Chapter 1947: Chapter 1947

Reinforcements poured in from the Evergreen Forest, forming a containment circle around the area's perimeter. If even Jenkins couldn't find a solution after arriving, the only option would be to destroy the entire zone, eliminate all the mechanized corpses, and then battle the "Human Jigsaw Puzzle" on the scorched earth.

The Church absolutely could not allow the curse to spread through Nolan.

From the sky, Miss Bevanna saw a carriage racing into the area. When she saw Captain Bincy leap out, she immediately descended to meet him. Besides her, Miss Bennett, the Saint of the Church of All Things and Nature, the old gravedigger from the Church of Death and End, and the demigod from the Church of Ocean and Exploration also flew over.

Miss Bevanna glanced at the carriage behind Captain Bincy, expecting Jenkins to emerge at any moment with his cat.

"He's still at City Hall, but he said he has a plan. When he awakened the World Tree Seedling, he also gained some knowledge—enough to deal with the current disaster. He said someone will be here soon with an arrow, but we need to prepare a bow—a wooden bow strong enough to fire an arrow of ruin."

"Not a problem. Leave that to us."

Miss Bennett agreed, then asked:

"How much longer will it be until he gets here? Is someone bringing him? I recall he can't fly."

Miss Bevanna said, readying to depart, but Captain Bincy moved to stop her, explaining that Jenkins said he didn't need anyone to pick him up.

Just then, the ground began to stir. Directly beneath the carriage parked by the roadside, it was as if a drill were boring upward from below. A slight tremor shook the earth as a mound of pavement began to rise.

The driver leaped down, scrambling away from the danger zone. Under the dim sky, Miss Bevanna and her three companions backed away, their eyes fixed on the growing mound. Dozens of rotting hands suddenly burst through the hard pavement, reaching for the sky as mechanized corpses slowly clawed their way out. Using the hard metal protrusions on their bodies and their metallic fingernails, they had forcibly dug their way up through the road.

Once they had emerged, the group could see brass clasps embedded in the shoulder blades of each corpse's bare torso, all connected to chains.

As the corpses continued to climb out, the chains they were attached to pulled taut, dragging a brass-colored coffin up from beneath the rising mound of earth.

The coffin was made entirely of metal, fashioned in the standard tapered shape, wider at the shoulders. A single metal gear was mounted on its lid.

With a groan, the metal gear began to turn, and the coffin lid slowly tilted to one side. A man with a grotesquely ugly, deathly pale face opened his eyes. His skin was swollen as if scalded, pitted as though from a bout of both chickenpox and measles, and then, to complete the look, sprinkled with black specks like sesame seeds on glue.

The experienced old gravedigger immediately identified the creature.

"A level-eight demigod."

Miss Bevanna concluded, relying on her book.

But he wasn't just a demigod-level vampire. As soon as he opened his eyes, the hideous creature smiled at Miss Bevanna and the others. The smile revealed his teeth, which were neither pearly white nor rotten yellow—they were made of steel. The dull, silvery-white metal, set against his comically ugly face, made for an even more bizarre sight.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Brujah Gangrel Nofeller. I'm a demigod affiliated with the Treehouse organization. And as you can see, I am not human."

It had been a long time since a demigod from the Treehouse had appeared. Jenkins was eliminating them far faster than the organization could recruit or cultivate new ones.

"I am the one presiding over the events here today. But you needn't worry. My orders are simply to create chaos until two in the afternoon, at which point I can withdraw."

He spoke as he stepped out of the coffin, his footsteps thudding heavily on the ground, a sound disproportionate to his physical size. One could only imagine how much of what lay beneath his fine velvet suit and shirt was flesh, and how much was metal.

"Oh, and one more thing."

He produced a slender, oval case from his breast pocket. As the Church members watched him warily, he simply took out a pair of glasses and put them on:

"It was Her Majesty the Queen, ruler of this land, who gave us this commission."

"Are you trying to drive a wedge between the Church and Queen Isabella?"

Miss Bevanna countered.

"Does that relationship even need me to drive a wedge into it?"

He twisted his body at an awkward angle and drew a long, slender rapier from the empty coffin behind him. The blade didn't look sharp; it was covered in burrs, as if it had never been polished:

"So, where is this Williams, the 'World Tree Seedling'? Let him be my opponent."

The vampire looked eager to fight:

"I'm very much looking forward to seeing what kind of power a Savior possesses."

"Why are you so sure Jenkins will appear? Is this a trap for him?"

"A trap? No, no, no, he must appear. Because only the 'World Tree Seedling' can counter the 'Human Jigsaw Puzzle' created by the Great Wisdom. Your only hope of victory is to use the power of a World Tree priest to drive plants into the puzzle's seams. This has all been calculated. Now that I've told you how to fight it, bring Williams out."

The two sides were on the verge of clashing, but just then, about two streets away, a vibrant green light flared to life atop a distant building, as bright as a high-powered gas lamp suddenly ignited in the night.

It was the power of life, and even with one's eyes closed, the formidable vitality it contained could be clearly felt. Fresh chapters posted on NoveI~Fire.net

"You see? He's here!"

With that, the vampire shot into the sky, and Miss Bevanna and the others followed close behind. Only Captain Bincy remained on the ground. He immediately summoned the nearby standby squads to help him deal with the corpses covered in metal parts.

Within that green light, Sigrid nervously clutched Jenkins's staff. The staff was one of his Bestowals, and as it had apparently been tailor-made for him, even Sigrid was unable to resonate with it.

However, because they were both descendants of the World Tree priests, she could just barely wield the staff as a weapon, though it lacked the incredible power it possessed in Jenkins's hands.

But that was enough. The life-spirit fluctuations of the World Tree were unique, and in everyone's mind, only Jenkins could manifest such a spirit. Very few people were aware that there was more than one descendant of the World Tree priests.

Not only the vampire and Miss Bevanna's group, but no one at all knew the truth: Jenkins wasn't coming. The one holding that arrow was just her.