My dear witch, please turn evil according to the script!

Chapter 230 The Vanished Dream
After returning to the real world, Roland shook his head to calm himself down and began to think about what to do next.

Just like the Demon King said before he pushed himself back into the real world.

Perhaps that dream space constructed from historical memories contains many secrets that do not exist in the records.

But those things do nothing to address the current anomalies in Isfar.

However, after more than an hour of contemplation in the dream space, Roland temporarily abandoned his plan to go to the headquarters of the Isfar Garrison.

Roland had a feeling that it was unlikely that the old general, Lancelot, was at headquarters.

Although there is no evidence, based on all the information I had previously learned about Lanzhuos, and the fact that I have already verified 80% of the functions of dream magic, I can rely on this information.

He had almost figured out one thing.

That is, this veteran general, who had guarded the empire's borders for decades, may have released the dream magic that was now enveloping the entire Isfar by some means before the disaster became completely out of control.

Even if he didn't initiate the spell, he must have been involved.

To accomplish all this, it's highly unlikely that Landros would still be at Legion headquarters.

He was not a magician, although a warrior of the ninth-ring legendary rank could perform some simple spells by communicating with the Great Source, and even, like Kefas, condense his own unique "domain".

However, casting dream magic of this level is clearly beyond his capabilities.

It is now certain that at least one of the two military legends from the Nine Rings who were transferred from the capital by Salah III to the border has been affected by cognitive pollution.

It's just unknown whether it, like most residents, has become a deformed, fleshy mutant.

However, in any case, it would be a bad idea for Roland to go there alone at this time.

"It seems we need to find some help... The Vatican and the Society, perhaps there are people in those two places who haven't been affected."

Even if we can't find any help, it's good to save some people.

"Let me see... Churches of the Holy See are generally easier to find than buildings of the Academy."

Roland began to look around, searching for the church.

Compared to the diverse and often bizarre architectural styles of the societies, which are usually only identifiable by the society's sign hanging at the entrance, this is a far cry from the other buildings.

The style of the churches is pretty much the same, and churches with very tall spires are obviously more eye-catching.

Soon Roland found a faintly visible spire in the city.

"It's quite far. Oh well, let's go take a look first. Maybe we'll find some living people."

"It is hoped that the church's methods can counteract the effects of cognitive pollution."

To conserve mana, Roland did not use Teleport to travel.

Although the consumption is small, it is still a consumption.

I'll just use the jump method.

Although not a proper warrior, the physical strength of a sixth-circle mage is not comparable to that of ordinary people.

A light jump of ten meters or so is not a big problem, especially since the housing density in Isfar is quite high.

Most houses are only four or five meters apart.

Roland, who was impersonating a phantom thief and was jumping around on various rooftops, arrived at a street in front of the church while in stealth mode.

Once you cross this three-meter-wide road filled with monsters, you'll be able to enter the church.

However, the situation here does not seem optimistic.

Although the church itself still radiated a faint golden light, and the stained glass windows depicting the gods shone with their own brilliance, Roland could tell that these basic protective measures were beginning to crumble.

The reason these protective measures are still effective at this moment is likely because of the thin priest who is standing with his eyes closed outside the church door.

Judging from his attire, he was indeed from this church.

Golden-red flames burned on its body and feet.

Roland had seen this phenomenon on the Iris; it was the last resort of the clergy of the Papacy, a way to ignite their own flame of faith.

The Grand Inquisitor, whose faith burned brightly after sacrificing his soul, used this very method to control half of the Whisperer of Eternal Silence, who was about to descend into reality, for thirty years, and incidentally interrupted the almost successful divine descent ritual, leaving it incomplete.

Otherwise, given the personnel available at the time, there was little chance of victory against the unique and complete demigod who had descended.

Roland did not rashly expose himself, nor did he choose to eliminate the monsters at the scene.

Although to him these flesh-and-blood monsters, mostly transformed from residents, were completely vulnerable.

But in order to operate discreetly in this dangerous city, he felt it was best to be cautious.

Do not engage in any unnecessary fighting.

After a moment of silence for the priest who had sacrificed his life, Roland inscribed two runes beside him.

One is the World Tree, and the other is the Sun.

As two runes lit up, the shadows of trees, shimmering with a faint golden light, enveloped the church under Roland's control, minimizing any disturbance.

The special effects weren't very noticeable this time either.

This is a little trick that Roland discovered.

When unleashing the power of the Primal Runestones using runes, he can achieve precise control over the runestones' power with the blessing of the Rune King's Badge.

Although it consumes a lot of mental energy, it is acceptable compared to the effect.

After doing all this, Roland walked past the priest and into the church.

Then he saw a dozen or so surviving civilians.

Their faces were filled with fear and unease.

However... everyone in the hall was male.

After Roland entered the church, the civilians, who were already under great tension, instinctively showed expressions of fear.

Roland observed the survivors before him.

Without exception, they were all skin and bones from hunger, clearly indicating that they had been trapped here for quite some time.

Roland couldn't help with this, as he himself didn't have much.

The storage ring contained only a small amount of dry food for his own consumption.

However, some of the beef jerky meant for Kalia could be shared, though it would probably be hard to swallow without drinking water.

Judging from the appearance of these survivors, they probably don't care about the difficulty of eating.

Roland took out a small packet of beef jerky and distributed it to the people in front of him.

With Roland's good looks and charisma, and having been starving for who knows how long, the survivors quickly lowered their guard and began sharing the beef jerky.

This surprised Roland somewhat.

After being starving for so many days, these guys didn't even fight over the food?
Roland had initially been thinking about how to stop the fighting over food.

However, it's good that things are orderly, and the interior of the church doesn't seem to have been affected much.

He found a bench, sat down, and took out a piece of chocolate to replenish his energy.

Although you have enough magic power, it's best to keep your physical and mental strength at a high level as well.

And these guys also need time to eat.

This beef jerky would take most people quite a while to chew. However, this special beef jerky was originally an experimental military ration launched by the Royal Capital Magic Academy.

In terms of calories, nutritional value, portability, and shelf life, this product is undoubtedly the best.

The only downside is the difficulty in eating it.

Under normal circumstances, even a standard military alloy steel knife would require several forceful strikes to cut through.

However, if you boil it in hot water, you can get a pot of fragrant beef soup in just ten minutes.

Obviously, there are no facilities for making soup here.

However, since Kalia was able to bite this thing, it proves that it is something that a normal person can bite.

After all, setting aside those innate talents and spells, Kalia is just an ordinary, gluttonous, beautiful girl.

He had personally experienced the bite force; at least it couldn't bite off a piece of flesh from him, so it could be considered within the range of a normal person.

As it turns out, although this beef jerky is hard to chew, it is still at least a food.

At least these starving guys won't mind the difficulty of getting food.

At this moment, a person who appeared to be in relatively good condition stepped out from among the group of survivors and came to Roland's side.

"Excuse me... are you a rescue worker? Or an adventurer sent by the Adventurers' Guild to investigate the situation?"

Seeing the expectant look in the visitor's eyes, Roland gestured for him to sit on the bench opposite him before slowly speaking: "I wouldn't call myself a rescuer, but I am indeed here to address the situation in Isfar."

"The Empire takes the situation here very seriously, but the army and rescue personnel dare not enter until they have confirmed the situation inside the city."

"So let me, someone capable of ignoring the hidden dangers within the city, come in and scout things out."

"Don't worry, once we figure out the source of the anomaly in the city, the rescue will begin immediately."

Upon hearing Roland's words, the person before him visibly breathed a sigh of relief, muttering incantations. Roland could tell that the other person was praying to the gods, reciting prayers.

Seeing this, Roland continued, "Are you the only survivors in the church?"

"And how much do you know about the situation in the city?"

The survivor who was clearly sent to speak with Roland shook his head.

"No, we are not the only survivors... We just left the sanctuary in the church's basement on our own and came here to prevent any accidents because we are men."

"There are also dozens of women, children, and elderly people in the basement."

Roland was puzzled by this: "If that's the case... why are you so hungry? If I hadn't come in, you would have starved to death in two days at most."

The person in front of me gave a wry smile: "There's nothing we can do. After all, we've been stuck here for half a month."

"To be honest, we were lucky. At least the anomaly and the chaos in the city happened to occur on a church Sunday."

“We all prayed here and were lucky enough to escape unscathed.”

"At first, the church clergy were able to stop the resistance and keep the monsters out."

"But soon strange things began to happen among the clergy... Father John was the first to act strangely; he turned into a monster almost instantly."

"If it weren't for Bishop Yes's swift reaction, this place would have been breached from the inside long ago..."

Roland interrupted the person in front of him, saying, "Alright, I understand what happens next."

"Did all the clergy capable of fighting perish, and then the bishop walked out the door, told you to guard the door, and then never came back?"

The other party nodded: "That's right... just as you said. May I ask, may I ask His Excellency the Bishop, he... he still..."

His words gradually choked with emotion; clearly, he already knew the answer when the other person asked the question.

Roland sighed softly: "So, what about the food problem?"

"...Although the church has food reserves, they have almost run out recently."

"The remaining food is only enough for everyone to eat for two days, and it can only be supplied to children and women. This is only because we and the elderly deliberately gave up our share so that the food reserves could last until today."

Roland sighed, pondered for a moment, and then took out most of his dry food and drinking water.

The person in front of him paused for a moment, then quickly stuffed the food back into Roland's arms: "No! We can't take this!"

“Take it. I can still go to the city to find food. What about you? You’ll die as soon as you step out this door.” Roland placed the food on the chair and then said, “Don’t worry, I’ve left myself enough food.”

"You can share it with the others later. It's just a drop in the bucket, but it can at least help you get through one more day."

"Don't worry...it will all be over soon."

"After you've eaten, you can go to your shelter and don't need to stay here."

“I have set up a protective barrier here, so those monsters cannot get in. The eyes of the gods have also been turned to this place, so there is no need to worry about strange disasters coming your way.”

"Go back and get some sleep. I promise you, everything will be over when you wake up."

Roland finished speaking and laughed: "So, for the sake of everything going smoothly, tell me everything you know about why this city has become what it is today."

"Ok!"

Soon, the survivors gathered around and began sharing what they knew.

Although most of the information was useless, Roland still learned some things.

Those are the anomalies in Isfar City, which all started after September of last year.

At first, people simply disappeared mysteriously, but later, some streets and houses were designated as restricted areas.

Later on, even Isfar itself began to be placed under martial law.

These civilians had even witnessed three legendary generals of the ninth ring level waging war throughout the city, directing legion soldiers and officials from the Inspectorate to search for something.

But they always came up empty-handed.

The search lasted for several months.

Until the end of December... the cataclysmic event that nearly destroyed the entire Isfar occurred.

According to the survivors, the first area sealed off by the Legion itself was the Legion headquarters and several nearby city blocks.

They had heard the announcement broadcast by General Langras in the church, instructing all residents to immediately find a safe place to hide and not to go out!

But as soon as the broadcast started, the entire church trembled, and the survivors said that Bishop Yes looked very grim.

After December 28th, Legion soldiers could no longer be seen on the streets.

The church could not withstand the attack. Bishop Yes, burning with the fire of faith, risked his life to protect the lives of nearly a hundred believers behind him until Roland arrived.

After hearing all this, Roland asked one last question.

"Have you... ever entered another dimension? Or rather, found yourselves in a different space?"

The person in front of me shook his head: "No, we've been staying here the whole time, but if I had to say... my sleep quality has always been poor, I dream every day."

"But in the last few days, I haven't had any dreams at all."

"Not only me, but all the brothers who are with me have stopped dreaming."

Roland discovered the key: "When did it start?"

"Um...it seems to be December 28th as well."

(End of this chapter)