Reg had been exhausted these past few days.
As the Hero Candidate singled out by Kavier for special attention, he had been working on the front lines of cleaning up the battlefield.
It had to be said that the Demons were really good at hiding.
Even though the entire Rift Valley had been lost for so long, the Demon Hunters still managed to find over a dozen of them every day from some obscure corners.
With his solid theoretical knowledge and exceptional physical abilities, whenever a Demon was discovered in some wreckage, Reg would be urgently dispatched to assist.
Though it was tiring, his skill at hunting Demons improved by leaps and bounds.
Even the Teacher responsible for guiding him remarked that Reg had become a full-fledged official Second Rank Demon Hunter capable of standing on his own.
After all, for most novice Demon Hunters, killing five Demons a year was already a lot.
But Reg alone had taken part in taking down no fewer than twenty Demons in just this one week.
He would probably reach the bottleneck of the Third Rank by next week and then undergo the Rank-Up Challenge.
But Kavier said that was far from enough. As a Hero Candidate, Reg still had many things to hone…
“Emergency assembly!”
It was barely dawn when Reg was instantly awakened from his sleep by the whistle.
After assembling, he learned that their team was to be urgently dispatched to the south side of Dea Plateau early in the morning for some unknown purpose. Reg didn’t mind.
However, just as Reg finished packing and was about to leave with the Adventurer Team, an officer suddenly stopped him.
“Commander Kavier orders you to stay and wait for the arrival of the Capital Task Force. You will then follow the Task Force to Deya City to handle the Blasphemer Incident!”
“Huh? So suddenly?!” Reg was at a loss. Why was he suddenly going back to Deya City?
“Have you forgotten? Demon Hunters not only face Demons but also Blasphemers. This is a good opportunity to train you, so Commander Kavier decided to squeeze you into the Task Force. Besides, the Task Force will be here soon.”
“I see…” To be honest, Reg didn’t really want to go back to Deya City.
He had no idea if his Family members were still there looking for him.
Well, once he returned to Deya City, he would go find Truth and hide out in the Cathedral to lie low.
So Reg waited alone at the entrance of the Military Camp.
About half an hour later, several military carriages and one luxurious carriage drove into the camp, covered in dust.
The luxurious carriage in the middle of the line caught Reg’s attention.
The carriage’s compartment was engraved with a massive sign of the Church of Life, and the person driving it wore an Eight-level Adventurer badge on their chest.
It looked like someone not to be trifled with!
So who was sitting inside that carriage, to have an Eight-level Adventurer as their driver?
“Curious?” Just then, the officer who had notified Reg earlier appeared again.
He was there to take Reg to report to the Task Force and also to answer Reg’s questions.
“I am curious. What’s the story behind that luxurious carriage?” Reg asked.
“That’s the carriage of the President of the Wangdu Priests Association. I heard the President came here to meet the Ninth Saintess or something.”
“So she’s using public funds to chase celebrities?”
“Not at all. Everyone in Wangdu knows this President is very rigid. It’s obvious she’s here to pick a fight with the Ninth Saintess. Be careful not to provoke her. Don’t forget, while the Saintess is one hundred percent gentle, not all Priests are.”
Beside a campfire in the free exploration zone of the Mist—a fire that brought peace of mind to countless Adventurers—Wilona sat with drooping ears, warming herself.
“What am I going to do? I lost such an important gift. How am I supposed to face…”
The night before, Wilona had come out of the night market and encountered a group of three looking for a fourth teammate.
They enthusiastically invited her to explore a Treasure Chest in the Mist.
Seeing the party composition of two Level 19 Warriors and one Level 20 Knight, Wilona asked a few simple questions and then agreed to join without much hesitation.
The four of them chatted casually as they entered the Mist.
After all, as a Third Rank, Second Stage Magic Cat, Wilona could easily take on all three of them by herself.
But since it was her first time entering the Changed Mist, she simply wanted them to act as temporary guides.
And when they learned Wilona was from faraway Snowveil City, the three Adventurers showered her with praise, blowing so many rainbow farts that Wilona let down her guard.
The tail hidden under her robe almost started wagging.
Just then, the Second Rank Knight noticed the pendant on Wilona’s neck.
“Predecessor, you even wear a pendant on you? For someone as powerful as you, the pendant you wear must have quite the background, right?”
“Heh, of course!” Wilona raised her chin proudly.
With her right hand, she pulled out the Space Pendant Truth had given her and dangled it in front of the three.
The silver light emanating from the pendant dimmed everything around it.
“This pendant is from a very good friend of mine… Gah?!”
Suddenly, just as Wilona was showing off her pendant, the Second Rank Knight nearest to her reached out and snatched it from her neck!
Wilona reacted quickly, her fur bristling all over. She tried to grab it back with even faster reflexes, but in the next second, the Knight hurled the pendant forward with all his might!
The whole thing happened in 0.5 seconds. Wilona’s pupils contracted sharply as she stared wide-eyed at the pendant flying into the vast Mist.
‘My pendant! Gah!’
Wilona sprang forward like a rocket and leaped with all her strength to catch the pendant in midair.
But just then, the pendant flew back the way it came, leaving her grasping at nothing!
“Success!”
The three Adventurers let out excited whoops and ignored Wilona as they quickly vanished into the thick fog.
When the Knight had snatched the pendant, he had already attached a transparent thread to it.
So after throwing it, he only needed to pull it back to retrieve the pendant, leaving Wilona empty-handed and lost in the Mist.
“You!”
Realizing she had been set up, Wilona clenched her teeth and ran back, but just one turn made her lose all sense of direction. She could no longer find the three Adventurers.
She had run into a habitual criminal gang that specialized in stealing items in the Mist using its properties.
Their method was simple: first, lull the victim into a false sense of security, then throw the victim’s valuables far away.
The victim, fearing the Mist’s Lost Property would make them lose the item forever, would immediately chase after it.
At that point, the criminals only needed to pull the thread to retrieve the valuables while the victim got lost and couldn’t catch up. A perfect two-for-one deal!
In fact, the three had already targeted Wilona at the night market. It was true what they said—rich kids were easy to fool!
So Wilona spent almost the entire night frantically searching the Mist.
Now, exhausted, she sat by the campfire resting, then suddenly hugged her knees and shouted at the sky with her eyes shut tight.
“I hate this so much! Gah!”
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” Just as Wilona was venting loudly, a slightly androgynous female voice suddenly sounded nearby.
Then a girl emerged from the Mist and walked up to the campfire.
She wore a simple Mage robe, held a crude Magic Staff, and had a fiery red ponytail with a few dyed streaks. She smiled at Wilona.
“Did you run into some trouble?”
“Ah…” Wilona lifted her head and cautiously studied the uninvited guest.
The latter’s features were refreshing and carefree, looking very comfortable and trustworthy, but that smile…
Wasn’t it a little too stiff?