Chapter 3222: Iolum's Conjecture

————It will be a bit later~~

————

With a new direction for the investigation, Xia Duo was immediately stumped by this first step; semi-planes are no easier to discover than complete planes, even though they might be closer to the "void" of the Main Plane.

Not to mention, semi-planes are usually smaller in volume and easier to hide. Starting an investigation from the direction of semi-planes is indeed a direction, but in actual practice, it is no easier than directly catching the leader of the Illuminati.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo felt it would be better to wait until tomorrow to communicate with Yierlan to see if he could obtain some new intelligence before making a decision.

……

Ailan, Temporary Camp of the investigation team.

Xia Duo, whose consciousness had returned to his avatar, opened the tent. An assistant under Kulas immediately came up to greet him and asked, "Does Councilor Xia Duo have any instructions?"

"Where are Kulas and my teacher?"

"They seem to have gone to the scene, the Elf is there too."

……

However, the situation of the Magic Net at the attack scene was chaotic; even with Iolum coordinating, Xia Duo had only roughly determined a direction and could not lock onto it precisely.

Xia Duo waved from afar. Seeing this, Iolum immediately stopped the movements in his hands, and before Xia Duo approached, he immediately beckoned to Xia Duo:

After speaking, Iolum raised one hand, revealing a cluster of blue-white, water-ripple-like radiance. It was also at that moment that the blue light flames at the edge of the deep pit nearby seemed to sense something and suddenly experienced some unexpected fluctuations.

That alone was enough to show that Iolum had an understanding of this kind of blue light flame that far exceeded others!

"Teacher, didn't the inspection records I gave you contain the results of the daytime probing?"

"There is a certain risk, but you don't have to worry too much; I still have the Divine Grace protection of the Lady of Mysteries!"

"If the matter is impossible, you must withdraw in time."

Not to mention, what Iolum was displaying at this moment—as his hand glowing with blue-white radiance waved slowly, the blue light flames at the edge of the deep pit also fluctuated slowly and rhythmically!

At this time, the blue-white radiance on Iolum's hand was the embodiment of the Lady of Mysteries' Holy Power, similar to the Holy Light manifested by the Holy Power of the Lord of Radiance; this was also a symbol of his identity as a Priest.

Currently, the situation inside the deep pit is unclear, especially that kind of blue light flame, which has never been seen in any past classics, scrolls, documents, or even personal notes.

How could those Spellcasters present who accompanied Iolum to investigate near the deep pit not be constantly paying attention to the anomalies of the deep pit!

"Teacher!"

Xia Duo was worried that Iolum would encounter an accident by rashly making contact, so he couldn't help but advise again: "Teacher, let's wait a bit longer. I already have certain guesses about the existence of this kind of blue light flame, and others must as well. It won't be too late to make contact after the situation is clearer."

From this point of view, it is indeed not empty talk that Iolum can obtain a large amount of Divine Grace from the Goddess; it is because he has consistently insisted on cultivating new Mages for so many years and has frequently innovated.

But in the eyes of outsiders, the means he was displaying at the moment were just considered some kind of special Spell.

It is just that Iolum rarely reveals his identity as a Priest in front of outsiders, or rather, Iolum actually does not consider himself a Priest of the Goddess; he just happened to perceive the Goddess's Holy Power, and he did not refuse it, that is all.

Of course, in the past, the faith in the Lady of Mysteries was also popular, but in the last hundred years, after Netheril as a whole tended to be conservative, the faith in the Goddess of Magic, which encourages innovation and sharing, has gradually withered. (After the New Covenant was signed, the atmosphere changed, and the faith in the Goddess may become popular again.)

It is just that he is not sure how much Iolum knows about the blue light flames inside the deep pit. Now he wishes he could end the investigation immediately and then have a pleasant exchange with Iolum.

"Lord Iolum, may I ask what this is—" Feilifa immediately asked with concern.

There was one more thing he did not say in public, and that was that the daytime probing was all done by the Elves. It was not that he didn't trust the Elves, but that he wanted to probe it himself.

After speaking, Xia Duo directly located Iolum. Such an undisguised action undoubtedly triggered Iolum's personal Protection mechanism, but upon discovering it was Xia Duo, Iolum still opened a back door for Xia Duo.

After all, the experiments during the day had already proven that this kind of blue light flame could almost devour everything; being near the deep pit, one could not be too cautious.

Xia Duo also couldn't help but exclaim, but unlike Feilifa and other Elves who knew nothing about the means Iolum was displaying, he knew that Iolum's method of "controlling" the blue light flames in the deep pit was through Holy Power.

"It is not too late, but things always need someone to do them, and I have a relatively good understanding of the risks involved in what I am about to do. Don't worry, I have lived for so long not to joke with my own life today!"

Of course, even if it were a Priest of the Goddess of Magic, if someone else came here, they might not necessarily do better than Iolum; Xia Duo was very certain of this.

"Isn't that too dangerous?"

But it is still the same thing: if Divine Grace could guarantee immunity from death, then countless people would have already believed in the Goddess of Magic.

Fortunately, he had circled this area several times during the day, so he was very familiar with it. With a rough direction, he could probably guess where Iolum was.

But Iolum had no intention of ending the investigation.

"You came just in time. I intend to probe the blue light flames in the deep pit; come and help me keep watch."

Iolum spoke lightly, but Xia Duo did not feel relaxed at all. The Goddess of Magic will not protect those who court death, and Divine Grace is not a death-immunity pass; otherwise, for the sake of immunity from death, countless Mages would have already bowed down at the feet of the Goddess of Magic.

"No, that is different." Iolum shook his head and said slowly, "I have read your records; it was just a routine probe, and it didn't even probe the essence of those blue light flames."

Very soon, Xia Duo found Iolum's party to the southwest of the deep pit at the destruction scene. Besides Iolum, there were Kulas, Feilifa, and two Observers from Eilistraee and Cormanthyr.

Feilifa's inner heart at this moment was far more shocked than he appeared. During the day, he had let his subordinates conduct various probes on the blue light flames in the deep pit, but unless it was direct contact with the light flames through matter or Spells, no other means could affect the existence of those light flames.

"I understand, go do your work."

"I want to make close contact with that kind of blue light flame."

And Xia Duo, after seeing Iolum "control" the blue light flames in the deep pit, no longer tried to persuade the other party to give up close contact, but only gave a final reminder:

And the actual situation is that those who believe in the Goddess of Magic only account for a minority in Netheril; the vast majority of Mages still follow the crowd and believe in the Lord of Radiance.

"Then how does Teacher intend to do it?"