Chapter 1368: Chapter 1368

Rising steam mingled with the scent of blood, drifting up from the factory floor. Amidst the steaming pipes and instrument panels, the sight of someone from the Orthodox Church made it Mr. Hood who broke the stalemate. He gestured for her to come down, then began to explain what had happened.

Miss Knight believed him immediately. She had come for that very reason—the Church had already found the man and the letter Jenkins's group had left on the street, which explained everything that had transpired that night.

"Thank you for your contribution... There's more than one methane digester around Nolan. The Church didn't mobilize on a large scale for fear of alerting the enemy and forcing them to act prematurely. I'm one of the faster ones, so I came ahead to this most remote facility. Are you certain they used a gaseous form of alchemical black powder?"

Given the urgency of the situation, she didn't dwell on the four individuals' suspicious origins. She understood the situation and knew that if no action was taken, Nolan would face its worst disaster since the previous year.

"I'll relay this information to the Church immediately. They'll have a solution."

She muttered to herself, drawing the sword from her hip—a blade that was more decorative than practical—and tracing a circle on the ground. It was, in fact, a ritual sword, a unique divine tool of the Church of War and Victory.

It was impossible to discern the occult significance of the symbol she drew, but when the woman tossed a slip of paper onto the rune, it burst into flames.

A moment later, the burning ashes rose back into the air as if time were reversing, reassembling into a thin, carbonized black sheet of paper that bore a message from the Church.

"It's handled. The Church knows what happened here and has found a way to deal with it. I must thank you all again for your contribution to Nolan. I don't suppose you have time to accompany me to the nearest Astrologer's church? We need to obtain some more detailed information."

"No, no, that won't be necessary. It's too late... or rather, too early. We need to get back for breakfast, so we'll skip the visit to the church."

All four of them shook their heads hastily; each had their own reasons for avoiding contact with the Church. Still, Mr. Hood had some lingering doubts, so he asked about the Church's strategy. He couldn't imagine how they could possibly find the ritual site before dawn without a large-scale search.

"It's quite simple. The local Church of Death and End possesses a Series B Extraordinary item, designated B-12-2-8332, called the 'Explosion Accumulation Expert.' It's a doll with a metallic texture, made of an unknown material, about the size of a human hand. As long as it isn't in a special sealed state, it automatically absorbs all artificial excess explosive energy within a two-thousand-mile radius, releasing it all at once at the end of each month. This Extraordinary item was contained at the beginning of the current epoch. It was originally discovered in the ruins of a pre-epoch alchemical workshop, along with documents explaining its function. The Church initially believed it had the potential to neutralize all-out warfare, but it seems it's also capable of preventing this kind of large-scale explosion."

With that explanation, the group understood that the Church was fully capable of resolving the situation. The Church's power was far beyond what they had imagined. They hadn't trusted the Church at first, partly because several of them wanted no association with it, and partly because they never expected Nolan to have a tool so perfectly suited to avert this particular crisis.

Now that the matter was resolved and had reached a good conclusion, they declined Miss Knight's repeated invitations and promptly departed.

They had worried that the fearsome-looking dragon might stop them, but it was merely lying in the courtyard, sleeping with its eyes closed. Even as the group walked past, the great beast didn't so much as open an eye.

While carefully watching for any signs of Miss Knight following and erasing their tracks as they went, they finally made it back before dawn to Silver Flute Miss's country villa, nestled on the shaded side of the hill.

The four of them stood on the balcony, waiting patiently. As the first ray of dawn broke free from the horizon and shone upon the port city, the brilliant sunlight seemed to paint the entire metropolis in gold.

The expected earthquake occurred, but the tremors were very slight. Afterward, millions of fiery red threads, visible only to Enchanters, converged from beneath the city toward the Church of Death and End on the outskirts.

The primary duty of the Church of Death and End was to bid farewell to every deceased soul, but on this morning, it saved every living person in the city. Fresh chapters posted on n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net

The sunlight illuminated the false faces of the four on the country villa's balcony, yet it revealed their most sincere smiles. The night's frantic work had been worth it. Though none of them were entirely good people, they all shared a deep affection for the city.

Perhaps their deeds would never be known to the public, but they would forever remember this crazy, arduous night.

The three men, in particular, had not rested all night. After seeing with satisfaction that Nolan was safe, a wave of exhaustion finally washed over them. They stayed only for a cup of tea before departing separately. As for Silver Flute Miss, she would remain, pretending to be an ordinary resident. Even if the Church were to search the woods afterward and discover the building, it wouldn't matter. The house belonged to Miss Windsor, and with her as a guarantor, the Church would not trouble its inhabitants.

Besides, Silver Flute Miss had only accompanied Jenkins and the others this morning and hadn't done anything illegal.

It was after six in the morning by the time he returned to the manor outside Ruen. Chocolate, who had slept soundly in Jenkins's arms all night, was now showing a distinct desire for breakfast.

So, Jenkins fought off his drowsiness and had breakfast with Alexia and Dolores. Still half-asleep, he even managed to discuss the war between the Cheslan and Fidektri Kingdoms, offering some commentary on the small-scale skirmish that had broken out the previous afternoon.

After breakfast, Dolores and Julia had to go into the city; Dolores had been extremely busy lately, leaving only Alexia reading in the study. She listened as Jenkins briefly recounted the events of the previous night, and seeing how utterly exhausted he was, she told him to go and get some rest.

Jenkins's last memory was of putting the cat on the table, changing his clothes, and collapsing onto the bed. When he opened his eyes again, the sun was setting outside his window.