Chapter 172 Vanna's Discovery

Vanna stood quietly before the stairs leading to the underground sanctuary, watching the black door that had just been restored before everyone's eyes.

Three hours ago, she had led her team to this abandoned church and seen the warm, bright lights inside, the main hall as normal, the nuns praying quietly, and the clean pulpit.

Two hours ago, she had gotten rid of the obviously strange nun and led the guardians to this underground sanctuary. After opening the sanctuary door, she saw the truth inside—a dark underground space, a Swordsworn Nun who seemed to have just died in battle, battle traces all over the basement, and no sign of the invaders.

Two minutes ago, she had completed a detailed inspection of the underground sanctuary and, together with her subordinates, brought the nun's body out of the sanctuary, preparing to send it to the central cathedral for an autopsy and burial.

Then, the nun's corpse, brought outside the sanctuary, turned into ashes that scattered with the wind in full view of everyone, and the basement door, which had been violently pried open two hours ago, instantly returned to its original state. It now stood quietly at the end of the stairs, as if mocking the explorers standing on the stairs.

"Inquisitor..." A guardian warrior with a short beard approached Vanna, his voice low, "There seems to be some kind of space-time loop here..."

Vanna nodded lightly, saying nothing.

What emerged in her mind was the terrifying dream of last night and "Captain Duncan" who had invaded and corrupted her dream.

The ghost captain's words in the dream echoed in your mind: "...sure he really cares about the safety of the city-state, is

Go to the Eighth District and take a look at this cathedral...

"You are looking forward to his discoveries here..."

Not long ago, Vanna had tried to take the nun's body out of the underground sanctuary, but now she realized that the body was probably part of the "closed loop" of time and space, unable to leave this place.

"Yes, only one situation," Vanna said softly, slowly standing up, "when a clergyman discovers that

a subspace gate is about to open in his soul."

At this point, she paused, and thoughtfully added: "...or maybe the alarm went off, but due to subspace

interference, the alarm failed to reach outside the church."

She was actually associating the ghost captain with "harmlessness." This must be the effect of his mental pollution! She absolutely couldn't continue thinking about it...

This time, she had her subordinates pry open the hinges, opening the passage while trying not to damage the runes on the door.

The light of the lantern once again illuminated the dark underground space. The scene before her was exactly the same as when she first came in. As expected, the time and space here had returned to its origin.

"...but this isn't a ship sailing on the sea," the guardian warrior next to her muttered in disbelief, "This is land, and the church is under a wide range of protection. How could the power of subspace so quickly corrupt a clergyman and cut off contact with the outside world in the entire area?"

"The church's guardian force has mysteriously disappeared, but obviously didn't participate in the battle in the underground sanctuary;

"The underground sanctuary is an excellent sealing environment. After the gate is closed, it becomes a cage for what's inside;

The next second, the young Inquisitor shivered and her expression sharpened.

Silently gazing at the nun's blood-stained face, Vanna didn't know how long she pondered before suddenly whispering, "...are you still fighting in this looped spacetime..."

Vanna pondered slightly and turned to ask, "What is that 'nun' in the main hall doing?"

This time, she placed her hand on the door panel, took a light breath, and then suddenly clenched her fist and knocked on the door extremely quickly.

Could it be... that the ghost captain really just wanted to provide a clue? Like a cold-hearted passerby... reporting a heretic in the city-state to herself?

The nun's body fell in front of the door, without any additional damage other than the original wounds.

(End of this chapter!)

The guardians next to her listened to their superior's analysis, and someone suddenly reacted: "Clergymen only actively seal themselves off and prepare for 'final battles' like this under one circumstance..."

"...No, I'm still in my right mind." Vanna shook her head and said to this subordinate who seemed quite reliable. She knew that this subordinate had contacted Bishop Valentine before departure and was probably also shouldering the task of "supervising" her superior. She had no complaints about this—after all, she had been polluted by Captain Duncan, and even going on a mission in shackles would be acceptable at this point.

After another detailed inspection, Vanna and the warriors returned to the side of the fallen nun.

"She's still praying," a guardian who had just returned from the main hall said immediately, "It seems that any activity of ours outside the main hall

will not attract her attention."

"You're right, this is wrong, everything here is wrong, but what's even more wrong is..." Vanna said softly as she looked around the underground sanctuary. The light of the lantern illuminated the dark walls and pillars, and countless sinister secrets seemed to be hidden in the light and shadow. "If subspace once corrupted this place, then where did it go now? There are no traces of invaders left behind," and considering that the time and space here is a closed structure, the invaders should also be constantly looping here. Even if the invaders run fast, the moment we opened the gate, they wouldn't have had time to erase all the clues..."

And it was only at this time that the guardians on the scene heard an extremely low hum. The low hum seemed to permeate their brains, and then disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Mm," Vanna nodded lightly, her eyes falling on the gate at the end of the stairs. After a long while, she bit her lip,

"Go down one more time."

"The time and space here have been reset. Do you want to go down and take another look?" the subordinate asked again.

"Moreover, no one has received an alarm from this church," Vanna said in a deep voice before her subordinate could finish speaking. Of course, she knew how many things were wrong here. "A clergyman completely corrupted by subspace will become a vessel and open a gate to subspace in his soul, but usually there is a process. Especially in an environment like a church, even if things are urgent, the personnel on duty here should have the opportunity to send an alarm, but now it seems that the nun suffered a very rapid corruption… so rapid that she only had time to take a long sword and lock herself in here..."

The underground sanctuary fell into a brief commotion until a guardian's voice suddenly broke the silence: "Inquisitor, what do you think... she is fighting against?"

"Subspace invasion!" a guardian exclaimed in a low voice, "What she is fighting against here... is her own shadow?

! But... but how is that possible, this is a church, and..."

"Inquisitor?" the subordinate's voice came from the side again, startling Vanna out of her reverie. The guardian with the short beard had a worried expression on his face, "Did you... hear or see something?"

She led the guardians to the entrance of the underground sanctuary again, stepped forward to push the gate, and once again felt the familiar resistance—the door was being held from the other side by the nun's body.

Vanna thought quietly. After a long time, she raised her head thoughtfully, analyzing the existing information one by one:

"The nun locked herself in here and brought weapons when she came in, which means that she foresaw a battle after entering here;

Vanna frowned tightly. When she set off this morning, her mind was filled with thoughts about the Lost Country and what conspiracies the ghost captain might have. She was thinking about whether the other party wanted to corrupt and attack her, the Inquisitor, by guiding her to this cathedral. But now, she suddenly doubted her initial judgment.

In one-hundredth of a second, the entire door vibrated in a way that human senses couldn't detect. Then, the solid gate suddenly shattered into endless dust. Wood chips and metal dust fell down, scattered, and were repelled and blown away by the aura surrounding Vanna.

The warriors cast respectful gazes at the young Inquisitor, while Vanna was accustomed to these gazes. She carried a long sword on her back and took a lantern from her waist with her right hand, stepping forward as soon as the gate shattered.

Vanna's mind was filled with this thought—not long ago, she had said the same thing to Bishop Valentine in a joking tone, but now she couldn't help but go over this absurd, subspace-level joke in her mind again.

Is this what "Captain Duncan" wanted her to see? A closed time and space, a cathedral that was polluted and isolated by some unknown

force, and a nun who fought to the death against a mysterious invader? Why did he want me to see these things? And what does everything here mean?