Chapter 185

Xia Nan walked forward slowly.

His gaze took the opportunity to size up the two people before him.

There wasn't much change in the priest Isidore, whom he had just seen two days ago.

He was still dressed in that solemn and grave ceremonial attire, but one could vaguely spot beads of sweat on his forehead and neck, and there were clear signs of sweat soaking through parts of his white robe.

It seemed he had just undergone some kind of strenuous exercise.

His gaze glanced imperceptibly into the church gate behind the other party, sweeping over the fragments of stained glass scattered on the ground.

He then recalled the large number of guards he had seen along the way.

"Here... did a battle just happen?"

Xia Nan guessed inwardly, feeling it was strange.

He could not imagine who would dare to cause trouble at a place like the "Moon Goddess Church," which was located in the center of a large city, guarded by high-level priests, and frequently watched over by the Goddess.

And looking at the current situation, it seemed the other party had even escaped?

Perhaps he could find an opportunity to inquire about the news.

He shouldn't encounter any more danger or add to his troubles at this critical juncture, now that he had finally completed his promotion mission and was about to leave Niumu City.

As for the spellcaster beside Isidore—the one with the refined face whom he had met once before—he now looked somewhat disheveled.

His face was slightly pale, and his hair was messy.

The surface of his indigo robe, which had looked as if it had just been washed and was spotless, was now stained with some dirt.

More importantly, as Xia Nan gradually walked closer, he keenly sensed the chaotic magic particles centered on the mage, spreading irregularly into the surroundings.

He felt even more surprised inwardly.

It seemed that the potential attacker just now had quite impressive strength, as even these two high-level spellcasters had failed to keep the other party there.

Arriving before the two, he suppressed his restless thoughts.

Xia Nan first nodded slightly toward the mage, who was also sizing him up, signaling a greeting with his eyes.

Regardless of whether he still remembered him, in this situation, being a little polite would never do any harm.

Then, he turned back to glance at the guards on the street, who were wearing standard armor, looking nervous, and moving back and forth.

Without waiting for the other party to speak, he took the initiative to ask Isidore:

"What's going on? There are so many guards on the street all of a sudden."

"Did something happen in the city?"

The smiling face suddenly sank, and the priest nodded with a serious expression.

"We were just attacked by cultists; it was very dangerous."

"Several nearby blocks have already been placed under martial law. If we haven't found anything by dawn, the area will definitely expand."

Upon hearing this, a thoughtful look could not help but appear on Xia Nan's face.

"No wonder..."

Noticing his strange attire—not wearing armor, dressed only in a thin shirt, and carrying two swords on his back—

Isidore asked casually:

"What about you? Why are you out so late, and without even wearing many clothes?"

Having already prepared his excuse, Xia Nan scratched his head with a smile, without the slightest hesitation.

"I'm just here in Niumu doing a mission. I was originally planning to rest, but I suddenly thought of some clues, so I came out to see if I could find anything."

"How is it? Any progress?"

"It's alright, I suppose I've sorted things out. I'll study it for two more days; if there's still no harvest, I won't waste any more time and will just head back to Hegu Town."

It was just a casual question, and Isidore did not believe that a novice professional like Xia Nan could be involved with an existence of that level.

Without suspicion, he just kindly reminded him:

"Missions are important, but life safety is the most important thing. Hurry home; there might be danger here."

Xia Nan followed his advice readily.

But he did not forget his own intention and asked:

"Does that cultist have any characteristics?"

"If I happen to run into them on the road, I can report it to you if I recognize them."

There was nothing to hide, so the priest Isidore pointed to the longsword on Xia Nan's back and replied:

"He is also an adventurer, of the Elf race, with golden hair."

"His movements look..." A clear hesitation appeared on his face, "perhaps a bit awkward, as if he has a physical disability."

"But don't be careless because of that. If you really run into him, absolutely do not go up to make contact. Just leave immediately and find a nearby sheriff to report his location."

"I'll remind you again, he... is very dangerous!"

A golden-haired Elf!?

Awkward movements!?

Suddenly recalling the Elf's identity as the mage's teammate.

Xia Nan's thoughts came to a sudden halt, and he felt waves surging in his heart.

Such a coincidence?

Externally, however, his expression remained unchanged, maintaining a normal reaction as much as possible.

"Understood, I will definitely be extra careful."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, he took his leave.

A polite smile remained on his refined and gentle face.

Staring at the back disappearing into the night, Cornell's thoughts fluctuated.

Of course, he remembered this novice he had met once at the Association.

It hadn't been that many years; it was only a few dozen days ago. As a high-level spellcaster whose primary attribute was Intelligence, how could he not have an impression?

It's just that...

A flash of contemplation crossed the depths of Cornell's eyes.

He remembered that at the time, this adventurer named "Xia Nan" hadn't even obtained a professional level yet, right?

Looking so young, he certainly hadn't been in the business for long.

But after just a few minutes of contact just now, he could clearly perceive the solid aura emanating from the other party—that unique "professional" aura, a high combination of exquisite technique and physical strength, acting upon a physique far exceeding that of an ordinary person.

He was nothing like a novice who had just obtained a professional level and stepped onto the path of a professional.

"Interesting."

The impression deepened, and the image of the black-haired youth carrying two swords was pulled out from the memories that would have faded over the next few years.

But he didn't pay it too much mind, treating it merely as a small episode in the course of this terrible adventure.

Withdrawing his gaze, Cornell rubbed the iron ring on his finger and looked at the priest beside him.

"You know this Xia Nan?"

Based on his observation of the tone and content of the conversation just now, although the two didn't seem very close, they didn't seem to be complete strangers either.

"Do you remember those residents I mentioned to you the other night?"

Isidore picked a speck of dirt off the surface of his robe.

"That family of civilians who claimed to have encountered some Evil God and were acting paranoid?"

The priest nodded.

In the middle of the night, fully armed, suddenly arriving at the church with a few people.

Being such a young professional himself, he certainly had an impression.

He remembered casting divine arts for them at the time, which made those residents, who had been scared out of their homes in the middle of the night, feel a bit better.

He didn't know how they handled that statue afterward...

Wait!

"Statue!?"

Isidore shouted involuntarily.

Like a bolt of lightning exploding in the depths of his mind, a hazy cognition that had been shrouded in the blind spot of his consciousness became clear in an instant.

The strange statue of unknown origin that seemed to have appeared out of thin air in Niumu City,

The eerie charm that was exceptionally popular, sought after by a large crowd in a short period, and even obsessed himself, who had never been interested in such things,

The distracted and strangely behaving mage Cornell during the resurrection ritual, and the wooden carving in his hand...

His body trembling violently, the priest's face—which usually presided over sacred rituals and spread the Goddess's holy light to the world with peace and serenity—was now filled with a panic and astonishment not seen in many years.

"Damn it!"

Cursing with a lack of decorum, Isidore turned abruptly to look at the mage beside him.

What came into view was a pale face that was also rising in deep horror amidst a trance.

Without a doubt, the moment he uttered the word "statue," it was like a keyword; Cornell also realized the cognition he had been blinded by.

The arrival of the "suspected Evil God" was by no means an accidental event.

As early as a few months ago, this strangely shaped wooden carving had already been circulating silently in Niumu City.

And including himself, not a single person had noticed anything wrong with it.

Even the most upright and meticulous sheriffs had never considered the origin of the wooden carving, doubted its appearance, or even its eerie appearance that seemed to cater to everyone's aesthetic.

This was a conspiracy!

A conspiracy involving all of Niumu, and even blinding clergy members like himself!

As if falling into a bottomless abyss, his thoughts spread toward darker places.

One must know that the circulation of the statue in the city occurred even before Cornell's squad arrived at Hegu Town.

And did this mean that the Elf's death, the encounter of Cornell and the others in the Goblin lair, and even going further back, their accepting the mission on the Association's mission board, were all part of it!?

The evil soul seizing a fresh body that had just died during the resurrection ritual he presided over had already been destined the moment the first statue appeared in Niumu City.

Isidore felt a chill rush from his tailbone to the top of his skull, and goosebumps broke out all over his body.

Before he could even speak, he sensed a sudden fluctuation of magic particles in the air.

Hum—

A silvery-white magical glow flashed in the corner of his eye.

He turned his head to look.

He saw Cornell, who had just recovered slightly from the predicament of exhausting his mental power, already holding his wooden staff.

Dazzling and complex array patterns spread rapidly on the ground around him, centered on the tail of the staff.

One could vaguely see a large amount of spellcasting materials flowing out from his flickering space iron ring as if they were worthless, merging into the glow of the magic array.

There was no time for goodbyes.

Even if the cost was spellcasting materials expensive enough to buy an entire street in the outer city, Cornell did not want to stay in this godforsaken place for even one more second.

"If you have a chance, come to Huan Cai Cheng, I will treat you..."

The words were only half-spoken.

Wrapped in magical radiance, Cornell disappeared from the spot amidst a spatial distortion.

Isidore stared at the emptiness before him, stunned for two seconds.

Then he gritted his teeth and said.

"That damn bookworm..."

His brain raced, thinking of countermeasures.

He reached out to call the nearby guards, telling them to summon their sheriff.

First of all, that sheep-deer statue definitely had a problem!

Within such a large area, involving so many residents, and even professionals could not escape its influence, having their cognition rewritten.

Even if he could recognize the strangeness of the statue now, it also represented, to a certain extent, that its effectiveness seemed to have weakened.

But whether it was himself as a clergy member of "Selene" or the Niumu authorities after learning the truth, it was impossible to let the wooden carving continue to circulate in the city.

It must be recovered urgently!

On the other hand, although he did not know for what reason.

That existence resurrected through the Elf's body did not harm him; even the mage Cornell, who had close contact with the other party, only had a few pieces of magical equipment scrapped and his mental power exhausted, without even a minor injury.

And the Goddess's ambiguous attitude also indicated that there was something fishy about it.

But this by no means meant that the other party was benevolent.

With the golden-haired Elf's unfocused, dead-grey eyes appearing in his mind, Isidore couldn't help but shiver.

No matter how things developed next, as the presiding priest of the "Moon Goddess Church," he needed to do his job.

He stood in front of the church gate, waiting for the sheriff to arrive to warn them of his discovery.

A wisp of chilling cold wind suddenly brushed past the back of his head.

His whole body suddenly froze, as if he had remembered something.

He didn't even care about the sheriff who was walking quickly toward the church under the guidance of the guards in the distance.

Isidore turned abruptly.

With hurried steps, he disappeared behind the corridor door leading to the inner hall.

The sheep-deer statue.

Although the one in Cornell's hand had been taken away by that existence.

But in his own room... there was still one sitting there in plain sight.

Walking on the street back to Jeff's house.

He withdrew his gaze from the direction of the church, from which faint noises were coming.

A thoughtful look appeared on Xia Nan's face.

He was reviewing his performance before the priest and the mage just now.

"There shouldn't be any problems."

He could certainly have told his entire encounter to get help from the authorities and the church.

But at the same time, as an eyewitness to the event, he would inevitably be drawn into this turmoil.

From Xia Nan's perspective, ever since the Elf appeared during the battle, everything had seemed so sudden and elusive.

He knew the Elf was the mage's teammate.

But he had no clue as to why the two fought in the Moon Goddess Church, why the Elf had turned into that obviously abnormal state, or why he had controlled himself to recite that so-called "True Name" from the system note...

Xia Nan didn't even know the roles and positioning of the Niumu authorities and the Selene sect in the whole event.

In this situation, it was very difficult for him to explain clearly to them why he was able to return unscathed after coming into contact with the Elf.

If he encountered some extremists, they might just throw him in jail for a few days and interrogate him under torture about a connection between him and the Elf that didn't exist; if there were spells like memory searching, it would be even more troublesome.

Xia Nan pondered inwardly.

He had to at least figure out the ins and outs of the matter, be able to judge what to say to whom that would be beneficial to him, and what information revealed might lead to negative effects.

Only then could he take further action.

The golden-haired Elf had disappeared, and he had escaped from the Secret Realm back to the real world.

To some extent, although he lost two pieces of armor.

His harvest was far greater than it appeared on the surface.

The only thing left to consider now was the promotion mission, which he didn't even know if he had completed.

(End of chapter)