Chapter 67: Chapter 67

Soon, Burns arrived at the battlefield. Upon seeing the utterly mangled, feather-covered flesh ball in the clearing, a look of confusion washed over his face.

“Morris, is this the Aberrant Beast you encountered? How did you let it mutate into its Combat Form?”

“Well, the battle dragged on a bit too long, but fortunately, we escaped unscathed. We slew it the moment it shifted into its Combat Form. If we had dragged it out any longer, we might have had to wait for you to come save us.”

“Don’t pull a stunt like this again next time. If you can’t beat it, call for backup immediately. The biggest difference between us and the Aberrant Beasts is that we use our brains.”

“Alright, alright. I asked you to come harvest the Purified Meat, not to lecture me. Hurry up and get to work. If we wait any longer, more of the Purified Meat might get contaminated.”

With that, Morris called his squad members aside to stand guard, leaving the open space in the middle for Burns and his men to work.

…

Morris achieving the Senior Knight rank was merely an isolated case. Even encountering an Aberrant Beast was a rarity. Most of the squads dispatched to intercept the beasts served primarily to provide visual coverage.

However, precisely because so many squads were scattered about, every single Aberrant Beast that surged from the depths of the Qiumu Forest in the south was intercepted. A total of twenty-four beasts were slain at the cost of only a few minor injuries.

As for other costs, such as Ignition Potions, food, and Kingdom Gold Coins, those could not be tallied just yet.

Throughout the latter half of the night, there were no further reports of Aberrant Beasts, yet the Territory Guard did not let their guard down. Both Vice Commanders, including Waynes, were still keeping a close watch at the Qiumu Sentry Post.

Although the released messenger ravens hadn’t spotted any more Aberrant Beasts, the scouts dispatched during the day sent word back that they had seen cultists. With the cultists’ whereabouts still unknown, the Territory Guard naturally wouldn’t retreat.

Waynes had already issued a strict order: every single cultist must be killed.

…

Somewhere in the Qiumu Forest.

Ioneel and his group walked through the forest, completely unhampered, unlike the people of the Sis Territory who struggled for every step. Ioneel led the way at the forefront of the squad. Wherever he passed, the tangled branches automatically parted, opening a path wide enough for the eight of them to cross.

Once the eight of them walked past, the branches on both sides of the path closed up on their own, looking just as twisted and tangled as if they had never been separated.

After walking a distance, Nasar finally couldn’t hold his tongue any longer. After passing by yet another Sis Territory search squad, he couldn’t help but mock:

“These damn yokels, actually thinking they could find us with such primitive methods!”

“Keep your mouth shut. His Excellency the Bishop’s divine arts aren’t meant for you to idle away chatting!”

“Captain, it’s just a backwater territory. Is there really a need to be so cautious?” Nasar grumbled, visibly dissatisfied.

Even though they didn’t have the advantage in numbers, as long as they had the Bishop with them, there was no way they’d run into any accidents in this insignificant place.

However, before Athanasi could speak again, Bishop Ioneel took the initiative to explain: “Have you still not realized? The crows that flew overhead several times just now were not living creatures, but Abandoner Relics.”

“What?” Nasar’s face instantly displayed a look of sheer disbelief.

“Would I still lie to you? At a time like this, what meaning would there be in weaving such a lie!”

Ioneel took a deep breath, burying the dissatisfaction in his heart. He continued, “I’m telling you this to remind you: never underestimate this territory.

“Right now, I can confirm that those crows are Abandoner Relics. Who can guarantee that this territory doesn’t possess even more?”

At the mention of Abandoner Relics, everyone present fell silent. Even Nasar was speechless. As a descendant of the Abandoners and the former owner of the Mind Scepter, he knew all too well the capabilities of Abandoner Relics.

Abandoners were people discarded by the entire world, by the entire era. In the outside world, they had another, more widely known name:

Wizards.

Whether they were followers of the gods or faithless individuals (including believers of False Gods), anyone who used a wizard relic had to pay all sorts of prices. Some of these prices even included the user’s life.

But followers of the True God could use them at a much lower cost. The price Nasar paid for using the Mind Scepter was merely a brief headache; as long as he didn’t use it continuously, he could recover very quickly.

Therefore, in this world, even though many people pursued Abandoner Relics, the ones who truly used them the most and the most frequently were the followers of the True God, like them.

Of course, using relics was one thing, but becoming a Wizard was an entirely different matter.

The reason they were called 【Abandoners】 was precisely because, whether they were followers of the True God or faithless individuals, as long as one harbored the thought of becoming a Wizard, their ultimate fate would inevitably end in tragedy.

If they were lucky, only they themselves would die. If they were unlucky, their entire family would be buried with them.

Nasar was able to catch glimpses of the Abandoners’ glorious era through those Abandoner Relics, but the times had long changed. The current era, the current world, did not welcome Abandoners.

Thus, Nasar had never considered becoming an Abandoner himself, but when it came to various Abandoner Relics, he accepted them without hesitation.

Other than the Mind Scepter he had recently handed over to Ioneel for safekeeping, he had actually secretly hoarded an amulet, an amulet powerful enough to withstand a strike from a Grand Knight.

This was how he managed to survive the journey all the way from the Oz Empire to the largest border territory of the Kingdom of Helios. A Grand Knight assigned to this very expedition had died, yet he, an Intermediate Knight, had survived until now.

Only Nasar himself knew that, apart from luck, the amulet was the key.

And precisely because he had witnessed the immense power of far too many Abandoner Relics, he panicked somewhat upon hearing that this backwater place possessed at least one Abandoner Relic.

For a moment, he even regretted provoking this territory in the first place. His previous excuse of diverting the clues regarding the Morning Star toward this territory seemed somewhat rash in hindsight.

If he had known earlier, he would have just let the Bishop lead the way, wandered around this region for a while, and then they could have returned to the Oz Empire.

When they first arrived, because their team was large in number, lacked concealment, and occasionally had to contact local forces to inquire about the road ahead, it took them such a long time and resulted in so many casualties.

If it was just the return trip, Nasar would even dare to make the journey back alone.

Of course, without Bishop Ioneel’s consent, or confirmation of the Bishop’s death, returning to the Oz Empire by himself was out of the question.

Sigh…

Thinking of this obstinate Bishop, transgressive thoughts couldn’t help but surface in Nasar’s mind. But upon considering the supreme power of his God, he quickly extinguished those improper thoughts.

“Your Excellency, are we just going to infiltrate this territory like this? The Kingdom of Helios views the Cult as the enemy; if we just walk over like this, I’m afraid it won’t be easy to sneak in.”

“Rest assured, I have my own plans!”

Ioneel dropped this remark and fell silent. Manipulating the 【Friend of the Wilderness】 statue and the 【Silent Amulet】 already consumed most of his concentration. He truly wasn’t in the mood to bicker with Nasar anymore.