Chapter 68: Pursuit

Chapter 68: Pursuit

The cultists had left their stronghold some time ago, but this wasn't a major issue for Alex. Thanks to the Zerg's keen senses, he quickly detected the faint smell of sulfur lingering in the air. Following the scent, Alex and Fina tracked down the traces left by the cultists without much difficulty.

This wasn't particularly hard. According to Paladin Conan, there were a total of thirty Temple Warriors stationed at the stronghold, excluding the cavalry patrolling outside. This was no small number. The cultists hadn't killed them all but instead captured them before leaving. Moving such a large group without leaving any traces would be impossible.

It didn't take long for Alex and Fina to determine the direction the cultists had taken, and they continued tracking them. Alex mainly focused on tracking, while Fina wasn't idle either. Although this novice priestess had a somewhat dogmatic approach, her adherence to doctrine had its advantages—at least she knew everything taught in the books.

Along the way, Fina was responsible for detecting any magical marks that the cultists might have left behind. According to her, cultists often place warning marks in the places they pass through to avoid being detected. This is a simple spell that alerts the caster as soon as someone crosses the mark.

Because this spell is very convenient and has a duration of only half an hour, it has become a signature spell used by many magic practitioners for vigilance. As a priestess, Fina naturally had learned how to use, detect, and sense such spells. Her role was to decipher and locate these marks to prevent Alex from triggering an alarm, which would cause unnecessary trouble.

Thus, Alex took on the task of tracking the cultists' traces, while Fina stayed by his side, keeping watch and searching for magical marks. Their teamwork was fairly effective. What intrigued Alex even more was that despite her frail appearance, this novice priestess had an excellent physical condition.

Since they left the stronghold, it had been most of the day, and they had even crossed a mountain. Yet, Fina was still composed, showing no signs of exhaustion. Alex, being of Zerg constitution, had no concerns about stamina, but he was surprised by the stamina of this novice priestess.

Then again, thinking about how people in this world seemed to train their bodies by cultivating starlight energy, it wasn't that surprising. Of course, this also had its downsides—like with Stone and Malte, who seemed invincible but were instantly crippled by a single debuff from the Son of Chaos…

Perhaps the cultists, feeling overconfident after breaking through the stronghold, or perhaps because they had other important matters to attend to, didn't bother to cover their tracks. With Fina handling the vigilance against magical marks, Alex was able to search much more quickly. Finally, at dusk, Fina made a new discovery.

"There's a magical mark ahead, Mr. Alex!"

"A magical mark?"

Hearing Fina's warning, Alex immediately stopped in his tracks, feeling a surge of excitement. According to Fina, magical marks last for only half an hour. The fact that they hadn't seen any marks along the way could mean that the marks had either been missed by the cultists or had simply expired.

If the latter was the case, it meant they were still some distance away from the cultists. But now that a mark had appeared, it indicated that Alex and Fina had closed in on the cultists, and the distance between them was likely less than half an hour.

"Can you handle it?"

When Alex asked this, Fina confidently nodded. "Of course. I can temporarily disable the magical mark's power. Although I can only maintain it for about ten seconds, that should be enough."

A magical mark manifests as a line rather than a circle, meaning it's more like a transparent wall formed by magic. If someone crosses the wall, it triggers an alert. Because of this, magical marks are difficult to bypass, which is why they're commonly used for tracking and vigilance.

However, spellcasters naturally have ways to deal with them. Alex watched the priestess beside him as Fina stepped forward, staring at the seemingly empty air in front of her. She took a deep breath, then raised her staff.

The staff had been in Fina's hand all along. It was about the length of a person's forearm, silvery-white, with strange patterns and characters engraved on it. At the top of the staff was a round white crystal. Alex wasn't sure if this was standard equipment for a priestess, but from Fina's appearance, it seemed like it was.

"Holy light of order, grant me the power to veil the truth!"

As she softly chanted, Fina raised her staff and pointed it at the empty air in front of her. Soon, Alex saw a white beam of light shoot out from the tip of the staff, striking the air. Immediately, the air in front of him rippled like the surface of a pool, and then a strange wall appeared before him.

The wall was transparent and blue, with mysterious runes flashing on it. These runes combined to form a wall about ten centimeters thick, stretching out like a towering city wall before them. However, though it appeared tall, the wall didn't seem solid at all; it was more like a stage set used in a play.

Under the beam from Fina's staff, the originally glowing wall gradually dimmed. Soon, Alex watched as the glowing runes went out one by one, and the blue barrier turned gray.

"Now, Mr. Alex!"

"Alright."

Upon hearing Fina's words, Alex nodded. He glanced at the barrier before him, then stepped forward. Crossing the barrier took only a moment for Alex, and to his surprise, he felt nothing at all. Even with his Zerg-enhanced senses, he detected no movement. This deepened Alex's curiosity and wariness about the magic in this world.

It seemed he would have to find a way to study the magic of this world. "How strange…"

As Alex pondered his future plans, Fina also crossed the barrier, but instead of excitement, she looked puzzled. She turned her head to gaze at the barrier, her face full of confusion.

"What's wrong, Miss Fina?"

Seeing Fina's puzzled expression, Alex timely asked. Although she wasn't a mage, she was still a spellcaster, so getting more information from her would be beneficial. Fina didn't hesitate and quickly responded.

"Didn't Paladin Conan mention that the enemy has a Destruction Mage?"

"Yes, he did."

"But it's strange... I didn't sense any infernal energy in that magical mark."

"So, does that mean there's another spellcaster?"

Alex was taken aback by Fina's response, then quickly realized something.

"Could it be a Necromancer or a Lich? They're often associated with cultists..."

"This is different, Mr. Alex. You may not be familiar with this, but even though many professions can cast spells, their spells always carry specific energies. For instance, a Destruction Mage's spells would definitely have infernal energy, and a Necromancer's spells would carry the energy of death. Even the divine spells we priests and bishops cast contain a holy aura. But the magical mark we encountered earlier doesn't feel evil or carry any death or destruction energy. Instead, it feels very precise, more like..."

"More like what?"

This time, Fina hesitated for a while before answering softly.

"More like a spell cast by a mage from the School of Order... And it seems that the caster is quite powerful."

"How powerful?"

"Judging by the magical mark's potency, at least elite level."

"I see."

Alex nodded at Fina's reply. He had a good grasp of his own strength. Before his journey to "Edge of Tomorrow," Stone had mentioned that Alex's regular strength was about mid-level elite. During the battle in Shadow Canyon, Alex confirmed that if he fought with all his might, an ordinary Temple Knight wouldn't stand a chance against him.

Even against Stone and Malte, Alex could hold his own. If he activated his soul stone, they would certainly die. As for a Lich Lord, Alex believed he would need to activate his soul stone to stand a chance in battle, though the outcome would be uncertain.

Now, with his time-manipulating ability and greatly enhanced physique, Alex's regular strength was at the peak of the elite level. If he activated his soul stone's abilities, he would definitely reach the master level, and if fully activated, he could contend at the legendary level. This confidence was why Alex volunteered to track the cultists, knowing that as long as there wasn't a Lich Lord among them, he could easily deal with them.

Moreover, Alex wanted to test how his time-manipulating ability would perform in real combat.

"Let's keep moving."

Though curious about an Order mage appearing among the cultists, Alex didn't dwell on it. Fina, however, seemed deep in thought, her face showing concern.

They continued forward, crossing several more magical barriers. Finally, they stopped at the edge of a forest.

The reason was simple: this time, even Fina was stumped.

"It's no use; this forest is protected by a powerful illusion barrier and an alarm barrier."

After several attempts, Fina regretfully informed Alex of the bad news.

"I tried to disable them, but these barriers are interconnected. If one barrier is disturbed, the others will immediately trigger a chain reaction. I suspect this is the cultists' camp."

"It seems they're up to something..."

Hearing Fina's report, Alex frowned. If there was nothing suspicious, why would the cultists go to such lengths to set up such complex defenses?

Clearly, something was going on inside!

However... Alex had no way to enter the forest. Though he could accelerate time, Fina mentioned that the barriers would react as soon as they detected any disturbance. Alex's ability didn't involve space, so if he entered the barrier, all he could do was delay the barrier's response.

"Damn it..."

Through the Zerg's life detection, Alex could clearly sense several life forms deep within the forest. They were likely the cultists and their captives. But the dense forest blocked his vision, making it impossible to see what the enemy was doing.

If only he had a drone for aerial reconnaissance... Hmm?

At this thought, Alex suddenly had a bright idea.

Didn't he draw a summoning soul stone in the last ten-pull? If he remembered correctly, it should be an angel, right?

Since it's an angel... at least... it should be able to fly, right?

(End of Chapter)

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