Chapter 92: Evil is spreading

Days passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was the end of October.

Since the commotion caused by the appearance of the undead in the labyrinth beneath Lei Ming County, nearly a month had passed without knowing it.

In this not-too-long and not-too-short period, more and more adventurers witnessed the existence of the undead in the labyrinth. And everything that happened before their eyes further proved the rumors in the streets about "the Demon King has returned."

It wasn't just this that made people uneasy.

The old evil had not yet completely disappeared, and new evil was quietly brewing in unknown corners.

Following the legends of the Flame King and the Evil Dragon, another name was added to the names passed down by people—the evil undead alchemist Miranda.

It is said that this evil necromancer usually hides in the labyrinth, while during the day he disguises himself as an idle adventurer looking for hunting targets on the street.

Once targeted by this guy, it is almost impossible to survive.

And in the short half-month since he appeared, there were a full twenty-plus victims discovered by people alone.

The identities of the victims were varied, some were waitresses in taverns, some were sailors on shore leave, and even shop clerks and adventurers.

Judging from the identities of the victims, it is clear that this is a random crime.

To curb the spread of panic, Grand Duke Campbell had to send the knights under his command to station in Lei Ming County, and ordered them to bring this abominable heretic to justice at all costs...

However, threats from afar ultimately belong to afar, and all of this looked like it had nothing to do with the quiet and peaceful Silver Pine Town.

Silver Pine Town Church.

A knight in silver armor sat on a long bench, his hands folded in front of his chest, praying silently facing the statue of Saint Xisi.

Two attendants stood behind him, as quiet as statues, waiting silently.

At this time, a creaking sound came from the wooden door on one side of the chapel, and a priest holding a candle walked out from behind the door.

That aged face was majestic and solemn, yet did not lack a touch of old fatherly kindness.

The orphans here all respected him.

Including the residents living nearby, mentioning the name of Father Ma Te would always reveal expressions of admiration, just like talking about a great person.

Seeing the priest appearing in the chapel, the knight sitting on the long bench immediately stood up and greeted him with a smile.

Father Ma Te nodded at him, placed the candlestick in his hand on the table to the side, and opened his mouth with a casual voice.

"You must be Mr. Mel White, my apprentice told me that the Lord's knight was visiting... hope I didn't keep you and your subordinates waiting too long."

Facing the priest who was not smiling, Mel smiled and said politely.

"Not at all, respected Father Ma Te, it is I who am intruding, hope I didn't affect your work of serving Saint Xisi."

Ma Te looked at him expressionlessly, and then looked at the two attendants standing behind him, and then opened his mouth to say.

"I am serving Saint Xisi at all times, even when standing here facing his children... so, may I ask what is the matter with the Lord's knights coming to this small town? I am checking the frozen grapevines in the backyard, if possible, I hope you can keep it short."

The three of them exuded an aura that he disliked, yet he couldn't write the expression of disgust on his face.

In order not to reveal his flaws, he didn't want to drag out the conversation for too long.

Having heard before coming here that the local priest was a guy with a strange temper, Mel didn't see anything unusual from that expressionless face, just continued politely.

"It's like this, we are ordered to capture a fugitive named Miranda, it is said that guy has fled to this area."

Father Ma Te said expressionlessly.

"The church is a place for prayer, you should go find the sheriff for this kind of thing."

Knight Mel nodded slightly and continued respectfully.

"We have already been there before, but considering that guy is related to outer gods, we decided it would be better to come here and tell you."

"Outer gods?" Father Ma Te frowned, "May I ask, which outer god does that fugitive believe in?"

Everything other than Saint Xisi is called an outer god.

Including the God of Machines Aiwen, including the Dragon God, and also including the Demon God, etc... besides that, there are heretics on the other side of the Vortex Sea.

In a place like Lei Ming County where all roads lead to everywhere, discussing outer gods purely without naming names is a meaningless thing.

Mel lowered his voice and said solemnly.

"We have limited information... but according to our interrogation of a prisoner suspected of being his accomplice, we speculate that this group of guys is extremely likely to be related to the 'Catastrophe' in the Dimensional Desert."

"Not only that, that guy calls himself 'Mad Whisperer'."

Catastrophe...

A hint of solemnity flashed across Father Ma Te's brow.

According to the records in the "Holy Word Book," Catastrophe is a phenomenon that occurs regularly in the Aus Continent, mainly related to people's subconscious lack of piety.

The "Holy Word Book" did not have specific explanations for this, only mentioning generally that Catastrophe is one of the factors inducing the end of the world.

In short, it is not a good thing.

Whether for the surface world or Hell, it is the same.

As for what a Mad Whisperer is...

He didn't know, and had never heard of it.

"I will pay attention."

Mel nodded.

"That is the matter I came to notify you of."

When he said this, he suddenly seemed to remember something, looked at Father Ma Te in front of him and continued.

"By the way, may I ask, is there an intern priest named Bond here?"

"Bond?" Father Ma Te frowned, paused for a moment before revealing a look of realization, "Oh, you mean Bond... he is a priest who just came here recently, he should be in the nearby village right now, what is the matter with you looking for him?"

"Nothing, just that we agreed to help each other in the labyrinth, don't know how his task is going." Knight Mel shook his head and said helplessly, "Since he is not here, then forget it. After he comes back, please say hello to him for me."

Father Ma Te nodded slightly.

"I will."

Mel nodded, didn't continue to stay in the chapel, and led his attendants toward the outside of the church.

Father Ma Te stared at the backs of the three until they disappeared at the door, then picked up the candlestick on the table and turned to walk toward the side door.

Didn't go to the vineyard in the backyard, he walked through the corridor and came straight to the wine cellar storing wine under the church. Behind those rows of wine barrels, there was a door leading to the labyrinth, and behind the door, a cave spider was waiting at all times.

He pulled the thin rope by the door lightly, then placed the candlestick on the wooden table, took out a letter paper from the drawer and wrote down the message for the Demon King.

【Today at noon, the Campbell knights visited Silver Pine Town Church to investigate the whereabouts of the undead alchemist Miranda.】

【To this day, the investigation of the Campbell knights still has no results.】

【But there are rumors that the activities he is engaged in are suspected to be related to the "Catastrophe" in the Dimensional Desert...】

At the entrance of Silver Pine Town Church, Knight Mel, who was standing next to his warhorse, suddenly stopped and looked back in the direction of the church.

He always felt that something was wrong, but couldn't say where the wrong place was.

In the dark, it seemed as if there was a voice whispering in his ear—

Is that really Father Ma Te?

Mel was scared into a cold sweat by this thought that shouldn't have existed.

However, just as he was racking his brains thinking about where that bit of uncalled-for resentment came from, a glimmer of light suddenly flashed into his eyes.

Mel looked up, followed the holy light, and just happened to meet the cross standing on the tower.

The cross bathed in the afternoon sun was like the eyes of Saint Xisi.

Staring at the eyes of that great person, he felt unprecedented peace in his heart, and at the same time dispelled that bit of uncalled-for resentment.

"Saint Xisi above... please forgive my rudeness."

As a child of God.

He shouldn't doubt a respected priest.

Mel repented silently in his heart.

Perhaps it was because he had stared at the abyss for too long, perhaps it was because he couldn't catch that fugitive named Miranda, he became suspicious without knowing it.

It wasn't just him who felt this way, his colleagues also thought so... saying that ever since he took this task, he had become a different person.

However, fortunately, the omnipotent Saint Xisi still cared for him, and gave him guidance at a critical moment.

Although it was only a short prayer of a few minutes, he felt that he had regained his crumbling rationality, and his whole person felt much more refreshed.

"Perhaps I should pray often."

Mel muttered to himself, turned over and mounted his warhorse.

The two attendants following him were the same, followed closely and mounted their horses, and rode behind the knight commander.

"Speaking of which, the perfume on that priest smells really good."

"Is it the scent of cedar wood? Really tasteful."

Perfume...

Cedar wood? Why would he spray perfume on himself while tending the vineyard, is it to cover up the smell of soil?

Or did he guess that he was coming?

Mel suddenly knocked on his forehead, drove the sudden doubt and unpious thoughts out of his mind, and urged the horse under him to accelerate to the entrance of the small town.

"Follow up, we have to hurry and meet with others."

Regardless, Father Ma Te was not someone a martial man like him could doubt.

Even if there were suspicious places, that was the work of the Church Inquisition...

Shortly after Knight Commander Mel of the Trident Knights left Silver Pine Town, the nearby Lord Baron Guss also visited the small town.

Although the knight commander is not equivalent to the title of nobility, it is far from enough to make a baron personally curry favor, but he is a knight beside Grand Duke Campbell after all, and this layer of halo gave his knight status a completely different meaning.

As a rural noble with blocked news, Guss had always wanted to climb into friendship with the people beside Grand Duke Campbell, so that he could grasp the latest trends of the Duchy's political situation in the first time.

After learning that the knight commander of the Trident Knights had arrived in his territory, he immediately put on that set of full-body armor that had been thrown in the warehouse to eat dust, rode that warhorse that had almost forgotten him as the master, led the riders on the manor and went out in full force, rushing toward Silver Pine Town.

All of this was to cater to his preferences.

However, unfortunately, having made full preparations, he came up empty-handed again this time.

The rider who went to inquire about the news folded back from the entrance of the small town, and said to Baron Guss with difficulty.

"My lord, Mr. Mel has already left."

Guss, who was in full gear, was stunned.

"Gone? So fast?"

The rider nodded with a difficult expression.

"Heard from the church priest, that gentleman just came here to convey matters related to the necromancer recently wandering around Lei Ming City... so he didn't stay here."

Guss was silent for a while.

Seeing that the master had no sound, the old butler following on horseback asked in a low voice.

"My lord, are we continuing to wait here or?"

Although the temperature had warmed up a bit in the past few days, that was only relative to the overcast rain some time ago, and the coldness in the autumn wind was still like a knife cutting people's faces.

Baron Guss felt depressed in his heart, feeling that going back like this made him look too stupid, and he would definitely be discussed by those broken-mouthed servants for a few days.

But hanging out at the entrance of the small town with such great fanfare was not a way, it was nothing more than being discussed by servants or being discussed by the people of the territory.

Damn it!

That's why he hated going out! Looking left and right for a while, his small eyes finally had an idea, and he called out loudly to the rider riding in front.

"Visiting the knight commander was just on the way, our trip this time was mainly to inspect the territory... that is the winter patrol. It's not a coincidence, forget it... let the sheriff here come to see me."

The rider held back his laughter, tightened his face that was cut by the autumn wind, and took the order seriously.

"Yes!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 93 =====