“I never imagined Black Flame Mountain had such a shortcut!” exclaimed Ji’an, the newly appointed Death Servant Captain directly under the Pope. “Ascending from Heliwood, this vertical cliff face is indeed tricky, but we’ve installed a large number of temporary climbing pitons here. Half a month of effort hasn’t been wasted!”
Ji’an, the new Death Servant Captain, had always been looked down upon by Altair and Tyron. They considered him a madman.
But he was an absolute utilitarian. And now, his chance had come.
At Level 48, he was also an elite assassin. He had watched the deaths of Altair and Tyron with amusement.
The entrance to the cave within Black Flame Mountain had been discovered by his Death Servant unit, thanks to the elite falcons they used for training.
This was precisely the weak point in the Arden Forest barrier. There was no protection here at all!
The falcons had already scouted the route: this path led directly into the heart of Arden Forest.
The Death Servants, acting in secret, had bypassed the numerous informants of the Black Flame Mountain villagers and Heliwood’s Mayor Philip, and were brewing a massive conspiracy here.
Unfortunately, on their way back to Arden Forest, Elliris and Nino had been tailed by Bishop Gilliam’s men. They had already coordinated with Death Servant Captain Ji’an.
His Holiness the Pope’s strength had greatly increased. Having recently sacrificed the people of several small villages, he now had enough power to break Felicitala’s barrier.
He had given the tools to break the barrier to Bishop Gilliam and Death Servant Captain Ji’an, so they could work from inside and outside to instantly dismantle it!
Who would have thought that Elliris would overlook the shortcut on Black Flame Mountain? She could sneak out this way, and others could just as easily sneak in.
Night had fallen. Elliris looked out the window.
The rain pattered against the eaves, as if even the trees outside trembled at the storm’s assault. The moon was completely shrouded in dark clouds, creating an oppressive atmosphere.
“It’s been a long time since it rained this hard… Nino.” After finishing their late-night girl talk, Elliris asked Nino with some surprise.
“Ah, it’s fine, Sister Ell. This is just the plum rain season in June. I don’t think the rain is bad. The sound of rain actually helps me sleep well.”
Nino replied lazily, then stretched and let out a big yawn. She took Elliris’s hand and urged her to get some rest.
“Yeah, you’re right. Let’s sleep early. I’ve locked all the doors and windows, so the rain on the first floor won’t blow in.” Elliris had a bad premonition, but it wasn’t exactly because the storm scared her.
‘Ah, why think so much? This place is as solid as iron!’
‘For now, let’s just sleep. If Nino gets scared, I’ll comfort her.’
But little did they know, a great net was quietly descending. Bishop Gilliam and Death Servant Captain Ji’an were fully prepared, even bringing magic-suppression tools.
…
The sleeping Elliris and Nino were enjoying the warmth of their light down comforters and each other’s scent, faintly hearing each other’s soft breaths.
Suddenly, the barrier—tied to Elliris by a bond—shattered like broken glass. The sound echoed in her heart, jolting her awake.
She sat up abruptly, and the shaking of the bed woke Nino.
“Huh… what’s wrong, Sister Ell?”
Standing by the second-floor window, Elliris had been thinking the barrier was stable and wouldn’t cause trouble soon. But now, the smile on her face instantly froze, the color drained, and her face turned deathly pale.
The rain outside gradually stopped. A flash of lightning illuminated the dark figures crowding under the window.
In the previous illusory timeline, the barrier of Arden Forest would only break two years later. Such a large-scale encirclement of her cottage brought Elliris’s memories back to that nightmare.
Sophia lying in a pool of blood, herself hiding on the second floor, only to be burned alive…
Had the timeline changed, and the tragedy now involved her and Nino?
Tch! This shouldn’t be happening! How did the Pope manage to break the barrier two years early?
Panicking, Elliris lost her ability to think calmly. This sudden change left her at a loss. Could she really not escape this doomed ending?
Nino looked at the terrified, speechless Elliris and seemed to understand something. But she was far calmer than Elliris at the moment. She voiced her thoughts.
“Sister Ell, we’re surrounded by the Witch Hunting Group or the Pope’s men, right? Let’s prepare the appropriate magic countermeasures and try to escape, okay?”
“R-right… Nino, you’re right…” Still recalling that nightmare illusion, Elliris answered Nino incoherently.
“What’s wrong with you now, Sister Ell? Panicking to the point of being speechless isn’t the Elliris I know.”
Nino’s words snapped her out of her imagined apocalyptic ending. Yes, she was in a state of passive resignation.
Rational analysis would have left her with no hesitation. The plan now was to choose the right control magic and coordinate to escape.
But she should still prepare for the worst. Her home would probably be destroyed. She wouldn’t surrender until the very last moment!
Taking a deep breath, Elliris calmed herself. Her eyes were calm and resolute as she spoke to Nino. “Nino, use [Ice Binding Technique] in coordination with my [Light Binding] and [Intense Light]. Remember, don’t get bogged down in a fight. We don’t know how many enemies are nearby.”
Elliris now had absolute confidence in her [Light Binding]. She was sure that none of the Pope’s men present were higher level than her. This level suppression gave her a proud advantage.
Just as they were thinking of jumping out the window after finishing the job, Ji’an and another subordinate, using invisibility potions, quietly pried open the front door.
Unaware, Elliris and Nino, still in their pajamas, were slowly descending the stairs. She had stored their clothes in her spatial ring to escape quickly. But as they reached the bottom, they were suddenly grabbed from behind by gleaming blades pressed against their necks.
!!
Ji’an and his assassin subordinate put some unknown bracelets on their wrists, then deactivated their invisibility.
Today, Ji’an had done his homework thoroughly. Those strange items seemed to block the magic conduction of the God Race, as if the entire area had its signal jammed. Elliris and Nino could no longer freely manipulate the mana around them.
Even the bond between members of the God Race was severed. The two goddesses couldn’t respond to Elliris in time. This was a God Race suppression item specially crafted for Elliris by Morvana (Adomili) at the Pope Dussell’s request.
A strange sensation surged within Elliris and Nino, as if the magic switch in their bodies had been forcibly turned off…
“[Light Binding]! [Light Binding]!” Elliris chanted the light magic urgently, her brows tightly furrowed.
“[Ice Binding Technique]!…” Nino’s lips trembled as she chanted her ice binding spell.
The two young girls shouted desperately, hoping their signature techniques would answer their call.
But nothing happened. They could no longer channel mana or cast spells.
A mage who can’t use magic is even less than a commoner.
Elliris and Nino were now like turtles in a jar, or two little lambs led out of the pen by a butcher. What awaited them was a fate of being slaughtered.
“His Holiness the Pope said these two need special care. Take them back. Don’t cause them any physical harm. They might be the best sacrifices. Heh, one is the current Saint, the other is the descendant of the strongest former priest.”
Bishop Gilliam slowly walked in through the front door, clapping his hands happily. He knew he and Ji’an were very likely to get promotions and titles.
“Bishop, I know my limits. Rest assured.”
“Let us go! You villains!” Elliris tried to communicate through words, but no one responded to her plea.
“Sleep well, little white rabbits. When you wake up, you’ll probably be in the God Race prison under the Pope City.”
“You! Mmm…”
“Sister!…”
Two cloths soaked in a large amount of sleeping potion were pressed over their mouths and noses, plunging the struggling young girls into deep sleep.
—
Second Continent, Tisomde, Elf Forest.
Angelica, in her baby dragon form, was snuggling against the sleeping Sophia. Suddenly, her most dreaded premonition came true.
“Oh no! I can’t sense Elliris’s God Race connection anymore! And the Arden Forest barrier has been destroyed!”