Chapter 148: An Echo of a Promise, A Covenant Unfulfilled

A rainbow of light erupted before her.

‘Whoa, a rainbow-tier drop?’Celeste thought, her eyes widening.’The System is actually being this generous?’

The last time she’d seen a reward shine with such prismatic intensity was when she received the Blessing of the Pink Fairy Lady. Now, shimmering in her reward notification was an item named [as i have written].

Could it be…?

Ignoring the wave of deep weakness washing over her, a consequence of channeling divine power, Celeste felt her heart skip a beat. She immediately tapped on the item’s details.

[as i have written]

[Quality:???]

[Type: Off-hand / Catalyst]

[Equipment Requirement: Celeste]

[Effect 1: As I Speak]

All attributes +20%.

[Effect 2: Moment of the Time-Mark]

You can set a ‘time-mark anchor’ at any location. Up to five anchors can exist simultaneously and can be retracted at will. You can teleport yourself to any active time-mark anchor.

Casting Time: 10 seconds.

Teleport Cooldown: 1 minute.

[Effect 3: Journey with Echo Spirit]

You can summon the Echo Spirit “Mimi” to assist in combat. Mimi possesses independent action capabilities, extremely high wisdom, and her own unique skills. She can also copy skills you have already mastered, casting them autonomously based on the combat situation.

[Note: This item has a deep karmic entanglement with you; it records every step of the journey you have walked.]

The moment she read the third effect, Celeste’s breath caught in her throat. Her mind went completely blank.

Then, a single, glorious thought flooded her consciousness, repeating like a mantra.

‘Holy crap! Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!’

This wasn’t just a piece of equipment; this was a goddamn miracle!

A flat twenty percent boost to all attributes? Five mobile teleport points? Just those two effects alone made it a strategic-grade artifact, the kind of thing nations would go to war over.

But none of that mattered. Not really.

What mattered was Effect 3.

‘Summon Echo Spirit “Mimi”…”Mimi… isn’t that… Cyrene?’A scalding heat rushed to her eyes, and her vision blurred instantly. The heart that had been shattered to pieces during the tragedy in Amphoreus—the grief she had buried but never forgotten—was now being gently pieced back together, wrapped in a current of impossible warmth.’My Cyrene…’she thought, a choked sob building in her chest.’Oh, my god… you’re back…’The details—copying skills, high wisdom—all faded into the background. None of it was important.’What matters is that it’s her.’

Just as her emotions threatened to overwhelm her, a new system prompt appeared, its timing impeccable.

[System Prompt: Detected compatible equipment “Moon Language Sacred Canon”. Do you wish to fuse them? After fusion, “as i have written” will inherit all skills from “Moon Language Sacred Canon”.]

Celeste didn’t hesitate for a second.

Her original off-hand weapon, the [Moon Language Sacred Canon], instantly dissolved into a stream of liquid moonlight. It flowed like quicksilver into the ancient-looking black book with the simple cover that had materialized in her hand, merging with it smoothly.

The attribute panel for [as i have written] updated, and the three skills—Prayer of Mending, Divine Aegis, and Penance—now appeared prominently on its list of abilities.

A wave of deep satisfaction washed over Celeste. The corners of her mouth curled up into an irrepressible grin that nearly reached her ears. She would have to wait for the right time, for a private space, to properly meet Cyrene again.

But the rewards weren’t finished.

A notification from her class panel followed immediately.

[Ding! Your party has perfectly purified a large-scale Domain on Hard Mode. All members will receive class rewards!]

[Ding! You have accepted the quest “Trial of Redemption”! Completing the quest will grant class-exclusive rewards. No time limit. Cannot be abandoned.]

At the same time, Selene, Su Wan, and Xia Lian received their own prompts.

“‘Trial of Protection’?” Selene clenched her fist, her silver eyes burning with renewed battle intent. “Sounds hardcore. I like it!”

“A class quest!” The usually cold and composed Su Wan’s eyes lit up, her voice half a pitch higher than normal in her excitement. “This is incredible! ‘Trial of Evocation’… it’s finally here!”

Xia Lian silently opened her own quest, “Trial of the Hunt,” her small face a mask of intense focus and seriousness.

While the four of them were still basking in the joy of their harvest, Queen Elaniel approached slowly, flanked by Eldara and Baroque.

“Miss Celeste,” Elaniel’s voice was raspy, bearing the weariness of a survivor, but it was also laced with a hint of cautious inquiry. “Can I… still call you that?”

In her wine-red eyes, a deep, lingering awe for the divine power she had just witnessed remained. ‘That world-destroying power… that was clearly the work of a god…’

“Of course you can,” Celeste replied with a frank, disarming smile, immediately understanding the queen’s apprehension. “I’m just a mortal. That god is… well, he’s my master. I just used a certain secret technique to borrow his power.”

She silently added in her heart, ‘After learning the Immortal Family Breathing Technique, if I round up a bit, I totally count as Mr. Zhongli’s unofficial disciple. Probably.’

“I see,” Elaniel nodded slowly. The awe in her eyes gradually faded, replaced by a fleeting, almost imperceptible sense of loss. “Now that you have purified the core of this place, are you leaving?”

“Leaving?”

Celeste started. The Queen’s words were like a splash of ice water, instantly freezing the ecstatic high from her rewards and snapping her mind to high alert.

‘That’s right!’

The core of the secret realm had been purified, but there was no system prompt announcing the Domain was closing. More, they hadn’t been teleported out.

The wide smile on Celeste’s face vanished, replaced by a look of gravity. She had been so overjoyed about Cyrene’s return that she’d completely missed this potentially fatal blind spot. The system had clearly stated the final boss was defeated and the purification was complete. It had even distributed the rewards. But the most crucial step—the ‘Clearance Settlement’—had never been triggered.

This could only mean one thing.

‘There’s still a hidden plotline!’

Celeste’s gaze fell upon the name that had been highlighted on her class panel.

[Current Domain: Shattered Covenant]

“Shattered Covenant…” she whispered the name aloud, chewing on the words as if they were a key clue.

“Sis, what are you thinking about?” Selene asked, immediately leaning closer.

“I’m thinking that the name of this Domain might be the answer,” Celeste voiced her speculation.

“Covenant…” Su Wan’s sharp eyes lit up. “Are you talking about that ancient covenant between the elves and the humans?”

“Exactly.” Celeste nodded, holding up two fingers. “I’m guessing there are two conditions for truly clearing this Domain.”

“First, we had to ‘purify the secret realm core.’ We just took down that ugly Greed Aggregate, so that step is complete. That’s why the system announced our ‘successful purification’ and gave us the stage-clear rewards.”

She curled one finger down, her gaze becoming piercingly sharp.

“Second, we might have to ‘repair the Shattered Covenant.'”

“Purifying the core only treated the symptom. It removed the visible rot,” she explained. “But to make this world truly heal, we still need to deal with the root cause—the event that led to the ‘shattering of the covenant’ in the first place.”

Celeste’s analysis silenced the other three, their expressions turning serious.

“The cause…” Selene murmured, catching on. “Isn’t that… the human prince and princess who stole the Elven race’s forbidden book?”

“Alex and Liliana,” Su Wan added the names coldly, her disdain for the two culprits unconcealed.

“Alex should have returned to the Human King’s capital by now,” Celeste said, glancing at Eldara, who stood silently beside the queen. “The question is whether that Human King will honestly return the book.”

“So, our mission isn’t over yet,” she concluded, her mind racing. “We have to see this matter through to the end. Only then will it count as a true ‘repair of the covenant’ and a complete clearance of this Domain.”

She turned around, her gaze falling back on Queen Elaniel. A hint of cunning mischief flickered in her eyes.

“We won’t be leaving for now,” she announced. “Besides, we still have an agreement to chat privately, don’t we, Your Majesty?”

“Of course!” A light of keen anticipation instantly rekindled in Elaniel’s eyes, and the lazy, charming aura that defined her returned in full force. “Once we return to the Royal City and handle those tiresome trifles, I will formally invite you to my private garden. We… shall have a very good talk.”

[Elysian’s Note:

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