The gel avatar stuck out its little belly and proudly wobbled its gel, clearly very satisfied with this little clone of the original.
"You don't need to go to the Adventurer's Guild anymore, I already know the origins of those cultists," it said.
Just moments ago, its small divine sense had skimmed through the letter Kane wrote, instantly browsing all its contents.
The New Xirik Society — a new sect born in the Northern Territory of the White Horse Kingdom.
In that furnace region ringed by ice and snow, strange signs had stirred turmoil and suspicion in the kingdom, and they had also given rise to a heretical ideology called the New Sun.
Or rather, calling it the Dark Sun might be more accurate.
They said Xirik's ideas and faith had existed back in those distant city-state eras, then vanished, only to show signs of resurfacing now under the new name New Xirik.
And those believers, though they outwardly claimed to worship the sun, actually venerated the power of shadow, worshipping a black sun called Xirik.
They insisted this primal faith predated even the age when Eryn the Shadow Dragon created his divine realm.
Hmph, if it were to brag, slimes are also descendants of ancient gods—who wouldn't boast like that, the gel avatar thought smugly.
"Your Majesty... why are you here?" Kane's voice held puzzlement, but more so the surprised relief of someone beaten up on the road who turns around to find a parent standing behind them offering protection.
The tension in his nerves and muscles visibly relaxed the moment he saw the gel avatar.
"Ma... Majesty?" Henry at Kane's side was so shocked that he hurriedly saluted, exceedingly respectful.
He inwardly lamented his own failure in judgment.
To his eyes, this slime looked no different from an ordinary Slime — round, greenish, and seemingly harmless.
Who would have thought this was the very Slime King who seized the Gold Lionheart Fortress and forced the Merchant Alliance to bow down?
He looked nothing like the king of countless virtues Kane had described.
After digesting the messages from the gel network, Nilly folded her arms and thought seriously, "That's odd... I've never heard of shadow practitioners who worship Xirik. Could this have only become popular among shadow groups in recent years?"
She muttered for a while, then remembered the two people standing nearby, raised her head, put her hands on her hips, and said in a gravely authoritative tone, "Hello, I am His Majesty's personal guard."
"Greetings, Miss Personal Guard," Kane replied clumsily with a bow.
For a mercenary who lived in the gray zone like him, etiquette was largely pointless—after all, enemies and monsters do not care for manners.
But since this person was trusted by His Majesty, even if she looked like a little girl, she must be someone of significance. It was proper to show respect to the strong.
The gel avatar chatted with Kane for a few moments and learned that a few months ago he had returned to the Merchant Alliance, found his lover's remains, and buried her in the hometown church cemetery, with the Sun Church's Night Watchmen keeping guard.
He had also entrusted his uncle and aunt in the countryside to take in Little John.
According to him, his uncle and aunt had been farmers in the countryside for most of their lives. Illiterate and poor, they were nevertheless content and treated him well. They did not reject Little John's arrival.
Instead, when they heard about their tragic situation, they cried with pity, agreed to adopt Little John, and promised to let him grow up peacefully in the quiet countryside and heal his heart.
Under his uncle's simple smiles and gentle care, Little John had slowly opened up. He had stopped doing the more difficult chores and instead helped with simpler tasks like feeding the chickens and chopping wood, and would occasionally write letters.
Winter life in the countryside was still tough. Food mainly came from stored roots and preserved salted meat, heating was difficult, and the family lived frugally.
Kane occasionally sent back a sum of money. Although small, it eased their hardship a little—enough to sometimes buy fresh meat or get Little John a warm winter coat.
After leaving his hometown, Kane planned to pass through the Dark Realm, return to the swamp, and resume his duties as a citizen of the Slime Kingdom.
On the way he happened to hear rumors that a realm of magical creatures had suddenly appeared in the Dark Realm. At the time, the Slime Kingdom was still considered by many mercenaries and merchants to be an outlandish rumor or an exaggerated tale.
Later, he met Casimir's caravan.
After learning they came from the Slime Kingdom, Kane traveled with them to Misty Bay Harbor.
Using his familiarity with the Merchant Alliance, he helped guide them and even assisted Casimir in connecting with an elven noble who was secretly smuggling ancient resin in Misty Bay, facilitating the transaction.
He did not expect the Blackwater Guild to cause trouble later, and to attract even more trouble from the Xirik cultists.
Kane said, "Because the chaos worshippers have long been ostracized and isolated by society, the brothers in the chaos sect are relatively more united. If they hadn't rescued me, I probably would have been detained by the Blackwater Guild."
"But we never imagined the Blackwater Guild would be entangled with a heresy, and... there are nobles in the Council who did not want news to spread. They smashed many of the cult's strongholds, arrested chaos worshippers across the city, and planned to pin the Blackwater Guild's arson on us."
"Damn them!"
Saying that, he clenched his fist and struck the wall. With a dull crack, the wall trembled and lime and dust fell.
Henry's eyelids twitched as he subtly shuffled a few steps closer to Nilly. Compared to that terrifyingly strong chaos worshipper, this little girl at least looked less frightening.
The gel avatar bounced and asked, "Is the Coral Lane mentioned in the letter the Xirik cultists' base in Misty Bay?"
Kane nodded and rubbed his temple, clearly troubled by those New Sun cultists' uncanny shadow abilities.
"The chaos sect has considerable influence in Misty Bay and knows the power distribution here intimately. Especially a foreign sect like New Xirik, they're easy to notice. We spent a lot of time investigating to locate these New Sun believers' strongholds."
"But these cultists are skilled with shadow power. Although their base is in Coral Lane, it's said Coral Lane is only an anchor point where shadow anchors to reality. Their true base could be in a seam between shadow and reality that only shadow practitioners can enter."
"And Coral Lane is well guarded. Our people couldn't infiltrate; we only know the general area. The exact location inside Coral Lane is unclear."
"Your Majesty, please be careful," Kane solemnly warned. "Those shadow practitioners are not easy to deal with. Their shadow abilities... are very strange."
Nilly blinked, "Like this?"
She raised a hand and snapped her fingers.
In an instant, Kane and Henry felt the world go black before their eyes, as if all light around them had been drained away. Their feet floated, their bodies weightless, as if plunging into a bottomless abyss.
When Kane regained his footing and took in the surroundings, his eyes went narrow.
A cold wind howled through the alley, stirring trash and snow. Muffled voices and the clop of carriages came from the main street in the distance.
They had left the room in the underground tavern and now stood in a dark alley outside the tavern.
"Shadow practitioners?!" Kane's voice was grave.
Nilly put her hands on her hips and said proudly, "Exactly, the Assassin Master is me!"
Henry didn't speak, he only edged a little closer to Xirik's side. Compared to those terrifying assassins, a weaker but visible opponent seemed preferable.
At least if a fist hit me, I'd know how I died; it might at least look noble...
Kane collected himself, drew a deep breath to calm his pounding heart, then turned to the gel avatar and asked seriously, "Majesty, what do you plan to do next?"
"You should inform the Council at worst," the gel avatar said earnestly. "Those councilors do not share the same interests; they will bicker over a little tax revenue. Also, there are nobles in the Council colluding with New Sun cultists. If the notice is sent, the New Sun followers will likely flee as soon as they get wind of it."
Then it inexplicably glanced at Henry, "Of course, to be safe, Mr. Henry, it's best you do not leave the tavern these few days. Otherwise I cannot guarantee what those cultists might do to you."
Henry immediately protested, "Mr. Kane, you're joking. I'll stay put in the tavern and won't step out."
He knew very well: a cult had singled him out, and now he had personally seen the Slime Majesty and heard of the Slime Kingdom's collusion with the chaos worshippers.
No joke—if he left the tavern and went back to the Adventurer's Guild and leaked any information, those chaos worshippers wouldn't be kind. The best outcome might be ending up stabbed seven times in the back and dead.
After sending the trembling Henry away, Nilly curiously asked about the plan.
"Little Majesty, do we charge in and kill them directly, or recruit some help first?"
Nilly rubbed her hands together, eyes glittering with anticipation, clearly eager for some action to loosen her limbs.
The gel avatar replied immediately, "Group attack. Of course a group attack."
If you can gang up, why fight solo?
And it had already devised a plan to concentrate their forces and annihilate the New Sun believers confined to Coral Lane.
It hummed and suddenly asked, "Does Holy Light work against shadow practitioners?"
Nilly blinked. Although she didn't know exactly what bad idea His Majesty was entertaining, she considered seriously and answered, "Hmm... not just Holy Light; almost any light affects shadow."
She attempted a more technical explanation: "Shadow power is peculiar. It's not purely black or white, but born in the seam between light and dark."
"Whether it's too dark or too bright, it can disrupt Shadow Traversal."
"In theory, Holy Light can rip shadows apart and render shadow power useless. Pure Holy Light especially has strong counter-effects against shadows and dark creatures."
The gel avatar wobbled with satisfaction, small ripples of pleasure on its surface, "As long as it works. I was worried they might run away."
Judging by the time, Leon and his team should have already tracked down the Xirik cultists' nest. The gel avatar planned to first try to contact Casimir.
The next day's noon.
Winter sunlight, rare and breaking free from the heavy clouds, shone generously and brilliantly over the busy port city of Misty Bay Harbor, dispelling the lingering gloom and cold.
Temperatures rose slightly, and the snow piled along Coral Lane's road edges and eaves began to quietly melt.
An old fisherman with skin bronzed by sea winds and bright white glare drove a creaking, shabby cart slowly through the lane.
The cart was piled with fresh catches from the dock, covered by damp burlap that reflected silver scales in the sun.
The wheels rolled through melted slush and mud, leaving a string of black, muddy tracks. Children laughed as they chased the cart, hoping to pick up any stray small fish that might drop.
Even in daylight, the tavern in the lane rang with sailors' hoarse laughter and the clink of cups, while vendors pushed carts selling steaming chickpeas and cheap sweet wine.
Everything looked no different from countless old-city lanes in Misty Bay Harbor.
But beneath this seemingly ordinary daily scene, several pairs of eyes hidden in the shadows watched the alley in silence.
They were believers of New Xirik, assigned to guard that unknown "portal" deep in the lane.
They hid in the shadows and were unobtrusive, yet they wove an invisible surveillance network, checking for any strange person who might appear.
What they did not expect was that two other pairs of eyes were also watching them from the dark.
Nilly led the gel avatar through Coral Lane's shadows. Under the noses of many Xirik followers, they swaggered straight into Coral Lane without arousing suspicion.
After some time, Nilly finally locked onto the shadow portal's position and slipped through that strange shadow seam.
The feeling of passing through was very peculiar.
It was not a physical doorway in the usual sense, but like squeezing into a viscous darkness. When sight and sensation returned, they were already inside the underground church.
Inside the church figures moved like shadows. Around a dozen believers in dark robes, each wearing a jawless skull holy emblem on their chests, were quietly conversing, arranging items, or offering some silent prayer to the altar statue.
Sunlight streamed through the stained glass high above and struck the Sun relic in the center, refracting a blackish glow that somehow seemed sacred.
Nilly hugged the shadowed wall and concealed herself perfectly, then asked through the Gel Network, "How is it, Little Majesty, are those vampires here?"
"Looks like they're in the prison..."
The gel avatar's divine sense swept the church and confirmed Casimir and the other vampires' positions. Immediately its perception seemed to catch something else, and it could not help but exclaim in a puzzled tone,
"Wait, this is weird..."
It clearly remembered that Casimir's caravan, including Casimir himself, numbered only six vampires.
But now, in its vague perception, dozens of slime believers radiating white faith light had appeared.
Although it couldn't make sense of it, it had the uneasy feeling that something powerful and strange was happening.