Chapter 186 Cognitive Masking

Xia Nan stepped forward slowly.

His gaze naturally sized up the two men before him.

Cleric Isidore, whom he had seen just a couple of days ago, hadn't changed much.

He still wore his solemn, formal attire, but beads of sweat were faintly visible on his forehead and neck, and distinct sweat stains marred parts of his white inner robe.

It looked as though he had just endured some intense physical exertion.

Xia Nan cast an imperceptible glance past them through the Church doors, his eyes sweeping over the scattered shards of stained glass on the floor.

He also recalled the heavy guard presence he had seen along the way.

'Did a battle... just happen here?'

Xia Nan wondered, finding it incredibly strange.

He couldn't imagine who would dare cause trouble in the Moon Goddess Church—a place located in the center of a major city, overseen by a high-level cleric, and constantly under the Goddess's gaze.

And judging by the current situation, it seemed the culprit had even gotten away?

Perhaps he could find a chance to ask around for information.

He didn't want to run into any more danger or stir up unnecessary trouble right when he had finally completed his Advancement Quest and was about to leave Nym City.

Beside Isidore, the elegant Spellcaster he had briefly met once before now looked somewhat bedraggled.

His face was a bit pale, his hair disheveled.

His indigo robe, which usually looked freshly laundered and spotless, was now stained with specks of dirt.

More importantly, as Xia Nan approached, he acutely sensed chaotic magic particles irregularly diffusing outward with the mage at their center.

His astonishment only grew.

It seemed the presumed attacker possessed quite impressive strength, given that even these two high-level Spellcasters had failed to make them stay.

Stopping before the two men, he suppressed his racing thoughts.

Xia Nan first gave a slight nod to the mage—who was currently sizing him up in return—and greeted him with his eyes.

Whether the man remembered him or not, being a little polite in this situation couldn't hurt.

Then, he glanced back at the tense guards bustling back and forth on the street in their standard-issue armor.

Before the cleric could speak, Xia Nan took the initiative to ask, "What's going on? There are suddenly so many guards on the street."

"Did something happen in the city?"

The cleric's smiling face suddenly sank, and he nodded with a serious expression. "We were just attacked by a cultist. It was incredibly dangerous."

"Several nearby blocks have already been cordoned off. If we don't find anything before dawn, the search radius will definitely expand."

Hearing this, a thoughtful look appeared on Xia Nan's face. "No wonder..."

Noticing Xia Nan's strange attire—lacking armor, wearing only a thin shirt, and carrying two swords on his back—Isidore asked casually, "What about you? Why are you out so late wearing so little?"

Having already prepared an excuse, Xia Nan smiled and rubbed the back of his head without hesitation. "I'm just in Nym doing a quest. I was already planning to rest, but I suddenly thought of some clues, so I came out to see if I could find anything."

"How is it? Any progress?"

"It's alright. I've more or less figured things out. I'll look into it for another two days, and if I still don't get anything, I won't waste any more time and will head straight back to Rivervale Town."

It had just been a casual question; Isidore didn't think a rookie Class Holder like Xia Nan could possibly be involved with an entity of that level.

Unsuspecting, he kindly advised, "Quests are important, but your safety comes first. Hurry home; it might be dangerous here."

Xia Nan naturally accepted the good advice.

However, he hadn't forgotten his true purpose and asked, "Does that cultist have any distinguishing features?"

"If I happen to run into him on the road, I can at least recognize him and notify you."

With nothing to hide, Cleric Isidore pointed at the swords on Xia Nan's back and replied, "He's also an Adventurer. An Elf with blonde hair."

"His movements look..." Obvious hesitation appeared on his face. "...a bit awkward, like he has some kind of physical disability."

"But don't let your guard down because of that. If you actually run into him, absolutely do not approach him. Just leave immediately and report his location to the nearest security officer."

"I'll remind you one more time: he... is extremely dangerous!"

'A blonde Elf!?'

'Awkward movements!?'

He suddenly remembered that the Elf was actually the mage's teammate.

Xia Nan's train of thought abruptly halted, his heart surging like stormy waves.

'Such a coincidence?'

On the outside, however, his expression remained unchanged as he maintained a normal reaction as best he could.

"Understood. I'll definitely keep a close eye out."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, he said his goodbyes and left.

A polite smile rested on his elegant, easygoing face.

As his gaze remained fixed on the figure gradually disappearing into the night, Cornell's mind churned.

Of course he remembered this rookie he had once seen at the Association.

It hadn't been years—only a few dozen days. As an advanced Spellcaster whose primary attribute was intelligence, how could he forget him?

It was just that...

A gleam of thought flashed deep in Cornell's eyes.

'I remember that back then, this Adventurer named Xia Nan hadn't acquired his Class Level yet, right?'

'Looking so young, he certainly hasn't been in the profession for long.'

Yet, during their brief interaction of just a few minutes, he had clearly sensed the dense aura radiating from the other party—the unique signature of a Class Holder, a high-level integration of exquisite technique and physical Strength, supported by a physique far surpassing that of an ordinary person.

He didn't seem at all like a rookie who had just recently obtained his Class Level and stepped onto the path of a Class Holder.

'Interesting.'

His impression deepened, and the image of the black-haired youth carrying twin swords was pulled from the memories he would have otherwise forgotten over the next few years.

But he didn't pay it too much mind, merely treating it as a minor interlude during this terrible expedition.

Retracting his gaze, Cornell rubbed the iron ring on his finger and glanced at the cleric beside him.

"Do you know this Xia Nan?"

Based on his observation of their tone and conversation, while the two didn't seem very familiar with each other, they didn't appear to be complete strangers either.

"Do you remember those residents I mentioned to you a few nights ago?" Isidore pinched a speck of dirt off the hem of his robe.

"You mean that paranoid family of commoners who claimed they ran into some evil god?"

The cleric nodded.

Showing up fully armed in the middle of the night and suddenly bringing a group of people to the Church...

Not to mention he was such a young Class Holder—of course Isidore remembered him.

He recalled casting divine spells for them at the time, which was the only thing that made those terrified residents, who had fled their homes late at night, feel a bit better.

'I wonder how they ended up dealing with that statue...'

'Wait!'

"Statue!?" Isidore shouted aloud without realizing it.

Like a bolt of lightning exploding deep within his mind, a hazy realization that had been shrouded in the shadows of his consciousness suddenly became crystal clear.

The bizarre statue of unknown origin, seemingly appearing out of thin air in Nym City...

Its exceptional popularity, drawing the fervent pursuit of massive crowds in such a short time, to the point where even he, who had never been interested in such things, had become obsessed with its eerie charm...

The absentminded, strangely behaving mage Cornell during the resurrection ritual, and the wooden carving in his hands...

His body trembled violently. On the cleric's peaceful and serene face—the same face that presided over sacred rituals and spread the Goddess's Holy Light to the world—was a look of panic and shock he hadn't shown in years.

"Damn it!" Swearing in a massive lapse of composure, Isidore abruptly turned around and stared at the mage beside him.

He was met with a pale face that, breaking from a similar daze, was now filled with profound horror.

Undoubtedly, the instant he uttered the word "statue," it had acted like a trigger, making Cornell realize his own Cognitive Masking as well.

The descent of the "suspected evil god" was absolutely not a random accident.

Months ago, this bizarre-looking wooden carving had already begun silently circulating throughout Nym City.

And not a single person, himself included, had noticed that there was anything wrong with it.

Even the most upright and meticulous security officers had never questioned the wooden carving's origins, suspected its sudden appearance, or even questioned its eerie design that seemingly perfectly appealed to everyone's aesthetics.

This was a conspiracy!

A conspiracy that involved the entirety of Nym, deceiving even clergymen like himself!

As if plummeting into the Bottomless Abyss, his thoughts gradually spread toward an even darker place.

After all, the statue had been circulating in the city even before Cornell's party arrived in Rivervale Town.

Did this mean that the Elf's death, the encounter Cornell and the others had in the Goblin Lair, and even further back—them accepting the quest from the Association's bounty board—were also parts of the plot!?

The evil soul snatching a freshly deceased body during the resurrection ritual he presided over had already been destined the moment the first statue appeared in Nym City.

Isidore felt a chill shoot straight from his tailbone to the crown of his head, goosebumps breaking out all over his body.

Before he could even speak, he noticed a sudden fluctuation of magic particles in the air.

Hum—

A silvery-white magical radiance flashed in the corner of his eye.

He turned his head to look.

He saw that Cornell, who had only just slightly recovered from the predicament of depleted mental strength, was already holding his wooden staff.

Dazzling, complex array patterns rapidly spread across the ground around him, centered on the base of the staff.

He could faintly see a massive amount of spellcasting materials pouring out of the flickering Spatial Iron Ring like water, merging into the glow of the magic array.

There was no time for goodbyes.

Even if it cost enough spellcasting materials to buy an entire street in the outer city, Cornell didn't want to stay in this damned place for a second longer.

"If you have the chance to come to Chromatic Ring City, I'll treat you..."

His words were cut off halfway.

Wrapped in magical radiance, Cornell vanished from the spot amid a spatial distortion.

Isidore stared at the empty space before him, stunned for two seconds.

Only then did he grit his teeth and say, "That damn bookworm..."

His brain spun rapidly as he thought of countermeasures.

He reached out and hailed a nearby guard, telling him to summon their security officer.

First of all, there was absolutely something wrong with that Sheep-Deer Figurine!

Across such a large area, affecting so many residents, not even Class Holders could escape its influence and had their cognition rewritten.

Even if he could now recognize the statue's bizarre nature—which to some extent meant its efficacy seemed to have weakened—

Neither he, as a clergyman of Selune, nor the Nym officials once they learned the truth, could possibly allow the wooden carving to continue circulating in the city.

It had to be urgently retrieved!

On the other hand, although he didn't know the reason why...

The entity that had resurrected through the Elf's body hadn't harmed him. Even the mage Cornell, who had been in close contact with it, had only lost a few pieces of Magic Equipment and exhausted his mental strength, without suffering so much as a minor injury.

And the Goddess's ambiguous attitude also indicated there was something fishy going on.

But this absolutely did not mean the other party had good intentions.

As the image of the blonde Elf's unfocused, deathly-gray eyes surfaced in his mind, Isidore shivered involuntarily.

No matter how things developed next, as the presiding cleric of the Moon Goddess Church, he needed to do his job.

He stood before the Church doors, waiting for the security officer to arrive so he could warn him of his discovery.

A wisp of bone-chilling wind suddenly brushed past the back of his head.

He suddenly froze, as if remembering something.

Ignoring the security officer hurrying toward the Church under the guidance of a guard in the distance, Isidore abruptly turned around.

With hurried steps, he vanished behind the corridor doors leading to the inner hall.

The Sheep-Deer Figurine.

Although the one in Cornell's hands had already been taken by that entity...

There was still one sitting openly... right in his own room.

...

...

Walking along the street back to Jeff's house, Xia Nan retracted his gaze from the direction of the Church behind him, where faint sounds of commotion could be heard.

A thoughtful look appeared on Xia Nan's face.

He reviewed his performance in front of the cleric and the mage just now.

'There shouldn't be any issues.'

He certainly could have revealed everything he had encountered to get help from the officials and the Church.

But by doing so, as someone who had personally experienced the event, he would inevitably be dragged into the storm.

From Xia Nan's perspective, ever since the Elf appeared mid-battle, everything had happened so suddenly and unpredictably.

He knew the Elf was the mage's teammate.

But as to why the two would fight inside the Moon Goddess Church, why the Elf would enter such an obviously abnormal state, and why it controlled him to chant that so-called "True Name" from the system notes... he hadn't the slightest clue.

Xia Nan wasn't even clear on the roles and positions of the Nym officials and the Cult of Selune in this entire incident.

Under such circumstances, it would be extremely difficult for him to explain to them why he was able to return completely unharmed after coming into contact with the Elf.

If he ran into some extremists, they might even throw him in jail for a few days and torture him for a confession regarding his nonexistent connection to the Elf. If they had memory-searching spells, it would be even more troublesome.

Xia Nan pondered internally.

At the very least, he needed to figure out the whole story. He had to be able to judge what to tell whom in order to benefit himself, and what information might cause negative consequences if revealed.

Only then could he make his next move.

The blonde Elf had already disappeared, and he himself had broken away from the Secret Realm and returned to the real world.

To some extent, although he had lost two pieces of armor...

His gains were far greater than they appeared on the surface.

Now, the only thing left to consider was his Advancement Quest—which he didn't even know counted as completed or not.