After saying goodbye to Iluna on the water and agreeing to meet again on Thursday to update each other on the situation, Shad took Mia back into the dense forest and prepared to go home.
The forest was still filled with fog, but the traces of the divine ritual on the ground no longer glowed, which meant that the battle in the distance must have ended.
Although there were some unexpected events just now, the kiss under the moonlight on the water made Xia De feel very good.
But before he had taken two steps in the forest, he stopped with a frown:
"who?"
"I."
As the sound appeared, the moonlight was projected onto the ground through the branches, and the shadows of the trees looked a little scary at night. And from those shadows came the priest Augustus in gray priest robes. He had an embarrassed expression on his face, and if Shade hadn't seen him, he would never have come out.
"Priest?"
Xia De breathed a sigh of relief:
"Why are you here so late... When did you get here?"
"Don't worry, I didn't see anything just now."
The priest shook his head hastily, motioned for Shad to walk with him, and said:
"I won't say anything when I get back to Tobesk."
He emphasized it again, as if he was afraid that Xia De would not believe him. But after he finished speaking, he hesitated for a moment and then whispered:
"I can understand young people pursuing beautiful women of the opposite sex, but they should also control the scale and ... the quantity."
"Priest, you really came a long time ago!"
Mia, who poked her head out of Shade's arms, also meowed, seeming to find it very interesting.
"I came when you rushed out of the woods. You hid really well. If you hadn't walked out of the dense forest, I wouldn't even have found you."
The priest smiled, and walked hurriedly with Shade in the foggy forest. Although he often ridiculed himself for being too old and unable to do many things, the old priest was still able to walk briskly in the forest at night.
"I came here to find something. The madman who just summoned the Grim Reaper's scythe has what I want."
"You also know that it is the 'Death Scythe'?"
The battlefield in the center of the lake was far enough away from the woods that the priest should not have heard Joey Patton's voice.
Father Augustus snorted and said complacently:
"I can understand most of the powers related to death at a glance. Although the power used by that man just now was strange, I knew its name immediately after I saw it."
This should be related to the power of the angel of death:
"That is a true death blow, which can use the concepts of death and end to shatter any entity or non-entity that wants to be destroyed."
"So is there a weakness?"
Xia De asked humbly.
"Of course there is. No matter how powerful that move is, it is used by a ring sorcerer. The user himself seems to be only at a low level? Kill him before he uses this move, or kill him after dodging this move. Isn't it easy?"
The priest said, and Shade nodded immediately. Compared to Darkness's talent of manipulating darkness, Joey Barton's talent of death may look impressive, but its effect is not as comprehensive as the dark vortex. Taken together, it is not even as useful as Iluna's talent of forcibly lowering the level of the enemy's ring warlock.
"What are you looking for?"
Shade asked, thinking about what Joey Barton had on him:
"The origin of the Rhodes card, death?"
"You know, I always stay away from games like Rhodes."
The priest shook his head and nimbly jumped over the tree trunk lying horizontally on the ground:
"I don't know what I'm looking for, but it must be that person. Shade, who is that guy? I only know that the church found a person who was resurrected from the dead and used it as a trap to lure the Truth Society. Is the guy just now also a member of the Truth Society?"
So on the way, Shade introduced the life story of Joey Barton, the "man who defied death", to the priest. Of course, in order not to involve the priest in the fatal "chosen one" and "whispering poems", Shade only said that the other party was very important and all forces were looking for him, but did not mention the epic of the Sixth Era.
"So that's how it is, reborn against death..."
On the way back to the city, the priest pondered:
"I've never even heard of this kind of person. Judging from his appearance, he should have an extraordinary ability to control the power of death... second only to me."
Xia De kept a straight face and said nothing.
"Xia De, I see you also want to find that person, so how about this, if you have any clues about him, ask me to go with you to find him."
"Of course that's no problem."
Although the priest only has two rings, he can still help a lot, especially in narrow spaces.
"You need to be wary of that man. His understanding of death will make him stronger between life and death. The nature of death also makes it harder for him to die than anyone else. He is a very tricky enemy."
Priest Augustus reminded him again, and Shad nodded cautiously, sighing in his heart that the power of the chosen ones was so unique and unreasonable.
It was already late, and Xia De would not enter the city, so he planned to say goodbye to the priest outside the city. Taking advantage of the time, Xia De briefly told the priest about what had happened recently. The priest knew about the "four nails", but only roughly. After listening to Xia De's detailed explanation, he smiled and said:
"Resurrected from the dead, but didn't know that you were resurrected? Oh, I do have a way to determine the area where the target is, but I can't do a detailed search."
"It's okay. I'll do the detailed search."
Xia De patted his right shoulder. The red butterfly given by Grace and Helen could find the remaining two targets in a small range. Now the red butterfly looking for the clown has dissipated, and there are only two left.
"Okay then. Tomorrow is Wednesday... I need a day to prepare. We'll meet up on Thursday and see if we can find the nails in one day."
Father Augustus spoke in a casual tone, as if they were just going to the woods to hunt rabbits that were not much bigger than Mia:
"Don't worry about their strength. I also saw that clown just now. I am least afraid of these dead people who should have died. What we need to worry about is not being able to find the other party."
"Well, priest, let's meet on Oak Street on Thursday at noon."
"What are you going to do Thursday morning?"
Father Augustus asked curiously. He knew Shad's character. If he didn't have something to do in the morning, he would never delay until the afternoon.
"I made an appointment with Iluna Beas this morning."
Hearing this answer, the corner of Father Augustus' mouth twitched, and he turned his head to look at the forest beside him:
"If one day, you are stabbed to death by Anat or Louisa, I will not help you."
Of course, the priest did not say this out loud, but he really thought there was such a possibility.
Things in Midhill Castle would not stop just because Shade left. The church also did a lot of work in places he could not see.
The follow-up of the encirclement and suppression of the Truth Society was what Shade heard from Miss Aurora on Wednesday morning. The witches were also very concerned about this matter.
In general, the church learned the lessons from the Tobesk and Coldwater Harbor incidents and believed that allowing crazy people who seemed to be harmless but actually no one knew what they would do to wander around in a city where big events were about to happen would cause serious damage to the harmony and stability of the material world.
Therefore, the Natural Church of the Midhillburg Diocese applied to the Holy See and joined forces with other Orthodox churches to wipe out the Truth Society, which is currently the most active in Middleburg, before the sealing ceremony begins next week.
"The church has made a great determination this time. Yesterday, it even sent a local thirteenth-ring warlock to join the battle."
Shad and Miss Aurora took a carriage to Cassandra's auction house, and Shad had returned the golden ring.
Judging from the witch's tone, she was also near the battlefield last night:
"The Truth Society is truly surprising. They can even produce the Angel-level relic Star Summoning Magic Stone."
Afraid that Shade didn't know what it was, the witch gave an additional explanation:
"The Star Summoning Magic Stone, an angel-level relic, is related to the evil creatures sleeping in the starry sky. Using the magic stone, you can summon a meteorite full of curses, plagues, and spiritual pollution, and smash it into the area where the magic stone is. As for the side effects, every time you use the magic stone, there is a 10% chance that the evil creatures in the starry sky will be awakened to project their own images and appear in the material world along with the meteorite. Among all the known angel-level relics, this relic is the most dangerous, and is very close to the measurement of angel level."
Correspondingly, Shade's Night Watchman's Sword should be the least dangerous among the angel-level relics.
"The Church of Nature is very lucky to have recovered such a useful relic."
The brown-haired witch sighed, and at the same time the carriage jolted, allowing Shade to temporarily come out of his memories of last night:
"Have all the ring sorcerers sent by the Truth Society to the local area been eliminated or captured?"
"Of course not. Two escaped, but it's not important. The significance of the church's action is to deter those ring warlocks who are chasing the Chosen One from acting rashly recently. By the way, Granny Cassandra received the news that the church confirmed who the Chosen One was yesterday, but the other party ran into the narrow room, and it is said that it is a man, and a madman."
She shook her head.
"The church used the 'nail' as bait this time, but I didn't expect to hook the chosen one. And he even got off the hook. It's really ridiculous. Since he is a man, then the mission of the council sending me here becomes simple. Find him, and if you can't completely control him, destroy him. Since he is unwilling to submit to the True God Church, he must not be a good person."
But Shad doesn't think Joey Patton is a completely bad guy.
Would you kill him if you had the chance
The whisper beside his ear asked softly, and Xia De turned his head to look out the window:
"Ask him if he has given up on resurrecting the dead. If he has given up, I will chop off one of his arms as the price for his attack on Iluna... Although he spared me, the attack on Iluna and her group was a real fatal attack. If he has not given up, then let him die. If the narrow space collapses because of him, how many people will be left alive in Midhill Castle?"
Shade had a better understanding of Joey Barton's character. He would never hurt anyone he was close to or trusted, but he would not hesitate to attack someone he was not familiar with. Perhaps it was the wanderings in his youth or old age that shaped his character. His complex character and methods of doing things also made this person more real and clear in the fog of Midhill Castle.
There are no purely good or purely bad people, and Shade knows this very well.
Are you sure you're not doing this for the "Origin·Death" album
"Her" laughter rang out in the wind, while the city outside the window was still shrouded in that strange fog.
"Don't accuse me..."
Xia De's expression did not change at all:
"But if it really comes to the point where I have to kill Joey Barton, I will definitely get the 'Origin Death' card."
Xia De never concealed his desire, especially for "her"