Demon Bible

Chapter 168: Covert Forces

"He is already dead," Isabella declared as the glowing protective barrier blocked the black-masked figures' spells.

"The Church's Covert Forces are carrying out a mission. Are you trying to interfere?" The black-masked figures refused to back down. They spoke in perfect unison, their surging auras terrifyingly intense.

"Which department issued your deployment orders? Do you have an official document approved by an Archbishop, a Commander, or even a Great Knight?" Isabella remained unfazed by their oppressive presence and countered with a question of her own.

The only answer she received was silence.

Even so, Isabella felt the situation growing complicated.

Although they lacked deployment orders and approved documents, she was almost certain these masked individuals were indeed the Church's Covert Forces.

Operating as the dark side of the Church, the actions of these Covert Forces were strictly kept from the public eye, and the Church would never officially acknowledge any ties to them.

Therefore, a unit like this would never possess any physical deployment orders or official approvals.

They operated solely on the verbal commands passed down by their superiors, treating these orders as a lifelong creed to be executed with unwavering devotion.

"So, you might not even belong to the Church." Despite knowing this was the Church's dark underbelly and that getting involved would bring endless trouble, Isabella had no intention of backing down.It was completely normal for the Church to have a dark side. A prime example was the smuggling of whale products orchestrated by Nemus.

Such activities were impossible to stop, difficult to hinder, and frankly, must not be stopped.

Naturally, Isabella could only choose to turn a blind eye. After all, Nemus's actions were fundamentally for the good of the Church and would not result in severe consequences.

But Nemus's behavior was merely a shade of dark; at worst, it could be considered morally gray.

The actions of these black-masked figures right in front of her, however, were another story entirely.

'I can tolerate the existence of darkness, but only if that darkness does not eclipse the light!' Isabella thought.

Darkness was an inevitable reality. Isabella acknowledged this fact, but she absolutely refused to accept a Church where darkness was the primary defining force.

Take Nemus, for instance. His smuggling operation was dark, but it was merely a means to acquire resources and project power. Fundamentally, Nemus used it to establish order, cement the Church's authority, and ensure Clerics were treated well, which in turn trickled down to benefit the common people.

Once the Church regained the ability to perform major and minor baptisms, a tactic like smuggling could be curtailed at any moment.

But this other kind of darkness went far beyond that.

Their ultimate goal might also be for the good of the Church, but their very existence disrupted the Church's order and destroyed the livelihoods of the people.

They were eroding the foundation of the Church's long-standing existence simply to satisfy the short-term interests of a select few.

In terms of methods and outcomes, this was the exact opposite of what Nemus was doing.

While both were forms of darkness—and perhaps to an outsider, there was no major difference—Isabella simply could not endure this. She still held a scale of justice in her heart.

"Whether we are or not is irrelevant," the black-masked figures finally replied. For them, being disowned by the Church was a common occurrence; it simply did not matter.

The important thing was that the current situation absolutely could not be made public.

"You can take this person away, but you had best stop investigating the matters here." The masked figures had briefly considered whether they should silence her permanently.

However, they quickly realized their current lineup was simply not strong enough to defeat her.

Isabella was not some half-baked amateur like Fass. She was a genuine Iron-rank priestess.

Furthermore, she was not alone.

Earlier, when the Iron-rank masked leader went to deal with Fass, he had assumed the boy was just a slightly unusual Black Iron-rank target, so he went by himself.

The rest of them had stayed behind in the estate to clean up the traces, ready to cover up the evidence and withdraw at a moment's notice.

It was exactly this strategic error that not only resulted in the death of their Iron-rank leader but also gave Fass the opportunity to stall for time, preventing them from erasing the incriminating evidence. Therefore, facing an opponent they could not defeat, they were left with only one choice.

They had to persuade Isabella to retreat, and once she was gone, they could finish cleaning up the evidence.

That way, although a fraction of their activities would be exposed, it would not be enough to cause major problems.

"I need to know exactly what you are doing here!" Isabella, however, refused to back down.

She felt that, at the very least, she had a basic right to know. With that fragment of intelligence, she could make an accurate judgment.

It was just like that time she had gone directly to confront Nemus.

She was doing the exact same thing now.

What if her perception was wrong? What if these people truly were not part of the Church's Covert Forces?

What if they were an evil faction collaborating with the Construct Protocol, committing horrific atrocities right here?

It was not as if such things had never happened before.

In the past, cultists had disguised themselves as the Church's Covert Forces to carry out their secret plots in the shadows.

In those instances, most of the Church Clerics who stumbled upon them chose to "turn a blind eye" to their presence.

In the end, that cult successfully summoned an Evil God, triggering a massive disaster.

Isabella accepted the existence of the Covert Forces, but she absolutely could not accept them operating without oversight.

If she could not glean a single piece of intelligence about them, then she would take it upon herself to become their overseer.

"As an Iron-rank priestess, I should have the qualifications for this, right?" Isabella demanded.

The black-masked figures grew restless. Isabella was proving to be entirely too troublesome.

But a moment later, their anxiety vanished completely.

"I am the one overseeing and taking responsibility for them, Priestess Isabella." Right at that moment, a voice echoed from a short distance away.

This startled Isabella. She involuntarily looked over her shoulder, having completely failed to sense the person's arrival.

However, upon seeing who it was, she suddenly felt that it all made perfect sense.

The person standing there was none other than the Bishop of Tail Fin Town—Rhine.

Rhine's face remained largely expressionless. An old pair of glasses, which he had worn for who knew how many years, concealed the fluctuations in his eyes.

"Bishop Rhine..." The moment Isabella saw him, she knew it would be impossible to continue her investigation today.

"During our previous meeting, I mentioned that I was in charge of certain classified missions. These Covert Forces are currently tied to that very secret."

"If you have any doubts about this, you are more than welcome to report my situation to our superiors." Rhine offered his usual, impassive response.

If she had a problem, she could take it to the oversight committees or higher departments.

Faced with this, Isabella had no way to force her way in to investigate the estate's interior.

After all, strictly speaking, Isabella was currently Rhine's subordinate.

According to the doctrine's "Laws", the Church's Clerics and believers were required to abide by canon rules and various worldly regulations. And among those canon rules was the strict mandate to obey the commands of one's superiors.

Isabella, right now, could not violate the "Divine Precepts".

"I understand," she said. But even as the words left her mouth, Isabella made a firm resolution to thoroughly investigate Rhine's true situation.