Chapter 127 – The Destroyer and the Seeker

Though Kangkai genuinely wished for this young warrior to “turn back from his misguided path,” his perspective was entirely at odds with mainstream beliefs in Faerûn and utterly incomprehensible to this fanatical follower of Tisha Xia’er. Even as he retrieved potions to treat the captive warrior’s wounds, the bloodied fanatic responded with a maniacal laugh:

“Hahaha, how ridiculous! One plays the good cop, the other the bad cop. Since when do lofty Formal-Level dignitaries resort to such tricks?”

His brazen laughter echoed through the rubble-strewn ruins. Within seconds, the captive warrior’s grin twisted into something increasingly ferocious and unhinged, culminating in a hysterical roar:

“You have no idea of Tisha Xia’er’s greatness! When those professionals slaughtered my village for no reason, it was Goddess Tisha Xia’er who saved us dying wretches. She is the only deity capable of granting salvation to all! Expect me to abandon my faith? Dream on!”

Before Kangkai or Bahanger could react, the warrior activated a divine modification hidden within his body. Every blood vessel swelled rapidly as his flesh and skin took on an unnatural ink-green hue.

And then…

BOOM!

A deafening explosion erupted, spraying acid-transformed flesh fragments in all directions. The self-detonated warrior dissolved into a pool of corrosive liquid splattered across the ruins.

“Damn, that’s disgusting! I hate these slimy things!”

Standing at the blast’s epicenter, Bahanger emerged completely unscathed. An almost imperceptible Battle Aura membrane had perfectly blocked the violent explosion, though the splattered acid clearly displeased the dwarf. Despite their familiarity with forge grime, dwarves maintained strict standards of cleanliness.

Kangkai had leaped away before the detonation, his superhuman speed outpacing even the shockwave. Not a single acid drop touched the ranger.

Yet his expression darkened considerably. The explosion’s power exceeded his expectations. A chilling thought struck him: if other hidden believers in Doleiz City possessed such capabilities, the potential casualties would be catastrophic.

Noticing Kangkai’s concern and hesitation, Punk rose slowly and advised calmly:

“If we intend to return and support Doleiz City, we must swiftly eliminate these outposts!”

“…You’re right. All we can do now is focus more intently.”

Suppressing his worries, Kangkai joined the search through the ruins, using his sharp shortsword to slice through rubble while assisting Punk in hunting for clues and antidotes.

With no live captives remaining, all secrets had to be uncovered through their own efforts.

Meanwhile, Bahanger—the inadvertent catalyst of this disaster—carelessly kicked aside large rocks without any real searching intent. He was merely venting his impatience through mindless destruction. As Punk and Kangkai continued their meticulous investigations, the dwarf’s frustration only grew with each passing moment.

When the sun Chikasa began revealing a sliver of its “forehead” above the horizon, Bahanger finally erupted in complaint:

“How much longer are we gonna wait in this damned place? What could you possibly find in this gods-forsaken wasteland? Let’s just hurry to the next outpost and fight already!””Mr. Bahanger, you must not forget that our primary objective is to find the antidote and save the innocent citizens of Doleiz City. Tisha Xia’er can be dealt with anytime, but if we miss the antidote here due to impatience, wouldn’t that lead to more innocent lives lost?”

Kangkai didn’t pause in his actions as he spoke very seriously to Bahanger. The core mission of the righteous ranger was to locate the antidote, and this “Plague Perfume” factory was likely to have some reserves. He clung to the idealistic hope of finding a sample, taking it back for mass production, and saving all the people of Doleiz.

As for Tisha Xia’er… just as he said, she could be confronted anytime.

The second most diligent person rummaging through the ruins was Punk. He too knew the factory might contain the antidote and wanted to find it quickly.

However, Punk’s motivation wasn’t “saving the world” or conducting research—in fact, his storage ring was already filled to the brim with antidote, since he’d long since deciphered the formula.

His urgent search for the antidote was precisely the opposite of Kangkai’s: he wanted to destroy it!

If the residents of Doleiz City and Lord Gollat were cured, who would join him in gaming? Who would force priests to act as cannon fodder in the city?

This was Punk’s current line of thinking—for the sake of his own interests, he absolutely couldn’t allow the antidote to fall into the hands of Kangkai and Bahanger!

As a warrior prone to reckless assaults, Bahanger realized his mistake after hearing there might be an antidote beneath the ruins.

Originally, the thorn wall summoned by Punk could have trapped the enemies for systematic elimination—there was no need for his dramatic aerial hammer strike that unleashed area-of-effect damage.

He’d enjoyed the smash, but now this field of rubble likely meant any antidote had been shattered!

After half an hour, all three team members—whether seeking or aiming to destroy the antidote—had concluded that no antidote could be found here.

Bahanger’s “heavenly descent hammer technique” had successfully caused the underground factory’s collapse, crushing at least a hundred workers along with their finished “Plague Perfume” into “scattered fragments.” Even this rough estimate came from Punk’s divination spell, highlighting both the destructive force of Bahanger’s “Taste Bahanger’s hammer!” and his… catastrophic teamwork.

The only tangible gain was… confirmation that the Tisha Xia’er Church used perfume to spread the plague. After Bahanger sent this information back to Doleiz City via a communication channel, the Tisha Xia’er Church could finally be declared a cult, banning public worship!

Staring at the blatantly obvious “tools of crime” on the ground and several bottles of semi-finished “Plague Perfume,” Kangkai felt profound distress. He still struggled to believe that the Tisha Xia’er Church had actually manufactured and disseminated the plague—he’d previously assumed they were merely instigators.

As a benevolent person, he simply couldn’t fathom the depths of ruthlessness “evil” would sink to achieve its goals.Bahanger, as always, remained indifferent. He couldn’t care less whether Tisha Xia’er was promoting plague spread or actively spreading the plague herself. All he knew was that Tisha Xia’er possessed the antidote and refused to hand it over, so the “honor-keeping” dwarf was determined to seize it by force—nothing more!

In summary, although they hadn’t found Tisha Xia’er in the first stronghold, it only strengthened Kangkai and Bahanger’s resolve to stop at nothing to kill (and rob) her. This, of course, worked greatly to Punk’s advantage.

Standing amid the thoroughly ransacked ruins, Punk glanced at the nearly half-risen Chikasa, then turned to Kangkai and Bahanger, saying:

“Time is running short. To prevent Tisha Xia’er from causing trouble in Doleiz City, we must make her perceive us as a threat. It’s time to head to the next location.”

“Let’s hurry. Every second wasted means another innocent life lost.”

“Nothing more to say. My hammer can’t wait any longer.”

Seeing that his two “teammates” had no objections, Punk nodded and once again cast the Swiftness Spell on himself and Golem One.

With an emotionless command of “Let’s move,” the three figures vanished in an instant, leaving behind only the chaotic wreckage burying fresh flesh and blood!

(End of Chapter)