Having altered his appearance, Lucian walked along the Sonar River toward the slum district, where a considerable number of secret altars were hidden.
The false gods who had been driven from the river valley—the God of Wind and Rain, the Earth Mother, and the rest—were naturally unwilling to simply abandon such rich faith resources, so each had left behind secret evangelists. Lucian intended to "learn" from them about the current state of these false gods, using the information to gauge how El and
He had been spreading those plausible-sounding "stories" for over half a month now. Starting today, Lucian planned to stop—to no longer risk changing his appearance, but instead let the rumors simmer and spread to other parts of this world through sea merchants and traveling traders, drawing the attention of interested parties.
From now on, watch and wait, and seize the chance to escape danger. The evening breeze off the Sonar River, carrying the particular humidity of the rainy season, blew against Lucian's face, and the evening heat was beginning to transform into a hint of coolness.
Suddenly, Lucian's left hand twitched uncontrollably. His mind went slightly hazy, and he felt a chill creeping down his back.
Why is this happening? Lucian was startled. The uncontrolled twitching of his left hand had been growing more frequent over the past few days.
He had originally thought it might be a sign that Etnera, God of the Silver Moon, was about to awaken after half a month of slumber—or perhaps a signal of her expressing hunger. He had been planning to seek out a god of death, silver moon, peace, or similar domains with plenty of sacrificial rituals, and strike at one to placate her a little. But after several occurrences today, Lucian realized that this dangerous chill was coming from within himself!
Could it be that Etnera, having recovered some power during her slumber, had sensed a problem with his body or soul, and was using this method to warn him? Or perhaps, as her power recovered slightly, he could draw on a fraction of it through his left hand—and in doing so, had discovered potential incompatibilities or hidden dangers in his body and soul?
Whatever the cause, the problem pointed squarely at Lucian himself, making his thoughts very grave. The primary material world had all manner of strange arcane magic and curses!
He had to find the source of the problem tonight!
Suppressing his emotions, Lucian—wearing a linen robe—entered the slum district. This time he was disguised as a secret believer of the "Earth Mother."
"Here?" A slum dweller who passed by whispered, motioning with his eyes toward the direction to go.
Lucian whispered back just as softly, "Yes. I'm here to find Priest Angri for a prayer."
Following the directions, Lucian headed toward the dilapidated streets to the right. Along the way, he encountered believer after believer. With their guidance, after winding through twist after twist, he finally spotted an ordinary mud-brick house.
Having a familiar face certainly helps. Lucian touched the face that didn't belong to him. The first time he'd come here, he'd had to use suggestion, direction, hypnosis, charm, and other Arcane Magic all along the way.
He pushed open the door to the mud house. Inside was a gaunt old man, prostrate on the ground, kissing the floor.
"Priest Angri, I'm sorry to interrupt your prayers," Lucian said politely.
An irrepressible smile spread across Angri's wrinkled face. "Don't mind it—I'm delighted. I've heard the news that two false gods have fallen."
Since they were conducting secret evangelism, the number of potential converts had unquestionably shrunk considerably. Thus the struggle between the six sects had become blatantly brutal, and the relationships between the remaining priests had deteriorated rapidly.
"What? Two false gods have fallen?" Lucian displayed genuine surprise.
Angri rose from the ground. "This morning during prayer, I received a revelation from the Mother Goddess. But I kept doubting whether I'd misunderstood—until half an hour ago, when it was finally confirmed that the divine statues inside the secret altars of the 'God of Wind and Rain' and the 'God of Love' had cracked, and the priests had lost their divinely granted power."
"Were they stripped of their divinity and killed by the 'God of Redemption'?" Lucian hadn't expected El and the others' battle achievements to be so astounding—to take out two false gods in one fell swoop.
Angri nodded, his face brimming with smiles. "Yes."
Seeing his attitude, Lucian suddenly understood. One of the six false gods had betrayed the others. The Earth Mother had at least defected to El—that was how they'd caught the other two false gods off guard! Otherwise, given how these gods watched over and helped each other, even if one happened to be caught alone, El and
"May the Mother Goddess protect us." Lucian bowed.
Angri traced a cross over his chest—a gesture that made Lucian want to laugh every time he saw it. "Should be called the Earth's Angel now."
He had no intention of hiding this news from his followers. In such difficult times, news like this was exactly what was needed to uplift spirits and strengthen faith.
"As expected." Lucian bowed again with a "sincere" smile.
After leaving the slum district, Lucian changed his appearance once more in the woods by the river. Under cover of darkness, he returned to the slum district from a different direction. This time his target was the secret church of the "God of Redemption," El—to verify the information he'd just received.
As a Keeper of the Ring, Lucian knew the contact believers in Hussum City just as well as Ancus did. So after his faked death and escape, the easiest intelligence source to tap into was this one.
As he was approaching the slum district, Lucian suddenly heard the sound of someone pacing back and forth in a corner. His gaze shifted slightly, piercing through the darkness, and he saw a young man wearing a linen robe.
No—a woman. Lucian's eyes narrowed slightly. This woman disguised as a male slum dweller had piqued his interest.