Chapter 698: Gods Descend Beside Me

The battle between the Gods, if they went all out, would be too much for the entire Elf Forest to handle.

But fortunately, neither Rose nor Haroldias had any intention of destroying the Elf Forest.

Rose was worried that too much intensity would lead to Hilia’s sudden death, so he used the backup left by the underground array, along with his previous arrangements, mostly using others’ power, and only a sliver of Hilia’s power.

And at this time, Haroldias was only a projection, or rather a soul body. Even a slightly stronger Legendary Mage could exchange a few moves with him, so he naturally did not possess the usual destructive power of a god.

Even if he did, he wouldn’t use it casually.

Though Haroldias seemed indifferent to Zeus, in reality, he was very cautious, avoiding Zeus’s detection whenever possible.

The control over divine power is naturally strong; as long as there is no intentional destruction of the environment, the damage to it can generally be minimized.

Of course, if someone were to pass by the battlefield, the chaotic energy would still easily obliterate them.

Fortunately, Rose specially chose this battlefield, and the prior ceremony had the characteristic that would prevent people from entering easily; even High-tier Mages wouldn’t casually come by.

Streams of shimmering brilliance surged from all directions, enveloping Haroldias’s phantom, making it appear transient and dim.

Rose stretched out his hand, and countless spiritual threads extended, binding the phantom once more, slowly unraveling Haroldias’s soul like peeling silk.

But just then, Haroldias’s phantom suddenly erupted with a blinding light.

“Self-detonation directly?”

Rose raised an eyebrow and quickly mobilized power from all around, forming an arched, funnel-shaped protective barrier around the phantom.

Bang!

The sound of an explosion resounded, and the terrifying unleashed power surged outward, hitting the barrier and then deflecting upwards into the sky.

Everything above, whether clouds or pollution, was dispersed by the intense explosion.

Crack!

The maintained barrier by Rose showed countless cracks, shattering with a gentle sound.

Rose waved his hand, unconcerned.

“This level is enough.”

He hadn’t expected to capture Haroldias now; Haroldias was much stronger than Ethel, and here, he counted as home turf. Plus, unlike Ethel, who rushed headlong into Hilia’s spiritual space (to prevent Zeus’s involvement), Rose couldn’t easily trap him and drag him into the Sealed Land.

Rose had anticipated this.

“Though I can’t catch him, the recent battle has almost exhausted the remaining energy he left behind. This guy is smart, surely pretending to be recovering his shell while secretly doing other things.”

Rose already knew what he wanted to do.

His body slowly faded away.

Before long, Hilia woke up with a soft murmur.

She looked around in confusion, suddenly startled.

Only to see that the once lush grassland had become a mess, with some grass in a peculiar state, half wilted and half vibrant, or withered roots and lush leaves.

More of them were directly twisted together, forming some sort of unique pattern.

Hilia looked forward and saw a massive crater in the distance, a bottomless pit filled with chaotic magic power similar to the Golden Apple Stone Forest. Just one glance and she dismissed the idea of going in to check it out.

It was far more dangerous in there than the Golden Apple Stone Forest.

“It seems Lord Rose and Lord Haroldias had quite a fight…”

The girl cautiously looked into the spiritual space, with Rose’s phantom manifesting in her spiritual space.

“What are you looking at?”

“N-nothing, where’s Lord Haroldias? Could it be…”

“He fled. We must hurry back before he possesses Phil.”

“P-possession?”

Hilia became worried.

Being with Rose for so long, she understood the term possession, a derogatory term for the descent of gods.

Influenced by Rose, the thought of Phil being chosen by a god for descent made her uncomfortable, knowing she would no longer be herself.

She quickly sprung into action, starting a spiritual scan and flying towards the Ista borderline.

After a while, Hilia reached the Elf Race border and, using some methods, avoided the scouting Elf Soldiers and returned to the Law Enforcement Knight Order’s border camp, where she met Melina and Benovia.

Benovia was still there, still responsible for purifying the contamination that drifted over.

But the workload was much less than before, making her quite leisurely.

After meeting with Melina and earnestly admitting her mistake (yet refusing to change), Hilia found Benovia to inquire about Phil’s whereabouts.

“Phil is in a specially designated area, as the relic she obtained seems to require mastery within a time limit. So Phil should be focusing on mastering the relic now.”

“Mastering the relic?”

Hilia became worried.

“Understood, I’ll go take a look.”

Guided by Benovia, Hilia quickly found the practice area Melina had arranged specifically for Phil.

It was not within the camp of the Law Enforcement Knight Order but a bit further back in a quieter place, surrounded by the Law Enforcement Knight Order.

The campsite was specially fenced off, forming a small courtyard, with two knights guarding the entrance. Upon seeing Hilia, they nodded slightly and let her in.

Walking into the practice area, Hilia looked at the lone small house in front of her. After thinking for a moment, she walked forward and knocked on the door.

There was no response.

But Hilia could feel a highly concentrated and unique elemental aura emanating from inside the house.

“It seems to be an elemental aura of the death faction?”

Hilia perceived for a moment, thinking of what Rose had said. After hesitating briefly, she directly pushed the door open and entered.

The room’s door was locked, but the lock posed no difficulty for Hilia.

Entering the room, Hilia immediately saw Phil sitting on the bed in Meditation, with something akin to a small withered branch tree slowly rotating around her.

Hilia looked at the withered branch tree, thoughtfully: “Could this be the divine relic that Phil acquired? What is its purpose?”

Saying this, Hilia involuntarily looked towards the spiritual space where Rose resided, but then she saw Rose abruptly emerge from the spiritual space, materializing before her and immediately merging his phantom into Phil’s mind.

Only then did Hilia notice that Phil’s expression was somewhat off, as if she was enduring something strong.

“Could it be…”

The so-called ‘possession’ had already begun?

Hilia wanted to step forward, already lifting a leg, but after hesitating, she stepped back to her original position.

“This level… is beyond my involvement; I better not disturb the gods.”