Chapter 665 - 663: Reward
To Hilia, ten or twenty thousand demons made no difference from one or two thousand.
Although these demons surged from underground using unnavigable tides, they themselves were not capable of flying.
Moreover, after entering the land, their strength was moderately adjusted, allowing Hilia to continue fighting.
But this time, she didn’t rush out to fight immediately.
She chose to cooperate with other mages and let the magic cannons on the city wall come into play.
This decision was mainly due to her suspicious speculation.
Did the Royal Court Guard deliberately let the demons pass because they saw Yan City easily destroy them?
If that’s the case, Hilia certainly wouldn’t clean up their mess.
It took some time to annihilate tens of thousands of demons. Hilia briefly taught others how to exploit the demons’ weaknesses. Although others found it hard to pinpoint these weaknesses, the kill efficiency indeed increased a bit.
By dawn the next day, all demons were finally dealt with.
Upon returning, Hilia found City Lord Bastuya.
"City Lord Bastuya, I won’t be staying here long, maybe one or two days at most before I leave. You’d better ask the Elf Royal City for help."
Hilia actually wanted to say something else but reconsidered and didn’t say it.
After hesitating, she added, "If the number of demons remains as high as this, maybe you should consider evacuation."
Bastuya nodded.
"Anyway, many thanks to Miss Xiluo and Miss Luo Feier for their help. I do need to prepare for leaving."
As he spoke, Bastuya paused, "The warehouse by the Holy Tree has many good things. If Miss Xiluo and Miss Luo Feier are interested, feel free to select what you like."
Phil was about to refuse when Hilia put a hand on her shoulder, "Just the materials we needed, thank you, sir."
Hilia gave Phil a meaningful look and then followed Bastuya to the warehouse by the Holy Tree.
The warehouse was somewhat messy, seemingly recently relocated.
With one glance, Hilia knew Bastuya was prepared to leave.
Most of the ordinary elves in the city had already evacuated, and the remaining ones, reluctant to leave, were left to their own devices after Bastuya’s failed persuasion.
In fact, the warehouse contained nothing too valuable.
City Lord Bastuya naturally carried valuable items with him — he surely could afford to buy a space ring.
The items of lesser value were purposefully transported out; the ones left behind were those not yet taken.
With just one sweep, Hilia confirmed the materials were of medium quality, not top-grade, but there were plenty suitable for drawing scrolls and arrays. When crafting runes, high-level materials were needed as well as many lower-level ones.
Phil didn’t have any particular needs, but Hilia still asked her to take a few items.
After wrapping up, the two returned to the inn.
Phil, puzzled, asked, "These materials are found both at school and in the Holy Court, and aren’t rare items, so why did Hilia still take them deliberately?"
Hilia gave a slight smile, "If it’s someone else’s items, you might as well take them. It’s different from taking things from the school or Huijin Divine Hall, which you shouldn’t take for free. Now, this counts as... let’s say, earnings from labor. If you go everywhere for free, before long, instead of thanks, others will resent you."
"Really?" Phil blinked, "I’ve provided free treatment at Huijin Divine Hall for so long, and no one resented me."
"Really?" Hilia hinted at something.
"Rea... lly?" Phil, swayed by Hilia’s words, became uncertain.
She couldn’t help but ponder.
Could it be, that the patients I treated for free actually paid?
Hilia gently smiled but didn’t go further.
Quietly, she glanced at Rose nearby and couldn’t hold back her curiosity, asking, "Phil’s treatment wasn’t really free?"
Rose chuckled lightly, "Who knows."
Yes, it was Rose who prompted Hilia to say that.
Every time he saw Phil with such self-doubt, he found it interesting.
As Phil’s expression grew increasingly confused, not knowing what to think, Hilia quickly intervened, "Alright, alright, Phil, don’t think too much. I was just talking casually; let’s discuss your ’key’ situation instead."
The key referred to what Phil needed to open the Divine Relic within the Royal City by exploring its four satellite cities.
Though its form remained unknown, calling it a key was certainly correct.
"The key, huh," Phil regained her focus, "I found some clues after you killed those demons."
Hilia immediately looked interested, "What do you mean?"
"After you killed the demons, the pollution dispersed into the air. I gathered some pollution and detected a peculiar strength that enhances my connection to the ’key’..."
Phil didn’t understand why there was a link between the gods and pollution, but having clues still made her quite excited.
Excited as she was, a flicker of dread lingered in her eyes.
For pollution reminded her of Rose.
Extracting divine revelations from pollution made one shudder.
Considering her situation and Rose’s attitude thus far, assuming it might be a facade, she had no means of resistance, so she could only take it one step at a time.
Thinking this, Phil seemed both to inquire of Hilia and murmur to herself, "Is this really Haroldias’ relic underneath?"
"It is." Hilia affirmed, "Believe me."
"Mm!"
The two chatted a bit more before each went off to sleep or meditate.
At noon, they left and went to the Holy Tree, encountering Bastuya.
Bastuya didn’t look well, and Hilia queried in surprise, "Beast tide again?"
Bastuya shook his head, "No, I asked the Royal Court; they reported that the patrolling team in the forest lost contact, thus there was no alert given. Whether true or false remains unknown, but overall, there might be another fierce beast tide attack coming."
"Patrolling team?" Hilia raised her eyebrow, recalling the friendly elf Lana.
The latter was only third-tier but was unlike other elves; she was friendly, gaining Hilia’s favor.
However, she couldn’t fend off the pollution tide and was ultimately treated for pollution corrosion at the Recovery Temple. Hilia hadn’t had the time to check on Lana afterward.
If memory served, Lana once claimed to be part of the patrolling team of the Elf Forest.
Perhaps these were just the same name reused.
Hilia shook her head slightly, discarding the thought.
At this point, Bastuya continued, "Because of the patrol team’s disappearance, until a new team takes over, which should happen today or tomorrow, an unknown number of demons might break through. I hope both of you can stay for two more days, until tomorrow."
Before Phil could respond, Hilia quickly said, "If the demons are too numerous, we can’t hold them off, sorry."
Bastuya didn’t react but merely continued,
"If you help us defend these two days, I can offer payment of three thousand gold coins."
Hilia smiled, "Since City Lord Bastuya invites us so warmly, we can’t turn a blind eye. Rest assured, with us here, demons won’t step a foot into Yan City!"
Phil stood by, speechless.
She finally chose silence.
Hilia... appeared to be quite in need of gold coins...