The witch seemed to sniff an aura that shouldn’t exist on the Holy Maiden.
She flicked her tongue to sense again.
For that second, an ancient, deep, increasingly thick bloody smell, as ferocious as a wild beast, forced its way into her mind, causing her originally confident demeanor to suddenly freeze!
‘Blood? No, this isn’t ordinary bloody smell…’
‘A Demon? No, this scent is more ancient, purer, and of an extremely high rank!’
“What’s wrong?” Truth looked up curiously at the astonished Abyss-Sniffing Witch.
“You… you are…”
The witch retreated half a step, as if encountering something terrifying, but she couldn’t describe it or dare to say it directly, making her already stammering mouth even more speechless.
‘Sorry, little snake,’ Truth thought to herself. ‘You didn’t do anything wrong, but Reg is under my protection now, and this concerns my Dragon Egg. So today I’ll have to scare you a little. Hope you don’t have nightmares tonight.’
Then Truth continued to release her aura, causing the Abyss-Sniffing Serpent Witch to tremble all over in fear.
‘A Demon! An extremely terrifying Demon! And at least High-Rank! No… maybe something beyond High-Rank? King Rank?!’
The Abyss-Sniffing Serpent Witch was only Rank 6.
Her weak strength severely limited her imagination, and she couldn’t fathom the power Truth secretly revealed to her.
Then, with Truth’s half-smiling gaze, a hoarse voice sounded in her mind:
“Leave this place.”
“Gulp…” The witch swallowed hard. Only after that terrifying scent gradually dissipated did she calm down and quietly announce: “I… made a mistake…”
The Huoqi family’s hiring fee was certainly high, but she had to be alive to spend it!
So under Truth’s “friendly reminder,” the witch decisively chose an option that would let her leave Deya alive.
As for the Dragon Egg, no one should think about it anymore.
“What?!” Huoqi’s initially triumphant smile instantly froze.
He thought his ears were malfunctioning.
Made a mistake? Impossible! The Abyss-Sniffing Serpent Witch couldn’t be more wrong! If she didn’t want to do the job, she should just say so!
Hawkins couldn’t believe it either. And I trusted you so much just now! He turned to the Holy Maiden and said:
“Repeat what you just said!”
“I said I made… a mistake!” the witch repeated through gritted teeth. Without further explanation, she continued: “We… leave!”
“Leave? That Demon Hunter is still here, and now the clues to the Dragon Egg are basically on him. I can’t…”
“Then suit… yourself!”
The Abyss-Sniffing Serpent Witch ignored Hawkins and quickly left the cathedral with slightly trembling steps, as if afraid of something.
Hawkins also sensed something off.
He glanced at Truth and Reg before following her out.
Watching the two hurry away, Truth reminded the witch again in her mind: “Keep your mouth shut.”
The witch, who had just reached the cathedral door, stumbled to a halt upon hearing Truth’s voice again.
After a few seconds, she moved once more, running even faster.
Without looking up, she nearly bumped into Tia, who was just about to enter:
“Huh?”
Tia quickly pressed her hand to her chest and moved aside.
After Hawkins walked out, she came before Kashan, who looked completely confused, and Truth, whose face read “I know nothing,” and asked curiously: “Who were those two? They’re not locals, are they?”
Tia had just finished handling the wounded and rushed back to the cathedral upon hearing that the Holy Maiden seemed unwell… So was the current Ninth Saintess Truth or Zhendi?
Truth and Kashan both nodded. Then Kashan stepped in front of Truth, crouched down, and asked seriously: “What did you do to that Beastmen witch to make her look so timid? And she actually admitted she smelled wrong?!”
After all, getting an Abyss-Sniffing Serpent to admit a mistake was harder than climbing to the heavens.
It would completely disgrace the snake and ruin its reputation… So how did Truth do it?
“Well…” Truth thought for a moment, but quickly came up with an answer that Kashan couldn’t question: “I just called upon the Goddess of Life for help.”
Right, since I’m a Saintess, having the Goddess’s help is only natural.
Kashan looked skeptical. “Is that so? Or is it that Kashan, the Chief Priest, doubts the little Saintess or the Goddess?”
‘What? A subordinate wants to kiss her superior’s mouth?’
“Like that…” Kashan said sternly, “The Goddess would even help with such a trivial matter? She pampers you too much. That’s not good!” Compared to the matters of Huoqi and Reg, Tia seemed more concerned about the Goddess’s help.
“Beastmen witch? Goddess? Predecessors, what difficult situation did you encounter?” Tia asked curiously.
She had met Kashan once in Wangdu, but back then Kashan wasn’t the Chief Priest.
Kashan had no impression of Tia. Before coming to Deya City, she had only briefly learned that the High Priest of Deya City was a Rank 4 priest named Tia.
“It’s nothing. Just some nobles from Wangdu causing trouble. The Holy Maiden has already dealt with it. And then…”
Not paying any attention to Reg, who was relieved to have survived in the distance, Kashan turned to face Tia, hands on her hips, and asked seriously:
“You’re Tia, right? If I remember correctly, you also studied at the Priest Academy in Wangdu?”
“Yes, wha… what is it?” Tia felt something was wrong.
She sensed that this predecessor, whom she had only met once, would be troublesome.
“Since you became the High Priest and came to Deya City, your Priest Etiquette should be Excellent or above. And you should also know something about Saintess Ritual, right?”
“Yes…”
“Very well, then let me ask…” Kashan suddenly pointed her right finger at Truth behind her.
“Why doesn’t the Holy Maiden know any Saintess Ritual or Priest Etiquette?! Teaching the Holy Maiden Priest Etiquette should be your duty as the Dean of the Priest Academy at Deya Magic Academy. And making sure the Holy Maiden learns Saintess Ritual is your responsibility as the High Priest of Deya City!”
“Huh? Th-this… Truth doesn’t know Priest Etiquette or Saintess Ritual because… because the Sixth Saintess said Truth didn’t need to learn!” Tia directly shifted the blame to Aisia, who was in Wangdu.
“Lady Aisia? No wonder Truth is clueless. Birds of a feather flock together! So that’s why I was sent here to evaluate the Saintess. No, I must report this!”
“A Saintess who doesn’t know etiquette is as useless as a forum user who doesn’t know how to vote. That idiot Aisia skips her duties, and now she wants to dump this mess on a newly appointed Saintess in the borderlands? For Truth’s future, Kashan decides to handle this seriously!”
“Wait, actually it was the Saintess herself who said I didn’t have to learn Saintess Ritual!”
Seeing that Aisia, as mentioned by Tia, couldn’t suppress Kashan, Truth invoked the Goddess of Life again.
‘What? A subordinate wants to kiss her superior’s…’
“Like that?”
Kashan was taken aback by Truth’s sincere gaze, but the next second, she replied firmly: “I don’t believe it!”
As the Chief Priest, how could she not know the importance of Saintess Ritual to a Saintess?
Even a fool could figure out that the Goddess wouldn’t give in on this matter!
“It’s true,” Truth said calmly.
“True? Fine, I’ll ask the Goddess right now!”
Without any preamble, Kashan went to the statue of the Goddess of Life, activated the Circle of Life above her head, and called out: “Goddess, Kashan sincerely calls upon you!”
“Huh?!” Tia and Truth were both startled. What, directly calling the Goddess of Life? That’s how you play it?
But after several breaths, the Goddess of Life showed no response.
…
The Goddess of Life seemed to ignore Kashan’s call. That made Tia and Truth sigh in relief.
Normally, the Goddess paid no attention to people. A Chief Priest… probably wouldn’t get a reply, right?
But just then, Kashan added: “It’s about the Saintess being unable to gain Faith Power!”
Instantly, a dazzling Saintlight shone upon Kashan…