The bishop is unfathomable.

Although he had escaped a calamity for the time being, Li Wei realized that this promotion ceremony was different from the last one.

If the last detective game was a beginner's guide where clues were practically laid out on your face, then this one is seemingly incredibly complex, but in reality, it's a battle royale.

There may be many secrets behind this incident, but it doesn't seem to help in completing the mission.

The only thing worth considering is why the Balrog is relentlessly pursuing them.

It is now almost certain that the unstoppable swampification phenomenon is caused by the presence of the Balrog, as can be seen from the mission description.

This superior demon, comparable to a high-level superhuman, is a distortion of reality simply by its existence.

But demons are different from mythical beasts. They usually possess high intelligence and can even master and communicate with human languages. People in the real world can even use rituals to borrow the power of powerful demons or even contract a demon as their "familiar".

In other words, the Balrog wasn't venting his anger for no reason; he was desperately trying to get something from the three of them, or to destroy something.

The most crucial question is—how did the Balrog appear?

Such a high-ranking demon, excluding human summoning through rituals, could only appear in the event of a large-scale, malignant swamp phenomenon.

However, the latter did not appear. In other words, the appearance of the Balrog is likely due to someone summoning it, or even someone's familiar.

From this perspective... was it people from the other two countries who did it?

Although Shuton Territory is not on the border, Valak Territory is indeed on the front line, so it is not impossible to infiltrate it.

Thinking of this, Li Wei subconsciously looked at Vera, whose brows were still furrowed and not yet relaxed.

The ultimate solution: unconditional exile; a one-time-use self-destruct weapon; an experimental product of psionic shielding technology...

This Marquis may be far more important than Vera herself concluded.

After all, Vera's mission didn't even include the condition of being alive; she only needed to get the corpse into the research institute intact to be considered a success.

This task is either extremely difficult or incredibly difficult.

Although Vera possesses the strength of a second-level being, the enemies in this ritual were not significantly weakened despite it being a second-level ritual.

Wait, something's not right.

If that Balrog was summoned by someone, or even someone's familiar, then it's only natural that it was weakened.

But then, how did the swamp formation happen?

Although the power of a demon bound by a contract is suppressed, it does not pose a threat to the real world and can move freely.

Tsk... Was my guess wrong? Or have I just not been reading enough these past few days?

If you can't master optical skills, you also need to improve your general knowledge and skills.

Fortunately, it is certain that in normal history, although the Balrog caused a major incident with heavy casualties, it did not affect the development of the Colossus.

The method has already been displayed in the taskbar.

That is to sacrifice this Marquis's daughter.

In this way, all three people participating in the ceremony can pass the promotion ceremony smoothly and then obtain an ordinary inherent trait together.

After all, judging from the current situation, Felicia can block the Balrog's attacks, but she probably can't win. Otherwise, she wouldn't have urged him to run away just now. At least, she definitely can't win in a head-on confrontation.

However, assuming that the Balrog truly falls under the category of summoned creatures, then the goal can be achieved simply by finding the summoner and eliminating them.

It is indeed theoretically feasible.

However, it's too early to consider this at the moment.

"How far are we from our destination?" Li Wei asked the train conductor.

The train conductor calmly replied, "We'll reach our destination in two more hours. Any further and we'll be outside the track laying area."

"But don't worry, there will be backup for the remaining distance, so it's at least safer than we are now."

Li Wei nodded and turned to walk towards the only connected carriage.

Although he knew the guaranteed way to pass the level, he really didn't want the ceremony to end like this.

"Let's talk. I feel like there's something wrong with that Balrog."

With that, Li Wei shared his conjecture, then looked at Felicia: "What do you think?"

Felicia didn't rush to answer; instead, she glanced at the silent Vera.

Vera seemed to be deep in thought about something, so engrossed that she didn't even hear Levi's question.

Levi didn't disturb Vera, but continued to look at Felicia, waiting for her answer.

Felicia sighed softly, "It's certainly possible. I just observed it closely, and after the train accelerated, the Balrog abandoned its attack on the others and simply vanished."

"This is not something an ordinary Balrog could do."

"It's more like the summoner has recalled the familiar. After all, familiars have a limited range of effect; they will lose their responsiveness if they go too far beyond the summoner's range."

"You should know that, right?"

Felicia winked at Li Wei. She knew very well that Li Wei was the kind of superhuman who played with familiars, and she believed that Li Wei would understand without her having to explain further.

And Li Wei...

So familiars have distance limitations? Why didn't he sense it? Or was it that he simply hadn't reached the limits of his familiar's control?

Or perhaps... this is a special effect of the spells recorded in the book "Poem of Souls"?

After all, ordinary familiars are usually artificial creatures created by humans, or phantom beasts or demons that have signed contracts.

However, his familiar was created from a split of his own soul shadow.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this characteristic that the genuine faceless person is willing to risk their life, even knowing that it may be a trap set by the Son of Sand, and still agrees to the deal.

Li Wei nodded, then said, "You mean, the one controlling the familiar is likely near the scene of the incident, and not moving very fast."

"That's why they didn't choose to continue controlling their familiars to pursue us after seeing us leave on the steam train."

"That's why the Balrog was willing to go to any lengths to prevent us from boarding the train."

Felicia bent down and leaned forward towards Levi: "That's right. Although I can't defeat the Balrog, it's because we're incompatible."

"My preferred spells are difficult to use against fire demons like Balrogs, which are primarily fire-based and also carry the aura of death and the undead."

"But when it comes to dealing with people... I'm still very confident."

As she spoke, Felicia winked at Levi, then fell silent and turned to look at Vera, who seemed to have finished thinking.

Recalling the gentle breeze that instantly corroded the battle doll's sturdy alloy, Li Wei chose to trust Felicia's explanation.

Then his gaze met Vera's as she looked up.

Vera looked into Levi's eyes and said, "Sorry... I just remembered something."

"Regarding the Valak territory."

"I... have some exclusive sources. In short, be careful from now on, and it's best not to completely trust the escort team that comes to meet you."

Li Wei asked softly, "Why?"

"It was just a gut feeling," Vera said with a wry smile. "I let it slip earlier, and I only just realized it. You should already know who I am."

"There are some things I can't understand... and it is precisely because I can't understand them that I think the Valak family didn't play a very honorable role in this incident."