"...are you serious? Not even the Gem of True Sight can see him?"
"Yes!" A man clad in white silk robes nodded, his expression was wretched.
It was obvious that he was displeased and quite angry.
"Greed can't see him either?"
"Yes! Greed used almost all of the spyware but none worked! What do I do? I can't let that White-Cloaked Reaper continue like this! He will seriously fuck this whole operation up!"
"Calm down, Matthew—"
"Calm down!?" The man glared harshly at the figure in the mirror, "What do you mean 'calm down'? You can only say that since it isn't your ass who's at risk here, Luke! If I don't resolve this messy shit then I'm done for!"
"Still, don't panic too much." The man who's talking on the other side of the mirror, the one named Luke, tried pacifying Matthew.
"Stop trying to pacify me, Luke. What I need is help, not a therapy session." Matthew snorted, "You and I both know that if I fail this task, it isn't just me who'd be implicated. All of us Apostles will be grilled 'hard' by 'The Son'. I don't need to remind you what the guy's like when he's upset, right?"
"...shit!" Luke cursed softly under his breath. He then took a deep breath and said: "Alright, fine! You win. I'll talk to them. Whether they agree or not doesn't depend on me, you hear?"
Matthew took a deep breath and nodded: "Yes, yes I understand. Just try your best. I'll wait for your good news."
"Let's hope that it'll be good news you hear," Luke replied before cutting off the connection.
Once the communication link was cut-off, Matthew slumped into his chair, looking haggard and stressed. It looked like he aged a couple of years within the span of a few seconds.
"...damn it! Fuck you, White-Cloaked Reaper." Matthew cursed angrily, "If only you didn't fucking exist, I wouldn't be in this mess."
This Matthew guy is one of God's 12 Apostles. He was the unlucky one who got sent here to deal with the White-Cloaked Reaper and to manage the overall situation of the Chaotic Warzone.
He left Paradiso thinking that he'd be back in a jiffy. He was so confident that he'd take care of the problem within a month at most that he didn't even bother canceling his other appointments back home.
Sadly for him, the White-Cloaked Reaper's methods far exceeded his imagination. Forget about dealing with him, Matthew couldn't even guess when the White-Cloaked Reaper appears!
Even though he was using a Treasured Artifact made from Paradiso which specializes in locating the unseen, he still didn't discover anything.
He even lowered his pride and asked for the Sin Demon—Greed's help, yet even then, it was useless. They couldn't even catch a shadow of the reaper much less see what he looks like.
This vexed Matthew so much. The White-Cloaked Reaper, that slippery loach, had made him eat numerous losses which left him wanting to tear his hair out.
How many times had he been scolded by his colleagues due to incompetence? Matthew had lost count already. Hell, he could even sympathize with Greed since he's on the same both as him.
The worst part of this all is that his position is seriously threatened if this continues. If he got demoted because he failed to catch the slippery culprit, all of the resources and riches he used to enjoy will be gone like a cloud of smoke.
Matthew couldn't live without that. He couldn't imagine himself meddling with the common angels and paying attention to these mundane activities. Hell, he didn't even want to be here on the front lines yet here he was.
Being an Apostle, all he had to do is to sing endless praises to God. Doing that at least four hours a day is enough and the rest of the day could be decided according to his whims.
How easy what that kind of lifestyle?
His task is only to worship God for a few hours and he could enjoy all sorts of privileges and resources to his liking. Not to mention, he could also enjoy extremely high authority within the hierarchy. Who in their right mind would let go of such life?
Unfortunately, right now his title was being threatened by some random barbarian who likes to act mysteriously and couldn't keep their bloodlust in check. How can he not be irritated and angry?
Dong!
Hearing that obnoxiously loud sound of the church bell ringing at every corner of the camp, Matthew sighed and stood up from his seat.
He looked at his reflection in the mirror and wore a stoic look on his face. He grabbed his walking stick from the corner of the room and stepped out of his quarters.
It is time for another ritual. Matthew secretly prayed in his heart, hoping that the obnoxious White-Cloaked Reaper wouldn't be around this day, or else he might just actually lose it.
Matthew closed the door behind him and walked in large strides towards the meeting area.
What he didn't know is that...
Back in his room, the root cause of his headache had been mocking him all this time.
'Give it up, Old Man. You all will never find me, ha!' Ashton gloated as he hid behind the safe walls of the Grand Library.
Ashton was of course, aware of what transpired just now. He was watching when Matthew asked for his comrades' help in dealing with him.
He shook his head since the guy was obviously getting desperate. He doesn't have any idea what they have in mind to deal with him so he could only wait and see.
Once he felt that the Celestial Army was once again performing their nonsensical ritual below, he stepped out of the library and opened the secret passage in Apostle Matthew's room.
Right, Matthew kicked Neon out of this room. The former is now using it for himself. The poor Seraph though...
Anyways, he's here to visit Hilda. It's been a while since his last visit and she might be feeling bored down here.
Sealing the entrance behind him, Ashton went down to where Hilda was sealed, finding her there looking dead still.
"Hey, still hanging in there?" He greeted.
"Haha, very funny." Hilda raised her head and rolled her eyes.
Ashton scratched his nose, feeling a bit clever himself.
"Seriously, you have guts of steel." She stated, "To think that you won't even hesitate to infiltrate the room of an Apostle..."
"See? Aren't I such a good friend? Risking my all and shit." Ashton unceremoniously sat down not too far from her.
Hilda rolled her eyes again. Then she said: "Weren't you supposed to be cultivating? How come you have so much free time to visit me like this?"
"It's cause I miss you, bestie." Ashton winked at her, causing Hilda to glare at him. Ashton laughed and said: "Nah, I'm kidding. I broke through that's why."
"Oh..." Hilda looked surprised for a bit, "You already condensed the Virtue of Life?"
"Yes." Ashton subconsciously nodded, then he blinked and frowned, asking: "Wait, how did you know I condensed the Virtue of Life? I don't remember telling that to you."
"..."
Ashton sighed and said: "You know what? Forget that I asked. For all I know, the next thing you'd say is something that has something to do with the Mysterious Rainbow, and if I ask more, you'd say that your sister has to tell me, not you."
"Honestly, just don't bother. Whatever, I guess." Ashton shrugged and Hilda still had it in her to look apologetic.
Truth to be told, Ashton just doesn't understand why this Spirit is so obstinate and wanted to stick to their ancient rules too much. This makes her think that the reason why the Spirit Race didn't flourish was that they were too inflexible.
The Virtue of Life was indeed Ashton's 3rd Virtue, meaning that he was now a Lv.3 Warlock.
Setting aside the mysteries of the Mysterious Rainbow...Ashton thinks that the reason why he gained an affinity and enlightenment on the Virtue of Life was probably because he was a White Mage.
At this point, Ashton's life expectancy practically doubled, thanks to the blessing of this Virtue. Warlocks had a lifespan of 500 years old normally, but Ashton's maximum lifespan increased to 1000 years old thanks to the Virtue of Life.
It also allowed him to retain his youthful appearance permanently which is nice while also boosting his recovery speed.
3 down and 6 more to go. The road's still long but Ashton's getting there.
He accompanied Hilda for quite some time, informing her about what was currently happening outside. She's already aware of the Apostle's presence here since she has sensed it the moment Matthew arrived.
Strangely enough, the Apostle didn't even bother visiting her at all. It's like he wasn't aware of her existence. This made them calm down since at least, Hilda's life wouldn't be in danger.
Ashton talked to her some more, still unable to save her since his abilities are still inefficient. So, he couldn't only bide his time and take it to step by step.
