Chapter 312: The First Follower

"Lord Bishop, the Eagle Chamber of Commerce previously sent people to request that Priest Gordon cast 【Prophecy】 to determine the location of the murderer who killed their president, but they seemed unsatisfied with the result and wish to request your intervention, my Lord."

Having said this, the young acolyte quickly raised his head to glance at Bishop Anbulier, who was sitting behind the desk, then immediately lowered his head again.

Anbulier saw the young man's small movements under his command, but he did not take them to heart; instead, he asked with interest about the result of Gordon casting 【Prophecy】:

"Oh? What did Gordon say?"

"Lord Gordon's hint was 'south of the river, beneath the clear waves,' but the people from the Eagle Chamber of Commerce believe the murderer is still hiding in the town, it seems, it seems—"

The young man did not finish the rest of his words.

Yet Anbulier knew very clearly in his heart that it was not "it seems," but rather that the other party had directly begun to suspect that the Savile Territory was shielding the murderer.

The fact was that the Temple was already cooperating with the authorities to impose martial law and conduct searches; as for the Tower of Time not sending anyone, Niya had already notified him in advance—the Tower of Time needed repairs.

However, regarding the Eagle Chamber of Commerce's judgment—that the murderer was still in town—Anbulier also agreed.

After the murder occurred, because a Mage had also died, although the members of the Tower of Time did not participate in the search because they needed to return to the Tower of Time for repair work, they had explicitly demanded that the murderer be caught as soon as possible and had also helped to blockade the town area.

Afterward, everyone who came to town to attend the festival was carefully checked and identified when leaving the town area, confirming that the murderer had not left.

For a moment, Anbulier was indeed a bit curious about where the murderer had run off to, but he would not rashly use Divine Grace just to satisfy a little curiosity of his own.

Looking at the young acolyte who was still a bit nervous before him, Anbulier could not help but think of his own situation when he was young; the old lord was still around back then!

Sigh—

Thinking of the old lord, and then thinking of the Eagle Chamber of Commerce, Anbulier could not help but sigh silently, "Tell the people from the Eagle Chamber of Commerce that I am currently performing an important ritual and it is inconvenient to cast 【Prophecy】. Also, have Priest Cyrus come over."

"Yes, my Lord."

Having said this, the young acolyte retreated silently.

Inside the room, only Anbulier remained, gazing at the pillar of light cast into the Study by the Lord of Radiance from the east window, remaining silent for a long time. It was not until a series of hurried yet not at all panicked footsteps arrived that he came back to his senses and looked toward the doorway.

……

Port warehouse.

Jibu had long since woken up, and at this moment, he was watching Xia Duo remove the curse with a nervous expression; although he could not understand magic or anything of the sort, judging from Aiwa's reaction to the outside world, the situation was developing in a good direction.

"Phew—"

After untying and smoothing out all the Magic Net Strings involved in the final set of curse elements, Xia Duo let out a long breath; this job of removing a curse was much more difficult than casting 【Flight】!

Although they were only remnants of a curse, those elements still possessed considerable "activity"; untying one set would automatically generate another.

If it weren't for Xia Duo's fairly decent grasp of the Principles of spells, he estimated he would have been tearing his hair out over these few curse remnants.

The harvest gained from personally "dissecting" a curse was almost no less than learning two new spells; even some of the Principles contained in curse Magic were more worthy of research.

After untying the curse, Xia Duo made a gesture for no interruptions, then immediately took a notebook out of his Personal Space, squatted down, used his knees as a support, and began to record—

Curse Magic practice record: using self-created secret script for recording

Element cycle example: **

Chain trigger example: **

Related element record: **

Conjecture: **

Awaiting verification: 1, ** 2, ** 3, **……

……

After writing the last stroke, Xia Duo looked up and saw the four people—Laidun, Yarman, Jibu, and Aiwa—standing to the side, facing each other in pairs, eyes fixed straight ahead.

Xia Duo felt this scene was a bit funny; a Mage's notes were not so easily understood by others, but because he used Arcane Geometry to record the various combinations and changes of the Magic Net Strings, due to time constraints, he had not performed any encrypted conversion.

In this way, it could truly be considered Knowledge that could be directly obtained by others.

"Alright!" Xia Duo stood up, looked at the group, and his gaze finally stopped on Aiwa, "Aiwa, you're awake, how is your body?"

"Thank you, Lord Xia Duo, for saving me from the darkness!" Aiwa knelt on one knee and swore solemnly, "From this day forward, the Lord's command is the meaning of Aiwa's existence!"

During the previous curse-induced coma, Aiwa had not lost his Perception of the outside world, only the ability to provide feedback; he had heard Jibu pleading with Xia Duo, even willing to pay any price to beg Xia Duo to save him.

After killing Asaer, Aiwa's heart, almost hollowed out by hatred, had already lost its goal; the only thing he could not let go of was Jibu.

He would rather sacrifice everything for Xia Duo in Jibu's stead!

Xia Duo was also a bit stunned by this sudden loyalty, but this was exactly what he wanted, and even more.

Originally, he had only wanted to recruit Aiwa, something like a long-term hire; he had not expected him to suddenly say that his command was the meaning of his existence.

How embarrassing!

However, Xia Duo agreed quickly, "Aiwa, from this day forward, you are my first follower; I hope you will live up to today's oath."

He did not treat Aiwa as a disposable tool, but gave him the status of a follower.

At this time, in order to safeguard the interests of the lord, Laidun jumped out again, "My Lord, let my Lord witness all of this!"

Before Xia Duo could speak, Aiwa, who was still kneeling, had already spoken, "The Lord of Radiance is above, please witness for me!"

"Just and impartial, radiance is infinite."

Laidun recited a prayer and summoned a pure white ball of light, which then rapidly expanded, enveloping all four people around it.

This was not the first time Xia Duo had seen a witness contract from a Cleric of the Lord of Radiance.

When he was still on Earth, he often heard the saying, "There is no such thing as loyalty; it's just that the chips for betrayal are not enough." And in Nether, even a Sacred Contract witnessed by the Lord of Radiance could not necessarily guarantee absolute reliability.

It just did not affect its status in the hearts of the Netherese.

Even Xia Duo felt awe; under the shroud of that will, which was full of order and ruthlessness, he kept his mind guarded, not thinking of anything he shouldn't.

"The Lord of Radiance witnesses: I am willing to become the sharp blade in Lord Xia Duo's hand; whatever is commanded, I will follow without fail. Lord Xia Duo's command is the meaning of my existence."

Xia Duo simply said, "I accept."

Afterward, the will of the Lord of Radiance departed, and Xia Duo could not help but let out a sigh of relief; he could not help but glare at Laidun and curse inwardly: meddlesome!

Every time he experienced this scene of being watched by an infinitely high and powerful will, Xia Duo was very worried that he would be slapped to death by a palm descending from the sky.

Even though Xia Duo knew that the Lord of Radiance never easily interfered with mortals, that feeling of deeply realizing one's own weakness was still very unpleasant.