Little Mist was crying, but not a sound escaped.
It curled itself up into a ball, its soft, fine tail occasionally wiping away the tears at the corner of its eyes.
It looked utterly defeated, so much so that even when Elis nearly stepped on it, Little Mist didn’t bother to move.
How could this happen, how could this happen…
No matter how it tried, Little Mist just couldn’t understand why Adventurers five hundred years later had such terrible character. Wasn’t it helping them? Yet they…
The first time an Adventurer kicked Little Mist flying, it thought it was just a misunderstanding, so it tried to help another Adventurer Party in the next instance.
But as soon as that other Party spotted Little Mist, they instantly got excited, shouting something about “discovering a rare magical creature,” then rushed forward with weapons drawn, trying to capture Little Mist. Terrified, Little Mist immediately fled, leading the Party on a wild chase through the instance.
Because all four members of the Party focused entirely on Little Mist, they failed to notice the Mist Wolves lurking in every corner.
Their frantic pursuit quickly attracted a pack of Mist Wolves, and the Party’s screams echoed non-stop.
Oh no, a good deed gone terribly wrong!
Watching the four of them get teleported back to the Bonfire, Little Mist felt a mix of emotions.
It kept thinking that it wasn’t its fault, but somehow it was still its fault…
Afterwards, it tried helping several more Adventurer Parties, but without exception, they all wanted to kill it.
Either they treated it as just another ordinary mini-boss in the instance, or they tried to capture or skin it alive to take it to the city for appraisal.
Little Mist’s compassion was quickly being worn away…
In the end, refusing to give up, it decided to try one last time.
It found a Party resting at the Bonfire, healing their wounds—a balanced team of two men and two women who looked rather harmonious.
Surely there was still love left in this world, right? As long as they sensed its goodwill, these humans would definitely communicate kindly with it!
So Little Mist quietly sneaked over to the side of a female ranger whose thigh was wounded, then took the initiative to cast a cool Healing Spell.
“Huh? Where did that Healing Spell come from?”
Feeling a cool sensation and the tickling of healing, the ranger girl immediately lowered her head to check her wound and discovered a small white snake, emanating a faint aura of life, carefully healing her.
“A snake… that can cast a Healing Spell?!”
The four at the Bonfire froze for a moment, all staring at Little Mist in shock.
It was the first time they’d seen a magical creature that could cast a healing skill.
And as Adventurers, their first impression of Little Mist was—
This snake must be worth a fortune!
After a round of silent glances, none of them made a sound. Only the Party leader quietly moved behind Little Mist.
Taking advantage of its focus on healing, the leader swiftly scooped it up, directly grabbing Little Mist by the throat of fate:
“Ha, we’ve struck it rich!”
And so Little Mist was stuffed into a bag, listening in darkness as the four outside gleefully discussed what price to set for it.
No way, how could this be? It had even tried to show goodwill…
Could it be that, five hundred years later, there was no love left in the world?!
Although Truth always considered it a sanctimonious pushover, Little Mist was not about to blindly heal those who wanted to harm it. By now, it was thoroughly disheartened with most Adventurers in the mist.
Maybe it would be better to go back to sleep for another few centuries—maybe, after hundreds of years, the world would be filled with love again.
If only it could escape…
Little Mist tried biting the bag twice but couldn’t bite through to escape.
When the leader realized Little Mist was trying to get out, he wrapped several more bags around it and kept a watchful eye, planning to give up on clearing the instance and just take the little white snake to the Association for appraisal.
At this, Little Mist felt utterly doomed…
A little snake around level five couldn’t possibly escape from the palms of four level fifteen Adventurers, but there was still one way out—although Little Mist felt too embarrassed to use it.
But if it didn’t, the next time the Mist condensed an incarnation would be a hundred years from now, and the will incarnate then wouldn’t even be itself…
After a fierce struggle and under the pressure of survival, Little Mist finally gave in and contacted Truth through the Mist Core.
After returning from the Dea Plateau, Truth was in a great mood and secretly rescued Little Mist, dropping it into the Core Region.
Truth had originally wanted to mock Little Mist a bit, but then saw it just start crying on the spot?
Apparently, being betrayed by the Adventurers had really struck a nerve. Tsk, never mind, let’s let it off for today.
It’s already been tormented enough by Adventurers…
So, until Elis arrived, Little Mist had just been sobbing.
“Mm? Trouble again?”
Within the Core Region, just as Truth was about to urge Elis to run another errand, Tia suddenly sent a message: an envoy had been sent from Wangsheng City, requesting an audience with the Saintess. Truth needed to return to Deya City at once.
“Tsk, what a hassle.” Truth rolled her eyes, then transformed into a mist of blood and left the Core Region. The identity of the Saintess did come with privileges, but it also meant shouldering the Saintess’s responsibilities.
Better settle it quickly—she still had to come back and hotfix bugs in the instance, and the Punishment Stage designed specifically for Adventurers who Violated Rules was only half-finished.
Elis’s inspection at the entrance was just the first line of defense.
If any Adventurer whose level didn’t meet the rules managed to slip past her somehow, they’d next have to face Truth’s DPS Detection Mechanism, the most effective method for checking levels.
If an Adventurer’s DPS exceeded the maximum limit for level fifteen, Truth’s gaze would descend from the heavens.
Upon confirming a level violation, they would be sent directly to the Punishment Stage.
There, Truth would ruthlessly squeeze every last bit of value out of them.
Honestly, Elis’s checks were dispensable, but Truth just didn’t want to see her slacking off. Since she wanted to join up, she had better work hard!
Very soon, only Elis and Little Mist remained in the Core Region. With no one hurrying her anymore, Elis crouched down curiously to study Little Mist closely:
“So fair and clean, and actually kind of cute. No matter how I look at it, it seems like a super rare species!”
“Hiss?”
The moment it heard “rare species,” Little Mist flinched. Did this one want to sell it too?! It immediately ran off, keeping a distance from Elis.
However, Elis didn’t chase after it, only raised her hand and tried to greet Little Mist, intending to test the intelligence of this little demon pet:
“Hello, I’m Elis, Truth’s um… friend!”
Friend? Little Mist flicked its tongue, tilting its head to examine Elis up and down. Sensing no malice, it still thought that, with Truth’s personality, any friend of hers probably wasn’t good news either.
No, how could it jump to conclusions like that? It would be terrible to misunderstand Elis!
Anyway, it should at least try interacting. After all, this was the Core of the Mist.
If Elis did hurt it, it could always call for Truth again—no shame left after asking for help once already.
So Little Mist cautiously returned to stand in front of Elis, who reached out to touch its head. After a moment’s hesitation, Little Mist accepted.
“So cool and smooth…” Elis gently rubbed Little Mist’s head with her index finger, surprised that even a demon could like raising pets—and pets not so different from those owned by the nobles of Wangdu.
The nobles of Wangdu especially loved keeping odd pets to show off: multi-legged horses, two-headed crows, and especially snakes, which were quite popular.
Elis once saw a four-meter-long giant python as thick as a thigh at a mage’s house.
The next time she saw it, the mage had invited her over for python soup—a nourishing treat.
But unlike those nobles obsessed with exotic pets, Elis was more normal.
She liked cute things, like the other Saintesses (besides Truth), and like the Little Mist before her.
“You’re really cute. If only you didn’t cry, you’d be even cuter. Still, with a master like Truth, who just loves bullying others, it’s hard not to cry. Poor thing.”
Looking at the pitiful Little Mist, Elis couldn’t help but recall the times she’d been bullied by Truth herself.
Sensing Elis’s sympathy, Little Mist was suddenly moved to tears again. Even if this person mistook Truth for her owner, which was a bit annoying, still!
She didn’t have any ulterior motives!
She was a loving, normal person!
She could even empathize and say it was cute!
On this day, after sleeping for centuries, Little Mist finally met what it considered a “normal human”—except for one thing…
Being so short, Little Mist couldn’t help but see under Elis’s skirt whenever it looked up… Had humans these days become this open?
……
Deya City, inside Tia’s office.
Having taken control of all of Deya City, Tia had spent her recent days dealing with the city’s elite.
They were far too crafty; negotiations were exhausting, and Tia constantly felt the urge to just poison them all and be done with it.
But if she resorted to poison, it could ruin Truth’s reputation, so she’d better hold back for now. Speaking of which, what had Truth been doing lately?
Normally, after a Saintess took office, she would use the Divine Selection Ceremony to rapidly expand her influence and recruit allies.
Only Truth, after the Ceremony, hardly ever showed her face, remaining a mystery. The followers’ fervor gradually faded as they waited for the Saintess to fulfill her promises.
Even the factions lurking in the shadows were growing impatient.
Many Great Families were waiting to invest in the Ninth Saintess, but so far, she had only spoken about making Deya City develop around the Mist Core, without demonstrating any real investment value.
In recent days, many families had sent Scouts to secretly visit Tia and inquire about the Ninth Saintess’s plans, but Tia herself had no answers.
Finally, today, one faction lost patience: Wangsheng City, which had previously sent an Assassin to kill the Ninth Saintess.
Come on, we’ve already sent someone to assassinate you and you haven’t said a word—are you planning revenge, or forgiveness? You need to say something!
Do you know how anxious we’ve been, day after day?
By day, we wonder how to defend if the Saintess retaliates.
At night, we worry about how to get along if she decides to forgive us.
After all, Wangsheng City and Deya City are close by, and you are the representative of the Goddess of Life. Without a response, we’re left on edge every day!
And so Wangsheng City finally sent an envoy to Deya City for a formal meeting with Truth.
By now, all sorts of rumors about the Ninth Saintess were already disrupting Wangsheng City’s daily life.
In recent days, everyone in the streets and alleys talked about the city’s uncertain future, fear spreading everywhere.
Some said the Ninth Saintess would use the power of the Goddess of Life to slaughter all of Wangsheng City in three days.
Others said she was a coward, never daring to show her face after a single assassination attempt.
Still others said this was all psychological warfare—to unsettle Wangsheng City and deal it a heavy blow at minimal cost.
A few believed the Ninth Saintess would make peace, but most thought she would seek revenge.
After all, she was a Saintess, and so close to Wangsheng City.
According to the relationships between Saints and the gods, even if she declared a massacre, her sacred status among followers wouldn’t be shaken.
Because of this, merchants began fleeing Deya City for fear of reprisal, residents started selling off their property at rock-bottom prices, and even though the powers-that-be tried hard to keep things stable, it had little effect.
If this went on, Wangsheng City would soon be empty, its influence greatly diminished.
Only an official statement from the Ninth Saintess could put an end to the chaos—regardless of whether she would seek revenge, at least say something!
Yet Truth was oblivious to all this. She hadn’t even really paid attention to the Eight Rank Assassin from Wangsheng City who tried to kill her, forgetting about it entirely after a single night.
Honestly, it was just that the Eight Rank Assassin was too weak.
If a King Rank Assassin had come and forced her to draw her “Main Knife,” she might remember it, but Wangsheng City didn’t even have a King Rank Assassin…
“Haha, pervy High Priest~”
Just as Tia was busy at her desk dealing with the proposals of the elite, Truth strolled into the office, wearing her Sanctified Robe, looking quite pleased with herself.
No wonder, since the interface now showed a steady energy income of over ten points per second—hard not to be happy.
Tia looked at Truth, speechless:
“It’s only been a while since we last met, but you seem more and more like a rascal, Little Truth. Or is your true nature finally showing?”
“So what kind of aura should I have? Like this?”
Standing in front of Tia, Truth instantly dropped her carefree attitude, transforming her demeanor and expression to one of shy gentleness.
She placed her hands demurely in front of her belly, smiled sweetly, and bowed slightly to Tia:
“Good day, High Priestess Tia.”
Mm, this image certainly matched everyone’s stereotype of a Priestess or Saintess. Tia nodded, though since she knew Truth too well, seeing her act like this just felt weird.
It was a bit like having a goblin roommate who never wore clothes in the dorm, but could instantly turn into a normal person to flirt with girls in public. The absurdity was uncanny.
Still, this seamless switching was a skill of Truth’s, and Tia set down her pen and, pretending to be formal, smiled and replied in the Saintess’s ceremonial manner:
“Good day, Saintess. May I ask what instructions you have today?”
“Let me take a look at **.”
“So you’re here because of Wangsheng City… Wait, what did you just say?!”