Decision

To the surprise of both Fran and the Church Warrior, her [Counter Shield] dealt surprisingly high damage.

On the high platform, Gillian watched in astonishment as her own Church Warrior used [Torrent Slash], about to strike Fran.

A loud 'bang' suddenly erupted in the Duel Arena, followed by a burst of smoke and dust that enveloped the entire area.

When the smoke and dust cleared slightly, she saw her Church Warrior, covered in wounds, appearing about five meters away from where the attack had taken place.

His armor had some tears, revealing the injured skin underneath.

Fran stood beside the Church Warrior, sword in hand, pointing directly at his neck.

Even Fran hadn't realized that her Counter Shield was so powerful that it directly caused her opponent to collapse to the ground, and her weapon was even bounced far away.

By this point, Fran had actually gathered most of the information. Seeing her opponent fall to the ground like that, she simply stepped forward and ended the match.

After the smoke and dust completely cleared, everyone saw Fran pointing her sword at her opponent and knew that Fran had won.

"The competition is over. The winner is the Battle Mage from the Northern Lands Society..."

"Thank you." Fran reached out and helped the Church Warrior lying on the ground to his feet, and the Church Warrior thanked her in return.

By now, the Church Warrior was completely certain that Fran was an the Alliance Battle Mage; he had only ever seen that Counter Shield in the hands of the Alliance mages.

However, he also knew that after confirming Fran's identity, the next step was to probe why she had come here and to gather information about the bishop's affairs.

So he pretended to be curious and said:

"You're truly amazing, the strongest First Order Mage I've ever seen... Shouldn't someone of your level be preparing for advancement? Why did you come to Snow Bear Territory?"

Fran smiled and said:

"This is a mission I received from the Northern Lands Society. I'm doing this mission in order to wait for my promotion."

Strictly speaking, she wasn't lying. She did receive the task from the Northern Lands Society, and it was a way to exchange Contribution Points for promotion after her Paper was published.

But she deliberately spoke vaguely in order to create momentum for Blake and give the impression that she had received some kind of mission to come to Snow Bear Territory.

The Church Warrior gave a knowing look, knowing he couldn't ask any more questions, so after exchanging a few pleasantries, he returned to Bishop Gillian's side.

Meanwhile, the two Mercenary squad leaders clearly witnessed the entire duel and, thanks to their First Order Profession hearing, overheard the conversation between the two.

"Do you really think she's from the Alliance?" Liam asked.

"It's very likely that the expression on that Church Warrior's face was genuine; that look of familiarity and surprise couldn't be faked."

Liam had great faith in Parkerrick's judgment; he knew that Parkerrick was particularly adept at observing people's expressions, which gave him a significant advantage in negotiations.

This is why, although Pakrick's strength isn't particularly high among Mercenary, almost all of Mercenary know him.

Parkerrick was a natural Mercenary, displaying remarkable acumen from the very beginning of his career.

He is extremely sensitive to the dangers involved in those commissions and can also identify the most rewarding ones from a large number of commissions.

Furthermore, Parkerrick is particularly skilled at negotiation to secure sufficient benefits for his team.

Liam trusted Parkerrick completely, especially when everyone was in danger; he knew there was no reason for the other to betray him.

He would never cooperate with someone in a normal competitive commission.

Parkerrick pondered for a long time, then said:

"The situation is now quite clear. That mage is most likely waiting here with orders from the Alliance. We don't know his purpose."

"My team has already gathered enough information that the orcs seem to have assembled a large force and are marching this way."

"So far, the followers of the Church of the Goddess of Ocean Currents haven't made any major moves; they're probably waiting for the orcs to attack."

"They want to use this city to defeat the orcs, which is bad news for us."

Upon hearing Parkerrick's analysis, Liam's face darkened.

"Those orcs are coming, and they won't let us go... It seems we have no choice but to defend the city alongside the Church of the Goddess of Ocean Currents. We can't retreat..."

Parkerrick nodded and continued:

"Those orcs won't pay any attention to us. Even if we join forces with them, it'll be a waste of time. We can only temporarily stand on the same side as the Goddess of Ocean Currents."

"However, we can't devote too much effort to the battle against the orcs; that would be doing all the work for the Church of the Goddess of Ocean Currents."

"The death benefits for Mercenary are something neither you nor I can afford."

"Our only chance is to wait until the Goddess of Ocean Currents and the orcs are both exhausted from their battle, and then have the Mercenary defeat them. Only then will we have a chance to survive."

"Go find the captains of those Mercenary squads and tell them that the orcs are coming soon. Get them to join forces with us, especially when both sides have suffered heavy casualties..."

"Then we encouraged the Mercenary to scatter and search for that item. As long as we found it, we could just take a look at it and our mission would be accomplished."

"This is our only chance. Remember, don't tell them that it's very difficult to 'exchange' that thing for Gold Coin."

The two exchanged a smile, then walked out of the audience without looking back.

Meanwhile, on the high platform, Bishop Gillian and the Church Warrior who had just dueled were in a secluded corner.

"That's how it is. I believe she's definitely an the Alliance mage, but I haven't been able to find out what her purpose is."

Gillian felt a slight sense of relief upon hearing the news, but she remained extremely nervous.

She pondered for a moment and then said:

"The Mercenary who went to investigate was burned to ashes the moment he entered the room."

"And the servants didn't know any useful information either."

It's fair to say their investigation was extremely unsuccessful; they only learned that Fran was indeed a mage from the Alliance, and nothing else.

"However, I have already sent people to search the area inside and outside the city for ten kilometers, and found no trace of any mages or spells."

"So, it can be said that even if the Alliance really intends to intervene in this matter, it won't take any immediate action within Snow Bear City..."

"Perhaps we can capture that mage first, interrogate him thoroughly, and find out what the Alliance's true intentions are."

Gillian's eyes gleamed. Since the other party hadn't deployed any forces within the city, then she wouldn't hold back.

She'd had enough of asking around and only getting vague information, and decided that no matter what, she had to bring Fran over...