Chapter 617 - 613 – SAYING FAREWELL TO THE CULINARY DISTRICT, ZHUQUE’S CLUE, AND THE ROUTE SOUTH

A week had passed since the secret grilled-chicken stall of "Runa," the soft-blue-haired, emerald-eyed elf girl, first opened in Block C of the Culinary District of the Metropolis of Nocture.

That afternoon, the red-gold glow of the sun cast a warm light that refracted over the city’s quartz-stone streets. In front of stall number 14 with its blue canvas roof, Sylvia was busy tidying bottles of sauce, copper containers, and the mana-crystal grill into the back of her armored off-road vehicle.

Around her stall plot, dozens of citizens of every race, humans, dwarves, elves, and beastkin adventurers, stood gathered with faces full of disappointment. The news that Miss Runa would not renew her stall lease and would leave Nocture that afternoon had spread across the whole district.

"Miss Runa... do you really have to go?" asked a young gray-furred beastkin adventurer in a listless voice. "We’d even pay five silver per portion if you’d just keep selling here!"

"That’s right, Miss Runa!" chimed in the blacksmith dwarf who had stood at the very front of the line since the first day. "My smithy feels empty if I don’t smell your sweet-spicy sauce every morning! Why not extend the lease another week?"

Sylvia paused her work for a moment. She turned toward the crowd of her loyal customers and gave the friendly elf smile she had practiced over the past week.

"I apologize to everyone," Sylvia said in a gentle but firm voice. "The seven-day lease from the Merchants Association ended today. My wandering journey must go on, and there are many other places I have to visit."

Although her words were met with heavy sighs and looks of regret from the people around the stall, not one of them pressed the point. They respected the decision of the wandering elf merchant, remembering that for a whole week the girl had given them extraordinary, delicious dishes they had never tasted before.

"In that case... may your travels always be blessed with safety, Miss Runa!" the dwarf called out, raising his cup of silver coins high.

"Thank you for the delicious food this past week!" dozens of other citizens chimed in, waving their hands.

Sylvia bowed slightly in appreciation of her people’s kindness. For her, the original purpose of opening this secret stall had never been to collect silver coins or turn a financial profit. It was simply to fill her free time, to enjoy the rhythm of Nocture’s street life, and to witness firsthand the happiness of citizens living safely under her protection.

After all her personal belongings and leftover cooking ingredients were neatly packed into the car, Sylvia set the little stall-summoning orb on the display counter. According to Stacia’s rules, once the lease ended and the return button was pressed, the magic stall would float up, shrink back into a marble-sized glass ball, and be ready to return to the association office.

Sylvia climbed into the driver’s seat of her off-road vehicle. Sol, still in the form of a plump, adorable golden-furred dog, jumped into the passenger seat beside her.

"Time to go, Sol," Sylvia said softly.

BZZZZT...

The mana-crystal engine hummed softly. The armored vehicle moved slowly through the crowd of pedestrians, who made way for it while waving, then glided smoothly along the main roads of the metropolis of Nocture toward the outer gate.

The trip out of the city went without a hitch. With valid official travel documents, the north gate guards saw the off-road vehicle off with respect.

Sylvia drove away from the Nocture city limits, crossing the quartz-asphalt road until she entered the depths of quiet grasslands and rocky hills. After traveling roughly ten kilometers from the city’s surveillance perimeter, where there were no more magic cameras or scouts watching, Sylvia stopped her car at the edge of a lonely forest clearing.

She got out of the car, stretched both arms overhead, and summoned her System Storage space.

WHOOSH.

With a wave of her hand, the entire armored off-road vehicle lifted into the air and was drawn whole into her virtual absolute-time-stasis space.

Next, Sylvia channeled a little death magic energy through her body. The ’Runa’ identity disguise she had worn for a full week dissolved at once:

Her soft-blue hair shifted back to jet black, long and flowing down to her waist. The pointed Elf ears shrank back to their perfect shape, and her pair of emerald-green eyes transformed into deadly heterochromatic irises, pure blood red and cosmic majestic gold.

Beside her, a golden glow enveloped Sol’s body. The golden-furred dog form vanished, shrinking back to the tiny golden cat with delicate crystal horns, who leapt nimbly onto Sylvia’s right shoulder.

Noir poked out from behind the shadow of the Queen of Death’s black gown, twitching his ears in satisfaction. ’At last this ridiculous disguise is over. I was getting tired of watching you pretend to be a friendly elf in front of ordinary humans.’

"Pretending to be friendly is far more exhausting than cutting the threads of a god’s fate," Sylvia murmured with a soft chuckle.

She patted the small head of Sol, who was smoothing his thick fur. "How do you feel after a week as the stall’s mascot?"

’Wonderful,’ Sol answered through telepathy. ’My belly has been stuffed with grilled meat, and I managed to collect fifteen free pieces of crystal cheese. But I miss the silk bed in the palace.’

"Then let’s go home," Sylvia said.

She raised her right hand, tore the spatial cloak in the empty air, and stepped into the black dimensional rift that opened before her.

WHOOSH.

In the blink of an eye, Sylvia appeared in the main hall of the Nocture palace.

The scent of silver flowers and the warmth of crystal lanterns welcomed her return. But instead of the usual relaxed atmosphere, several important figures had gathered in the middle of the main hall.

Sofia stood near the three-dimensional map of the continent’s territories. Beside her, Alicia floated gracefully, while Stacia was examining several alchemical rune scrolls with a furrowed brow. And most striking in the center of the hall was Azure Dragon in his small blue dragon form, two meters long, standing beside Qilin, whose crystal horn gave off an anxious glow.

"You’re home, Sylvia," Sofia greeted her warmly, stepping closer and welcoming her with a soft smile.

"What’s all this? Why is everyone gathered here?" Sylvia asked as she walked toward the crystal map.

Azure Dragon stepped forward a few paces, his large golden eyes looking at Sylvia with a serious gaze filled with ancient energy pressure.

’Queen of Death,’ Azure Dragon’s telepathic voice echoed in the minds of everyone in the room. ’During the week you were in the city, Qilin and I confirmed the pulse of the divine essence you once sensed in the southern region of this continent.’

Sylvia narrowed her eyes. "Zhuque?"

’Exactly,’ Azure Dragon replied quietly. ’The Ancient Vermilion Bird, Guardian of the South among the Four Ancient Guardians. Its dormant essence is now beginning to stir violently in the heart of the Eternal Flame Mountains, far on the southern border of the Tianhua Kingdom.’

Stacia raised a hologram screen from her Hologram Bracelet, showing recordings of magic energy graphs from Nocture’s scanning drones. "The thermal anomaly graph in the southern region has surged by more than four hundred percent since three days ago. The temperature around the southern volcanic crater area has risen so drastically that it can melt ordinary metal in open air."

’I feel its soul is in danger, Your Majesty Sylvia,’ Qilin called, his voice trembling with emotion. ’Just like Baihu at the marble crater and Azure Dragon at the Eldridge rift, it seems Zhuque’s fire essence is being forcibly absorbed by an outside faction!’

Sylvia tapped her right index finger against the thigh of her black gown. Her True Sight mapped the course of the fates stretching toward the south of the continent.

Two of the Four Ancient Guardians were already on her side: Baihu, who was now a tiny white hotpot-eating cat, and Azure Dragon, whom she had just freed from the shackles of the Eldridge rift. Zhuque’s presence in the south must not be allowed to fall into anyone else’s hands or be destroyed by cosmic corruption.

"Zhuque is the next key to completing the elemental balance of this continent," Sylvia said in a cold tone full of conviction. "We must not let the Tianhua faction or an Abyssal entity touch it."

Sofia looked at Sylvia, knowing full well that this journey of her wife could no longer be held back. "Will you set off south now?"

"Tomorrow morning," Sylvia answered firmly. "Tonight I want to enjoy a palace dinner and make sure Sol gets a good night’s sleep on his silk cushion."

Sol leapt onto Sylvia’s shoulder and cried out gleefully through telepathy, ’A very wise idea! I support this plan one hundred percent!’

Sylvia gave a faint smile, looking at all her sisters and the sacred beasts standing around her. Her new adventure to the Eternal Flame Mountains in the south, to rescue Zhuque, was officially mapped out.