Ice Vapor Goddess

Chapter 63 Divine Sense
Kyle returned to where the vehicle was parked, shivering as he ran to the boiler to warm his hands, and greeted his brother as well.

Everyone had been anxiously waiting for a long time, and when they saw him running through the wind and snow, they quickly went up to greet him.

"How is it?" Xilun asked. "We just heard the Iceman's roar and the blizzard. Everyone is very anxious, but we dare not move."

"It's nothing, it's nothing." Kyle took a few sips of hot water. "It's blocked by an ice wall. There's a big ice man and dozens of small ice men guarding the side. I walked over without being noticed, but I was noticed after using [Stop] once."

"They can sense divine thoughts?" Mathilde immediately asked.

Kyle nodded repeatedly: "If they break the stop, they won't be able to find me. I guess they might not have sight or hearing."

“Uh… does that mean we can do whatever we want? Can we transport the mercury away right in front of them?” Fafnir asked.

Aldridge immediately rolled his eyes at him: "The divine power contained in those two carts of red mercury is enough to keep Speyer burning for half a year."

The evaporation of red mercury releases a large amount of divine energy, and it seems to be a special medium that stores divine energy.

“To be honest… I think I’ve figured some things out,” Celen said, leaning against the car and warming himself by the fire.

"Hmm?" People looked at him.

"Their perception relies on divine sense, right?"

Everyone nodded.

“I’ve always been puzzled—why was the Northern Holy See train, which is so heavy, thrown off the tracks and flew hundreds of meters away on the morning of the 4th of the month, but the bungalows near us were unharmed?”

"Why didn't the Icemen attack large shelters like Speyside immediately, but the cities around us seem to have been hit?"

"Newport has most likely been destroyed. Lundin is still unsure, but if I were the Queen, I would definitely send troops to announce the existence of the Empire and the capital to all regions as soon as possible after the apocalypse, to stabilize public sentiment and maintain the country—but so far I have not received any news from Lundin."

“You mean…” Aldridge suddenly realized.

"The situation varies from place to place?" Mathilde immediately asked.

“That’s right, I estimate that this disaster is selectively occurring,” Xiren said. “Its selection is likely based on the density of divine thought.”

“The major cities all had large amounts of red mercury, so they were all targeted for invasion. The Northern Holy See was carrying three carts of red mercury, so it was instantly thrown off the tracks and destroyed, but Speyside—Speyside had no red mercury.”

People fell silent. Indeed, at least based on the information currently available, this was the most likely guess and could explain various past problems.

First, it used its immense power to instantly attack all the high-level spiritual areas, and then the Ice Man's invasion descended.

There wasn't a single living person on the train, yet a team of dozens of icemen were stationed there, seemingly more important than Speyside in their eyes.

"So, the two Iceman attacks we encountered... might just have been them passing by?" Kyle asked. "Speyer without Red Mercury should be a blank slate for them?"

“That’s a possibility.” Xiren nodded. “If the Icemen’s attack was only that level, they could even defeat Raine. There’s no reason why the Empire couldn’t. The only explanation is that they were just some scattered soldiers.”

“Sigh…” Aldridge sighed, his expression complicated. “So, if we bring the red mercury back, it will only make Speyer more dangerous?”

People didn't answer, seemingly acknowledging his answer.

"Haha...it's just a guess. How about we ship it back first?" Arthur laughed, scratching the back of his head. "We've already come all this way, we can't go back empty-handed."

Nobody paid him any attention; they were all looking at Xiren.

In such moral choices, only the bishop has the right to speak.

After a moment of thought, Xiren said softly, "I remember we fought the Iceman twice." "The first time, the Iceman was very fragile. Renn easily turned it into dust, but it didn't die. I used the Holy Fire spell to help Renn and end its resurrection."

"The second time, I didn't make a move. Renn was beaten to the point of death. Even if the ice man was shattered ten thousand times, he could recover. Only the last spear strike imbued with divine power was enough to completely kill the ice man."

Mathilde immediately asked, "So, does your Sacred Fire magic involve divine thought?"

Xilun shrugged: "Of course it does, it burns divine thoughts."

No one spoke, but everyone understood.

“I think, assuming the Icemen are an intelligent race… when they wage war, they would definitely prioritize attacking what the enemy poses the greatest threat to them, right?” Siren said.

“They definitely have it,” Kyle said confidently. “I saw them performing a ritual, and there were runes that looked like writing.”

“So—” Xilun tapped the car body with his right hand, “they are most likely afraid of divine sense.”

“We must get the red mercury back. It’s not just an energy source, it could even be a weapon. Picking up a weapon might mean death, but if we lose it, all we can do is pray.”

"And I don't want to pray."

Everyone responded solemnly.

"Bring us the guns that can shoot the furthest," Siren said.

After much deliberation, the group selected several rifles, but in the end, Fafner awkwardly pulled out a peculiar rifle from behind his back.

“This is a hexagonal rifle,” he said. “It uses special ammunition; there are only a few dozen rounds in the whole city, and once they’re gone, that’s why it ended up with me…”

Xilun saw the peculiar hexagonal muzzle and hexagonal bullet, examined them curiously, but couldn't understand them at all.

Kyle's eyes lit up, and he immediately put his arm around Fafner's shoulder: "A hexagonal rifle? Hey, I didn't even notice! I could only use the Caster rifle during my sniping training... Good bro, lend it to me for a bit."

"How far can it shoot?" Xiren asked.

Fafnir was about to speak when Kyle interrupted, "Under normal circumstances, the target can be hit in a parabolic trajectory within 1,800 meters. With my talent, it can be hit within 2,500 meters."

He fiddled with the gun for a bit: "Besides, there are no runes on it. If we put a few booster runes on it, it might be able to reach 3,000 meters... It would be best to put a few on the bullets too!"

Aldridge rolled his eyes at him: "Dream on. There's no way to put micro-runes on these kinds of guns right now."

Kyle shrugged.

"That's enough, we don't need to go that far, just enough to hit the Iceman." Xiren squinted and asked Fafnir for a box of bullets.

There are only ten rounds inside.

He reached inside his clothes; the wound on his right rib was still throbbing. He pinched it hard, and a drop of golden blood flowed down.

He has no mercury, but he has holy blood!

The blood slowly seeped into the ammunition box, giving all the fixed ammunition pouches inside a golden sheen.

“Kyle.” He placed the ammo box in the knight’s hand. “Take it down.”

He shouted, "Yes, sir!"

(End of this chapter)