Chapter 19: A World of Paradoxes

A human encirclement?

I exchanged glances with Edwina, who simply shook her head in confusion, clearly unsure of what this meant.

Nevertheless, from these few words, Vilyric was able to deduce quite a bit.

For instance, something must have been happening in the restricted area Edwina passed through last night, likely some actions by Demon Town against magical beasts. Coupled with the city’s widespread hunt for demons this morning, the sequence of events became quite clear.

Also, this little butterfly who calls herself Lady Tiyelu most likely mistook them for magical beasts, but that wasn’t entirely a misjudgment.

Vilyric herself was of the divine race, Xiao Guang was a giant dragon, Renée and Leila were winged people, and Tilysha had a quarter treant bloodline. Even Edwina, though part of one of the three divine noble families of the Holy Empire, was technically not a human anymore after receiving the blessings of the gods, as they possessed some special bloodline.

However… was the assumption that anyone who wasn’t human was considered an ally too naive?

“What about us? How did Lady Tiyelu happen to find us at such a critical moment and save us from peril?”

To appease this childish butterfly and gather more information, Vilyric had to choose her words carefully. After all, one shouldn’t harm those who offer help, and since Tiyelu had just “saved” them with good intentions, the priestess couldn’t resort to torture for information.

As expected, flattery worked, even if it was cliché. The little butterfly immediately flapped her silver wings, puffing out her chest proudly.

“Humph! It was Lady Tiyelu who foresaw this. Returning from an errand today, I happened to see a group of aggressive humans rushing over, and I just knew they were up to no good. Feeling a bit uneasy, I stealthily followed them to observe, so I could save you in time, humph!”

So it was simply a stroke of luck…

Initially thinking she was just following a lead, Vilyric unexpectedly caught a big fish. This little butterfly seemed somewhat important among magical beasts; she wondered if…

“Then, Lady Tiyelu, where are the other companions? Can you take us to see them?”

The little butterfly twitched her tiny antennae, seemingly sizing up Vilyric’s smile reminiscent of someone selling children. After a moment, she slowly replied.

“Even though you aren’t humans, you’re not among the chosen ones to rescue the little prince, so don’t meddle in this matter. I don’t know why that woman mobilized forces to capture you, but since you’ve barely escaped with your lives, you should hurry home as soon as you get out. Lady Tiyelu can’t always appear so conveniently nearby.”

Ah… so she wasn’t that foolish after all.

Vilyric felt a bit disappointed.

She could tell from Tiyelu’s firm words that no amount of persuasion would sway this butterfly.

Though it was only Tiyelu’s misguided sense of rescue, the priestess couldn’t turn around and retaliate against someone who had shown kindness.

As for who this “little prince” in need of rescue was, while she couldn’t be 100% certain, it seemed highly likely to be the mythical offspring of the Moonshadow Royal Family that had been captured.

It appeared the magical beasts hadn’t found that particular offspring yet, so there was no rush to force a connection; they still needed to approach things on the human side.

“By the way, why can you…”

“Hmm?”

Halfway through her sentence, for some reason, the little butterfly suddenly shut her mouth and huffed in a feigned tough manner.

“Fine, fine! Lady Tiyelu has things to do and won’t be playing around with you kids anymore. This sacred place will automatically release after a while; just take care of yourselves!”

With that, the silver butterfly’s figure gradually faded away, leaving the fog-covered mountain. It seemed she could freely enter and exit this independent space and the real world.

Or perhaps, what appeared before Vilyric and the others was just a special avatar.

In Vilyric’s perspective, the latter possibility seemed much more likely, which was one of the reasons she didn’t insist on keeping Tiyelu around.

Once the small butterfly left, Edwina and the others, who had been observing her conversation with Vilyric, approached, seemingly moved and pointing to the stone path ahead.

“Miss Vilyric, since there’s still time, should we…”

Edwina’s intention was clearly to explore this mountain peak known as the sacred place. She had wandered around here for quite a while without success; now that she had a stronger ally, she naturally wanted to give it another shot.

However, the priestess saw much more clearly than she did.

After mastering the use of sp, Vilyric had gained a good understanding of the special ability systems in this world.

She noticed during her earlier interaction with Tiyelu that this independent space was locked, and the key was that silver butterfly claiming to be its manager.

Without Tiyelu’s cooperation, this place was nothing more than an impenetrable deep mountain to outsiders.

That said, while Vilyric could technically find and break down those locks, doing so would very likely destroy the valuable things inside, rendering it pointless.

If not for some reliance, why would Tiyelu casually let an unknown individual in?

“Never mind, everyone find a place to rest and wait. We’ll talk if something comes up.”

As Tiyelu stated, not long after she left, the foggy mountain scenery in front of everyone shifted; when it cleared up, they had returned to the Black Knight Mercenary Corps’ base.

They were right back at the spot where Lan Tuls had surrounded them, down to the exact position, but the troops from Demon Town had already left, indicating that, just like during Edwina’s last visit, the time spent in the mountains flowed differently compared to the outside world.

Vilyric furrowed her brow at this realization.

Did this characteristic resemble a divine realm a bit too closely?

After all, her pet space had the same effect—no matter how long she stayed inside, she would always return to the initial position upon exiting. The ability to control the flow of time was something Vilyric had also seen in the Pseudo-God Realm created by Minerva.

Moreover, during their previous rest, Leila had also mentioned to Vilyric that their powers were significantly suppressed in the mountains; only the priestess and Little Dragon Daughter were likely unaffected.

This too aligned with Vilyric’s impression of divine realm effects.

But the question remained… was such a small divine realm really possible? Could it be that this was merely a fragment or imitation of a divine realm?

Such doubts could probably only be answered when she encountered Tiyelu again in the future; since their goals were aligned, their paths would inevitably cross again.

With Bangs and Lester not nearby, and no mercenary corps members around, it looked like they all assumed Vilyric and the others had left directly. This teleportation trick worked decently for fooling people, but it would be less effective if the actual effect were known.

With the mercenary corps full of diverse eyes, Vilyric didn’t plan to trouble Uncle Lester, who had been so helpful. After confirming they were safe, she quietly left with several girls, thinking they could catch up later.

Next, it was time to make a decision. Given how things had developed, the city was undoubtedly on the lookout for them. Trying to find a normal inn like before was practically impossible.

If they wanted to continue interfering in matters here, Vilyric had several choices before her.

First: Reveal her connection to Your Majesty and use force to storm the city lord’s manor, confronting the likely mastermind behind everything and coercing him into lifting the wanted order.

This approach was straightforward and easy to achieve, but they didn’t yet understand enough about the situation. If the city lord were not the actual orchestrator, reckless use of force could easily lead to chaos, forcing Vilyric to resort to stronger means.

The mess with that so-called “Cult of Light” in Sky City still made the priestess break out in a cold sweat.

Second: Continue evading the pursuit of Demon Town while secretly investigating the background of these events, then use the information to confront them.

This was a safer route, but Vilyric disliked the idea of hiding and being sneaky. Moreover, they currently lacked a usable breakthrough, and regular investigation would clearly be laborious and troublesome.

Third: Directly unleash sp or even the Pseudo-God Realm on a large scale, ignoring everything to forcefully find that Moonshadow cub.

This was the simplest method, but Vilyric believed that such an extreme move wasn’t necessary at this point. Not to mention the huge chaos it would cause, the more important point was that they were here for fun, not on a mission that required specific accomplishments. Vilyric lacked the sense of mission to solve the problem—her interference stemmed from thinking it would probably be interesting.

If they lost sight of that, it wouldn’t be fun anymore.

Wait a minute, what had they originally fallen out with that group of soldiers about…?

Right, that female officer; she seemed to call herself Lan Tuls, Tuls… and that weapon resembling something from the game…

Hmm, this might be quite interesting!

   

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