Jacques immediately turned to leave. Choosing to return was the best option, and it would be wisest for him to follow along.

Whether it meant reporting the anomalies of Beiqi Village or simply forgetting everything that happened here, both were methods to extricate himself from danger.

Getting involved now would mean potentially facing a Steel Seed priest, an entity capable of manipulating Nest Beasts, and a Whale Transformation Disease patient.

The two of them were merely unseasoned clergy members. Meddling in such matters would be overestimating their capabilities and extremely unwise.

Isabella herself still carried the ideal of revitalizing her family. In this situation, was it truly worth risking her life for the people of some small village?

This time, Isabella understood how those people in the church—the ones she found utterly distasteful—had come to be.

Those individuals were shaped through such choices made time and again.

If she chose to flee with Jacques today, she would instinctively reference this experience when facing similar situations in the future.

Encountering difficulties, she would choose escape.

Gradually, she would cast aside the church's teachings of commanding the masses and maintaining order. The innate kindness born from emotional resonance and empathy with others would likewise fade away.

She would gradually become one of those people she herself despised.

Then one day, a naive young girl would burst into her life, spouting "childishly naive" opinions, eyes filled with contempt for her.

At that moment, she would feel stung, then begin reminiscing about the past with sudden clarity, lamenting her lost youth, followed by either regret or stubborn defiance.

But no matter how she imagined it, that version of herself would undoubtedly be ugly.

"Jacques, you need to monitor the merchant group about to depart. Secretly place the intelligence among their goods to ensure the church in Wavetail Town receives the information."

The church possessed certain covert communication methods, such as sacred ciphers generally only decipherable by clergy members.

When merchant groups entered towns, they underwent certain inspections.

Even if these people smuggled whalehide ore, they would inevitably have some cover items exposed to the examining priests and holy knights.

The cipher would then be discovered, allowing the church to receive the message.

"Of course, if you leave now, that's still perfectly acceptable." Isabella had no intention of interfering with Jacques' choice.

"The transfer order from Wavetail Town is clear. As long as you leave, you remain a member of the Dartmanley family, still a holy knight, unaffected by the turmoil here."

"Jacques, I hope you can set aside those emotions and make a serious choice."

"This might very well be the turning point of our destinies."

"No, I'll stay and investigate thoroughly." Jacques' gaze gradually solidified with determination. If he left now, he would live his entire life in unease.

Once the decision was made, the two began acting quickly.

Meanwhile, Naimes was squinting his eyes, waiting for movement from either Isabella or the old priest.

He could be certain that with the veil over Beiqi Village's strange events being pierced, this matter could no longer conclude peacefully.

Let Isabella take the vanguard first, probe the old priest's true strength, and then it would be his turn to act.

"The most critical issue now is obtaining faith power that belongs to me." Naimes realized this was something that truly couldn't be rushed.

"Unless..." Naimes' thoughts drifted to the past. Before falling into the Abyss, he had held another identity.

Perhaps that earlier human self had accumulated some faith power belonging to him.

But Naimes remained uncertain whether he could still access that past human identity.

"And once I touch that thing, it's highly likely to attract the Oath God's attention. This requires careful consideration."

By noon during the search, Naimes deliberately gathered with a group of young people and lit a fire.

Using bones, preserved meat, mushrooms, wild vegetables, and similar ingredients, they cooked a pot of soup.

The thinking of young people hadn't yet solidified, and as they sat together, they listened to Naimes talk about things in Breathspring City.

The decadent luxuries of big cities were things these small village people couldn't even dream of in their wildest fantasies.

Their imaginations still lingered at the level of "city people having endless supplies of preserved meat"—like picturing an emperor using a golden hoe.

Naimes merely shared some things Naimes had witnessed, and these young people were already stunned into silence, their bowls of soup halted at their lips as they seemingly contemplated all that splendor and wealth.

"Not bad desires..." Naimes slowly collected the desires emerging from these people.

This was one of the main materials for summoning demons.

If ordinary people lacked methods to collect desires, they could only choose blood sacrifice.

Killing the target instantly to stimulate their soul's emotions and attract demons.

But Naimes couldn't afford such wasteful methods.

A person could be utilized in numerous ways. Simple sacrifice would only waste most of the valuable components.

As long as one understood the rules, summoning demons was absolutely the most cost-effective choice.

Demons proliferated like pests in the Abyss, most desperate to reach the material plane to taste fresh flesh and souls.

Small demons needed to hunt hundreds of their own kind to advance using their flesh and souls.

But with humans, perhaps only half that number would suffice.

And most importantly, human resistance was weak.

Hunting their own kind was like wild beasts hunting similarly sized prey—the slightest carelessness could lead to injury, making themselves targets for others.

Such worries didn't exist on the material plane.

And since they were summoned, if they encountered danger on the material plane, they still had the option to retreat to the Abyss.

Of course, in recent years, summoning demons had become more troublesome for those unfamiliar with the trade.

Those witches enjoyed summoning demons to use as magical materials, ruining the market.

Witches possessed strong learning capabilities. Early mages were merely lackeys following behind demons, but once they gradually broke free from demonic influence, they began modifying demon summoning.

After all, as natural supernatural beings, even a single drop of a demon's blood counted as supernatural material.

Thus emerged a group of witches who used various methods to trick less intelligent demons to the material plane, then employed contracts, magic arrays, and other means to cut off the demons' retreat, farming them as materials.

Since then, demons of the Abyss grew increasingly wary, needing to test the energy reactions of the outside world with each summoning. Check latest chapters at Novᴇl_Fire(.)net

Once they detected a witch's energy fluctuations, the summoning would likely fail.

Fortunately, as a demon himself, Naimes naturally knew how to summon demons efficiently.

After completing all these preparations, Naimes gained another trump card.

But just at that moment, Naimes heard violent noises coming from not far away.