The priest, who looked like a stitched monster, looked at Fernando with his hollow eyes that had no pupils. "He offered this villa to the great god."
"Then, where is he?" Fernando asked solemnly, feeling weirder and weirder. Wasn't Tuck planning to escape from this place? Why did he suddenly become a believer of the evil god?
Had his mind been completely twisted by the priest of the evil god, or even the evil god himself, and he had become a selfless' devotee '?
The priest's voice became monotonous. "He's in the temple."
"I'm his friend. I'm here for him. I hope that you can take me to the temple to meet him." Fernando was unwilling to risk going to the nest of the weird believers, but logically speaking, he was here for Tuck, and this place was a 'Sorcerer's Residence'. It was a city under the control of sorcerers. If he were in any danger, he could've asked for help. If he did not go, it would be easy for his mysterious pursuer to discover the anomaly.
Of course, Fernando knew very well that this was not necessarily a city under the control of sorcerers, which was inferred from the appearance of the 'helper'.
The priest moved forward slowly and bypassed Fernando as if he could see things. "Follow me, suspicious sorcerer. When you reach the temple, you'll feel the majesty and magnificence of the god. You'll know that Tuck has chosen a better path from the bottom of his heart."
He didn't stop him? Having no time to think, Fernando followed the priest out of the villa.
At this moment, it was already late at night, and the Silver Moon was hazy. Darkness was everywhere in the city, and few lights could be seen.
Fernando followed the priest unhurriedly, but he thought quickly and analyzed the whole thing. "A sorcerer uncannily became an evil god's believer after leaving such notes, and the whole city is only accessible but not accessible. Also, somebody is delivering food and water … Are the sorcerers doing something in this city, or did the believers of the evil god sneak into Kufuray and control it bit by bit? Then, they blocked the city for confidentiality …"
It was not difficult to come to the two hypotheses logically, because this was an area under the control of sorcerers after all and close to the major heretical churches. The dark creatures, elves, dwarves, and the Saint Truth couldn't extend their hands so far and could be discovered easily. Also, the first hypothesis implied the possibility of cooperation with the evil god.
He weighed the two possibilities, trying to figure out the overall situation and find a way to escape. The fact that the person calling for help was a sorcerer seemed to point to the latter possibility.
The priest in front walked to the market area and pushed open the door of a shop.
There were a lot of sundries in the door, and there was nothing special about it. The blind priest walked through this messy place and did not encounter anything.
In the middle of the shop, there was a stone staircase leading to the ground, and there was a faint yellow light leaking out.
"Kufuray also has such a secret underground chamber. No wonder the Archmage could hide here and ask for help." Fernando thought to himself. Suddenly, he frowned as he noticed the contradiction. "I've deduced that the mysterious pursuer is at least a level-9 master. Otherwise, a great mage who can make me enter a dream wouldn't be trapped here."
"Would such an expert investigate in secret after learning that his enemy was hiding in this city, or would he simply wipe out the entire city with the most powerful methods?"
Fernando believed that the experts in this age did not have the kindness to care about the lives that were not on their side. If they could accomplish the mission as quickly as possible, they would certainly choose the appropriate way in case the enemy's reinforcements arrived and killed them on the spot. So, why would the expert choose to play hide-and-seek with the Archmage in Kufuray? Was he not scared that a certain legend would pass by this place by accident?
Obviously, the most effective method was to directly use thunderous means to destroy the city and force out or directly kill the Archmage in his hiding place — unless he was hiding very, very deep underground or had the protection of a level-nine defense. If the former did not have the protection of magical effects, it would be very easy to be discovered by supernatural means. Therefore, once a huge blow that could destroy a city descended, the defense and magical effects would be triggered and fluctuate, and thus be discovered.
There was also another possibility, which was that the hiding method involved the deep mysteries of time and space. However, it was obviously impossible for an Archmage to do that. If it was naturally formed, he could've treated his wounds in peace without asking for help in a hurry.
Most importantly of all, this place was quite far away from Aalto. No matter what happened, as long as the "Sorcerer's Residence" was destroyed as soon as possible, nobody would discover it in ten minutes.
"Therefore, it's not that the mysterious pursuer did not want to wipe out the city directly, but there was something that made him hesitate. He did not dare to choose such a drastic approach and had to play 'hide-and-seek' with the archmage …"
Inferring the enemy's thoughts from his choice of action, Fernando was more and more certain of the truth. "Either the Evil God here is more powerful than level-9 and makes him hesitate, or that's the only possibility!"
Combining the speculation that the sorcerers were secretly doing something with the city, or that the believers of the Evil God had snuck into Kufuray and controlled it bit by bit, before they locked the city for confidentiality, Fernando believed that he had seen through the mist!
"If the Evil God has reached legendary, with the current situation, the sorcerers will certainly cooperate with him as long as he is willing to and give him a 'missionary territory'. There's no need to be so stealthy …"
"Also, the sorcerers have encountered problems here one after another. Even if they can fake voices and letters, there are bound to be loopholes that cannot be covered, such as the people who deliver water and food but do not enter the city, and the sources of the water and food … In the tense situation, it is barely possible for the sorcerers of Aalto to not notice such things …"
"Therefore, this place can only be a certain secret experiment site of the legends of Aalto! Only they can isolate a city within their jurisdiction from the outside world without arousing suspicion. Only they can mobilize large amounts of food without attracting attention! "
"That's why the mysterious pursuer did not choose to destroy the city, which would've attracted the legends immediately!"
The fog in front of him dissipated bit by bit, revealing the entire situation in front of Fernando's eyes. However, having made this judgment, he fell into an even more astonished situation.
"We're here." The priest's rigid voice echoed next to Fernando's ears.
He shuddered and came back to himself from his thoughts, only to discover that he had reached the end of the stairs and was standing in a temple that was engraved with patterns of death.
Inside the temple, a lot of people were kneeling and praying. There were men and women, old and young.
"Tuck." In front of the god, the priest's voice became low.
A man in an old black coat in the front stepped back to the priest and Fernando. He did not stand up but simply knelt.
It was not until he left the praying team that he turned around and looked at Fernando. "Who are you?"
His eyes were hazy and cloudy.
Recognizing that it was the real Tuck, Fernando said solemnly, "I hope to attract a batch of potential sorcerers. Furan recommended you."
He intentionally mentioned Furan and hid the information about Holm in hopes that they would be wary. Although it was unlikely, it was still better than nothing.
"Hehe. A sorcerer with potential …" Tuck emphasized the word 'sorcerer' and said peacefully, "I've already understood the real meaning of life. I will never study the boring magic again."
"Is that so? I'm sorry, "Fernando replied politely and normally.
In fact, if anyone who was familiar with his personality was present, they would've noticed his strangeness. How could the Roarer not spit all over Tuck's face, belittling faith and deities as worthless?
At this moment, Fernando's heart was in turmoil. It was not because of Tuck, but because he had seen the truth of the matter!
"The whole thing can be divided into two parts. Firstly, the sorcerers are secretly studying something with this cult. They have locked the city for that, and nobody is allowed to enter but nobody is allowed to leave. Secondly, an archmage was hunted and hid in a certain corner of the city. He asked me for help through a prayer ritual."
"After the separation, the problem was completely exposed. The archmage and his pursuers clearly knew the uniqueness of this place. Otherwise, someone would've tried to destroy the city and lure out the legends."
"Then, would a city that is so tightly controlled by sorcerers watch an archmage being hunted? Even if the archmage felt that the sorcerers here were controlled by the mysterious pursuers, he could've made a big fuss and attracted the legends who were monitoring this place, but he didn't do that! "
"Would a secret research base of sorcerers that has been locked down with tremendous manpower and resources be controlled so easily?"
"Unless … Unless the legends who are monitoring this place are on the same side as the mysterious pursuers, or even equal to the mysterious pursuers!"
"That's why the archmage who sensed something wrong did not ask for help directly. That's why the places such as the Office of Sorcerers were easily controlled because they were under control in the first place."
"The legend did not resort to violence probably because a lot of legends were paying attention to this place. Therefore, he did not dare to make too much noise!"
Although Fernando did not know why it happened, and he did not know if he was involved in an internal strife, he had no time to think. He only felt that his head was dizzy. Was he going against a legend?
He did not wait for Antec and Furan to look for him, because the legend would've definitely killed him before they did. After all, it was a rule that many excellencies made together. One could only enter Kufuray, but not leave!
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 he couldn't come up with a way to get away from the legends at all.
Stepping on the street, illuminated by the cold light of the Silver Moon, Fernando suddenly cleared his head and decided to consider the problem from the perspective of the trapped archmage.
"Since it's related to the legendary supervisor of this place, the archmage's decision to let me enter the dream was very risky. Also, according to Turan's notes, there is nothing about that at all. It means that he asked for my help because he thought that there was hope, and he did not make a random choice."
"Then, what's the hope? Is it my wisdom, my magic abilities, or something else? "
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