Looking at the bishop's deathly pale face, Seia easily guessed what was running through his mind.
"I came here precisely to prevent that outcome. Neither I nor God wishes for that moment to arrive."
In truth, God didn't really seem to care all that much based on His usual demeanor... but that wasn't exactly something she could say out loud.
The attempt at consolation was clearly less than effective.
The bishop's face remained stark and pale, yet his piety bred an unshakeable faith that whatever the Lord did was inherently right.
If things truly came to that pass, it would only mean that human sin had finally degraded past the point of redemption.
The fault could never lie with the Lord; it could only lie with humanity.
At that thought, a wave of helplessness washed over the bishop.
The Church no longer possessed the power it once had to challenge the nobility, or even sovereign nations, face-to-face.
Even if he desperately wanted to weather the coming storm and prove to the Lord that the mortal realm wasn't completely defiled, his desires meant nothing without the strength to back them up.
But...
Glancing at the blonde girl standing before him, his confidence surged back in an instant. The Archangel Gabriel had appeared here, a fact the omniscient and omnipotent Lord could not possibly be ignorant of. This alone proved that the Lord was granting humanity a chance.
He shouldn't be standing here shaking his head and sighing. Instead, he needed to cooperate with Lady Gabriel to spread the faith further and save the world.
Having rationalized this, the bishop didn't even need Seia to say another word. He adjusted his emotions on the spot, his face instantly lighting up with renewed vigor.
Such a capacity for self-regulation left Seia mildly impressed, though she hadn't come here merely to chat.
"Next, I plan to head to New York," Seia said. "If it is convenient, I would like you to arrange an identity for me that will allow me to draw upon the Church's resources."
"Please leave it to us, my Lady!"
The bishop nodded immediately in agreement.
A simple identity was child's play for the Church. Furthermore, America was a country where faith was incredibly widespread; Christians made up the vast majority, closely followed by Catholics.
When it came to spreading the faith, Seia's primary targets were the Catholics.
Mainstream Protestants didn't really require any effort on her part. The moment she revealed her identity, their faith would naturally skyrocket.
While the same trick worked on Catholics, Catholicism preferred to seek out challenges and tests rather than taking the passive, 'laid-back' approach of other denominations.
By overcoming trials, their faith could erupt with even greater fervor.
At the same time, unlike Protestants who generally believed that dying naturally meant ascending to heaven, the Catholic Church was far more practical. They believed that without performing good deeds and passing spiritual trials, reaching heaven was no easy feat.
To put it another way, one group felt they were already standing close to God, while the other viewed themselves as mere mortals awaiting judgment.
This fundamental difference meant Protestants didn't concern themselves much with secular affairs.
The bishop's constant laments over the Church's lack of worldly influence stemmed entirely from this reality.
Catholics were a different story. Embracing their mortal roles, they naturally cultivated secular relationships. Compared to Protestants, they held far more sway in human society, even if it paled in comparison to the heights of the Church's historical power.
Seia received her new identity the very next day. After all, Dublin had already prepared a set of identification papers beforehand; it only required a few extra strokes of the pen to authorize her access to the Church's resources.
From this moment on, she was a girl adopted by the Church, trained in secret as an exorcist.
Blessed with immense holy power and personally touched by the Archangel Gabriel, her first mission had seen her clash with a Demon of Hell, Valak, successfully sealing the gateway between the underworld and the material realm.
Both the Vatican and Dublin tacitly approved this dossier, granting her permission to mobilize Church forces in times of crisis.
Along with the papers, Seia was provided with a transfer order reassigning her to St. Patrick's Cathedral.
With this, her movements became significantly easier. Two days later, Seia boarded a flight to New York alone.
Since her documentation had been altered to state she was an eighteen-year-old adult, the customs officers could only stare wide-eyed at her childlike appearance before ultimately letting her pass.
That evening, Seia arrived at St. Patrick's Cathedral by herself, her only luggage a platinum-colored suitcase. Greeting her was a black priest around fifty years old.
His name was Father Henn. The bishop was currently away from the cathedral, leaving virtually all matters, large and small, squarely on his shoulders.
"We received word that you came here specifically to handle... that matter?" Father Henn inquired as he led Seia toward the living quarters.
While age did not dictate capability within the Church—faith and raw talent being far more vital—that particular incident was undeniably perilous and bizarre. Coupled with Seia's incredibly youthful appearance that defied her supposed age...
Watching the girl casually coaxing a bird at her side with total innocence, it was impossible for Father Henn not to worry.
"Yes. Please do not trouble yourself, Father."
Seia's tone was measured and steady. Though she looked young, the combination of her voice and demeanor lent her an aura of profound composure.
"Aside from the incident in Romania, I have prior experience with exorcisms. It is simply that the details require strict confidentiality, so they cannot be made public."
Other exorcism missions that required strict confidentiality?
That hardly sounded like the track record of an ordinary exorcist.
If every mission she had ever undertaken required absolute secrecy save for the Gate of Hell—and the only reason that one wasn't a secret was because the adversary was a demon lord in an event that threatened the entire world...
What kind of monstrous resume was that?
Then again... considering the nature of the task she had been sent for, perhaps only such a miraculous and mysterious exorcist could handle it.
"If you don't mind, could you brief me on the situation regarding the mission?" Seia's gentle voice interrupted the priest's train of thought.
"Of course."
Father Henn had been nursing a massive headache over this situation for the past two days. With the bishop away and lacking the bishop's formidable strength himself, the matter had been dragged out indefinitely.
"The person who sought our aid is a motorcycle stunt star named Johnny Blaze."
"He came to us a week ago, claiming that when night falls, his body uncontrollably transforms into a burning skeleton." Father Henn paused for a moment. "In truth, we had already spotted that skeleton twice before he even approached us."
"We even dispatched exorcists to intervene, but to no avail. It is incredibly powerful. Even the sacred silver crosses and the Exorcising Holy Flames had little effect on it."
"By the time Johnny Blaze came here begging for help, we were already planning to ask the Vatican to send stronger exorcists," Henn offered a sheepish smile. "After his arrival, we tried numerous methods but failed to rid him of the curse. Because it isn't just a curse—it's a contract."
"If we cannot find the demon who binds him to that contract, we have no way of helping him."
Just as Seia was absorbing the information, a sister suddenly ran toward the pair. She froze for a moment upon seeing Seia, but spoke up quickly when Father Henn questioned her.
"Father Henn... that Mr. Blaze is here again. He says the demon who contracted him came looking for him tonight..."
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T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL