*Buzz—*
Pink energy washed over his body like a tide.
Xia Nan could feel something invisible lurking within the energy, attempting to seep into his mind.
But before he had time to concentrate and resist, accompanied by a slight tremor of the silver ring, [Dreamweave Corridor], on the ring finger of his right hand, all the invisible energy touching Xia Nan's body was absorbed, converting into 0.001% charge.
*Thump, thump.*
Two muffled sounds echoed in Xia Nan's ears, one after the other.
The first was heavy and short, like an iron block hitting the ground; the second was relatively lighter, accompanied by the sound of stumbling footsteps and a few struggles before falling.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw them.
Under the impact of the pink energy, Margaret and Sordin had lost their ability to fight and had collapsed unconscious.
Fortunately, their life signs remained stable; they hadn't died on the spot. Once the influence of the gem's energy faded, they should regain consciousness.
Thoughts flashed through his mind.
In front of him, upon the altar at the innermost part of the church, the elderly priest dressed in a gold-trimmed ceremonial silk robe was the first to open his mouth
"So, it really is you."
Against the backdrop of the dazzling pink light in his sockets, eyes that were now mere blurred outlines shifted slightly. His gaze swept over Xia Nan's body, pausing briefly on the exposed chain of [Tears of Spring] at his neck, before landing on the straight sword [Cinderfall] in his hand, as if searching for something.
"I thought it was strange when I first received the news from Hans, so... that wealthy merchant from Neum, Horako—you were the one who released him from the mental control?"
Hearing this, Xia Nan remained expressionless on the surface, but his heart sank.
His previous suspicion had become reality.
"Hans"... was the name of the innkeeper.
Previously, when he had accidentally touched Horako's pastel gem and helped the man break the charm effect, he had wondered if the massive contrast in the merchant's behavior would arouse suspicion from others in town.
The innkeeper's probing questions and the subsequent night attack had confirmed his guess.
Now, even Priest Morn before him knew about it, and even knew that he was the one who had freed Horako.
Looking at it this way, the innkeeper's actions before death—which looked almost like suicide—were actually a means of transmitting information about him to Morn in the church via the gem on his chest.
Fortunately, based on the priest's gaze and demeanor in that brief moment, the man did not seem to have noticed the existence of [Dreamweave Corridor].
"These gems, the things happening in town... you did all of this?"
Naturally, Xia Nan could not answer the question directly. His eloquence was mediocre; playing along and gathering intelligence through conversation was not his forte.
Rather than struggling within the topics proposed by this old man, it was better to shift his thinking and take the initiative in the conversation—asking only what he wanted to know and avoiding answers that revealed information as much as possible.
Even in the worst-case scenario where the other party refused to engage, they would simply both speak their own pieces.
Unexpectedly, the priest's behavior at this moment was exceptionally candid.
"If you mean this..." Morn tilted the pastel gem held in his hand toward Xia Nan, then lightly raised his head to glance at the massive, brilliant beam of pink light piercing straight into the heavens above. "And this."
"Then I did indeed play a part in it."
"Why?"
Xia Nan instinctively asked.
At the same time, he used this fleeting moment to observe the surrounding environment and the priest in front of him as much as possible, gathering information to prepare for the battle that was highly likely to come.
Of course, he also hoped to stall for time to see if his two teammates could wake from their unconscious state.
Without any concealment, a kind smile appeared on Morn's lips. His tone was peaceful as he answered the adventurer's question
"Child, perhaps you cannot understand."
"But I am saving them, sparing them from the torment of this world filled with pain and doubt."
His voice was gentle and calm, as if he were explaining something completely natural.
His demeanor was relaxed and effortless, just like that sunny morning when he and Xia Nan had first met.
But all of the above, when paired with the current environment where the entire Horn Town had fallen, the massive pillar of light above his head, and those eyes completely consumed by pink light...
It appeared utterly eerie, sending a chill through the heart.
"Saving them?"
Xia Nan found it absurd.
The look in his eyes changed as he gazed at the priest, a hint of mockery rising from the depths of his dark pupils.
If the other party had simply admitted that he wanted to sacrifice the entire town to complete some ritual, or attempted to use a mechanism of the gems to absorb the townspeople's vitality to extend his own life...
Then he might not have thought much of it, viewing the man as just another evil-aligned individual who had strayed from the path, a common sight on the continent of Ephara.
But the priest claimed he did this to save the townspeople...
Xia Nan felt that the man was a lunatic deceiving himself.
As if sensing the disdain of the black-haired adventurer, the gentle smile on Morn's face did not change. With a soft expression devoid of any malice, he lightly shook his head, just as he had countless times before when facing the uneducated, ignorant, and honest farmers of the town.
"Child, you are too young; you cannot see how cruel the outside world is."
"Faith wavers, kindness is betrayed, and hard work goes to waste. I have seen these things with my own eyes... and experienced them personally."
"But here, in this small piece of land called Horn Town, they will never experience such twists and pains again."
"Their hearts will forever be filled with 'love' and 'serenity' for the Goddess. Is this not 'salvation'?"
Xia Nan had lost the patience to communicate further with the priest.
When a person's ideas were completely antithetical to one's own, any debate or argument was a waste of effort.
Even in his previous life, when facing netizens who had received similar systematic education under similar backgrounds, he had never convinced anyone during discussions on countless contradictory issues.
He knew that in the vast majority of cases, people simply threw out their own viewpoints; it was difficult, or rare, to stand in the other's shoes. So-called debating was merely searching for loopholes in the other's words to launch a counterattack.
For a priest in his seventies or eighties, whose growth experience and life background were entirely different from his own...
He didn't believe that saying a few words could change the deeply rooted concepts in the man's mind.
Xia Nan lacked the knowledge base, the eloquence, and the patience for such a thing.
Thinking of this, his heart actually grew calm.
The way he looked at the priest was no different from the way he looked at the filthy green-skins in a goblin nest.
But before he truly made his move to cut off the other's head, he had one last question.
"You mentioned the 'Goddess' just now?"
"Is everything you've done the will of Lady Shantia?"
Morn's expression paused.
Xia Nan observed that when his words reached the priest's ears, the pink light in the man's eyes flickered unconsciously twice, and the right hand gripping the ash wood staff tightened and then released instinctively.
The change in expression lasted only an instant before returning to normal.
The priest smiled, his eyelids drooping slightly, revealing a posture of pity and piety.
"The path of faith sometimes requires... guidance."
"Is this not also a blessing from the deity? It is far better than the lambs suffering in confusion."
Unlike his previous frankness, Morn did not answer Xia Nan's question directly.
And it was precisely this evasive, ambiguous attitude that allowed Xia Nan to form a rough guess in his mind.
Perhaps the Goddess Shantia and the events happening in Horn Town were not directly linked.
Even if there was a connection, it was likely only a small part.
The primary driver was likely Morn's own guidance from behind the scenes.
The priest remained perfectly patient.
He simply stood there with a gentle smile, quietly watching Xia Nan on the other side of the church, his expression peaceful and serene.
After a brief silence, seeing that the other party no longer spoke, he took the initiative to speak again
"I have answered all your questions."
"Now... can you tell me how you helped the others break free from the charm effect?"
Xia Nan shook his head.
The sharp, straight blade with a dark grey luster like the night sky carved a subtle arc through the air. Behind him, accompanied by a rising wolf howl, a deep phantom with swaying mane emerged.
"I have nothing to say to you."
*Boom—*
The powerful impact force erupted upon his sudden launch, causing fine cracks to appear on the church floor beneath his leather boots. The air stagnated for an instant; his high-speed movement made the invisible elements, which usually offered no resistance, feel as viscous as water.
The twisted black shadow transformed into a cold, fierce winter wolf chasing its prey. With the stride of its long limbs, the spatial gap was crossed in an instant.
[Night Mother's Gaze] triggered instantly, causing the priest's pink-lit eyes to flicker slightly, though they soon calmed down.
However, even if the opponent passed the check and did not fall into a state of fear, that momentary daze—combined with Xia Nan's exaggerated speed that far exceeded adventurers of the same level—allowed him to close nearly a third of the distance to Morn.
As for the detailed combat plan, he had prepared it before he even stepped into the church.
In summary, there were no complex tactics.
On one side was a close-quarters warrior with high speed and mobility; on the other was a traditional caster who had been stationed in the church for a long time.
As long as the gem's charm effect didn't work on Xia Nan and he could close the distance, the scales of victory tilted heavily in his favor.
Obviously, Morn was also aware of their respective advantages and disadvantages.
Although he had stayed in the Horn Town church for many years and his combat skills were no longer proficient...
Countless days and nights of pious prayer and the divine light that had flashed countless times in the fields and orange groves still allowed him to pour out the energy within his body with a casting speed that an ordinary priest did not possess.
Holy light bloomed.
"Korn!" (Ancient liturgical language, meaning grain or corn)
The abrupt, high-pitched phrase rang out.
The ash wood staff was pointed straight ahead at the ferocious black wolf lunging toward him.
Accompanied by the sharp noise of surging energy, a point of golden, searing light appeared at the tip of the staff.
[Luminous Prayer] — Evocation School · Cantrip (0-Level)
*Buzz!*
It erupted suddenly!
The point of light turned into a beam of brilliant yellow radiance, vanishing almost as quickly as it appeared in the air.
Unable to block it in time, the beam struck Xia Nan directly in the chest.
A searing burn instantly spread from his chest, causing his footsteps to falter.
Fortunately, the defensive performance of the high-quality green gear [Inferno Pulse] was good. The special steel from the depths of the inferno offset the vast majority of the radiance's damage. The remainder caused only minor injuries that did not affect his movement—injuries that didn't even require bandaging; a few extra hours of sleep over a couple of days would heal them.
To some extent, Xia Nan relied almost entirely on his equipment and constitution to tank the priest's spell.
The distance between them closed by another fifth.
*Buzz—*
Another golden glow rose from the front.
The energy was clearly more condensed than before, and the whistling sound it made as it sliced through the air was much sharper and more piercing, vaguely forming the shape of a blurred arrow.
[Light-Guide Arrow] — Evocation School · 1st-Level Spell
Under his keen perception, a strange sense of danger rose in his heart.
Knowing he could not rely on his equipment and physical advantages to tank it as he had before, and having been prepared, Xia Nan raised his left arm while sprinting forward. Predicting the landing point of the light arrow, he blocked it with the snake-scale arm shield.
*Bang!*
Golden shattered light fragments flew past the edges of his black hair, carried by the fierce wind.
A slight vibration traveled up his forearm; the light arrow had shattered.
[Gloom-Scale Disk Guard], a blue rare piece of equipment forged personally by "Rock Hammer" Barn, using the scales of a legendary creature from another world as the primary material and blending in various expensive auxiliary materials.
Its inherently tough defensive capability left not even a single scorch mark on its cold, smooth surface when facing an attack of this level.
The distance between them shortened by another quarter.
Clearly, Morn had not expected this outwardly young adventurer to be able to withstand two consecutive spell attacks with such ease.
The pink light in Morn's eyes flashed violently. One could vaguely see the outline of the muscles tensing beneath the skin of his cheeks as he grit his teeth.
Mental energy was poured into the staff in his hand as if it cost nothing.
*Vroom—*
Unlike the previous two golden lights, a light of pale pink energy struck him again, at a speed that even Xia Nan could not react to.
[Hold Person] — Enchantment School · 2nd-Level Spell
Key: Wisdom Save.
His Wisdom attribute, which had been raised to 11 through various opportunities, gave Xia Nan a very high save threshold against control-type spells that required a Wisdom check to determine success.
If the caster were a low-level spellcaster without relevant feats, it would be nearly impossible for such spells to work on him.
He completed the save easily.
And at the same time, amidst a loud and long wolf howl, he finally arrived at the priest's side.
He brought the opponent into the attack range of his straight sword.
With a burst of strength in his arm, a [Whirlwind Slash] was unleashed.
But before the tip of the sword could touch the other's skin, the priest suddenly squeezed the pastel gem in his palm.
*Buzz...*
With a form similar to the light wall enveloping the town, a translucent pink barrier rapidly expanded outward, centered on his body.
The blade collided, kicking up ripples of energy.
Xia Nan's body was sent flying high into the air.
(End of Chapter)