Prayer

Searching for a person with a piece of his soul was a little more difficult than searching with a remnants of dark energy, largely because Samuel felt and searched for a part of himself, in our case we are trying to find Yakov with the help of his part.

In this case, the flesh mage can somehow influence a piece of his soul, avoiding direct detection.

But since I sealed the Fragment in a sphere of light, it will be difficult for him to feel it until I remove the seal.

But when that happens, another Holy Father of the Confector Order will be able to quickly get important clues by evaluating the Fragment.

Right now, Bill and three other men were in the basement of Baldem's church. One of these men was the local abbot.

The room itself looked like a dark hallway, dimly illuminated by wall torches. Corridors led from this room to different sides of the basement. There was also a booth, similar to an observation post, where all four of them went.

Inside there was a table, six sturdy-looking wooden chairs, a board with papers hung on it, as well as one pedestal on which stood a teapot and several mugs.

"Holy Fathers, what brings you here?" the abbot asked, sitting down at the table. "We have already received an order from Her Grace to declare a state of emergency, we have enough people to maintain order."

This man's name was Augustine, he was not young, his gray hair was short, his face was narrow and wrinkled. The clear blue eyes expressed concern.

"Baldem has been infiltrated by the demigod level flesh mage that caused Flir to be destroyed," replied Holy Father Boniface.

He was dressed in a priest's robe, to which was sewn a cloak with 4 divisions with a hood, but he did not pull it over his head. He was holding a one and a half meter case next to him.

His hair was thick and curly, and his nose was bulbous, as his two nostrils were wide. The skin was slightly tanned, but the face was shaved. His eyebrows were thick and bushy, and his eyelashes were long. The blue eyes expressed both anticipation and concern.

"Was the Flir destroyed?" the abbot was surprised. "May the Great Ones bless all those who lost their hometown and may the souls of the dead rest in the Kingdom of Heaven," he prayed.

"Praise the Great Ones," the four men said in unison.

"In any case, as Father Boniface has already said, there is a dangerous magician in the city who threatens the security of the city," remarked the fourth man, Father Fulkran.

The man was completely clad in chain mail armor, over which a white cloth was worn, on which a cross was painted dividing four images that are symbols of the four Gods: on the top left was the sun, on the right the moon, on the bottom left – a hurricane, and on the right – an eye.

He had taken off his helmet and was holding it under his arm. His scarlet hair was shaggy and long, like a lion's mane, and he had a trimmed beard of the same scarlet color on his face. A direct sign of a feature that manifests itself through the years in the offspring of aristocrats.

His pupils were also scarlet, his nose and cheeks seemed rounded, which, together with his hair, created the appearance of a overweight face.

"Therefore, we were sent here by His Majesty the Emperor to resolve the situation," Fulkran continued.

"I understand you, Holy Fathers, how can our church help you?" the abbot asked.

"Be prepared to use sealed artifacts if things don't go according to plan," Bill replied, removing his helmet as well as Fulkran. A cloak with 4 divisions was attached to his red armor.

He looked the youngest among the crowd. His skin was white and clean, his face was shaved, his lips were thin, his eyes were unnaturally yellow, almost golden in color, as was his short hair.

"As you wish," the abbot replied. "May I know what your plan is?"

***

It was already late morning in the town, but it was cloudy. It's going to rain soon.

At the same time, the life of the locals continued, although guards stood at every step.

But there was something more unusual, which, nevertheless, was unnoticed by many. Flowers began to sprout from the ground, in almost every corner of the city, consisting of a green stalk of a large stigma, the central part of the flower, and small red petals.

Many people did not even notice how two or three new plants appeared here and there in just one night.

These new plants watched the life of almost the entire town like thousands of eyes.

But, in fact, they weren't really flowers. It was a green skin, inside of which there were muscles, vessels and ocular nerves that went straight to the stigma. The petals did not play a special role and were rudiments.

The "roots" of all these plants went down into the city sewer to Yakov. He understood that such a large number of armed men, some of whom were trained in magic, were here because of him.

Right now, he had several plans of action. Firstly, he could repeat the Flir scenario and escape, leaving behind a tumor.

But this will only complicate the situation and only more powerful people will be sent after him.

Secondly, he could escape without making too much noise, which, of course, would not save him from persecution, but most likely would not increase the pressure against him.

And thirdly, he could negotiate using the city as a bargaining chip. Perhaps this will give him time to rest until the official mages find a way to get rid of him without harm to the citizens of the country.

But there are also pitfalls here. Are there any guarantees that they care about the city? On the other hand, the city is located on the border of the two powers, which makes it a strategically important stronghold.

Unfortunately, I do not have information about the actions of the Alba border guards. If anything, disputes between the two countries can be used as an aid to the negotiation process.

Hm?

Suddenly, I received two spiritual messages. One is from a fragment of my soul, and the other is from prayer.

It seems that they finally decided to remove the seal from the Fragment and started looking for me, and at the same time there is a very high probability that they can do it.

I tried to interfere with the process by trying to control the Fragment, but I didn't get a response. Perhaps they used some kind of spell or artifact to counter my influence.

Nevertheless, I felt my own energy, my soul. It was not difficult for me to determine where the Fragment is located. It was a local church, which was very logical.

I sent my roots under the foundation of the church, sending several pieces to break through the floor, but as soon as they reached the underground section of the church, I immediately lost control over them, and they no longer showed signs of activity. But when I pulled them out of this invisible zone, they again succumbed to control, although not immediately.

I decided to send Catherine towards the church, so that divination or any other kind of verification would point more at her than at me.

The other clones maintained a semblance of normality.

As for the prayer I received, I listened to it. In my current state, it was difficult to answer them, especially such distant ones, but I decided to try to at least listen.

***

After the darkness infected him, his soul merged with Noctua's soul and form of Conversion.

His skin showed metallic patches in many places, his arms were half turned into bird wings, and his fingers were replaced by feathers, curving unnaturally downward.

The half-wings were large, each reaching a size of almost one and a half meters, which allowed it to bounce and hover in the air for a while, lifting off the ground by a meter.

Only his feet looked normal, but since he was barefoot, they were already covered in blood.

He ran away from the city as far as he could, and as a result, he was now in some village, but it was completely depopulated. There were no animals or people here.

Wooden and rare stone buildings stood completely unattended, village carts stood in the middle of a country road, feeders with food for livestock were only half-eaten.

A lonely chapel with two floors stood in the middle of the village, the morning light reflected from its bell.

Alec hadn't slept for a very long time, so he decided to go inside one of the nearby houses. He didn't pay much attention to the interior, so he just found a bed and lay down.

Less than an hour later, he began to see all sorts of strange things.

In these visions, he saw his parents, his friends, his Master, the real face of Noctua.

He tried to get out of bed, but he turned over and fell to the floor.

"He's coming..."

"We are in danger..."

"Give up control..."

Hundreds of voices fell on his head like a nabat. He instinctively tried to grab his head, but only injured his temple with iron feathers, which only increased the pain.

In a panic, he prayed.

"A Witness and Participant in ancient history,

The Mage of Flesh, Blood and Bones,

The Meat King!

I beg You! Help me!"

Not immediately, but he felt the pain go away, as the muscles relax, but the voices did not go anywhere, continuing to cause pain.

With difficulty, I got up and looked around.

For a moment, the voices in my head fell silent. I looked around, breathing hard, my eyes blurring. I didn't dare calm down.

"Run..." suddenly a single female voice sounded in my mind.