From what the Demoness Sect knew of the Aurora Order, those zealots would stop thinking the moment anyone offered to bring the True Creator down to earth. Being fanatics didn't make them stupid, exactly — it just meant the fanaticism reliably overpowered the brain.
"The Aurora Order's only want is the Master's descent," Bernadette continued, at Vincent's prompting. "So what about the Demoness Sect? And besides us, are there other organisations or parties involved in this cooperation?"
"Ha. Seems like Mr. A has rather more intelligence than I imagined."
Panadia considered it, then said: "You're right — there are other partners besides the Aurora Order. I can't tell you who just yet."
Bernadette stood straight up. "Then this cooperation is cancelled."
Mr. Z blinked, but recovered instantly and moved to follow Bernadette out without a moment's hesitation.
Snap.
A single finger-snap, and a dense web of spider silk blanketed the entire room, cutting off both of them. Panadia's voice turned cold: "That's not how negotiations work, Mr. A."
Bernadette turned to look at her the way you'd look at a dead person.
"!!!"
In that instant, Panadia felt a lethal threat descend from directly above. Every drop of her spirituality boiled to the surface in that single moment: I will die.
Cold sweat soaked through her immediately. She snapped her head up and saw a sword suspended by a horsehair — the kind of ornate, jewel-studded blade that nobles liked to carry around for show, practically useless except as a display of wealth. But she was absolutely certain: if it fell, she would die.
Mr. Z's pupils flickered. He stared at Bernadette in shock. A Sequence 4 Nightingale of Despair is this frightened by her — Mr. A is at least a demigod.
No wonder the Master ordered me to follow his lead. Mr. A must be a Saint personally dispatched by the Master!
The brilliant smile that bloomed across Panadia's face was completely seamless. She retracted the spider silk without drawing any attention to it, as if nothing had happened. "My confidence in this cooperation has only grown."
She said cheerfully: "Besides the Aurora Order and ourselves, this operation also involves the Psychology Alchemists."
Bernadette's eyebrow ticked upward. "Psychology Alchemists? What do they want with this?"
"I genuinely don't know," Panadia said, shrugging. "In fact, this whole cooperation was originally initiated by the Psychology Alchemists — they reached out to us first."
"Oh? And what does the Demoness Sect itself want out of this?"
"I'd love to tell you everything, but unfortunately I'm not in a position to. I'm just the one handling execution. The true purpose of this cooperation is known only to our upper echelons."
She smiled as she continued: "As for what we can offer — I will find a way to divert the attention of the Churches and the authorities. We will make sure your ritual goes completely undisturbed. We'll let your Master complete His descent, let you fulfil a desire that's been burning for centuries!"
As she painted that picture, Mr. Z's face lit up with radiant excitement.
Bernadette, naturally, felt nothing of the sort. She said flatly: "That's too vague. First let me meet with the Psychology Alchemists, and once everything checks out, I'll need a three-party written contract to formalise the terms."
"..."
Panadia pressed her lips together briefly. "Fine."
"After you, Mr. Z."
"At your command."
As the two left the villa, Panadia's smile immediately dropped. "I have to tell the Psychology Alchemists and the Augustus family — cooperating with an Aurora Order like this is far too dangerous."
Mr. A must disappear.
......
After leaving Panadia's villa, Vincent said: "You're pushing hard and fast. Not worried the Demoness Sect might decide to just kill us?"
"What's the alternative? With just her empty words and not even a real promise, do you think that qualifies as the kind of cooperation that can put anything on the Scale?"
She continued: "So regardless of what the Demoness Sect originally planned, as long as we can get the cooperation formalised into concrete words and a contract, it becomes a genuine arrangement. The moment a three-way deal between the Aurora Order, the Demoness Sect, and the Psychology Alchemists is concluded, that alone should be enough for us to advance to Sequence 5."
"And Loen's royal family."
Panadia had obviously concealed the royal family's involvement just now. But in the original story, the Great Smog that killed tens of thousands was a joint operation between the Demoness Sect and the Loen royal family — the Demoness Sect provided cover for the disappearances caused by building George III's mausoleum, while the Augustus royal house contributed one Sequence 1 "Conqueror" Beyonder characteristic.
As for the Aurora Order — they were dangled in front of the Churches as the bait the whole time, drawing attention and taking all the blame while getting none of the benefit.
The Psychology Alchemists looked like bit players on the surface, stirring the pot. But they — or rather, Adam — were the actual director of the whole event. He'd successfully steered the currents of the era exactly according to his vision.
Looking at it that way, the Aurora Order really was the most "pure" party of the bunch.
"Mr. Z, I'll handle the cooperation from here."
"Of course."
Mr. Z crossed himself, dissolved into a shadow, and disappeared. "May the Master be with you."
Bernadette silently glanced at the cross hanging at her wrist. In a certain sense, the True Creator really was always with her.
......
Queens District. The Hall family's luxurious villa.
Audrey watched with envy as Xio carefully fastened a tiny, delicate earring into her earlobe — before her father's wrongful imprisonment, Xio had been a carefree noblewoman just like Audrey, her ears pierced young, decked out in all sorts of pretty earrings.
Now the holes had almost closed over.
Xio bit down and forced the earring through the half-healed skin, then let her thoughts shift. The five features on her face seemed to melt, and in an instant they reformed into Fors's.
Except…
Xio looked up at Fors's stunned expression and sulked: "I thought it was supposed to change your body shape? Why did I only get a few centimetres taller?"
Bernadette stood nearby, a hint of amusement in her expression. "A demigod-level Faceless should be able to get you as tall as you want."
Demigod-level?
All three girls clicked their tongues. A strength like that was completely beyond their imagination.
Audrey immediately said: "If you're not happy with it, you can give it to me — I don't mind being taller!"
Xio immediately huffed: "I traded five years of free labour for this. Five years." She wiped her face and let it return to normal. "Here I am, can't sit still for one second — trading five years of freedom for this artifact, just so I can leave, and then go straight to working for you again."
She said it, but the real reason Xio was so desperate to leave was to investigate the truth behind her father's wrongful accusation.
She held the earring out to Fors. "Your turn."
"Other than changing appearance, it also has the Paper Double and Air Cannon abilities," Bernadette explained. "The Paper Double requires a pre-prepared paper figure, and can only be used three times a day. The side effect is that each use produces a random fear-based weakness — you might become afraid of fire, afraid of water, that sort of thing."
Fors, who had just given herself a face-tweak with the earring, looked up in alarm. "How scared? How long does it last?"
"The degree of fear is hard to quantify — it's psychological rather than physical. Usually lasts around half an hour."
Fors looked blankly down at herself. "So what am I afraid of right now?"
Nothing seemed to be happening. Was it slow to kick in, or was there just nothing nearby she feared?
Audrey looked genuinely curious: "The side effect sounds kind of fun, honestly. It's only a fright — no real harm done."
Xio immediately got serious: "No. Audrey, imagine you're in a life-or-death fight with an enemy. You use the earring's ability — and then suddenly you've developed a… fear of light. What happens then?"
"Huh? Fear of light?"
Audrey looked up at the sky, let a few images cross her mind, and after a moment went slightly pale. "Okay yeah, if you put it that way, it does sound pretty terrifying."
After a pause she grinned: "So just sell it to me then! I'll pay… five thousand pounds!"
To be continued…
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