The dense dark clouds almost drew the attention of everyone outdoors in the nearby area, and the Ring術士 in the center of Huntington City almost all sensed that terrifying power.
And on the almost completely dark mansion rooftop, the next second, a fiery red light lit up before their eyes.
Emma Sylvia felt the hand holding her release, and a fiery light illuminated before her eyes. She widened her eyes and saw Xia De’s back as he stepped forward. In that raging storm and darkness, fine cracks were spreading across his body, and a fiery red light, like burning embers, trailed behind him in specks of fire with the wind.
Feeling the temperature of that fiery light from such a close distance, she was completely certain that this was the Original Fire.
“That is…”
Xia De understood what was in that brass box and what was about to happen. Miss Silvia reached out to stop him, but Xia De merely flung his outer coat, filled with items, towards the Great Witch.
Stuffing the leaf into his mouth, amidst the witch's panic and the priest, Vampire, and princess's terrified expressions, Xia De actively leaped into the cloud-covered high sky.
Thunder roared, and the dark electric lights in the clouds finally converged into a dark thunderbolt, striking downwards.
Even the people fighting in the courtyard looked up at the rooftop in unison, watching the figure with the fiery light collide with the thunderbolt.
Boom!
After the loud bang, all was silent. The terrifying mental pressure vanished, and the dark clouds overhead immediately dispersed, revealing the brilliant starry sky once more. Only the buzzing in their ears proved that everything just now was not an illusion, and only Ring術士 could see that streaks of lightning still flickered faintly under the starry sky.
Thud!
Xia De, smoking, fell heavily onto the rooftop from high in the sky. At this moment, the Moonlight from the three moons simultaneously illuminated him as he lay on his back, and plumes of scorching white smoke rose from his body, his entire outfit charred black.
What happened in that instant left the young Great Witch somewhat at a loss, but she still bent down and picked up Xia De, then vanished from the rooftop.
“Hmm…”
Mr. Bernhardt hesitantly looked at the rooftop, which had returned to peace, and then asked:
“Who were those two people just now?”
The middle-aged priest of the Peace Church slowly shook his head, walked to the edge of the rooftop, and looked around, confirming that the Truth Society, Cultists, and the two unidentified individuals had all left.
“Your Highness, what do you have on you?”
The priest asked the princess, who pretended to be frightened, and she immediately shook her head:
“I don’t know, but you can check my luggage. I don’t have any contraband.”
Her spellcasting materials were all in Miss Silvia’s hands, so she wasn’t afraid of being searched.
“We’ll discuss this later, but Your Highness, please remember that these two gentlemen did not appear tonight. Their identities… are somewhat sensitive.”
The priest pointed to Mr. Bernhardt and added, and the princess immediately nodded.
“Let’s leave first.”
Mr. Bernhardt also said, then motioned for Viscount Lamadi to come with him, but the viscount respectfully bowed to the princess:
“Your Highness, I am Johnson Lamadi, at your service.”
Only after confirming that Princess Margaret knew who he was did he leave with Mr. Bernhardt, who thought the viscount’s actions were rather undignified.
“Truth Society?”
The priest murmured, then waited on the rooftop with Princess Margaret for the Church’s squad to arrive as reinforcement. On the other side, Miss Silvia had already returned to her lounge, holding Xia De’s charred “corpse.”
The Great Witch, trembling all over, placed the “corpse” on the sofa. As she reached out to check for his breath, she saw the charred corpse’s fingers suddenly twitch:
“Oh~”
Xia De sat bolt upright in the gaslight, startling Miss Silvia:
“How are you?”
The witch asked cautiously, then saw Xia De, whose face was completely charred, open his eyes. His gaze was dazed for a moment, then he opened his mouth and exhaled a puff of smoke:
“Cough, cough, not bad.”
He coughed loudly, then gasped for air, still feeling lingering fear as he touched his mouth, confirming that the youthful immortality leaf had been completely chewed and swallowed. He had to admit, the healing properties of this relic were truly excellent.
And the act of raising his hand caused the black “outer shell” on Xia De’s body to peel off, revealing his normal, delicate human skin once again.
He looked at his arm, confirming that this expensive formal suit was completely ruined, but fortunately, Leia had prepared many other outfits for him to wear to next week’s wedding.
But then he suddenly paused, touching the top of his head, and indeed found that his hair had also turned black:
“This is bad.”
“If you’re worried about your hair, it’s fine. I’ll take care of it for you. Witches are good at hair growth.”
Miss Silvia said softly, and Xia De finally breathed a sigh of relief.
【Outsider, you have gained insight into “Thunder,” “Rage,” and “Storm.”】
The voice sounded in his ear. Xia De calmed the violent throbbing in his heart, still savoring the feeling of being struck by that dark thunderbolt just now:
“Are you sure it’s a divine power?”
【Yes, judging from the power of that lightning, there is at least one drop of divinity in the angel-level relic 【Raging Divine Punishment】. Judging from your perception, it is most likely the divinity of the Evil God 【raging storm】.】
“As expected.”
Xia De had rushed towards that thunderbolt just now, partly because he was the only one among them with “divinity” resistance—the full-power strike of that angel-level relic was not so easy to block—and partly to feel that power more closely.
Now it seemed that before the matter of the Lake Goddess was even clear, he had encountered a second drop of divinity.
“Miss Silvia!”
Xia De suddenly said, startling the young witch who was lost in thought about who knows what. Compared to Grandma Cassandra, she truly wasn't as mature yet.
“I’m here. Are you alright?”
She asked with some concern. Xia De’s desperate charge towards that terrifying lightning bolt had truly shocked her. Recalling it now, if Xia De hadn’t rushed up, even if she were a Tenth-Order Witch and a part-time Tenth-Ring術士, she would likely have been in great trouble.
“I’m fine, I feel great, but I need to take a shower.”
He looked at the witch and asked suspiciously:
“What exactly does Princess Margaret have on her that is worth so much effort from the Truth Society? Is it that book, The Secret of Immortality?”
“No, there are only two fragments of poems on it. Although precious, it’s not enough for the Truth Society to pay such a high price.”
Miss Silvia said, her gaze drifting downward, and then her cheeks immediately turned crimson:
“You… put on some clothes first.”
She threw him the outer coat Xia De had given her to hold. Only then did Xia De notice that all his clothes had carbonized from the lightning strike, and as he stood up, the remnants of his clothing fell off his skin:
“Sorry, sorry.”
He reached into his pocket to retrieve his spare clothes. The Great Witch also turned her head slightly, then raised her right hand to block her side vision, a gesture of avoiding impropriety.
But as Xia De rummaged for his “toys,” the witch’s fair middle and ring fingers on her right hand subtly parted again, and her shy, pretty eyes peered down through the gap:
“Oh~ He really is a man.”
Her face turned even redder.
After getting dressed, Xia De told Miss Silvia she could turn around. The young Great Witch still had a blush on her face for some reason, but Xia De had no time to ponder what was going on:
“Tonight was truly interesting. The Truth Society hired the local Pantanal Voodoo Society, provoked a fight between the Voodoo Society and the Church, unearthed clues about the Pantanal Evil, and they themselves were searching for something unknown. Huntington seems like it’s going to be chaotic for a while; the Church won’t let the Voodoo Society off the hook. Miss Silvia, it seems your visit to Tobesk won’t be very peaceful either; Miss Pa Wo of the Truth Society will likely seek out Princess Margaret again.”
“It’s alright, at least she’s a rational madwoman.”
Miss Silvia seemed afraid to look at Xia De’s face. She reached for her handbag, searching for a potion to treat Xia De.
“With you by Princess Margaret’s side, plus Cerces’s protection and the Church’s safeguarding, I don’t think anything will happen. Besides, Tobesk also has Miss Jialinna.”
Xia De sat on the sofa, placing his new shoes on the floor.
“I invited you to this banquet, and I didn’t expect something like this to happen. If you hadn’t blocked that lightning bolt at the end… Miss Jialinna’s praise for you was not exaggerated at all, it seems.”
Miss Silvia said softly, handing a bottle of pink potion to Xia De. Xia De didn’t know if he had any other injuries, so he uncorked the bottle and drank the potion. It was cherry-flavored, with a very faint mint taste, and it tasted quite good:
“It’s nothing, protecting pretty ladies is my responsibility.”
The young Great Witch pursed her lips and smiled, finally beginning to understand why Duchess Galina Cavendish, whose power and authority had almost reached the pinnacle of the material world, was so “fascinated” by Xia De.
And though Xia De was still talking to Miss Silvia, his thoughts had already drifted to another matter.
After putting on his shoes, he turned to look out the window. After the dark clouds dispersed, the brilliant galaxy shimmered above the thin mist. Xia De found that the air quality in all the City he had visited was better than in Tobesk:
“I originally came to this City because of the rumors of the Lake Goddess. I didn’t expect that I wouldn’t find the Lake Goddess, but instead discovered this from the Cultists. Troublesome things are piling up.”
He thought to himself, feeling that Huntington City, with its myriad lights, was like a giant prostrate on the dark plain.
Miss Silvia also came to the window with him, looking out with Xia De. She was focused on the movements of the Church’s Ring術士. After that terrifying lightning strike, the Pantanal Voodoo Society’s Ring術士 were already retreating, but the Church did not let them go.
【So, do you find it very troublesome?】
“She” asked with a soft laugh in the gentle evening breeze blowing from the window. Xia De’s eyes widened slightly:
“Troublesome? Of course not.”
His eyes narrowed slightly, looking at the dark distance under the night sky. The divinity of an Evil God, the divinity of an unknown deity—now both clues lay before him:
“I want all the divinity from both places!”
—Extra Notes—
PS1: Currently, only one youthful immortality leaf remains.
PS2: Xia De said he would open the key once he found clues about divinity, so the story of a new key is coming soon. Who will he meet this time?
