Chapter 175: The Pursuer and the Climber

She indeed didn’t find any traces or sights resembling Sylvester on the way here, but the vast and unfathomable realm of the illusion world is rife with dangers and opportunities. It would be inefficient for Miss Vilyric to search for one or two tiny individuals like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Based on the important secret Tiyelu had told her, the Priestess had basically guessed the Summoner’s objective. Rather than searching stubbornly, it would be more advantageous to arrive at the most critical position ahead of time and wait for the other party to come knocking.

Indeed, that is Vilyric’s plan. With the existence of Snow Wing, she believed that even if the other party arrived a bit earlier, they could not possibly be faster than her. Even if they somehow managed to arrive first through some special means, it would undoubtedly be the best choice for the Priestess to rush here as quickly as possible.

“We’re getting close… the heart of the illusion world, the Valley of Magic… let me see what kind of place you truly are.”

“Caw, caw.”

“Snow Wing, you sensed it too? Then let’s go.”

“Caw!”

Vilyric nodded, and the already alert white bird immediately raised its head and let out a loud call, spreading its wings and diving down toward a certain point on the ground!

……

“?!”

In the dim yet vast starry sea, a masked figure was about to step onto what seemed like a staircase leading to the heavens and the supreme throne, but suddenly jolted in fright and turned with a serious expression to look behind.

“So fast… who is it?”

“What’s wrong, Syl? Are you nervous?”

The girl beside him—Aileen gripped his arm adorned with a green snake tattoo with some concern, but the Summoner Alchemist Sylvester Burwell merely shook his head and replied softly.

“Something is approaching from outside, not an elemental being; it’s probably some fellow chasing after us. We need to hurry.”

“Ah? So fast? But we just entered! The other party doesn’t have a teleport anchor point; how can they reach the center of the illusion world in this timeframe? Even the ancestors took nearly three months to accomplish this… Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

Feeling that Aileen had a point, Sylvester focused once more and tried to sense, but could only shake his head helplessly.

“No, the monitoring tool set up outside has already been destroyed. Their movements are very targeted; they immediately released energy to disrupt the elemental cycle outside. Unfortunately, the Void Mirror was destroyed by that mysterious powerful being skilled in soul techniques last time. Otherwise, I could at least see the appearance of the visitor.”

“I can’t believe this…”

Compared to Sylvester, Aileen seemed a bit more flustered, but he quickly grabbed her hand firmly, smiling seriously and confidently.

“It’s okay. Although it’s a bit unexpected, overall the situation is still under our control. The other party doesn’t have the Divine Artifact ‘Magic God Symbol’, so it’s impossible for them to enter here in a short time. As long as we can complete the ritual and obtain the power of the Divine Spark and the God’s Position, no matter how capable they are, they won’t be frightening.”

After his reassurance, Aileen seemed to gradually calm down, hesitatingly nodding, though her expression still showed some unease.

“Syl, I don’t know why, but I feel uneasy. Including that strong guardian of Clovis Town last time, and now this unknown enemy appearing outside, I always feel that once we extend our hands into this supreme domain, what we face suddenly becomes incredibly mysterious and terrifying. Do you think we can truly…”

The tall figure wearing a mask gently shook his head, interrupting the girl’s words.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of, Aileen. You’ve seen true existence already, right? Even they are still helpless against many things, like the barriers of the world, and must rely on us mortals to achieve their goals. Ultimately, gods are not omnipotent beings; as long as we possess the same power, we can be fearless, even winning the battle. Do you understand?”

“Mm…”

Responding quietly, Aileen reluctantly smiled.

“What you said could be a bit blasphemous. If those Church of the Goddess cultists heard, they might just deem you a heretic and blasphemer…”

“Haha, the Church of the Goddess? Just a bunch of hypocrites living off others! Those who appear devout and noble on the surface but secretly engage in all kinds of filthy dealings—I’ve seen so many, they’re not worth mentioning. I’ve never admired any gods.”

With a disdainful snort, Sylvester took Aileen’s hand, and the two began stepping on the deep black staircase, made neither of jade nor stone, as they walked towards the supreme throne step by step.

……

After descending from the sky to the ground, Vilyric became more aware of how harsh the environment was deep within the illusion world. Although she had scanned it with SP previously, seeing it with her own eyes gave her a completely different experience.

If the gateway to the Holy Land was merely desolate and deserted, then this fire elemental domain could be called a hell on earth.

As she looked around, the Priestess could only see three things—cracked earth, spewing lava, and wandering fire elemental beings.

The sky was a fiery red, thick smoke constantly rising, and the lava here had almost pooled into an ocean, intertwining with small islands of land, as Snow Wing circled around her several times at low altitude before finally finding a suitable landing spot.

After all, while it might not be impossible to survive getting splashed, who would want to bathe in lava besides those molten creatures?

“Caw! Caw!”

Throwing her head back and calling several times in succession, seemingly expressing her dissatisfaction with the harsh environment, Snow Wing emitted a bright light with her innate skills, exterminating a large number of nearby fire elemental creatures that came flocking like hungry wolves smelling blood. Then, she lowered her head and nuzzled against Vilyric, who had just jumped off her back, seemingly seeking praise.

“Oh, that tickles! Haha, stop it! Great job, great job, is that enough?”

“Caw~”

After giving a few affectionate strokes to the smooth and soft feathers on the top of the white bird’s head, the Priestess turned around to survey the surroundings further.

Currently, where they had landed was a relatively wide piece of land in the sea of lava, approximately two or three square kilometers in size. Although much of the ground was cracked into streams with bubbling hot magma seeping through, the air temperature around was nearing a hundred degrees Celsius, even the stones showing an eerie dark red hue, sizzling when stepped upon…

But, at least it was a place they could temporarily stay, especially for true strong beings.

“Hmm? What is this…”

Through a wide-area scan with SP-enhanced vision, Vilyric soon discovered some silver powder traces on the ground nearby, which seemed out of place in this environment.

No mistake, it seems someone has been here recently.

   

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