Endless Debt Chapter 234 - 25 Atheist

When Palr returned to the church, everything was over. The church was teetering, crumbling bricks smashing the deity statue, and Bologue sat beneath the ruins with a gloomy expression.

In fact, from the Devil’s arrival to its departure, it was not even a few minutes, yet the horrific pressure and ominous feeling made Bologue’s perception of ti infinitely sluggish.

The pain in his chest gradually subsided, but the handprint showed no signs of fading. This was the first ti since Bologue beca a Debtor that he encountered such an unhealable injury.

This might not be an injury but a curse, an irremovable curse.

"What happened?"

Palr, who had returned, questioned Bologue. He hadn’t been gone long, yet it seed like a great battle had taken place here, and judging by his partner’s state, Bologue seed to have lost.

Belli?

Palr wondered, trying to find Belli’s body, but he noticed that the corpses previously piled in the church, the blood-colored drawings, and other flesh-stained objects had all disappeared without a trace.

Palr realized the issue and looked at Bologue with a serious expression.

"Was the ritual successful?"

It shouldn’t have been possible. He and Bologue had saved Bane, the human sacrifice, and slaughtered all the cultists, sending them to Hell. The ritual should have been stopped.

"The ritual didn’t succeed... it was just that the Devil found its way here on its own."

Bologue responded. He still rembered that mysterious feeling, a voice tempting him from within, prompting him to call out that na, allowing the Devil to see his figure amidst the void.

The feeling was terrible.

Bologue picked up the booklet in his hand, evidence proving what he saw wasn’t an illusion. From Belli’s words and the booklet’s description, Bologue had roughly understood the existence of the Vermilion Corrosion Sect.

This was an evil cult worshiping the Devil, serving a devil nad "Gluttonous Beelzebub."

If Bologue guessed correctly, the ethereal woman who left a handprint on his chest was that Devil. The reason she rembered him might be related to him disturbing her ritual.

No... that’s not it.

There are many Extraordinary Organizations in this world, and most of them maintain a hostile attitude towards the Devil. In the Order Bureau’s records, a long ti ago, the Order Bureau even joined forces with the King’s Secret Sword to destroy the cultists’ ritual, showing the vigilance people have towards the Devil.

Bologue felt that the woman wasn’t soone petty. She wouldn’t oppose everyone who disturbed her ritual. The reason she targeted him might be his special identity.

"I am looking for soone, been searching for a long, long ti."

The Tyrant’s words echoed in his ears. From the Tyrant’s attitude towards him, it could be felt that, in the eyes of the Devils, he was also a relatively special existence.

"A strange scent."

The woman also ntioned a so-called "scent," and the Tyrant had said sothing similar before. Bologue had a scent familiar to the Tyrant, but he was sure he wasn’t that person.

Bologue felt a bit of a headache. Excluding the Devil who took his soul, he had already encountered two Devils and wasn’t sure if he was lucky or unlucky.

"Do you know about the Vermilion Corrosion Sect, Palr?" Bologue asked.

"The Vermilion Corrosion Sect? An old acquaintance," Palr ca over and responded to Bologue’s inquiry.

Bologue looked up to see Palr with a bitter smile.

"Could it be such a coincidence?" Bologue said.

"It’s fate, or perhaps... bad luck!"

Palr loudly complained, then sat beside Bologue, his voice slowly resounding.

"I talked to you about how I beca a Debtor, right?" Palr asked.

"I know, you stumbled into an evil ritual site but managed to seize the ritual and made a deal with the Devil," Bologue guessed. "Could it be the ritual site you encountered was related to the Vermilion Corrosion Sect?"

"You guessed right, but unfortunately, there’s no reward." Palr nodded in affirmation.

So it was indeed like this, and for a mont, Bologue didn’t know what to say. Palr then continued.

"Logically speaking, Opus... no, the entire Great Rift is the Forbidden Land for the Vermilion Corrosion Sect. The Order Bureau can tolerate the King’s Secret Sword intruding into Opus but would never allow the Vermilion Corrosion Sect near the Great Rift."

Palr talked about the Order Bureau’s trivial matters. Bologue, who wasn’t long in the job, didn’t know much about these things.

"I don’t understand why the Order Bureau’s attitude is so firm, but at least in Opus, I’ve never seen anyone from the Vermilion Corrosion Sect, nor have I encountered anything related to them, so I didn’t think it was those lunatics at first."

"Why is it forbidden for them to enter the Great Rift?" Bologue asked.

"I don’t know about that. We’re just Condensers, our knowledge is quite limited. But Lebius and the others should understand why, right?"

Palr didn’t continue this conversation but turned to Bologue and asked him.

"Then what? The Devil arrived in reality; what happened next?"

Bologue told Palr truthfully about what happened next: the tendrils devoured Belli, the appearance of the woman, and the handprint on Bologue’s chest.

Judging by the connection to the umbilical cord, Palr should have a deeper link with the woman, yet she targeted him, which made him feel uneasy.

"Do you have any ideas?" Bologue buttoned up his coat, covering his chest.

"No ideas," Palr shook his head, "I don’t know much about the Devil either. More information will be revealed to us once we advance to Prayer Believers."

"And then there’s the Putrid Sect..."

Palr was about to tell Bologue about his understanding of the Putrid Sect and the eighth Sect of Secret Energy, which had been deliberately forgotten and hidden.

The surge of Ether interrupted Palr’s words, both reacted instantly and looked alertly toward one corner of the ruins, where a shaky door stood, the panel and fra barely maintaining the "door" stance.

Dense light trails appeared out of nowhere on the surface of the door panel, intertwining and twisting together to form a vortex of engulfing waves.

A sudden sense of familiarity hit Bologue’s mind; he recognized this pattern in the vortex roaring in the door...

The solitary standing door was pushed open, behind it connected not to Qiushang Town but to another void space, oppressive breathing sounds ca from behind the door, as if hungry hounds were ready to break free.

Before Bologue and Palr could say anything, a storm was stirred among the ruins by the Ether, it was called forth, making the surrounding thin Ether rich again.

As Bologue summoned the Deceitful Snake Scale Liquid, forging his Iron Armor to protect himself, one silhouette after another appeared in front of the radiant door.

They just appeared out of nowhere, like an army descending from the sky.

The newcors’ eyes swirled with bright light, their bodies clad in armor resembling Protective Clothing, so wielded knives and swords, others held rifles, each exuding a murderous aura, Ether surged, Secret Energy ready to burst forth, seeming prepared to tear the two apart alive at any mont.

Bologue was sowhat confused by the current situation; he recognized the pattern on the door but was unsure whether the opposing identities were friend or foe. Palr, however, had reacted, seeing the markings on these people’s attire.

On the white Protective Clothing was a symbol of authority representing divine power, but that authority was circled by dark graffiti and marked with a hefty X, denying it.

"Brothers of the Ninth Group!"

Palr put down his weapon, raised his hands, and shouted hoarsely.

"Our own! Spare our lives!"

Under Palr’s howl, the Ninth Group’s rising murderous aura paused, and each felt a sense of absurdity at having witnessed a ghost; they’ve raided so many ritual sites, yet this was a first.

But it only made them hesitate for a mont; according to the Ninth Group’s operational regulations, they never listen to cultist nonsense, always executing imdiately, especially when involved with the Great Rift.

Just as they were about to open fire and gun the two down, the leading man suddenly raised his hand, stopping the action.

The man removed his helt; he was of similar age to Lebius, but from appearances, he looked much more fierce than Lebius, his face covered with scars, the most striking one ran from the corner of his mouth.

Due to this scar, the man’s gums slightly showed, giving his appearance an extrely fierce look.

"I rember him, the unlucky guy from the Clarks."

Looking at Palr, man spoke, which sounded humiliating, but Palr couldn’t believe that such a nickna had saved his life.

"Yes, that’s ! Palr from the Field Operations Departnt Special Operations Group," Palr forcefully patted Bologue’s shoulder, his voice panicked, "This is my partner Bologue."

"Special Operations Group, consisting of Debtors? No wonder they stink."

The man didn’t hold back his disdain for Debtors, but even with such words, others didn’t lower their weapons, as if even as colleagues, at the man’s command, they would swarm and chop the two Debtors into pieces.

"You arrived first, and resolved the situation here?"

Said the man as he glanced at the chapel, the ruins not showing any trace of blood, as the woman took all the flesh and blood when she left.

"Ah... is that so?"

Their headstart on the mission displeased the man greatly, his gloomy gaze briefly scanning around; he looked at Bologue and Palr who had stood up, and reported his na.

"Captain of the Ninth Group, Carnegie Dunbar."

It was Bologue’s first eting with Carnegie, but he had long since understood their identities.

The Ninth Group, responsible for handling events related to devil worship and similar, with the code na, Atheists.