Wizard

"Otto's ability exceeded my expectations. Controlling Nest Beasts?" Naimus swiftly left the area, pondering what Otto had revealed.

"Unfortunately, his combat ability is too poor, and his use of that power isn't refined enough."

"If I hadn't intervened, that man might really have found a chance to escape."

Naimus had merely returned home to purify his faith when he sensed the battle here.

So he made a small move and helped Otto clean up the aftermath.

Though Otto was not skilled in battle, he presumably would not be too slow-witted when it came to handling matters.

Sure enough, those controlled by the black fur did not hesitate for long before pouncing one after another.

Then great quantities of black fur spilled from their bodies and burrowed into Benjamin's corpse.

They swiftly destroyed the remaining traces and disguised everything here as casualties caused by a Nest Beast disturbance.

"A few years ago, there was an incident in Dorsal Fin Village where Nest Beasts entered the village and parasitized people."

"That was likely the source of Otto's ability." Based on Nigel's memories, Naimus still had a rough impression of that incident.

It had happened eight years ago, when Nigel had just been "exiled" here as an apprentice Paladin.

The "teacher" assigned to him was a middle-aged Paladin about to retire because of injuries and illness.

And the reason he had been forced into retirement was precisely that Nest Beast incident.

A villager had been quietly parasitized by a Nest Beast and returned to the village.

This triggered a massive disturbance. Some of the parasitized victims ran about in panic and missed the best window for treatment, forcing the middle-aged Paladin to kill them.

Some black fur had also parasitized him.

By the time the Old Priest came to treat him, it was already somewhat too late. Some of his limbs had been affected, forcing him into retirement.

"Otto was parasitized during that incident, but for some unknown reason, he did not seek treatment. Instead, he used a special method to control that Nest Beast fur..."

"Most likely, it was a Wizard's method."

"But no matter what, Otto is a capable man."

Naturally, quite a few people researched dangerous creatures like Nest Beasts.

Any form of power would attract those who coveted it.

In this world, increasing one's breed level was far too difficult.

Apart from several fixed methods, ordinary people basically had no way to increase their breed level.

The Church's holy relic Divine Miracles and things related to Sky Whales were currently the two mainstream means of increasing one's breed level.

Yet both were tightly controlled by The Church and the nobility, with pitifully few items leaking out.

Most people with no path to advancement could only take unorthodox routes.

And along those unorthodox routes, they naturally researched anything that possessed power.

Demonic power, Cult faith, dangerous creatures—some even studied Calamity Beasts.

It was just that most who ventured onto the land never returned.

Only a very small number could gain some benefit from those unorthodox methods, only to lose control later and brew up disasters large enough to draw attention.

They were either captured and taken away by The Church's clergy, or they got themselves killed.

Though Nest Beasts were only relatively simple dangerous creatures, successfully controlling them was enough to show that Otto had ability.

"If there's an opportunity, I need to see whether Otto can be brought under my control." Naimus's current plans required a great many hands.

He needed to establish his own Cult and gather vast amounts of Power of Faith.

Such matters required capable people to oversee them. Naimus could not manage everything alone.

For now, Otto seemed like a good candidate.

But capable people like him were often extremely difficult to subdue.

Especially since Otto seemed to be doing quite well on his own.

He could excavate Whale Skin Mine, had channels to sell it through, and likely possessed a Meditation Technique as well as some unique spells.

"Without a deeper understanding, I can't act rashly." Naimus also sensed that this little village hid deep waters.

Previously, whether it was Downs, Pur, or the Village Guardian, Naimus had never paid them much mind. When it was time to act, he acted.

That was because, though those people had some tricks, their actions made their limits clear.

There was no need to mention Downs. Pur was limited by his identity as a Reserve Village Guardian, while the Village Guardian, though somewhat mysterious before, had also exposed information about himself through his actions.

That was his summoning of the Lesser Demon Kurog.

He had been cautious enough not to let the Lesser Demon discover his true identity, and he had used a preexisting contract to impose certain restrictions on it.

From that alone, one could roughly see that the Village Guardian's upper limit in handling matters was about the level of a Lesser Demon.

Thus, after learning that the Village Guardian would go out into the wilderness, Naimus directly gave the order to ambush him.

But he could not do the same with the Old Priest and Otto, because their actions had yet to reveal their full hand.

Take Naimus himself. From the outside, he was merely a Paladin of Precepts who had lost his upper limit. Being able to contend with an ordinary Steel Breed was already supposedly his limit.

But in truth, Naimus's strength exceeded these people's expectations.

When he erupted briefly, most Steel Breeds would fall at his hands.

"It's still not enough." Naimus recalled the Old Priest. The strength he had displayed before was that of a Steel Breed, but a Steel Breed had inexplicably "retired into seclusion" in this small village. Who knew whether the Old Priest had hidden trump cards?

"So I still need to improve myself." Naimus was not angered by being drawn into the complicated relationships of this little village. Instead, he felt excited.

All the abnormalities here pointed to certain problems. If he could grasp the key behind them, perhaps he could use it to swiftly raise his status on the Material Plane.

With that, he might be able to better build his own secret Cult.

"Continue purifying the Holy Nail of Faith." Naimus stopped paying attention to the disturbances outside. Instead, he immersed his mind in the faith perspective brought by Divinity, carefully observing faith and using Precepts to assimilate the distracting thoughts within it.

Outside, Jacques stared at the scraps of flesh covered in black fur, his expression exceptionally ugly.

By now, the black fur had lost its vitality.

There was no need for a priest to treat anyone, because there were no survivors left.

Isabella covered her mouth at the side, grief appearing on her face.

For some reason, upon entering this area, beneath the stench of blood, she vaguely sensed something connected to her.

It was like murmured ravings, yet also like a vision from a dream.

Only then did Isabella realize what it was: final words of advice before death.

When her grandfather passed away, he had already been unable to speak. He had only held her hand and looked at her.

His increasingly faint breaths had seemed to repeat over and over that she must live well in the future.

And now, she seemed to hear that breathing again.

It was at that moment that Otto arrived with others and immediately organized a lockdown.

As Jacques watched the busy crowd, fury burned in his heart.

Thank you all for your support.