Chapter 666 - 664: Not Pointless Nonsense
Three thousand gold coins is quite a generous reward.
After bidding farewell to Bastuya, in a secluded place, Phil couldn’t help but ask, "Was it the same when Hilia helped purify the pollution before?"
Hilia chuckled, "Not really. At that time, I used my real name and identity, so I tried to maintain it a bit. However, if they insisted on donating gold coins to me, I wouldn’t refuse."
Thinking about Hilia’s origins from the remote Divine Hall, and how she conserved even a single gold coin during her first year, Phil ultimately stayed silent.
Perhaps Hilia is just afraid of poverty, Phil thought.
Her father is Mr. Pharos, the master of a super luxurious city, ruling a vast region with certain autonomy, never worrying about gold coins, so she has no real concept of them.
This lack of concept led her to develop a habit of not taking money for anything.
Be it the Holy Court or her father, they were pleased with her doing so, cultivating a purer heart within her.
Hilia did not continue speaking, she glanced at the pile of small gold coins amassed in her Space Ring, along with numerous cards.
The amassed gold coins were at least several thousand. As for how many cards there were, Hilia wasn’t sure yet.
She’ll cash them in later depending on the situation.
"Adding the reward from Yan City, even if a portion is shared with Phil, the remainder... it’s no less than ten thousand gold coins in total!"
Just as Hilia began daydreaming about the future, she suddenly saw Rose smiling nearby and promptly became vigilant.
Rose chuckled softly, "Relax, I won’t urge you to train before you’ve solidified your foundation at the fourth level. Your gold coins can still be watched for a while."
"So, you really want to use my little treasury to buy things," Hilia grumbled.
"Gold coins are merely enchanted trifles if unused, what good is keeping them? You’re better off using them; otherwise, you can absorb the magic power attached to them, and it can increase your strength a bit. Only by converting gold coins into power do they have value."
"Gold coins... they only look nice when displayed," Hilia argued.
"Look nice? What’s the use of that? Just look at the fate of the last race that loved gold coins."
"Ah? What fate?"
"The last race that loved gold coins were dragons."
"..."
Resting until around three or four in the afternoon, the urgent alarm sounded again.
This time, propelled by gold coins, Hilia was extremely motivated, actively assisting in eliminating most of the demons.
This time, the number of demons surged to around fifty to sixty thousand.
In addition, among them were some demons that reached the fourth level.
These demons were individually identified by Phil and reported to Hilia for disposal.
After the battle ended, it was already evening.
When the last demon was exterminated, Hilia looked toward the direction the demons had charged from, seemingly pondering something.
"To say the first wave was okay, why do the latter two waves lack the trait of being endless? Why did they only arrive batch by batch, with a break in between?"
This method isn’t typical of demons who like to attack together.
She showed a curious expression.
However, she didn’t go to investigate and instead returned to the city wall to receive rewards from Bastuya.
Afterward, she looked at Phil. On the way back with Phil, she considered whether to tell Phil and have Phil join her.
Phil’s combat strength wasn’t strong, but her supportive abilities were exceptional; her divine magic not only heals but also provides additional support, such as enhancing the power of magic, taking her would certainly facilitate better action.
But before she could speak, Phil already spoke up first.
"Hilia, I seem to have found the key."
"Hm?"
Hilia’s eyes lit up.
"How so?"
"After I absorbed a lot of the pollution scattered by the demons and extracted that mysterious force from it..."
Phil raised her hand, and in her hand, something resembling a twig or tree root slowly emerged.
"It’s this, I can feel, this is the ’key’ I was looking for."
"So the so-called key is actually something carried by the pollution of the demons?" Hilia pondered, "Does that mean, by killing enough demons, it can be condensed?"
Phil sincerely replied, "I don’t know."
"Come on, I’ll take you to kill demons."
"Ah? Now?"
"Yes!"
Without waiting for Phil to react, Hilia directly beckoned Phil to quietly leave the city — not a difficult task for Hilia, who was adept at disguising.
After departing, Hilia climbed onto the flying broom, and Phil took out her flying device, as the two headed toward the direction from which the Beast Tide had arrived.
On the way, Hilia approached Phil, saying, "These demons invading in batches seem strange to me; maybe it has something to do with this key you’ve obtained. Later, let’s see if we can find the source of these demons... If not, or if there are no subsequent demon invasions, it indicates they came specifically to deliver the key."
"Is there such a saying?"
Phil was astonished.
"I don’t know; anyhow, let’s go and check."
Soon, they felt the surrounding pollution change significantly.
The undulating waves of pollution indicated that there were many demons here.
The two exchanged glances and flew underground, finding a group of demons mindlessly wandering below.
Hilia observed closely, puzzled.
"These demons appear to be from underground structurally, but they don’t match the information from the Elf Royal Court; they don’t seem inclined to expand their territory madly and instead wander aimlessly underground."
"Could the Elf Royal Court have deceived the world?"
"It’s possible, but unlikely. Perhaps they withheld some information."
Hilia stepped forward, and sensing her undisguised presence, the surrounding demons became agitated.
"Whatever it is, we fight first!"
Boom boom boom!
The surging magic power swept across, even driving the surrounding pollution outside.
Without any scruples, Hilia’s purification efficiency increased, and shortly, the demons in the region were cleared out.
Hilia opened the map to look and said, "Just ahead, not far from here, is where Bastuya mentioned the missing patrol site. Let’s go; maybe there’s something there."
"Alright."
The two advanced swiftly and soon arrived at the area marked on the map.
It appeared to be an ordinary forest, surrounded by traces of trampled demons, some trees severed at the waists, suggesting that a battle occurred.
Hilia began investigating thoroughly.
After a while, facing Phil’s expectant gaze, she said, "Perhaps we need to pray to the Gods for guidance to conclude."
Under Phil’s confused gaze, Hilia closed her eyes to pray on the spot.
A moment later, Hilia opened her eyes, "Our prayers yielded a response; the patrol team went missing."
Phil: "?"
"Not kidding, they disappeared rather than died. The patrol team was transported away through unknown means, rather than being killed. Also, there are remnants of teleportation marks here."
"Does this mean those demons were transported here to attack the city?"
"Yes."