Chapter 364: Chapter 240: Siege of the 6 Sins
"...Satan took the form of a serpent and tempted Adam and Eve to eat the Forbidden Fruit. In His anger, God banished Adam and Eve from the Eden Garden. This act led to the birth of Original Sin, the root of all human sin and calamity. As time went on, humanity committed more and more sins, and thus, more and more Demons were born in Hell."
The Priest continued his lecture animatedly, "For instance, there is Lucifer, who represents the sin of pride; Mammon, who represents the Sin of Greed; and Samael, who represents the sin of Anger... The seven great Demons were born from humanity’s Seven Deadly Sins, and Satan is the King of Hell who commands them, possessing Power to rival God.
From ancient times to the present day, one Heretic after another, having mastered Dark Magic, has attempted to summon Demons from Hell to fulfill their desires. Most have failed, but a small few have succeeded. With a Demon’s help, they’ve become celebrities, magnates, dignitaries—even a King ruling over millions.
Not long ago, an Ancient Book, about five hundred years old, was stolen from the church. The book details a ritual for summoning Demons. With enough sin, one can open a connection between the Mortal World and Hell, allowing Demons to descend upon the Mortal World.
The murder cases in Akita Town bear the traces of the Seven Deadly Sins. Combined with the recent emergence of Supernatural Power all over the World, I suspect someone must have stolen the Ancient Book to secretly perform a summoning ritual, hoping to gain Extraordinary Power from it.
Demons... are about to break free!"
The Priest’s throat was dry from all the talking. After swallowing hard, he took a crudely made Cross from his robes, revealing his true intentions.
"Only by accepting the Lord’s protection can you be immune to the corruption of evil and spared from all calamity and misfortune.
This Cross has been blessed. If you carry it with you, it will ward off disaster and protect you from demonic harm. I can see you have an affinity with the Lord, so I’ll give you a discount—only eight hundred US Dollars. I’ll even throw in a free bottle of Holy Water. If you run into a Demon, just throw the Holy Water at it. Blessed Holy Water is the bane of all Hell Demons."
Zhou Chen: "..."
After listening to the Priest’s half-hour spiel of a charlatan’s sermon and sales pitch, he stared at the Cross in silence.
In countless video games, tabletop RPGs, and even Restricted Area instances, items that seemed inconspicuous or were obvious scams often turned out to be key artifacts. They always managed to play an unexpected role when he least expected it.
’So...’
’Should I buy one?’
’What if, under the Rules of the Restricted Area, this thing can actually harm Demons?’
"Confused young man, what are you still hesitating for? For just eight hundred dollars, you can buy yourself peace of mind and freedom from calamity," the Priest continued his pitch with a benevolent smile.
"I don’t have that much money on me. Can you go any lower?" Zhou Chen finally said.
The Priest said earnestly, "Eight hundred dollars is already the discounted price. This is a blessed Cross that can ward off evil powers. As the old Eastern saying goes, ’if you miss this opportunity...’"
"I only have five dollars." Zhou Chen pulled a crumpled bill from his pocket. It was money he’d earned from busking, a single bill he had saved just in case.
"...Seeing as you have an affinity with my Lord, five dollars it is."
The Priest was surprisingly agreeable. He snatched the bill from Zhou Chen’s hand, quickly shoved the Cross at him, and then pointed to the church’s baptismal font. "The Holy Water is over there. You can only fill one bottle."
’Ah, this familiar feeling of being scammed... Even on a five-dollar sale, he can probably "tearfully" pocket a four-dollar profit, right?’ Zhou Chen grumbled internally. He didn’t dwell on it, however, instead pondering what the Priest had just said in his charlatan’s tone.
Those things—the Seven Deadly Sins, the summoning ritual... they were all clues he had uncovered so far.
On the instance map he had obtained from his wish, a clue marker was located at the church, and that important NPC was clearly the Priest standing before him. From the looks of it, the Priest must have known many of these clues from the very beginning. If Zhou Chen had come to him right away, he might have already exposed the mastermind.
However, Yano, who had spoken with the Priest that day, never mentioned any of this. It was unclear whether he had intentionally omitted it, failed to ask for more details, or if there was some other reason.
In any case, after hearing what Yano had said about the Priest, everyone had lowered his priority, so much so that almost no one bothered to investigate him a second time. The task of maintaining contact with the Priest had thus naturally fallen to Yano.
At this thought, something clicked in Zhou Chen’s mind.
’Yano... is highly suspicious!’
"Young man, it’s getting late," the Priest said. "If you have more you wish to confess, please come back tomorrow morning after the church opens."
Zhou Chen remained unfazed. "Father, what should I call you?"
"Natas."
"Father Natas, regarding the stolen Ancient Book, have any suspects been identified yet?" Zhou Chen asked.
"The police department says they have none."
Father Natas shook his head and sighed. "There are very few security cameras near the church, and with so much time having passed, it’s unlikely the thief will ever be found. Alas... it’s all my fault. My carelessness led to the book’s theft, which in turn brought about this tragedy. The Souls of the dead will haunt me for the rest of my life. The sins I’ve committed will prevent me from entering Heaven when I die. Instead, I will be cast down into Hell...
Oh Lord, forgive me... have mercy on me..."
As he spoke, he made the sign of the cross on his chest.
Zhou Chen mulled it over for a moment before speaking. "I have one more question."
"Go on, young man."
