Ansu looked at Celia, who had just teleported before him, and a soft smile unconsciously tugged at his lips.
"Of course I did."
"Really?" Celia leaned in with a beaming smile, scrutinizing Ansu's face.
"But I don't feel any passion from you at all!" She blinked, her tone carrying a hint of a pout. "We haven't seen each other in so long, yet you're so calm, Ansu..."
Ansu looked at her helplessly. "Don't we see each other almost every day?"
Celia appeared punctually every single night, almost like she was keeping tabs on him.
It reached the point where he had to skirt around Vera and Freya's rooms every night, fearing the awkwardness if the three of them ever bumped into each other...
"Hmph!" Celia lifted her chin in dissatisfaction. "That doesn't count! We're thousands of miles apart. I don't want to keep chatting with you through a cold magic projection..."
"Besides! You have no idea how hard it's been for me staying in that cave all by myself. If I couldn't talk to you every night, I would've died of boredom!"
She complained incessantly, seemingly wanting to pour out all the longing she had built up over these days.
Ansu watched her chatter, the smile in his eyes deepening. He stepped forward, gently placing his hands around her slender waist and pulling her into a hug.
Celia's voice cut off abruptly.
"Is this passionate enough?" Ansu whispered.
"Mhm..." Celia buried her cheek against his shoulder, savoring the long-awaited warmth as her lips slowly curved upward.
"Still not enough!"
Ansu pulled her even tighter.
Celia let out a light laugh. "That's more like it~"
While the two were immersed in this brief moment of tenderness—
On the other side, Elder Matthew, who was trying his best to minimize his presence, kept a wary eye on Celia. He quietly shifted his feet back, attempting to melt into the shadows of the trees.
Celia looked up with a cold sneer.
"Stay right there!"
She gave Ansu a look, and he released her, understanding the signal.
In the next second, Celia's figure intercepted Elder Matthew like a ghost.
"Elder Matthew." Celia scrutinized him nonchalantly, her tone flat. "Leaving without even saying hello?"
"Ce... Celia." Elder Matthew gave an awkward laugh and said without hesitation, "Don't attack! I surrender!"
Ansu let out a snort, thinking that Elder Matthew had surrendered way too fast.
"I thought I'd have to persuade you for a while." He smiled as he walked over, observing this important confidant of Samantha. "It seems you're not the type of stubborn old man who can't read the situation."
"Nobody wants to gamble with their own life..." Elder Matthew gave a forced smile, not feeling particularly ashamed. As a core member of Samantha's faction, no one knew the terror of the Ash Witch better than he did.
"Besides... you probably don't know what Samantha has become... To be honest, I've been fed up with that old hag for a long time!"
Perhaps because he finally didn't have to put on an act in front of Samantha, Elder Matthew sighed repeatedly, complaining,
"She's insane. She's truly gone mad. If I stay by her side any longer, I'll eventually be killed by that crazy, stupid woman's blunders!"
"A few days ago, that old hag kept telling us that Ansu is actually the Chosen One—the prophesied person who will destroy our Echoes of Truth!" The more Elder Matthew spoke, the more speechless he became. He looked at Ansu and said,
"Such a ridiculous claim is obviously impossible. If you were the Chosen One, wouldn't everyone in our Echoes of Truth be a complete fool?"
After he finished, Ansu instinctively locked eyes with Celia.
The witch pressed her lips together, her lips practically twitching as she fought back a laugh.
"It really is too absurd. How could I possibly be the Chosen One?" Ansu's expression was solemn and sincere.
"That so-called prophesied person is the top lackey of the false god! A stumbling block to our great cause! What is inside Samantha's head? To think she could invent such a reason to slander me..."
He paused, his tone softening slightly. "But fortunately, the elders are all intelligent people."
"Of course!" Elder Matthew, eager to get on the good side of the cult's new masters, said with a smile,
"How could we be swayed by a few words from her? Honestly, that claim is just too far-fetched! If you're the Chosen One, then I'm the God of Magic! Rest assured, no one in the cult will believe such nonsense."
Ansu glanced sideways. Celia was at her limit, struggling so hard to keep from laughing that her shoulders were shaking.
"Yes, that's good then, that's good..." Ansu dropped the subject.
He took Celia's hand, preparing to lead her toward the direction of the earlier explosion.
"Wait!" The now-eager Elder Matthew suddenly spoke up. "You two might not know, but Samantha still has one important trump card..."
"A trump card?" Ansu stopped.
"Yes..." Elder Matthew recalled, "She's always talking to herself, muttering about some trump card. She says that as long as she uses that move, Ansu and Celia will never be able to defeat her... I just don't know what that card actually is."
"Understood. Thank you for the information." Ansu gave a grateful smile.
Following the traces of the triggered magic traps, the two slowly walked deeper into the dense forest.
Celia asked softly, "Her trump card... it should be that ancient black magic you mentioned, the Soul Feast, right?"
Ever since Ansu told her Samantha's true goal, Celia felt a chill down her spine every time she remembered the other woman's gentle and tolerant attitude toward her.
In the past, she had been like a carefully fed prey, unknowingly walking step by step into a slaughterhouse that had been prepared long ago...
If not for Ansu...
She couldn't imagine how miserable her end would have been.
Ansu nodded solemnly. He had prioritized this 【Soul Feast】 from the beginning. Since finding it in the ancient texts of the ruins, he had been studying it diligently until he had completely mastered the forbidden technique.
【Soul Feast (Conjuration, black magic ritual)】
【(Prerequisites: Ancient Enus, Ritual Magic Knowledge) Mastered】
In other words, both he and Samantha could now use this move, but the version he had learned was older and closer to the source.
The version Samantha learned was surely a translated version that had been passed down, likely with missing parts. Theoretically, if both released the spell at the same time, Ansu's would take priority...
But this concerned Celia's fate, and the 【Soul Feast】 required dealing with an 'ancient demon.' No amount of preparation was too much. He still needed to run a simulation to test things out.
Information asymmetry was always his greatest trump card.
Seeing Ansu's furrowed brow and pensive expression, Celia smiled and squeezed his hand. "Don't worry anymore. Haven't you already learned that sacrificial black magic? I believe in you!"
While in that cave, she had also studied the black magic 《Soul Feast》.
But despite her pride in her outstanding magical talent, her learning progress had lagged far behind Ansu's. Although she loved to verbally belittle his strength, she had to admit that Ansu was a true genius when it came to magic.
Given enough time, he might even grow to be more powerful than her...
"To help me defeat her, you must have been studying black magic day and night all this time..." Celia's smile grew even more tender. "So, no matter what, I believe in you, Ansu. I'm entrusting my future to you~"
Ansu looked into her trusting eyes and replied with a firm smile.
"Mhm, trust me!"
After saying that, he gazed at the forest ahead and instinctively activated the simulation.
【10 minutes later (June 28, 11:08), consumes 10 points】
【Starting simulation...】
The ornate script of the countdown vanished from his sight. The moment the darkness receded, Ansu quickly scanned his surroundings.
The two had clearly followed the trail of triggered magic traps to the final area that had been completely leveled.
A blood-stained Samantha stood there, confronting them.
Her bloodshot eyes were fixed intently on the pair holding hands. Her ugly face, covered in ulcerated wounds, contorted as she broke into a gruesome smile.
"Finally... I've found you."
Rate on N.U.
