After Ansu and the others vanished, Seance arrived in a hurry, his body battered and bruised.
Joshua, who had been following closely, saw how serious the injuries were and immediately moved to support him.
"Lord Seance..."
Seance raised a hand to stop him, enduring the sharp pain as his eyes swept across the clearing. He quickly sensed the lingering ripples of mana in the air.
"Teleportation magic."
"Freya and those cultists must have left together using a teleportation circle."
Seance walked slowly to a large rock, bent down, and picked up a set of old, blood-stained robes from the ground.
According to intelligence... these should be the clothes worn by the cult leader, Samantha, when she arrived with the merchant caravan.
But now, she was nowhere to be found, and only a rotting scent of death remained on the fabric...
"Samantha... is dead?"
Seance's brow furrowed instinctively. The entire affair today was shrouded in mystery. What exactly had happened here before?
The shocking power in the forest just now... it wasn't just him; every clergyman present had felt a divine calling from the deity at that moment.
It reminded him of the moments in history when the Goddess had descended with a divine decree. Legend had it that during the Demon Calamity War, when the Goddess chose the previous generation's Chosen One, it was just like this...
Seance thought about Freya's strange behavior, his heart filled with growing suspicion. Many bold and startling conjectures loomed in his mind, but he could confirm none of them.
Only Freya could answer all these questions for him...
"To think Freya actually escaped!" Beside him, Joshua clutched his forehead, which still throbbed with pain, his face filled with resentment. "That Church traitor! That despicable demihuman heretic! She actually dared to collude with cultists!"
"Lord Seance, I will report this to the Royal Capital immediately! Once a top-level national warrant is issued, I believe she will be brought to justice soon!"
"Wait!" Seance interrupted again.
He noted the other man's surprised expression and instructed, "Remember, everything that happened today must not be leaked. As for Freya..."
Seance paused for a moment. "Just act as if she burned to death in that fire."
"But, Lord Seance!" Joshua's face was full of confusion.
"That is an order." Seance's voice suddenly turned cold, carrying an unquestionable authority. "Joshua, if the events of today are spread, whether you leak them accidentally or not, I will kill you. Do you understand?"
Joshua took a deep breath and bowed his head low.
"Yes, Lord Seance..."
...
Thousands of miles away, in the uninhabited northern reaches of the Black Forest.
Inside a hidden cave, Celia anxiously settled Ansu onto a soft bed, then waved her hand to light all the magic crystal lamps in the cave.
This underground mine, which originally belonged to the dwarven kingdom, had now become their secret base for storing the demon army's treasure.
During this time, Celia had conveniently renovated the place. As the soft light filled the cave, the full view of the surroundings became clear—
The air was warm and dry, without the cold dampness common in cavernous spaces. Neat bookshelves and storage racks lined the smooth cave walls, while the alchemy workbench was covered with various magic tools and vessels. The entire cave felt like both a mage's alchemy workshop and a place with a touch of daily life.
After settling Ansu, Celia anxiously searched the bookshelves for all ancient texts concerning the mind and soul.
Freya, who had been teleported here along with them, surveyed the surroundings for a moment before her gaze fell on Ansu's face.
"Master Ansu..."
She hurried over. Although her body could hardly bear any more power of holy light, she still raised her trembling hands, repeatedly trying to use divine arts to heal him.
The holy light flickering beside her from time to time made Celia feel a wave of irritation.
"You...!" She glanced at Freya and said coldly, "I told you before, divine arts are useless. You aren't needed here!"
Freya naturally did not want to leave Ansu at this moment. She looked up, a hint of pleading in her eyes.
"Master Ansu hasn't woken up yet. Please let me stay by his side and help take care of him..."
Celia flipped through one magic text after another, still unable to find a solution for Ansu's coma. Her heart grew increasingly restless, and her eyes gradually turned red.
"Go away! Don't get in the way here!"
Her dark red eyes stared gloomily at the surprised Freya, a hint of killing intent flickering within.
Freya lowered her eyes, remembering Ansu's instruction 'not to offend Celia,' and sighed softly in her heart.
Truly a woman with a terrible personality and a difficult temperament...
She stood up in silence and slowly walked toward the cave entrance.
Celia looked up from the thick texts, her gaze sweeping over Freya's stained and messy floral dress, and said indifferently:
"In the outer cave, there are potions on the left workbench. Tend to your own wounds."
Her gaze returned to the pages. "Rest first. I'll be enough here."
Freya's figure paused for a second, and she nodded gently.
"Okay."
...
Ansu was naturally oblivious to everything outside.
His consciousness was being repeatedly pulled by two forces: one moment it was a pure white world full of divinity, as if he had entered heaven, and the next it turned pitch black, with glowing system text flashing before his eyes.
【System is rebooting, system is rebooting...】
【Please wait patiently】
It felt as if the existence trying to peer into the depths of his soul and leave a sacred brand was like a virus, while the system was the antivirus software blocking it all.
Ansu fell into thought.
The Goddess of Holy Light's command undoubtedly conflicted with his plan.
The Goddess clearly wanted him to launch a holy war in the name of the Chosen One, using physical means to eliminate all heretics who refused to convert, spreading the faith of holy light to every corner of the world...
This was not what he wanted to do. The Goddess of Holy Light was a bit too extreme.
By comparison, the God of Magic seemed much more agreeable.
After all, he had never heard of the God of Magic demanding anything from his followers. In fact... it was hard to say the mage community had much of a faith at all, because they didn't gain power by praying for divine grace; whether one believed in a god had no connection to how strong they were.
The God of Magic was more like a certain magical principle or a symbol of the 'conceptualization of truth.' Ansu even doubted if such a deity truly existed...
Could the God of Magic be something the Echoes of Truth cult made up to rival the Church of Holy Light and fool their followers?
His thoughts on the gods came to an end. His current level was insufficient; thinking about it was pointless. He began to consider how to 'delay' things next.
On the surface, he certainly couldn't oppose the Goddess of Holy Light, but he definitely wouldn't be a reckless pawn or a piece on a chessboard fighting for a deity. There was definitely a conspiracy in this matter, so...
It would be better to use the name of the Chosen One to actually pull together a 'Hero Party,' or a team and faction led by himself, completely independent of the righteous god forces within the Church...
After all, the title of Chosen One shouldn't go to waste. If he didn't take it, it wouldn't be good to let someone else occupy that niche.
In that case, the Goddess would have nothing to say, since her Chosen One was indeed working... not slacking off.
As for the future, whether he would truly launch a holy war for the deity and spread the faith...
That was not a certainty.
'It's in progress, it's in progress...'
It was hard to say how things would develop later. In any case, the Goddess couldn't blame him for the time being, and besides, the system was there as a shield...
As he thought this, the familiar notification sound rang out again:
【System has rebooted】
【Firewall reinforced, divine residue cleared... System functions restored to normal. Welcome to the simulation system again, goodbye!】
The cold mechanical voice echoed in the depths of Ansu's consciousness. All his senses gradually returned. He took a sharp breath and suddenly opened his eyes.
His blurred vision gradually cleared, and Ansu saw Celia lying on his chest, fast asleep.
Her brow twitched occasionally, as if she were having an uneasy dream. Her hand tightly gripped an open magic text; it seemed she had fallen asleep directly from exhaustion.
Sensing Ansu's movement, Celia was startled awake. Her bloodshot eyes were momentarily dazed before she stared fixedly at Ansu's face without blinking.
"I..." She rubbed her eyes, her first reaction being that she was dreaming.
But in the next moment, a sense of reality rushed in. Her eyes filled with joy, and she lunged forward with tears in her eyes.
"Ansu, you're finally awake!"
Overcome with emotion, her voice choked up. "You've been asleep for three days... I tried everything and couldn't wake you. I thought... you would never wake up again..."
Celia hugged Ansu tightly, feeling his body heat and his breath, as if holding a lost treasure she had found again.
"This is wonderful... Ansu, I knew you wouldn't leave me!"
"How could I ever leave you?" Ansu gave a tired but gentle smile, raising his hand to lightly stroke her pale cheek. "Didn't I promise you? I'll stay with you forever... See, haven't I kept my word?"
"Yes!" Celia smiled through her tears. "I believe you! I've always believed you!"
Ansu would definitely stay with her forever!!
"So sleepy..." Ansu felt a wave of intense weakness and exhaustion, like a side effect of the system's 'antivirus' process, and his eyelids grew heavier.
"Celia, I'm going to sleep for a bit." Fearing Celia might misunderstand, he struggled to add: "Don't worry, I will wake up again..."
Celia watched nervously as Ansu's eyes gradually closed, reaching out to check him for a moment.
Finding that he had indeed fallen asleep from exhaustion and could wake up at any time, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Okay, you rest first. I'll go prepare something for you to eat..."
She smiled softly, gently tucking Ansu in.
Leaving the cave where Ansu was resting, Celia looked outside and finally remembered Freya, whom she had ignored for three days.
Celia frowned in thought for a moment and decided to find Freya to make something for Ansu to eat.
She had heard Freya's cooking was quite good. Ansu's safety and health were the priority, so she wouldn't show off her own lackluster culinary skills in front of him...
Even though Ansu actually did like the things she made.
Also...
It was time to have a talk with Freya.
Rate on N.U.
