“So small… it really can’t serve as a proper idol after all?”
After trying for a long time, the statue before them still showed no reaction. It was just a cold piece of stone carved in Alegea’s likeness, completely unresponsive to everything Renith and Balubaren did.
Eventually, Balubaren stood up, brushed the dust off himself, and prepared to introduce Renith to the core members of the resistance.
Having given up on the statue, Renith gladly accepted Balubaren’s offer.
She thought to herself that this would be a good opportunity to see what kind of resistance force Balubaren had trained in Ongler City.
“Let’s go.”
Renith said softly, then turned around and took two steps forward.
Just then, a crackling sound suddenly came from behind her, as if something was breaking apart.
Renith whirled around and saw that the once-tiny statue was now covered in overlapping text.
These words seemed to have been deeply chiseled into the statue’s surface. As the carvings deepened, the small statue finally could not withstand the force. It split apart entirely from its limbs and center, falling straight to the ground, sending fragments and powder flying everywhere.
A dazzling orb of light burst out from the shattered stone statue, hovering in the air for a long time as if trying to identify something.
Finally, it locked onto its target and shot toward the codex in Renith’s hands.
“What happened?”
Balubaren heard the noise and turned his head as well.
He happened to catch the moment the orb of light fell into the codex, and his gaze immediately fell upon the shattered idol on the ground.
His face filled with panic. He rushed over, trying to piece the fragments back together, but it was clearly futile.
“What’s going on here?”
Balubaren looked up at Renith, his eyes full of confusion.
Renith briefly explained what had happened, then took out her codex.
She closed her eyes and sank her mind into the codex, discovering that the orb of light had settled on a blank page and was no longer moving.
With the power of holy light magic, Renith easily fished the orb out of the codex.
She had expected the orb to dart around wildly, but to her surprise, the thing was perfectly calm, simply hovering quietly before her.
“What is Alegea trying to tell me?”
Renith muttered.
Balubaren sorrowfully gathered up the debris and fragments, stuffing them all into a small wooden box.
After placing the small wooden box where the idol had originally stood, he came to Renith’s side, curiously studying the orb, wanting to know what exactly had flown out of the statue.
The two of them tried various methods, and finally, with a trace of magical energy infused into it, the orb reacted.
One end of it became long and narrow while the other remained unchanged, like the needle of a compass. The needle spun erratically, then finally settled steadily in one direction.
Renith pulled a thicker coat from her codex, draped it over herself, and walked out the door.
Balubaren also changed his outfit and followed closely behind Renith. Snow still drifted from the sky, and dust still swirled in the air. In this weather, the entire city district was steeped in desolation.
“The needle is pointing toward the inner city.”
Renith looked into the distance and said in a low voice.
The two arrived at the inner city gate and found that it was basically the same as the outer city—two guards stationed at the entrance. The only difference was that the entry fee here was higher.
Renith and Balubaren did not go in. They simply watched from a distance, but were spotted by the guards, who jeered at them, calling them “broke beggars.”
The two ignored the clownish guard and fixed their eyes on the needle.
The needle passed through the gate and pointed straight toward the direction from which Balubaren and Renith had earlier returned.
The two exchanged a glance, both filled with confusion. Was there really anything noteworthy over there?
Of course there was—that eerie statue.
But why would the holy light needle point toward that statue?
Renith could not figure it out no matter how hard she tried.
Combined with the sense of familiarity she had felt toward the statue earlier, Renith felt she needed to examine it more carefully. But right now, the priority was to meet the resistance fighters of Ongler City.
News spread quickly within the city. The battle between two powerful individuals had far-reaching effects, and now people in every street and alley were discussing what exactly that had been.
Most people believed it was a collective hallucination caused by the desert, because the travelers had hidden the information too well—they had no idea that humans could become so powerful.
Along the way, Renith and Balubaren chatted quite a bit.
About the distribution of military forces in Ongler City, about how many powerful individuals were in Ongler City, about the specific locations of factories and companies in Ongler City, and so on…
Renith especially valued Ongler City’s military industry. In the past, Alvester was the empire’s headquarters for military equipment production. Ongler City was not far from Alvester and also possessed some military industry.
But when she learned that the travelers had switched their military production location, Ongler City’s local military industry declined, leaving only mineral resource development companies, while Alvester had large-scale military factories producing heavy firepower.
Vista and the others had successfully proven that only by arming oneself with advanced equipment could one have the ability to resist. So keeping equipment in their own hands was essential.
It wasn’t that Balubaren didn’t want to—but he only had about a hundred people. How could they possibly contend with a garrison three times the size of Mobis City’s?
Mobis City was a frontier settlement with loose legal jurisdiction and slow information spread, but Ongler City was different—they couldn’t just copy the same approach.
After walking for a long time, almost to the other end of the outer city, Renith and Balubaren finally squeezed into a tavern.
The tavern was packed with miners who had just gotten off work, their arms bare, gulping down mugs of not-so-fresh barley ale.
Though the ale was hardly top-quality, it was their only pleasure in an otherwise dull life.
Renith carefully observed these people and noticed that most of them had thorns crawling on their bodies. The thorns moved on their skin like living things, making anyone who looked feel a chill of dread.
“Finding joy in hardship.”
Renith murmured. That was what was written on their faces.
Balubaren led Renith to a private booth in the farthest corner, where three people were sitting.
Seeing that Balubaren had arrived, the three immediately stood and greeted him with great respect.
“Mr. Warden.”
One of them said.
“I’ve told you, I’m not the warden anymore. You don’t need to call me that…”
Balubaren said helplessly.
He realized he had said this many times, but these fellows still hadn’t changed how they addressed him.
“Never mind, call me whatever you like.”
Balubaren waved his hand, signaling them not to worry about it.
“Why is it just you few today?”
Balubaren scanned the room and noticed that today’s gathering was unusually small.
“Danny and the others had something going on today… Gular and the rest left no message, and we don’t know where they went.”
One of them answered.
Balubaren nodded, then began introducing Renith behind him.
On the way there, Balubaren and Renith had already agreed on a cover story—not to reveal her real name, but to call her “Anna.”
“She is… Anna. An outstanding mage from a friend’s circle. Her strength is quite impressive, and she’ll be a great asset to our team… As for just how impressive—that commotion in the south district this afternoon was caused by her fighting a ‘God-Chosen.'”
Balubaren introduced.
Everyone in the room gasped.
They now had a direct sense of Renith’s power. They never expected that this seemingly delicate woman could actually fight a legendary “God-Chosen.”
“You mean… a powerful individual is going to help our resistance?!”
One of them showed joy on his face. If that were true, they could do so much more.
Although their low-tier combat strength was no match for the city’s soldiers, their high-tier combat strength could clearly now contend with them!
Suddenly, he caught Balubaren’s gaze and calmed down. Realizing he had been a bit carried away, he abruptly stood up from his seat, startling everyone.
He began introducing himself:
“My name is Rum Anvide. I’m a local from a poor family, with the strength of a baron.”
“My name is Grey… I’m a journalist—more precisely, a paparazzo. I exposed a noble’s scandal and nearly got killed for it, so I fled from Alvester and sought refuge in the resistance. I’ve decided to stay here for the rest of my life.”
The other person put down his fork, swallowed all the food in his mouth, wiped his lips with a towel, and then spoke.
“My name is Stimt. I’m a university history teacher, from the Imperial Central Academy. I originally came to do fieldwork, but I discovered the strange situation in Ongler City. By chance, I met former Warden Balubaren, and after talking with him, I joined the resistance.”
Indeed, this fellow had that teacherly air about him—the kind that made you want to fall asleep the moment he opened his mouth.
After the three finished their introductions, Renith gave a slight nod to show she understood. It matched the intelligence she had received—locals found it very difficult to join the resistance due to the “Pain-Relief Thorns.” Among the three, only Rum Anvide was a local.
“Do you have the ‘Pain-Relief Thorns’ on you?”
Renith looked at Rum and asked.
Rum shook his head and said:
“My parents hid me well. My ancestors were nobles, so they had some insight. They didn’t want me to be implanted with such a thing, so they kept me well hidden. When I was fourteen, they sent me out of the city to study abroad.”
“So what exactly is the implantation process like?”
Renith pressed further.
Rum was about to speak when Stimt interrupted him:
“Let me explain.”
“There are two methods of implantation. One is to touch the thorns on the statue in the city center. The other is to come into contact with the current city lord at the lord’s mansion.”
Stimt explained.
“For the ‘Pain-Relief Thorns’ obtained by touching the statue in the city center—once the thorns begin to grow, you must hurry to the statue and offer the thorns back, or else you will…”
Before Stimt could finish his sentence, a sudden clamor arose from outside.
Renith pushed the booth door open a crack, just enough to see what was happening outside.
Her fingers rested lightly on the booth door, slowly pushing it open a sliver. Cold air mixed with the stale smell of alcohol from the tavern rushed toward her face.
She narrowed her eyes, her gaze passing through the gap in the door, landing on the chaotic scene in the center of the tavern.
