Chapter 97: The Unusual Aura

After hearing the conversation between the knights and Elia, Iana suddenly pushed open the carriage door, wanting to find Elia and ask clearly about the current situation.

But the moment she stepped out of the carriage, she sensed a strange aura lingering in the air.

That power felt very familiar, very much like the Demon Aura she possessed herself.

However, although this aura resembled Demon Aura closely, it gave Iana a completely different feeling.

This aura was more violent, bloodthirsty, and crazed.

Iana vaguely sensed that this aura was intricately connected to the Demon Aura the Demons would possess five hundred years from now.

It was as if this aura was the origin of Demon Aura, only that the Demons’ aura five centuries later had been diluted countless times.

“I think I’ve felt this aura before.”

At first, Iana couldn’t recall where exactly she had sensed this aura.

She kept searching deep within her memories.

“Found it.”

After a brief moment of recollection, Iana finally remembered where she had encountered this aura.

During the First Trial of the Saintess, she had once sensed this aura on the Sand Scorpions.

At the time, she only found it strange—thinking that such low-level Demons shouldn’t have such a strong Demon Aura.

But now, it seemed that what those Sand Scorpions possessed was not true Demon Aura, at least not the same kind that Iana had.

Iana didn’t have time to ponder why this aura appeared in the Trial Secret Realm during the First Trial of the Saintess.

At that moment, she only felt this aura continuously pulling her, drawing her toward a certain place.

“Iana, where are you going?” Elia’s familiar voice sounded behind her.

But Iana acted as if she hadn’t heard Elia’s words.

Her eyes were glazed over as she strode straight toward the source of the aura.

“Saintess, forget about her. We should run first. If we delay any longer, none of us will get away,” one of the knights said.

After a brief moment of thought, Elia decisively left two sentences for the knights:

“You go back and bring reinforcements first. With the Saintess Bloodline within me, it is only right that I stand up and save everyone.”

“If I don’t, I would be betraying the Saintess Bloodline I carry.”

Iana moved forward relentlessly, drawn to that strange Demon Aura as if it were the world’s most precious treasure—something no one could refuse.

Elia followed right behind her, though she found it puzzling that the once dense swarm of beasts, like those raised in a monstrous menagerie, had suddenly vanished as if wiped from existence.

There was not a single beast to be seen along Iana’s path, as if someone was controlling them.

Iana’s pace quickened, as if pulled by some invisible force.

Finally, she stopped in front of a large tree, her eyes regaining their clarity.

Beneath the tree lay a figure—Lillian.

At this moment, the memories deliberately erased from Iana’s mind began to return.

“Lillian, why are you here?” Iana’s lips trembled as she asked softly.

But Lillian’s condition was far from good.

She emitted a faint, almost imperceptible Demon Aura, as if infected by some creature.

Her golden hair was disheveled, spread out on the ground.

When she heard Iana’s call and turned to look at her, terror showed on her face.

“No, don’t come near me. I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.”

Time rewound to just before that strange creature appeared.

As Iana watched the unusual being, she suddenly fell unconscious.

Lillian, having not seen the creature at first and having heard the captain’s shout, had narrowly escaped disaster.

But that creature came straight toward the carriage where she and Iana were.

At first, Lillian was terrified of the creature’s arrival.

Though she couldn’t look directly at it, she still sensed the creature trying to parasitize Iana’s body.

In a moment of panic and with a blank mind, Lillian shoved Iana aside, resulting in her own body coming into contact with the creature’s aura, becoming infected.

Though the creature seemed to disdain Lillian’s body, it turned away without further attempts to parasitize Iana, as if bound by some restriction.

Before Lillian could even celebrate having blocked the creature’s plan, a sharp pain erupted within her.

Within a minute of infection, a bone-chilling cold crept into her skin, followed by a flood of violent, murderous thoughts crashing into her mind.

Killing, brutality—such emotions exploded throughout her entire body.

However, thanks to the Saintess Bloodline, Lillian did not immediately become a bloodthirsty monster.

Instead, she quickly fled from the carriage.

She feared that if she stayed any longer, she would turn into a killing machine and end up murdering Iana with her own hands—an outcome she could never accept.

So she ran, until finally collapsing beneath a large tree, utterly exhausted.

Now curled up under the tree, Lillian tightly hugged her own shoulders, her pearly white teeth biting hard on her lower lip as she tried to regain her sanity.

But this was only a temporary measure; soon enough, the killing intent would consume her completely.

“Go quickly, Iana.” Lillian’s hoarse voice was barely her own.

“I’m losing control.”

Though unsure of what had happened, Iana sensed the aura emanating from Lillian.

She had never been the kind to abandon her companions and flee alone.

“I won’t leave you behind.” Iana’s tone was resolute, her steps firm and unyielding.

But she was suddenly grabbed from behind by Elia, whose voice was always so calm, as if nothing could make her anxious: “Don’t go forward yet. Let me handle this.”

Elia stepped forward slowly, her hands weaving the same Healing Art that Veronica used.

Besides healing, this technique also purified Demon Aura.

After a short while of treatment, the murderous intent within Lillian gradually subsided, and she calmed down.

“Thank you,” Iana said, looking at the sleeping Lillian as she turned to Elia.

“No need to thank me. I didn’t expect that strange creature to also have the ability to erase memories. If you hadn’t found Lillian, she probably wouldn’t have survived.”

“And I also have a special feeling toward Lillian, like she’s my own child,” Elia added.

Then her tone shifted: “But don’t rejoice too soon. I haven’t completely purified the aura left behind by that creature on Lillian.”

“Or rather, I can’t completely purify it. Once she wakes up, her personality will probably change quite a bit. You need to be mentally prepared.”