After listening to Lin Gui's explanation, Gero did not respond for a long time.
He stared blankly at Lin Gui, his expression indescribably complex.
It was as if he were looking through him, seeing a similar, long-buried shadow.
Searching for Avalon... How many years had it been since he last heard those words?
Ever since Hannah had taken him away from the Royal Capital and hidden in this desolate land.
He did not believe him easily, but questioned in a deep voice:
“How do you know Avalon is here?”
Lin Gui was well-prepared for this question.
He looked at Gero and said calmly:
“Because my friend prophesied its location.”
Eve and Theia's hearts tightened, thinking Lin Gui was about to reveal Eve's identity as the Holy Saintess.
After all, Eve's identity was far too sensitive, and there was... a demon present on the other side.
However, Lin Gui spoke a different name that even Theia had never heard of:
“She is the last surviving descendant of the Northern Spirit Fox tribe.”
“She was the one who told me that Avalon truly exists.”
“And she told me that Avalon is at the Wall of Sighs...”
He paused, his voice clear.
“In the most dangerous location.”
“I brought my companions all the way here, and when we passed through the Carter Royal Capital...”
“...I overheard that a knight named Roger was also looking for Avalon.”
“And in all likelihood, he had already arrived.”
“I learned of his general appearance from a noble descendant named Fal.”
He looked at Gero, his gaze steady.
“When I saw you just now, I wondered if you might be him.”
“That's why I had my two companions follow you with some rather clumsy concealment magic.”
“Our intention was to be discovered by you so we could have a proper talk.”
He shifted his tone and quietly glanced at Hannah in Gero's arms.
His meaning could not be clearer.
Ending up like this was entirely because the demon in your arms made the first move.
It has absolutely nothing to do with us.
Theia opened her mouth slightly and leaned in to whisper in Eve's ear:
“No wonder we weren't discovered for so long...”
“Since when did Lin Gui become so thick-skinned?”
“Lying through his teeth and shifting the blame so righteously.”
Eve smiled helplessly and reached out to gently pinch Theia's sensitive, long ear.
Covering her mouth with her other hand, she leaned in close to her ear and whispered even more softly:
“Actually, he's just a closet flirt.”
“He looks serious on the outside, but he's quite the player deep down.”
Her eyes curved, glittering with a sly light.
“In my prophecies, the beautiful girls involved with him...”
“...are quite a few.”
Theia's ear twitched, her curiosity instantly piqued.
Resisting the tickle at the tip of her ear, she also leaned in close to Eve's ear:
“Does that include you, Eve?”
Eve smiled like a cat that had just caught a fish.
“That's right.”
She paused, lowering her voice even further with a mischievous playfulness:
“By the way—that 'Spirit Fox friend' he just mentioned...”
“...is a girl. A very beautiful girl.”
“And she knew him even before you did.”
Theia's eyes instantly widened, and she instinctively pressed:
“Then... is she even more beautiful than the youthful, invincible, and gorgeous eighteen-year-old Theia?”
Eve deliberately drew out her words, sizing Theia up.
Her gaze swept from her long silver-white hair, down to her emerald-green eyes, and finally to her pointed ears, which were slightly tensed from nervousness.
“Well, as for that...”
She suddenly reached out and gently pinched Theia's cheek.
Her smile was full of the pride of a successful prank.
“Guess.”
“Um, I'm really sorry to interrupt your little whispering session,”
Lin Gui's voice drifted over, filled with clear helplessness.
“but could you please be serious right now?”
His eyelids twitched as he lowered his voice.
“The guy opposite us is a High-tier Legendary Knight, and he's still waiting for a response.”
Hearing his reminder, Theia cleared her throat and stood up straight.
But then she suddenly put her hands on her hips, glared at Lin Gui with her emerald-green eyes, and said crisply:
“Scumbag!”
Eve also turned around, her eyes curving into crescent moons as she mimicked Theia's tone and giggled:
“Big scumbag~”
Lin Gui: “...”
He looked expressionlessly at the two of them acting in harmony.
The corner of his mouth twitched imperceptibly.
Single since birth, this was the very first time anyone had ever called him a scumbag.
In the end, he simply looked away silently and stared at Gero in the distance, waiting for his response.
Gero frowned slightly and asked in a deep voice:
“The Spirit Fox tribe... weren't they wiped out during the Golden Age?”
Lin Gui nodded, a trace of inexplicable resentment in his voice:
“One of them played dead and managed to escape.”
“And then, out of revenge, she went around establishing terrorist organizations everywhere.”
When he said this, the annoyance in his eyes almost overflowed.
The resentment was too real to be fake.
Perhaps because of this, or perhaps because Lin Gui truly hadn't dealt Hannah a fatal blow.
Gero fell silent for a moment before finally relenting:
“I will believe your words for now.”
“Help me heal Hannah first.”
Lin Gui did not let his guard down.
He controlled his staff, carrying Eve and Theia as they slowly approached.
They finally stopped at a safe distance—close enough to cast spells, yet far enough to retreat at any moment.
Eve leaped lightly down from the staff.
She did not use her usual Holy Light magic—
pure-blooded demons were naturally repelled by the light element, and forcing its use would only worsen her injuries.
She cupped her hands loosely in front of her chest, closing her eyes to concentrate.
Dark purple mana flowed from her fingertips, swirling and spinning.
The magic was not cold; instead, it carried a deep, gentle warmth.
“Shadow nourishment, let the pain fade...”
Amidst her low chanting, the mana enveloped Hannah's wounds like a thin mist.
The hideous tears actually began to wriggle and close up at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The mangled flesh smoothed over, and fresh, pale-pink flesh grew over the bone-deep wounds.
Even Hannah's pale complexion gradually regained a hint of color.
The entire process was quiet and highly efficient.
In just dozens of breaths, the most severe external wounds had mostly healed.
Leaving behind only faint scars.
Gero stared intently at Eve's technique, astonishment flashing in his eyes.
Such exquisite and stable Dark Healing...
...was absolutely not something an ordinary Transcendent priest could accomplish.
Seeing Hannah's injuries improve so rapidly,
and noting that the spell Eve used was a shadow-attribute healing magic he was somewhat familiar with,
his tense expression finally softened.
He knelt on one knee, carefully lifting Hannah's upper body to rest against his arm.
His fingers very gently brushed away the dark-red hair stuck to her forehead by sweat and blood.
His movements were so tender that he seemed like a completely different person from the fierce swordsman who had shattered the ruins earlier.
Hannah groaned unconsciously in her coma, her brow furrowing.
Gero immediately lowered his voice, soothing her in a near-whisper:
“It's fine now. Bear with it.”
The warmth and heartache in his voice were entirely genuine.
Seeing this, Theia couldn't help but lean in to Lin Gui's ear, her eyes shining:
“Is he... really Roger?”
Lin Gui nodded gently.
Theia immediately followed up, her voice brimming with gossipy excitement:
“Then that demon I injured is the reason Roger defected back then?”
“The 'half-demon who can use demon energy'?”
Lin Gui: “Yeah, most likely.”
Theia immediately cupped her hands over her heart, her emerald-green eyes seemingly sparkling with stars.
Looking at the cuddling couple opposite them, she sighed softly:
“Fleeing and staying together across races and factions...”
“That's so romantic!”
“You're not doing too bad yourself,”
Eve said with a gentle smile as she finished the treatment and walked over to Theia's side.
“For a casual remark of yours—”
“—a High Rank mage carried you across the rift, walked through the seabed, and broke into this desolate land.”
Her purple eyes curved as she glanced at the thoroughly uncomfortable Lin Gui beside them.
“And he is only a High Rank mage.”
The pure nature of Theia and Lin Gui's encounter, devoid of any selfish desires,
seemed to be coated in a different kind of glow through Eve's words.
Theia instantly looked at Lin Gui with dreamy eyes.
Lin Gui, on the other hand, felt a shiver run down his spine.
If it weren't for the system rewards... he probably wouldn't have done so many outrageous things.
He certainly didn't have the kind of... romantic sentiment to win a beauty's smile that Eve was implying.
Braving Theia's increasingly passionate and infatuated gaze,
Lin Gui cleared his throat, turned his face away, and explained stiffly:
“It was just on the way.”
“Even without Theia, I would have come to the Blackwater Corridor to deliver mail anyway.”
He tried to make his voice sound as businesslike as possible.
“Among the letters sent from New Covenant City, there were some addressed to Shield City.”
Rate on N.U.
