The shipyard was filled with smoke, the smell of burnt wood and rust mixed with the scent of blood settled and fermented in the air. Edgar stood before the wreckage of the largest three-masted sailing ship, which was slowly burning, his boots crunching on the scorched, twisted, and broken keel.
This “target,” which the Eternal Life Cult had painstakingly hidden in the depths of the shipyard, had offered little resistance before completely turning into a pile of burning waste wood.
Flames licked at the remaining hull, reflecting the still-vigilant faces of Anles and Lina. Philip’s face remained pale, his hand, gripping the staff, trembled slightly; he clearly hadn’t recovered from the previous magic.
The desperate resistance of the Divine Cult of Eternal Blessing hadn’t burdened them much. The only injured was Anles, and his wound came from his teammate’s magic.
“Is it over?” Anles spat, wiping the wound on his face, which had been cut by debris. He scanned the ravaged battlefield. The corpses of Divine Cult of Eternal Blessing followers lay scattered on the ground, and flames crackled as they consumed the wooden structures.
“Too smooth,” Edgar’s voice came through the thick smoke, cold and grave. The shadow beneath his hat obscured his expression, but an ominous premonition permeated the air like a tangible thing. He stepped forward and crushed a burning wooden plank underfoot, his sharp gaze sweeping across the entire shipyard ruins. “They went to such lengths to set this trap, using the lives of their followers and this ship as bait, just to delay us?”
Lina, supporting the shaky Philip, frowned upon hearing this, “Captain, are you saying…”
“The core figure of the cult, the one called ‘Cult Leader,’ has not appeared. Not once.” Edgar interrupted her, his voice deep as iron. “The real target has likely been transferred long ago.”
The team members exchanged glances, unsure of what to say for a moment.
After a moment of thought, Edgar’s expression suddenly changed dramatically. He quickly took out a communication crystal from inside his trench coat, and a faint blue light flashed briefly. “Helena, report on the target’s situation. Repeat, Helena, report on the target’s situation!”
The crystal remained silent, only the faint flow of internal mana emitting a very subtle hum, as if the signal was completely shielded beyond an invisible barrier.
Edgar tried twice more, but the crystal remained like a cold stone, unresponsive.
Anles’s expression changed, “Something happened to Helena?”
Although that deputy officer hadn’t participated in this encirclement operation, Anles knew her mission was the most arduous for the team. After all, the Divine Cult of Eternal Blessing was just an accident; their core target had always been that “canary.”
Edgar pursed his lips, his knuckles turning slightly white from exertion. Helena was out of contact, and the core members of the Divine Cult of Eternal Blessing had vanished without a trace. The originally simple mission seemed to become increasingly troublesome and chaotic as time passed.
“Anles, take Lina and Philip to immediately search the surroundings of the shipyard, look for other secret passages or signs of transfer, focusing on any clues related to the port or ships.” Edgar’s voice carried undeniable urgency. “I’ll go to the Sycamore Inn alone. Start acting immediately!”
“Yes!”
*
Li Wen pushed open the door and walked into the Sycamore Inn. A few travelers were scattered in the lobby. Her gaze fell upon the window seat; Victoria’s usual armchair was empty, with only half a cup of cold tea reflecting a cold light on the table.
It seemed this princess wasn’t very willing to stay in a warm and comfortable inn. Li Wen walked up the stairs, her boots creaking on the wooden steps. At this moment, the door behind her opened with a bang. She turned back, seeing Moria standing in the backlight. His always calm face revealed neither joy nor sorrow.
“Miss Mephistopheles.” He nodded slightly, his voice hoarser than usual. “What a coincidence.”
Li Wen stopped at the turn of the stairs, the shadows conveniently obscuring half her face. “Did you go to see that fortune teller?”
“I suppose I did,” Moria walked closer, faint dark stains visible on his cuffs. “But the situation is more complicated than expected.”
This was clearly not a place for discussion. Li Wen went upstairs and pushed open her room. Moria also followed in naturally. The young priest closed the door behind him with a fluid motion, as if it were meant to be.
Li Wen raised an eyebrow but said nothing more. “Didn’t you try to rescue her?”
The priest shook his head slightly. “According to Madam Sivell, she was cursed, and would be detected if she left that house. She advised me not to alert them for now.”
If it were the Moria of the past, breaking such a curse would have been effortless.
“I found something interesting under the church of the Divine Cult of Eternal Blessing,” Li Wen took off her hood, twirling the Raven Feather Dagger between her fingers. “Do you remember what Joseph had been searching for for thirty years?”
Moria’s gaze sharpened. “The Twin-tailed Mermaid statue?”
“I found the exact same thing there, indistinguishable in material or aura.” Li Wen took out a glass bottle from her pocket, containing a dark, viscous liquid. “However, the real trouble is that the statue sealed a wisp of Soul Lord’s remnant soul. I think you understand what that means.”
Sunlight streamed through the gauze curtain of the window, casting a web-like halo in the glass bottle. Moria took the bottle and felt a chilling cold and a sense of death that seemed to pierce the soul. Even a slight contact sent shivers down his spine.
Clearly, this was not a trace left by ordinary Decayed Lineage Transcendent.
Since the Soul Lord could tear off a remnant soul and entrust it to the statue, it naturally indicated that the seal was no longer stable, and he had the possibility of breaking free and regaining his freedom at any time, requiring only some relatively insignificant assistance.
And the Divine Cult of Eternal Blessing might be one of the parties providing this assistance; the former Roberts pirate group might have been too, but they were destroyed, and the remnants led by Joseph were nowhere to be found. Would their target also be there?
Black Reef Bay and Cape of Submergence, the final resting place for all the secrets and history of Port Beren. All forces and clues would converge and collide there.
This was what the fortune teller had said.
“Madam Sivell informed me that the people from the Divine Cult of Eternal Blessing will set sail from the West Sea Mouth,” Moria said concisely. “If we want to stop them, departing now is the last chance.”
If it were before encountering that mysterious Player, Li Wen might have had no objection to this. But now…
“Then let them set sail,” her tone was without the slightest hesitation or doubt. “I’d like to see how they plan to release that Soul Lord.”
