Chapter 45: Confrontation |
After confirming the problem on Jacques''s end, Nemus immediately notified his subordinates using the Oath Rope.
At the same time, he looked toward Isabella, who sat beneath the half-collapsed cathedral. Her eyes were closed as she connected to the Grid, borrowing the Power of Faith from the Divine Idol to restore her energy through Divine Arts.
Isabella definitely could not use up all of this Power of Faith. Therefore, as long as he absorbed the remainder, a major prerequisite for the metamorphosis of his abilities would be mostly fulfilled.
''Of course, if possible, I could also obtain the results of the Old Priest''s research.''
''If that happens, I might be able to reduce my own need for Faith.''
At present, he could roughly confirm that the Old Priest''s research was primarily focused on developing Holy Blood.
The so-called Saints were basically existences that had received a Divine Blessing from a god.
Because of this Divine Blessing, Saints could fundamentally all reach the Golden Rank.
And in terms of practical combat power, Saints far exceeded ordinary beings of the Golden Rank.
Because of this, the descendants of Saints mostly became Nobles.
The Dartmenerly Family was a prime example.
However, the unique potency of such a bloodline would gradually diminish over time.
Gods rarely created Saints, leading some churches to occasionally study Saint bloodlines. They aimed to use highly concentrated Holy Blood to create individuals closely resembling Saints.
This was considered a relatively normal practice. However, the Old Priest''s Bloodline Experiment was likely not that simple.
Otherwise, it would not have failed even with heavy investment from the Church.
It was a failure that had left the Old Priest brooding over it for twenty years.
''But now, the battle on the other side should have also started, right?'' Nemus''s thoughts could not help but turn toward the other direction.
Since he knew the Old Priest was stirring up trouble behind the scenes for his Bloodline Experiment, it was not hard to guess why he had intentionally or unintentionally spared the Watchman.
''If they cannot find Leah, they will seek out the Watchman. They are bound to capture Leah and then extract the experimental materials.''
''At this juncture, what I need to do is quite obvious.'' Nemus instantly figured out how to secure the greatest benefit for himself.
—
As the midday sun beat straight down, Opper was also pondering his next moves.
He had originally thought that once things settled down, he would merely resume his smuggling operations.
He never expected such a massive complication to arise.
The Old Priest had gone completely mad. Not only did he confiscate all of Opper''s collected materials, but he also issued a strict order: capture the Watchman, locate the patient suffering from Whale Transformation Sickness, and bring her back.
As for Opper''s own future, the Old Priest had not mentioned a single word.
At this point, Opper knew very well that if he refused, he would die on the spot.
Compared to others, Opper had a profound cognition of the Old Priest''s terrifying strength.
As things stood, he was out of options. He could only follow the Old Priest''s instructions and take things one step at a time.
''When the Old Priest''s experiment initially failed, even though the Church discovered numerous violations, they didn''t pursue any accountability.''
''The only reason the research was halted was a lack of funds.''
''This time, it''s merely a continuation of that research. Perhaps as long as the experiment succeeds, the Church will deal with the matter leniently.'' Opper could only console himself with this thought.
"We found the Watchman. Due to the earlier commotion, he and several villagers are currently rushing back toward the village together." Right at that moment, a subordinate from Opper''s Caravan came over to report.
The members of his Caravan were mostly desperadoes from other regions or die-hard loyalists whose interests perfectly aligned with his own.
The bulk of the profits from smuggling Whalehide Ore was used to purchase various experimental materials and tools for the Old Priest, while a small portion went toward buying suppressive medicine for the Nest Beast residing inside his own body.
The remainder was entirely spent by Opper on these men. He had invested a great deal of effort into cultivating this group.
Ever since falling under the Old Priest''s control eight years ago, Opper had been secretly raising thugs in the hopes of one day nurturing subordinates at the Iron Rank to break free from the Old Priest''s grasp.
Unfortunately, Advancing to the Iron Rank was far too difficult. Out of his six somewhat talented subordinates, their Attribute Values hovered around a mere six to eight points. The other Caravan members had such poor innate talent that even with years of nurturing and plentiful resources, their values had only increased by a point or two, rendering them practically useless.
In the past, these subordinates were kept hidden within the Caravan. They rarely displayed their strength and almost never took action against the villagers.
But now, he could no longer afford to hold back.
"Go, capture him," Opper ordered.
"According to our intelligence, the target possesses the power of Controllable Whale-transformation. You must be careful of this particular variation."
"As for those villagers, if you can dispose of them easily, then wipe them out."
In their current situation, the more people who knew about these events, the greater the future troubles would be. Thus, Opper coldly handed down the ruthless command.
"Understood, it''s just..." The subordinate raised his head, his words faltering with hesitation.
Opper paused in surprise. Could it be that this man couldn''t bear to strike at innocent villagers?
He then looked closely at his subordinate, his expression momentarily distant. The man was missing his right forearm—the result of taking a blade meant for Opper during a dangerous encounter.
Looking closer, Opper noticed the man''s hair had already turned gray. Despite being younger than Opper, he appeared far more haggard and aged.
"What is it, Arro?" Opper asked, suppressing the irritation welling up from their grim circumstances.
"You need to figure out an escape route, Lord Opper," the subordinate named Borey Arro said earnestly, offering a warning that overstepped his station.
Opper''s heart skipped a beat, but he quickly forced a smile. "Rest assured. You be careful out there as well."
"The anniversary for Xiao Luo''s Cemetery plot is almost here. We still have to go clean it up for him later, don''t we?"
Arro simply stared at Opper for a moment. He lowered his head, gave a single nod, and without another word, sprinted toward the Watchman''s location.
Xiao Luo was his son. After the boy died of illness, Arro''s only remaining purpose in life was to protect Opper, the man who had willingly provided the funds to help treat him.
Opper''s thoughts drifted slightly, but he quickly snapped back to reality, preparing to cast one of his few combat Spells.
On the other side, the siege had already begun. With a low roar, Arro lunged directly at the Watchman.
However, the Watchman had long since sensed the approaching danger.
An arrow slid off his fingertips, transforming into a lethal threat that forced the one-armed Arro to roll to the side in a desperate dodge.
The Watchman swiftly retreated, nocking a fresh arrow as he moved.
The villagers beside him were completely at a loss from the sudden ambush. They couldn''t understand why the members of Opper''s Caravan had abruptly attacked the Watchman.
But a moment later, all such doubts vanished.
Because several arrows came whistling right at them.
A few villagers couldn''t dodge in time and were brutally struck down.
The other members of Opper''s Caravan were not going to show mercy just because they had lived in the same village for a long time.
At the same time, a dark shadow erupted from the ground, instantly closing the distance to the Watchman''s side.