Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

From within the gray mist, an aged voice rang out, "These are the people those guys chose?"

Immediately afterwards, the mist churned, and soon a cloud of mist rose up. Then, an elderly man emerged from the mist. "Very calm, without any evil thoughts. This is a good soul."

He scanned his surroundings; in this dark space, gray mist swirled everywhere.

As if taking a leisurely stroll, the old man walked slowly through the mist with his hands behind his back. As he walked, the mist that had accumulated to his knees began to swirl and drift, but it just wouldn't dissipate.

"Strange, there's something wrong with this child's soul."

The old man frowned, then, as if sensing something, looked into the distance.

There, amidst a cloud of mist, there seemed to be a faint light.

The old man snorted and walked over. As he approached, the fog gradually thinned, and soon the faintly glowing thing revealed its true form.

It was Sofia. She was sitting on the ground, hugging her knees, her hair disheveled, her head resting on her knees, her whole body curled up with a lifeless look in her eyes.

A faint halo enveloped her body, preventing the gray mist from reaching her.

"How can this soul be so powerful?" the old man frowned. "What are those Morrisons doing?"

Despite his verbal rebuke, the old man waved his hand, and the layer of gray mist immediately began to churn, enveloping Sophia completely once again. As the mist flowed, Sophia was now as if she were encased in a cocoon.

"I don't know your name, but I imagine you are a member of the Church of Life. You should be glad that you have become the soul vessel of my Cardinal Willid," the old man stared at the "cocoon of mist" in front of him, his tone devoid of emotion. "Stop resisting. Hand over your soul space to me, and your body will witness the victory of this divine war."

As soon as Archbishop Willid finished speaking, the gray mist began to shrink inward, as if trying to crush the halo on its surface.

But as time went on, Willid's brow furrowed more and more, and his gaze became increasingly serious.

"How could this be?" he muttered to himself, then waved his hand again, and the mist enveloping Sophia fell back to the ground, revealing the girl inside, who was hugging her knees and had a blank look in her eyes.

"What's with this halo?" Willid stared intently at the halo surrounding Sophia's body, shocked that the gray mist couldn't penetrate it. "This is a secret technique of the Church of Life, how can it be completely ineffective against the soul of an ordinary girl? What is protecting her?"

This soul-possession magic is a secret technique unique to the Church of Earth and Life, but it has a drawback: when a person is near death, the soul is extracted and then placed into another person's body. The extracted soul can only use some soul-related abilities, and its power is greatly reduced compared to those transformation spells and magic.

If it weren't for winning this divine war, the Church of Life wouldn't have wanted to risk using such magic.

"Who is protecting you? Why is your soul so resilient?" Archbishop Willid cursed loudly, his head bowed. But because of the effects of Morrison's spells, Sophia's soul could only sit alone in place, unable to hear or see anything, and could only quietly wait to be devoured by the cardinal.

"Damn it, if I can't finish the devouring, this spell will fail," he gritted his teeth and urged the gray mist again. If he failed, he would only be able to exist temporarily in the depths of Sophia's consciousness, which would very likely cause the person being cast to go insane, or at the very least, to suffer a state of schizophrenia. "Aren't you a member of the church? Impossible, Morrison and the others wouldn't be that stupid."

Throughout the entire soul space, Willid's curses echoed continuously. Because Sophia was currently unconscious, he was unable to contact anyone outside, so he could only anxiously search around, trying to find some clues.

"Who is it? Who wants to sabotage my plans? Is it those old-fashioned lunatics from the Church of War, or those hypocrites from the Church of Light?" He cursed as he searched his surroundings, already categorizing the incident as sabotage by other church leaders. In Archbishop Willid's view, only those guys could ruin his plans.

"Strange, how did the other three churches know about my plan? Only a few bishops really understand the plan," Willid said, circling around Sophia who was curled up in a ball. He began to suspect that someone had leaked his plan.

However, a strange feeling soon came from the mist. He smirked and looked straight ahead. "I've got you covered."

A wisp of mist dissipated, revealing a thin ray of light. This ray was so thin, like a strand of hair, with a halo flowing across its surface. One end was connected to Sophia's protective shell, while the other end was connected to an unknown location.

"You actually think you can stop me with such methods?" Willid looked down at the thin thread. "I'll see who you are."

After saying that, he turned his gaze into the distance, and then a gray mist surged up and enveloped him. From within the mist came Willid's voice, "You will pay the price for what you have done. Regret it, you hidden behind the scenes. In the space of soul consciousness, I possess the divinity bestowed by the God of Life. I am invincible."

After he finished speaking, the mist rolled away into the distance.

Following the glowing thread, Cardinal Willid did not stop for a moment until he arrived at a strange space.

"What an interesting spell! It can actually connect the soul spaces of two people."

As he spoke, he stood up from the gray fog, then stood there dumbfounded.

Before him stood a towering black obelisk, ancient and mysterious.

"What, what is this?" Willid stood there dumbfounded. He could feel the pressure emanating from the obelisk, which forced him to brace himself, and sweat began to bead on his forehead.

"How come there's a monument here?" he murmured, trying to get closer to the monument, but even moving one step towards it required immense effort. After taking two steps, he had to stop and catch his breath. "This obelisk feels so eerie."

"Is this weird? I thought so at first too." A sudden voice sounded from behind, making Willid turn around immediately on guard.

But when he turned around, he was surprised to find a goblin standing in front of him. "A goblin? What's a goblin doing here?"

"It is I who should ask, how did you end up in my consciousness space?" Charles looked the old man up and down. He had just finished breakfast and was still sorting out the day's events when he suddenly felt a strange sensation, as if someone was whispering in his ear, "Save me."

Charles stopped what he was doing for a moment, but when he tried to hear it again, the sound stopped.

He had to recall the faint sound he had just heard. In terms of the specifics, it shouldn't have been the Forest Whisper. On one hand, the Forest Whisper never said anything about asking for help. On the other hand, he felt it must have been what Shui Yumo had said before, Sophia's cry for help.

But now he doesn't know where Sophia is, so how can he rescue her?

Should we immediately send Little John through the portal to the Holy Oak Cathedral in Torch City to deliver the message? Not to mention that Little John is currently still in Earl Silver Wolf's territory, even if he did arrive, he would probably be arrested as a suspect in the bombing of the cathedral.

So, just as he was anxiously trying to find a solution, he suddenly had a strange feeling, as if someone was spying on his mind.

When he focused his consciousness into his inner space, he was surprised to find that there was actually a person standing there.

This was an astonishing discovery; Charles had never imagined that there would be "visitors" in his consciousness space.

However, this visitor doesn't seem very friendly.

"Your consciousness space?" Archbishop Willid scoffed. "A goblin with a soul space?"

"How could you trespass into someone else's home like that? It's very impolite." Charles frowned as he looked at the old man in front of him.

"Home? You're just a tiny goblin, how dare you speak so rudely to me?" Willid chuckled twice, then stared at the goblin before him, asking in a deliberately casual tone, "You say this is your soul space, so what's with that obelisk in the back?"

Charles smirked. "I don't know. It's been there since I opened my eyes. As for you, who are you?"

"Me?" Willid chuckled. "A goblin isn't worthy to know who I am."

After saying that, he ignored the goblin in front of him and turned to look at the obelisk behind him. The towering obelisk stood in front of him, forcing him to look up to see the top.

As he examined it closely, Willid's gaze grew increasingly solemn. He lifted his leg, trying to take another step closer to the monument, but after several attempts, he found it difficult.

"There's a force repelling me." His eyes were fixed on the obelisk, but the next second, his eyes widened as he stared in disbelief at everything in front of him.

The goblin casually walked to the obelisk and even stretched out its "dirty claws" to stroke the black obelisk.

"You bastard, how dare you touch it?" Willid roared. "This is a miracle, how dare you?"

"A miracle?" Charles looked down at his hand, then at the obelisk beside him, before placing his hand on it again. "I don't feel anything special."

"Stop, you wretched goblin!" Willid cursed, then a second later he remembered, "You, you managed to get close to it."

"Of course you can get closer." Charles reached out and patted the obelisk, then looked at the old man in front of him suspiciously. "You can't get closer?"

"I..." Willid immediately shut his mouth, realizing that he seemed to have said something wrong.

"Of course you can get closer." Charles reached out and patted the obelisk, then looked at the old man in front of him suspiciously. "You can't get closer?"

"I..." Willid immediately shut his mouth, realizing that he seemed to have said something wrong.

But judging from the goblin's situation, he could approach the black obelisk at will, which surprised him.

Upon arriving at this soul space, he felt immense majesty. This pressure was completely different from mental magic, and even from the dragon's might. He only felt this way when he prayed and confessed to the god of earth and life.

It was a divine pressure, but the feeling was much stronger now, many times stronger than when I prayed to the Lord God before.

If it weren't for the trace of divinity bestowed upon him by the supreme god deep within his soul, he might already be kneeling down.

But why, why is this goblin completely unaffected? Is it because he doesn't believe in the gods and therefore can't sense them?

Willid quickly rejected this idea. The divinity of gods is universal and does not change based on whether you believe in them or not. Therefore, there is only one answer—

This divine obelisk, as the goblin said, has existed in his soul space since the moment he opened his eyes.

Thinking of this, Willid couldn't help but take another look at the goblin in front of him: short stature, thin limbs, ugly face, and bald head.

How could this be? What kind of crazy idea must the gods have had to bestow such a miracle upon a goblin?

What merit does this goblin possess to deserve such a miracle?

His gaze gradually became intense, and his teeth clenched tighter and tighter.

Then, suddenly, it seemed he remembered something: "Could this be the opportunity bestowed upon me by the Supreme God?"

Remembering how he had confessed his plans to the God of Life and received a divine blessing afterward, he was now certain that the goblin before him was a "benefit" reserved for him by the supreme god.

"So that's how it is. By preserving this gift in the goblin's consciousness, we can bypass the spying of the other three churches." Willid began to mutter to himself with delight, his state becoming somewhat insane.

"What's wrong with you?" Charles frowned as he looked at the old man in front of him. Judging from his clothes, he should be a high-ranking member of the Church of Life. Could it be related to Sophia?

Seeing that the other person completely ignored him, Charles pursed his lips, took a few steps towards her, and asked again, "Um, I have a friend who is also in the Church of Life. She's a druid named Sophia. Do you know her?"

"Sophia?" Willid's lips curled into a disdainful smile. "She must be the soul I'm about to corrupt."

"Erosion?" Charles's pupils contracted, and he immediately realized that the old man in front of him was no good.

"However, it seems you are better now. Corrupting you is a better choice." After Archbishop Willid finished speaking, he sank into the gray mist again, and then the gray mist quickly swept towards Charles.

"Is this how it corrodes?" He immediately took a few steps back, but the gray mist seemed determined to get what it wanted and continued to attack him. However, because of the obelisk, the speed of the attack was significantly slowed down.

"What should we do?" Charles retreated to the obelisk, then looked up at the monument beside him. "Sigh, I'm a 'monument tool,' don't I have any other abilities?"

Unfortunately, the obelisk has not responded.

Moreover, the gray fog had already gathered around, completely surrounding Xia Er. Just as Xia Er was wondering if he could try to climb up the monument by hugging it, he felt a chill on his ankle as the gray fog rolled over.

He had to look down. The gray mist had become very thin in order to reach him, like a thin layer of cotton gauze, but the feeling on his skin was not very comfortable.

Then, the gray mist began to gather towards him, and its speed was getting faster and faster, as if the influence of the obelisk was weakening.

Willid's voice began to echo from within the gray fog, "Hahaha, my goal is about to be achieved, this miracle will be mine."

"Great God, thank you for your blessings. I will certainly not let you down."

"Wait, this, this feeling, this divinity..."

"What is this? Such powerful and boundless divinity, completely comparable to the main god, and even much more powerful than the main god."

"Ah, spare me! No! Is this...is this the creator god?"

"I was wrong, please forgive me..."

As he howled, the gray mist rapidly gathered at Charles's feet, like a vortex, constantly swirling and converging until it finally settled between his feet.

Finally, Willid's wails faded, leaving only a fist-sized orb of light emitting a pale green glow in front of Ciel.

He bent down, picked up the orb of light, and examined it closely.

[Item: Soul Fragment of Cardinal Willid of the Church of Earth and Life]

He stroked his chin, somewhat bewildered as to why things had turned out this way.