Fanna stood quietly in front of the stairs leading to the underground church, looking at the black door that had just been restored in front of everyone.
Three hours ago, she led the team to the abandoned church and saw the warm and bright lights inside the church, the main hall as usual, the nuns praying quietly, and the clean and tidy pulpit.
Two hours ago, she got rid of the nun who was obviously not right, and led the guards to find the underground church. After opening the door of the church, she saw the truth inside - falling into a dark underground space, it seemed that before The sword-wielding nun who had just died in the battle, traces of battle all over the basement, and the intruder without a trace.
Two minutes ago, she completed a detailed investigation of the underground church, and together with her subordinates, took the nun's body out of the underground church, preparing to send it to the Central Cathedral for autopsy and burial.
Then, the body of the nun who was brought outside the church turned into ashes scattered in the wind in full view of the public. The basement door that had been violently broken two hours ago returned to its original state in the blink of an eye. He was standing quietly at the end of the stairs, as if mocking the explorers standing on the stairs.
"Judge..." A guard warrior with a short beard approached Vanna with a low voice, "There seems to be some kind of closed space-time loop here..."
Fanna nodded slightly and said nothing.
What came to her mind was the terrifying dream last night, and "Captain Duncan" who invaded and polluted her dream.
The ghost captain's words in the dream echoed in her mind: "...If you really care about the safety of the city, you might as well go to the Sixth District and take a look at the small church...
"I'm looking forward to what you find there..."
Is this what "Captain Duncan" wants to see? A closed time and space, a small church contaminated and isolated by some unknown force, a nun who died fighting the mysterious intruder? Why did he let himself see this? What does everything here mean?
Fanna frowned tightly. When she set off this morning, she was still thinking about the conspiracy of the Lost Home and the ghost captain, and whether the other party guided her to this small church. She wanted to corrupt and attack herself as the judge in some way, but now, she suddenly had doubts about her initial judgment.
Could it be that...that ghost captain really just wanted to provide himself with a clue? Like an enthusiastic passerby... reporting to himself the heresy in the city-state?
This idea came to Vanna's mind - not long ago, she had said the same thing to Bishop Valentine in a joking tone, but now she couldn't help but put this ridiculous joke to the subspace level in her mind again Been there again.
The next second, the young judge shivered and his expression changed.
I actually associated the ghost captain in a "harmless" direction. This must be the other party's mental pollution taking effect! I must not continue thinking about it...
"Judge?" The subordinate's voice came from the side again, waking Vanna out of her distraction. The guard with a short beard had a worried expression on his face, "Did you...hear or see something?" Got something?"
"...No, I am very conscious." Vanna shook her head and said to this subordinate who seemed quite reliable. She knew that this subordinate had been in contact with Bishop Valentine before setting off, and he probably also shouldered the responsibility at the moment. She was responsible for the task of "supervising" her commander, and she had no complaints about it - after all, she had been contaminated by Captain Duncan, and it was normal for her to go on missions even in shackles at this time.
"The time and space here has been reset. Do we want to go down and take another look?" the subordinate asked again.
Vanna pondered for a moment, then turned around and asked, "What are the 'nuns' doing over there in the main hall?"
"She is still praying," a guard who had just returned from the main hall said immediately, "it seems that any activities we do outside the main hall will not attract her attention."
"Well," Fanna nodded slightly, her eyes fell on the door at the end of the stairs, and she bit her lip after a long time, "Go down again."
She led the guards to the entrance of the underground church again, stepped forward to push the door, and felt the familiar resistance again - what was being resisted on the other side of the door was the nun's body.
Last time, she asked her subordinates to pry open the door shaft with a crowbar, and opened the passage without damaging the runes on the door body.
This time, she pressed her hand on the door panel, took a breath, then suddenly clenched her hand into a fist and knocked on the door very quickly.
Within one hundredth of a second, the entire door vibrated undetectable by human senses, and then the solid door suddenly shattered into endless dust. Wood chips and metal dust fell down, and were surrounded by Vanna. The aura repels and blows away.
The nun's body fell down behind the door. Apart from the original injuries, there was no extra damage at all.
It was only then that the guards at the scene heard an extremely low hum. This low hum seemed to permeate the human brain, and then dissipated in the blink of an eye.
The soldiers cast awe-inspiring looks at the young judge, and Vanna was accustomed to these looks. She carried a long sword on her back, took the lantern from her waist with her left hand, and stepped forward after the door was shattered.
The glow of the lantern once again illuminated this dark underground space. The scene was exactly the same as the first time I entered. As expected, time and space here have returned to the original point.
After another detailed investigation, Vanna and the soldiers returned to the nun who died in the battle.
Not long ago, Vanna tried to take the nun's body out of the underground church, but now she has realized that this body may have become a "loop closed" just like the mutated time and space here. Part of me can't leave this place anymore.
Quietly staring at the nun's blood-stained face, Vanna pondered for an unknown amount of time before suddenly speaking softly: "...Are you still fighting in this cycle of time and space..."
There was a brief silence in the underground temple, until the voice of a guardian suddenly broke the silence: "Judge, what do you think... what is she fighting against?"
Fanna thought quietly. After a long time, she raised her head thoughtfully and analyzed the existing information one by one:
"The underground temple is an excellent sealing environment. After the door is closed, it becomes a cage;
“The whereabouts of the church’s defenders are unknown, but they apparently were not involved in the fighting in the crypt;
“The nun locked herself here and came in armed, which shows that she anticipated a battle before entering here;
"There are no traces of intruders left here, and considering that the time and space here is a closed structure, intruders should be circulating here continuously. No matter how fast the intruder runs, it is impossible for him to escape the moment we open the door. There is time to erase all clues..."
The guards nearby listened to the commander's analysis one by one, and one of them suddenly reacted: "There is only one situation where the priests will take the initiative to seal themselves off, and prepare for the 'final battle' like this... …”
"Yes, there is only one situation," Vanna said softly, slowly standing up, "when the priest discovers that a subspace door is about to open in his soul."
"Subspace invasion!" A guard exclaimed in a low voice, "What she is fighting here... is her own shadow?! But... how is that possible? This is a church, and..."
"And no one has ever received an alarm from this church," Vanna said in a deep voice before her subordinates could finish. Of course she knew how much was wrong here, "The priesthood has been completely contaminated by subspace. The carrier will become a carrier and open the door to the subspace in the soul, but there is usually a process, especially in an environment like a church. Even if the matter is urgent, the personnel on duty here should have the opportunity to send out messages. The alarm was right, but now it seems that the contamination suffered by this nun progressed very quickly...even so quickly that she only had time to grab a long sword and lock herself here..."
After saying this, she paused and then added thoughtfully: "...It may also be that the alarm was sent, but due to the interference of subspace, the alarm failed to spread outside the church."
"...But this is not a ship sailing on the sea," the guardian warrior next to him muttered in disbelief. "This is land, and the church is under wide-scale protection. How could the power of subspace corrupt a priest so quickly?" , and cut off the entire region’s external communications?”
"You are right, this is not right, everything is wrong here, but what is even more wrong is..." Fanna said softly, she looked around the underground church, the light of the lantern illuminated the dark walls and columns , there seem to be countless sinister secrets hidden in the light and shadow, "If subspace had polluted this place, where has it gone now?"
(End of chapter)
