The entire corridor felt like it had been swallowed by some massive creature.
The walls and ceiling were coated in a thick layer of black slime, which dripped onto the floor from time to time, making one think of a carnivore’s mouth.
Although Fia didn’t know much about the temple, she was sure this slime definitely didn’t belong here.
Regardless of what the temple was up to, its faith magic always had a bright, holy feel, while the evil aura coming off this stuff made her instinctively want to stay away.
But if this wasn’t something from the temple, why didn’t the paladins outside react at all? It was like the inside and outside of the temple were two completely different worlds.
Just as Fia was debating whether to step inside, something in the black slime caught her attention.
Two nuns wearing emerald-green veils.
Their eyes were closed, limbs limp, clearly unconscious.
But because they were caught by the black slime, their feet dangled in the air, bodies hanging eerily from the wall.
The slime occasionally slid over their bodies, as if licking a delicious treat.
Was the slime sticky enough to glue people to the wall? Or was it alive, simply restraining the nuns with its own strength? Fia had seen living slimes before, so she wasn’t surprised.
She used “Wind of Detection” to confirm both nuns still had a magic response, meaning they were alive.
After thinking for a moment, she raised her hand, palm facing the nearest patch of black slime.
“Spirit Fire.”
She didn’t shape the “Spirit Fire” into a fireball, just let the flames flow naturally, like a mini flamethrower.
The moment the fire touched the black slime, a loud hissing erupted, like ice meeting fire.
Thick white smoke and the stench of burning flesh filled the air as the black slime quickly turned to ash, and the rest of the slime nearby shrank away in fear.
Looks like these things have some low-level intelligence.
Since she’d made noise, Fia instinctively glanced back at the two guards at the temple gate, but the people outside acted like they hadn’t heard a thing—no reaction at all.
Weird.
She dismissed “Wind of Detection” and switched to “Mana Vision.”
“So that’s it.” Her ruby-like eyes lit up as Fia suddenly understood.
A deep purple magic circle slowly appeared in front of the temple doors, which had looked empty before.
Compared to the magic circle she’d seen outside, set up by the temple, this one was countless times more complex, like several magic circles stacked on top of each other.
Fia didn’t need anyone to explain—this was a high-level magic circle, way beyond anything the church could set up.
Even Claire’s “Magic Destruction” hadn’t managed to break it.
This must be the magic circle that cut off the connection between the inside and outside.
That explained why the guards hadn’t reacted to any noise.
As for why the church would set up such a bizarre magic circle, the answer was simple: they didn’t.
Someone else had been here before her.
Whether it was the black slime or the advanced magic circle at the door, both were defenses set up by whoever came before her, to keep things quiet.
That person was probably already deep inside the church, looking for whatever they wanted.
Should she chase after them, or take the right path? As the saying goes, a wise man avoids danger.
Normally, no one would want to walk into such a creepy corridor—but that’s only if you’re a “wise man.” For Fia, who used to be an AI, danger wasn’t about appearances or color, but whether she could handle it.
She still had plenty of time and didn’t need to worry about safety.
The choice was obvious.
Without fear or hesitation, Fia calmly stepped forward, controlling the Spirit Fire to form a continuous sheet of flame, like wielding a fire extinguisher, blasting the walls and ceiling with “Spirit Fire.”
The black slime was terrified of fire.
Even a little contact would turn it to ash.
Under Fia’s sweeping flames, it only took a few breaths for the slime to retreat in waves, like it had seen a ghost, fleeing down the corridor as thick white smoke and hissing filled the air.
Fia managed to catch the two nuns before they hit the ground.
They were still breathing, just unconscious.
She moved her fingers away from the younger nun’s nose and gently laid them both on the floor.
Looking closely, their clothes were full of burn holes, and their skin showed signs of burns.
The black slime hadn’t just restrained them—it was highly corrosive.
Luckily, she’d rescued them in time, or they might have died.
“Who the hell is in there…” Fia frowned.
She knew there was a sixth-tier judge in the temple that morning.
Sixth-tier was already a powerful force on the World Tree Continent.
Even if they couldn’t destroy a city, wrecking a temple would be easy.
But now, there wasn’t a sound, and the temple showed no signs of damage.
It was downright creepy.
The image of the blue-haired girl from that morning flashed through Fia’s mind.
She remembered they claimed to be from “Magic of the Midnight Sun,” and judging by their attitude toward the church, could it be their doing? But weren’t they only third-tier at best?
No one answered Fia’s questions.
Might as well keep chasing.
Decision made, Fia immediately gave chase.
In terms of speed, the black slime was no match for her.
If anyone else had seen what Fia was doing, their jaw would have hit the floor.
This black slime was called “Chaos.”
It was a disaster formed from the grudges of dead gods and the blood of the Darkborn, the very thing that destroyed the original continent.
Anything touched by Chaos—even the undead—would turn to dust.
Chaos was so endless that even the gods were defeated and forced to flee to the World Tree Continent.
So, when people saw “Chaos,” their first instinct was to run as far away as possible.
But here was someone actually chasing after it, and Chaos couldn’t even outrun Fia, forced to flee while she burned its tail.
Of course, even if Fia knew it was Chaos, she wouldn’t be scared.
As long as she could beat something, fear wasn’t an issue—honestly, aside from heat death, Fia had never really been afraid of anything.
It was like having a weapon and seeing the monsters’ health bars in a horror game.
The moment you can fight back, the whole game changes.
Even if a ghost from this world appeared in front of Fia, her first reaction would be to see if she could burn it with fire.
Fia was a staunch materialist.
If she didn’t think the black slime would eventually lead her to its master by running away, she would’ve already blocked its escape with a big Spirit Fire and caught it like a rat in a trap.
In just two minutes of this chase, Fia had rescued over a dozen nuns and priests.
They were in the same state as the first two nuns she’d seen: clothes corroded with big holes, skin showing burn marks.
The closer they were to the temple’s center, the worse the damage, especially the young nun now lying at Fia’s feet.
Her skin even gave off a faint burnt smell, and her breathing was so weak it seemed like it could stop at any moment.
“Tch.”
Fia clicked her tongue, eyes landing on the half-open massive doors ahead.
Just now, the black slime had slipped through the gap and tossed this young nun in front of her.
It must have seen her rescuing the nuns along the way and was trying to slow her down by using them.
Maybe it deserved to be upgraded from a low-intelligence creature to a mid-level one.
Mentally raising the threat level of the black slime, Fia didn’t keep chasing.
Instead, she crouched down to check on the young nun covered in burns.
“If I leave you like this… just the infection alone could kill you.
Even if you’re with the church, I’ve heard nuns never fight—they just comfort and guide those who suffer.
For that, I’ll help you out a bit.”
She didn’t use her blood with nanomachines, but instead took out the “Cloud Moon of the Illusory Sea” from her waist.
Fia recalled the spell and its chant in her mind, then began to chant softly.
So-called chant magic is just like Anastasia and Claire said: you let your own mana resonate with the elements in the environment, and then make the elements produce the effect you want.
The incantation and the rhythm of the chant are the mediums that allow mana and elements to resonate.
So as long as you have enough mana, and you can chant the incantation in the right rhythm and tone, anyone can cast magic.
And this just happens to be Fia’s specialty.
Even if she’s never used “Low-Grade Healing Spell” before, as long as she knows how to pronounce the magical words and understands the chant rhythm for “Low-Grade Healing Spell,” she can easily and flawlessly copy it.
The photographic memory brought by “Super Calculation,” along with Fia’s absolute control over her own mana, means she won’t make the mistakes ordinary people do—like forgetting the words and failing to cast the spell, or being unable to channel her mana in sync with the chant, causing the magic to fizzle.
The short chant ended quickly.
As the incantation reached its final syllable, Fia pointed the Cloud Moon of the Illusory Sea at the nun.
“—’Low-Grade Healing Spell.'”
Pale blue specks of light gathered around the tip of the short staff.
Guided by Fia’s will, the cluster of light floated toward the young nun and finally settled on the burn on her arm.
“It’s not doing much…”
Compared to the nanobots’ visible repair abilities, “Low-Grade Healing Spell” only made the skin rise a little, and this change lasted just a dozen seconds before fading away with the light.
But the good news was, after successfully casting the chant magic, Fia’s “Super Calculation” kicked in automatically.
A simulation of “Low-Grade Healing Spell” appeared before her eyes, and then the information for “Low-Grade Healing Spell” popped straight into Fia’s mind.
Based on her past experience, any magic she learned through “Super Calculation” would get a power boost, so she could try using “Low-Grade Healing Spell” again.
She put the Cloud Moon of the Illusory Sea back in place and held her right palm out toward the nun.
“Low-Grade Healing Spell.”
In an instant, a deep blue radiance that seemed to light up the whole world flooded the temple.
