"Not just us?"
Fiona looked at her teacher curiously, and the half-elf spoke softly, as if afraid of disturbing the invisible existence:
"One night some time ago, when I was meditating in front of the moon, I heard a voice that did not belong to this era. The demigod who called herself 'Witch Queen Violet' sent some information from the distant future. What does this mean, Fiona, you should understand."
"And the good news is, we're right in the middle."
Miss Felina spoke calmly, then blinked at Fiona as if she had just remembered:
"Fiona, why are you standing there? Sit down."
New chairs appeared out of nowhere at the table.
"Aren't you the one who made me stand in the corner because you were angry?"
Fiona whispered in her heart, but she didn't dare to speak out loud.
She walked to the table with the time key.
"Tell me more about your adventure."
The teapot flew up automatically and poured tea for Fiona. Miss Olano snapped her fingers again, and the girl with white ash on her clothes immediately looked brand new:
"Tell me about Shade."
So Fiona reached for her small bag hesitantly. Most of her belongings, including the eggshell book, were left behind in Evernight City during her escape, and she could only retrieve them later. But there was one thing she had always carried with her.
Fiona took out Shade's coat:
"I washed it for him and forgot to give it back to Shade. I'll give it back to him next time I see him."
The young girl stammered, afraid that her thoughts would be seen.
"It's really interesting that the dress didn't disappear after Shade left."
Miss Feliana said softly, and the pages on the table flew downstairs, letting the witches who had avoided this conversation come back. Miss Orlanod continued to talk about Shade with her students, wanting to know every detail of the story.
Mana Felina took a deep breath, listened to the story, picked up the teacup again, and looked at the place where Shade had just disappeared:
"We'll meet again, right?"
(Little Mia is running...)
Since this was not a normal mission, Shade had not seen the shadow of Tree Father again since returning to the past, nor had he received any rewards.
But saving Fiona and meeting Miss Feliana and Miss Orlanod again was enough. Not to mention, he obtained the last spirit rune of the five rings and a brand new fairy tale puzzle lock.
Even if he hadn't actively suppressed himself at this moment, Xia De even felt that he would be able to be promoted to the sixth ring in the next moment.
"It seems that some of the abilities of this maze can be used normally... Let's explore it after this is over."
Although the girls in Wilde Opera House didn't know what Shad had just experienced, when they saw Shad again, they saw that he was in a good mood, so they knew that the story that happened in the past had a good ending.
After dealing with Fiona's affairs, the last thing of this long night, which is also the most important thing, is finally coming.
In the interval between the fourth and fifth opening of the Time Key by Shad, he first followed Miss Sylvia to the outskirts of the city to find Miss Danister, and then went to St. Byrons to walk with the elf girl at night. Although he opened the portal directly when he came back from the outskirts of the city, and the fifth Time Key adventure only took three seconds, such a long time was enough for the situation in the Randall Valley area to change further.
Since the big earthquake in the early morning, small earthquakes have occurred almost continuously in the Randall River Valley. The strange gray snow turned into a blizzard, and black mud, which symbolized the distortion of the earth, gushed out from the cracks in the ground caused by the earthquake. Crazy elemental giants attacked the living at will, and the crazy earth gradually occupied the normal land.
Compared with the first half of the night, the intensity of the battle in the second half of the night after midnight had completely reached the level of the Battle of Midhill Castle last autumn. Not limited to fossil creatures and earth elemental giants, more and more monsters related to the "earth" appeared in the darkness in the wind and snow. Even though the church mobilized more ring warlocks and made more preparations than in the Battle of Midhill Castle, it still did not have a clear advantage.
As for the "Mad Land" area, which can only be barely resisted by the holders of the "Power of the Earth", on the night of the decisive battle, the Orthodox Church and even most of the ring sorcerers who participated in this battle still could not find an effective way to fight against it. Fortunately, the divine rituals arranged in advance on normal land can prevent the land from being "polluted" to a certain extent, so even if the battle area is reduced a little bit, it has not yet fully affected the battle situation.
As the first Randall flower bloomed, the cultists who had been hiding in the dark corners also began their actions.
Not only the cult that believed in the evil god Stoneheart, and the Blood Spirit School that still didn't know why they were helping them, but also several officially defined illegal groups including the Mirror Association, the Sleeping Monastery, and the Black Forest House, all appeared in Tahiti and the mountain forests east of the Randall River Valley. Even the Creation Church reported the presence of the Truth Society, but this time they seemed to be just there to join in the fun and collect data.
Although these illegal groups of ring sorcerers appeared in the wild, they had not yet had a large-scale conflict with the church. When Tifa informed Shade and Miss Sylvia who had just returned from an outing, they both thought that perhaps the cultists had not yet determined where the final ceremony of the Chosen One would be held.
"So, what's the next move?"
Miss Sylvia, Shade, Luvia, Siris and three witch apprentices gathered in the basement of the opera house. All the girls looked at Shade, and Shade, who had no worries, was holding the cat in his arms. He could finally execute the plan:
"I passed the Forgotten Church and headed directly to the Temple of Night. If Yin Luna had received the earlier news, she should have arrived by now. The four gems are already in hand. I am going to open the Butterfly Cemetery and try to enter the location of the Heart of the Earth with Yin Luna. With that fragment, this should be no problem. If we can see the Guardian before he goes completely crazy and appears on the ground, we still have a chance to save everything."
At this moment, the "fragment of the heart of the earth" that Shad obtained from the disappeared secret passage was packed in a gray stone box and placed on the table beside him.
Although the other girls except Luvia could not fully understand what he was saying, it did not prevent them from knowing that this was Shad's action alone.
"And us?"
Miss Sylvia asked.
"Miss Sylvia, you take Luvia and..."
He hesitated:
"Take Luvia and Sirius with you and go out of the city to join the great witches. If I can't make it in time, I'm afraid I'll have to stop the guardians on the ground and then hold the ceremony of the chosen one. Oh, take this."
He took out the Holy Grail, which was made into a toy with a lot of spiritual power, from his pocket, and gave her the "healing" and "memory" in it:
"Bring all the materials for preparing the elixir with you to prevent any accidents. Remember, safety first."
The reason why Miss Sylvia was asked to bring Luvia and Hillis was because they both had the power of the earth.
"Also, the girls who stayed behind at the opera house, inform Miss Carina and the others that they can prepare for the final battle. Of course, there is no need to deliberately stop and do nothing, after all, the time has not been completely determined."
"It's a pity that we don't even know where the ceremony for the chosen one will take place."
Luvia said regretfully, but she looked at Shade. Shade knew what she meant, and he still had the last special coin in his hand, the Emperor's Banquet Copper Coin.
But Shad doesn't want to use it just yet.
"Okay, I'll be careful."
Miss Sylvia nodded, and Shade asked again:
"Where is Yin Luna now? Did she reply to us after receiving the message?"
"Miss Beas just signaled that she received the message, but didn't give a more specific reply. The city is in chaos right now, and she probably won't be able to find a good opportunity."
Miss Hayley Aurora said.
Compared to Tifa who participated in the Tobesk Darkness Incident and Miss Rita Swift who participated in the Battle of Middleburg, this young Miss Aurora was participating in an event close to a large-scale battle for the first time, so she was worried but also a little excited.
"Do you need me to follow you out of the city?"
The black-haired maid asked Xia De. Among the three apprentices, she was the only one who reached the seventh ring and was very close to the eighth ring, so she could also provide help.
"No need. The city still needs you. And of course, there's a report to the council."
Time was tight, and after finalizing the action plan, Shad simply hugged Luvia and set off again alone.
But compared to the previous trip to Oxenfurt Manor, this time he brought his own night watchman. As for Mia, Shad thought about it again and again and decided not to take her with him, but let Tifa who stayed in the opera house take care of her.
The distance from the Wilde Opera House to the Forgotten Church on Cherry Leaf Street is very short. Shad walked in the shadow of the low wall on the street with a cloak on his head. Looking at the turbulent city after the earthquake, the sense of urgency in his heart became stronger.
Not everyone can find a safe shelter in advance. Even with the advance warning from City Hall, tonight is a night that the citizens of the entire Randall Valley City will never forget.
After entering the church on the snow, Shade did not stay for long. He walked silently on the path between the benches, looked up at the holy emblem, and when he passed by the stone statue of Mr. Lathers, he reached out and patted the stone statue on the shoulder, then walked towards the basement without looking back.