Adam donned his "Mystic Renegade Monk Attire" once more and made his way toward South River Road, house number seventeen. However, this time, his luck seemed to have turned against him.
The Church's monks regularly patrolled in conjunction with the stationed military, and Adam had previously observed their patrol routes, using his werewolf-enhanced senses to move through the city. After all, the city was vast, the soldiers were mere mortals, and the number of monks was few. As long as he was cautious, traveling by night was not particularly difficult.
But tonight, things were different. The patrol routes had shifted, and the number of monks on patrol had increased significantly. As Adam stealthily moved through an alley, he suddenly felt as though someone was watching him. The moment a voice called out from the alley, two more presences locked onto him.
"Have I been neglecting something these past couple of days?" Adam reflected. He hadn't visited the church in three days, so his knowledge of the Church's activities was sparse. In the past few days, he had been consumed by his awakening, his injuries, and analyzing his own abilities, inadvertently ignoring the risks.
"I've been too careless. After several successful night-time journeys, I underestimated the Church's defenses," Adam thought, retreating into the shadowy corner of the alley and quickly moving to the other side. It seemed that he had been discovered.
The monks' perception abilities were primarily used to sense the presence of the divine, a specialty of theirs. In most situations, their perception was similar to that of ordinary people, but when they entered a combat state or communed with the divine, their senses would fully expand, surpassing most mortals. Unfortunately, there was a vast distance between man and deity. While they could maintain communion for a short time, prolonged exposure would result in physical dissolution, as their bodies merged with the natural forces to meet their god.
"Three monks on patrol, spaced out in intervals, each taking turns to be in communion with the divine to ensure the largest possible search radius for any nocturnal wanderers in the city?" Adam quickly deduced their movements.
His expression grew grim. When the monks entered this state, it signified that the Church had entered combat readiness.
"Is something happening?" Adam sensed that the three perceptive forces were closing in on him.
"Could it be that Adell's group has been exposed?" Adam thought. This possibility troubled him immensely. If Adell had been exposed, a lockdown might be imminent, and conducting any further nocturnal activities would become impossible.
"However, the immediate priority is still to shake off my pursuers." Adam quickly discarded his monk attire. If it wasn't Adell's exposure, his ambiguous appearance in monk attire could lead to major problems. Fortunately, the monks' perception had only detected his presence and not his appearance.
In an instant, Adam completed his transformation. If a monk in communion with the divine were to get close and observe him, his human disguise might not hold up, and if his true identity was exposed, everything would be over.
Adjusting his soul-weight, Adam maximized his intuition to plan his escape route.
At that moment, Adam's senses were triggered by the approach of the fastest monk, already closing in on him.
The monk's perception fully blossomed, as if trying to pierce the darkness and reveal Adam's true form. Adam couldn't let this happen. Even though he had transformed, any minor detail could reveal his identity.
His enhanced perception flared in response, and the two perceptive forces collided, merging with the environment. Almost instinctively, a dense mist enveloped Adam.
A monk, stepping through the light from a distance, entered the alley, seemingly trying to illuminate everything.
"Sinner, reveal your true self before me!" The voice was familiar, but the tone was completely different.
Brother Vra, wielding a ceremonial sword, was surrounded by an aura of light, attempting to dispel the mist around Adam. He sought to reveal Adam's form but was thwarted by Adam's interference. Everything remained unclear, and he could only vaguely sense a white werewolf.
"You cannot escape!" Vra called out again, but this time his voice seemed to carry penetrating force, infused with divine power.
In this clash of perceptions, if Adam were unprepared to listen to this voice, the divine energy would invade his body through the sound, causing harm. However, knowing the Church's use of the Sacred Voice, Adam was prepared.
As the voice reached him, it seemed to touch something invisible, distorting as it entered his ears. The divine energy within it erupted, scattering in waves through the air.
Then, the invisible force exploded, unleashing a terrifying aura that stirred up a fierce wind. Adam's white fur billowed as he stood in the alley, exuding the aura of a king emerging from the darkness.
Disrupting Vra's attack was easy, but achieving any lasting victory in this encounter was far more difficult. In communion with the divine, a monk's perception and mind were protected by their god. Unless one's spiritual will vastly surpassed theirs—or the monk's faith crumbled—attempting to infiltrate their mind with spiritual force was entirely impossible.
So, Adam's aura flared briefly, and after disorienting Vra's perception, he dashed through the alley and onto another street.
There were three monks in total, with Vra being the strongest. Adam had also sensed another monk releasing a divine technique, a subtle ripple emanating from him and spreading far into the distance.
Adam surmised this was some form of long-distance communication magic. If he delayed any longer, more monks might converge on him. However, due to the nature of this divine technique, the monk who cast it was the slowest to arrive, leaving the most opening in their encirclement.
Thus, Adam focused on him as the point of vulnerability.
From the aura, Adam deduced this monk's energy was the weakest among the three. This monk was the first to activate his perception, followed by Vra and another monk entering their divine communion.
"This must be the moment when he's at his weakest," Adam thought. His crimson eyes glinted with cold resolve. As he leapt from the alley and into another street, Adam spotted the monk.
Adjusting his weight toward his physical form didn't mean his senses would fade. Perception, comprised of all three elements, remained intact. Although his intuition and soul-based senses were somewhat dulled, his basic senses—smell, hearing, and sight—were significantly enhanced. His crimson eyes seemed to glow in the night, and these enhanced senses converged into an animalistic instinct, allowing him to pinpoint the monk in an instant.
"Raven Reed." Upon seeing the monk's red hair, Adam immediately recognized him.
"He's been with the South District Church for three years, has an outgoing personality, dislikes the nobility but is too afraid to voice it," Adam quickly gathered information from his mind, including his preferences and daily habits. "He's right-handed and has a past injury on his waist."
Without hesitation, Adam pounced. Raven, raising his sword, stepped back with his left foot, and the sword glowed with golden light. Adam even heard the rhythmic ringing of the sword, clearly imbued with divine magic.
Raven's eyes betrayed no fear as he struck at Adam with his sword. But after the blow, something felt off.
Then, a massive claw appeared beside Raven's left side. In a swift motion, Adam's claw raked across, severely wounding his left side.
"Am I seeing things? Is my perception being suppressed?" Raven realized, watching the werewolf's cold expression. Thinking he was about to meet his end, the werewolf vanished quickly without delivering a fatal blow.
Vra arrived swiftly, glancing at the fallen Raven. He abandoned his pursuit, kneeling beside the monk to perform a healing spell.
Meanwhile, Adam had already shaken off the other monk's perception, donned his Mystic Renegade Monk Attire once again, and made his way toward South River Road, house number seventeen.