Chapter 694: Chapter 212: Arriving at Your Doorstep Soon

“This is the place, the land of evil birth indicated in the oracle.”

After discussing with Anvis, Yani and his party, who were traveling quickly, had also arrived outside Dragon Shadow City.

This time, aside from Yani, who led the team and was of Ninth Rank, the subordinates of other Holy Positions arranged by the Pope were all high-level elites from the Judgement Institute of at least Seventh Rank, each with extensive combat experience.

In order to not alert the enemies prematurely, all the Holy Position members concealed their aura, wearing gray-white traveler’s cloaks, indistinguishable from other long-distance travelers.

“Our target is here.”

Gazing up at the towering and mottled ancient rock walls, Yani spoke in a calm voice.

With confirmation, those behind him nodded, and three members who specialized in detection stepped forward, forming a special triangular Holy Power Array.

While Holy Power pervaded the area, discreet detection ripples started to flow from the Array unleashed by the trio, swiftly sweeping across the entirety of Dragon Shadow City.

The individuals in the city didn’t notice anything as the detection ripples passed over them, only Anvis in the City Lord Mansion shifted his head slightly as if sensing something, glancing in the direction of the Detection Array.

Meanwhile, when the ripples swept through the castle’s basement, under the influence of the special Protective Array set up by Anvis, they parted like water and slid to the sides, giving away no feedback at all.

“There is no presence in this city that can pose a threat to us, Lord Yani. However, the peculiar thing is, this place is not short of evil dwellers.”

After a brief detection ended, the leading member among the three Holy Position personnel stepped forward, his face solemn as he reported the detection results to Yani.

“That is a good thing, it implies that the evil indicated in the oracle has not grown to an uncontrollable extent yet.”

With eyes glowing with a faint white Holy Power radiance, Yani gently nodded, speaking softly to all the temporary subordinates, conveying his judgment.

“The oracle cannot be mistaken. There are only two possibilities for us not discovering the target.

Either, the counterpart has sensed our arrival and perceives themselves as no match, thus has hidden in advance.

Or, someone has deliberately concealed the target, or maybe the target is outright a creation of some evil religious groups.

No matter the possibility, we need to enter the city to investigate, as the Lord will be watching over us.”

“Your will, Archbishop Yani.”

The decisions of Yani faced no objections from the other Holy Position members; they had similar conjectures.

However, upon truly entering inside the city, everyone immediately felt the ‘warm welcome’ of the city.

At this moment, the time was nearing dusk, with the silver-purple twin moons rising from the horizon, decorating the dark blue night sky.

At times like this, thieves are often more rampant than in the daytime.

“…What a disgusting city, how can the Federation allow such a lawless place to exist?”

After handling several pickpockets and one thug who tried to rob them, observing more criminal activities visible everywhere, a female Holy Position member draped in a nun’s robe under her cloak couldn’t help but speak in disgust.

They were still lingering on the street; from a distance, they could already see a robbery, and from the dark alleys on both sides of the streets, faint cries of agony could be heard.

“Whether this place exists depends on whether the Federation is willing to pay some price to eliminate it.”

Yani spoke flatly; as a Church Bishop, he was well aware of the intricacies here.

“As a border city, the influence of the Royal Family of Dragon Shadow Kingdom here is weak. As long as taxes are paid fully, no one will particularly come here searching for trouble.

Moreover, many fugitives are not weak in strength, and the City Lord usually doesn’t want to risk dealing with them unless they harbor unauthorized motives.

Now, Balgan, Lamansi, Heilan, Katurar, Durak, you five disperse and find the ‘rats’ living in this city. They should know what special changes have occurred during this period, but don’t make too much noise.

The rest of you, come with me to the City Lord Mansion and directly inquire about the situation from the City Lord.

No matter where the evil entity prophesied is currently hiding, its presence would surely leave some traces.”

Casually pointing out a few Holy Position holders, Yanile made the arrangements directly.

Upon receiving the order, those who had long endured the ominous atmosphere of Dragon Shadow City immediately dispersed, each heading to the district they had chosen to investigate.

The remaining few swiftly sneaked into the City Lord Mansion with Yanile. With Yanile’s cover, the group rapidly located the ‘City Lord’ of Dragon Shadow City without alerting any guards.

At this moment, the target of the group, Anvis, disguised as the Dragon Shadow City Lord, stood in the high-level study of the castle, gazing at the vast landscape of Dragon Shadow City through the window, seemingly admiring his domain.

Without much conversation, as soon as Yanile appeared, a tremendous force field swiftly overwhelmed the ‘Dragon Shadow City Lord’,

Facing the actions of a Ninth Rank, it was only natural that the Dragon Shadow City Lord, with merely Seventh Rank strength, had no power to resist.

“Who are you? Do you intend to challenge the authority of Dragon Shadow Kingdom?!”

After being subjugated instantly, Anvis ‘desperately struggled’ while invoking the reputation of Dragon Shadow Kingdom, seemingly to threaten the holy clergies.

Faced with Anvis’s threat, the many concealed Holy Position holders simply laughed.

Dragon Shadow Kingdom has but one Ninth Rank protector, leaving aside whether they would specially make a trip over for such a minor issue. Even if they did come, they wouldn’t be a match for Archbishop Yanile.

“Answer my question, regarding the recent presence of evil entities in this city, do you know of any information that might be related?”

Unaffected by the others around him, Yanile stoically began to inquire Anvis about any issues in the city during this time.

Simultaneously, one of the Holy Position holders behind him made a gesture, and a dark beam of light connected to Anvis.

That was a Divine Art developed by the Church Court, specifically used to Detect whether the target was lying.

If the City Lord lied in response to their questions, it would prove that there was an issue with the City Lord himself.

“This… Your Highness… I…”

Apparently overly frightened, Anvis’s words were somewhat stammered.

“Boom——”

Suddenly, a huge explosion erupted from the western side of the city, mingling within the blast of Holy Power. Two powerful presences instantly entered the Perception of everyone present.

One of the presences was very familiar to them; it was Balgan, the strongest Holy Position holder besides Yanile on this mission. He had already reached the middle phase of Eighth Rank and was about to become a high-level member of the Judgement Institute.

The other presence battling him was far stronger than his, a sky-high evil power that turned the expressions of all perceiving Holy Position holders grim.

At this moment, following this tremendous explosion, Balgan’s presence rapidly weakened.

“Not good! Balgan and the others!”

Recalling the few who had just dispersed to look for clues, the hearts of many clergies from the Judgement Institute sank.

“You, stay here and watch over him, deal with any disturbances immediately, the rest come with me!”

Casually pointing to a Dark Priest, asking her to stay and watch the ‘Dragon Shadow City Lord’, Yanile had no time to linger, and led the group swiftly out of the City Lord Mansion.

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