Chapter 320: The Interloper and Deicide?

With Altina kneeling so directly on one knee and swearing her fealty to the two of them, even Celia found it difficult to say anything more.

In the days that followed, the “Elven Princess” took up temporary residence at Lawrence Manor. Naturally, Ansu had no intention of actually ordering her around; he treated her entirely as an honored guest.

Inside Celia’s secret room, the dim firelight cast flickering shadows, creating a gloomy atmosphere filled with the faint scent of decay.

Ansu pushed the door open and stepped inside, feeling as though he had stumbled into the lair of a wicked witch...

At that moment, Celia was staring at the severed head of the bearded mage on the table. Her finger traced her chin, her brow furrowed in a look of grave concentration.

Countless strange and abstract magic runes swirled and flashed around her. She was clearly in the middle of analyzing something.

“What are you researching?” Ansu walked over to ask. “Everyone is waiting for you; you didn’t even come up for dinner.”

“I’m busy...” Celia glanced up at him briefly before explaining with a sigh. “Ever since the City of a Thousand Stars suddenly appeared to interfere, I’ve been wary of them. When I fought them before, I felt like their magic... was a bit strange.”

“Strange in what way?” Ansu asked curiously.

“Peering. I felt a sense of being watched,” Celia said in a low voice. “Moreover, their mana is filthy and chaotic. It’s clearly orthodox Academy Magic, yet it carries a sinister quality similar to black magic. I suspect...”

“That their power doesn't belong to them at all. Otherwise, how could the City of a Thousand Stars suddenly produce so many Saint Tier powerhouses?”

Ansu’s heart stirred as a name came to mind. “The God of Magic?”

“Mhm.” Celia nodded. “Or rather, the one we saw in the historical memories—the one Master Hoffman mentioned. That man-made... false god.”

“The God of Clamor and Filth.” Ansu’s tone darkened. “It seems the rumors are true. The magic academy turned into a madhouse long ago, and they’ve collectively become followers of the God of Clamor and Filth.”

The God of Clamor and Filth... if it truly manifested, it would likely be even more troublesome than the previous God of Slaughter.

While the two were lost in thought, Ansu’s magitech communicator suddenly flashed.

He pulled it out and opened it, only to find it was a message from the little Holy Maiden.

Celia naturally didn't miss the subtle shift in Ansu’s expression, so she silently leaned in close.

Ansu couldn't very well hide it from her, so he let her read the message along with him.

It turned out that mages from the City of a Thousand Stars had actually sought out Freya.

“Lord Ansu, the City of a Thousand Stars sent a mage to see me. The conversation went poorly from the start; it was like the person was completely incapable of communicating...”

“By the end, he actually demanded I hand over the divine spark fragment. He claimed the fragment belonged to them and was stolen by the traitor Gustav, and he ordered me to return it immediately.”

Ansu frowned. He had previously wondered how Gulzan had obtained the divine spark fragment; he hadn't expected it to have been stolen from the magic academy.

However, the fragment was a relic of the God of Nature; it never belonged to the City of a Thousand Stars in the first place.

From the look of it, they had either “found” it, or... they were involved in the conspiracy to murder the God of Nature themselves.

There was no telling what grand scheme these academy lunatics were planning to pull off with the divine spark fragment.

He quickly replied: “Are you alright over there? Did the people from the City of a Thousand Stars hurt you?”

Ansu subconsciously glanced at Celia beside him; she remained expressionless.

A reply came back almost instantly.

“I’m fine! They underestimated me far too much, only sending one person. I chased him away immediately! Though, that guy’s strength was indeed quite formidable...”

Ansu couldn't help but chuckle. In theory, the City of a Thousand Stars considered itself the orthodox successor of the magic world and was incredibly arrogant, and they certainly had the capital to be so... but they had unfortunately run into two brick walls in a row—Freya, who could perform sustained God-Descent and acted like a god walking the earth, and Celia, who was a world-ending level threat once blackened...

Had it been any other power, they wouldn't have been so pathetic. It was just their misfortune to cross paths with him.

Finally, Ansu gave her a few more instructions and decided to divert half of the battle mages to be permanently stationed in the North rather than following him south.

“I understand! Don't worry! Lord Ansu, you mustn't try to be a hero if you run into danger! Remember to tell me, and I’ll come to support you right away!”

Celia looked at Ansu with a faint, knowing smile. She intentionally lowered her voice, mimicking Freya’s gentle tone: “Lord Ansu~ you mustn't try to be a hero if you run into danger~”

Ansu gave a helpless smile.

The fake smile on Celia’s face vanished instantly, replaced by a disdainful snort.

“With me around, what danger could you possibly encounter? She should just stay quietly in the northern borderlands!”

...

The two of them tinkered in the secret room for a long while.

It wasn't until Ansu was starving that Celia finally stopped her research, forced by him to go eat.

“Fine, fine. Wait a second, I’m going to eat, okay...?” Celia muttered softly. “Besides, missing one meal won't kill me.”

Ansu glared at her, speechless. “You call that missing one meal? Once you immerse yourself in magic, time ceases to exist for you. You’ve missed one, two, three... you’ve stopped eating entirely!”

Only Ansu could drag her out of her trancelike research state.

“Alright...” Celia let out a little giggle and naturally hooked her arm through Ansu’s. “I’ll listen to you, dear. Let’s go eat~”

At dinner time, in the restaurant on the second floor of the manor, the crystal chandelier glowed brilliantly, and warm candlelight flickered gently.

Faced with a table full of sumptuous dishes, Vera was buried in her food.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up and complained helplessly, “Brother, you’re finally here! If you were any later, I would have finished all the food!”

“That’s fine; you should eat more.” Ansu sat beside her and looked her over, feeling like Vera had grown a bit taller recently.

“It seems the new chef’s cooking really suits your palate.”

Vera nodded with a smile. “But in my heart, Brother’s cooking is still the best! It’s just that you’re so busy now... I’d feel bad pestering you to make delicious food all the time.”

Ansu smiled and rubbed the top of her soft hair. “When I’m not busy this weekend, I’ll cook for you myself.”

Vera’s eyes lit up. “Yay!”

During these days since returning to Norvigel, it felt like the peaceful times of the past had returned. She could spend every day by her brother’s side, chatting and laughing about everything. She was very happy.

She was very content~

Ansu turned to look at Altina on the other side. She was sitting there primly, barely touching her utensils, just staring silently at the table in a daze.

“Are you not used to the food here in the human world?” he asked.

“Of course not.” Altina shook her head quickly, then gazed intently at Ansu as she answered.

“ I was just thinking that I should return to my homeland as soon as possible. My kin are still there waiting for me... waiting for us to save them. Masters, I wonder when you two...”

Celia heard the note of urgency in her voice and offered a faint smile. “But we have no obligation to save Elune, you know.”

Altina’s head snapped up. “Ms. Ash... you, the two of you, do you not plan to help me anymore?”

Celia looked at her nervous, easily manipulated state, her smile growing more deliberate.

“You know now that we are a notorious cult in the eyes of the world, evil black mages. It’s already good enough that we aren't destroying the world; why would we bother with someone else’s business?”

“Furthermore, the mana plague is an extremely troublesome and fatal epidemic. Once contracted, it’s irreversible. I see no reason to sacrifice the health of myself and my subordinates for a strange race I’ve never even interacted with.”

“Then... then what should I do...” Altina’s face turned deathly pale.

She had thought her oath of fealty would move them, but she now realized she had nothing to offer in return for such a monumental favor.

“Cult Leader Celia, Elder Ansu...”

She stood up, her voice trembling. “I implore you both. Without you, the elven race truly has no future...”

Celia clicked her tongue. “Will you even cast aside your dignity for your homeland?”

She had heard that the elven race of the past was incredibly proud, considering themselves the children of God and viewing all other races as crude.

Yet this elven princess before her was truly willing to risk everything...

Altina stared at her blankly, not understanding what she meant.

Ansu felt that Celia likely wanted to lower the other girl’s expectations first, lest she harbor unrealistic fantasies.

So, he spoke solemnly. “Altina, there are some things I must make clear to you in advance.”

Altina nodded hurriedly.

“First, even if we set out, we will not head to distant Elune first. We must go to the South first.”

Ansu paused before continuing.

“Second, the current state of Elune cannot be completely reversed. Things that have already been polluted are irreversible; the 【Ring of Pure Protection】 can only provide prevention and avoidance.”

“So even if we act, the most we can do is take your surviving kin and rebuild a new, unpolluted home.”

“Then...” Altina’s pupils trembled as she asked sorrowfully, “How can we truly change all of this?”

“Truly change everything?” Ansu smiled. “The logic is simple: Deicide.”

They had to eliminate the source of all magic pollution—the man-made God of Magic from the Second Era: the God of Clamor and Filth.

Altina’s eyes widened in shock.

“That... how is that possible?”