895 Lost Contact (2)
Under the glow of the starry sky, Elena’s group finally arrived at Xeafinata City, the Capital City of the West Region of the Human Continent. It was a region where no one dared to take over the throne for fear of the Devil Emperor Dylan’s wrath.
After all, the current sole ruler of the Devil Continent had a blood feud with the last Emperor of the Xeafinata Kingdom. Not a single royal descendant was left alive. Those involved with the Emperor of Xeafinata Kingdom had already been massacred by the Devil Emperor’s minions.
Everyone knew about the Emperor of the Xeafinata Kingdom running away and hiding. Still, another rumor had spread, saying that the mentioned Emperor had been killed by the Devil Emperor.
“…” Elena didn’t want to comment after eavesdropping on the conversations of the people in the town.
Dylan had indeed killed the Emperor of Xeafinata Kingdom, but she wasn’t sure if there was a third party who witnessed the death battle.
“I can see Ella’s father and mother are in the castle. Ella isn’t around, but let’s meet them first.” Nell pointed to a newly built castle.
Everyone agreed, and they flew towards the castle in question.
“Hmm~” Sylvia hummed with a hint of pride.
Her father went on a rampage and destroyed the palace and parts of this city because of his wrath.
All these West Region natives were so afraid of her father. And that was why the Holy Church sent messengers, namely Ella’s parents, to fill the vacant seat of power.
The daughter of the most feared devil in the entire Western Region was now come to visit the Capital City. If someone found out her identity, maybe they would get scared silly? Sylvia imagined she was seen as a great villain in this region.
“Psst, Vann… Ely doesn’t act like Ely. I feel she is so cold and stern. Did something happen to her?” Evelyn was still worried about those who lost contact with Ella’s group. Still, her best friend’s attitude also made her feel confused.
“Eve, I’m only going to tell you once. So please listen carefully.” Vanessa thought for a moment. She then brought her face close to Evelyn’s ear and whispered the information.
“!?” Evelyn gasped and covered her mouth. She nodded in understanding, then glanced at Elysia with teary eyes.
“…” Rhea had been watching Evelyn ever since Evelyn returned. She felt nothing strange with Evelyn, so it was safe to assume this girl was safe from any influence.
*Bam*
The door to the strategy room opened, surprising Ella’s parents and the high-ranking knights.
“Oh, it was all of you. Your coming here was so sudden. Is there anything I can do for you, o the Goddess of Blessings?” Alfred and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. He then came over and put on a respectful attitude.
“I believe you can solve the problems that exist in this region, but do you know about the whereabouts of your daughter and her guardian group? She should have arrived here a few hours ago.” Nell got straight to the point.
“Ella? Hmm, I’m also still waiting for her to come here. She told me she would come here to hand over some anti-curse mechanisms, but she hasn’t yet. Could it be that they got lost?” Alfred took out a gold talisman and saw no other messages from his daughter other than the one a few hours ago.
“That may be true. We should look for them now. Please continue your discussion. We shall take our leave.” Nell didn’t change her expression and just raised her hand in farewell. She then invited Elena and the others to leave the castle right away.
‘We’re no longer restricted by the disturbance zone, but I still can’t reach Ella. She is still alive, but the spirit connection can’t reach her? Could she possibly be trapped in a place like that mysterious desert? The underground city, is it?’ Elena put her hand to her chin. She felt suspicious of Ella’s current complicated and confusing situation.
‘Ella hasn’t arrived in this city yet? Then, let’s return to the previous mysterious desert. They may have entered the forbidden city for some reason.’ Rhea also felt the situation was so odd.
‘Ella and her guardian group might be involved in some trouble in that underground forbidden city. But, why did they go there? There is just a city of the dead and departed spirits. Are they perhaps trying to investigate the place due to the invasion of the undead creatures to the Oistol Town?’ Lifa tried to guess the situation.
‘Excuse me!’ Fortuna suddenly sent telepathy to Elena. She knew these Goddesses were discussing with each other without involving others.
‘What? Can you try to see Ella’s destiny with your divine foresight, Fortuna? We’re in a bit of trouble.’ Elena turned around and looked at Fortuna.
“Yes, Ella somehow appeared in a scary dark city. The place I saw was like this–” Fortuna then shared the characteristics of a scary place in question. She spoke in her voice for everyone to hear.
“Yes, it’s an ancient forbidden underground city. They weren’t assigned to go there, but why did they- Let’s go back to that mysterious desert!” Nell slapped her forehead. Their guess just now seemed right.
“!!!” Everyone gasped as they were suddenly clad in a golden barrier. They shot toward the mysterious desert at an incredibly insane speed without any prior notice.
Elena immediately brought everyone back to Oistol Town.
They reappeared in the night sky of the fortress town, a place where tens of thousands of zombies and undead creatures invaded.
“General Jonathan, the situation is urgent. Prepare your best troops to go with us to the mysterious desert. We will enter the forbidden underground city.” Nell immediately informed the previous Holy Knight General about the change of plans.
“!?” Jonathan gasped as the previous divine group suddenly appeared from the sky and landed right before him.
However, he instantly regained his composure with a solemn expression. Apparently, the situation is getting out of hand, and the Goddesses and their angels need to get involved.
“Yes, I will immediately prepare our best troops to go with you to the mysterious desert.” Jonathan gave a knightly salute and rushed to carry out the order. He gathered the best knights, mages, and warriors to escort the divine group.
“…” Elena watched the horde of undead that was still charging. Still, those monsters were soon annihilated by the defense forces with holy magic.
“They are after something in this town. And that is what the mastermind behind the revival of those undead wants. Please eliminate those monsters. They are vulnerable to magic attacks. Crush them to dust or they will never die.” Elena faced everyone and conveyed her request.
“They are much easier to handle than the accursed creatures.” Lynn nodded in understanding.
“Let’s destroy them quickly.” Sylvia pulled out her gun.
“Mm, we will eradicate them and find Ella immediately.” Evelyn immediately got ready.
Only Elena, Rhea, and Lifa kept an eye on all the battles. While everyone else jumped into the battlefield to exterminate the undead.
At that moment, a team of three knights clad in golden armor ran down a dark underground passage. They only used the ball of light to illuminate their path.
A holy girl clad in the Holy Church’s signature white-gold priest outfit was among the holy knights. They were running away from something, but they were actually lost.
“Over here. We’re close to the exit.” The holy knight at the front pointed in a direction and rushed over there, leading everyone to follow her.
“Ariel…” Ella expressed her bad feeling. She could no longer sense Elysia’s spirit connection even though it was still there. The teleportation talisman couldn’t be used here, either.
Their situation changed drastically when they left Oistol Town for Xeafinata City. They encountered a powerful dark monster and were suddenly thrown into a desert sandstorm.
The rush of countless undead overwhelmed everyone and forced them to retreat. Instead of finding their way out, they were cornered and fled into the underground passage.
“Maria, can you really see the way out? I feel like we’re just going deeper!” Ariel shouted loudly. She felt that there was something wrong with her subordinate.
“Over here. I can see it.” Maria gave a curt response but didn’t even look back. She just kept running to guide everyone.
“…” Ariel spread her arms to the side, signaling Ella and her aide to stop following Maria.
She had already lost two subordinates due to the undead attack in the desert. She didn’t want to take any risks that could harm the Holy Princess. Their holy protection went up to maximum automatically, signaling they were going deeper into the most dangerous place.
So, they didn’t go to the exit but to a more dangerous place.
“Over here.” Maria stopped in her tracks and waited for those behind to follow her again.
“Maria, have you been corrupted by the undead’s dark magic? Answer my question or I will have to execute you on the spot.” Ariel pulled out her golden longsword.
“Over here. I can see it.” Maria repeated the same sentence.
p anda nOvel.cO,m “…” Ariel didn’t answer, but she gestured for everyone to slowly take a safe distance from Maria.
“Over here, here… Over here!” Maria looked back, revealing her lifeless face, half-corroded by darkness. Her sclera had turned jet black, and her iris had turned bright red. There was no more holy aura emanating from the corrupted holy knight.
“!?” Ariel and her aide gasped in surprise. They did not realize that Maria had been corrupted and could no longer be helped.
“!!!” Ella covered her mouth in shock. She never thought that darkness could corrupt the holy knight.