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Chapter 30: Curious Baby

As Phoenix eagerly awaited, Booker helplessly began to explain.

“High-level Extraordinary Beings can project their power. This projection lies between mid-tier and high-tier and requires the consumption of soul essence.”

“Most importantly, the power projection must share the same origin and be within the same dimensional framework. It can’t just materialize out of thin air.”

“The carrier that Evlith used before was the legendary demon race’s might, the [Flame Demon Altar], and it took considerable Extraordinary resources just to barely present it.”

“Forget it. With me around, why complicate things?” Fini shared her thoughts, “Just directly project your boy’s power into my mausoleum.”

Roy modified her suggestion slightly and relayed Fini’s viewpoint.

The sage, who had just gone on a long-winded lecture, suddenly fell silent, deep in thought.

“You’re right, my power shares the same origin as Fini, and the Phoenix mausoleum has enough dimensional capacity… it might just work?”

Roy was overjoyed and couldn’t wait to say, “Shall we try?”

The old man nodded at once, raising his hand to gather a terrifying golden sphere of light.

The unfathomable Extraordinary power far exceeded anything Roy had encountered in the mid-tier, enough to rival the near-death fire dragon and the Lich Empress’s projection.

Looking at the immense power that he would need to fight tooth and nail against, now casually condensed into a small orb, Roy couldn’t help but marvel at how terrifying high-level Extraordinary Beings with divine attributes truly were.

Then, Booker immersed the golden sphere into his chest, and Roy’s consciousness sank deep into the realm of the soul.

After stepping into the mid-tier, Roy could freely enter and exit the tombs of kings.

Inside the familiar mausoleum, Bahamut, Lilith, and Leviathan were still asleep, recovering their powers, but the bright red loli sat perkily at the entrance of her mausoleum.

Is this considered dancing on my own grave?

Compared to what he had seen before, Phoenix had grown taller, though it was just like a fifth grader becoming a middle schooler, barely escaping the child category and stepping into the loli realm.

The golden light sphere hovered beside Phoenix.

In a casual gesture, she flicked it, and the sphere shattered, transforming the golden flames into a human shape.

“Hey, long time no see!”

After finally confronting the lover he had thought lost, with the true embodiment of the God of Fire, Booker couldn’t help but feel a bit excited.

“Fini, we finally… huh?!”

Booker opened his arms to give an emotional hug, but his expression changed drastically as he covered his face and screamed in terror.

At that moment, Roy, who was watching from the side, couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

The figure emerging from the light was neither the old man he remembered nor the youthful mage from history, but rather a little boy even shorter than the bright red loli!

“Why, why am I a child?!”

Phoenix laughed to the point of having a bellyache: “Haha! What’s wrong with that? Isn’t it giving you a chance to be young again?”

“What kind of crazy misunderstanding do you have about youth?! At least turn me into an adult!”

“Come on, this looks pretty cute! What’s the point of being old and stuffy?”

Phoenix took the initiative to return the hug, though with their height difference, it looked like she was bullying her little brother.

That’s right, the hero saving humanity, the great mage [Sage], was currently nothing more than a little brother being toyed with by a loli!

“Don’t come any closer…”

Not wanting to witness such a tragic scene, Roy couldn’t help but step back out of the king’s mausoleum.

Back in reality, Booker’s face turned as red as tomato, pouring with cold sweat as if he had just fought a terrifying prehistoric beast.

“Roy! Why did you just stand there and watch?!”

“Should I have interrupted? But it looked like you, Director, were enjoying it.”

“Who was enjoying it?! That little brat with her weird tastes… Hmph, even after hundreds of years, she still annoys me!”

Here, Booker somewhat resembled the historical figure Roy had seen.

The old mage lost all his usual composure and mature demeanor, his face flushed red as he argued, “The things in the historical projection were just out of necessity! Don’t get me wrong! I’m not a loli-lover; it just so happens the person I like is a loli…”

“Got it, got it.” Roy nodded repeatedly, making an x gesture with his mouth while secretly cracking up inside.

Respecting XP freedom, those who understand understand!

With the Phoenix mausoleum serving as the carrier, Roy successfully obtained [Sage]’s projection, finally preparing thoroughly.

Time was running out; there was less than half a month left until the saint candidate sea selection, and it was time to set off.

Roy hugged and said goodbye to the girl at the school gate.

Though Charlotte and the others planned to come for cheering when the saint’s trial officially began, the thought of being apart for so many days made Roy a little reluctant.

“Just don’t bully Alice on the way, okay?”

“What do you take me for? I’d never lay a finger on her, no matter how desperate I get.”

“Well, you can’t be too excessive, but I won’t forbid you from touching her.”

“???”

Before leaving, Charlotte’s cryptic remarks left Roy utterly confused.

Meanwhile, Nia and the others crowded around the little maid, whispering who-knows-what, which made Roy very curious.

Roy was quite pleased: “You guys have become really good friends!”

“Mhm.” Alice nodded gently but couldn’t meet Roy’s gaze, “After all, soon we will become sisters.”

“???”

Aren’t close girlfriends called besties? Calling each other sisters feels a bit strange, right?

Roy briefly worried that Alice had awakened some yuri tendencies but looking at her, it didn’t seem so. He ultimately remained clueless about the girls’ private secrets.

To the east of the Academy City, after a seven-day boat ride across the river and a three-day carriage ride down the official road, they would arrive at the largest port city on the western continent, also the only city of the Church in the west, White Harbor.

Upon entering the city, the world was dyed in pure white.

The entire city was built with immaculate white bricks, as if stepping into the paradise depicted in myth. Passersby, regardless of wealth or status, all wore clothing predominantly white.

Under the clear blue sky, clouds danced, while at the port’s edge, the sea stretched endlessly into the horizon.

Legend has it that the goddess dispatched faithful followers to the western continent to preach in order to redeem the lost souls in darkness, and White Harbor was the first stop of the church’s believers.

To the followers of the Holy Light in the western continent, White Harbor was the closest place to the goddess, the holy city they dreamt of.

On the road, Roy had already seen many Holy Light believers, tears streaming down their faces as they knelt on the ground, either kissing the pure white tiles or bowing in prayer towards the cathedral.

“Master, what are they doing?” For the first time witnessing such a scene, Alice transformed into a curious little baby.

“They’re expressing their love and reverence for the goddess.”

“But the goddess isn’t here.”

“One saying is that the goddess is omniscient and omnipotent, and doesn’t need to be present to see their sincerity. Another saying is that they are just expressing their devout faith.”

“Faith…”

Muttering this word, Alice’s expression grew even more puzzled.