“Oh, I forgot to tell Leia about the banknote printing plate!”
Leia had left, but there were other things tonight. Iluna and Luvia were still coming later to summarize things about the second Chosen One and to deal with the door hosted in Genesis Darkness.
But they both had work to deal with, so they would probably only show up after eight o'clock. Taking advantage of the time, Xia De returned to the second floor from the foyer, taking off his shirt as he went upstairs, and came to the bathroom bare-chested to examine his neck in the mirror.
After leaving the doctor, he had been with Leia the whole time and hadn't had a chance to check the marks. Standing in front of the sink, under the gas lamp, he indeed saw red marks on his neck:
“Is it that obvious?”
He pressed his right hand against his neck, and as a faint silver Moonlight emanated from his hand, Cindy's Silver Moon Gift healed these marks on his body that weren't even considered wounds.
Seeing that the obvious marks had disappeared, he then passed his right arm across the front of his body, pressing the back of his neck from the left side, while subtly turning his upper body to see what the situation was like on his back behind his neck.
Suddenly, a strong feeling of being spied on entered Xia De's mind, and he looked back with a fierce expression in that strange posture:
“You're spying on me, aren't you?”
A cat stood at the bathroom door:
“Mia!”
Xia De's serious expression turned into a smile, and the cat immediately ran into the bathroom and was then picked up by Xia De bending down. The cat stood on Xia De's shoulder with great measure, but did not scratch him with its claws:
“Although you were naughty and got into the box, but seeing as you helped a lot, tomorrow, after I collect the MI6 reward, we'll go have a big meal. A new month has begun again.”
This unusually smart cat seemed to understand what Xia De said, tilting its head and squinting, rubbing its furry face against Xia De's face.
Xia De continued to treat the potentially misleading marks with his hand. He didn't know if it was because this body's self-healing ability was too good, but there were actually only some very shallow red marks.
When he turned his head, he saw that the Ring of Metamorphosis and the fish training ring were still on the cat's tail. The metamorphosis ring had a pebble-like material as its face, while the fish training ring was just a ring, appearing to be made of brass, with densely engraved Ling Runes on its surface.
These Ling Runes could not only be interpreted in relation to each other, up and down, left and right, but some Ling Runes themselves even formed another type of Ling Rune. Even if this was not a relic, it must itself be a very strong alchemical item.
“You're still wearing these rings, huh?”
Xia De asked, and the cat meowed, tilting its head and wagging its tail, looking very proud.
“Fortunately, the fish training ring is ineffective on cats.”
【What if it were effective on cats?】
He heard her voice in his ear, and Xia De looked up at himself in the mirror, and as expected, there was no one behind him. But the scene of standing in the bathroom looking into the mirror was very similar to when he saw desire, except he wasn't wearing a shirt now.
“I recite the activation incantation of the fish training ring, granting Mia, who wears the ring on her tail, the ability to speak human language. After ruling out the possibility that a cat's tail and a cat's body are two different organisms, this cat might be able to recite the incantation of the metamorphosis ring.”
“And then?”
She whispered softly in his ear, her words carrying a gentle smile.
“Before, I only thought that the metamorphosis ring could only achieve the transformation of male and female, and even if an animal used it, it could only gender-transform to obtain another body of the same species. But from Miss Felianna's actions, the characteristic of this ring is actually to obtain a body, not to gender-transform. That is to say, if a concrete method is mastered, even Mia might be able to achieve a transformation from—”
Ding-dong~
The doorbell downstairs rang; it was either Iluna or Luvia arriving.
The first to arrive at Saint Delan Square was not Luvia, but Iluna. She must have been exhausted today, as she complained endlessly about how many reports she had written as she went upstairs with Xia De.
For Xia De, after dealing with Darkness, other matters were unrelated to him. But for the Orthodox Church, the cleanup of the Darkness Domain, the tracking after the demon's disappearance, the investigation of other Ring術士 organizations that came to Tobesk City, and the City's daily tasks, all these had to continue.
As the first Chosen One, and also the Church Ring術士 who killed the second Chosen One, Iluna bore many responsibilities that only she could bear. This naturally brought the Church's attention and an increase in status, but at the same time, it also meant that she could not enjoy life as leisurely as Xia De.
Luvia appeared in Saint Delan Square half an hour later than Iluna. It wasn't that the Prophet Association suspected her, but rather that President Stan had convened a general meeting of the Association's local Ring術士.
The content of the meeting was not only related to the summary of the Darkness Domain operation, but also involved the secrets of the Prophet Association and the Truth Society, so Luvia did not tell the two of them. She only said that the Prophet Association and the Truth Society were inherently hostile. After being ambushed in the Darkness Domain, although President Stan ultimately defeated the opponent's Ring術士, the Association also had to organize a retaliation.
“However, our operation this time was very successful, quite successful. You two did a really good job.”
Luvia looked gently at the two sitting on the sofa. Xia De stroked Mia, smiling, while Iluna touched her face awkwardly:
“It was mainly your accurate intelligence. Without those preliminary preparations, Xia De and I would never have been able to deal with Darkness.”
“Two of the thirteen Chosen One have already appeared. However, I plan to rest for a while recently, and after the Great City Player rhode cards tournament held in this City ends, I will then begin to deal with the matter of the third Chosen One.”
“That's very good, Luvia. Your mental state was indeed a bit off for a while before.”
Even Iluna noticed this.
“But before resting, we still need to summarize the gains from this operation. I got the Enlightenment Ling Rune, advanced to Three-Ring Arcanist, and also learned a Mystic Lock.”
Xia De said, and Iluna looked at her curiously:
“Actually, I wanted to ask yesterday, is Mystic Lock really that easy to learn?”
“This depends on talent. Xia De's talent for Mystic Lock and fairy tales is probably very high—”
The purple-eyed girl thought for a moment, then changed her wording:
“Extremely high.”
“Then my gain: I killed Darkness, and I gained some Knowledge that was clearly not 'Balance' but belonged to 'Darkness'. But only a very small part, after all, killing a Chosen One does not inherit their identity.”
Iluna said, patting her head:
“Oh, the most crucial thing is this, look.”
The steam whistle sounded, and the two people and one cat looked at the golden Destiny Ring behind Iluna. She was a Three-Ring Arcanist. When they informed each other of their situations before the battle, Iluna's Three-Ring Arcanist Ling Runes were blasphemy - 【Thunderstorm】 and whisper - 【Mountain Range】.
Considering that the time she became a Three-Ring Arcanist was almost the same as when Xia De became a Two-Ring Arcanist, gaining two Ling Runes in just a month and a half was considered very fast.
But now, the Three-Ring Arcanist Ling Rune had one more, which was a Miracle - 【Black Vortex】 with a golden Miracle aura.
“Black Vortex.”
Xia De translated the meaning of that Ling Rune for Luvia.
“Oh?”
Luvia narrowed her eyes:
“Killing a Chosen One allows one to gain their power?”
“No, no matter who kills a Chosen One, they will not gain the corresponding power. The current situation seems to be due to the 'Balance' talent. I don't really understand it, but the 'Balance' Chosen One seems to have a very unique status among all Chosen One. So, I gained a very small amount of Darkness's power.”
Iluna said, drawing a circle in the air with her right index finger, and a small black vortex appeared:
“Miracle - 【Black Vortex】. Compared to Darkness's, mine isn't very powerful, and I can't achieve self-spatial movement.”
She suddenly put her hand into the vortex, and then another vortex appeared next to Xia De. Iluna's arm stretched out, and she stroked Mia, scaring the cat into meowing loudly.
“Meow!”
Little Mia certainly wouldn't be willing to be scared, and immediately pounced on that hand. But she didn't expect Iluna to immediately pull her hand out of the vortex, so Mia went over the vortex and fell onto Iluna's lap.
Iluna happily held Mia, not letting go, and the cat made a wronged cry, wanting to ask Xia De for help.
“See, the Chosen One truly is the protagonist.”
Luvia sighed to Xia De, and Iluna did not comment on that sentence:
“This is really interesting. I don't have any feeling for this Miracle, but I somehow feel that it has become a part of me. I think this peculiar Ling Rune should have more ways to be developed. I need to think about it carefully. However, this brings me one step closer to advancing to Four Ring.”
She let go of Mia, who immediately darted towards Xia De.
The Chosen One's advancement speed was very fast. Not compared to an anomaly like Xia De, their talents were almost unparalleled.
“You killed the Chosen One, witnessed the story of the second Chosen One, and I also gained power.”
Luvia continued immediately. She summoned the Destiny Ring behind her, which was also Three-Ring Arcanist, and no additional Ling Runes had appeared:
“My divination ability has improved. In other words, participating in special Destiny Ring nodes allowed me to feel the trajectory of Destiny Ring more deeply. You can consider this as the talent of my 'other me'. In short, my ordinary divinations have become more accurate, and divinations that require a price can also divine more things with the same cost.”
She leaned back on the sofa, her head slightly tilted, and under the aura of the Destiny Ring behind her, her eyes seemed to have a purple halo. She was clearly looking at Xia De and Iluna, but both of them distinctly felt that she was looking at something else.
