Chapter 2869: One Fell Swoop, Two Disappearances

Xia Duo did not know why Pafen had such an attitude toward him, but he could guess some of the reasons; it now appeared that this diviner, who enjoyed a long-standing reputation in the outside world, did not have as high a status in Cormanthor as he had imagined.

This made Xia Duo think of a legendary figure from his hometown who played with snakes and was also said to have connections reaching the heavens, only to end up dying after failed emergency treatment one day.

However, the snake-playing legend was ultimately no match for a diviner like Pafen; at the very least, Pafen was also a High Mage, and the power he possessed as an individual was real and undeniable, even if he was accustomed to operating under the identity of a diviner.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo did not want to waste any more breath on the other party. After the butler left, he did not even take a seat, but acted directly, using a war spell triggered by his Thought Robe to instantly envelop this small area.

With the power of a war spell, using it in such a small area was completely overkill, but what Xia Duo wanted was to go all out like a lion hunting a rabbit, so as to avoid any accidents.

But even so, after a moment of astonishment, Pafen reacted and immediately ascended his Saint Form, though it was a pity that since he had been preempted by Xia Duo, he had no chance at all even after ascending his Saint Form.

Under the effect of the Wide-Area Prohibition, teleportation spells were already ineffective, and there was even spatial separation, restricting Pafen's range of activity to a limited space.

Now the only thing Pafen could do was commit suicide, but before the situation was clear, who would commit suicide right off the bat? Not to mention that Xia Duo had long been prepared for a High Mage to commit suicide by forcibly ascending their Saint Form.

A Mind Blast, with energy provided by a Mythallar, completed its focus in an instant, completely covering the independent space where Pafen was located. The next moment, the momentum of the Saint Form ascension was interrupted, and Pafen fell into a very brief state of unconsciousness.

At the same time, Xia Duo continued his spellcasting, thoroughly imprisoning the body and soul of the unconscious Pafen.

After doing all this, the alarm in Pafen Manor arrived belatedly, but Xia Duo was not panicked at all, even though he knew that with the permissions of Pafen Manor, once an alarm was raised here, the entire Saibohomu might enter a state of lockdown.

However, Xia Duo was also well-prepared for this situation. He first calmly stored the statue-form Pafen after his imprisonment, as well as the Thought Robe he carried, into his Personal Space, and then decisively dispelled this avatar.

A Saint Form Avatar is not easy to create; even with Xia Duo's current abilities, creating a Saint Form Avatar requires anywhere from half a day to a full day to clear away the consciousness information pollution.

It was not that there was anything wrong with the Saint Form Avatar, but that the spell to create this avatar was not originally intended for human Arcanists; even for a High Mage, it was not easy to cast successfully.

In fact, it was an avatar spell created by the Shaerwen Elves of the Projection Plane specifically for the treant Xilin. Xilin himself would face no threshold in casting it, but for other races and other magic systems, it was fraught with difficulties.

Every time Xia Duo cast this spell to create an avatar, he needed to adopt Xilin's state to succeed, and therefore, after the spell was successful, he needed to clear the consciousness information pollution from deeply embodying Xilin.

So all along, Xia Duo had tried his best to maintain the Saint Form Avatar, not letting it consume too much or be directly destroyed.

But this did not mean the avatar could not be destroyed at all; after all, it was something that could be repeatedly created, and as long as it was necessary, he would abandon it without hesitation.

Just like now, by dispelling the avatar, he cut off subsequent searches and investigations from the Cormanthor side.

……

The avatar was dispelled, and Xia Duo's consciousness returned to his main body still at the Tower of Time. However, he did not immediately interrogate Pafen; since the meat was already in his mouth, there was no need to be in such a rush for this moment.

His first choice was still to create an avatar. He had taken temporary leave to depart from Evereska, and if he did not go back, the entire Time-Related Magic Research Laboratory would likely come to a standstill.

And this might prompt the Northland Alliance to look for new alternatives. Although Xia Duo was not optimistic about the research there, he also knew this was something that had to be done; for the moment, he had no intention of giving up that line.

Soon, the avatar creation was complete. Xia Duo, bearing the slight chaos in his consciousness, did not immediately organize the consciousness information, but used the avatar to head to Evereska.

Just after returning to the Northland Alliance Headquarters, he heard two bombshell pieces of news: one was that the diviner Pafen of Cormanthor had mysteriously disappeared from the manor where he long resided, and it was suspected to involve Yilisier Mianwang.

The other piece of news was also related to a diviner. In fact, if not for the first piece of news, the latter would not have attracted widespread attention; it said that the diviner Yilanshaer of Yierlan had also mysteriously disappeared.

With these two pieces of news spreading simultaneously, Xia Duo immediately realized that Pafen was nine times out of ten a member of the Illuminati, and this Yilanshaer who had also disappeared was likely a member of the Illuminati as well, and very possibly one whose identity Pafen knew.

Although it was a pity that he hadn't known Yilanshaer's identity sooner to capture them together, Xia Duo did not regret not interrogating Pafen immediately.

During a normal interrogation, the other party certainly wouldn't say anything; he could only use mind spells or directly copy a Consciousness Copy for slice-by-slice examination, but no matter which method was used, it would require time.

He hadn't even delayed much since returning from Cormanthor, having only created an avatar, and yet Yilanshaer had already disappeared. Even if he hadn't created an avatar and had chosen to interrogate Pafen instead, the result would likely have been the same.

Fortunately, he still had Pafen in hand; at the very least, he could learn about the inside story of the Illuminati.

And his choice to create an avatar and return to Evereska immediately, besides not wanting to give up the line of the Time-Related Magic Research Laboratory, was also because he thought that by being at the center of the Northland, he could be the first to know about major events happening in the Northland.

Among them, there might be various actions taken by the Illuminati to eliminate the hidden danger of Pafen's disappearance. The more they did, the more traces they would leave behind; and if they did nothing, then by the time he finished interrogating Pafen, the Illuminati would have even less of a chance.

……

After handing over the temporary commission to survey the Grey Peak Mountains to the people of the Seven Towers, Xia Duo's operation this time could be considered to have ended with a beginning and an end.

Next, he prepared to clear the consciousness information pollution. This work existed within his consciousness and was not limited by the location of the corresponding physical body; he could complete it just as well in Evereska.

But just as he had returned to Yunfeng Manor from the Northland Alliance Headquarters, he received a report from the manor butler, Lajieer—Elder Laruian was visiting.

Xia Duo had just pulled off a job in the guise of a visitor, and now he had a visitor himself; this felt somewhat like a space-time confusion. However, he did not refuse, because Laruian was also an insider and still needed to be warned once more.

……

Soon, Xia Duo met Laruian again. When they met again, the expression on Laruian's face was very complex, containing both the natural annoyance of being tied up with official business, worry about Xia Duo's terrifying ability to act, and confusion about the future of Evereska.