Chapter 338: The Unclean Nun (Part 4)
Abbey First Floor, Prayer Hall.
Tap... Tap...
Footsteps echoed in the quiet corridor, and the candlelight from the walls cast four shadows.
Aside from the black-robed woman who remained silent, Father Burke, Irene, and Frenchie were all observing their surroundings.
Tidy floors, exquisite reliefs...
They even occasionally spotted nuns moving about inside the compartments off the corridor.
Frenchie had already walked past a doorway, but his head was still craned backward.
"That's incredibly rude!" Irene poked him and whispered.
Only then did Frenchie resume walking, waiting until that figure completely disappeared from view before turning his gaze back.
"Heh, it seems Mr. Detective made a mistake earlier," he said, fussing with his hair.
"There are clearly many people living here; I actually believed him for a second."
Irene opened her mouth to speak but touched the crucifix in her pocket. Remembering the detective's instructions, she ultimately remained silent.
"Excuse me..." Father Burke quickened his pace to catch up with the black-robed woman.
"Who was familiar with Sister Victoria who committed suicide? I would like to speak with them to understand the situation."
As soon as his voice fell, the black-robed woman stopped dead in her tracks.
The three were immediately a bit confused.
"This is an abbey. You, a man, wish to see the nuns?" her voice rasped.
"I can have Irene accompany me," Burke hurriedly pointed to the young woman beside him.
"No." Unexpectedly, the black-robed woman flatly refused.
"This girl hasn't taken her vows yet, has she?" she stared at Irene.
"Uh... yes, after this case is over I will..." Irene said.
But before she could finish, she was interrupted.
"Then you do not possess the qualifications to accompany him," the black-robed woman said coldly.
Father Burke immediately frowned.
"However..." she suddenly leaned close to Irene.
The latter instantly felt a wave of icy coldness.
"I understand you need to provide an explanation to your superiors, so this lady may speak with the nuns. Of course, only she alone," the black-robed woman pointed at Irene.
"But..." Father Burke stepped forward.
"As for you," the black-robed woman turned to him, "There are many books in the abbey's library. Perhaps you can find the reason for Victoria's death there."
"Are there other anomalies in the abbey?" Burke caught the underlying meaning.
"Hehe..." A dry laugh squeezed out of the black-robed woman's throat. "The Lord always guides you, does He not?"
As soon as her voice fell, two black-robed nuns stepped out from nowhere, gesturing for Burke to follow them in a certain direction.
Father Burke hesitated, looking back at Irene.
"You go," Irene said immediately. "I've assisted other priests before; I know what to do."
Hearing this, Burke nodded and then followed the nuns, disappearing into the shadows of the corridor.
"Let's go," the black-robed woman continued walking forward.
"Then what about me..." Frenchie suddenly pointed to himself.
But the next moment, four nuns suddenly appeared in the darkness, blocking his path.
"Ma'am..." Seeing this, Irene hurriedly looked toward the black-robed woman.
"You have completed your duty, and we cannot let you stay here either," the black-robed woman stated.
"They will take you to rest for a moment. You must leave before dark."
Having said this, the black-robed woman quickened her pace, about to walk far away.
Irene could only comfort Frenchie with a few words before hurriedly catching up.
Frenchie scratched his head, then turned his attention to the nuns in front of him the next moment.
"Ladies. Where do you plan to take me to rest?" His eyes constantly roamed over them.
But the black-robed nuns did not reply, turning and walking in a certain direction.
"Hey! Wait for me!"
Shortly after the group left, the floor of the corridor began to turn decayed and dilapidated, and the candlelight on the walls suddenly vanished, leaving only some cobwebs clinging to them.
Darkness submerged the area once again.
In front of the Chapel.
The black-robed woman stopped her steps: "Go in, they are inside."
Hearing this, Irene looked forward and indeed saw a figure praying beneath the holy statue.
"How should I address..."
She turned around, only to find the black-robed woman had disappeared.
Irene gulped and had no choice but to brace herself and walk into the chapel.
The sound of prayer reached her ears as she approached the kneeling figure. Just as she was about to reach out and tap the person, she was grabbed the next second.
"Ah!"
Irene was startled.
"You cannot interrupt the prayer!" a young female voice spoke.
Irene turned her head and found it was a nun wearing a black robe.
"Only prayers can block the evil spirits coveting the abbey. That's why we have been praying continuously for centuries, not stopping for even a single second."
"I... I'm sorry," Irene bowed slightly.
"I am Sister Oana. We knew you would come," Oana nodded. "Please come with me."
St. Carta Library.
Bright red light filtered through the petal reliefs, providing one of the few light sources in this place.
Father Burke stood by a stone table, two thick tomes laid open before him.
"...Animals in the sky and on the ground transformed into monsters. People named it the Blasphemer, Valac."
At this point, an illustration of a ghost appeared in the book.
"...The demon brought disaster. To defeat it, only the Blood of the Son of God could be used, but the holy relic was sealed by a powerful force, and could only be activated by the blood of a nun..."
Thump thump!
Father Burke was engrossed in his reading when a noise suddenly echoed in the room.
"Irene?"
He looked up in confusion, but there was nothing at the doorway.
After pondering for a moment, Father Burke decided to go check it out.
"Irene, is that you? Did you meet the nuns?"
But only echoes reverberated in the library.
Father Burke frowned and could only turn back.
But immediately after, he discovered that a boy had suddenly appeared in the spot where he had been standing.
"Burke... I feel so much pain..."
The boy's skin was deathly pale, with dark blood vessels glaringly prominent on his face.
"...Daniel?" Father Burke's breathing hitched as he called out a name he didn't want to remember.
It was a commission from many years ago. At the time, he had just entered the seminary and encountered a boy possessed by a powerful evil spirit.
Originally, the entire exorcism process was not complicated.
But Burke fell into the evil spirit's trap through carelessness, missing the optimal window for rescue. In the end, he could only watch helplessly as the boy was tortured to death by the evil spirit.
"It's all your fault! It's all because you were too weak that I died such a tragic death!"
The boy opened his mouth, dark red blood dripping from between his teeth, followed by a black snake crawling out from inside.
"Huff... Huff..." Burke took a deep breath, comforting himself that this was a hallucination.
But the next second, the boy charged at him fiercely.
Without any hesitation, Father Burke sprinted toward the library doors.
He grabbed the door handle and pulled inward with all his might, but the heavy doors didn't budge an inch.
"No, no, no!"
Father Burke widened his eyes, and the boy arrived just in time.
The light in the forest gradually faded, and night fell over the clouds.
In front of the abbey's main gate.
"Two... sisters. Although I would very much love to have a romantic encounter, you have taken vows after all. Would this be inappropriate? Of course, this is not my personal preference..." Frenchie said, looking at the scene before him.
At this moment, he had a nun on either side of him, dragging him by the arms toward the gate.
Although he greatly enjoyed such intimate moments with ladies, he also knew the sensitivity of a nun's identity, which was why he explicitly refused.
But these two were quite stubborn, forcefully dragging him to the doorway.
Seeing this, Frenchie had no choice but to twist his neck and nod randomly three times toward the abbey.
He remembered this was a mandatory action for Holy Clergy Members before speaking, seemingly a sign of respect for deities.
It was just that because his hands were tied up right now, he substituted it with his head.
"Um... Lord, although I am not your believer, you can see this isn't my doing..."
After repenting inwardly several times, Frenchie excitedly turned his head.
"I suggest we go into the woods. There are spare clothes on the carriage outside. By the way, why are your hands so cold? Didn't you wear enough clothes..."
Before long, at the edge of the forest graveyard.
The two nuns suddenly stopped.
"Here? I remember this area is a graveyard. I've never tried doing it in a place like this."
Frenchie was looking around when he noticed something wrong with the two women in front of him.
The two nuns suddenly convulsed, and then their limbs began to bend unnaturally.
What terrified him even more was that their skin was withering and decaying at a rate visible to the naked eye.
In mere moments, they turned into something resembling corpses.
"Gurgle..."
A raspy snarl emanated from the two nuns.
Frenchie gulped, instantly having a bad premonition.
The next second, the two "nuns" turned around.
No, more accurately, they were corpses.
"No, no..." Frenchie's legs trembled uncontrollably.
But the thing he despaired over still happened.
One of the "nuns" tackled him to the ground in an instant.
Frenchie used all his strength to press against the creature's jaw, preventing this monster from biting him.
But the thought that he had actually tried to hook up with these two monsters just now... made his stomach churn.
"Bleh..."
He turned his head and dry-heaved, but this also caused the strength in his arms to slacken slightly.
Consequently, Frenchie felt his cheeks being forcefully yanked straight, bringing him face-to-face with the corpse's hideous visage.
"Mamma Mia!"
Just as he opened his mouth, a glob of pitch-black blood was poured down from above.
"Mmph!!"
Frenchie's eyes bulged wide, the veins on his forehead turning pitch-black.
Thump!
At this time, a muffled crash suddenly rang out nearby.
Immediately after, he felt the weight on him lift, and the corpse pinning him down went flying.
"Bleh..."
Frenchie scrambled and crawled to the side, then looked up in shock.
He saw many skeletons standing in the forest. They wore tattered black cloth, which from the style, seemed to be Church attire.
And in the middle of these skeletons stood Mr. Detective from earlier.
William controlled several skeletons to surround the two corpses, which also revealed ferocious expressions.
"These two guys are not your sister nuns; they are just illusions created by that evil spirit using rotting flesh," he stated.
"So... beat them up."
As soon as his voice fell, the skeletons pounced forward, instantly kicking up a cloud of dust in the woods.
Frenchie curled up on the side, the scene before him completely exceeding his comprehension.
"Just who exactly is that detective? Could he not be human..."
He was just about to sneak away but felt a hand press down on his shoulder.
"Mr. Frenchie, it's very dangerous outside right now. You'd better stay with us," Mark smiled faintly, holding a torch.
But in such an environment, this smile looked incredibly creepy.
"Don't! Don't kill me! I'll never try to hook up with nuns again." Frenchie immediately raised his hands, crying bitterly.
"Hey... what's wrong with him." Mark looked at Gail beside him.
"Probably affected by evil power." Gail said, looking toward the woods, where the battle had already concluded.
"Alright sisters, wrap it up. I still have some questions for these two corpses," William issued a command to the skeletons.
Because the nuns' souls hadn't been completely purified yet, William couldn't truly control these bones.
Most of the skeletons stopped in place, but one skeleton still raised its arm.
"Hey! It's you again, Number Four," William shouted loudly. "Are you jealous that they have more meat on them than you do?"
Hearing this, Skeleton Number Four paused, its hand just centimeters away from the corpse's head.
"The Church preaches mercy, courtesy, and peace. How do you expect to go to Heaven acting like this..."
Skeleton Number Four stood up straight, looking like a well-behaved child.
William waved his hand, and the former hurriedly stepped aside.
"Hmm... it is indeed the aura of that black-robed old woman."
Subsequently, he took out the Book of the World, and the aura on the corpses immediately gathered toward the pages.
Immediately after, the point of light on the book flared brilliantly.
"Oh? The power tier of that guy is this high, could it actually be a Demon God?" he pondered inwardly. "For example... Valac."
With Sister Irene present, this possibility was very high.
If that was truly the case... then there really was a legendary holy relic in the abbey.
In the sequel, that nun had mentioned using the Blood of the Son of God to seal the demon back then.
"I have to move faster. The evil spirit inside has probably already made its move," William narrowed his eyes.
He then walked over to Frenchie.
"Did that corpse puke something onto you just now?"
Recalling the incident, the man's face instantly changed color.
"Bleh, bleh..."
He patted his chest but couldn't throw anything up.
But then he saw Mr. Detective gesture to the side, and immediately after, one of the skeletons rushed to his side.
The next second, the skeleton pried his mouth open and forcefully shoved its entire skeletal hand inside.
"Bleh!!"
Abbey Second Floor, Lounge.
"This abbey was originally built in the Middle Ages and belonged to a duke named St. Carta," Sister Oana spoke softly.
"It is said he was obsessed with witchcraft rituals and even personally captured commoners for sacrifices."
Irene opened her mouth; she didn't expect the abbey to actually hold such a secret.
"That duke... who did he sacrifice the living people to?" she asked the crucial question.
Oana's gaze suddenly turned solemn.
"He carved a pentagram magic array on the ground and opened a passage to corruption!"
"Countless monsters poured out from underground, and the surrounding villages were slaughtered. It took a full week before the Church discovered the anomaly here."
Irene couldn't help but cover her mouth, not daring to imagine what kind of despair the people experienced back then.
"Before that demon could pass through the breach, Holy Knights arrived. An Archbishop used the blood of the Son of God to seal the passage, thus stopping the evil from descending."
"But..."
Sister Oana's tone shifted.
"A portion of the demonic power remained, entrenching itself in the abbey for centuries. Therefore, the Church left the holy relic behind to suppress the evil power."
"And we must also pray constantly to maintain the peace here."
Irene's eyes were grave: "Then it must be very hard for you all. Can't that passage be completely sealed?"
Oana shook her head: "Not only can it not, but the abbey is becoming more and more dangerous."
"Why is that?"
"Decades ago, a war between humans took place on this land," Oana said.
"The commotion caused by those terrifying weapons could be heard even staying in the abbey."
"According to the previous Mother Superior, one of the artillery shells landed here and coincidentally smashed open that old passage."
"And from that moment on, anomalies began to appear in the abbey."
Irene frowned: "Earlier, I saw a nun wearing a black robe. She..."
Hearing this, Oana's eyes went wide, and she grabbed the former's arm: "You... you saw it too!"
Irene nodded, confused: "Is something wrong?"
"There has never been such a person in the abbey."
Sister Oana's words made Irene's scalp tingle instantly.
"H-how could that be," she squeezed out a smile. "Just now, it was that nun who told me to come find..."
Thump thump thump!
A knock suddenly rang out on the lounge door.
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