Chapter 372 Decisive Battle

Buzz—

Pink energy washed over his body like a tide.

Xia Nan could feel something formless hidden within the energy, trying to seep into his mind.

Before he could even focus to resist it, the silver ring on his right ring finger—the [Dream Weaving Corridor]—trembled slightly. All the invisible energy touching his body was instantly absorbed, converted into a 0.001% charge.

"Thud, thud."

Two muffled impacts rang in Xia Nan's ears, one after the other.

The first was heavy and abrupt, like an iron anvil hitting the ground. The second was a bit lighter, accompanied by staggering footsteps as if someone had struggled briefly before collapsing.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye.

Margaret and Thordin had completely lost their ability to fight under the impact of the pink energy, falling unconscious.

Fortunately, their life signs were stable. They hadn't died on the spot; once the gemstone's energy faded, they should regain their senses.

These thoughts flashed through his mind.

Ahead, on the altar at the far end of the church, the elderly priest in his gold-trimmed ceremonial silk robes spoke first:

"It really is you."

Set against the dazzling pink light filling his eye sockets, his irises were reduced to faint silhouettes that shifted slightly. His gaze swept up and down Xia Nan's body. First, it paused briefly on the exposed chain of the [Tears of Spring Breath] at his neck, then settled on the [Ember Fall] straight sword in his hand, as if searching for something.

"I thought it was strange when I received the message from Hans earlier. So... that wealthy merchant from Nym, Horac—was it you who freed him from his mind control?"

Hearing this, Xia Nan kept his expression calm, but his heart inevitably sank.

His previous guess had become reality.

"Hans"... was the innkeeper's name.

When he had accidentally touched Horac's Pastel Gemstone earlier and dispelled the enchantment on him, he had wondered if the merchant's drastically different behavior would arouse suspicion among the others in town.

The innkeeper's probing words and subsequent night attack had confirmed his suspicions.

Now, even Priest Moin knew about it, and was even aware that he was the one who had broken Horac's control.

Looking at it this way, the innkeeper's suicidal actions right before his death had been meant to transmit information about him to Moin in the church, via the gemstone on his chest.

Fortunately, judging by the priest's gaze and demeanor in that fleeting moment, the man probably hadn't noticed the existence of the [Dream Weaving Corridor] yet.

"These gemstones, the things happening in town—was this all your doing?" Xia Nan asked.

Of course, he wasn't going to answer the man's question directly. Xia Nan's eloquence was average at best; feigning civility to fish for information through conversation simply wasn't his strong suit.

Rather than getting tangled in the old man's topic, it was better to shift gears and seize the initiative in the conversation. He would only ask what he wanted to know and avoid giving away any information in return.

That way, even in the worst-case scenario where the other party refused to play along, they would just be talking past each other.

But to his surprise, the priest was exceptionally forthright.

"If you mean this..." Moin raised the Pastel Gemstone pinched between his fingers toward Xia Nan, then tilted his head slightly to glance at the massive, dazzling pink beam shooting straight into the sky above. "And this."

"Then I did indeed play a part in it."

"Why?" Xia Nan blurted out.

At the same time, he used this brief window to observe his surroundings and the priest before him, gathering information to prepare for the battle that was almost certainly coming.

Naturally, he was also stalling for time, hoping to see if his two teammates could wake from their unconscious state.

Without trying to hide a thing, a gentle smile graced Moin's lips. His tone was peaceful as he answered the adventurer's question:

"Child, perhaps you cannot understand."

"But I am saving them from the torment of this world filled with pain and doubt."

His voice was mild and calm, as if he were explaining a matter of course.

His demeanor was even more relaxed and natural—just like that bright, sunny morning when he and Xia Nan had first met.

But when paired with the current reality—the entirety of Sheep Horn Town having fallen, framed by the massive pillar of light above his head and those eyes entirely consumed by pink radiance...

...his serene demeanor felt incredibly eerie, sending a chill straight to the heart.

"Saving them?"

Xia Nan found it utterly absurd.

Even his gaze as he looked at the priest shifted, a hint of mockery rising from the depths of his dark eyes.

If the man had simply admitted that he wanted to sacrifice the whole town to complete some ritual, or that he was trying to use some mechanism of the gemstones to drain the townsfolk's life force to extend his own lifespan...

...then Xia Nan might not have thought much of it. He would have just considered him a typical evil-aligned figure who had lost his way, an everyday sight on the Aifala Continent.

But the priest claimed he was doing this to save the townsfolk...

Xia Nan just felt that the man was a delusional lunatic.

As if sensing the black-haired adventurer's disdain, the warm smile on Moin's face didn't falter in the slightest. With a gentle expression completely devoid of malice, he shook his head slowly—just as he had done countless times before when facing the uneducated, ignorant, yet honest farmers of the town.

"Child, you are too young. You cannot see how cruel the outside world truly is."

"Faith will waver. Goodwill will be betrayed. Hard work will wash away to nothing. I have seen all of these with my own eyes... and experienced them myself."

"But here, on this small patch of land in Sheep Horn Town, they will never have to experience such twists and agonies again."

"Their hearts will forever be filled with "love" and "peace" for the Goddess. Is that not "salvation"?"

Xia Nan had lost all patience to keep talking to the priest.

When a person's mindset was completely contrary to one's own, any debate or argument was just an exercise in futility.

Even in his past life, when debating countless controversial topics online with netizens who shared a similar, complete, and systematic educational background, he had never managed to convince a single person.

He knew that in the vast majority of cases, people merely threw their own viewpoints at each other. It was incredibly rare for anyone to genuinely look at things from the other side's perspective. So-called debates were nothing more than searching for loopholes in the other's words to launch a counterattack.

As for this seventy- or eighty-year-old priest standing before him, a man whose upbringing and life background were entirely alien to his own...

Xia Nan didn't think a few casual words from him could possibly change the deeply rooted beliefs in the old man's head.

He lacked the knowledge base for it, and he certainly lacked the eloquence and patience.

With that thought, his mind actually settled into a strange calm.

The look in his eyes as he stared at the priest became no different from the gaze he normally reserved for those filthy, foul-smelling greenskins in the Goblin Lair.

But before he actually made his move to chop the man's head off, he had one last question.

"You seemed to mention the 'Goddess' just now?" Xia Nan asked.

"Are these things you've done the will of Lady Chantea?"

Moin's expression faltered.

Xia Nan could see it clearly: when his words reached the priest's ears, the pink light in the old man's eyes flickered involuntarily. His right hand, gripping the White Waxwood Staff, instinctively squeezed tight and then loosened.

The shift in his expression lasted only a fraction of a second before returning to normal.

The priest smiled, lowering his eyelids slightly in a display of pity and piety.

"The path of faith sometimes requires a little... guidance."

"How is this not a blessing from the divine? It is far better than letting the lambs suffer in confusion."

Unlike his earlier candor, Moin didn't answer Xia Nan's question directly.

And it was exactly this evasive, ambiguous attitude that allowed Xia Nan to form a rough guess in his mind.

Perhaps the goddess Chantea had no direct connection to the events occurring in Sheep Horn Town.

Even if there was a connection, it was likely minimal.

The primary driving force pulling the strings was almost certainly Moin himself.

The priest appeared incredibly patient.

He simply stood there with a warm smile, quietly watching Xia Nan on the other side of the church, his expression serene and tranquil.

After a brief silence, seeing that the young man wasn't going to speak, he took the initiative again:

"I have answered all of your questions."

"Now... can you tell me how you helped the others break free from the enchantment's effect?"

Xia Nan shook his head.

The sharp, straight blade with its dark, night-like grey hue carved a subtle arc through the air. Behind him, accompanied by a rising wolf's howl, the profound phantom of a beast with a swaying mane manifested.

"I have nothing left to say to you."

Boom—

The immense kinetic force unleashed by his sudden dash sent dense spiderweb cracks spreading across the church floorboards beneath his leather boots. The air seemed to stagnate for an instant. His high-speed movement turned the ordinarily frictionless invisible atmosphere into something as viscous as water.

The twisted, pitch-black shadow transformed into a chilling Winter Wolf hunting its prey. As its long limbs bounded forward, the spatial distance was crossed in a heartbeat.

[Night Mother's Gaze] triggered instantly, causing the pink radiance in the priest's eyes to flicker slightly, though it quickly settled down again.

But even though the man had passed the check and avoided falling into a state of fear, that split-second daze—combined with Xia Nan's absurd speed that far surpassed adventurers of the same tier—allowed him to close the distance to Moin by nearly a third.

He had already prepared a detailed battle plan before he even set foot inside the church.

Summing it up, there really wasn't any overly complex strategy.

On one side was a close-quarters Warrior with high speed and mobility; on the other was a traditional Spellcaster who had been rooted in a church for years.

Given that the gemstone's enchantment had no effect on Xia Nan, as long as he could close the gap between them, the scales of victory would heavily tilt in his favor.

Clearly, Moin was also well aware of their respective advantages and disadvantages.

Even though he had stayed in Sheep Horn Town's church for many years and his combat skills were no longer as refined...

...countless days and nights of devout prayer, along with the divine light that had flashed innumerable times across fields and the Orange Orchard, still allowed him to channel and unleash his inner energy with a casting speed ordinary clerics didn't possess.

Holy Light bloomed.

"Korn!" (Ancient scripture tongue, meaning grain or corn.)

The urgent, high-pitched incantation burst forth abruptly.

The priest leveled his White Waxwood Staff straight ahead, aiming at the ferocious black wolf lunging violently toward him.

Accompanied by the shrill noise of surging energy, a point of searing golden light gathered at the tip of the staff.

[Radiant Prayer]—Evocation School · Zero Circle Cantrip

"Buzz!"

It erupted in a flash!

The point of light transformed into a brilliant yellow beam, flashing across the air in the blink of an eye.

With no time to block, the beam struck Xia Nan directly in the chest.

A searing, burning pain instantly spread across his chest, causing his footsteps to falter.

Thankfully, the defensive properties of his Fine-grade green equipment, the [Purgatory Pulse], were excellent. The special steel forged from the depths of Purgatory nullified the vast majority of the radiant light's damage. What little remained could only inflict minor injuries that wouldn't impede his mobility. They didn't even require bandaging; he just needed a few days of extra sleep to fully recover.

To some extent, Xia Nan had relied almost entirely on his gear and Constitution to tank this spell from the priest head-on.

The gap between them was closed by another fifth.

Hum—

Yet another flash of brilliant golden light rose from ahead.

This time, the energy was visibly more condensed, and the whistling sound it made tearing through the air was much shriller and more piercing. It vaguely coalesced into the blurry shape of an arrowhead.

[Guiding Bolt]—Evocation School · 1st Circle Spell

Under his sharp Perception, an inexplicable sense of danger welled up in his heart.

Knowing he couldn't just tank the hit with his equipment and physical advantages like he did before, and now adequately prepared, Xia Nan raised his left arm while sprinting forward. Anticipating the light arrow's trajectory, he brought his Snake-Scale Arm Shield up to block it.

"Bang!"

Shattered flecks of golden light swept past the edges of his dark hair, carried away by a strong gust of wind.

A slight vibration ran down his forearm; the arrow of light had completely shattered.

The [Darkscale Coiled Guard]—a blue, Rare-grade piece of equipment forged personally by "Rockhammer" Barn. It was crafted using the scales of a Legendary otherworldly creature as its primary material, fused with numerous expensive secondary components.

Its innate defense was incredibly resilient. Faced with an attack of this caliber, not even a single scorch mark was left on its cold, smooth surface.

The distance between them shrank by another quarter.

Moin clearly hadn't expected this remarkably young-looking adventurer to endure two consecutive magical attacks with such ease.

The pink light in the priest's eyes flared violently, and under the skin of his cheeks, the taut outlines of his jaw muscles could faintly be seen clenching tight.

He poured mental energy into the staff in his hands like it cost him nothing.

Vrrr-oom—

Unlike the golden hues of the previous two strikes, a beam of energy leaning closer to a pale pink crashed into Xia Nan at a speed he couldn't even react to.

[Hold Person]—Enchantment School · 2nd Circle Spell

Key focus: Perception save.

Having been raised to 11 points through multiple encounters, Xia Nan's Perception attribute gave him an extremely high resistance threshold against control spells that relied on a Perception check to determine success.

If the caster was a low-level spellcaster without any relevant Feats, it would be almost impossible for it to take effect on him.

He passed the save easily.

And at the same time, amid a high and drawn-out wolf's howl, he finally reached the priest's side.

He brought the man right into the striking range of his straight sword.

His arm surged with power, and a [Spinning Slash] was unleashed.

But before the tip of the blade could even touch the old man's skin, the priest's fingers suddenly clamped down hard on the Pastel Gemstone in his palm.

"Hum..."

A translucent pink barrier, identical in form to the wall of light enveloping the town, rapidly expanded outward with his body at the center.

The blade crashed into it, kicking up ripples of energy.

Xia Nan's body was sent flying high into the air.