“That’s a bit strange. Where have Suna and Truth gone?”
In Deya City, the just-awakened ninth-rank Elementalist Omili scratched her head as she stood atop the city wall.
She’d intended to find Truth to discuss the matter of the escorts, but after searching the whole city, she couldn’t find her anywhere.
So with a sharp “whoosh,” she instantly appeared before Aisia. But just as she was about to open her mouth and ask about the whereabouts of the two, Omili’s eyes widened in shock.
Inside Aisia’s carriage, the first thing that caught her eye was the slight swell of Aisia’s chest.
At that moment, Aisia was sitting cross-legged on the bed, lifting her Sanctified Robe with her right leg raised, giving Omili an unobstructed view of her smooth inner thigh… as well as several tally marks scrawled upon it…
“Ah! You—you! Didn’t I tell you not to just appear out of nowhere?!”
Aisia hurriedly tossed aside the Feather Pen in her hand and pressed down her lifted Sanctified Robe, but it was too late—a string of drool was already hanging from the corner of Omili’s mouth.
“So this is your thing… Why didn’t you say so earlier! Did Wisdom teach you this? Hehe…”
“Out! Or I’ll tell the Goddess on you!”
“Isn’t just writing tally marks a little too plain? Want me to write a few more things for you?”
“Get away! Don’t come near me!”
But Omili paid absolutely no attention to any of Aisia’s threats.
She simply picked up the Feather Pen that had fallen to the side, her face full of anticipation.
Who would have thought that the purest Aisia would play the wildest games!
Wisdom only dared to secretly try things in private or talk big, but Aisia had already put them into practice, completely turning the tables.
When did this start happening without even her realizing it?
Was it that she was obsessed with that contrast—appearing so pure and innocent on the outside, but underneath the Sanctified Robe, covered in little toys and provocative writing, barely able to keep her knees from trembling, cheeks burning as she greeted the faithful with shaky breaths, savoring that powerful thrill of taboo?
Next, Aisia landed a solid kick on Omili’s face, making the latter only more intoxicated.
Damn it! Who would have thought her “secret plan to secretly study how to guide Faith Power without a ritual up to Truth’s level and then amaze everyone and be praised for it” would be exposed just like this!
Aisia gritted her teeth, wanting nothing more than to harshly punish this utterly shameless Shadow Guard.
The problem was that every time she punished her, Omili just enjoyed it even more, so in the end, there was nothing she could do.
But even so, there was no way she would let Omili ruin her secret plan!
So far, Aisia’s initial experiments had already shown some results.
Last night, during her test in the Church of the Goddess of Life, she’d noticed all the little Priestlings blushing and sneaking glances at her chest, and soon enough, a faint, milky-white Faith Power appeared on them:
“Oh my goodness, why isn’t the Holy Maiden wearing underwear?!”
“What should I do? Should I remind her, or is she doing this on purpose?”
“So perverted… Is Wangdu really this open…?”
Normally, the innocent Priestlings had never seen such things before, but Aisia couldn’t care less about their private gossip.
She simply said, “We’re all girls here, why be so shy?” and continued to study the strange new Faith Power that appeared on them.
Compared to the usual pure Faith Power, what Aisia saw this time was a little murkier, but she soon discovered that she didn’t need a ritual.
Just by willing it, she could control that little bit of Faith Power.
So Truth hadn’t lied to her!
Although she hadn’t succeeded in absorbing Faith Power, nor figured out why it suddenly appeared on the Priestlings, she was still able to control it.
So Aisia decided to return to the carriage and keep studying—only for Omili to suddenly pop up in her face…
“If you’re looking for Truth, go check the church! She was still treating the faithful there this morning!”
Faced with Aisia’s sudden arrival, Aisia gave Omili another annoyed kick.
“I’ve already searched the church and found nothing. Even with divination Skills, I couldn’t find her. Maybe I’m just not skilled enough. Later, I tried asking Suna, since she’s close to her, but she’s missing too. It all feels very strange.”
“Then why aren’t you hurrying up to find them? If Truth gets caught by those Assassins from Wangdu, you’re finished!”
“Relax! I’ve already revealed myself. Wangdu wouldn’t dare make any rash moves now. But there is an Original Demon-level Shadow Fiend that I am a bit wary of. Even the deities find it hard to track that one’s whereabouts—we can only rely on Olivia for that.”
Omili shrugged as she replied.
Once an Assassin Profession reached a high rank, not even the deities could easily detect them—their Professions were that specialized.
Only the Prophecy School could barely counter them.
To maximize the safety of the Saintesses, apart from top-class guards, the Goddess of Life had also instructed Prophecy Goddess Olivia to always keep an eye on them.
If any danger of Original Demon-level or higher was foreseen, the nearest Saintess’s Shadow Guard would get an early warning.
But so far, Olivia hadn’t sounded any alarms, so Omili was still at ease, planning to widen her search area and keep looking:
“I’m off now. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about your little secret.”
Omili patted her chest as she promised Aisia. Only then did Aisia look at her a little more kindly.
Hmph, at least this idiot knows what’s good for her!
“But I have one tiny request.” Just before leaving, Omili’s lips curled up again as she quietly tested, “Can I… join you? I promise, if you think I’ve gone too far, you can reject me any time.”
“Join?”
What does that mean? Is Omili trying to help me study how to guide Faith Power without a ritual?
Aisia wondered. There’s no way she’s being this nice, is there?
Could it be that after scaring me so many times, she feels guilty and wants to make it up to me?
“Well… that depends on whether you truly mean it!” Aisia replied.
Having a helper was always good, but if she just wanted to mess around again, she wouldn’t show mercy!
Omili’s whole body tensed in delight, nearly bursting into tears—so easy, and she agreed?!
……
At the same time, inside a Relic at the Sylvia Border, compared to Omili, second-rank Magic Knight Karen had lost track of how many times she’d been shocked today.
Her body was covered in wounds of all shapes and sizes.
“Where’s Elis? Where did she run off to?!”
After Truth had silently slipped off the carriage and dashed over two hundred meters into the Relic, Karen had been chasing behind her with Anderson and Kovado.
Along the way, they’d been ambushed by several second-rank monsters, wave after wave!
Every time Karen managed to defeat a monster and barely catch her breath, another would rush her, forcing her to raise her sword in defense, leaving her convinced that someone was deliberately drawing monsters to her.
At first, she’d wanted her teammates to help share the load, only to discover that these two were just adding to her burden!
If she failed to keep the monsters’ attention, the second-rank beasts would go straight for the helpless Anderson, who only had a crossbow to scratch at them from afar, and Kovado, who could only summon water sprites.
In their eyes, a second-rank monster was practically a boss—one hit would cripple them, two hits would send them to their graves…
If only she’d left them behind at the entrance!
Karen bitterly regretted it, but there was no time to escort them out now, because Truth’s faint cries for help echoed from up ahead in the forest:
“Ah, help me…”
After only a moment’s hesitation, Karen buffed herself with several Skills and dashed toward Truth’s position.
Anderson and Kovado hurried after her, knowing that if a monster spawned in their faces, it’d be over for them.
Soon, Karen reached a ruined section of the Relic shrouded in gray webs.
In the center, Truth leaned against a pile of stones, while above her loomed a massive, terrifyingly colored green spider.
Its four pairs of eyes looked at Truth in utter puzzlement.
As an elite monster of the ancient Relic, the second-rank Lin Emerald Spider had never before encountered a human so calm—she didn’t run, but leisurely walked over and tugged on the web to draw its attention, then called for help…
It felt like this human was provoking it, but it had no evidence.
So the Lin Emerald Spider decided to test Truth’s strength.
It slowly opened its giant fangs and instantly spat two streams of venom, but the next second, Karen leapt high and drove her elbow into the spider midair!
The spraying venom was knocked off course, landing near Truth.
“Wow, so this is the sense of security a Knight Profession brings?”
“You have time to admire that?!” Karen roared at Truth, then struggled to tangle with the Lin Emerald Spider, quickly falling into disadvantage.
After those earlier running battles, most of her strength was spent.
Her Heavy Sword was also countered by the Lin Emerald Spider’s high agility.
To make it worse, she’d only brought one Intermediate Antidote Potion, enough to cure poison once.
Thankfully, Karen was not just any Knight, but a Magic Knight.
Even if her Heavy Sword couldn’t match the Lin Emerald Spider, she could still enchant her fists and punch the spider’s legs, with decent results!
But the damage was rather low.
Even if she won, it would be a pyrrhic victory… and after that, she’d be unable to leave the Relic anytime soon.
Karen thought to herself—there’d be more monsters on the way out, and she’d have no energy left to fight them.
So Karen began plotting an escape plan.
As long as Lady Elis and those two deadweight companions of hers could get clear of the spider’s territory, she could retreat while fighting, save her strength, and then… Hmm?
Just then, Karen’s gaze caught a petite figure, making her heart skip a beat.
Because Truth was quietly standing beside her and the Lin Emerald Spider, hands behind her back, watching the one-on-one battle with great interest…
Magic Knights were still pretty overpowered even after five hundred years, weren’t they?
Watching Karen fight, Truth found herself nostalgic for the old days of being hunted around the arena by Magic Knights.
Every Profession had its own strengths and weaknesses, and as an Assassin, Truth was exactly countered by Knights—their defense and endurance were ridiculous, and Assassins couldn’t finish them off instantly.
“Huh? Lady Elis… why didn’t you run away?”
In the ruins, Karen gradually stopped fighting, and so did the Lin Emerald Spider.
Karen wanted desperately to know what was going on in Truth’s head, while the spider, for the first time, found a human so foolish it was fascinating.
“You never told me to run.”
Truth replied lazily, winking at Karen.