Steam Age: I Fight Against Divine Authority with Otherworldly Tales

Chapter 112 Fierce Battle

Looking at Suren before her, Aiselin forced herself to suppress the urge to attack, while inwardly marveling, "No matter how many times I see this guy's abilities, they're always shrouded in mystery."

Suren was unaware of Etherine's thoughts at the moment. In order to prevent any unexpected situations from arising, he took out the items he would need in advance and hung them on his waist.

After doing all that, he walked out of the shadows openly and headed toward the exchange's doors.

When Suren reached the gate, he was a little nervous, because he was unsure whether the magic array would affect his [Identity Web].

However, it turns out that Suren's [Identity Web] was indeed of very high priority.

The guards at the gate, who had been lounging around, bowed hastily upon seeing Suren approach.

"Master Priest!"

Suren waved his hand and swaggered in through the door.

This was also the procedure that Suren had learned about in advance through Etherin; church members did not need any proof to enter or leave this place.

Of course, if you want to enter the core room of the magic circle, ordinary identities won't work; you must be at least a priest.

Seeing Suren walk in, the guard at the door breathed a sigh of relief, but he was also a little puzzled: "Shouldn't Archbishop Anthony's banquet have started at this hour? What is the priest doing at the stock exchange?"

He then shrugged and stopped thinking about it, since it wasn't something he should worry about.

After entering the exchange, relying on the domineering ability of [Identity Weaving Network], Su Lun proceeded smoothly along the route he had just explored.

But just as Suren was about to reach the core room of the ritual array, Bishop Reginald inexplicably walked out of the room and came face to face with Suren.

Although Su Lun was nervous, he still bowed naturally and greeted the bishop.

But Bishop Reginald stopped in his tracks. He frowned, staring at Suren before him, a strange feeling creeping into his heart: 'Hmm, he's Priest Klein? Why do I feel like something's not quite right?'

Suren felt a little uneasy under his gaze, but maintained his smile and asked casually, "Is there anything I can do for you, Your Excellency?"

"It's nothing. I was just wondering, didn't you go to a banquet? Why did you suddenly come back?"

Bishop Reginald suppressed his unease and asked casually.

Suren was slightly taken aback, then said with a solemn expression, "Lord Anthony received information that those underground organizations were not peaceful today and might take action, so he sent me back to strengthen the defenses."

"He always makes a mountain out of a molehill."

Bishop Reginald pursed his lips, and at the same time, the strange feeling in his heart subsided a lot. He waved his hand: "Alright, in that case, you can go and do your work."

After saying that, he stopped looking at Suren and strode forward.

"It seems like he and Anthony have some kind of conflict?"

Seeing the other party leave, Suren breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time, she gained a clearer understanding of her own abilities.

"Even the agents couldn't see through my disguise, and the advanced [Identity Web] can even subconsciously implant a non-existent identity into the minds of others. The Book of Secrets is even more powerful than I imagined."

Having escaped this crisis, Suren wasted no more time. He strode forward and soon arrived at the room where the core magic array was located.

At the doorway, a young man dressed in a priest's robe was yawning listlessly.

Upon seeing Suren arrive, the young man immediately straightened up and bowed: "Your Excellency, Priest!"

May the god of balance protect you.

Suren made a mock Libra gesture across his chest, then said in a commanding tone, "I've come to check the stability of the magic circle, as ordered by Archbishop Anthony."

Although the young man found it strange, he didn't want to stop him, so he stepped aside and bowed respectfully.

Suren swaggered into the room, pushing open the door.

Hearing the door open, the black-haired man in a priest's robe looked up, his brow furrowed, and asked suspiciously, "What happened?"

"Sigh, I didn't want to come either." Suren sighed, acting as if she was forced to work overtime, and repeated her previous statement.

"So, Lord Anthony has received information that there's a high probability of intruders today?"

The black-haired man remained noncommittal, then looked at the magic circle in the room, a mocking smile appearing on his face: "Perfect, Bishop Reginald just improved the protective ritual. If they dare to come, let them suffer a bit."

"Has the ritual been modified?"

Suren's heart tightened, but she promptly put on a smile: "That's wonderful. By the way, I found something interesting at the celebration."

As he spoke, Suren took out a hand mirror from his waist and handed it to the man.

The black-haired man curiously peered into the mirror, only to see his own reflection.

"This looks like an ordinary mirror."

Just as the man was wondering what was going on, something unexpected happened.

The mirror rippled, and several pale hands shot out from it, snakes-like, and clung to his upper body, gripping him tightly.

Oops!

The man was startled, and his reaction was quick. He subconsciously activated his own source knowledge, wanting to use extraordinary power.

However, he was horrified to discover that those pale hands seemed to possess some strange power, suppressing his source knowledge. Apart from that, he couldn't even muster any strength in his body, and even his thoughts were somewhat sluggish.

At the same time, Suren had taken out "Crimson Fury," and with the blessing of "Crimson Fury," his size suddenly increased by a lot.

"Die!"

In a flash, Suren threw a punch that struck the black-haired man's throat. The immense force twisted the man's neck, silencing his screams.

The pale hands reflected in the mirror were pulled away, and with a whoosh, only Su Lun remained in the room.

Suren removed the amplification from "Crimson Fury," restoring himself to his normal size.

Although the battle lasted only a moment, it still caused considerable side effects to Suren's body.

After a brief treatment with "Ellie's Tears," Suren focused her attention on the bigger problem at hand.

Whether it was because of the black-haired man's death or because he triggered something before his death, the magic circle in the room was suddenly enveloped in a faint light.

Suren could vaguely see tiny golden lightning bolts flashing on the light surrounding the magic array.

"This isn't what Athena agreed on..."

According to the original plan, Suren only needed to take the special and extraordinary material at the center of the magic circle and then destroy the magic circle to interrupt the ritual.

But the strange light that suddenly appeared completely disrupted Suren's original plan.

"This golden lightning doesn't look like anything good. Let's test it out first."

Thinking of this, Suren grabbed the wooden chair next to him and flung it toward the magic circle. However, the moment the chair came into contact with the light, it was swallowed up by the golden lightning and the wooden chair instantly turned into powder!

"Damn it, what's the point of playing this game?!"

Suren was speechless and even considered retreating.

Just then, a golden light seemed to flash before Suren's eyes.

Then, to his surprise, he found that the whole world seemed to be covered with a golden filter, and he could even hear the crisp sound of metal clashing.

"This is what the intelligence said... the domain? The domain of the agent!" Suren exclaimed in surprise.

As the area expanded, the surrounding walls rapidly collapsed and shifted!

In an instant, the walls of the room where Suren was located disappeared, and the room and the corridor were now connected. The priest who had been guarding the door was looking around in astonishment.

Ten meters down the corridor, Reginald stood quietly, his sharp eyes fixed on Suren, like a hunter eyeing its prey.

Knowing that he had been exposed, Suren no longer hesitated. A book with an elaborate cover appeared out of thin air in front of him, which was the Book of Secrets!

At the same time, Suren stretched out his left hand and plunged it into the magic circle shrouded in light.

At this moment, Suren's left hand was deathly pale, and the light of the magic circle seemed to be in fear of something, automatically separating to the left and right.

But Suren didn't stop. Instead, he pressed his left hand onto the magic circle pattern on the ground!

A few days ago, when studying the resonance array, Suren had already tried to use the power of the "Mirror Demon" to communicate with the array, but he did not fully release the control.

But in this critical situation, Suren had no time to consider it.

His consciousness frantically urged the mysterious power representing the "evil spirit in the mirror," and the tentacles attached to the cover of the Book of Secrets began to dance wildly. They seemed to be sentient, growing wildly!

In just a moment, the tentacles had completely covered it along the patterns of the magic array!

The original runes of the magic circle are being replaced by shadowy tentacles.

Upon seeing this, Reginald's pupils constricted.

He raised his right hand, and the earth within his domain began to tremble. Stone pillars appeared out of thin air around Suren, threatening to pierce him through!

However, as the last line of the magic circle was occupied by the tentacles, the entire magic circle suddenly lit up with a purple light!

Overwhelming shadow tentacles rose from the ground along the magic array, instantly obliterating the stone pillars and turning them into dust.

"What the hell is this thing?!"

Reginald was shocked. He no longer held back and raised his right hand again, causing the surrounding metallic sounds to intensify.

However, in his eyes, the despicable traitor revealed a mocking smile, and then vanished into thin air.

The tentacles on the magic circle also disappeared along with it!

With the disappearance of the tentacles, the entire space returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

But Reginald knew that the exchange's protective array had completely failed.

What infuriated him most was that he couldn't sense any trace of that damned rat within the area!

He was about to step forward and reactivate the magic array when a sudden unease flashed through his mind.

He only felt a blur before his eyes, a black light flashed by, and a sharp pain came from his chest. When he looked down, he found that a long arrow had been driven into his chest!

"This arrow, capable of harming my Law-based body... is from the Gray Falcon!"

He snapped the arrow in half and then fixed his gaze in one direction.

On a rooftop fifty meters away, a woman with black hair and leather armor was crouching, holding a magnificent bow in her hand. It was Elisa!

At this moment, she drew her bow to its fullest extent, and the aura emanating from her entire body even caused the surrounding air to freeze briefly!

With a flick of her right index finger, the arrow shot out like a streak of light!

The arrow transformed into a black streak once more, as if no obstacles in its path existed, and arrived at Reginald's chest in an instant!

However, Reginald, who was prepared, flicked his wrist, and a semi-transparent barrier appeared in front of him.

The arrow struck the barrier with a teeth-grinding noise, barely managing to block the attack.

However, Elisa on the rooftop drew her bow again, and two arrows were held in her fingertips!

……

Just as the two were fighting, burning contract fire gates suddenly appeared in various corners of the exchange, and figures wearing leather armor walked out from them. They were the Shadow Weavers led by Aiselin!

"Clear!" Etherine commanded grimly, then sped off toward a priest!

The surrounding Shadow Weavers scattered, like Grim Reapers, and began to reap the superhumans within the exchange!

……

At this moment, Suren was peeking at the movements inside the exchange through the mirror world. The view from the mirror world was relatively narrow, so Suren could only get a general idea of ​​the battle situation on the outside.

His left hand was still twitching slightly, clearly a side effect of forcibly activating the ritual earlier. Moreover, activating the ritual had also drained a significant amount of his source knowledge, causing him to still have a slight headache.

Watching Reginald being forced back by Elisa's arrows, Suren couldn't help but sigh, "The superhumans who practice equivalent exchange are indeed not good at fighting. To be suppressed like this by Elisa..."

Suren knew, of course, that this was because Elisa had a range advantage; if she were within Reginald's territory, things might not be so easy.

"Now that Reginald is tied down by Elisa and the others have been scattered by the Shadowweavers, it's the perfect time for me to act!"

Suren hadn't forgotten his previous plan: to seize Gilbert's trade contract amidst the chaos!

Suren walked quickly through the mirror world and soon found the location of the archives.

During the previous investigation, Su Lun learned that there happened to be a hanging mirror in the archives room.

Following the hanging mirror, Suren easily entered the archives room.

The original guards in the archives room have been killed by the Shadow Weavers, and now the archives room is empty!

Following the original plan, Suren quickly searched through the archives!

Fortunately, during her reconnaissance, Suren had silently memorized the location of the files from three years ago, so she quickly found Gilbert's file.

Without time to examine it closely, Suren put the file into his ring, then snapped his fingers, and a flame landed on the remaining files.

In an instant, a wall of fire ignited, and the entire archives room was engulfed in flames!

After doing all this, Suren burst through the door, and the horrific scene before him left him stunned.

Bloodstains were everywhere in the corridor, and there were large craters every few steps on the floor and walls. In the corridor in front of Suren alone, there were three corpses.

At the end of the corridor, Elisa was pulling a black dagger from the neck of a church member.

Suren quickly walked to Elisa's side, glancing around as she asked, "I've finished my mission here, how's yours?"

"You've come at the right time; I've run into some trouble."

Etherine frowned slightly: "I followed the location in the intelligence, but I couldn't find the Illusion Crystal."

She glanced worriedly in the direction of the distant sanctuary: "We don't have much time left. Church reinforcements could arrive at any moment. If we don't find it soon, we'll have to retreat."

"I'll give it a try!"

Suren knew the situation was urgent. Although he was somewhat exhausted due to the excessive consumption of Yuanzhi, he no longer held back and forcibly activated Yuanzhi, entering the state of [Revelation]!