Chapter 240: Return

The historical images contained within 《Hoffman's Alchemy Notes》 came to an end at the twilight of that day.

Ansu and Celia had witnessed the entire council; Hoffman's speech was identical to the views he had shared with his friend, though far more infectious in its delivery.

However, the reaction of the Consul and most of the senators was plain to see; they refused to heed this "untimely" warning.

In the final scene of the projection, Hoffman stood in the center of the now-empty council chamber, the long, lonely shadow cast by the setting sun stretching across the floor.

Hoffman told Julius that he was determined to do something in his own way.

The story concluded.

The light of the magic circle pulsed once more.

Ansu finally saw his own hands again, then looked up to meet Celia's eyes, which were still deep in thought.

"We're finally back..." she said softly.

《Hoffman's Alchemy Notes》 lay still on the open page, and the last magic rune floating in mid-air slowly dissipated into the atmosphere.

Along with it, the final echo of Hoffman's will faded away:

"I have recorded this piece of true history within the Time Beacon for future generations."

"If my struggle fails, I hope my fellow mages of the future remember: always remain rational, and never worship gods."

"The future of humanity must rely on humanity itself."

"If a God of Magic truly appears, please kill it!"

Celia looked at Ansu and sighed. "It seems Hoffman didn't succeed in the end."

Even though Hoffman was one of the top mages of that era, he was still too weak when facing an existence like a "god."

Ansu nodded. "Otherwise, our world today wouldn't be the way it is."

Everything was exactly as Hoffman had feared—magic had indeed developed a problem.

The two looked at each other in silence, both feeling a sense of deep emotion for a moment.

From the initial shock of arriving in the Era of Magic to the realization after peeling back the layers of historical mist...

Ansu suddenly understood why Hoffman used this method to transmit information; historical secrets recorded on paper were far less profound than experiencing them firsthand.

Hoffman hoped that a mage in the future would inherit his will and take up that unfinished struggle.

"However, I really didn't expect..." Celia's tone held a hint of mockery, "that the first pope of the Church of Holy Light was actually Hoffman's friend, and that Julius himself didn't believe in the Holy Light at all."

Ansu, of course, knew of this legendary figure; there were too many legends about 【Saint Julius the Pious】. He was practically the avatar of a perfect believer, the head of all saints...

He just hadn't expected the man in true history to be like this.

"Is there anything more ironic than this?" The corners of Celia's mouth curled upward. "I wonder what kind of impact it would have on the Church of Holy Light and those foolish believers if this were made public..."

Her gaze shifted, drifting toward Ansu. "Especially your little Holy Maiden."

"She's probably the most pious of them all, isn't she? If you told her the god she worships isn't as great and flawless as the scriptures say..."

"And that the founding of the Church of Holy Light was just an insignificant little sect haphazardly put together by some overlooked noble of the Magic Empire, something even the first pope himself looked down upon..."

She trailed off, a mischievous glint flashing in her eyes.

"Freya will surely be very disappointed. She might even cry from sadness~"

Seeing Ansu remain quiet for a moment as if he were contemplating something, Celia huffed.

"What are you thinking about? Surely you aren't feeling sorry for her and can't bear to see her faith collapse?"

"Of course not." Ansu pulled his thoughts back and gave a helpless smile. Celia really did enjoy targeting the little Holy Maiden as much as ever.

In his heart, he certainly didn't want the little Holy Maiden to collapse and turn dark, but Celia's "worry" at this moment was truly a bit redundant.

She didn't understand Freya; the current Freya was no longer so blindly devoted to the Church of Holy Light. Ansu even had a feeling...

What Freya believed in might not be a god at all, but the "Light" itself.

She truly believed that qualities like "justice" and "kindness" could make the world better.

Inexplicably, Ansu felt that a Freya like that was even more suited to be the pope than Saint Julius.

"You're thinking about your little Holy Maiden again..."

Celia's cheek had leaned much closer at some point; she narrowed her eyes slightly, staring at the obviously distracted Ansu.

"Ansu... I've suddenly realized that you really do care about Freya, don't you?"

"Could you please stop making wild guesses..." Ansu glanced at her silently.

"Miss Witch, how did the conversation suddenly jump to this? Weren't we talking about the secrets of the gods?"

"Forget about the gods for now!" Celia snorted, crossing her arms. "I'm not guessing. My specialty is reading hearts! You know exactly who you were thinking about just now."

As soon as Freya was mentioned, she became energized, suddenly speaking with a heavy dose of jealousy: "Don't think I don't know. You're so good to her in private; you even promised to take her back to meet your parents!"

"Huh?" Ansu blinked and immediately put on a righteous expression.

"That... I did report it to you before taking Freya home, didn't I?"

He immediately explained, "And you know my main goal was to win over the Staya Tribe where her mother is, and even more demihuman tribes, to become our allies..."

"I know that..." Celia pursed her lips, her voice muffled. "You always use these grand reasons to brush me off. You make taking her home sound so dignified! Don't you have even a little bit of personal interest?"

She became more resentful as she spoke.

"Accompanying her back to see her parents, how nice... It's just like a boyfriend and girlfriend. Why don't you accompany me back to see..."

Celia suddenly paused after saying that.

The two looked at each other in silence for a moment.

"Oh right, I don't have parents..."

She was suddenly a bit embarrassed; after all, the only existence she could call an elder was Samantha, but Samantha had already been killed by the two of them.

Ansu rubbed his forehead, feeling increasingly helpless. "Well... if you really want to go back to the demon homeland, I could accompany you on a trip. But I suspect you wouldn't be able to find it anymore..."

After all, demons were hated by everyone on the continent; demon settlements were scattered in remote, godforsaken places and would migrate at any time.

"Forget it." Celia sighed softly and shook her head. "Don't take it seriously, I was joking..."

Seeing her fall silent, Ansu picked up the heavy 《Hoffman's Alchemy Notes》 from the workbench and cleared his throat. "I propose we return to the main topic!"

Celia looked up slightly. "Fine, I'll let you off the hook today."