Chapter 53

They crossed the corridor with his super hearing turned up to the highest, and he realized they were getting closer to the enemy.

The corridor they were in was on the left side of the central part of the church.

Dio crouched and looked through the window.

Dio saw the whole church set up with long wooden benches lined up next to each other.

There are people in red robes sitting on them and staring at the altar like zombies.

There was a woman at the altar who was different from the others. She was dressed as a nun in a different red outfit with many tiny details.

She was the official leader of the Church in this place, or at least the leader of the part that was in charge of all the important humanitarian tasks.

Dio spoke with her twice. She didn't give her name and introduced herself as Mayhem.

In one of those meetings, she tried to recruit Dio for the cult after seeing his work, and Dio accepted.

However, she seemed suspicious about it. Dio might not have seemed sincere, so she didn't bring it up again.

Mayhem was reading a book with red leather covers for her new initiates.

It's unclear who they serve, and their faith is confusing, so Dio doesn't pay much attention to her words.

Instead, Dio counted all the armed guards scattered around the room and watched over the initiates.

There are ten armed men.

After counting, Roy and Dio continued their path and turned right, reaching the end of the corridor, where they saw a closed door.

If Robin is right, the entrance to the tunnels is here. Dio stood next to the door, gripped the doorknob, confirmed that it was not locked, and looked back.

When Roy looked at Dio, he nodded and held out his bow with an arrow already in it.

Dio opened the door, and Roy immediately entered. Dio followed him and saw two armed guards in the room.

Roy's shock arrow has already struck one of them in the neck, and his bow hit the other in the head.

He's certainly an idiot, but his skills are good.

With both guards down, Dio looked around the room.

There's nothing in it, just a large hole in the ground. It was dug in the shape of a square, and they even built a dirt staircase inside.

This construction was definitely not a simple tunnel; it looked more like an entrance to an underground crypt.

As the room was empty, Dio returned to the door they had entered and closed it. Then he placed his hand on it and whispered softly.

"Επικαλούμαι το κρύο της θλίψης του ποταμού koʊˈsaɪtəs!"

(I Summon the Cold of the River Cocytus!)

A fine black mist covered the entire door and froze it.

The ice expanded and connected with the wall, so when the chaos started, they'd have some time before the enemy from above could attack them from behind.

"Robin, we're ready to descend."

Dio said this after touching his communicator, but didn't receive a response.

He warned that the tunnels might make their communications unstable.

"Let's go,"

Speedy said that and entered the hole in the ground.

The inside of the tunnel was surprisingly big, nearly two meters high and three meters wide.

It was well-dug, with large wooden sticks placed on all sides to prevent collapse. The area was also well lit by electric lamps spread on the ceiling.

Dio was impressed by the speed of the Blood Church's construction.

According to Robin, they arrived in the country twenty days ago and have already built something of this size without drawing attention.

As they walked slowly through the tunnel, the sensation of magic Dop felt from above became increasingly intense.

Dio doesn't know how to describe the magic here other than as chaos and evil.

"Which way?"

Speedy asked quietly from behind him.

The tunnel was split into left and right paths, and according to Robin's analysis, it's easy to get lost down here.

Fortunately, Dio has a natural compass. All he needed to do was choose the direction where the magic sensation was strongest.

"Left."

Dio said, and they continued to run.

It took a while to reach the end of the tunnel at their cautious speed to avoid any potential traps.

"There are four."

Speedy whispered to him, pressed against the wall, and observed what was around the bend using the reflection from the tip of one of his arrows.

Dio closed his eyes for a moment to sense the magic in the air. They were close, and these four must be the last guards before the main room.

"I'll go ahead."

Di told him.

Speedy nocked an arrow without objecting.

Dio had been puzzled by his behavior since the beginning of this infiltration. He hasn't made any stupid comments or fought his suggestions.

It could be because Dio said they would solve everything when they returned to the Tower.

Since Dio's back was against the wall and the four guards were facing them, he couldn't charge them straight on.

However, Dio used the same magic as before because he didn't know where the shadow movement would take him, even though it was very tiring.

"Επικαλούμαι τη Βασιλιά του Βασιλιά Λήθ!"

"I Summon the Forgetfulness of King Lethe!"

The same thin layer of milky white energy surrounded him, but this time only him. Dio stepped out from behind the wall and faced the four guards who were protecting a three-meter-tall wooden door.

The door was antique, incredibly old, and even carved with patterns and letters in a language he didn't recognize.

The four armed men in red outfits stood side by side, holding rifles and staring straight ahead without blinking.

Dio stood right in front of them, but with the power of forgetfulness, it didn't matter.

So Dio attacked.

He had to be quick. Dio hit the first guard in the throat to prevent him from shouting.

The second guard found it odd and looked at his friend.

Dio struck him in the nose.

The third guard acted swiftly and aimed his rifle in Dio's direction, even though he couldn't see him.

But before he could fire, Dio drew a military knife from the second guard's vest and threw it at the third guard.

The knife traveled through the air, hitting the third guard's forehead at the back of the night, and he fell to the ground.

The fourth guard was opening his mouth to shout, and just as Dio was about to use the shadow movement, an arrow went into the side of his face.

When the arrow exploded, it covered the guard's head in solidifying foam.

Dio punched the foam off his head to keep him from suffocating.

Quick, clean, and accurate.

That was Dio's assessment of his attack with Speedy's assistance.

Unfortunately, Dio didn't have time to brag further. He headed straight for the door, but he stopped before opening it when he noticed something.

"What happened?"

Speedy asked from behind him.

"I can't hear anything behind this door, absolutely nothing."

Dio replied to him.

"Do you think it's some kind of soundproofing?"

Roy suggested.

"I think it's a silence spell or this door."

Dio opened the door slowly to avoid making noise, just enough for the two of us to enter.

After they crossed, the sounds of worship that spells had silenced emerged.

On the other side of the door, there were two guards, but they were facing forward and didn't notice them.

They both attacked at the same time and took them down. They then looked around to see what was happening around them.

The room they were in had ridiculous dimensions—almost ten meters in height, twenty in width, and six in depth.

They were at the highest point, and everything was happening in the lower part of the room.

Dio lost count of how many people were kneeling, worshiping the man in front of them.

The man was dressed in red attire with a long black cape and wore a strange helmet made of bones that obscured his face.

He might have been Brother Blood, the leader of the cult.

Brother Blood held an ancient black book and was reading aloud. The unpleasant magic Dio was feeling here increased with every word he spoke.

He wasn't alone.

In addition to his followers, their friend Mammoth was on the other side of the room with an African woman who was bald and wearing a long blue dress.

"Robin, we've got an Indiana Jones situation here."

Speedy reported from his side.

Dio didn't immediately get the reference, but that's when he saw what was behind Brother Blood.

A woman wearing a white cloak that covered her entire body and was hanging from the ceiling by a chain around her waist was over a bubbling, luminous green pool of water.

Dio couldn't recognize the woman, but he recognized the pool. The Church of Blood was performing a sacrifice using the Lazarus Pit.

...

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