The cotton was ignited, and in an instant, it turned into a magnificent flame, turning the spores that had scattered in all directions to ash before the fire quickly died out. It was then, and only then, that the gathered heretics in the hall finally exhaled in relief.
The bizarre and horrifying scene, along with the spores that were clearly meant to spread and infect, made everyone with a sense of reason feel a great danger.
However, as the ordinary believers began to relax a bit, the oppressive gloom emanating from the high platform did not lessen in the slightest—The Saint gently clicked his skeletal "crown," and his eye-stalks continued to uneasily scan the hall inside and out. He knew that the shadow enveloping the ship lingered, and what he had just destroyed was merely a tendril of that shadow which had infiltrated many days ago. Now, the shadow's true form had long since completed its invasion… he was too slow.