The town, inside a bedroom of the luxurious mansion, was filled with a sultry scent.
Knock knock knock!
A series of urgent knocks made the man on the bed shudder.
He pushed the woman away, his eyelids twitching, and growled softly toward the door.
“Who is it!?”
“Master, it’s me!”
The man immediately recognized the voice and a sense of foreboding washed over him. Hastily, he grabbed a set of clothes and put them on.
Before heading to the door, he covered the incense burner.
Outside, the man who looked fierce but was actually a bully afraid of strength was standing at the door with a sullen expression.
After a moment, the door was opened.
The portly mayor of the town stepped out through a narrow crack, squinting as he glared at his subordinate, the Captain of the soldiers.
“What’s the matter?”
He naturally suspected it wasn’t anything good and asked what exactly had happened.
The Captain peeked inside the room.
But as soon as the mayor stepped out, he started to close the door, only catching a glimpse of a pale female figure swaying past, without seeing much detail.
Unfortunately…
The Captain dared not smile and spoke in a low voice.
“The three of them are really formidable!”
The mayor frowned, staring at the Captain. After a moment, he snorted coldly.
Saying “formidable,” huh? Aren’t you completely useless then!
He roughly guessed this guy’s true nature—forget about any show of force, the moment the other party made a move, he probably would have turned tail and run.
If they managed to exchange a few blows, it was only out of necessity!
The mayor’s expression was icy. His imposing aura made the Captain bow his head, not daring to breathe heavily, only able to flatter him cautiously.
“They… they went upstream along the creek…”
“Understood. Now get lost.”
The mayor was tired of seeing this good-for-nothing piece of trash.
This Captain only had magic power at the fifth tier because the Cult had granted it as a reward.
What they gave, they could just as easily take back.
Guarding this place was just for money and those worthless souls. Though many had fled over time, the harvesting was almost complete by now. Plus, the recent situation was somewhat unusual.
His eyes darkened considerably.
Turning back into the room, he was met by a woman wrapped in a lace nightgown, revealing vast stretches of beautiful skin, but he had no interest at all and coldly ordered her to leave.
The woman pressed her lips together, struggling with desire, but obediently headed toward the door.
After she left, the mayor approached the incense burner.
He first lifted the lid and scooped out the half-burnt incense ash with a spoon.
He casually poured the ashes onto the ground, then retrieved a refined wooden box from a hidden compartment.
Opening the box, it contained strange white grass leaves. The mayor poured them into the incense burner, lit a fire, covered it, and gently fanned it with a small fan.
As the flame ignited the white leaves, wisps of white smoke emerged.
After a short while, the smoke thickened, rising out of the burner’s holes.
The smoke, seemingly drawn by some invisible force, swirled above the burner and gradually condensed into a blurry humanoid shape.
The mayor took several steps back, bowing his body, unwilling to look directly.
The half-formed figure of smoke spoke hoarsely to the mayor.
“What is it?”
“Master, another group of outsiders went looking for that finger.”
The smoky figure showed no emotion—no joy or anger—but this only made the mayor below even more fearful, no different from the soldier Captain earlier.
“Understood. I have my plans. Do your duty well.”
“Yes, subordinate understands.”
Hearing this reply, the mayor breathed a light sigh of relief.
The smoke figure dissipated, and after a moment, he rose to cover the incense burner again, finally exhaling the breath he had been holding.
Just as he wanted to find that woman to vent his frustration, he suddenly seemed to remember something, his expression darkening.
His eyes gleamed with resolve as he strode out of the room.
Enya explained to Sophia and Nina what the Cult of Calamity was, and who the Plague Elder was.
The Cult of Calamity was an ancient cult organization, universally recognized by all races on the continent as a secretive and evil sect.
They often had no physical organization, usually acting alone.
To join them, one had to create a calamity themselves, and then a guide would lead them onto the path called “Calamity.”
Therefore, the appearance of their members always meant a disaster was imminent.
They were the embodiment of absolute chaos and evil.
The Plague Elder was a branch of the Cult of Calamity, specializing in using plagues to create massive disasters.
“Why bring about disasters?” Nina asked, puzzled. What benefit could there be in causing disasters?
Sophia pondered for a moment before answering.
“To please the gods and gain power, perhaps?”
“Just like the Divine Church, which requires fulfilling the behaviors recorded in the Classic to receive the god’s response, those Evil Gods likely have similar demands.”
Sophia’s explanation helped Nina understand.
They then turned to Enya.
Enya held that strange finger suspended from the stick.
“What is this for?”
“This is a fragment that’s split off. They usually have an aggregating property, so by hanging it like this, you can locate another piece.”
Enya flipped the stick around, and sure enough, the finger moved, pointing toward a direction it had been indicating since earlier.
Enya had known this little piece of knowledge long ago, and now she also understood that even Bloodlines possessed an aggregating nature.
This explained a question that had puzzled her for a long time—she had encountered several instances where people slaughtered their own families to increase power.
That must have been exploiting this property.
If not for Enya’s Dragon Eyes, she might never have noticed this, missing such crucial information.
Enya glanced at the two elves and said,
“Let’s go find the next one. Maybe we’ll encounter some Cult members.”
“Okay.”
Sophia nodded.
The three followed the finger’s direction, continuing onward.
The night wind was bleak but the temperature still pleasant, making it comfortable.
They hurried through the night and soon reached the edge of a mine.
Looking at a pit five or six meters deep, they exchanged glances.
Enya and Nina turned their eyes to Sophia, who hesitated before saying,
“Let’s go in. I can use Elemental Magic.”
Even though other magical systems were mysterious and wondrous, Elemental Magic was not only useful in combat but also practical for daily life.
Hence, Elemental Magicians were the most popular.
Enya looked toward the mine entrance, a slight smile curling beneath her mask.
She was the first to jump down, landing at the bottom.
Sophia rode the wind to follow.
Nina also leapt but deliberately jumped a few meters farther, then turned to raise an eyebrow at Enya.
Enya gave her a thumbs up.
When someone shows off in front of you, just praise them.
Enya’s thumbs-up only made Nina more frustrated.
She huffed and ran over to Sophia’s side.
“Sophia, I’ll protect you. That mother dragon is all show and no substance.”
Sophia smiled and patted Nina’s head.
Watching their harmonious interaction, Enya couldn’t help but think of her daughter, Miss Rosily.
Through synchronized information from Phil, Enya was essentially in two places at once, never truly leaving those two little girls.
The mine at the bottom had five or six tunnels.
Following the female finger’s guidance, they entered a smaller passageway.
The path was narrow and littered with rubble, making walking uncomfortable.
Wooden supports held up the mine, which looked nearly exhausted, long abandoned.
The ground was covered with dust that showed no signs of being disturbed.
Sophia gripped her staff, ready for any sudden situation, while Nina kept her gaze fixed on the rear, wary of possible ambushes.
Enya, meanwhile, appeared as relaxed as if on a stroll.
As they went further, the air grew heavy and dark.
Enya narrowed her eyes.
She had already sensed the problem but said nothing—intentionally.
Some clever Magical Beasts disguised themselves as ordinary trapped wild animals, waiting for hunters to approach carelessly, then suddenly used their magic to kill and devour them.
When the gap in strength between hunter and prey was too great, their roles could easily reverse.
Passing a few forks, they came to a cavern.
This should be a large hole created by mining ore.
Enya picked up a small black crystal from the ground.
“Black Crystal Stone is found here?”
Black Crystal Stone had only recently become a high-grade material.
Previously, it was merely decorative, and only a few Magicians used its properties to create magic tools.
In the past, magic tools were created by imbuing special powers into items.
Nowadays, many low-level magic tools were mass-produced.
This was thanks to a certain Witch who established Modern Magical Theory.
As Enya was lost in thought, a thick white mist surrounded them.
“Heh, they’re here.”
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