Wronged Souls

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

Even the mighty Beastman Kingdom was unwilling to offend this faction for no reason.

Yet this time, the Blood Church had stretched its hand too far, nearly touching the outer reaches of Despair Fortress. For Despair Fortress's safety, they had to be wiped out completely.

"Lord Avilan, everything proceeded according to plan. There were no omissions."

Zhou Yu dropped to one knee in salute.

"Good. You've worked hard these past days."

Avilan nodded. Zhou Yu truly deserved her title as a strategist—decisive in action, clear and methodical in handling matters.

"You overpraise me, Lord Avilan. How could it be called hardship to share your burdens?"

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 extremely solemn. As a strategist, he knew perfectly well what military value such a secret route, known to very few, possessed!

She understood even more clearly that the Blood Church's hold over this route had immediately increased its threat to Despair Fortress.

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

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

Clearly, this vast forest was the Messiah Great Forest.

Yet at the foot of the Messiah Great Forest, a protruding woodland region stretched between the Kompno Duchy and the Roen Kingdom. This protruding forest was called the Silent Night Forest. It was 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 elven duchy lay only five hundred li from Despair Fortress.

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

And deep within the outer reaches of the Messiah Great Forest, a huge blood-red devil's head was exceptionally eye-catching.

He stared at the map for a long while in thought, then raised his head to look at Zhou Yu. "Send people to investigate this secret path and the place marked by that devil's head. I want the details of both locations!"

He felt that there was definitely a major problem with this secret path. Otherwise, why would the Blood Church send only a mere thousand or so people into the Kompno Duchy instead of directly sending a large army to attack?

The only possibility was that they had some unspeakable purpose, making large-scale action unsuitable.

And the place marked by the devil's head might be the purpose of the Blood Church's operation this time.

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

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

Miu Ou and the others beside him exchanged glances and sighed at the same time. These truly were troubled times. They had only just gained a firm foothold, and things had been flourishing day by day recently, yet they had unexpectedly run into the matter of the Blood Church.

And now, it seemed they had clearly thought too simply before. With this secret path, if the Blood Church came killing its way over, what could Despair Fortress use to stop them?!

Their hearts were filled with worry. They had racked their brains for Despair Fortress's development, yet now they faced the Blood Church's threat at any moment. It truly made sleep and rest impossible.

"Very good."

Avilan nodded in satisfaction. With Zhou Yu around, he considered every aspect, sparing Avilan from countless headaches.

He tossed the beast-hide scroll to Arthur to handle, then picked up the other strange crystal ball. The moment he had accepted it from Zhou Yu, he had sensed something clearly unusual.

It was bone-piercingly cold.

As though it had been formed from thousand-year ice, freezing straight to the heart.

Watching faint strands of black qi continuously swirl within the crystal ball, he hesitated. This was clearly no benevolent item. If he opened it rashly, it might bring disaster rather than fortune.

"Lord Avilan, this object carries a sinister and chilling aura. It is no ordinary thing. Caution is best."

Zhou Yu offered a reminder.

Avilan nodded and focused carefully on examining it. Under his level 100 Investigation skill, Avilan quickly discovered what was inside.

The crystal ball sealed several thousand wronged souls. They should have been the targets of the Blood Church's slaughter during this expedition.

"Wronged Soul Sacrifice." Avilan muttered unconsciously. "As expected, it has something to do with devils."

Compared with demons and other summoned creatures, devils were much more particular. They purely favored souls and disliked flesh and blood; even living human sacrifices would not do.

Dealing with several thousand wronged souls was no simple matter.

"What methods do you have?" Avilan suspended the crystal ball in midair and said with a slight frown.

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 straighten her clothes. They did not particularly like wronged souls, nor did they wish to deal with them.

After all, neither of them belonged to the undead class. Since Arthur, who was of the undead class, had already suggested purifying them and sending them into reincarnation, they had even less reason to speak.

"Fine! I'll keep these wronged souls for now. After some time, I'll send them to Essin City and let Essin City's lord worry about them." Avilan put away the crystal ball, then took out all the Aptitude Crystal balls on him—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 extremely satisfied with this operation. Though they had faintly gained a powerful enemy and might draw retaliation from the Blood Church, none of that would happen in the short term.

In his view, the Blood Church's intelligence on the Messiah Great Forest was certainly virtually nonexistent. The destruction of these two Blood Church armies would not reach the Blood Church anytime soon, and investigating the matter thoroughly before dispatching a large army was not something that could be done quickly either.

And what he lacked most now was time!

As long as he had enough time, even if the Blood Church came knocking at his door, he would have no fear!

Once the Demon Gate opened, Despair Fortress would have a stable source of population. By then, what they would need to consider was how to expand into the surrounding lands.

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

They had been keeping watch on the drastic changes that had occurred in the Messiah Great Forest some time ago. It was only because the Kingdom of Kompno had been restless lately that they had not dispatched elite troops to investigate.

"Looks like it is necessary to send a search party into the Messiah Great Forest."