Chapter 2027

"The woman from the Truth Society is indeed insane, but aren't you all just as insane for provoking the Church so blatantly?"

Mr. O'Connor of the Dawn Church asked, while the witch Bella Belindell was even more puzzled:

"Provoking the Church is one thing, but why bother me? Although I have some history with you, there's no need to drag me into this, is there?"

The woman in the black dress hesitated for a moment:

"Mr. Light-Chaser suspects you are a member of the Witch Council."

Beneath the water mist that no one could see through, the witch's expression suddenly turned gloomy:

"So that's how it is."

"Mr. Light-Chaser knows what he wants to do, and this time he simply wants to invite the Church and this lady diviner. If you win, you can naturally capture us; if you lose, then I'm sorry, you will become hostages."

That beam of heavenly light made the stone table where the three sat exceptionally bright, and Mr. York O'Connor frowned slightly:

"Wait, I think I recognize you. You... you are Lana Finel of the 【Light-Worshipper Seminar】? To think they sent you to complete this mission? What are you trying to do in Moon Bay?"

The woman in the black dress did not answer, simply tossing the die in her hand onto the table with a clatter. A vast amount of complex information regarding the specific rules of this game immediately flooded into the minds of the three people at the table through their "other selves."

Meanwhile, on the west side of the table where no chair had been placed, in the corner of the dark terrace not illuminated by the beam of light, a figure wrapped in a black robe and wearing a hood walked to the table, as if they had been standing there all along, waiting for the three to be ready.

No one could see any of its physical features; the robe dragged on the ground, the sleeves covered its arms and hands, and beneath the hood was nothing but pitch blackness.

Below the tower was the city center of Moon Bay, the City of Wealth, with its surging crowds; inside the completely sealed space on the tower, the eerie whispers of elements made everyone frown. Behind the woman in the black dress were her companions, behind the witch were two maids, and behind Mr. York O'Connor of the Dawn Church were two Ringed Shushi.

But only the three "players" at the table could actually play a role. The Great Witch of Fate had once heard that red-haired Duchess mention this game, and afterwards, because this relic involved "Fate," she had carefully studied the rules. She dared not say she understood the game well, nor did she dare say she had the luck of the Chosen One of Balance, but she trusted her ability to speculate on fate.

The figure in the black robe on the west side of the table did not speak, simply raising its right arm shrouded in the robe, and six ten-sided ivory dice slid out from the cuff; the clattering sound of them falling made everyone feel their heart rate changing with the sound.

The surroundings seemed to become colder all of a sudden, and the six dice automatically rolled toward the three on the table. Two for each person: one with ten numbers from 0 to 9, and one with ten numbers from 00, 10, 20 to 90.

The rules and details of every "Dice Story Collection" would have slight differences, but the meaning represented by the dice would never change. The woman in the black dress picked up the dice, her eyes observing her opponents this time; the witch picked up the dice, and the maid behind her had already handed over a stack of divination cards; Mr. O'Connor of the Dawn Church picked up the dice, frowning and pondering the methods of utilizing the rules of this relic he had once read about:

"According to the rules, the three players must be in opposing camps. They could clearly occupy two positions, so why sit in only one chair? The accident that happened in Tobesk was kept strictly confidential. I don't know who the Chosen One of Balance chose, but according to the data, choosing a local with a pet seems to be very advantageous..."

Under the gaze of everyone, the black-robed person raised their hands, and a hoarse yet unusually weathered voice finally came from all directions:

"Sixth Era, Common Calendar 1854, Dice Story Collection Act 1474—Blood Sorrow..."

Snap!

The woman in the black dress pressed a blue coin onto the table:

"Pay one 【Coin of Wisdom】 to make an additional event selection. The event is selected as the stolen..."

"Pay one 【Coin of Compensation】 to make an additional random event selection."

An unexpected voice interrupted her. "Lady Amethyst" pressed a gray coin onto the table. Although everyone could not see her expression, there was clearly a smile in her tone:

"Document-level relic 【Coin of Compensation】, which can be regarded as other coins within a ten-meter range. Although it cannot be regarded as a high-level coin-type relic, fortunately, the 【Coin of Wisdom】 is only Poet-level."

Pausing for a moment, she felt fortunate that she had relied on divination to carry this coin on her person before going out this morning:

"I'm curious, how did you dare to drag a high-ring diviner like me into this game? Is it intentional to lose?"

After speaking, she smiled and "reminded" them:

"To be fair, let the Keeper decide the story theme themselves; no one should cheat. Or, you can take out more 【Coins of Wisdom】 to change the result. But if I remember the extra rules correctly, if you want to make changes again, you have to pay more coins. Do you want to guess if I have other ways to stop you?"

The woman in the black dress spoke in a low voice with her companions behind her, and in the end, she did not take out any more coins.

Thus, the black-robed person hosting the game formally announced the beginning of this story:

"Sixth Era, Common Calendar 1854, Dice Story Collection Act 1474—Daytime Manhunt: Investigate the culprit who harmed Freeman Hawthorne. Storytellers: Priestess, Lady Amethyst, Priest. This story only allows one person to win. Opening this story does not allow any party to form an alliance. The winner can make one wish regarding the loser."

The three at the table frowned together. The story chosen by the 【Dice Story Collection】 must be something all three know, and it is highly likely to involve supernatural power. And on Friday afternoon, the matter of Freeman Hawthorne, who was injured at the Parsifal Club and lost a large amount of memory after waking up, was clearly known to all three of them.

But this matter was not publicly publicized; it was normal for the Church side to know about it. Lady Amethyst had many connections locally, and since it involved the Hawthorne family, it was reasonable for her to know about it. As for the 【Light-Worshipper Seminar】 that had just infiltrated the local area knowing about this, it was truly surprising.

It was just that this was not a good opportunity to ponder this matter, because the game in front of them had officially begun.

"Please choose an ordinary human as the manipulated character. The target is required to be familiar with yourself, and the current activity area is below the Belindell Big Ben."

The black-robed Keeper raised their right hand again, and from that wide sleeve, a silver hourglass fell onto the table with a thud. The fine sand flowed downward continuously, representing the countdown for the selection time.

The "Priestess" in the black dress, Finel, as expected, took out a coin again:

"Pay one 【Coin of Wisdom】 to make an additional selection. Choose the First-Ring Shushi George Pitt as my manipulated character. He is currently below the Belindell Big Ben."

"I say, you cultists, can you not use the same trick every time? Didn't the failure of the 【Truth Society】 and the 【Doom Cult】 last year teach you a lesson?"

The witch mocked, and the woman in the black dress shook her head slightly:

"This is the choice of Mr. Light-Chaser. Now the advantage is with me, not you."

And Mr. York O'Connor, known as the "Priest," discussed with his companions behind him and quickly made a choice:

"Choose Officer Connelly Osborne. He is currently patrolling under the Belindell Big Ben."

Since they were sitting at the table, they naturally had their own ideas. Because of the Tobesk incident, the rules of an Angel-level relic like the 【Dice Story Collection】 were already known to most people, so as long as they made the right choice, even ordinary people could defeat a low-ring Shushi with a gun.

That officer had cooperated with the team many times and met the characteristics of the Tobesk winner described in the data: "has weapons, has combat power, strong mental will not easily collapse, strong investigation ability, sharp thinking." Connelly Osborne even knew about the supernatural and Shushi; the only thing lacking was the "amazing charm" described in the data:

"The Church has the most comprehensive data, so this choice must be correct. The advantage is with me this time!"

As for the Great Witch of Fate, Miss Bella Belindell, she was not worried about not having a candidate. Her ordinary maids were all in the clock tower, and many of the young girls among them had amazing inspiration, although not as good as the red-haired Duchess's grandniece, but they were all cultivated by her as reserve followers.

It was just that although she had a suitable candidate in her heart and believed that the ordinary girl she chose would not lose to a clumsy foreign Shushi and an ordinary police officer, she still reached out to touch her divination cards out of habit.

After the cards were flipped open, she and the two maids behind her all saw that the card face was "Earth." The witch first hesitated, and then the name she heard on Friday night jumped into her mind:

"The follower of the Witch of Earth, Vanessa, that Miss Charlotte?"

The voice of "her" came to her ears:

【No problem, you can select this target.】

It was just a pity that she was not in Tobesk at the turn of autumn and winter last year, otherwise she would definitely have discovered that her expression at this time was almost exactly the same as Iluna's back then:

"But can't you only choose ordinary people? And I don't even know what she looks like. Can this also be chosen? Wait, could it be that Vanessa gave her a precious relic that completely conceals her identity?"

But to break the rules of an Angel-level relic that could be called top-tier, the 【Dice Story Collection】, one needed at least a relic of the same level or a relic of the same origin. The Great Witch of Fate really couldn't think of what her colleague on the Council had given "Miss Charlotte."

It was just that although she was surprised and uncertain about such a result, she believed in her divination results:

"I choose Miss Charlotte."

She did not explain who the other party was; in her own territory, the more she explained, the more likely she was to expose herself:

"But can you really choose a Seven-Ring Shushi? This is really... my luck. The advantage is with me this time. Vanessa, you must not have been joking with me last night."■