At dusk, the group returned to the village that had been completely reduced to ruins.
The original wellhead had long been buried by the collapsed debris, making it difficult to identify. Ansu stood in the center of the ruins, his gaze warily scanning the surrounding wasteland.
"With so many demons and mercenaries missing, Barcas will definitely send people to investigate. Moreover, the Church of Holy Light in Limestone Town must have detected the earthquake and the powerful dark energy..."
Celia nodded with a serious expression. "If the demon army's treasure really appeared as you thought, then we need to handle it quickly..."
Ansu thought about that hoard of treasure, and the scene of himself being instantly killed by the evil god in the simulation involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
On this entire trip, the only thing that truly terrified him from the bottom of his heart was that fallen deity. Even if Ersos was sealed by the collective efforts of the righteous gods, killing him would still be easier than crushing an ant...
This was also why he had used the teleportation to flee far away as soon as he activated the sacrifice, and even wandered around outside for so long, only daring to return at dusk...
That guy should have gone back to nap by now; after all, he loved to sleep so much.
"Celia, your perception is the strongest..." Ansu asked, still not quite at ease. "Do you feel anything deep underground staring at us?"
Celia closed her eyes to sense for a moment, then shook her head. "No, it's already quiet deep underground."
"That's good..." Ansu breathed a sigh of relief.
After instructing Professor Duncan and the other two to stay on guard outside, Ansu and Celia were enveloped by the light of a teleportation circle and were the first to teleport to the underground altar.
The scene before them was exactly like the one in the simulation. A magical rift had torn through space, and within the barrier, countless treasures were piled like mountains. The golden glow flickered across their faces.
Even though she had been prepared, Celia still widened her eyes in surprise. She immediately stepped inside the barrier and picked up a handful of shiny ancient coins.
"They look like new..." Celia observed them for a moment, then looked excitedly at Ansu beside her. "Inside this hidden barrier, everything seems to be static... As expected of magic from the ancient era, it's truly incredible!"
Ansu glanced at the coins in her hands. He had thought the witch was excited about the money, but he hadn't expected her focus to be on the magic barrier.
Sigh, it seems I'm still a materialistic person without Celia's level of refinement...
Although Ansu felt much calmer than the last time, the sight of the gold and silver treasures that seemed to stretch endlessly, almost blinding his eyes, still made his heart race.
"With this massive wealth, our business will have its startup capital." Ansu turned back with a smile. "Celia, have you thought about how we should spend it?"
Celia shook her head blankly. "I don't know..."
If he gave her a million Empire Livres, she might know what to do, but when wealth reached this order of magnitude... she really didn't know how to spend it. This was probably a happy problem to have...
Celia couldn't help but think back to a moment ago, when Ansu proposed the idea of permanently funding Professor Duncan and wrote on that contract...
Change the world.
According to legend, whenever the world fell into crisis, the Chosen One representing the will of the righteous gods would appear and change the world.
Celia realized that everything was aligning with the prophecies. Ansu really seemed to be... fulfilling his mission as the Chosen One.
"Ansu..." Celia hesitated in her heart, but still asked softly, "You will probably use this money to realize the ideals and career in your heart, right..."
"Yeah."
Ansu, who was busy collecting various magic beads behind her, answered instinctively.
These magic beads were good things; not only could they be used for mana charging, but they could also store powerful high-tier magic. They were things money couldn't buy...
But after Ansu, who had turned into a hoarder, had been picking them up for a long time, he suddenly noticed the lack of movement behind him.
He turned back in confusion and saw Celia looking at him with extreme internal conflict, looking as if she had something to say.
"What's wrong?" Ansu stopped collecting the magic beads and walked back to her side. "Why do you look so troubled?"
"Ah!" Celia's heart inexplicably raced, and her gaze turned anxious. "It's nothing, I was just thinking..."
She sighed and lowered her head. "You are the one chosen by the righteous gods and favored by the deities. Ansu, you will definitely embark on the path you are meant to take and complete the mission that belongs to you..."
"I didn't say that, did I?" Ansu suddenly understood what her internal conflict was about. She was probably worrying again about that whole 'darkness and light are incompatible' thing...
"If..." Celia looked up and asked tentatively, "One day, the deities order you to stay away from all evil people... order you to leave me, or even oppose me, would you do it?"
Ansu gave a helpless smile, because she had already asked this question once in the simulation.
He hadn't expected a repeat performance.
"Of course not." Ansu shook his head as decisively as he had in the simulation. "After all, I don't even believe in gods. Why should I listen to them? Why should I be their puppet?"
"But..." Celia gave a bitter laugh. She believed Ansu felt that way now, but many things were actually beyond one's control...
The title of Chosen One sounded nice, but in her eyes, it was actually nothing more than a puppet for hypocritical deities to achieve their goals.
She was afraid that one day, the two sides would completely break apart, and even more afraid that Ansu would leave her to walk that path of light that belonged only to him...
"Stop overthinking and relax!" Ansu smiled and took both of her hands, staring into her beautiful, slightly flickering eyes, and said in a serious tone, "You always like to get stuck in a rut. Didn't I tell you? We're going to use this money to build our own power."
"So this 'changing the world' I mentioned isn't the kind of cliché ancient epic that bards sing about in taverns. Who cares about working for the righteous gods? I have no interest in forming some hero party and taking the best sword in the village to fight a great demon king... Isn't it better to control everything from behind the scenes?"
"Mhm..." Celia nodded. "You did say those things..."
"So don't worry anymore!" Ansu pulled back his smile and spoke solemnly. "Celia, I will not betray you for the sake of any so-called deities."
Hearing Ansu's firm resolution, the anxiety in Celia's heart finally lessened a bit.
"Okay, I believe you."
"However..." she suddenly added, "Then you must promise me that you'll keep your distance from the Church of Holy Light in the future. Don't expose your identity in front of them, otherwise you, as the Chosen One, can forget about ever having a peaceful day!"
Just as Ansu was about to nod in agreement, Celia narrowed her eyes and added another sentence.
"Also! To prevent you from getting dragged into these things, you have to be wary of people from the Church of Holy Light! Don't get too close to anyone from the Church!"
Ansu was stunned for a moment.
He silently watched Celia's meaningful gaze, thinking to himself, is she referencing Freya...?
Rate on N.U.
