantly. She recognized the other person's voice, but couldn't believe the scene she saw.

"It's me. I'm sorry about what happened last night. That was not my intention. I had already sensed that you were above me just now, but unfortunately I still couldn't pull you into a dream. Fortunately, you found this place." There was some apology in his voice. The tone was also a little lower, "I am the senior deacon of the church, Pierce Turner, well, at least I used to be. I originally thought you were also a Nighthawk, but you seem to be a witch."

Senior deacon? One of only nine senior deacons in the church?

Angel did not remember the names of all the archbishops and senior deacons, but she could confirm that during the more than two months in Tingen, she had not heard of any news that a senior deacon was missing or out of control.

You must know that they are at least Sequence 5 Beyonders, and there are even some who have stepped into high Sequences and become saints. The loss of any one of them will be news within the church, even a traitor like Ince Zangwill. It will make a fuss known to everyone.

"I was indeed a Nighthawk, but I was not in the 'Sleepless One' category. The reason why I can resist the ability of nightmares is the blessing of the Saint." She replied slowly, raising her right hand holding the revolver high and showing the signs on her wrist. The secret holy symbol.

I hope this piece of meat with no facial features can be seen... She cursed.

"I see. This is the reason why you are not affected by me and him."

It seems that Angel's worries are completely unnecessary, Pierce Turner, who claims to be a former senior deacon, said with a hint of relief.

"he?"

"He, he's also Pierce Turner, the other part of me that's gone crazy."

Pierce's voice continued to come out of "Meat Loaf", and it became a little louder, and even the pus-flowing epidermis trembled, making Angel's eyelids jump.

"I was a Sequence 5 and a 'Gatekeeper' in the 'Corpse Collector' path. I prepared to be promoted to a Sequence 4 according to the church's plan a year ago. Unfortunately, after Ince Zangwill failed in his attempt to be promoted, The license for the 'immortal' potion is no longer issued, so under the arrangement of the Holy Church, I turned to... try another method."

"You mean jumping to the 'Sleepless One' path?"

Guessing that Pierce was hesitant due to some kind of oath, Angel took the initiative to tell her what she knew about the path exchange.

She also made a vow in front of Ms. Arianna, but the oath within the church seems to be obsessed with "not telling people who don't know." If both parties know something, there is no need to hide it from each other.

"Yes, you know a lot of high-level secret knowledge, so our communication will be more convenient." Pierce was obviously relieved. "It took me half a year to prepare the ceremony for promotion to the 'Night Watch' and the place where the ceremony will be held. , right on this Pala Island, in this hidden mine.”

"Why here, not inside a kingdom under the rule of the Church?"

Angel asked confused.

Most of the Rhoside Islands and the Raging Sea are under the jurisdiction of the Church of Storms in cooperation with the local garrison. Even after the Backlund Great Smog, the Church of Night gained more rights through this, and has never touched many islands in the sea. As a senior deacon of the church, it was simply unbelievable to come to this isolated island to complete the ceremony of becoming a demigod.

"This is due to the needs of the ritual. To be promoted to the 'Night Watch' requires the use of nightmare abilities to control the dreams of a large number of people and connect them together. The more realistic the dreams and the greater the number of people, the greater the hope of successful promotion. This pair of senior It is not difficult for the 'Spirit Witch'. They can complete many tasks with the help of the spirits they have collected. However, it is the biggest problem for me who needs to jump to another path. I think you also know that the 'Corpse Collector' path does not have The ability to pull people into dreams.”

"So you completed the preparations with the help of spells and sealed objects. Is this why you chose a sparsely populated island with little mobility?"

"You are very smart," Pierce chuckled and continued, "After completing all the preparations, I am here and entered the 'United Dreamland' through the spell. According to the plan, the me in the dream and the me in reality will take fictional and The real potion was promoted to Sequence 4 under the anchor of dreams, but..."

There was some confusion and anger in his words.

"...Everything was out of control. The dream suddenly shattered. Before I could escape from the dream, in reality, I took the magic potion, and my promotion naturally failed. What's even more frightening is that I didn't die immediately; The body collapsed just like now, the spirit body was torn apart, part was stuffed into the body, part was left in the dream, and the consciousness became the me now and another completely crazy me.

"You must want to ask the reason for the failure. I was also confused at the time, but in retrospect, there seemed to be endless lightning and hurricanes in the south of Para Island in the dream. In reality, the mine suddenly collapsed. I chose The top of this cave collapsed, and many miners broke into broken dreams and suffered the effects, and I also missed my only opportunity.

"I later learned from the traveler's dream that a violent storm broke out in the Raging Sea that day. After that, frequent storms hit nearby islands almost every week. Oh, I just happened to catch up with that day."

Pierce's tone became deeper, as if he was recalling the day he tried to get promoted.

"So, you attracted me here so that I could notify the church and ask them to think of a way to rescue you from this state?"

Interrupting the other party's thoughts, Angel asked.

"No, you should know that there may be various ways to prevent it before it gets out of control, but after it gets out of control, there is only one solution."

Pierce's voice slowly came from the "lump of meat".

"I want you to kill me."

(End of this chapter)