# Chapter 18: The Hermit Massacre Incident
The ring, connected end to end, signifies balance and also perfection. It is the most flawless shape, without any weaknesses.
Black, overwhelming all other colors while also mixing with all colors, is the background color of the universe, representing absoluteness and the symbol of all finality.
The black ring holy emblem represents one of the Seven Gods of Humanity—the God of Justice and Might—Zinsen.
In front of the Saint Lawrence Cathedral in Moldavia, there stands a stone tablet inscribed with this deity's holy words: "Justice without light requires might to proclaim." From this, one can roughly discern the personality and teachings of this god.
Joshua knew and was very familiar with the holy emblems of the gods. The moment he noticed it, he realized that the elven bard before him was a follower of the God of Might, and a devout believer at that. If not, he would never have painted the holy emblem on his clothing. For non-believers to paint the holy emblem was an act of disrespect toward the gods.
Upon discovering this, the warrior slightly narrowed his eyes, staring at the elven poet who was still singing. He no longer regarded the previous anomaly as a mere illusion but rather as a hint of some significance. At this moment, many guesses flashed through Joshua's mind. Unlike Ying, who was still earnestly listening to the story, Ling behind him also sensed his master's unusual state, though he did not know why.
—Perhaps it was because of the earlier eruption of Order Force.
This was a quite reasonable guess, and Joshua was certain that this was the truth of the matter.
In his previous life, because he had not come into contact with the most secretive layer of the Mycroft Continent, the warrior's knowledge of the gods' information was not complete. But now, Joshua had half a foot in the core circle of this world. Not long ago, the Pope of the Church of the Seven Gods had even spoken directly with him. Compared to his previous life, he now saw certain aspects more clearly.
For example, the relationship between the Sage and the gods.
Holy Light and Order Force were undoubtedly the power systems summarized and refined by the Sage from the achievements of the ancients during the Era of Radiance thousands of years ago. And now, whether it was the God of Justice and Might or the God of Wisdom and Choice, all seven human gods possessed the power of Holy Light. Their representative in the material world, the Pope, also seemed to know the Sage deeply.
There were countless connections between the two.
And just now, he had activated the Azure Orb, erupting a pillar of Order Force that shot straight into the sky—an extremely conspicuous and obvious act. It was no wonder it had drawn the attention of the gods, especially since it was a legacy left by the Sage.
"I didn't expect to enter the sight of the gods in this way."
Joshua lightly mocked himself, but there was no worry on his face. Compared to most people on the continent who only had a superficial understanding of the gods, he knew the Seven Gods quite well.
Unlike the highly humanized Greek gods in mythological legends from his previous life, the human gods of the Mycroft Continent were more like representatives of certain concepts. This was a simple explanation. To put it more complexly, they were incarnations of certain orderly logic.
The Seven Gods had their own personalities, preferences, and some humanity, but as soon as it involved the interests of humanity or the concepts they represented, they would set aside all thoughts and operate like the most precise machinery. Joshua believed he had done nothing harmful to humanity and had no bad deeds himself, so naturally, he was not afraid of the gods' attention.
The God of Might was merely using his follower to show the warrior that He was watching him. This was not a bad thing. If Joshua were a follower of the God of Might, he would even feel honored. But he was not, so for Joshua, this was just a small episode. After a light laugh, he continued listening to the elven poet's migration epic, then left with the young boy and girl beside him.
As the largest city in the north of the Empire's Central Province, the Ural Fortress naturally had all kinds of shops and entertainment. On the wide streets with a strong northern style, Joshua leisurely walked among the many pedestrians, occasionally stopping somewhere to listen to them talk about household matters and share news from all around.
Thanks to the recently emerging newspapers and such, information on the continent spread faster and wider. The residents, who had lacked topics to discuss, now had much more to talk about. By listening to the casual chats of passersby, the warrior also learned quite a bit of meaningful news.
For example, many mages had suddenly arrived in the surrounding forests. They were spreading cans of gray mist everywhere, covering the entire mountain range and jungle. It seemed that because of this mist, the previously frenzied beasts had calmed down again. Although they were still more ferocious than at the very beginning, they were much better than before.
Another example: in major cities across the Empire, many strange murder cases had suddenly appeared. Many reclusive elderly or young people who rarely went out were found dismembered in their own homes. Their skin had been peeled off and painted with strange, bloody patterns. It seemed that due to magic, the corpses remained fresh for a long time, and the smell of blood did not leak out, making it hard for those around to notice.
Hearing this news, Joshua couldn't help but frown. He even found a newspaper vendor and bought the latest paper. While reading this article, his face gradually grew serious: "I didn't expect it to have already begun. These evil god followers are really quick."
The first news was simply that the Mad Dragon vaccine had officially started being used to suppress the increasingly frenzied beasts. As for the second murder news, to ordinary people, although it was brutal, it was just a small matter that would elicit at most a sigh or two of amazement. But to the warrior, who knew the cause of this incident, it meant that the situation concerning the evil gods on the continent had developed to a second stage.
The descent of a Chaos Evil God required meeting various special conditions. The specific conditions for each evil god were different, but most evil gods needed a global-scale panic.
Now, the Dragon Calamity in the south was directly attacking kingdoms, destroying major cities, and causing unrest and waves of refugees. In other regions not yet affected by the Dragon Calamity, the evil god followers naturally had other means to create panic.
This kind of strange dismemberment, skinning, and murder sacrifice was just an early sign. Next, those hidden evil god followers would try to summon some Chaos Monsters in various cities, causing large-scale chaos and even a mood of fear where everyone felt endangered.
Although in his previous life, the activities of the evil god followers were quickly suppressed by local governments, they still caused considerable chaos. Joshua believed that as the current target of the dragon clan, he especially needed to pay attention to this aspect.
—Perhaps now he needed to notify the main city to pay attention to this issue.
Think and act. Joshua was not a procrastinator. He walked into a slightly quieter alley, then signaled to Ying, who was following behind him, to take out the simple communication array shaped like a mirror. Then, under the curious gaze of the silver-haired girl, he directly connected to the main city of Moldavia.
Zzzt—
A fluctuation of arcane power passed. On the originally smooth surface of the mirror, many half-spots like snowflakes appeared, finally forming a light screen. This meant the communication array was connected. On the other side of the light screen, the scene of the main city's mansion vaguely appeared, and a petite figure with waist-length, blue-gray hair also appeared before Joshua's eyes.
"Hello, Joshua. Connecting the communication line today—any important instructions?"
A crisp voice came through. The one who answered the signal was the fortress artificial intelligence from the Carlis World, Number 3.
Her gray-blue eyes seemed to carry a hazy mist, their depths unclear. Her silk-like blue hair draped over the black wings behind her waist, gently swaying with the movement of the artificial intelligence girl's body. Today, Number 3 wore a very human-style strappy dress, exposing large areas of fair skin on her arms. There was even a hint of a smile on her delicate little face.
"...You really are becoming more and more like a human, Number 3."
Slightly clicking his tongue, Joshua couldn't help recalling the scene when he first met Number 3 in the Carlis World. Back then, the artificial intelligence girl was extremely rigid, her words filled with indifference, as if she had no emotions at all. Her magical projection terminal also did not change with the outside world, creating a very strong sense of dissonance.
But ever since she came to Mycroft and interacted with many people, gaining a large amount of information, Number 3's behavior had become more and more lively, as if she were constantly learning and improving, moving closer to humanity.
"How could humans be as cute as me?"
As if deliberately trying to startle Joshua, Number 3 slightly lifted her chin and spoke in a calm tone tinged with a hint of pride, saying words she would never have said before: "A humanoid form created by magical projection is definitely more perfect than a real person. Except for being a bit unreal, there are no major flaws. You know, defects in skin and appearance are harder to imitate than the skin itself."
"Pfft..."
"When did Miss Number 3 become like this..."
Ying and Ling, who had been watching the communication from behind the warrior, couldn't help but stifle their laughter. Although Number 3's statement seemed arrogant, paired with her petite figure and perfect skin, it was inexplicably cute and convincing.
At a loss for words, Joshua blinked. His red eyes shifted, completely unsure of what to say. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke slowly and seriously through the light screen to the artificial intelligence: "Tell me, Number 3. Where did you learn these words?!"
When had the original almost emotionless artificial intelligence girl become like this?!
"This is an answer I summarized from some very interesting books and daily observations."
Number 3's reply was righteous and solemn.
After a bout of conversation that had strayed off in all directions, everything finally returned to normal.
Besides assisting Joshua and the others in their research on Mana Armor, Number 3 had also been entrusted with some other tasks by the warrior. Managing the communication array was one of them, but more importantly, she was to observe any unusual movements in the entire city.
Just as the artificial intelligence herself said, her image was merely a terminal created by magic for convenient communication. Although it looked perfect, it was only a projection. What she truly used to observe the world were the Observation Arrays in the rune crystals. With the large supply of magic crystals provided by Joshua, Number 3's Observation Arrays could now cover most of the main city, observing most areas.
After roughly instructing Number 3 to pay attention to incoming outsiders, Joshua looked helplessly as Number 3's projection rolled around on the ceiling of the mansion.
This habit seemed unlikely to change anytime soon. The warrior thought for a moment, then tentatively asked: "Is there something wrong, Number 3? If you feel the work takes up too much time, you can tell me. I won't force you to work for me."
Hearing this, Number 3 stopped rolling. She was silent for a moment, then returned to the front of the light screen. After a while, as if thinking, the artificial intelligence slowly spoke: "The work is fine... but I also want to go out and see a bigger world, just like you."
"The main city of Moldavia is interesting, but it's just one city. I want to see more places."
After saying this, Number 3 sighed softly. She said gently: "Even if it's just a psychic body like Ying and Ling, I just want to touch this world with my own hands... this world full of vitality and order."
(To be continued.)