Chapter 137 A Harmless Hound

The brilliant starlight was speaking to her, walking towards her—He had been sitting on the sofa, but as he stepped towards her, Agatha felt as if she were gazing at a giant that defied description. In a brief moment, she even lost her ability to judge size and proportion. The distorted perception made it impossible for her to comprehend the size of the house, and the giant formed by the starlight… almost suffocated her soul.

But it was just a fleeting illusion. The next instant, Agatha awoke from her astonishment, realizing that her sanity was not affected by any presence in the room, as if… she had naturally integrated into this place.

"I…" She steadied herself, gazing at the giant constructed of starlight before her. She knew that she was continuously observing the "true form" of this indescribable being. Under normal circumstances, this would be tantamount to suicide, but after confirming that she was truly unaffected, she grew bolder, "I didn't expect you to actually be here. I was just trying my luck…"

"Where do you think I'd go? Just swagger off while leaving a mess here? Like those protagonists in picture books who complete their missions?" Duncan chuckled, gesturing for Agatha to enter the house as he spoke. Then, he paused, glanced at Alice beside him, and added, "I'm referring to those picture books with normal content."

Agatha was a little dazed. She felt like she couldn't quite keep up with this great being's train of thought, but she quickly convinced herself with the reason that "it's normal for mortals to not understand the thoughts of ancient gods" and stepped into the house.

Duncan suddenly stopped and glanced at Agatha's hand.

"…Could you put Sherry down first?" he said with a strange tone. "Sherry, you too—how come it looks like you're enjoying it?"

"Ah, sorry!" Agatha finally reacted and quickly put the thin girl she was carrying down on the ground, but the moment she set her down, her expression suddenly changed.

She had been in a chaotic situation at the entrance just now, and she hadn't focused her attention on Sherry. Only now did she suddenly notice the latter's abnormalities—the limbs mutated by the abyssal demon symbiosis, the chains extending from her body and hidden away, and the abyssal hound hiding in the shadows, secretly sizing up the outside world.

"Abyssal…" Agatha subconsciously spoke, her muscles instantly tensing.

But before she could take any action, Duncan's voice sounded beside her: "Relax, it's just a harmless hound. I occasionally need a hound to help me find things."

"Harmless… hound?" Agatha said with a strange expression, her gaze subconsciously sweeping around.

Those figures came into view again—those who looked like Chosen Ones, those who seemed to be blessed by the warp, those who seemed to be harboring the power of the sun, and those soul husks that were impossible to see through…

Her gaze fell again on the girl named Sherry beside her.

The abyssal hound realized it had been discovered and was crouching in the shadows with its neck tucked in, looking pitiful.

Agatha fell silent.

Ancient gods and their followers gathered here—indeed, any abyssal demon would be considered harmless here.

"Rest assured, Sherry is not a member of the Annihilation Cult," Duncan said, seeing Agatha's silence, and patiently explained, "She and A'gou (Dog) met for other reasons, and they now act on my orders and will not harm the city-state."

With that, he pointed to a chair not far away, "Sit down, you should have a lot to say."

Agatha slowly walked over. Duncan watched her actions—she accurately located the position of the chair, but she was obviously a little hesitant and exploratory when she sat down.

"You seem to need some time to adapt to your current state," Duncan said, "Is that okay?"

This mysterious being seemed to be so kind and peaceful as always, but Agatha moved her body a little uncomfortably: "...I'm indeed not used to the way I perceive the world now, but there's no need to worry about this body. In fact, there are many benefits to the changes that have happened to me. I can now see many things that I couldn't observe before, but… it takes some getting used to."

"I'm sorry," Duncan said with a rather serious tone, "I didn't expect such a change to occur—in fact, you didn't have to resort to such an extreme method of self-sacrifice."

"But this is the most efficient way," Agatha shook her head gently, "Nothing is more suitable as a carrier of your powerful power than a gatekeeper."

Duncan didn't say anything more. Then, his attention was focused on her special attire at the moment.

"You're very different from the last time we met," he said casually, "It seems… you look more like a priest now than before."

"I'm temporarily acting as the Archbishop," Agatha nodded gently, "Archbishop Ivan is gone. Now that the battle in the city has ended, instead of a fully armed gatekeeper, there is now a greater need for someone to lead the church to comfort the souls of the dead and the minds of the living."

"Archbishop Ivan…" Duncan's tone was a little solemn. After a brief silence, he sighed softly, "I didn't meet him, but at that time, I sensed the protection descending on the city-state… Although it was very short, his efforts did weaken the connection between the mirror image and reality in a short time. Without him, many more people would have died."

"May he find peace in Bartok's kingdom," Agatha said softly, "He… persevered for many years, and now he can finally rest for a long time."

"He will—although I don't know what Bartok's realm is all about, but as a true god, presumably He will fairly treat those noble souls," Duncan said casually, then changed the subject, "Now, tell me about the situation in the city-state."

Agatha nodded gently.

She knew that as the gatekeeper of the Church of Death, and also one of the only people in the city-state who could preside over the situation, she should not casually reveal the dire situation of Frost to others, let alone establish more communication with an existence of unknown origin who was suspected to be an ancient god, but after witnessing the huge figure standing outside the city-state's sea and performing the "self-sacrifice," she knew that whether it was Frost or herself, they had inevitably established a difficult-to-cut connection with this mysterious existence.

Now this existence obviously still has an interest in continuing to pay attention to this riddled city-state, then she has no way to avoid this matter.

If her choice today is a sin, then let the church and the Lord judge her.

"The current situation in Frost… is very bad," she said, her voice low and slow, "As you know, we just lost Archbishop Ivan. The church's priests and guardians have also suffered great losses in the process of protecting the city-state, and now the city is filled with fear and tension, as well as various negative effects brought about by personnel deaths and injuries—if these cannot be dealt with in time, then secondary disasters are very likely to occur. Horrors will breed from people's hearts, and in the case of the church's insufficient manpower, 'fear' itself will spread in the city-state like a snowball.

"In fact, sunset a few hours later is likely to be the beginning of the test—in the previous mirror image invasion, Frost has not been illuminated by the sun for a long time, which has greatly weakened the city-state's protection against transcendent forces. For the next first night, no one knows what will happen.

"On the other hand, the situation in the City Hall is actually worse than the church—in addition to the battle damage suffered by the City-State Guard and the Sheriff's Department, the most serious thing is…"

Agatha obviously hesitated a bit when she said this, but after struggling for a few seconds, she still said the situation—after all, the fact that the Governor was missing could not be hidden from anyone.

"The most serious thing is that the Governor is missing."

Duncan raised his eyebrows: "Missing?"

"He disappeared in the Boiling Gold Mine, and I…" Agatha got a little stuck, as if she was organizing her words. After a few seconds, she continued with a complicated expression, "Another me led a team to investigate the mine tunnel where the Governor disappeared. According to the situation reported by the exploration team that returned to the cathedral afterwards, 'I' and Governor Winston both entered an abnormal area blocked by stone walls, and did not return…"

Her tone was low and hesitant. Obviously, when she mentioned "another self," her mood was not as calm as she showed.

And Duncan could almost imagine the tangled, chaotic, and contradictory process that Agatha went through when she returned to the cathedral and learned about the actions of "another self" from the other priests in the past few days.

He calmly watched Agatha: "You can say it more bluntly—the Governor of Frost City-State is dead, you have already judged this, right?"

"Yes," Agatha finally stopped hesitating and said frankly, "Although there is no evidence, I do 'know' that he is dead, dead in a strange and dark space, and probably even the body cannot be found."

"You 'know'," Duncan emphasized the word "know," and then adjusted his sitting posture on the chair, "It seems that you will go to the Boiling Gold Mine again later."

"That… is the last place 'she' disappeared," Agatha nodded gently, "When she disappeared for the last time, I felt something difficult to describe. I seemed to be able to sense her thoughts. I think… she seemed to have a lot to tell me, but she didn't have time…"

Agatha stopped and then said, "And… the members of the exploration team who returned from the mine also mentioned some things to me. That was what 'another me' told them when she led the team to explore the mine. This made me even more uneasy…"

(End of this chapter)