Meia quietly stared at the hundreds of souls that converged around Veren. From her observation, she was sure that Veren could control them to a degree too.
Envy bloomed deep in her heart.
'...With this many souls under his control, he can use almost all of the advanced rituals of the pale mask god.' Meia's eyes flashed for a second.
To be able to see the dead spirits or soul, one needed to dye their soul with dark divinity. This was the primary reason Veren couldn't see them before obtaining the eye of solace.
Normally, dead souls are very aggressive, trying to take over other's minds the instant they enter a body. These brought many risks while dealing with strong souls, to the members of the pale mask church.
Veren held a huge advantage in this field. He experimented to see his limits too.
Meia took a glance at the black robe that Veren wore today.
'I can feel some divinity from it....'
Veren's eyes twitched and moved to look to his left. A huge black being currently stood before a couple, but as if it were invisible, they moved right past it.
The black being seemed to have hands and legs protruding out of its body, and eyes and mouths appeared on its black skin randomly, vanishing after a second.
'A wrath...it was born after I controlled a thousand dead souls and fused them into one. If I use this soul as a sacrificial material, I should be able to perform a peak level act.'
With this wrath, Veren was confident enough to fight an inquisitor for a while. Winning or losing would still be unknown though.
After looking around the bustling streets for a while, Veren decided it was time and moved into the alleyway with light steps.
Meia followed without a question.
'Following all alleyways in the Desprit city would only lead to one place...' Veren recalled the words from the novel.
The condition of the alleyway was the worst, with even excretion of humans or animals present.
Veren circulated his dark divinity into his robe, which was given by Helvry. Dozens of dead souls rushed into it too, creating a dark halo around it.
'Now, Unless it's someone from a pale mask church, no one can see me or sense my presence.' Veren clenched and unclenched his fist.
"I'm going to start moving faster now." Veren glanced at Meia, who was simply watching him.
Veren put power into his leg.
Bang!
Small craters formed on the floor as Veren dashed through the alleyway. This was the result when he didn't use any divinity to strengthen his body. His divinity was at level 7 now, and the boost he would get from it was very high.
'I feel like a superhuman...' Veren looked back and saw Meia, who had a surprised expression.
'She is following just fine...By now, the raid must have already started.' Veren calculated in his head.
At the end of the alleyway, they were greeted by a collapsed building and the sounds of ongoing fights.
Veren frowned, 'Elite knights...?'
Blankly looking at the white armoured knights fighting, Veren felt his heart grow cold.
There was someone like him in the royal family or someone connected to them at least.
With everything planned, he didn't think of the possibility of this person being one step before him.
Veren gritted his teeth, he couldn't step back this time. His goal was to get one of the main pieces that would be his foundation.
The inheritance of the path of neutrality!
As he watched the knights slowly defeat people with black eyes, Veren's eyes shone. He saw a kid, the same age as him standing a little distance away.
"Who is that?" Veren asked Meia, without turning back. He could already tell by the kid's attire, but he wanted to make sure.
"...That is the third prince of the holy kingdom, Kalven Leverace."
"Can you kill him?" Veren asked seriously.
"No. We are to not touch any royalty before the plan." Meia answered coldly.
Killing intent was surging within Veren, however he could only hold it in.
He looked at the people who tried to defend the collapsing house with all their might.
'The puppeteer of the shadows...'
It was one of the most famous gods in this world, but all the believers of this god are treated as heretics, in the holy kingdom, and many others.
Playing with the bodies of dead people will not collect good feelings after all. But knowing the novel, Veren knew this god's true feelings.
The puppeteer of the shadow hated others losing their loved ones. If a believer can work hard enough, resurrection can be achieved.
Then why would a person treated like a heretic hide in this city? Which was the closest to the camp for training future inquisitors?
It was of course to create a perfect body that he could use to practise the path of neutrality.
'The heretic's name was Jecren. If I remember correctly, he must be in the process of transferring his soul into the new vessel that he created...'
That was also the reason the third prince, Kalven, had an ugly expression right now.
"Hide your presence if you want to follow me." Veren jumped into one of the gaps in the collapsed building. He wasn't worried about Meia, after all, even after being so near to the elite knights, no one had sensed her presence yet.
'The cellar...' Veren blankly looked around for a minute. He had planned to follow the protagonist originally, but it couldn't be helped now. He punched the ground with all his might, he didn't hold back, using the destructive power of dark divinity to the fullest.
Bang! Crack!
Both of them fell into the cellar, However, he didn't hesitate for a second and punched the shelf that held unknown material.
Break!
Seeing a passageway within the hole he created, Veren dashed into it with no break.
.....
On the other side, the elite knights and the captain, who seemed to be in his mid-twenties, surrounded Kalven.
"What happened?" Kalven showed a confused face.
"We just felt a foreign divinity within the enemy house." The captain explained with a hardened expression.
All the puppets were dead, leaving only the bloodstains everywhere.
Kalven thought for a second, before resolutely ordering everyone to move towards the heretic's base.
'If I have that inheritance and the vessel, I will definitely be able to climb to the top of the world. I might even become a god!'
As luck has it, Kalven's talent was just average so he had no choice but to look for another way.
However, just after a minute of entering the base, Kalven's face grew dark. There was a hole leading to the cellar, apparently, someone just intruded a moment ago.