Who hid My Corpse!

During this time, Rocky was also observing the desolate village.

As mentioned earlier, the place they were in was the continent's No-man's Land. It was called No-man's Land naturally to conceal the existence of the Contract Land, so each major Church forbade its believers from coming here. Of course, merely prohibiting it wouldn't be effective, so a thousand years ago, the Eight Great Churches made certain modifications to this area, such as injecting toxins into the air. Without the antidote, staying here long-term would be impossible.

The antidote, of course, was in the hands of the Contract Land.

But Rocky also knew that the No-man's Land wasn't completely uninhabited. Under the operation of the Contract Land, there were over a hundred villages of various sizes like this one, which not only provided cover for the real Contract Land but also nourishment to a certain extent.

And to convene this gathering, the Contract Land selected venues outside, and for confidentiality, the people in the selected areas within the No-man's Land had to be cleared out.

So, the people in this village were probably cleared out like this.

Rocky sniffed a faint scent of blood in the air, causing him to "tsk" involuntarily.

At that moment, the Knight had already led him to a house: "They are inside, Lord Bishop."

Rocky nodded, and the Knight pushed the door open.

A stench rushed out, instantly suppressing the earlier scent of blood.

Rocky's frown deepened, but before he could speak, a low male voice came from inside the room: "Ah... Bishop Rocky, welcome."

Rocky "tsk"ed softly again, then stepped inside, seeing the "Eternal Nightmare" delegation in the room.

They were a group of poorly dressed, pale, and thin men who looked more like the beggars that plagued the streets of Rhein than any Church representatives. Yet, unlike the beggars filled with frailty and fatigue, their eyes seemed to shine with a certain light, appearing quite spirited.

This presented a great contrast, like being so physically exhausted yet mentally alert as if just waking up from a nap.

"Oh, Bishop Rocky." One of the leaders reached out to Rocky with a grin, "My name is Fenris, representative of Eternal Nightmare."

Representative of Eternal Nightmare. Judging by his position, he should hold a similar rank to Rocky in Eternal Nightmare, but Rocky really didn't want to be compared to this beggar.

But there was no choice, as they were all partners now. Despite his reluctance, he reached out and shook hands with Fenris.

The feel of it... like dried nasal crusts, made Rocky's skin crawl, nearly inducing his urge to vomit.

You should know Rhein people have a cleanliness obsession!

"Alright, Fenris." Rocky retracted his hand, resisting the immediate urge to wash it, "What do you want from me?"

"Heh, it's nothing major." Fenris chuckled, "Just something that aligns with your purpose."

"Aligns with our purpose?" Rocky said, "Why don't you be more explicit."

"I mean, it's the same as your Church convening this gathering." Fenris drawled, "Over here, we have a troublesome person who ran away, but we're not sure if it would garner the attention of the Contract Land."

After a momentary daze, Rocky understood what Fenris meant.

Among them, there was actually someone like Ulu.

"You also have an 'Ulu'?" Rocky's feigned calm shattered, utterly shocked, "How many Corpse Blocks does he have in his hand? Is it five?!"

"Oh, no, no, no." Fenris shook his head slowly, "This person doesn't have any Corpse Blocks on him, not one."

Hearing this, Rocky's tension eased but quickly turned to anger, "Not even one Corpse Block and you're making a fuss here? Don't tell me you want the Contract Land to settle personal vendettas for you?"

"Heh, of course not." Fenris said with a smile, "He indeed doesn't have any Corpse Blocks, but that doesn't mean he's not dangerous. In fact, from our perspective, his danger level might even be higher than that of the five-piece Corpse Blocks holder you mentioned."

Rocky's frown deepened.

He was already starting to regret coming to meet these cultists, their mouths ridiculously wide like carriages could pass through.

No Corpse Blocks, yet claimed to be more dangerous than someone holding five Corpse Blocks.

Why? Has Visas himself returned?

"Heh, I know you don't believe it." Fenris obviously guessed what Rocky was thinking and stated lazily, "But it's true. Because this person is one of our scholars."

"A mad scholar." Another Eternal Nightmare believer added.

"Interesting, to have someone that even you cultists find mad."

Rocky's words were rife with undisguised sarcasm. If it were directed at other churches, such words would likely have led to immediate conflict, but Eternal Nightmare clearly wasn't one of those. Fenris merely gestured dismissively and said with a smile, "Bishop Rocky, I don't want to argue with you about your Church's definition of a cultist. I'm merely stating facts. If you knew what he was researching, you'd understand why we are so concerned."

"Oh, then go ahead and tell me what he's studying."

"Visas."

Rocky was not surprised, chuckling coldly, "Should I express shock now? Who in this world isn't studying Visas?"

"But he's different. He's not studying Visas's Corpse Blocks or power."

"Then what is it?"

"Visas's origin."

Rocky's disdainful expression paused: "What?"

"Visas's origin." Fenris repeated and then added softly, "He's always been curious about how Visas came to be. In fact, even today, we still don't know what Visas actually is. He appeared in the era of gods but is neither a god nor a mortal, nor does he have any kin, so what exactly is he, and why did he come into existence?"

Although Rocky still wanted to maintain his dismissive demeanor, he did realize that this question... does seem a bit terrifying.

"Looks like you understand the gravity of the question." Fenris chuckled, "After all, just one Visas ended the era of gods. The Corpse Blocks he left behind after annihilation make us wary even today. So what if another Visas were to emerge? What would happen to this world then?"

... Another Visas?

The thought scared Rocky quite a bit. He wanted to claim Fenris was speaking nonsense, but given the situation, he held his tongue: "So what has he discovered?"

"Unknown."

"... Unknown?!!" Rocky widened his eyes, "Are you messing with me?"

"Calm down, Bishop Rocky." Fenris said plainly, "Do you know about the Divine Oath Mark?"

"What is that?"

Fenris pointed to his temple: "The imprint that the gods engrave within each believer's mind, meant to prevent us from delving into certain studies, heh. Maybe you've already guessed, it's that guy's research. Everyone knows Visas's might, but no one has ever delved into why Visas came into existence, precisely because of the Divine Oath Mark. And once someone touches upon this taboo, the gods themselves will mete out punishment."

Divine Oath Mark...

Rocky did have some impression of this, then asked, "So, what about this guy? Isn't he punished by your gods?"

"This is where it gets crucial. He hid all his research within his dreams, thus evading the Divine Oath Mark."

"...Yet he still got exposed, and you found out about his research?"

"No, it's not that we discovered his research, rather... his research had already yielded results, so much so that his dreams could no longer conceal it."

Rocky's eyes gradually widened: "You mean..."

"Yes, we have evidence that he already knows everything and might even... be attempting to become a new Visas." Fenris gently said, "Because our Lord personally issued the Wanted Notice."