Chapter 454: Prelude (3600+ words)

"Ha..."

Cuisi exhaled a puff of white mist, feeling that Plymouth was colder this year than ever before.

"With temperatures this low, I hope not too many more people freeze to death this winter..."

Although the New Year was approaching, there was little festive atmosphere to be seen in the Lower City District.

When everyone was struggling desperately just to survive, festivities were a very distant thing.

"The only good news is that the price of bread has finally stopped rising..."

Walking out of the warm bakery, Cuisi couldn't help but shrink into herself.

"No, no, how could I take your money?" Cuisi hurriedly tried to refuse, but she found that the woman opposite her had great strength; she stuffed the money into her hand without room for argument, then walked quickly into the wind and snow.

She looked up at the swirling snowflakes, feeling that this winter was even more bone-chillingly cold.

"Cold and death..."

Wakefield muttered to himself, suddenly seeing Para walk out of the room and board a rented carriage.

Dailisi didn't know whether she should feel fortunate or regretful.

"This lady is truly such a good person; why does God not have mercy on her, instead letting her suffer the pain of illness?" Cuisi thought Dailisi must be suffering from some kind of chronic disease, but she soon cast these thoughts to the back of her mind.

Just then, the void in front of her rippled, opening an invisible door.

And once she defied this will, she would be gradually heading toward losing control!

To those Great Existences, it made no difference whether it was an Extraordinary or a monster destroying Plymouth!

After panting for several minutes, Dailisi finally straightened her back, looked at Cuisi, whose thin shoulders were covered in a thin layer of snowflakes, and revealed a smile: "I'm fine now, you really are a kind girl."

If the 'Unmelting Ice' had not been sealed and imprisoned like the 'Fallen Corona'...

Bang!

Snowflakes blurred her vision, causing her to lightly bump shoulders with a woman walking toward her.

Cuisi was startled for a moment, terrified that she might have caused some accident to the other person.

"Really." Dailisi stood up straight, thought for a moment, took out her wallet, and handed over a few banknotes: "Buy more coal, and remember to open the window. This winter... is not going to be easy."

Looking at the fur coat the lady was wearing, she couldn't help but click her tongue in secret, knowing that the coat was worth a fortune, and she almost shed tears of fear.

Cuisi watched this scene, her cheeks appearing to lose all color: "Could it also be... that they completely lost hope in life and left this world?"

As an Inquisitor, his intuition told him he still couldn't let go of this case.

The God of the End, also known by another name—the 'Lord of the Underworld'!

The Year-Lord who presides over the death and tranquility of November!

"Heh..."

The reply from the Police Headquarters had also arrived, detailing Para's information, including intelligence that the other party was suspected of mastering the Invisible Spell.

"Praise the Sun!"

Cuisi hugged the paper bag full of bread, preparing to jog home.

In a dark alley, Dailisi leaned against the wall, holding up a snowflake in her palm, and muttered to herself: "This is the God of the End's super-large-scale Ritual—the 'Gift of the End'. If it cannot be stopped, more people in this city will die..."

"Are you really okay?" Cuisi asked with pleasant surprise.

A terrifying battle was on the verge of breaking out!

The routine daily surveillance made Wakefield increasingly unable to understand what Aaron wanted to do.

That woman with the ordinary face leaned painfully against the wall nearby, her back bent.

Just then, she saw the undertaker carrying a few corpses out of another resident's home.

After completing his mission, he did not return to the church, but instead let his subordinates go back first, while he himself came to the Green George District, near the Remington home.

"Ma'am? Are you alright?"

As a high-ranking director of the Suppression Bureau, this was Yousain's job—he still did not know that the Emperor he was loyal to was actually a collaborator with these madmen! And was working hard to complete the mission.

"What exactly do you want to do? The temporary residence permit is almost about to expire."

"Sure enough... this is a decisive battle between all the Secret societies and the Empire!"

The neighbor sighed and answered.

"Sigh... Little Jack's father lost his job, he went out alone to find food, and then was found frozen to death by the Dosom River... And last night, Little Jack's mother, sister, and he were found dead in their home; they probably forgot to open the window while burning coal for warmth..."

Ever since she came to this city, she had been unable to suppress herself, wanting to crazily destroy everything.

But this was of no use; instead, it increased the suspicion that the other party was a secret agent developed by the Emperor or the Investigation Bureau!

"It's Little Jack's family, what happened to them?"

"I'm fine..."

Wearing a black leather coat and black gloves, Yousain stepped out, followed by a large number of 'Colonizers'!

"Finally caught you."

The other party spent every day leisurely shopping, dining at high-end restaurants, visiting exhibition halls, and enjoying high-end entertainment at clubs... there was nothing suspicious!

'But that is what makes it most suspicious! Plymouth is almost under full martial law now, yet they still insist on going out every day; what could it be for? A meeting?'

"The Mysterious and the Extraordinary... are disasters!"

Inquisitor Wakefield threw out a Talisman, burning a pool of wriggling flesh and blood on the ground into ashes.

Dailisi's hair wriggled crazily, thickening and hanging down, the ends splitting into hideous maws filled with sharp fangs.

Dailisi answered while gasping for breath; she was trying hard to suppress her emotions so that her hair wouldn't lose control strand by strand and turn into wriggling snakes.

"For the Mortal World, no matter which Year-Lord wins in the end, it will only be suffering..."

She gave a bitter smile, thought of that kind girl, and instinctively headed in the opposite direction from where the other person had left, wanting to run as far away as possible.

In that case, it would likely be the Cult of the God of Ice and the Cult of the God of the End working together to perform a Ritual, with a wider range and even more terrifying power!

"Hehe... there is no mercy under the Radiance... other Hidden Existences may not necessarily possess mercy either..."

Because in the Lower City District, people in even more miserable conditions are everywhere.

He wore an indifferent expression on his face and waved his hand: "Move out!"

She certainly did not know that the stabilization of prices was a partial result of a compromise between the Emperor and the Church; she only felt the cold wind biting her bones.

She walked quickly to the vicinity of her home, preparing to buy some more coal so that at least it would be a little warmer at night.

Cuisi recognized a child who liked to play with her very much and hurriedly asked a familiar neighbor nearby.

At some unknown time, snowflakes had begun to drift down from the sky, and there were very few pedestrians on the road.

As death and loss of control were about to arrive, Dailisi finally cast off the fanaticism of her faith and the interference from her Spirituality, beginning to think about the problem rationally.

Dailisi sneered, completely abandoning her insistence on reason and letting madness submerge her.

This was not just an order from the Divine Oracle, but also an influence from the Instinct of the Spirituality within her!

"Queen's District, Twin Clock Tower!"

Aaron leaned back against the soft carriage seat and gave the order casually.

(End of this chapter)