Chapter 1746: Chapter 1746

"That's right, the Children of the Mist plan. The difference is that the two failed gestations last year were artificially induced. This time, however, it's a natural product—that giant was born from Nolan's fog. Someone foresaw this last year and created the Children of the Mist plan based on their prediction. No matter how you slice it, it has to be connected to the Perfume Appreciation Committee, we just lack the evidence to prove it."

The Keeper of Secrets nodded his agreement and pointed to the circle he'd drawn on the blackboard. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn NoveI[F]ire.net

"Those three city blocks serve as both a barrier containing us and an eggshell for the gestating Child of the Mist. A spatial anomaly is protecting the giant within that shell, which explains why anyone who ventured near has vanished."

"Then when will this eggshell finally crack?"

Jenkins asked the question. An old man he didn't recognize from the Church of Destiny and Equilibrium replied,

"Based on our analysis of documents left behind by the Perfume Appreciation Committee, as well as our own divinations, the Fog Giant will break through that shell around dawn."

That was much sooner than Jenkins had expected. Judging by its recent display of power—shattering an arcane lock cast by five Saints before it had even fully manifested—the true strength of the Fog Giant would be on par with the malevolent entities long sealed away in pocket dimensions.

This revelation backed the Church into a corner. The current plan was to crack the eggshell prematurely, as they couldn't allow the Child of the Mist to emerge naturally. However, breaking the shell meant an immediate confrontation with the giant. While the Church was confident in victory, the true cataclysm of the End of the Era had yet to manifest. Nolan's black tower still loomed in the moonlit night, and the Church was reluctant to exhaust its power on this single crisis.

"Perhaps we could enlist the Believers of Lies. That group has always enjoyed meddling in affairs like these, haven't they? I'm not suggesting the Church rely on them, merely that we let them test the waters first. They've always been remarkably proactive."

Nolan's smog had been a problem long before Jenkins arrived in this world, and he knew it would persist for a long time. It wasn't an issue a single generation could solve. Drawing on the history of his original world, Jenkins figured that even without supernatural forces creating so many bizarre and dangerous phenomena, Nolan's fog would have eventually caused its own "Great Smog" incident. Only by letting the city's inhabitants experience nature's wrath firsthand would the people of this world finally grasp the severity of the situation.

Of course, such thoughts were pointless now. While the Church was hesitant to waste more lives probing the power of the unborn Child of the Mist, it didn't mean they were out of options.

In preparation for the final cataclysm, and in accordance with ancient church texts, Enchanters from across the globe had converged, bringing a host of powerful numbered items with them.

Once it was decided that no more lives would be risked, the task of dealing with the Fog Giant fell to these artifacts. Each of the Twelve Churches submitted an inventory, detailing the Series B Extraordinary items they were willing to contribute. Jenkins, of course, doubted anyone had laid all their cards on the table. Still, seeing the twelve thick dossiers stacked together, he felt a genuine sense of relief. The Orthodox Churches of this world weren't the villains of some traditional novel, and for that, he was truly grateful.

With roughly five hours until dawn, a contingent of Church members was dispatched to the front lines to find a swift solution. Their mission was to monitor the Fog Giant inside its "eggshell" for any new developments and prevent a premature birth.

Meanwhile, another group, those with less combat prowess, remained at the church to continue strategizing and sift through the vast catalogs of numbered items for the right tool.

As a level-six Enchanter—at least in the Church's estimation—Jenkins naturally fell into the more powerful combatant category. However, considering he might have been injured by the backlash from the arcane lock, he wasn't sent to the front. Instead, he remained at the church, tasked with sifting through archives with the Keeper of Secrets' apprentices, searching for any mention of the Fog Giant. He was, of course, also considered a key part of the cathedral's defense.

Professor Burns was also at the cathedral, much to his surprise. The two men exchanged a brief nod before immersing themselves in the monumental task of combing through a sea of ancient texts.

Before Jenkins's group could make any headway, the others had already found a suitable artifact for the crisis. After all, each church knew its own assets well. The process was simply a matter of comparing proposals and selecting the most fitting solution.

B-05-2-1394, the [Suffocating Praying Maiden], was a life-sized, white plaster statue. It depicted a young woman in a robe, her hood down, kneeling on one knee. Her hands were clasped at her chest, eyes shut tight, and her head bowed slightly in prayer.

When inert, the statue was indistinguishable from any other plaster sculpture, save for the fact that it was indestructible. However, when someone within a thirty-foot radius recited any text considered to be "religious scripture," all the air within earshot would be slowly absorbed by the [Suffocating Praying Maiden]. The affected area would then become a localized spatial anomaly, preventing any new air from entering for three hours.

In other words, while it couldn't create a perfect vacuum in the physical sense, the area affected by the chanting would become devoid of enough air to suffocate an ordinary person.

The ancient statue was first contained in the 16th Epoch. Due to its immobility and relatively mild effect, there had never been a single containment breach. It was originally discovered in a small village chapel. By the time a passing inspector realized something was amiss, all twenty-seven worshipers inside, including the non-Enchanter priest, had already suffocated to death.

However, the statue's power only activated when someone was continuously reciting scripture nearby. Since it absorbed air rather slowly, all a reciter had to do if they felt unwell was stop speaking and step outside the affected radius.

This fact made the containment record—stating that everyone had died of suffocation—all the more unsettling. A deeper consideration of the circumstances cast an even more mysterious and confusing shadow over the [Suffocating Praying Maiden].