CHAPTER 183: TARGETED

At Aleisterre's capital, a soldier on a warhorse rushed through the city gates with reports from the frontlines. The soldier presented a special identification token to the guards at the gate, granting him access through a designated route leading to the relevant officials.

The soldier placed the thick, magically sealed, and encrypted envelope on the desk of the official before him, then saluted before stepping aside.

The official, Rudolf, picked up the envelope and glanced at it. "A magically sealed letter from the Flame Marshal himself? Is it urgent?"

Rudolf was fairly well acquainted with Black Benn, from whom the letter had originated.

"Lord Rudolf, this letter is highly classified. I don't have the clearance to be aware of its contents—and, for the sake of my own life, I'd rather not know," the soldier replied somewhat cheekily. He turned away from Rudolf and covered his ears in avoidance.

"You sly dog. You've gotten pretty sharp after working under Black Benn for so many years, huh?"

Rudolf chuckled as he carefully unsealed the letter with a corresponding counter-sigil, extracting the parchment within.

"If I hadn't learned to be sharp, I'd probably be dead by now," the soldier responded without turning around.

"Hmph, smooth talker. Let's see what Black Benn wants from me this time..."

Rudolf shook his head and began reading the letter.

"Prayer Network... able to defend against mental attacks, thus bypassing the activation of the Heaven's Gloom marker. The Lady of the Night, the Church of Nightfall...?"

Rudolf frowned as he scanned the parchment. The information that Black Benn had provided, along with his request for an investigation, gave Rudolf much to consider.

He set the letter down and pondered the implications.

"On its own, this isn't much of an issue. If the Nightblades gain better resistance against mental corruption, that's actually a good thing. But if this network can bypass the Heaven's Gloom marker, the royal family won't sit still...

"Investigate the Church of Nightfall. Investigate the creator of the Prayer Network. Fine. The Nightblades haven't hidden its existence, so it shouldn't be too difficult. But once the investigation yields results, what exactly do you plan to do with them?"

Muttering to himself, Rudolf let his magic flow to his fingertips. He tapped a certain spot on the sturdy wooden desk, triggering a brief chime. Then, he pulled open a drawer and retrieved a few sheets of paper.

"Hmm... Let's see. I hadn't paid much attention before, but this Church of Nightfall, devoted to some obscure goddess called the Lady of the Night, has actually developed to a surprising extent within the capital. There are believers within various guilds and even among ordinary citizens. And interestingly... the Nightblades seem to have a large number of members who worship this goddess. No wonder...

"The registrar... Fang Stuart? Him? So this church has existed in the capital for quite some time but only started expanding rapidly recently. The archbishop is... Wang Yu? Hm?"

Given the Church of Nightfall's expansion, Wang Yu could no longer deliberately hide his role as its archbishop. While this information was still not widely known, intelligence circles in the capital had inevitably taken note. In fact, Wang Yu's title as archbishop was clearly written in three separate reports that Rudolf now had in front of him.

As he flipped through those reports, Rudolf noticed that, despite the Church of Nightfall's growing presence, there wasn't much detailed intelligence on it. The recent increase in believers had prompted the royal intelligence agencies to conduct some investigations, but their findings were limited.

After all, Aleisterre wasn't a theocracy. The dominant faith was the Church of Light, which had always tolerated other religious groups. A person could worship the God of Light while also believing in other deities—the God of Light wouldn't mind. However, other churches would. It was bound to create friction.

Yet, oddly enough, the Church of Nightfall seemed to align perfectly with the doctrines of the God of Light...

After a brief moment of thought, Rudolf shifted his focus from the church itself to Wang Yu.

"Fang Stuart appointed him as a member of the Nightblades' special ops team. Background check... completely blank. No place of birth, no known past achievements, as if he appeared out of nowhere. Previously a commoner, now a full-fledged knight... interesting."

A playful smile appeared on Rudolf's face. He enjoyed uncovering hidden information from intelligence reports—it was one of his favorite pastimes.

"High resistance to mental attacks, nearly immune to mental corruption. Made significant contributions during the Hellgate incident and the academy invasion. Also played a crucial role in a lesser-known investigation regarding a blessed vampire..."

Bit by bit, Rudolf traced Wang Yu's journey. A once-unknown figure had risen rapidly, consistently involved himself in major incidents, and steadily gained influence.

"This rise in status... is he another Uller?"

Clicking his tongue in amazement, Rudolf realized that he had overlooked a particularly intriguing individual within the capital.

Individual within the capital.

Wang Yu had always kept a low profile, avoiding noble social circles and focusing solely on completing Nightblade missions and personal training. Most of the time, he was nearly invisible, a mere shadow within the city.

However, as he continued to leave his mark in key events, traces of his presence became harder to ignore.

The academy invasion had been a turning point—rescuing the academy and helping recover the strategic curio Silent Forest had solidified his reputation.

Ambitious nobles were the first to recognize Wang Yu's value. And now, even the royal family had begun paying attention to him.

The most recent intelligence on Wang Yu mentioned his participation in the academy's last opening of the Grand Library. Something had happened there. The heir of the house of Daniel had died inside the library.

The academy and the Daniel family had reached a settlement, but due to the academy's tight security measures, the details remained unknown.

Was Wang Yu involved? At first glance, the situation had seemed like a coincidence: the academy had offered him access to the Grand Library as a reward for his past service.

But Wang Yu showed up in far too many places far too often.

"Archbishop of the Church of Nightfall. Extremely high mental resistance. Member of the Nightblades... Even if I claim you have nothing to do with the Prayer Network, convincing others will be difficult."

Rudolf stroked his grayish-white beard, deep in thought as he examined Wang Yu's file. Discovering such an intriguing figure through Black Benn's request was an unexpected bonus.

"Sorry, interesting fellow. Since Black Benn asked me for this, I can't refuse. But I'll be keeping a close eye on you. As for how the royal family will handle you... that's none of my concern."

Chuckling, Rudolf compiled the information on the Church of Nightfall and Wang Yu, along with written speculation about his possible connection to the Prayer Network, and sealed the document.

With three precise taps on his desk, he sent the documents to their intended destinations.

"Alright. Go back and tell Black Benn that I've forwarded him the investigation results. If he wants more details, he should have the royal family contact him directly. I don't want to be bothered again. This case is interesting, sure, but my focus is still on the assassin who has been successfully targeting nobles across the city."

He picked up another thick stack of reports detailing recent noble deaths.

"Understood!" The soldier dropped his act, removed his hands from his ears, and swiftly left the building.

"It looks like your magical ability has improved after the return of your virtualized hand—but what about your wizardry?"

Sitting at the dining table, Wang Yu watched the girl across from him conjure an extremely intricate spell structure. The complex magical trajectories intertwined in a dazzling display. It seemed chaotic, but the mana was actually part of two intertwined and complementary magic circuits that didn't interfere with one another.

This was the foundational spell model for a fifth-tier spell. Any magician aiming to cast spells of the next tier had to master the fundamental model corresponding to that tier's complexity by ensuring they could construct it fluidly at will.

After all, the difficulty of forming the foundational spell model represented the simplest challenge of that tier. Only by successfully constructing it could one possess the most basic qualification to cast spells of that level.

"My wizardry has slightly weakened, but there seem to be additional changes in certain aspects as well. I'm not sure whether that change will be beneficial, but I'll probably find out in time."

Just as Avia finished speaking, the once-stable foundational fifth-tier spell model in her hands began to waver. It trembled uncontrollably. The mana currents within clashed with one another in a disorderly fashion.

"Ah! Wang Yu, help me out!" The girl flustered, trying to dispel the unstable construct. However, if she focused too much on breaking it down, she would lose control completely—at which point it would explode just like her original prototype of Spellweaver's Tome.

And if a failed fifth-tier spell were to detonate, the roof of the house would be as good as gone.

"Shooting for a fifth-tier spell this early, huh? That's something only a mage can handle—it's a bit of a stretch for you right now, but the fact that you even got close... Your talent is seriously terrifying. Keep at it!"

Wang Yu picked up a silver needle resting beside him and, with precise aim, struck a node within the intricate web of magical runes in the girl's hands. The precious anti-magic mithril that coated the tip of the needle allowed him to rupture a critical rune embedded within the model.

As soon as that rune shattered, the spell structure in Avia's hands gently unraveled and dissolved into pure magical energy.

"Phew! Knights really have insane eyesight and precision control over their bodies... I'm so jealous." Avia exhaled in relief, slumping back into the wooden chair by the table.

"You should be more careful. If that had exploded just now—" Wang Yu shook his head as he patted Avia's. "Besides, given your talent in both wizardry and magic, should you really be envious of knights?"

"Hehe." The girl gave an embarrassed smile.

Just as Wang Yu was about to say something else, a notification came in from his communication device. One glance at it, and his expression instantly turned serious.

"That noble killer... has appeared again."