Ascension from Dual Professions

Chapter 128: Chapter 127: Rare Quest: Eternal Frost’s Conspiracy

But no matter how Jon silently complained, the light filling the entire church showed no sign of stopping.

The Sun Treasure Pearl hanging above everyone’s heads sprinkled down motes of light. As they fell upon them, a comfortable warmth spread through their bodies, and their fatigue and hidden injuries vanished.

For some, however, this was a form of torture.

Previously, there had been no marks on Harir that set him apart from an ordinary person. Even when Ingram had just healed him, he showed no adverse reactions.

But after the motes of light entered his body, he let out a bloodcurdling scream, as if he had been seared by a branding iron!

”ARGHHH!! It’s hot! So hot!! Stop—! Spare me!!”

Before everyone’s eyes, Harir’s clothes, as if licked by an invisible flame, quickly blackened, shriveled, and turned to ash.

What was even more horrifying was the change in his body. His skin, once merely pale from working indoors for long periods, was now losing all color at a visible rate. It became like a corpse sealed in an ice cavern for a thousand years, taking on a deathly, rigid, blue-black hue!

His muscles also began to wither and shrivel, clinging tightly to his bones, and his whole body seemed to shrink in an instant.

Furthermore, wisps of a foul, ink-like black miasma, mixed with a pungent, frosty stench, were gushing uncontrollably from his twisted mouth and nose, and from every pore of his skin!

Yadri, Alek, and Hank’s faces turned deathly pale as they subconsciously tightened their grips on their weapons.

The form Harir now took was nearly identical to a terrifying legend from the Northern Snowfield—the ”Frozen Grudge Ghoul”!

This was an abominable Undead, its soul and body both twisted and frozen, utterly corrupted by extreme cold and darkness!

And such monsters were often inextricably linked to the Eternal Frost Sect!

Xia and Xina also covered their mouths, their golden eyes filled with disgust for such a blasphemous creature.

Only Jon’s gaze sharpened.

’This isn’t the time to wonder why the Sun God suddenly manifested. Interrogating him for intel is what matters!’

Just as Harir was being purified by Divine Power, his evil nature laid bare, his mind reeling from the pain—at his most vulnerable moment—Jon lunged forward. He clamped his hand around the man’s withered neck, lifted him straight up, and exposed him even more to the sun’s light!

”Speak! Why did you infiltrate the Lord’s Mansion? The Lord of Birch, Viscount Paris, left and never returned. Was that the work of your Eternal Frost Sect as well?!”

Under the supreme, majestic gaze of the Sun God, and amidst the agony of his body being purified from the inside out by Divine Power, Harir’s last shred of resistance completely crumbled.

Tears and snot streamed down his face. The filthy black tears mixed with a strange mucus oozing from the burns, carving grimy trails across his blue-black face.

”I’ll talk... I’ll talk, AAGHH! It was three years ago! I came down with a strange illness and was on the verge of death! None of the town’s physicians could do anything!”

”The people from the Sect came to me... They said they could save me! As long as I... I stayed in the Lord’s Mansion and did as they said...”

”I agreed... They gave me an Ice Crystal... I swallowed it, and the illness was cured!”

He coughed violently, his body convulsing under Jon’s grip, spewing out more black gas laced with ice shards.

”They told me to maintain my position and that I wouldn’t have to do anything normally... until... until recently, when they gave me an order.”

”They told me to find an opportunity... to get Miss Emily... to leave the Lord’s Mansion alone and go play outside of town...”

”So I bribed the young miss’s personal maid... I gave her a sachet that was said to attract snow ferrets... and told her she could catch a beautiful one... in the small woods west of town...”

”And then?!”

Jon’s grip tightened, a cold, sharp glint in his ice-blue eyes.

”How did Viscount Paris come to leave Birch Town?!”

”Guhh—”

Harir choked but still managed to speak with difficulty.

”The young miss really went, and then she didn’t come back!”

”After I got the news... I immediately reported to the Lord. Following the Sect’s instructions, I said the young miss went in the direction of Meis Town and was probably kidnapped!”

”The Lord dotes on his daughter... He panicked right away! He immediately summoned Knight Notary and several other retainers... and personally led a party to chase after her towards Meis Town that very night!”

As he finished, his mind completely broke.

”Reed was suspicious, so I tricked him into going to Meis Town too. You came with Basque’s Badge, and I was afraid you’d expose everything, so that’s why I said the Badge was fake!”

”I knew it was real, but I... I didn’t dare admit it...”

”Where the Lord went... what happened after... the Sect never contacted me again! I really... I really don’t know! AAGGHHH—!”

His last roar was accompanied by another wave of holy light. Harir’s body arched, and he let out an even more wretched, inhuman scream, as if his very soul were being incinerated by holy flames.

The truth was out!

And a quest notification popped up before Jon’s eyes.

[Ding! Quest information has been updated.]

—

[The Eternal Frost Conspiracy (Rare · Ordinary Quest)]

[You have captured an Eternal Frost Cultist lurking in the Lord’s Mansion and learned the truth behind why Viscount Paris of Birch has not returned. What will you do?]

[Option 1: Go to Meis Town alone to rescue Viscount Paris.]

[Option 2: Do not get involved. Let the Lord’s Mansion staff handle it themselves.]

[Option 3: Unite the strength of multiple parties to go to the rescue together.]

[Option 4: Other]

[Basic Reward: 3,000 general Experience Points, 300 Birch Lordship reputation, 1x random ”Sun” Domain Skill draw (minimum rarity: Rare)]

[Bonus Reward: Additional experience and reputation reward multiplier based on Contribution Points. A chance to receive material and monetary rewards from the Lord of Birch, Viscount Paris.]

[Note: Depending on your actions, you may be attacked by hostile forces, and your reputation will change accordingly.]

—

Another rare quest!

And ”rare” meant stronger enemies and greater difficulty.

But this wasn’t the time to dwell on such problems.

Because the three men from the Lord’s Mansion who had heard the truth were already losing their minds.

Alek was trembling all over, his eyes bloodshot.

He violently drew the longsword from his waist, ready to cut down the traitor.

”You animal! You filthy animal! If the Lord hadn’t taken a liking to you back then, you’d still be a servant feeding hay to the horses!”

”How dare you... how dare you betray him! How dare you harm Miss Emily! And lure the Lord into a trap! I’m going to—!”

”Wait!”

Jon barked, stopping the reckless Warrior’s actions in this holy place.

He then turned to Priest Ingram, who stood to the side with a grim expression and furrowed brow, and said in a low voice.

”Priest, the situation is clear.”

”The Eternal Frost Sect’s target was likely Viscount Paris himself from the very beginning. This man has confessed everything he knows. As for how to deal with him, and how to rescue the Viscount, I believe we need to discuss our next steps immediately.”

”This matter is no longer a simple power struggle between secular nobles. It involves a heretical conspiracy, and I hope to receive the Sun Church’s aid.”

’Going alone is impossible. For something like this, you have to unite all the forces you can and tackle it together!’