Leonard had rushed to the Church of the Evernight Goddess's St. Samuel's Cathedral at a near-sprint, and had been sitting there from mid-afternoon straight through to evening.
On the way over, he'd gotten the full story from the old man inside him. The "Amon" Pallez had mentioned — the one who had hunted him across decades and reduced him to his current sorry state — was his mortal enemy.
An Angel of the Error Pathway. A being who dared to blaspheme even the gods. The God-Defier, Amon.
Leonard had long since suspected that the old man was no ordinary presence. But it wasn't until this moment that the full weight of it actually landed: the old man wasn't merely "not ordinary." He was a genuine, bone-fide Angel.
And that Angel had been parasitising him this entire time — offering free guidance, freely dispensing mystical knowledge — for reasons that remained completely unclear.
What exactly is he after?
Pallez gave a quiet chuckle. "Heh. So you've started to doubt me."
"..."
Leonard was silent for a moment, then said, voice low: "You think I shouldn't?"
"Oh, but you always thought of yourself as the 'protagonist' chosen by fate. Didn't you rather enjoy having me help you along?"
That landed squarely.
Leonard's mind went back to Tingen — to that laughable mindset he'd been so comfortable in. And then to what followed: watching everyone become completely powerless before the True Creator's spawn. Watching Melissa get killed by Ince Zangwill.
A protagonist. Him. What a joke.
Pallez made a quiet sound. "Use your brain for a moment and think about where we're standing right now."
"???"
Leonard blinked, looked up — and saw the Evernight Goddess's aureole hanging on the wall not far away. He murmured: "The Church of the Evernight Goddess?"
"That's right. I've let you come here. Let you walk straight under the Night Goddess's aureole. What does that tell you? Do you think if I genuinely intended to use you for something, your Goddess would let me strut around like this right under Her nose?"
A pause.
"Or do you think 'Night' simply can't detect my presence?"
Pallez kept referring to the Evernight Goddess as just "Night" — and every time he did, Leonard's eye twitched. He had no idea what kind of relationship the old man had with the Goddess, or whether they even knew each other, but Leonard himself was just a Sequence 8 nobody. The old man casually talking like this could easily bring trouble down on him specifically.
"You — please, just stop talking. I get it."
Leonard cut him off quickly, closed his eyes, and collected himself. Then: "Based on how you described Amon just now — you spotted Him just then. Does that mean He spotted you too?"
"I'm not certain."
Pallez's tone grew heavier. "Amon doesn't bother suppressing the presence of the people He parasitises. I, on the other hand, have been extremely careful to stay hidden. On top of that — the Amon operating in Backlund is limited to demigod-level capacity at most. Unless I deliberately expose myself, detecting me would be very difficult for Him."
"But…"
Before Leonard could relax, Pallez added: "Knowing Amon's character — His favourite thing in the world is making you think you're safe, and then appearing the moment you're most off-guard. Maximum fear. Maximum despair. That's what He lives for."
"..."
Leonard blinked slowly. "That's genuinely awful. And incredibly petty. Isn't He a Sequence 1 Angel? What does He get out of this?"
"Which is exactly why He also goes by the 'God of Pranks.'"
"Ugh."
Their exchange was cut off by footsteps. Leonard turned — and recognised both faces immediately.
"Miss Daly? Klein?"
He stood up quickly, looking around behind them. "Did the Captain come too?"
"Dunn's still recovering in Tingen. He'll be there a while yet."
Daly said, "Good timing — Klein and I were looking for you. Come with us."
"What's happened?"
"I'll explain on the way."
Klein fell into step beside Leonard and started from the beginning. "Shortly after you left this afternoon, Miss Daly came to find me. She told us both we'd be joining her Nightwatcher unit going forward. Then she gave me a case — a series of murders in the East Borough and the docks."
Leonard nodded. "And?"
"The case itself isn't complicated. The killer is a man named Sherman. He's an assassin."
"Assassin?"
Leonard's mind went straight to Trissy. "Is this the one who turns into a woman?"
"No — this is a different case." Klein continued: "But what's worth noting is that Sherman has his own set of principles when it comes to targets — he only goes after people who've done serious harm. Which is why the Nighthawks investigating the case haven't moved to arrest him yet."
"Why not?"
Leonard frowned. "This kind of pathway — where you need to kill in order to…"
He stopped himself mid-sentence.
Daly, walking alongside them, said simply: "You were going to say 'Acting Method,' weren't you? Don't bother dancing around it. All three of us have long since worked out what the Acting Method is. No need to be coy."
Leonard shot a surprised glance at Klein, then coughed and continued. "Right — any pathway that requires killing as part of the Acting Method, even if someone's maintaining their 'principles' for now, is going to get harder to control as they advance. At some point, sooner or later, they'll stop being selective."
"Exactly," Daly said. "Which is why catching Sherman himself isn't the real goal. The important thing is finding whoever is behind him. Based on the timeline — Sherman hasn't been an assassin long, and the murders started almost immediately after he became one. That's essentially proof that he already knew about the Acting Method before he ever took the potion."
"Which means whoever gave it to him almost certainly did too. That points directly to the Demoness Sect."
Leonard scratched his head. "So — then what?"
"You've probably heard about it already. These past two weeks, the three major Churches carried out a series of investigations across Backlund. I don't have the full picture of why they were launched, but the process turned up traces of both the Demoness Sect and the Aurora Order. Both of these evil god organisations appear to be planning something dangerous in Backlund."
As she said that, Daly slowed and stopped in front of a door, knocked lightly. "Sir Cesimir."
"Come in."
The room was dim. Bookshelves ran along both walls, packed from floor to ceiling. A man in his thirties — black windbreaker, white shirt, collar propped up high enough to conceal his chin — stood with his back to the door, a book open in his hands.
At the sound of the three of them entering, he set the book down, turned, and smiled. "Sit down."
"Yes, sir."
Crestet Cesimir's gaze moved from Klein's face to Leonard's, resting on each for a few quiet seconds. Then, in an easy, unhurried voice: "Klein. Leonard. I have two assignments, one for each of you."
Both of them sat straight. "Sir."
"I need you to each infiltrate one of the two organisations — the Demoness Sect and the Aurora Order. Find out exactly what they're planning to do in Backlund, and precisely when they intend to move."
Both of them went very still.
Klein asked carefully: "When you say infiltrate — you mean undercover?"
"That's right."
Crestet Cesimir continued: "Klein — your task is to join the Demoness Sect. As a Witch."
To be continued…
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