Chapter 96: The Forgotten One

“Could it really be a disaster for everyone across the entire continent?”  

Iana murmured, repeating Elia’s words, as if trying to grasp what kind of power would lead Elia to call it a disaster for the whole land.  

Was it some force far more destructive than nuclear weapons, capable of outright annihilating the world?  

Or was it something that could corrupt the entire realm, infecting everyone with its essence, turning them savage until no one remained sane?  

According to Iana’s speculation, either possibility could be the result if such a creature destroyed the world.

Yet, she had no idea which one it might be.  

Prevention was better than cure.

Rather than allowing that creature to find a suitable host and then killing it, it was far wiser to prevent it from ever finding a host in the first place—to nip the danger in the bud.  

Iana glanced around the spacious, empty carriage.

Only she and Elia were inside.

A strange feeling rose within her, as if a tile was missing from a Mahjong hand—an emptiness inside.  

“Is it just the two of us in here?” Iana asked Elia with unease, doubt flickering in her voice.  

“Of course not. This carriage is your quarters. I live in the carriage behind us.”  

Iana’s eyes followed the direction Elia indicated, seeing a lavishly decorated carriage that looked incredibly comfortable to live in.  

“Is this carriage really just for me?” Iana felt a faint voice inside her mind telling her that Elia’s words were false, that she shouldn’t trust her.  

“Of course. Why doubt it? From start to finish, the only stranger I’ve met is you.”  

Elia answered firmly, as if stating a fact.

“I think you’re just tired and hallucinating. You should get some rest.”  

“But…”  

Iana’s head ached.

It felt like she was trying to remember something she’d forgotten.  

“Alright, rest now.”  

Elia gently stroked Iana’s silky silver hair, her tone tender.  

After saying this, Elia left the carriage and returned to her own, leaving Iana alone to rest.  

“Am I really hallucinating from exhaustion, just like Elia said?”  

Iana dared not be sure, but deep inside she rejected that idea outright.  

If that wasn’t the case, then who had she forgotten—and how had she forgotten her?  

Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

Outside the carriage, the clash between knights and beasts raged on.  

Though the knights all had advanced Bloodline Development, the beasts kept coming endlessly—one wave after another.

How could the knights possibly win?  

They were only human, not machines with endless stamina.

After hours of fighting, exhaustion was setting in.

Their armor was covered in countless claw marks, but the quality was good—none had been pierced through by the beasts.  

“Captain, if this continues, we’ll be wiped out by these beasts.”  

A knight shouted anxiously to their leader.

“At that point, forget the food supplies—we can’t even guarantee the safety of Saintess Elia.”  

The captain pondered briefly, then made a difficult decision.  

“You two, take Saintess Elia and run. The rest stay behind and protect the food.”  

“Captain, at this point, why care about the food? Let’s all retreat together.”  

“Nonsense! Do you know what it means if these supplies are lost? What will the people and soldiers of the Holy City eat? Without these provisions, how can the Holy City resist the enemy?”  

The captain scolded the knight sharply, frustration clear in his voice.  

“I understand the logic, but there’s no way to hold the food. Doing this will only cause needless casualties. I don’t want to see my brothers die here.”  

“Enough. I’m the captain here; all actions follow my orders. You and another brother take Saintess Elia to the Holy City immediately. Then seek help from the army stationed there.”  

No one dared disobey the captain’s command.

The knight gritted his teeth and nodded.  “Yes, Captain. We’ll complete the mission and bring reinforcements as soon as possible.”  

With that, he took a less injured knight and ran toward Elia’s carriage.  

What the captain didn’t tell him was that even if they managed to fend off the beasts’ attacks, survival was impossible.  

That creature was clearly still nearby, not having left, which meant there was something on their carriage attracting it.  

Even Saintess Elia couldn’t sense its presence.

If not for the captain having previously experienced the creature’s aura up close, he wouldn’t have noticed it either.  

At that time, the creature showed no interest in him and did nothing.

But now, the captain distinctly felt that the creature had found its target.  

And the most likely target was none other than Elia—the one with the strongest Bloodline Power inside the carriage.  

Though the Saintess Bloodline was said to be the nemesis of that creature, who could say whether the creature had evolved?  

To prevent the possibility of Saintess Elia being parasitized, he decided immediately to send her away first.  

The captain guessed that the Saintess Bloodline on Elia scared the creature enough to delay its attempt at parasitism.  

So sending her away now was definitely the wisest choice.  

Inside the carriage where Iana was.  

Iana hugged her head, tossing and turning on the seat, her headache worsening—as if something deep within her memory was tearing itself apart.  

“I absolutely have forgotten something.”  

She kept searching her mind for someone’s image but found nothing.

She couldn’t recall where she lived before the Trial Mission or what she was doing.  

Her memory was like a puzzle missing several pieces.

No matter how she tried, she couldn’t complete it.  

She closed her eyes, trying to grasp those blurry shadows in the darkness, but failed.  

“Why… why can’t I remember?”  

Iana clenched her teeth, her heart filled with confusion.  

At that moment, footsteps sounded outside the carriage, followed by a knight’s anxious voice.  

“Saintess, we must leave for the Holy City immediately!”