Lance and Astrid sat side by side, but the atmosphere was strange. Neither of them spoke.
The Elf had finally managed to hold back her tears, though a faint redness still lingered around the corners of her eyes.
She had just woken up from a nightmare and hadn’t fully processed things yet. In the heat of the moment, she had blurted out those words as if possessed, and Lance had given a direct and firm reply.
Now, she found herself at a total loss for what to say.
She could only turn her head away, pretending as if nothing had happened.
At the same time, she felt a surge of fury in her heart. ‘That damn Dream Eater! It actually made me relive my worst memories!’
Sensing the awkward tension, the Takin Fourth Elder’s eyes darted back and forth, but he also didn’t know what to say.
He had no choice but to strike up a conversation with Lance, who seemed relatively composed, and began talking about the Holy Lantern.
“It’s not that we don’t want to use the Holy Lantern to defeat the Dream Eater, but this Holy Artifact of ours is currently damaged. It can’t store much energy.”
“The strongest attack it can release can only temporarily repel the creature, and we can achieve the same thing with the Soul Soothing Bell.”
“The Soul Soothing Bell can be used continuously, but our reserve of Holy Power Stones is quite limited. Therefore, using the Holy Lantern to wake our clansmen is the optimal solution.”
Lance nodded. Given the circumstances, there really was no better way.
“Have you never tried to repair this Holy Artifact?”
“Repair it?”
The Takin Elder looked as if he had heard something amusing.
He reached out with his wide but short, thick fingers and said with a wry smile, “Do you think these hands of mine are capable of such delicate work?”
“Moreover, we don’t have a single Magic Craftsman among us. After being moved into the Maze, we lost our source of Holy Power Stones. Otherwise, that Dream Eater wouldn’t have been able to escape.”
The Takin Fourth Elder spoke incessantly.
With no other Elders present to restrain him, he poured out everything—things he should and shouldn’t have said—to Lance.
He even threw in quite a few of his own personal biases, subtly and overtly criticizing the Nature Church for being incompetent and failing to send reinforcements.
It was only after he finished that he realized the Holy Messenger was present, and he shot a guilty glance at the Elven lady.
Fortunately, Astrid couldn’t understand his words. Otherwise, who knew how the Elf would have reacted?
Lance spoke up to change the subject, shifting the conversation.
“Can I take a look at the Holy Lantern? I can use Holy Qi, so perhaps I can help you.”
Hearing this, the Fourth Elder was overjoyed.
In truth, he had wanted to ask Lance for help long ago but didn’t know how to bring it up.
Earlier, through the Holy Lantern, he had sensed a similar power within Lance’s body—one that was even clearer and stronger than the Holy Messenger’s!
He agreed without a moment’s hesitation and handed it over to Lance.
Lance took it and pretended to study the lamp’s exterior seriously, even attempting to use his Holy Power to detect the magic circuit patterns inside.
However, Lance was a fallen noble who had never even seen the gates of a magic academy. What did he know about magic circuits?
He simply asked urgently in his mind, ‘Master, can this be fixed?’
In his mind, the Witch narrowed her amber eyes and began to guide the flow of Lance’s Holy Power.
In a place Lance couldn’t see, the gilded magic circuits extended with the help of the Holy Power, quickly filling in the missing parts and reconnecting the two previously severed sections.
The entire process took only a few breaths.
‘Mm, it’s done.’
‘Huh?’
The Witch’s answer was so concise that Lance didn’t realize what was done for a moment.
Seeing this, the Witch repeated, ‘It’s repaired.’
Lance’s hand touching the lamp suddenly stopped.
He clearly found it hard to believe, so he turned and asked, “If it were repaired, what functions would this Holy Artifact have?”
The Fourth Elder thought for a moment before answering, “It can capture evil souls, heal injuries, remove negative status effects… probably things like that.”
Sensing the skepticism in Lance’s emotions, the Witch in his mental world folded her arms over her flat chest, clearly displeased by Lance’s lack of trust.
But when she heard the function of “capturing evil souls,” the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, and a glint of mischief flashed in her amber eyes.
She immediately guided the flow of Lance’s Holy Power once more.
Clang —
A blinding light suddenly erupted from the lamp, startling the Takin Elder and Astrid into instinctively closing their eyes.
Right then, a beam of light shot out from the lamp, striking Lance’s helmet directly.
Lance’s vision instantly distorted, and his consciousness drifted uncontrollably.
The two clusters of Soulfire in his eye sockets vanished instantly.
By the time Lance’s consciousness stabilized, he found himself in a room filled with divine light.
His entire body was suspended right in the center of the room.
Lance: !
What was going on?
Lance hurriedly looked around, only to discover that in this room, he had regained his physical body—but he was completely naked!
He could see the firm abdominal muscles around his waist and stomach, and his arms looked as toned as they had been when he was alive.
Just as Lance was panicking, a silver-haired girl wearing oversized, gilded mage robes suddenly appeared in the pure room.
Who else could it be but Falia?
“Lady Falia! What is going on!”
Being suspended, Lance was naturally in a state of extreme panic.
He didn’t even have time to care about being stark naked, let alone how he should address her.
Hearing this, the smile Falia had been wearing—like she had successfully pulled off a prank—stiffened.
Her expression turned cold as she slowly floated toward Lance.
She only stopped when their faces were a mere two or three inches apart.
Her slender, pale fingers emerged from the wide sleeves of her mage robes.
Her index finger rested under Lance’s chin, tilting his head up slightly.
“Lance~ why are you calling me Lady Falia?” she asked. “Are we not master and disciple?”
Lance’s field of vision was filled with Falia’s delicate face.
It was the first time he had ever been this close to a face other than his sister’s, and they were looking directly into each other’s eyes!
Lance instantly lost his composure, his heart thundering like a war drum.
“Fa… Master…”
“I was confused for a moment. Please forgive me.”
However, the Witch was still dissatisfied.
Although her expression softened slightly, she had no intention of letting Lance down. Instead, she leaned in even closer and spoke as if giving an order.
“Do not call me ‘Lady’.”
“Uh… Yes! Lady Master!”
“Hmm?”
“No, no, no! Master!”
Lance quickly squeezed his eyes shut.
He couldn’t understand why the Witch cared so much about titles!
She was way too close!
Having realized what was happening, Lance felt a sense of grief and indignation in his heart.
This Witch must have manipulated the Holy Lantern and sucked him inside!
And in this space, he had actually regained his physical body, but he didn’t have a stitch of clothing on!
Now, this short Witch was getting right in his face and forcing him to call her Master! She was truly bullying an innocent man! That cursed Witch!
What was even more frustrating was that he was completely helpless.
He even had to hold his breath while speaking, afraid that he would blow it onto the Witch’s face since she was so close!
With a soft snort, the Witch finally began to drift backward.
“I’ll forgive you this time…”
But observing Lance’s expression and reaction, her eyes shifted, and a playful look appeared on her face.
She moved her finger from his chin down past his Adam’s apple and pressed it against his firm pectoral muscle, chuckling softly.
“It’s quite solid, isn’t it~”
Lance: !
Lance was scared out of his wits. He couldn’t tell if he was trapped in a dream attack from the Dream Eater.
He was so startled that he snapped his eyes open.
He came face-to-face with Falia giggling behind her hand. How could he not know he had been played?
“Please let me go back! Please don’t do this anymore!”
Falia chuckled at his words.
“Alright, alright. I was just teasing you.”
She then clapped her hands. Lance’s vision distorted once more, and the last thing he saw was the slight curve of the Witch’s lips.
A sense of humiliation welled up in his heart.
Lance only hated that his strength was too weak; otherwise, he would definitely make that Witch pay the price!
“Lance, what’s wrong?”
After a moment of daze, his vision suddenly snapped back to reality.
The Soulfire in his eye sockets flared up again.
“Why did you suddenly collapse?”
Lance turned his head and met the Elf girl’s emerald eyes, which were filled with concern.
A strange sense of warmth suddenly rose in his heart. He felt that at least someone still cared about him…