377 Some Analyses
Selma Payne’s POV:
I believed Dorothy’s father must be a powerful wizard, but he didn’t have the Eye of Insight, which meant he couldn’t help much in this.
However, we still listened to the Great Elder’s suggestion and asked Cage Doloria. He left a lot of records about the Eye of Insight in his notes, so maybe he could find a way.
“In fact, there are indeed a few records in the classics that can be called solutions.” Surprisingly, Cage had solutions. The first is a ‘soul bridge’. If the target’s soul is strong and clear enough, he can freely move his soul area, such as opening or closing it. The owner of the Eye of Insight can negotiate with the target through the ‘soul bridge’ to open up the area and ensure the privacy of the vision.”
It sounded like a good idea, but... the Elf King’s soul had been sealed by himself. If he could communicate with us, we wouldn’t have to work so hard to find a way.
“The second is ‘synesthesia vision’. If the identity of the holder of the Eye of Insight is not trusted, she can choose to share her ‘vision’ with a trusted person so that the other party can monitor what she sees and hears.”
“Shared?” I immediately realized that it was a good idea. “How does that work?”
“It is a pity that this method has many restrictions because the Eye of Insight was a very closed power. It is difficult to share vision unless there is a very close connection with the person sharing it, such as marriage, bloodline, and other strong ties.”
Great, the second path was also blocked. We couldn’t just let Dorothy marry someone for this. The person who the elves would trust would be the elves.
Those were the two safest methods he knew. The other methods were harmful and had a high chance of leaving irreversible consequences. Other than that, Cage had no other choice.
After cutting off the communication, we fell into a state of helplessness.
Master Hayley tried to use runes to construct a two-way visual platform, but when she considered one of the platforms as the Eye of Insight, this task was filled with complicated challenges. The success rate was unsatisfactory, and it required a lot of time. Dorothy assisted her in the construction while I brought the others out to continue searching for clues.
We patrolled the forest area around the capital, especially in the direction of the attack from Azazel’s party. The elves had already investigated it before us, but they found nothing. We didn’t believe in heresy, so we searched again and again. In the end, we had to admit that the cultists, with the help of the demons, had cleaned up the place very thoroughly.
I had already stayed in the Elven Capital City for two days, but I couldn’t help but feel dejected at my lack of progress.
“Maybe it’s just a waste of time to stay here,” I said in the evening, discussing with Dorothy, Master Hayley, and the others. “There are very few clues left in the Elven Capital. I think it’s time for us to leave rather than running around like headless chickens.”
“But the Elf Forest is so big. Which direction should we go?”
“The Council of Elders and Kaya said Azazel’s party left from the West Gate, just like how they came. Logically speaking, they are most likely to be active in the western region, but we borrowed from many city-states in the west when we came here. We have not heard of that place being attacked by Azazel’s party or any traces of them.
“Even the cultists have to eat. Considering that their suspected leader is seriously injured, they must be badly injured now and will choose to act in secret. Do you still remember the various evil sacrificial arrays we found on our way here? They’re not as evil as the spell formations that use orphans as sacrifices we’ve discovered before. Therefore, Azazel’s party is probably using these spell formations to solve minor problems, such as physiological needs such as food, clothing, housing, and transportation.
“But why don’t they enter the city-state to solve these problems? Even if he was seriously injured, there were still other cultists. They could sneak into the city to engage in smuggling transactions or carry out another attack like the one in the Elven Capital City. According to the elves’ explanation, Kafka and the wanderers didn’t do much in the attack, and most of the damage was caused by the elves who were infected by the evil force.”
“This is a business that’s worth a ton of money. As long as the source of the pollution is thrown out, even if Azazel’s party doesn’t do anything, they’ll be able to harvest a dead city in a few hours. The experiences in the four cities of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter have shown that only some have the powerful sealing power of the Elf King.
“The simplest option wasn’t chosen. Why is that? It couldn’t be that this group of heretic cult believers had suddenly become great philanthropists who abstained from meat and believed in a religion. They probably don’t have any more concentrated evil energy. Even if they do, it’s perhaps not enough, so they must use it sparingly.
“Here’s the problem. If they still have a source of contamination, why should they use it sparingly?”