Chapter 1: A Warm Spring in Winter

Half a month later.

Another new morning dawned from the horizon.

Miss Vilyric lazily crawled out of bed, sitting in her blanket with a dazed expression, staring blankly ahead for a while, before fully waking up and checking the time with her panel.

It was already past 8 in the morning.

“Haah… Such peaceful days make me want to doze off…”

The trouble caused by Sylvania and Aileen had been settled for a while now.

Just as the Priestess said, regardless of how tragic the past may be or how steadfast one’s beliefs, one must bear the responsibilities of their actions.

That said, when Tiyelu lifted the sanctuary’s seal and found Miss Vilyric and Sylvania in the Illusory Realm, bringing them out only to run into Min Chen hurriedly carrying Aileen, who had been cut in half, it nearly shocked the Priestess.

Although she had clearly stated while devising strategies with Tiyelu that Min Chen possessed some resurrection abilities, and there was no need to hold back, just go for it, the Priestess hadn’t expected the battle to be that brutal.

What surprised Miss Vilyric even more was…

Min Chen, an lv80 demigod, managed to kill Aileen, who was of a higher level and had a bit of divine spark power, without taking any damage?

Honestly, that was somewhat unbelievable; in Vilyric and Tiyelu’s plan, the least that was expected was for him to just hold the enemy back.

Hmm… Considering that guy had one of his hands chopped off, that doesn’t quite count as being unscathed, right?

Ah, whatever, it’s time to get up!

Speaking of which, Little Dragon Daughter hasn’t slept with her for a while; while it’s a great thing for a child to become independent, and this was precisely what the Priestess required, waking up to an empty bed sometimes made her feel a bit lonely.

This must be the contradictory mentality of being a parent.

The girl sighed silently, dipping her fair little feet into her cotton slippers by the bed, casually summoning the external form of the Feather Garment, Glamoria, to cover her body, then she habituated herself to wash up in the bathroom before pushing the door open.

The Moonshadow Clan had arranged independent residences for each of them, so Vilyric’s stone house had no one else living in it.

Going down to the first floor and stepping out the door, the girl breathed in the fresh air brought by the lush surrounding vegetation, the warm morning sun bathing her, and her long black hair dancing in the wind like shimmering waves, dreamlike and surreal.

The heavy snow had long melted away; the earlier extreme weather was a result of Sylvania’s interference with the earth’s veins, alongside some rascals in the Illusory Realm disrupting the magic cycle here.

The Illusory Realm was on the brink of collapse, and during the brief time the passage to the real world opened, a significant amount of fire elemental magic flowed into this world, resulting in numerous aggressive semi-elemental creatures under changes in laws and certain parties guiding them intentionally. Although the passage was quickly closed again, some impacts still remain in the real world today.

The most evident change is that the temperature has risen.

Though it was still early winter, the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons bloomed like a warm spring, lush trees sprouting green, resembling a scene of seasons reversing.

This influence likely won’t ease until at least the next quarter when the earth’s magic cycle resumes significant movement to clear away the accumulated elements.

“Hey, this isn’t so bad; at least some people won’t be shaking from the cold all day long.”

She chuckled to herself and turned towards another stone house.

Approaching the house.

“Hey! Let go of me, you silly wolf! That’s not food! It’s fine if you get poisoned, but I don’t want to be hunted down by the Moonshadow Clan, you idiot!!!”

“Arghhh!!”

As soon as she pushed the door open, a cacophony of wild screams erupted, accompanied by the sounds of chaos and some objects hitting the ground, all rushing toward the Priestess. She blinked in surprise before shaking her head, amused yet helpless.

“Wow, what a lively scene.”

With Vilyric’s entrance like a bucket of cold water “splashing” on a roaring fire, the chaotic stone house suddenly fell silent, but immediately two dark figures lunged at her with incredible speed!

“Vilyric! You finally made it! Oh my god, I’m begging you, please take this little troublemaker away! She’s a total destruction machine! Damaging a bunch of my important materials is one thing, but if she eats something wrong and dies, I really…!”

“Arghhh ~!”

Gracefully sidestepping Miss Iriush’s swift charge, she caught the jumping white little wolf cub in her arms, patting the wonderfully soft head of Noviya while smirking at the doll girl who crashed into a pile of trash and was now climbing back up, groaning.

“What’s this? Weren’t you so confident that you could solve the problem, insisting on placing Noviya here for examination and research? After just one night, why the sudden change of attitude? Great inventor, are you up for the challenge? I personally guaranteed with Chief Vanessa that she could stay here temporarily.”

“Um, well…”

Iriush finally managed to crawl out of the trash pile, disregarding her appearance, leaning casually against a heap of scrap metal, scratching her head, looking somewhat embarrassed.

“I just wanted to help… I do have some ideas, but the problem is, the energy scale of that Source of Magic you mentioned is too massive. Last night I tried several high-magic metals or high-grade magic crystals, and they only drew out a tiny fraction before breaking immediately. This stuff… Well, it’s just not something ordinary items can withstand.”

She glared fiercely at the white wolf cub sticking its tongue out at her, feeling a mix of reluctance and defeat.

“I really don’t get it, this silly wolf’s physical condition is just average, how on earth can it hold such immense energy?”

“Arghhh!”

Proudly raising her head, Noviya struck a victorious pose, her small tail wagging in front of the girl. It felt as if, since that day, her intellect had suddenly progressed considerably, and she could now understand most of the magical beasts’ language and provide targeted feedback.

Patting the little wolf cub’s head to signal her to stay still, Vilyric smiled at the doll girl who had ‘Darn! Lost!’ written all over her face.

“Alright, alright, no need to be downcast. This is actually quite normal. The level of power represented by the Source of Magic is way beyond what normal beings can comprehend. If you could resolve a problem that has troubled the Mountains of Ten Thousand Demons for a thousand years in just one night, now that would be incredible.”

In the end, Vilyric was merely considering the difference in thought processes and research directions, wanting Iriush to give it a shot. Well, she would be keeping an eye on things, so if it failed, it wouldn’t lead to too many surprises. This girl looked rather careless, but a genuine scatterbrain couldn’t create so many intricate inventions.

“Since you can’t handle this, I’ll take Noviya with me. Oh, by the way, once I finish a few more things, we’ll be getting ready to leave here. So, what do you say? Join us, or stay behind?”

   

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