Chapter Two: The Night Before Departure

As I stepped out of the portal inside the Divine Tree, Xi Fu Lin was still seated at the table, fiddling with a small gadget in her hands. She glanced at the Priestess, nodded slightly, and then continued to focus on her work.

Tilysha had already woken up, startled by the sudden burst of silver light and the portal. Only after seeing Miss Vilyric emerge from it did she let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly came closer with wide eyes.

“Miss Vilyric, how did you suddenly come out from that door? You look so cheerful!”

“Ah? Cheerful? Why would I…”

Unconsciously touching the corners of her mouth, she discovered that it had indeed formed a rather pleasant smile. The Priestess couldn’t help but nod in acknowledgment and patted Little Village Girl’s head.

“Tilysha, we now have a direction for our next journey! It’s a very interesting place. Haven’t you always mentioned wanting to see the United Kingdom of Humans? This time, you’ll get your wish.”

“Eh? Miss Vilyric, didn’t you say you didn’t plan to head toward the United Kingdom? You even turned down Miss Philena’s suggestion before. Why the change of heart now?”

“Ah haha…”

With an awkward laugh, Vilyric stammered… no, she explained.

“Plans can change, you know. Moreover, we’re not really going to the United Kingdom; it’s just a stopover. Our main destination is actually another place. Philena’s group was moving too slowly.”

“Ah…”

The little village girl, with her blue hair and eyes like the Goddess, enjoyed the Priestess’s gentle touch, nodding her little head in a half-understanding manner. To shift the strange atmosphere, Vilyric casually asked.

“By the way, Tilysha, where are your parents now? The Nobos Ironblood Empire wasn’t destroyed by the Abyss waves. I heard most civilians managed to evacuate in time. Maybe we can stop by to say hello when we pass by?”

However, as soon as those words left her lips, the light in the little girl’s clear eyes quickly dimmed, and her eyelids turned slightly red.

“My daddy and mommy… Everyone in the village didn’t manage to catch the evacuation team. They went missing when the Abyss army came… The White City is just too close to the south; the whole city was destroyed, and many surrounding villages too…”

“Ah this…”

There was no need to spell things out. Anyone could understand the implications of the word “missing” in front of those Abyss Beasts.

It seemed Tilysha had probably learned this news quite some time ago, and perhaps her decision to become a “Blessed One” of the Life Goddess and travel together with Vilyric had something to do with it.

She was such a dutiful child, not throwing a tantrum or succumbing to despair; it seemed she had truly grown up a lot.

However, it was unexpected that Sigrid’s forceful act of bringing Tilysha to Sky Island had inadvertently saved her life. Given Tilysha’s personality, she would likely have chosen to stay in the White City because her parents wouldn’t leave.

She might trust Vilyric, but that kind of “disaster” talk wouldn’t seem credible to her parents, even after recently experiencing a massacre caused by an Abyss Beast.

Nostalgia, nostalgia; for most people, especially the middle-aged and elderly, one’s hometown is something that is difficult to let go.

Unfortunately, even if Vilyric wanted to help this little girl, she couldn’t possibly resurrect two ordinary people whose bodies were even unknown.

With no remains, this was one of those situations where Vilyric felt utterly powerless.

Fortunately, things had happened a while ago, and Tilysha was likely moving on. The Priestess comforted her for a bit, and she quickly returned to her normal state.

Leaving the little village girl to continue receiving Xi Fu Lin’s teachings in the Divine Tree, Vilyric returned solo to the nearly empty United Kingdom embassy.

Since they would be leaving in a couple of days, she didn’t bother changing her place of residence. The staff there hadn’t rushed to leave, as the Priestess and her party were still present.

Walking through the cold, quiet corridor, Vilyric’s mind wandered back to what she heard from Liliya not long ago about the events in the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons.

To be honest, the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons weren’t initially part of the Priestess’s scheduled itinerary; she had intended to head to the Holy Empire or the Ost Empire, larger countries that were closer to the Kingdom of Azure.

Getting from Sky City to the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons, aside from passing through the Kingdom of Azure, required traversing the entire length of the United Kingdom, which was quite troublesome.

However, the mention of the Demon God Olivya by Liliya was something Vilyric couldn’t overlook.

The Demon God could be considered the first deity she encountered in this world, in various senses. Whether it was the shard of the 【Demon God’s Gem】 still lying in her backpack or the 【Demon God’s Protection Ring】 she had snatched from the former second prince of the United Kingdom, Ban Meikailande, both had direct ties to her.

Moreover, back in that dark jungle secret chamber, the mysterious man with the World-devouring Serpent tattoo on his hand, who had placed the shard of the Demon God’s Gem there, although the kingdom’s Guardian Edith suggested he might just be a scattered follower of the World-devouring Serpent, Vilyric felt it was not that simple.

After all, this matter was related to a deity, and the Priestess had indirectly asked Philena, confirming that she had not really captured the mastermind behind it; she merely dismantled one of their secret hideouts, arresting some peripheral members like that villager.

Afterward, the trail went completely cold. Philena searched in vain, suspecting that the other party might have already left the United Kingdom, and ultimately had to return with her party.

And shortly after Philena’s delegation set out, such an incident arose in the northern part of the United Kingdom. It was hard to say there wasn’t any connection between the two.

To get to the bottom of this, or mainly because she felt it would be quite interesting, Vilyric temporarily changed her destination to the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons. Although it might be a bit of a detour, she would eventually travel there anyway.

With her imminent departure from Sky City, Leila and Renée had also gone with Sigrid to the city’s 【Fantasy Magic Research Institute】.

Renée’s sky magic was still at the earth-level standard of someone just undergoing her coming-of-age trial. Although her power was increasing, many high-level spells still needed systematic completion, and several days had passed.

She heard it was that silver-winged old man from the Wing Emperor Palace who taught her, while Leila’s sky spear techniques were personally taught by the Wing Emperor Aistini. Although the sisters were unwilling to join the 【Free Wings】, they were still part of the White Feather clan and had such outstanding talent; it would be a waste to let it go to waste.

Additionally, their companion Vilyric had previously demonstrated incomprehensibly powerful abilities during the recent invasion of the Evil God and while planting the Divine Tree. Moreover, with the Life Goddess Xi Fu Lin protecting the Winged People, whether to repay a favor or to cultivate relationships, the Kingdom of Azure would surely spare no effort in guiding the sisters, so the Priestess wasn’t worried.

   

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