Jody followed the foul smell and entered Ailaira’s room. She immediately cleaned the filth off the floor before noticing Andrea shrinking under the bed.
Confused, she asked, “Andrea, why are you in the young lady’s room? Wasn’t she in the bookroom last night?”
Andrea turned her head away awkwardly. She couldn’t very well admit she only felt safe in Ailaira’s room because so much had happened lately. She raised her arm, pointing at the chaos outside the window to quickly change the subject. “Forget those trifles. What’s going on at the gate?”
“That… well, they say the news of the City Lord being poisoned has reached the public. Some people believe it was the work of the Non-Human Races, so they came here to find the ones staying with us. It’s getting more and more rowdy.”
As she spoke, Jody sighed helplessly. There were dark circles under her eyes. Heaven knew how many clods of dirt thrown by the citizens she had cleaned up since early morning. It was truly an undeserved disaster.
Andrea was also confused, sensing that something was wrong. “That’s not right. Didn’t Ailaira say that only the people in charge knew about the Non-Human Races staying here? How could those ordinary people out there find out?”
“Someone is clearly fueling the flames from the shadows!”
A hurried voice rang out from the ceiling. Both of them looked up and saw Yukla, half her body hidden inside a Space Gate, dangling in mid-air.
Yukla descended from the sky, spreading her arms to land steadily. She snapped her fingers at Jody and complained, “Housekeeper, hurry and get me a cup of coffee. I’ve been running all night, and I’m dying of exhaustion.”
“Of course, coming right up.”
Seeing Yukla appear, Andrea immediately pressed her for answers. “Did you go find Ailaira? Did she say anything?”
Yukla collapsed onto the sofa, her body limp. She moved her hands listlessly, her tone filled with a sense of defeat. “Actually, the moment the news started spreading, I came to report to Ailaira. She had me trace the source of the rumors to see if I could flush out the mastermind.”
“But the strange thing is, even though I used all the channels in the city and tried to suppress it through our intelligence network, I just couldn’t control the speed of the spread. I even went out personally and did 100 laps around the entire city, but I couldn’t find the spreader. I didn’t even see a shadow.”
Hearing this, Andrea could already imagine Ailaira’s gloomy face. She looked at Yukla with a gloating gaze. “Black-hearted woman, you’re so useless. Did you get scolded?”
Yukla jumped up and pointed at Andrea, her emotions flaring. “Quiet! You’re just a pet dragon who eats for free, how do you have the nerve to talk about me? If I let you go, you’d probably just spin around in circles on the spot!”
“Who said I eat for free! I’m much more useful now. I help Ailaira with a lot of things!”
“Just you?”
Jody placed the coffee on the table and chose not to intervene in the two’s childish argument. However, she had already decided in her heart that she was the one who was most useful to the young lady!
After the argument, Yukla sipped the hot coffee and suddenly mentioned, “However, Ailaira didn’t actually say much to me. She just told me not to leave the space city recently, just in case.”
Andrea thought of Sillirora, who was lurking in the shadows and had yet to be found. She couldn’t help but shiver and scooted closer to Yukla, saying fearfully, “Then at the critical moment, you must be reliable. Try to take me, Ailaira, and Jody away.”
Yukla glanced at Andrea in surprise, then spoke with exasperation. “Good grief, Ailaira doesn’t need me to save her. If there’s an enemy she can’t retreat from safely, they could probably pull me out of a Space Gate with one hand. I expect she asked me to stay mostly for you little sprouts. It’s to keep you from dying in the crossfire if a fight starts.”
Yukla had also heard about the God’s avatar from Ailaira, but she was much more optimistic. She believed that even if Ailaira couldn’t win, she wouldn’t be killed. At the very least, she could buy enough time for Yukla to escape with the others. As for what happened after… that wasn’t something a person at her level could handle.
‘Escape…’
Andrea muttered the word, rubbing her palms together.
***
At the same time, in front of the main gate outside the manor, Xidi was desperately trying to pacify the agitated crowd, but it was having little effect. She plucked a vegetable leaf from her hair and wiped the mixture of dust and cold sweat from her forehead. On the surface, she maintained a gentle attitude, but internally, she was already cursing.
‘You bunch of brainwashed fools! You really should be grateful to the young lady inside. If she loses her temper later, I won’t be able to protect you.’
“Everyone, listen to me! The City Lord is out of danger, and the person who poisoned him isn’t anyone inside. Everyone, please calm down!”
“Move aside! You non-human lapdog!”
Xidi was submerged by the angry crowd. Although she used magic to protect herself and wouldn’t suffer any actual physical harm, the situation was spiraling out of control. If it continued like this, she was truly afraid that the Witch would charge out and blow all these people away.
Fortunately, before Ailaira appeared, a key figure arrived.
“Everyone, stop!”
The crowd turned around. Behind them, the City Lord, covered in bandages and walking with a heavy gait, was approaching one step at a time with a cane. Even though there was no one behind him, no one dared to yell at him. Instead, they shouted joyfully, “Great, the City Lord is alright!”
“City Lord, it’s all because of these non-humans that you were seriously injured!”
“This has nothing to do with the members of the Visiting Delegation!” The City Lord waved his hand, cutting off the crowd’s accusations.
His expression was stern as he scanned everyone. “The person who poisoned me wasn’t them. They had neither the motive nor the time. Moreover, I believe these non-humans came with the goal of friendly exchange.”
“I believe even more that the citizens under my rule have the ability to distinguish right from wrong. Before the matter is fully investigated, they will not be blinded by anger and lash out at the innocent!”
The City Lord’s powerful speech successfully stunned the crowd, momentarily calming them. Only then did the City Lord breathe a sigh of relief. The legs supporting his weight were shaking slightly. In reality, the Secretary Officer and others hadn’t wanted him to come, telling him to rest and recover, but he couldn’t stop worrying, so he had snuck out on his own.
Luckily, he had made it in time.
The City Lord looked toward the second floor of the manor warily. Although he had spoken of “belief” to calm the citizens, he truly didn’t want to test that person’s temper. He was terrified that if he closed and opened his eyes, he would be the only living person left in this city.
Behind the City Lord, the Secretary Officer was hurrying over with people from the City Hall. Seeing the City Lord forcing himself, the Secretary Officer immediately brought over a chair and advised earnestly, “City Lord, why bother? You should be resting and recovering!”
The City Lord shook his head, his voice filled with a sense of urgency. “I couldn’t help it. I just couldn’t sit still.”
“You always worry too much.”
“By the way, you were the one who recommended I hold that banquet, right?” the City Lord suddenly asked out of the blue. The Secretary Officer’s expression didn’t change. She looked at the crowd with a kind smile and answered truthfully, “Yes, it was to restore the prestige of the City Hall.”
“That reasoning makes sense. It was indeed a suggestion made during that meeting,” the City Lord said, rubbing his cane with a serious expression. “But there’s one thing you don’t understand. If that person knew the crowd was rioting, she wouldn’t care if I was injured. She would have dragged me here myself.”
The City Lord pulled a hidden blade from his cane and pressed it against the Secretary Officer’s throat, questioning sharply, “Who exactly are you?!”
The smile on the Secretary Officer’s face gradually became eerie, and an unfathomable aura began to emanate from her body.
Her voice slowly became shrill. “Oh? I truly underestimated you, City Lord. What a wise and strong-willed person. Why not—”
“Discard your mundane identity and throw yourself into the embrace of the Divine Mother with me?”
There was no need for further words. The City Lord’s blade sliced directly toward the Secretary Officer’s throat. He didn’t hold back at all, pouring his remaining magical power and all his strength into the blow. This all-or-nothing attack was indeed effective, directly severing the “Secretary Officer’s” head. But to his surprise, she did not die.
The head was caught by the “Secretary Officer” in mid-air as it fell and was placed back in its original position.
“My lost children, why must we meet with violence? Return to the womb!”
Dazzling, blazing light suddenly erupted around the “Secretary Officer,” as if the Gods were casting rays of light upon the earth.
It symbolized the starting point of life—a warmth that no human could part with in their lifetime. Those bathed in the light undoubtedly fell into a trance, kneeling on the ground with dull expressions as they looked up at the source of the light—the incarnation of a God walking upon the earth!
As the closest person, the City Lord was the first to be affected. However, he clearly possessed an unshakeable will. He gripped his wound tightly, attempting to use the pain to fend off the siren song in his mind!
Yet, the more he resisted, the more he could sense the “mercy” of the Acting Agent. A hand, as warm as jade, rested gently on the City Lord’s head, helping him brush away all his pain. A voice that made one feel at peace, like a mother’s murmur, echoed in his mind. “Go home. Go home. You have done well enough.”
“It’s time to rest, my child.”
The City Lord’s teeth bled as he struggled to reach out and grab the Acting Agent’s arm, moving her hand away from his head. He said word by word, “Get… away… from… me!”
“No matter… who you are! You are not allowed to harm my residents!”
The Acting Agent’s eyes were full of pity. Tears fell from the corners of her eyes as she sighed with regret. “How tragic. I can only let you return to the embryonic fluid to be nurtured for a new life.”
Before she could finish her sentence, a powerful flash of light—a beam of magical power composed of 5,555 amplification spells—shot out from the Acting Agent’s side. The Acting Agent raised her arm and easily blocked the attack.
However, the tragic and fierce roar of the magical power even surpassed that soul-stirring light, causing everyone’s consciousness to return to their bodies for a brief moment.
In that single moment, a Space Gate opened beneath every ordinary citizen on the ground, including the City Lord, transferring their bodies away.
Seeing that the believers who were about to complete their transformation were escaping, the Acting Agent immediately activated her magic.
A plane as smooth as a mirror condensed between the two, suddenly reflecting the magical beam back. Subsequently, her eyes, glowing with white light, immediately searched for the one who had meddled.
Yukla, who was hiding in a corner desperately driving her spatial power, suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold. Her intuition for impending danger screamed behind her.
But Yukla didn’t dare turn her head. She was afraid that once she did, she would give up on transferring everyone and just flee for her life.
“Are you the one who wants to compete with the Divine Mother for believers? You Soulless One without faith!”
A cross emitting a terrifying aura appeared in the Acting Agent’s hand and swung toward Yukla. In her desperation, Yukla cried out loudly, “Boss, help me!”
An arm also wrapped in divine light blocked Yukla, stopping the entire attack. Ailaira glared coldly at the “Secretary Officer.” The divine aura surrounding the woman made her want to vomit. Dense dragon scales appeared on her arm as she kicked out, sending the woman flying dozens of meters. She didn’t hide her disgust as she spoke.
“Sillirora, just use your original appearance. At least it’s easier on the eyes.”
Sillirora landed without injury in the middle of the manor’s courtyard. She brushed the dust off her body. Her form blurred and changed back to her original appearance. The attire and accessories symbolizing a Witch were neatly worn, but at this moment, she looked more holy, exuding an inviolable majesty.
Sillirora chuckled, her gaze fixed on Ailaira with a burning intensity—a passion that had been ignited from the very depths of her heart. “Ailaira Grimm, the Mercury Witch.”
Ailaira landed, took off the overcoat on her shoulders, and threw it to the ground. She stood opposite Sillirora and said flatly, “Yes, it’s me. What do you want?”
“Is it really you? Why?! Why do you get to receive the attention of the Gods?! I hate you! I envy you! I want to tear you apart! I want to replace you!”
Sillirora’s emotions suddenly became manic. Violent magical power surged out, overturning the surrounding scenery.
The pressure of the magic, which had condensed into a physical force, was enough to crush any ordinary Mage below Tier 3 into dust. Fortunately, Yukla had already successfully completed her task and evacuated all the ordinary people from the battlefield.
Yukla finally dove into the Space Gate as well. Before the Space Gate closed, she mustered the courage to look back one last time. Seeing Ailaira’s figure—not tall, but exceptionally steady at this moment—she prayed from the bottom of her heart.
“I hope you win, Boss…”
The closing of the Space Gate signaled that all innocent parties had been evacuated to safety. Ailaira stomped her foot, and a reinforced protective barrier instantly covered the manor.
Sillirora had regained her calm now, as if the hysterical woman from a moment ago wasn’t her. She said softly, “What a pity. I originally wanted to recruit some more believers for the Divine Mother.”
“So, you poisoned the City Lord and disguised yourself as the Secretary Officer for that purpose?”
Sillirora shook her head and said frankly, “Believers are merely meant to let the Divine Mother’s light shine more brightly upon the world. The ones who benefit are those foolish lambs. Since they cannot appreciate this kindness, I can only send them back into the Divine Mother’s embrace.”
“As for the disguise and the poisoning… that was only to get that non-human black dragon. She has something inside her body that I’ve always desired.”
So that was it.
That was why she chose to use dragon’s breath. It was to frame Kuchierkan. Once she was imprisoned, Sillirora could dig out what she needed.
It seemed Andrea had guessed correctly. The Dragonkind’s purpose was still unknown, but they had indeed had Kuchierkan carry something to give to Sillirora. It was just that Sillirora didn’t know it was originally intended for her.
Otherwise, she would have asked Kuchierkan for it long ago.
Why go through such a long, roundabout way?