"Shadow, how do you feel now?"
Half an hour later, Luvia received a message from Tifa and learned that Shad had woken up, so she came to No. 6 St. Teresa's Square from Silver Cross Avenue.
"It's great. I'm not injured and I even feel stronger."
The maid had already left, and Shade took Mia downstairs to greet her. The weather was good today. In the late autumn morning, there were many people on Saint Teresa Square. After opening the door, you could see the bustling city street scene.
"We need to check to see if you are injured. But your expression is very strange."
The purple-eyed girl said doubtfully.
Xia De stepped aside to make way for Luvia to enter. As Luvia passed by Xia De, she twitched her nose slightly:
"I see. Detective, having an affair with someone else's maid is not a gentlemanly thing to do."
She smelled the scent of perfume that most people couldn't detect, but it had a very special smell.
"I didn't..."
The slender fingers wiped across Xia De's face, and he immediately stopped talking.
"Of course I know you didn't do it, but I bet, Shade, you're definitely not honest."
She walked in with a smile. After all, this was not the first time she discovered something fishy between Shade and the maid.
"I don't mind this. It will also be helpful for us to have a good relationship with the great witch. Miss Servet is indeed very charming, even from a female perspective. I'm just curious, what did you do?"
Xia De hesitated for a moment, took her hat and put it on the shoe cabinet:
"Well... just had breakfast."
"breakfast?"
Luvia asked suspiciously, so Xia De leaned over to her ear in the hallway and whispered a few words.
The purple-eyed girl frowned slightly at first:
"Wait a minute, don't omit so many words and replace them with words with Huyin. How should I know..."
Then he realized something, his cheeks turned red, and he muttered softly:
"Trained maids are just different, so bold."
Pushing Xia De away slightly, she looked at him with purple eyes:
"Although my figure is not as good as hers, damn it, I actually admitted it... But we can give it a try in the future. Xia De, you really worked hard this time, welcome back."
After kissing Shad's cheek, the two came to the third floor. Luvia was of course concerned about Shad's physical condition first. After repeatedly confirming that he was in good health, she talked about Midhill Castle.
Joeyne Barton had already talked about the choice of the chosen one in the dead waters on Wednesday night. Of course, the version he told was the modified version after Shade and the others sat around the campfire. Facing Luvia, Shade certainly would not lie and told the complete story of what happened in the dead night.
Luvia listened quietly. At first, she sat opposite Shade, then sat next to Shade, and finally held Shade's hand:
"Even if your friends can help you, isn't this too risky? Fighting against those powerful enemies in the past was also a risky action, but at least there were other people around each time. This time, you went to fight Joe Yin Barton alone. Although you won, don't do this again in the future."
She said this with great concern, but Xia De did not feel that he was taking a risk. He had thought of everything before he stepped into the water:
"Don't worry, Luvia. I cherish my life more than anyone else. Look, not only did I come back successfully, but I also became a fourth-ring warlock. Now, you, me, and Yin Luna are all fourth-ring warlocks."
Shad slept all day, and the news of Midhill Castle spread from that city to the entire material world like snowflakes.
Because Tifa was busy eating breakfast this morning, she only told her some simple news, while Luvia got more detailed information from the Prophecy Association.
For example, the heavy fog in Midhill Castle did not dissipate immediately after the decisive battle ended on Thursday morning, and it even continued to exist as of Friday morning. This is a sequelae, and the church is actively working to resolve this issue.
There is no exact figure for casualties among the ordinary citizens of Midhill Castle, but the casualties among the ring mages of the Orthodox Church and the Draerion Royal Army have been counted.
Even though the Church's plan this time was very complete and the unexpected appearance of the gods made the battle, which should have been more intense, much easier, the Church's casualties were still close to thirty, while the Royal Army confirmed that more than 300 people were killed.
The latter number was not large. After all, although this era was peaceful, there were still minor frictions between the two countries. 300 casualties were only equivalent to a small battle. But the former was a considerable number. It was not easy to train a ring wizard. Most of the ring wizards who participated in this operation were middle- and high-ring wizards. This was the most serious damage suffered by the Orthodox Church in the past hundred years. It could even be said that there was no other.
But fortunately, for the church with extraordinary power, as long as they are not dead, there is no such thing as a serious injury that cannot be healed. The enemy this time is the undead, and although they are attached with the whisper element, there is no damage that cannot be cured. Therefore, although the number of casualties is huge, it will not have a fundamental impact on the church.
In addition to the sacrifice of the church, other ring magic organizations such as the academy also suffered losses. Luvia emphasized the crazy phoenix that sealed the narrow mountaintop passage, which also died in the final battle.
"Wait, can't the Phoenix be reborn in fire?"
Shade asked immediately.
“The church did not find the reborn ancient one. Perhaps it also left along the path guided by God, or perhaps it entered the mountains again and waited for recovery.”
After saying this, Luvia smiled:
“From Tobesk to Coldwater Harbor, and then from Coldwater Harbor to Fort Middlehill, although Middlehill suffered the greatest sacrifice, its operation was also the most successful.”
She counted on her fingers:
"Almost all of the church's goals have been achieved. The problem of the narrow space has been permanently solved, the number of chosen ones has been determined, and they have even determined the camp of the God Summoner. Oh, and now your Night Watch is in Yin Luna's hands. The sacrifice was worth it, and Midhill Castle was not destroyed. It's all worth it."
When she mentioned "Godcaller", she looked at Shade, who knew she had been waiting for this topic:
"Yes, it's me."
On the night of Tobesk's descent, Luvia and Yin Luna knew that Shad was the physical possession of the old god.
"Shad, what are you doing? Why are you with that bloodsucking... Why, what on earth did God do in Midhill Castle? I don't understand. I really can't figure out why you are doing this."
She sat sideways and hugged Shad's neck. Shad knew that she must have been worried all night before he came back early Thursday morning, but she couldn't tell anyone.
There was no sound of crying, but tears had wet Xia De's collar. She was really scared.
"Remember those Grace and Helen I mentioned?"
Mortals should not know too much about gods, so Shad could only roughly recount what happened that night after he went to Midhill Castle again from his own perspective.
"... There is no conspiracy. It's funny to say that the gods appeared just for the two red butterflies. The protector of the blood-sucking species wanted blood wine, and the old Silver Moon god who borrowed my body had promised to protect them in the past, so there was a war between gods in the early morning of Wednesday. Don't worry, I am special, and the gods borrowing my body will not cause me too much harm."
Shade held Luvia's shoulders:
"It's ridiculous, isn't it? Just for two butterflies from the mortal world, the two gods fought in the Xikar Mountain area, but in the end, no one took them away. I think that even if the church racked its brains, it would not be able to figure out the truth of that night; even the most brilliant fortune teller would never believe that such a boring thing would happen."
The girl, still sobbing, looked at Shade with her red and swollen eyes:
"God is too far away for me, and you are the only one I want to hold on to."
She kissed Shad, and the kiss tasted of tears.
"Look at me."
The two looked at each other closely, and there were still tears in those moving purple eyes. The owner of the eyes saw the determination in the eyes of the young man who was speaking:
"Luvia, I will always be with you until everything ends. I won't leave early, this is a promise."
She hugged Xia De again, and let go after a long time:
"Sorry, I'm going to touch up my makeup."
Standing up and walking towards the bathroom, Shade touched Mia beside him. In order to appease the cat whose breakfast time was delayed, the cat's tail was now wearing a Huasheng ring, a fish training ring, and a vampire ring:
"I'm at the fourth ring, and Mia is close behind at the third ring... Where did it get the vampire ring from?"
Luvia Anat is really worried about you.
A voice sounded beside his ears, and Xia De's attention was diverted, and he turned his gaze towards the direction of the bathroom:
"Sometimes I worry about myself, but since I have decided to embark on the path of becoming a god, I will not hesitate. After all, it is the path I have chosen. The divinity of the blood-sucking god is burning again, and I urgently need the next drop of divinity. Even if it is not for the five rings, it is for the afterglow of the divinity... ... power~"
Shade sighed inwardly, and Luvia soon returned, her face back to normal. After quietly apologizing for losing control of her emotions, she continued to talk to Shade about Midhill Castle.
The story begins with the war of gods, then the gratitude of thousands of souls actually falls on Shad, and finally Sister Defulin somewhat "despicably" asks Shad to accept the power of fire.
Luvia didn't have much opinion on the Primordial Fire, but she wanted to find a time to meet with Sister Develyn alone. However, the traveler's door was damaged, so it was not easy to meet. As for the power Shade had obtained, Luvia leaned in and looked at Shade's face closely:
"Indeed, although your appearance has not changed, you are indeed more attractive than before, my knight."
She gently kissed the corner of Xia De's lips:
"This is a precious gift. Maybe you don't realize it yourself, but it means that the world will remain kind to you. If you are a fortune teller, it will be easier for you to predict fate than for others... You did a good job this time, Shade."
"You forgot one thing. I also contributed to the greening of Midhill Castle. The ritual - the Trace of the Sacred Tree and my Mystique - the Kiss of the Tree, produced a chain reaction. And because I had a brief blessing from an ancient god, the tree on the top of the mountain..."
Shade pointed upwards, and Luvia couldn't help laughing when she heard this:
"Oh, I knew it was you who did it. Although there was a big fight in Midhill Castle from Wednesday night to Thursday morning, most people have lost their memories of that night because of the fog that drifted out of the narrow space, so the church's aftermath work is not difficult. But the tree on the top of the mountain cannot be concealed."
She covered her mouth and chuckled, which was a very ladylike gesture:
"That tree and the bonfire under the tree are the core of your maze, and they must not be easily erased. According to the inspection of the Church of Nature, the roots of the tree are all over the mountain. Not only do we not have to worry about the narrow space, but even the hidden danger of the volcano has been solved. Because that is the effect of the high-ring maze, illusions cannot cover up the traces of the tree. Now the Midhill Castle City Hall is racking their brains over the giant tree. It is said that they are organizing experts and scholars to try to explain the appearance of the tree relatively reasonably from the perspective of monsoon and soil changes."
Xia De imagined the photo of the tree appearing in the newspaper, with experts and scholars discussing it below, and immediately smiled and shook his head:
"Don't tell me this. I've done enough for Midhill Castle, and I didn't take a penny. Let the local parish and municipal authorities deal with the aftermath. With that tree here, there's no way that undead monster will be able to break through the seal."