Actually, Teresa didn't know what the Children of the Invisible truly were.
While the group was resting, the ground suddenly vibrated as if something was emerging from underground.
Subsequently, they were attacked by invisible enemies.
Because there were too many enemies surrounding the camp at the time, Violet led them in a temporary retreat.
However, Violet was a Thirteenth-Order Witch after all.
After temporarily escaping the enemy's encirclement, she quickly detected the "nest" of these monsters.
Therefore, she took her personal maid to deal with the source of the Children of the Invisible, while Teresa and the other five maids stayed to intercept the pursuing enemies and avoid direct contact with the truth of this attack.
"Over there."
Although the total time she had spent with Xia De was only about an hour, the Witch wearing glasses immediately discerned Xia De's thoughts at that moment:
"They went in that direction.
I cannot give you a precise departure time, but it doesn't feel like a long time.
Mr. Hamilton, if you truly intend to go, you must be careful."
Xia De gazed into the depths of the mist:
"You all be careful too; stay here and don't move around."
After bidding farewell to Teresa and the five others, Xia De continued forward, following the increasingly faint footprints on the ground.
Violet and her personal head maid were actually not far from Teresa and the others.
Xia De only walked about twenty steps before he saw them, but in reality, their figures did not appear in the dense fog until he clearly saw the two of them.
This Island was even stranger than Xia De had imagined.
When Xia De arrived beside them, Violet and the Twelfth-Order maid were not fighting, but rather looking around, just like the six Witches earlier.
This was a clearing on the Island without thorny bushes.
The Night Watchman was held in Violet's hand, while the tall, brown-haired head maid held a wooden hand crossbow, which was an alchemical item, not a relic.
"Long time no see, Xia De."
Violet greeted him softly.
Her spirits seemed a bit better than last time, but signs of fatigue were still visible.
"Are Teresa and the others alright now?"
She recognized the direction from which Xia De had come.
"They're fine.
I helped them eliminate those invisible enemies.
What are you looking for?"
"The nest."
The tall maid answered for Violet, her voice clear and crisp:
"Your Majesty believes that the nest of the Children of the Invisible is the cause of the attack.
If the nest is not eliminated quickly, more enemies will appear on the Island.
That nest should be nearby, within our line of sight, but we haven't found it yet."
"The treasure compass provided me with some help, but the nest is much harder to sense than those monsters."
Violet said, then saw Xia De looking above their heads.
She blinked, then immediately pulled her maid aside to dodge:
"Above us?"
"The only 'big guy' nearby is this one.
I can feel it; it's a beehive-like object.
But it's very difficult for me to describe its structure and shape; it's extremely strange."
The Witches retreated to Xia De's side.
Violet patted Xia De's shoulder:
"Then don't try to sense it.
Since you've indicated the location, I can also vaguely sense that something is indeed there."
She handed the Night Watchman to Xia De and took the hand crossbow from her maid:
"Let's go together."
"No problem."
The familiar longsword entered his hand, and Xia De swung it a few times.
Silver Moonlight imbued the blade, and the Moonlight Greatsword enveloped the Night Watchman.
"Violet, please pay attention, one, two, three!"
The crossbow bolt and the silver arc flew into the air together, touched an invisible object under the gaze of the three, and then vanished together.
There was no explosion, not even a sound, but Xia De could feel the disappearance of the "nest."
"What exactly is this?
Is it a unique monster of Lost Lake?"
After confirming that the trouble was resolved, Xia De asked.
Violet shook her head, signaling Xia De and the maid to follow her to rejoin the others:
"Children of the Invisible, extremely rare and bizarre creatures.
They are a subspecies of a certain third epoch demon, descendants born from the reproduction of demons and evil entities.
They usually exist in the form of nests in ancient ruins, tombs, and remote dense forests.
Only by sensing them can effective attacks be made.
Don't think we won easily just now; that's because Lost Lake is also suppressing their power."
Xia De couldn't imagine what a cross between a demon and an evil entity would look like:
"So, if one truly encounters a fully-powered Children of the Invisible nest, how should one deal with it?"
"Flee.
Children of the Invisible only move around their nest and won't go too far.
The area of this Island is pretty much the limit of their range of movement."
Violet gave a decisive answer, which reminded Xia De of one of the methods the Witch Emperor had left for dealing with the Gap at the Sicar Mountain seal: "run."
"What if we have to face it?"
Xia De asked again.
Violet thought for a moment:
"What a strange question.
The power of any demon can cause effective attacks against Children of the Invisible even when they cannot be observed.
Oh, if you ever encounter this thing in the future, please do not go looking for a demon to sign a contract to gain power.
In fact, many well-known relics contain demonic power.
I have one called the Flaming Demon Head, but I didn't bring it on this adventure; it's simply too ugly."
By this time, a full twelve minutes had passed since Xia De arrived at Lost Lake, meaning a little less than half of the half-hour time limit had elapsed.
Fortunately, the location of the Children of the Invisible nest was very close to the obsidian tower in the center of Lake Heart Island.
After reuniting with Teresa and the other five maids, Violet checked the young maid's recovered injuries, and then the group of eight headed directly to the base of the tower instead of returning to the camp.
"How much time do you have left?"
After entering the safe zone beneath the tower, free from mist, Violet asked Xia De, knowing he had a fixed duration for his stay:
"A little over ten minutes.
We need to hurry.
However, I have already found the offering."
Xia De patted the waterskin tied to his chest.
Although the Father of Infinite Trees did not allow special items to be brought into the past, quest items were an exception.
"We also found some things, but we're not sure if they're useful.
You only have such a short amount of time?
Actually, even if you hadn't come to find us, you could still complete the god's trial."
Violet reminded him, but Xia De shook his head.
Although directly telling the deity, "My wish is to help Violet learn the secret of Eternal Beauty," would also work, he couldn't abandon his companions with whom he was adventuring:
"I promised to help you; how could I go up the tower by myself?"
The Witches smiled.
According to Xia De's previous speculation before he left, there must be a solution to the trial given by the great one temporarily residing in the obsidian tower.
This not only meant that Xia De could find a solution, but also that Violet's group could find a method on the Lake Heart Island of Lost Lake.
Before Xia De's temporary appearance, the Witches had indeed diligently analyzed and speculated about possible offerings on the Island.
Violet had even risked venturing deep into the Island's mist, touching more of the taboos on this Island.
Although in Xia De's opinion, this Witch Emperor's personality was quite problematic, she was a genuine Thirteenth-Order Witch, an official member of the Witch Council in this era.
She was far more powerful than Xia De had imagined.
Before the Children of the Invisible incident, Violet Marshall had, dozens of times, ventured deep into the Lake Heart Island of Lost Lake alone, wielding the Night Watchman.
She eventually discovered a cube deeply buried in the mud on the other side of the Island.
"Yes, the keeper-level relic, the Cube of Water.
I remember it was lost 300 years ago; I didn't expect it to appear in a place like this."
That small blue cube was now being kept by Teresa.
The Witches did not know the relationship between this cube and the offering.
Before encountering the Children of the Invisible and being forced to retreat from the camp, they even speculated that they needed to activate the Cube of Water to obtain water, but that also meant they would have to provide at least 1,000 live human sacrifices to shut off that perpetual water source.
Fortunately, Xia De brought good news: the relic only needed to be immersed in water, which also made Violet breathe a sigh of relief.
The water in the waterskin soaked the Cube of Water, and then the water that could serve as an offering re-entered the waterskin.
Violet gestured for her maid to hand the waterskin to Xia De.
This was an ordinary water container, not very large in volume:
"If I had known earlier that you could also find an offering, I wouldn't have needed to take such a risk.
Although an extra blessing means an additional boon, we shouldn't be so greedy, should we?"
She said to Xia De with regret, and her sentiment was genuine.
Compared to an extra blessing, this cautious Thirteenth-Order Witch truly disliked taking risks.
Coming to the base of the obsidian tower for the third time, both Xia De and Teresa were filled with emotion.
Violet instructed her maids to wait at the base of the tower.
Then, she patted Teresa's shoulder, and while taking off her pointed hat, she asked:
"Schultz, I'll ask one last time, are you sure you want to come in with us?
This tower has three floors, and the higher you go, the more dangerous it becomes.
You almost didn't make it last time."
She looked at Xia De, who was looking up at the tower and nodded:
"The god is now on the highest floor; that is the final destination."
Violet then looked at her distant niece, who had the relic Proof of Faith hanging around her neck:
"I am prepared to face any situation."
The Great Witch shook her head, gave her maids some final instructions, and then signaled to Xia De that they could depart.
Xia De plunged the Night Watchman into the mud.
Seeing no water flow out, he knew that although the combat experience inherited by the sword could appear in this era through his touch, the new characteristics bestowed upon this sword by the Lake Goddess had not yet appeared in this era.
He was about to push open the tower door, but hesitated for a moment and turned to look at the silver sword again.
Recalling the dangerous trial in Huntington City not long ago, and realizing he didn't have any "arrows" this time, he reached out and pulled the Night Watchman out again:
"Let's go."
"Why are you bringing a weapon?"
Teresa asked somewhat nervously.
Xia De pursed his lips and tentatively said:
"Is it possible that after offering the sacrifice and completing the second trial, the final trial will be for us to team up and defeat that god?"
