889 Tracing the Source
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“Where is he now?” Fernando asked solemnly, feeling that it was getting weirder and weirder. Wasn’t Tuck planning to escape this place? How did he become the believer of an evil god all of a sudden?
Had he been completely twisted by the evil god’s priest, or even the evil god himself, into a selfless “contributor”?
The priest sounded as calm as before as he said, “He’s in the temple.”
“I’m his friend. I’m here for him. I would like you to bring me to meet him in the temple.” Fernando had been unwilling to risk going to the nest of those believers whose behaviors were weird, but logically speaking, he was here for Tuck, and he could have asked for help from the Office of Sorcerers in case of any danger. If he did not go, it was very possible that the mysterious hunter would notice some anomaly.
Of course, Fernando knew very well in his heart that this city might not be under the control of sorcerers anymore. He inferred it based on the cry for help.
The priest slowly moved forward and circumvented Fernando as if he could see. “Follow me, paranoid sorcerer. You will sense the almightiness of God after you come to the temple. You will know that Tuck has chosen a better path with his heart.”
He’s not stopping me? Having no time to think, Fernando walked out of the villa with the priest.
It was already late at night. The silver moon was hazy, and darkness was everywhere in the city. Few lights could be seen.
Following the priest unhurriedly, Fernando analyzed the whole thing. “A sorcerer somehow became an evil god’s believer after leaving such notes, the whole city has been blocked, and someone delivers water and food regularly… Are the sorcerers secretly doing something based on this city, or have some believers of the evil god infiltrated Kufuray and controlled it bit by bit?”
It was not difficult to come up with the two possibilities because the place was in the territory of the sorcerers after all. It was next to the churches of the other gods but beyond the reach of the dark creatures, elves, dwarfs, or the Saint Truth. The first possibility could also mean the cooperation with the evil god.
He weighed the two possibilities, hoping to figure out the situation and find a way of survival. Based on the fact that it was a sorcerer who cried for help, the second possibility seemed more likely.
The priest in the lead walked to the market area and opened one of the stores.
Many goods were placed behind the door. There was nothing special. The blind priest passed the messy place agilely without bumping into anything.
At the center of the store, stone stairs led to the basement, where bright and yellow light was leaking out.
Kufuray has such underground chambers too. No wonder the archmage can hide and ask for help. Fernando thought to himself. Then, he frowned and sensed the contradictions. “As I inferred before, the mysterious hunter must be at least a level-nine expert, or he couldn’t have forced an archmage who is capable of putting me into a dream to stay here.
“Would such an expert secretly investigate after knowing that his enemy is hiding in the city, or would he simply erase the city with his strongest attack?”
Fernando believed that none of the experts in this age had the kindness to care about other people’s lives. They would certainly do whatever it took to accomplish the mission as soon as possible in case the enemy’s reinforcements came. So, how could the expert have decided to play hide-and-seek with the archmage in Kufuray? Was he not scared that a legend would pass by the place by accident?
It was obvious that the most effective approach was to destroy the city with thunderous attacks so that the archmage would be forced out or killed in his shelter. Whatever protection he was under, when an attack that was powerful enough to destroy the city arrived, the magic effects would definitely be triggered, and he would be discovered as a result.
There was another possibility, which was that the method of hiding involved the deep mysteries of time and space. However, an archmage was apparently incapable of that. If it was naturally formed, he could have stayed in the shelter peacefully without asking for help in a hurry.
More importantly, this place was not close to Aalto. Whatever happened, as long as the Office of Sorcerers was destroyed in the very beginning, nobody would notice anything wrong in ten minutes.
“Therefore, it’s not that the mysterious hunter does not want to demolish the city, but his certain concerns prevent him from choosing such a radical approach. He is forced to play hide-and-seek with the archmage…”
Inferring the enemy’s thoughts from their action, Fernando sensed more and more “truth”. “Either the evil god in this place is beyond level nine and terrifies him, or it is this!”
Based on his previous speculation, Fernando believed that he had already seen through the mist!
“If the evil god has reached the level of legendary, the sorcerers would definitely be willing to cooperate with him in such a situation as long as he is willing to. He will be given a territory for his preaching. There’s no need to be so stealthy at all…
“Also, something has happened to many sorcerers in this place. Even though the enemy can fake voices and mails, there are always irrecoverable loopholes, like the people who deliver food and water but do not enter the city, and the source of the food and water… In such an intense situation, it can hardly escape the attention of the sorcerers in Aalto…
“Therefore, this place can only be a secret laboratory of the legends of Aalto! Only they can separate a city within their territory from the outside world without causing any suspicion! Only they can mobilize a large batch of food without raising any attention!
“That’s why the mysterious hunter did not destroy the city immediately, which would’ve attracted the legends!”
The mist before him gradually dispersed, and the situation was manifested before Fernando’s eyes. However, he was even more stunned after he figured out the truth.
“We’re here.” The priest’s old and rigid voice echoed next to Fernando’s ears.
He trembled and woke up from his thoughts, only to discover that he had finished walking down the stairs without him knowing it. He was standing in the middle of a temple that was fully engraved with patterns of death.
In the temple, many people were praying on their knees. Their genders and ages varied.
“Tuck.” Before his God, the priest’s voice became low.
A man in an old black jacket moved backward to the priest and Fernando. He did not stand up and was purely moving on his knees.
It was not until he left the praying mass that he finally turned around and looked at Fernando. “Who are you?”
His eyes were lost and dirty.
Fernando identified that it was the real Tuck. He said solemnly, “I’m hiring a batch of talented sorcerers, and Furan recommended you.”
He specifically mentioned Furan and hid the information about Holm, hoping that whoever was behind it could be scared. Although it was highly unlikely, it was still worth trying.
“Hehe. Talented sorcerers…” Tuck stressed “sorcerers” before he said peacefully, “I’ve understood the real significance of my life. I will never study the boring magic anymore.”
“Is that so? I’m very sorry.” Fernando gave a polite and normal answer.
As a matter of fact, if anyone familiar with him were here, they would’ve noticed his strangeness immediately. How could the roarer not have spat on Tuck’s face and lambasted faith and god.
At this moment, tides were surging in Fernando’s heart, not because of Tuck, but because he had seen the truth of the whole thing!
“This issue can be divided into two parts. At first, the sorcerers were studying something with this cult. They blocked the city and forbade everyone from leaving for that purpose. Then, an archmage was hunted by someone and hid in a shelter in the city. He put me into a dream through a ritual and asked for my help.
“Then, the problem can’t be more obvious now. Both the archmage and his hunter are certainly aware of the specialties of this place. Otherwise, someone would’ve tried to destroy the city, and they would’ve been killed by the legends.
“Then, would a city that is under the control of sorcerers watch an archmage be hunted without doing anything? Even though the archmage felt that the sorcerers in this place had been controlled by the mysterious hunter, he could have caused trouble and attracted the legend who monitored this place. But he didn’t do that!
“Also, can a secret research base of sorcerers, which has blocked a city with great resources, be controlled so easily?
“It’s only possible if the legend who monitors this place is on the same side with the mysterious hunter. Or rather, the legend may be the mysterious hunter!
“That’s why the archmage, who sensed something wrong from a certain channel, did not ask for help. That’s why places like the Office of Sorcerers were easily controlled, because they had been under control in the first place.
“The legend hasn’t resorted to any powerful approaches probably because many other legends are still watching over this place. He doesn’t dare to cause too much noise!”
Although he did not understand the reason behind the situation, or whether he had been involved in an internal strife, Fernando had no time to think about that right now. He only felt that his blood was freezing. Did he have to challenge a legend now?
He did not wait for Antec and Furan to look for himself who had gone missing, because the legend would definitely kill him before they did. After all, it was the rule that many legends made up together—entering Kufuray was allowed, but exiting it was not!
Tuck nodded and returned to the praying team. Fernando thanked the priest mechanically and walked out.
“How can I save myself?” Fernando thought hard but could not come up with a way to escape a legend.
When he walked on the street under the chilling moonlight, Fernando felt refreshed and decided to consider the problem from the perspective of the caged archmage.
“Since the issue here has something to do with the legendary supervisor, it was a rather risky move that the archmage put me into a dream. Also, there wasn’t any clue in Tuck’s notes at all. It means that he asked for my help because he believed it was hopeful. It was not a random or desperate choice.
“Then, where does the hope lie exactly? Is it my wisdom, my magic abilities, or something else?”