What is an offensive priest?

Chapter 19 True Soul Master

The deceased is talking!?

The goblin priest's last remaining eye suddenly widened, and an incredulous astonishment flashed in its murky green pupil.

It opened its mouth, as if it wanted to say something.

But Richard snapped his neck cleanly and decisively.

click-

The crisp sound of the neck bones breaking was particularly jarring in the silent vestibule.

Living people can lie, but corpses can't!

The goblin priest's eyes bulged out suddenly, and he made a short, hoarse sound in his throat before the light quickly faded from his pupils.

Its body convulsed violently in Richard's hands a few times before finally going limp and falling as if its bones had been removed.

Kro stood not far away, watching this scene, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.

He hadn't expected Richard to be so decisive in killing the only prisoner who might know the clue.

In battle, hesitation often means death, and Richard's decisiveness far surpasses that of most experienced adventurers.

Befriending such a person would greatly enhance the Sterme family's standing within Baldur's Gate in the future.

He noticed that everyone was looking at him, seemingly waiting for their next move.

Richard shrugged helplessly.

"Talk to the Dead is a third-circle spell, and I'm just a level 2 priest."

Everyone then realized that Richard's overwhelming fighting prowess always made people overlook his rank.

Avel took a deep breath, held his staff horizontally, aimed it at the goblin priest's corpse, and uttered the incantation.

The goblin priest's corpse suddenly floated up, and his previously vacant eyes opened again.

There were no pupils in his eyes, only two pale green lights.

Like a toy that is controlled by others.

Avel looked at Richard.

Richard spoke first.

"Ask her who's behind this?"

Because only the caster can ask questions under the spell of communicating with the dead, Avel repeated Richard's question.

The goblin priest's mouth opened and closed, and a hollow voice, as if coming from a distant place, rang out from the depths of its throat.

"The will of the Most Supreme God...!"

The Supreme God?

"I've been hearing about this cultist group a lot lately at Baldur's Gate."

"They have been operating covertly, spreading blasphemous doctrines, but so far there has been no large-scale action."

Kro had obviously heard of the name, but had never dealt with them.

Avel looked confused.

As a monk, he was well-read and had read all kinds of books about gods, but he was unfamiliar with this title.

"This deity has never been recorded in history."

Richard paused for a moment, then asked his second question.

Why did he kidnap the child?

After Aver's narration, the goblin priest spoke.

"The elect...the elect of the supreme God..."

"What?!" Crow took a step forward, his eyes wide with astonishment. "It means that the Supreme God has chosen a child from Blackrock Town as his chosen one?!"

It is not an ordinary believer, not a priest who serves a god, nor a paladin who receives divine grace.

The elect are the direct representatives of the gods in the material plane, the containers of divinity on earth, and the extension of the gods' will.

To a certain extent, he represents the will of the gods!

Upon hearing this, Avel also became somewhat anxious and quickly asked a third question.

Who is that child?

The goblin priest's hollow voice rang out.

"have no idea……"

There was no hesitation in his voice, as if he were stating a simple fact.

Avel paused for a moment, then realized he had asked a stupid question.

If the goblin priests knew the specific identities of the chosen ones, they wouldn't have needed to capture all the children in the town.

A valuable opportunity to ask a question was wasted.

A look of frustration appeared on Master Zhuo'er's face.

Richard continued to ask.

"Ask it if it's related to the Underdark?"

The goblin priest answered.

"True Soul Master, you come from the Dark Realm..."

as predicted.

The goblin priest's answer confirmed Richard's conjecture.

The Zantarim's alliance with the gnolls to block roads and the goblins to capture children—these seemingly independent threats all point to the same source.

That true soul from the Underdark!

"There's one last question."

Avel reminded Richard.

The "Talk to the Dead" spell can only be used once per day on the same corpse, with a maximum of five questions per use.

Four have been used so far.

Richard did not hesitate.

He needs to know the enemy's strength in order to respond effectively.

How many people are there?

The corpse remained silent for a moment, as if searching for fragments of broken memories.

Then, it slowly opened its mouth, its voice even more indistinct and faint than before.

"Drow elves, tauren, and an army of grey dwarves..."

Everyone frowned as they listened to the goblin priest's words.

Since Avir was present, let's set aside the drow elves.

The evil and warlike grey dwarves alone are difficult to deal with, let alone the minotaurs. Even if ogres and goblins team up, they might not be a match for it.

The nearby goblin tribes and gnolls are likely already under their control.

In contrast, Blackrock Town is only inhabited by Richard and his adventure team.

The remaining guards suffered heavy losses in the last battle and could not muster any effective fighting force.

The situation is not optimistic.

As soon as he finished speaking, the eerie green light in the eyes of the goblin priest's corpse began to dim rapidly.

The spell's duration is up.

The body fell from the sky and crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The flames in his eyes were completely extinguished, and his mouth closed.

This time, it truly became a lifeless corpse.

Richard, as a pastor, possessed exceptional perception.

The moment the body hit the ground, he keenly sensed that something was wrong with it.

He took the dagger from the thief, squatted down next to the goblin priest's corpse, and cut open its head.

Fresh blood mixed with white fluid flowed.

Avel felt nauseous and turned his head away.

"What is this...!"

But soon, Kro's voice caught his attention again.

Inside the goblin priest's mind, a tadpole-like object swam around. Because it had lost its host, it struggled a few times and then became still.

It was a dark purple, translucent worm, about three inches long and as thick as a little finger.

Its body surface is covered with fine, vein-like patterns, and its head has no eyes, only a round, sucker-like mouthpart.

After a brief examination, none of the group recognized the object in front of them.

Avel looked disgusted.

"This thing looks disgusting!"

Richard stood up, and a panel of information appeared before his eyes.

Kill the goblin priest to randomly draw a special attribute.

[The Call of the Supreme God lv1 (0/100)]

[Quality: Rare]

[Effect: Grants additional saving throws against spells cast by followers of the Supreme God, giving an advantage in attacks]

Kro led the thieves to clean up the battlefield; they had just conquered a goblin camp and were cutting off the ears of the goblins and ogres.

In the future, this can be used as proof to redeem rewards at the Adventurers' Guild.

Although the gold coins he exchanged were not important to Crow, who came from the Stemme family, he cared about accumulating glory.

"Sir Richard, once the rewards are redeemed, I will send you your share."

Although Richard did not join the team, everyone clearly considered him a teammate.

Richard did not refuse politely.

His monthly salary at the church was only one gold coin.

Nobody would turn down gold coins.

Richard and his group escorted the children away from the Poison Moss Swamp and embarked on the path back to Blackrock Town.

A large force, emerging silently from the shadows deeper into the Wailing Mountains, like an underground current, reached the goblin camp.

The goblin scouts leading the way.

A green goblin, captured from a nearby tribe to guide them, scrambled back.

It knelt down with a thud before the leading drow elf, its ugly face filled with terror, its teeth chattering, and it could barely speak.

"Return...return to the True Soul Master..."

The goblin scout's voice trembled as if he were shaking in the cold wind.

"The goblin camp... is all..."

"They're all dead!"