Crap.
The moment that eerie blue light flared up, Fia knew something was wrong and immediately cut off her mana output.
But even so, the blue glow didn’t disappear right away—it just gradually faded, taking about ten seconds to vanish completely.
The temple corridor’s walls were lined with glass, so the paladins outside probably saw the glow from the “Basic Hydrotherapy” spell.
Holding her breath, Fia listened for any movement outside, but after a few seconds, nothing happened.
Could it be that the magic circle at the door not only blocks sound, but also sight? Well, as long as she wasn’t discovered, that saved her the trouble of taking further action.
“Mmm…” A woman’s moan sounded in Fia’s ear.
The young nun Fia had healed with “Basic Hydrotherapy” opened her eyes from a deep sleep.
At first, her black eyes were full of confusion, but then she snapped back to reality and looked down at her hands.
“My wounds are gone… That blue light just now, was it the blessing of the Goddess…?” As she spoke, the nun seemed to remember something terrifying and scrambled to her feet.
“Dark—Darkspawn, there’s a Darkspawn in here! Paladin! Paladin!!” But since “Basic Hydrotherapy” only healed her wounds and didn’t restore her strength, the young nun collapsed after just a few steps, left with nothing but desperate cries for help.
“Quiet.”
Fia warned in a low voice.
“Eek?!” The young nun immediately looked in Fia’s direction, but quickly averted her gaze, as if she couldn’t see Fia at all, her face full of terror as she searched around.
…Right, she’d forgotten to cancel her camouflage.
From the nun’s perspective, there was nothing where Fia stood—she’d blended perfectly into the surroundings.
Sighing inwardly, Fia stayed “invisible” and repeated herself.
“Calm down.
I’m the one who healed you.
The whole temple is sealed off by a barrier—no one can hear you.
Now tell me, what happened here?”
“Who… who are you?” Fia knew the nun’s reaction was normal, but it was still a hassle.
Before she could explain, the nun glanced at the corridor Fia had come from, where the nuns and priests Fia had rescued were lined up.
Seeing this, the nun’s eyes filled with fanaticism.
She got up again, stopped trying to run, and knelt facing Fia, hands clasped in prayer.
“You must be a messenger sent by the Goddess of Life! Before the Darkspawn broke in, we all prayed for the Goddess to save us.
She really hasn’t abandoned her followers!”
No.
Actually, she has.
This nun’s mental state was pretty unstable.
But agreeing with her would save a lot of trouble, so Fia didn’t deny it and repeated her question.
The young nun immediately spilled everything, afraid to leave out a single detail and risk Fia’s displeasure.
First, the things binding the nuns and priests to the wall were called “Chaos”—the same things that had driven gods and Darkspawn to the World Tree continent.
Second, the attackers were Darkspawn, and the Chaos was released by them, though no one knew how they controlled it.
Finally, the Darkspawn had gone straight for the underground prison where important temple prisoners were held, but their reason was also unknown.
“One last question.
Is the third princess of the Elven Kingdom, Liti Alexia Yusil, imprisoned here?”
If the third princess wasn’t here, Fia could just turn around and leave.
The Darkspawn and the church could fight it out—it had nothing to do with an elf like her.
“Yes!” The nun answered firmly.
“I’m the one in charge of bringing Princess Liti her meals every day.”
“Tch.”
Fia frowned.
The nun asked in terror,
“Did… did I say something wrong?”
“How is she? Tell me how to get to her.”
“Princess Liti is healthy, just not eating much.
The bishop said she’s an important hostage for negotiations with the Elven Kingdom, so we have to treat her well.
To get there… go through this door and keep left.
The last room at the end is her cell.”
Guess saving this nun wasn’t a waste.
Fia checked the nun’s condition one more time, confirmed she’d recover with a bit of rest, then ignored her calls and headed straight for the half-open bronze door.
A chill and dampness instantly enveloped her.
The underground prison had terrible ventilation from holding prisoners for so long, and the faint smell of sweat in the air made Fia wrinkle her nose.
“—‘Light.’”
A light like a fluorescent bulb flared from Fia’s right hand, banishing the darkness within five meters.
At the same time, “Super Calculation” recorded the details of the “Light” spell in Fia’s mind.
The passage to the underground was wide, the walls a dull gray.
The “Light” spell didn’t reach far, so the distance ahead was pitch black—Fia couldn’t see what was there.
She could only rely on her elven hearing to pick up the sound of slime squirming at the end of the corridor, judging that the Chaos wasn’t far away.
Maybe it was waiting to ambush her.
If that was the case—Fia maxed out the mana output for “Light.”
In just a breath, a flare of white light like a signal rocket lit up the corridor.
If this light were outside on a clear night, it would turn everything within a 1.5-kilometer radius as bright as day.
Rustle, rustle.
Like rats fleeing the light, the Chaos that had been lurking on the ceiling, ready to pounce when Fia got close, immediately retreated like a tide when the “Light” reached them.
Intelligent slimes are a pain no matter what world you’re in.
Fia clicked her tongue and pressed on, bathed in the harsh glare.
According to the young nun, only one man and one woman had broken into the temple.
The man was tall with inhuman features, the woman was petite, like a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old human girl.
They seemed to be searching for something, and had even interrogated the priests for information, but the priests had refused to talk, so the two didn’t get what they wanted.
Fia didn’t know what they were after, but if they hurt her little sister—whom she’d never even met—this big sister wouldn’t let it slide.
With that thought, Fia quickened her pace, the sound of her footsteps echoing in the silent corridor, and soon reached the first fork.
She recalled the young nun’s words.
Left.
She instinctively stepped left.
In that instant, a strong sense of wrongness swept over her—her right foot didn’t feel the solid ground it should have, but something soft and squishy, like stepping into a swamp.
The next second—
Ssshh— The Chaos, already lying in wait, lunged at Fia from both the floor and the ceiling, while another mass of Chaos circled behind her, cutting off her escape.
A stinging smell, like hydrochloric acid mixed with the stench of rotting flesh, rushed at her.
Unfortunately, even though the chaos moved fast, it was still too slow compared to Fia’s reactions.
“You don’t know when to quit.”
With herself at the center, Fia unleashed Spirit Fire, and flames erupted in a one-meter radius around her.
To keep the ashes from falling on her, she hid a layer of fine Wind Blades behind the expanding wall of fire.
The interwoven blue blades, like a spiderweb, buzzed with the vibration of the air, wrapping Fia up tight.
In the blink of an eye, the wall of fire collided with the chaos.
But unlike what Fia expected, the chaos, which should have turned to ash instantly, didn’t disappear right away.
It held out for half a second before turning white and brittle, finally getting shredded into countless ashes by the Wind Blades.
Also, since Fia hadn’t controlled the fire wall and Wind Blades to spread outward, she heard the beasts’ dying screams after the attack.
“Hm?” Hearing the sound, Fia grew alert, conjured two Wind Blades in a cross shape, and sent them flying toward the source of the cries.
First came the dull thud of blades slicing into flesh, then the plop of meat hitting the ground.
When the ashes that blocked her view settled, several bleeding chunks of corpse lay in front of Fia.
After being hit by both the fire wall and Wind Blades, the bodies were a gruesome mess.
“Demon wolves?” They looked like wolves, but with thick limbs and black, scaly skin.
Fia had seen these creatures called Demon Wolves in Witch’s Secret History.
Ordinary people without magic who ran into demon wolves in the wild would only end up as their food.
Even trained soldiers would struggle to beat them one-on-one.
Considering the two-horned minotaurs had used magic tools to sneak into the city, these demon wolves were probably brought in by those two Darkborn as well.
They must have tried to use the chaos as cover to attack her.
But they were way too weak.
Stepping over the demon wolf corpses, Fia moved on.
After that close call, Fia made a point to stop and sweep each intersection with Detection Wind before entering.
Thanks to that, the Darkborn’s traps only slowed her down a bit and didn’t really cause her trouble.
The only thing worth mentioning was that as she went deeper, the chaos grew stronger.
At first, it vanished the moment it touched fire, but now it could last one or two seconds in the flames.
“No wonder even the gods find this tricky.”
Burning away more chaos lurking on the ceiling with Spirit Fire, Fia let out an impatient grunt.
She’d already burned who knows how much chaos along the way, but the attacks didn’t seem to be letting up.
If it were an ordinary magic caster, they’d have run out of mana long before getting this far—Fia had seen plenty of paladins whose lives had been devoured by chaos.
The fear and despair on their faces, and the way their bodies twisted beyond human limits, made it clear how powerless normal people were against chaos.
Most of them were only half a body by the time she found them.
It was not a pleasant sight.
That made Fia’s heart sink.
The third princess of the Elven Kingdom was still young and didn’t have the strength of the eldest princess.
Her power was only that of a second-tier magic caster.
If Liti ran into chaos of this level, the outcome was obvious.
She could only hope Liti’s cell was protected by multiple magic circles, just like the young nun said, so that even a direct hit from a fourth-tier spell wouldn’t leave a scratch.
Otherwise, whether it was the Darkborn or the Church, she’d make them regret it in fire.
◇
“Awooo!” With a barrage of ten fireballs, three demon wolves were blasted backward, lost all strength after a few twitches, and the air filled with the stench of burning fur.
“Thirty-five.”
Counting under her breath, Fia left the demon wolves behind and stepped forward again.
Since just now, the number of demon wolves and chaos had dropped sharply, letting Fia move much faster.
But what soured her mood was that she hadn’t seen a single living person along the way.
The paladin corpses were piling up, their deaths getting more and more gruesome, and the thick smell of blood was enough to make her nauseous.
“This is…” Just as Fia was about to move on, a female corpse on the ground caught her eye.
She frowned and stopped.
She wasn’t a paladin or a nun, but a woman in prison clothes and shackles.
More importantly, she had the pointed ears of an elf.
When Fia looked a bit farther, she saw more corpses in prison clothes.
“Got intercepted by chaos and demon wolves while trying to escape, huh.”
Holding her breath, Fia picked up a paladin’s sword and checked the nearby elf corpses one by one.
They were all either men or obviously older.
None were smaller than her, which meant Liti wasn’t among them.
That was a relief.
“Get it together, don’t give up! Someone will come to save us!”
“But we’re out of mana.”
“Damn it, why are chaos and the Darkborn working together?!”
“We have no choice but to hold the line.
If we break, they’ll pick us off one by one—try to rescue the bishop, his faith magic can get us out!”
Voices came from up ahead.
Sounded like a desperate fight.
“Elves over there, drop your grudges! Our enemies are the Darkborn and chaos—let’s break out together!”
“We’re not leaving until we see Princess Liti.”
That mature voice—Anastasia? Fia immediately dropped her disguise, amped up her Spirit Fire, and, risking a cave-in, burned away all the demon wolves and chaos in her way.
Braving the ashes, she rushed toward the voices.
A large hall opened up before her.
Judging by the weapon racks nearby, this was the paladins’ training ground.
The people were split into two groups: one near the inner side of the hall, away from Fia, made up of paladins; the other, less than twenty meters from Fia, was Anastasia’s group.
Probably on an infiltration mission, Anastasia only had one subordinate with her, both in paladin armor.
As for their enemies, there were chaos and demon wolves, but what really stood out were four huge, floating things in the hall—like giant jellyfish with human faces.
They looked like ghosts from a horror game, but were at least three or four stories tall.
Because of the “sun” in Fia’s hand, everyone’s eyes turned to her.
Especially Anastasia—when she saw Fia’s signature black twin tails, her blue eyes went wide.
“Your Highness!”
“Anastasia, behind you!”
A giant jellyfish took advantage of Anastasia turning to look at Fia and suddenly lunged at her from above.
Even though it looked like it should move slowly, it was way faster than Fia expected.
She didn’t bother with fireballs—she set the coordinates for an airburst.
Before, in the narrow corridors, Fia had held back the power of Spirit Fire to avoid explosions, but here in the open hall, she could let it blow without worrying about a cave-in.
Boom! Blinding red flames erupted around the jellyfish.
The blast was so close that the shockwave made Anastasia’s whole body shake, and the deafening roar echoed through the hall, making the whole underground tremble.
But to Fia’s surprise, the translucent jellyfish wasn’t blown to pieces.
It just lost its momentum, and when the smoke cleared, it floated back up, the human face on its bell glaring at Fia, which really pissed her off.
An energy being? That thought flashed through her mind as Fia scanned the giant jellyfish with Detection Wind.
—Fourth tier.
So that’s it.
With Anastasia’s near-fifth-tier strength, she wouldn’t be held up by a fourth-tier monster.
But since these things were energy beings, Anastasia, who lacked magic attacks, had a hard time dealing with them.
Better regroup with Anastasia first.
