Chapter 661 - 659: Change
"Hi-Hilia?"
"It’s me."
Hilia walked over, confirming Phil’s question with her original voice.
Phil relaxed.
"Great, you finally came. If you hadn’t, I..."
"What would you have done?" Hilia glanced sneakily at Rose on the side, unable to resist teasing Phil a bit.
"Nothing, just a bit worried about whether I can make it back alive."
"Is that so?"
Hilia didn’t take him seriously because Phil’s eyes drifted and his expression was strange when he spoke.
She wasn’t good at lying.
As Rose’s number one ’believer’, Hilia was aware of most of Rose’s actions, knowing that Rose had long set her sights on this girl who was not only aligned with the gods but also with the abyss.
Although she didn’t know how Rose would act, Hilia was aware that a magic puppet had been repeatedly sent to interact with her.
Was Phil truly here for the Divine Relic?
Hilia looked at the image of Rose in her mind, hesitant to speak.
Rose smiled slightly, "She actually came for the Divine Relic, Haroldias’ relic. It’s very suitable for Phil."
"Huh? That god... isn’t about to be resurrected?"
Rose said, "It’s not that easy. Even though Haroldias’ followers have been plotting for hundreds of years, time doesn’t guarantee success. Sometimes, the longer it takes, the more unexpected changes occur."
"Alright."
The more Hilia learned about the secrets of the pantheon, the more complicated her feelings became.
Thanks to the Holy Court’s faith in all gods, rather than a specific one, many of its clergy didn’t have a particular god they worshiped, and their prayers were made to the pantheon as a whole.
Under these circumstances, when she discovered the secrets of the gods’ infighting, she felt lost... but wait.
Hilia suddenly remembered that she couldn’t seem to choose which god to believe in anymore.
So, it was nothing.
Rose chuckled lightly, "Your Holy Court is interesting. Most high-tier mages don’t have a specific god they believe in. Rather than seeing the Holy Court as a religion, it’s more like a nation. Everything you do is to maintain the existence of this institution. One wonders whether this principle was set by the Divine King or altered by humans over long periods."
"What..."
Hilia was taken aback, and her emotions subtly changed.
"I’ll go to Huijin Divine Hall and check when I get back!"
Hilia made a mental note and then returned to the city named Forest City with Phil.
"Let’s go, Hilia. I’ll take you to meet the City Lord so he can explain the current situation. Hmm, based on the battlefront estimates, some stragglers will arrive at Yan City by tomorrow or the day after."
Forest City is also referred to as Yan City.
"So soon?"
"The Royal Court Guard’s battlefront is too spread out. This kind of situation has occurred many times, and many villages have been slaughtered this way," Phil sighed.
"..."
Soon, Phil took Hilia into the City Lord’s Mansion.
It was a place located in the city’s center, atop a massive tree.
From the high-altitude plaza outside the treehouse, one could overlook the entire Forest City.
Phil, once known as a Holy Priest who saved a city, though overshadowed by Hilia in reputation, was still well-known among the nobles, powerholders, and high-tier mages of various cities.
Therefore, when entering Forest City, they were warmly received by the City Lord.
The Yan City Lord had already received Phil’s message and came to the entrance to greet the two.
"Welcome, Miss Xiluo. I am City Lord Bastuya. Miss Luo Feier has already told me about you—you’re a powerful high-tier mage, and with your assistance, Yan City will surely get through this crisis easily."
"Hello." Hilia raised her hand in a mage’s salute, "I’m Xiluo. It’s an honor to help Yan City."
The Elf Royal Court was very proud and wouldn’t openly accept help from other races and empires. Naturally, the city lords of various cities followed suit, but in private, they had already sent out invitations for help, especially welcoming Holy Priests.
On the surface, these mages seemed to have come voluntarily, asking for nothing, and the city lords also showed their welcome.
Behind the scenes, the city lord had already paid the price for their assistance.
Of course, most of the mages who came were at Tier Three or below; there were still very few Tier Four mages and above.
When Bastuya learned that Hilia was at Tier Four, he was overjoyed and personally came to welcome her.
After all, he was only a Tier Four mage himself.
As a ’satellite city’ of the Elf Royal City, he wasn’t very powerful. Those with greater power had long left and didn’t work around the Royal City.
After chatting with Bastuya for a while, Hilia got straight to the point and asked, "What is the current situation? Have the demons shown any new abilities?"
"No new abilities have been seen, but from the battle reports coming back from the front lines, Miss Xiluo, be ready to fight, and try to buy us some time. You will be greatly rewarded," Bastuya sighed.
"I will do my best," Hilia said. "I need more information on the demons. Can the City Lord provide it?"
"Of course, please follow me."
"..."
Soon, the demon intelligence from the front lines was delivered to Hilia.
Hilia carefully reviewed it.
Most of the magic puppets still had combat power at Tier Three and below, renowned for their hardness, and had formed some peculiar connection with the Elf Forest, gaining extraordinary regeneration abilities.
However, upon emerging, their defense seemed somewhat weakened compared to being underground.
Moreover, after encountering slaughters by the Royal Court Guard and various mage teams from the Elf Royal Court, the demons gradually learned to hide and evade.
Sometimes, they would unconsciously avoid large troops or take detours, carrying intense contamination to other areas.
Although a massive demon movement still created pollution waves detectable by mage teams, many stragglers still managed to slip through the defense lines.
These demons were generally in small groups, ranging from a dozen to over a hundred, with more substantial ones quickly discovered and intercepted.
"What a pity the City Lord didn’t provide a map of the changing defense lines or the investigation data on the demons’ paths. The Law Enforcement Knight Order is still investigating that and doesn’t know yet," Hilia shook her head, gaining some understanding of the demon situation.
Phil, seeing Hilia put down the documents, invited, "Xi... Xiluo, it’s getting dark, and you haven’t eaten anything yet. Come on, let’s get something to eat and take a break."
"Are any restaurants or taverns still open outside?"
As they walked, the whole city had already become quite deserted. Hilia didn’t recall any restaurants still being open.
"Some are still open."
"Okay then, let’s go~!"
"Hmm."
Time quickly passed.
The next day.
In the morning.
An urgent alarm echoed throughout the city.