Wronged Souls

The Blood Church represented evil, and it was also synonymous with power.

Even the powerful Beastman Kingdom was unwilling to offend this force without cause.

But this time, the Blood Church had reached too far, nearly touching the outskirts of Despair Fortress. For Despair Fortress's safety, they had to be eliminated completely.

"Lord Avilan, everything has proceeded according to plan. There have been no omissions."

Zhou Yu knelt on one knee in salute.

"Good. You have worked hard these past days."

Avilan nodded. Zhou Yu truly deserved her reputation as a strategist; she acted decisively and handled matters clearly and methodically.

"You flatter me, Lord Avilan. How could helping ease your burdens be called hard work?"

Zhou Yu spoke gratefully, then took out two items she had carefully kept on her person and cautiously handed them to Avilan.

"Lord Avilan, this beast hide scroll should record the route the Blood Church used to bypass the Roen Kingdom and enter the Kompno Duchy."

Zhou Yu was exceedingly solemn. As a strategist, she understood perfectly the military value of such a secret route known to so few!

She understood even more clearly that with the Blood Church controlling this route, the threat they posed to Despair Fortress had immediately increased greatly.

Avilan's body jolted, and surprise flashed across his face. He had originally thought that the two Blood Church armies had accidentally crossed the Messiah Great Forest and reached Vought Province, but now it seemed that was clearly not the case!

Frowning, Avilan slowly opened the beast hide scroll. A vast green forest stretching across the land occupied two-thirds of the entire map, while the so-called Kompno Duchy and Roen Duchy each occupied only a small patch of territory along the forest's outskirts.

Clearly, this immense forest was the Messiah Great Forest.

Yet at the foot of the Messiah Great Forest, a protruding stretch of woodland lay between the Kompno Duchy and the Roen Kingdom. This forest was called the Silent Night Forest, occupied by a group of Dark Elves who had even established a nation called the Eternal Night Duchy. If he had not seen it on the map, Avilan would never have known that an elf duchy existed only five hundred li from Despair Fortress.

Within the forest ruled by this elf duchy, however, there was a secret passage linking the Roen Kingdom and the Kompno Duchy!

And deep within the outskirts of the Messiah Great Forest, a large blood-red devil's head was exceptionally conspicuous.

He studied the map in silence for a long while, then looked up at Zhou Yu. "Send people to investigate this secret passage and the place marked by this devil's head. I want the details of both locations!"

He felt that there had to be a serious issue with this secret passage. Otherwise, why would the Blood Church send merely a thousand or so men into the Kompno Duchy instead of directly attacking with a large army?

The only possibility was that they had some hidden objective, something unsuitable for large-scale action.

And the place marked by the devil's head might well be the objective of the Blood Church's operation.

"On my way back, I had already sent Aranda there. News from the secret passage should return within a few days. As for the place marked by the devil's head, it is quite far away and will likely take at least six or seven days."

Zhou Yu placed one hand over her chest, her voice respectful.

Miuo and the others beside her exchanged glances and sighed together. These were truly troubled times. They had only just established a foothold, and things had been steadily improving these past days, yet they had unexpectedly run into this matter involving the Blood Church.

And now, it seemed they had clearly been thinking too simply before. With this secret passage, if the Blood Church attacked, what could Despair Fortress use to stop them?!

They were filled with worry. They had already poured their hearts and minds into Despair Fortress's development, yet now they faced the Blood Church's threat at any moment. It truly left them unable to sleep peacefully.

"Very good."

Avilan nodded in satisfaction. With Zhou Yu around, she had considered every aspect, saving him countless brain cells.

He tossed the beast hide scroll to Arthur to handle, then picked up the other strange crystal ball. The moment he had received it from Zhou Yu, he had sensed a clear abnormality.

It was bitingly cold.

It felt as though it had been made from thousand-year ice, chilling him to the very core.

Watching the faint wisps of black energy constantly swirl inside the crystal ball, he hesitated. This was clearly no benevolent object. Opening it rashly might bring disaster rather than fortune.

"Lord Avilan, this object is sinister and eerie, no ordinary thing. It would be best to proceed cautiously."

Zhou Yu offered a reminder.

Avilan nodded and focused his attention on examining it. Under his level 100 scouting skill, he quickly discovered what was inside.

The crystal ball sealed several thousand wronged souls, likely the targets of the Blood Church's slaughter during this operation.

"Wronged Soul Sacrifice." Avilan muttered unconsciously. "As expected, it is related to devils."

Compared with demons and other summoned creatures, devils were far more particular. They simply preferred souls and had no interest in flesh and blood; even living sacrifices would not do.

Handling several thousand wronged souls was no simple matter.

"What methods do you have?" Avilan asked with a slight frown, suspending the crystal ball in midair.

Arthur spoke directly. "Lord Avilan, I suggest purifying these wronged souls and allowing them to enter reincarnation."

Zhou Yu quietly watched the crystal ball without voicing an opinion, while Mi Yue lowered her head to arrange her clothes. They did not particularly like wronged souls, nor did they wish to deal with them.

After all, none of them belonged to the undead faction. Since Arthur, who did, had already suggested purifying them and sending them into reincarnation, they had even less reason to speak up.

"Fine! I will keep these wronged souls for now. After some time, I'll send them to Essin City and let its city lord worry about them." Avilan put away the crystal ball, then took out all the Aptitude Crystal Balls he carried, more than ten in total.

"Use these Aptitude Crystal Balls to test every creature in Despair Fortress, then sort and organize them by rank."

Zhou Yu and the others were somewhat puzzled, but they still respectfully saluted, accepted the crystal balls, and withdrew.

Avilan nodded happily. He was very satisfied with this operation. Although it had vaguely added a powerful enemy and might invite retaliation from the Blood Church, those were not short-term concerns.

In his view, the Blood Church's intelligence on the Messiah Great Forest must be nearly nonexistent. The destruction of these two Blood Church armies would not reach the Blood Church anytime soon, and investigating the matter and sending a large army would not be something they could accomplish quickly either.

And what he lacked most right now was time!

As long as he had enough time, even if the Blood Church came knocking, he would have nothing to fear!

Once the Demon Gate opened, Despair Fortress would have a stable source of population. At that point, what they would need to consider was how to expand into the surrounding regions.

Meanwhile, Cameron, who had just returned to Vought City, immediately reported news of the mysterious magical chanter, "Aslan," to his superiors.

They had been keeping watch over the recent drastic changes in the Messiah Great Forest. It was only because the Kingdom of Kompno had been far from peaceful lately that they had not dispatched elite troops to investigate.

"It seems highly necessary to send a search party into the Messiah Great Forest."