"Who does that church belong to?" Evenson asked.
Claire might seem absentminded most of the time, but she was a senior steward of the New York Sanctum. Within Kamar-Taj, that placed her comfortably among its upper ranks.
If a place had earned her attention, it wasn’t insignificant.
"It belongs to a very secretive militant religious order," Claire said, studying the church’s marker on the holographic display. "It’s technically part of Christianity, but it’s relatively small."
"We call them... the Outer Church."
"The Outer Church?" Evenson repeated.
The name struck him as oddly modern.
Fortunately, Claire had no idea where his mind had wandered.
"We call them that because they maintain ties with almost every major Christian tradition," she explained. "The Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England, the Eastern Orthodox Church... even several smaller denominations."
"They have connections everywhere."
"But they belong to none of them."
Evenson nodded thoughtfully.
"That’s... impressive."
Remaining neutral while maintaining cordial relations with every major branch of Christianity wasn’t something a minor organization could accomplish through diplomacy alone.
There had to be real strength behind them.
Or a deeper reason.
"So why does Kamar-Taj pay attention to them?"
Claire answered immediately.
"Because they dedicate themselves to fighting devils."
That surprised him.
"Anyone who worships God is supposed to oppose demons."
He leaned against the console.
"The question is..."
"...how do they survive doing it?"
Wanting to hunt devils and actually being capable of hunting devils were two very different things.
"I’ve always wanted every Artifact Weapon for my Warlock," he muttered.
"Doesn’t mean it’s happening."
Claire ignored the aside.
"The order follows an extremely harsh ascetic lifestyle."
"Years of discipline strengthen both body and mind."
"Eventually..."
"...a few of them brush against genuine mystical power."
That explained a great deal.
Mystical abilities, however limited, would allow them to stand against threats ordinary humans never could.
They also stayed out of the political struggles between Christian denominations while quietly improving the Church’s reputation by hunting demons.
No wonder the larger branches tolerated them.
Still...
One detail caught Evenson’s attention.
The Church possessed genuine supernatural power.
That was unexpected.
His own experiences had never suggested anything of the sort.
The orphanage where he’d grown up had belonged to the Church.
Every caretaker there had been a nun devoted to the Virgin Mary.
The headmistress herself had possessed unwavering faith.
Yet none of them had displayed anything remotely supernatural.
Later, while reviewing reports after the Blackheart incident, Evenson had noticed that Blackheart had murdered a priest inside a church without encountering any divine resistance whatsoever.
That had led him to suspect there might not even be an active Judeo-Christian deity watching over Earth.
Perhaps Asgard’s influence simply dominated this corner of the cosmos.
Now, however...
Claire was telling him that at least some members of the Church truly wielded mystical power.
That changed things.
"So..."
He chose his words carefully.
"Surely the Sorcerer Supreme has cooperated with colleagues like this before?"
Claire looked horrified.
"Colleagues?"
She actually laughed.
"You’re joking."
"They’re hardly our equals."
Her expression became thoroughly unimpressed.
"If the rulers of Hell could freely walk the Earth..."
"...or if Kamar-Taj hadn’t already eliminated most of the truly dangerous demons capable of crossing over..."
"...that entire order would’ve been wiped out centuries ago."
That was reassuring.
If Kamar-Taj regarded them as minor players, then they probably weren’t hiding world-shaking power.
Still...
Claire seemed unusually annoyed.
"You don’t like them much."
"I don’t."
She folded her arms.
"They’re insane."
"What happened?"
"Years ago, the Sorcerer Supreme personally visited them to discuss cooperation."
Claire’s face twitched as though recalling an old embarrassment.
"They responded by surrounding her with swords, spears, axes, and crossbows..."
"...calling her an evil witch..."
"...and announcing that she needed to be tied to a stake and burned."
Evenson covered his face.
"...That’s certainly one way to ruin a diplomatic meeting."
Trying to burn the Ancient One alive?
Even he wasn’t that reckless.
"So what happened next?"
Claire looked deeply satisfied.
"The Sorcerer Supreme was much less patient back then."
"She knocked every last one of them unconscious..."
"...then hung them from the church tower for two days to cool off."
Evenson blinked.
...She didn’t strip them first, did she?
A moment later another thought occurred to him.
Wait.
Claire wasn’t even born when this happened.
Why is she acting personally vindicated?
He wisely kept that observation to himself.
Instead he turned toward Melinda.
"Change course."
"We’re visiting the church first."
Even if the order wasn’t especially powerful, he wanted to see their mystical traditions with his own eyes.
More importantly...
He wanted to identify what kind of magic they practiced.
"Forget Johnny Blaze?" Melinda asked.
"Our goal isn’t the Ghost Rider."
"Our goal is Locke."
Evenson pointed toward the church on the display.
"Johnny is just one way of finding him."
"But this..."
He tapped the map.
"...is a far more obvious lead."
"No reason to ignore it."
Melinda nodded.
It made perfect sense.
A church dedicated to fighting devils had been attacked at exactly the moment they were hunting a rogue servant of Mephisto.
The odds of that being a coincidence were essentially zero.
Half an hour later, the aircraft reached the mountains of Lithuania.
From above, the church was perfectly positioned against the mountainside.
Excellent defensively.
Unfortunately, that also meant Fury’s oversized "bus" couldn’t land inside its courtyard.
Instead, the aircraft touched down on the nearby mountain road.
The cargo ramp lowered.
Everyone immediately moved into position.
"Rumlow."
Evenson pointed down the road.
"Take one squad and search the surrounding area."
"See if anyone fled this way."
"The rest come with me."
"Yes, sir."
One of the tactical team leaders immediately took ten agents and began sweeping the roadway.
Rumlow led the remaining ten toward the shattered entrance of the church.
As they approached, everyone noticed the same thing.
The heavy front gates hadn’t been forced inward.
They’d exploded outward.
Something incredibly powerful had broken through from inside.
Rumlow’s team carefully cleared the entrance before allowing everyone else to proceed.
The moment Evenson crossed the threshold...
He felt it.
A lingering trace of mystical energy.
Weak.
Very weak.
Too faint to identify.
Whatever power had been used here had almost completely dissipated.
They advanced deeper into the church.
Bodies covered the floor.
Some wore priests’ robes.
Others were dressed in camouflage uniforms with black tactical masks.
Still more appeared to be ordinary armed mercenaries.
Rumlow crouched beside one of the fallen soldiers and examined the insignia on his uniform.
Recognition flashed across his face.
"Swiss Guard."
He looked up gravely.
"The Pope’s personal guard."
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