War was no child's play, and there was no room for tender affections.

Shortly after receiving the latest intelligence, orders for one battle after another were issued from the marshal's headquarters. The entire military camp began to stir like a giant beast roused from slumber.

Before long, Rosen and the others also received new orders from the messenger:

"Reconnaissance ahead. Ensure no ambushes along the march route."

Rosen surveyed his own condition and found that after resting for over an hour, his magic power had been completely restored.

He mused inwardly: "Although I have the aid of the Secret Blue Potion, my magic recovery speed seems much faster than average magicians."

His mentor had said that common low-rank magicians usually need half a day to one full day to replenish their magic after depletion. The fastest would be around 6 hours.

Yet Rosen's experience told him that he only needed three hours at most.

He vaguely knew this had to do with the meditation of the Prime Soul, though he didn't understand the principles behind it. Still, it was undoubtedly a good thing.

He then asked Captain Hameel, "Is everyone alright?"

"Just minor injuries, no problem!"

"Then let's move out."

When they set out again, none of them had warhorses to ride.

One reason was that their mounts were injured and exhausted. Another was that their reconnaissance location was in the woods near the road, where horses would be of no use.

After packing ample supplies, the group jogged out of the camp.

Rosen had expected to venture into the tiger and wolf's den again, but to his surprise, they were stopped at the camp entrance by a squad of six black-clad warriors.

Leading them was surprisingly a female warrior.

She appeared around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, clad in pure black armor with iron trims, wearing a mask and headscarf that revealed only her golden-brown eyes. Her weapon was an exquisitely crafted medium-sized steel crossbow.

Rosen also noticed that this female warrior had an extremely well-built figure, very comparable to Marvel's Black Widow, or even more sizzling!

On the chest plate of her thick armor was an intensely strained dark golden emblem - a circle encompassing an upright equilateral triangle, pierced through by a longsword.

He recognized this insignia, for it belonged to the Pure World Cathedral, a terrifying institution known to silence children's cries at night.

The female warrior stepped forward and nodded slightly at the group.

Then, in an aloof tone as if owed ten thousand crowns, she said, "I am Charina, captain of the demon-hunting warriors of the Pure World Cathedral. They are my squad members."

"We have received the Earl's authorization to conscript up to three teams of Silver Moon Rangers to assist in our investigation."

"Which means you all are conscripted by me!"

The Silver Moon warriors looked at each other in bewilderment. Rosen was also confused. "But we just received orders from the army..."

"Here is the Earl's letter of authorization!"

'Swish!'

A scroll of blue and gold unfurled before Rosen's eyes.

Peering closely, he saw it was indeed the Earl's handwriting, stamped with the Earl's unique magic seal.

Since the Earl had agreed, they naturally had nothing more to say.

Rosen turned to Captain Hameel behind him. Hameel spread his hands helplessly with a look of resignation.

Glancing at the other rangers, they also shrugged helplessly.

Who would dare reject a conscription from the Pure World Cathedral?

Rosen saluted again: "Madam Charina, in the name of Earl Omniscia, we shall be at your command."

Inwardly, however, he thought: 'Serendis was right after all. The moment you grow stronger, the temples will conscript you for unpredictable dangers.'

"Good!"

Charina gestured behind her. "Fall in line!"

Rosen then led his team to follow behind Charina.

"Move out!" Charina called out again, before turning to walk towards Moonlight Town.

Rosen was taken aback and couldn't help asking: "Aren't you conscripting the full three teams?"

Charina glanced back at him. "Rosen the Magician, your task is to follow my orders. Don't ask anything more."

"Yes, ma'am." Rosen ate his words and exchanged a look with Captain Hameel.

Hameel's mouth hinted a trace of schadenfreude, seeming to convey 'See, the Pure World Cathedral is not to be trifled with.'

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Rosen spread his hands, indicating he had learned his lesson and wouldn't be stupid again in the future.

But information that needed to be shared still had to be shared. After walking for a while, Rosen spoke again, "Madam Charina, we have another team of comrades doing reconnaissance at the front lines. Marshal Chabrolai ordered them to investigate the Maze Forest. We might be able to meet up with them."

This time, Charina did not snap back. She nodded, "Thank you for the information, Rosen the magician. I will take it into consideration."

Her response made Rosen think for a moment. "Madam Charina, do you know me?"

Charina smiled faintly. "The northern barrens near Silvermoon City, didn't we meet there before?"

After a little recollection, Rosen did remember the previous scene.

Ah right, after the battle ended, Ferren had attacked unexpectedly and Charina had called out 'Madam Charina' once.

Seeing Rosen's realization, Charina smiled faintly again. "To be honest, magician, I've had my eyes on you for some time."

"Huh?" Rosen was taken aback. Being watched by the Pure World Cathedral was no trivial matter!

'Haha~' Charina laughed softly. "Don't panic, magician. I'm just genuinely curious."

With that said, she spoke no more and focused on leading the way.

After that, the group of seventeen traveled along the highway towards Moonlight Town.

About an hour later, when they were still over 20 miles from Moonlight Town, Charina raised her hand and issued an order:

"Follow me up the mountain, we'll take the roundabout path to the Glowstone Mine."

With that said, she took the lead and turned into the narrow mountain path beside the highway.

Rosen sensed Charina's objective. He braced himself for another humbling lesson and asked, "Madam Charina, could you tell us the specifics of the investigation mission?"

Charina smiled faintly again. "It's truly admirable you held out this long before asking."

She did not conceal anything: "The purpose of this operation is to investigate the King of Endless Winter."

"Yes, you were the one who first reported this information to the Earl, but he didn't take it seriously, believing it to be charlatans taking advantage of the chaos to act like gods. However, I don't think so."

At this point, she paused and turned around, sweeping her gaze across everyone behind her, eyes solemn.

"During the era of ancient tribes, there was a powerful tribe in the Yellow River Highlands called Zainalo. Their worshipped deity was the King of Endless Winter!"

Upon hearing this, Rosen and the other five demon hunters remained composed, but the Silver Moon Rangers led by Captain Hameel revealed looks of horror.

Captain Hameel yelled, "Madam Charina, surely you jest? We are but mortals, how dare we meddle with the affairs of gods? This is courting death!"

Despite the loud volume, the terror in his heart could not be concealed.

Madam Charina laughed coldly. "Captain, are your ears blocked? I spoke of an ancient deity! Ancient! Do you understand?"

Her golden-brown eyes surveyed the Silver Moon Rangers.

"It was at least a thousand years ago, and after the Golden Great Trial, even the mightiest ancient deities have fallen.

"What remains today would at most be a wisp of an expiring soul, perhaps even no soul at all, only charlatans borrowing its name. What is there to fear?"

Upon her explanation, the rangers' expressions eased considerably.

Captain Hameel felt rather ashamed. He grumbled, "Why not just make it clear in one sentence? Scaring people like that."

Rosen overheard it and glanced at him schadenfreudigly.

Hameel secretly rolled his eyes, waving his fist lightly to indicate that if not for the other party being from the Pure World Cathedral, he would have beaten her to a pulp!

Charina seemed oblivious to these subtle gestures and continued briefing them on the situation.

"According to records, the King of Endless Winter's original form was an enormous banyan tree, an ancient war god highly sensitive to the aura of strife in the mortal world."

"Now, with the Frost Dwarf invasion and raging battles across the Yellow River Highlands, it is very likely to amplify this ancient deity's power."

"Therefore, our plan has two steps."

"First, confirm whether the King of Endless Winter truly exists."

"Second, if it does exist, find where the ancient soul hides and destroy it thoroughly while it remains weak!"

Having said this, she yelled, "Rangers! Did you all understand?"

"Understood." The rangers responded in chorus, but without much enthusiasm, seeming rather uninterested.

This was only natural. With the great battle imminent, everyone was desperately fighting and striving for merits at the front lines. Yet here they were, going to some mine to investigate nonsense about the King of Endless Winter. Just thinking about it sapped their motivation.

But Charina did not care about their reluctance at all. "Alright, rangers. You may feel I'm meddling unnecessarily now, but you'll thank me in the future. Isn't that right, Rosen the magician?"

Rosen was startled. Looking up at Charina, he saw meaningful depths in her golden-brown eyes.

Sensing something amiss, he vaguely felt the situation was far less optimistic than she made it out to be.

As professional demon hunters, they surely knew much more classified information and would likely seek opportunities to discuss privately with him later.

Thinking so, he played along and nodded. "Madam Charina is right. If we can complete this investigative mission, the temple's reward will definitely be extremely generous, no less than merits earned on the battlefield."

Hearing this, the warriors' resistance and objections weakened greatly.

Seeing Rosen's cooperation, Charina laughed softly and waved her hand sharply.

"Alright, hurry up now! We must reach the vicinity of the mine before nightfall!"

Rosen also told Hameel, "Captain, have everyone stay vigilant. Watch out not only for the transformed townspeople, but also Frost Dwarves."

Hameel's expression steeled and he nodded immediately. "Understood!"

The mountain path was rugged and difficult to traverse, but fortunately it was late winter now, with little vegetation blocking sight and no poisonous insects active. Despite the added exertion, the journey remained relatively safe.

Around late afternoon near 5 pm, when the sun had fallen close to the horizon and the daylight rapidly turned dark crimson, the group climbed to the top of the mountain woods.

Ahead of them at the foot of the mountain appeared a gigantic valley. The valley floor was strewn with greenish-grey rubble, and seven or eight cave openings of varying sizes could be seen along the cliff walls. Wooden support frames surrounded each cave entrance.

This was the Glowstone Mine.

Charina raised her hand to signal everyone to halt. She then took out a brass telescope from her backpack and carefully observed the situation in the valley.

As she watched, her expression gradually grew solemn.

"There are people mining in the valley...No, not people, beasts. Rosen, come take a look. Are they the transformed townspeople you encountered before?"

She passed the telescope to Rosen.

Accepting it, Rosen looked in the direction she had indicated. Indeed, he saw a moving humanoid figure.

The average quality telescope, combined with the dim lighting, made the figure appear extremely blurry. But this was no trouble for Rosen at all. He opened his adventure log and zoomed in the viewpoint.

Now it was clear.

The protruding muzzle, long canine fangs, bluish-black skin, arms elongated past the knees with claws at the fingertips like a cat's... Although it walked upright on two legs, it swayed unsteadily and needed its hands to support itself occasionally, looking just like an orangutan.

It was a wolf beastman.

Scanning the entire mining site, Rosen discovered a staggering thirty-plus wolf beastmen moving about, along with many fresh signs of life.

Handing the telescope back to Charina, he said, "You're right, they are ordinary transformed townspeople. Based on the traces, there are likely seventy to eighty in total."

Captain Hameel cut in, "But why have these monsters come to the mines?"

Rosen smiled faintly. "Moonlight stones are valuable commodities. We have use for them, and so do those Frost Dwarf shamans."

Charina put away the telescope and sighed.

"It appears our investigation has met with tremendous obstacles."

"But no matter. That is tomorrow's affair. Today, we need to find a place to recuperate properly."

(End of Chapter)