Chapter 86: Elegant Demon
After the other person departed, Sylvia did not turn her head. She lifted her gaze, staring at the ceiling as she asked:
“What do you think of the revelation you just received?”
Lakdevo pondered for a moment before giving his answer:
“That Radiant Sword is probably no longer within reality.”
“As far as I know, there is no such scene in the coastal waters of the Kingdom of Falrope near the Sonar Sea.”
The Sonar Sea was the expanse of ocean west of the Old Continent, ranked third among the Seven Seas in sheer size.
Hearing this, Sylvia did not reply. She continued to gaze at that ceiling.
“Do you have any guesses about her current situation?”
Upon hearing this question, Lakdevo thought briefly before offering his answer:
“The Manifest Realm.”
…
St. Ruls Cathedral, the underground Tribunal resting quarters.
Nearly two weeks prior, this place had been ordered to be cleared out and converted into a separate room, which eventually became a lady’s bedroom.
At this moment, Adela lay upon the bed she had finally grown accustomed to, immersed in a sweet slumber brought on by sheer exhaustion.
Yet in the next instant, she suddenly sat up. A dazed confusion flashed across her blank face.
Shaking her head and recalling the dream she had just experienced, she could not help but let out a faint laugh.
Afterward, she lay down again lazily, murmuring softly to herself:
“Strange, why would I dream of the horned demon? It even said it had found me and would come to catch me tonight.”
“What a joke. With a demon’s keen senses, would it really dare to enter the lair of a heretic god’s follower?”
“Ha… I must just be too tired…”
Before she could finish speaking, the steady rhythm of her breathing resumed.
A few seconds later, she turned over.
…
Night fell, in the underground depths where the Spiritual Full Moon could not reach.
Sylvia let out a long breath. As she placed the black mask in her hand onto the tabletop, she rose from her seat.
The Path of Lust—completed!
With the Witch’s Mask aiding her work to extraordinary effect, she had spent less than half the usual time to finish this project.
Now, she had already completed one entire branch of the Sinner’s seven paths.
Of course, up to the third phase.
In truth, the fourth phase no longer required her to weave it personally.
Mm… Next, she would weave Greed.
But before that, she ought to go and ask Loruze about his decision.
Just as she was about to knock on the tabletop, using the unique spiritual fluctuations to “summon” Loruze, she suddenly recalled that the Radiant Bishop was currently occupied on the surface handling some matters.
After thinking for a moment, she decided she might as well stretch her legs and personally inquire about his opinion to show how much she valued him.
Mm, that would do.
Thinking this, she rose from her seat, twisted the handle, stepped out of the room, and began walking toward the entrance leading to the surface.
However, she had only taken a few steps when she suddenly stopped.
At the same time, the expression on her face gradually turned peculiar.
For in her line of sight, a figure was slowly descending the staircase that connected the surface and the underground levels.
He stood about one hundred and ninety centimeters tall, dressed in a perfectly pressed black tailcoat.
Yes, centimeters—the unit of measurement promoted across the Western Alliance after the unification of the Church of Machinery and the Church of Radiance.
And in his hand, he carried a single blooming blue flower.
But this flamboyant attire was not the main reason Sylvia found the scene so strange.
At this moment, if one’s gaze shifted upward, they would see clearly the curved ram’s horns atop his head.
This was…a demon?
The demon nodded courteously to the clergy members passing by him, his manner and expression exceedingly elegant.
Yet those clergy acted as if they could not see him at all, brushing past without a glance.
In response, the demon smiled faintly. On his handsome, nearly human face, a hint of wicked amusement flickered.
Watching him descend the stairs at such a leisurely pace, Sylvia paused what she had been doing. As if she had suddenly remembered something entertaining, a glimmer of playful curiosity flashed in her eyes.
And the instant he saw her, the gray-haired puppet clearly noticed a flicker of astonishment in the demon’s gaze, followed by a trace of surprise.
But this was only natural—after all, in her current posture, she looked exactly like a puppet someone had left standing in front of the door.
The demon’s reaction was obviously born of bewilderment as to why a doll would be placed here in the depths of the Church of Radiance.
Yet in the next moment, she saw all the surprise vanish from his eyes.
After that, she watched him stride forward briskly. Seeing this, Sylvia remained motionless, prepared to observe what this demon would do next.
As for his earlier reaction, she could completely understand it.
Most likely, this demon was Adela’s creditor.
And after searching and using the link of their contract, locating this place was not difficult at all.
What surprised Sylvia was that he was so reckless—bold enough to stride directly into the underground sector of the Church of Radiance.
Mm…perhaps it was not recklessness. That flower in his hand seemed to possess an extraordinary effect, capable of clouding others’ perceptions.
Was that the source of his confidence?
At this moment, the demon began to mutter softly to himself:
“I wonder which master crafted this… Mm…should I take it with me when I leave?”
“Wait, no, why does this puppet look a little familiar? I think I saw it at the Tuya estate?”
Just as the demon’s voice grew smaller, tinged with a hint of doubt, Sylvia, standing before him, suddenly turned her head. Her deep purple eyes reflected the light cast by the lanterns fixed to the wall.
“Have you stared enough?”
Along with the slightly upturned corners of her lips, her voice rang out—ethereal and pleasant, yet in such a moment, it sounded profoundly chilling.
In that instant, the tall demon’s expression froze. He stared at the scene before him in utter disbelief.
Then, the gray-haired puppet lifted her right hand. Her fingers curled, and lines like strangling marks surfaced along the joints of his body.
At that moment, the blue flower in the demon’s hand suddenly swayed.
In the next second, a vast torrent of spirituality spilled out from it, and the marks that had just appeared vanished instantly.
“Oh?”
Sylvia’s expression did not change. She only studied the blue flower with playful curiosity.
It seemed its effects were not limited to obscuring perception.
Seizing that brief opening, the demon rolled backward, trying to flee outright.
Yet he had only managed half the motion when the strangling marks reappeared over his limbs.
He frantically waved the flower in his hand, but this time, nothing happened.
For the air itself had filled with shadows like drifting black gauze, already coiling tightly around him.
“Such abundant spirituality…it reminds me of the followers of the God of Spirituality, that group who call themselves Shepherds of the Stars.”
The “stars” she mentioned referred to the Spiritual Stars of the Spiritual Realm.
With slow but rhythmic footsteps, she approached him, bent down, and plucked the blue flower from his hand, now completely immobilized.
Yet the instant her fingertips touched the petals, her expression froze for a brief moment, then turned somewhat strange—and grave.
Because the moment she came into contact with the flower, it gave her an extremely familiar sensation.
It was the same as what she felt from the eyeball in her right eye socket, the mask now resting on her office desk, and the brooch she had not yet finished crafting.
That was…divinity.
And judging by its qualities, this divinity clearly belonged to the God of Spirituality!
This was the seventh kind of divinity to appear in the City of Alova!