Chapter 701 - 699: Hilia’s Heart Is Growing Cold

[Xi] This elf, although exposed at the upper levels, was not made public, with only a few knowing that [Xi] was not an elf, but rather Hilia in disguise.

Obviously, Nara was not among those in the know.

She still regarded Elina and Xi as the saviors of the Elf Race, just like most elves.

Though neither of them were currently in the Elf Royal Court.

These days, as the Beast Tide was slowly subsiding, the Elf Royal Court was dealing with the demons involved, as well as the post-disaster rescue and reconstruction work, leaving them unable to do much else. They didn’t have the energy to handle Hilia’s matters, and at this point, with [Xi] not exposed, it actually enhanced the cohesion of the Elf Race, so they reluctantly continued using Hilia’s name.

Naturally, when Nara saw Hilia, she felt like she was seeing a savior.

"Sister Xi, I’ve heard from Sister Lana about you. She said she met you while patrolling, said you were very beautiful and kind, and without you, she wouldn’t have been able to hold on until the people from the Royal Court arrived..."

Nara was very lively, chattering on and on, as if with an endless amount of words to say, and Hilia had no choice but to raise her hand to stop her from speaking any further.

"Let’s talk about your sister’s situation first. What’s with her?"

"Oh, sister."

Nara finally came to her senses, looking at Lana on the bed, showing a worried expression.

"I don’t know why my sister became like this. She’s been restless these past few days, saying all sorts of strange things, like she’s feeling a call from the gods, but... but not from the god she wants..."

"Right, right, a while ago, when my sister went to resist the Beast Tide, the Royal Court said she was missing, but then she returned, and since then, she’s been different, always with a heavy heart..."

"She occasionally says she betrayed the gods, but how did she betray them? She prays to the Elf God every day, absolutely not a betrayal!"

Once Nara started talking, she wouldn’t stop, while Hilia listened, extending her hand to pretend to treat Lana, but in reality watching as Rose’s phantom emerged from her, diving into Lana’s mind.

Rose then projected the scene within Lana’s Spiritual Space into Hilia’s mind, sharing everything he observed with her.

...

"How did you discover my strategy?"

In Lana’s Spiritual Space, Haroldias showed no emotional fluctuation, calmly looking at Rose.

Once Rose had sealed and ultimately imprisoned the other half of his soul, he knew this moment would inevitably arrive.

Escape?

No escape.

Though he had harsh words, he knew Rose would have a way to track down the remaining part of his soul.

Just like how he could find Hilia by following certain traces.

If he were at his peak, or at least had a body and complete divine format, he might have had a way to evade him, but now, he had burned his bridges, abandoned his old body, leaving only his complete soul and that partially hidden body in the subspace.

That remnant was the key to seizing the body and the bridge to soul-body fusion.

Similarly, in Haroldias’ plan, his resurrection would draw Zeus’s attention, serving as a ’scarecrow’ to attract Zeus.

Of course, if it failed to attract Zeus’s attention, he would find a way to cleanse all traces of pollution, then reattach his nourished soul.

Soaking in the intolerable pollution to gods for five hundred years was hard for him to accept, but at least it was the original, unmatched by any sculpted body thereafter.

However, all the plans fell apart with the appearance of Rose.

Until now, Haroldias realized it clearly.

From the moment he sought out Hilia, he had fallen into Rose’s trap.

Even the two chosen ones who could have escaped his plot, one of them was who Rose had his eyes on.

Haroldias didn’t know if this was Rose’s excuse or if he really had arranged someone to lure him long ago.

In any case, everything ended when Rose appeared in Lana’s Spiritual Space.

Haroldias felt unwilling yet resigned, but he still had questions.

Seeing Rose seemingly uninterested in answering, he said, "Though I don’t know what you want, you seem intent on capturing me alive. As the Main God, I’m not that easily caught. If you can answer this question of mine, I’ll surrender."

Rose paused, constructing a robust protective net with Spiritual Power within Lana’s Spiritual Space to prevent his and Haroldias’s battle from shattering Lana’s Spiritual Space, and casually remarked:

"Your so-called ’carrier’ requirements are too high. How many in the world meet your conditions? But that girl earlier, you were just unlucky. I had my eye on her a long time ago, and you happened to choose her as your target; otherwise, you’d really have gotten away."

Haroldias fell silent for a moment, his features contorting: "You damnable guy, if you had your eye on her, why didn’t you leave a mark on her?"

"That’s an odd thing to say." Rose smirked: "If I left a mark, do you think you’d necessarily find it?"

Haroldias: "..."

He genuinely wasn’t sure about that.

Rose collected his expression, looking at Haroldias plainly, "Do you know what disaster you’ve caused for your resurrection?"

Haroldias didn’t answer, countering, "What? Planning to judge me?"

"Judge you? The time hasn’t come, besides, it’s not for me to judge you; someone else will."

Haroldias scoffed, "Heh, fine, though falling into your hands irks me a bit, I’m also curious. You, who once seemed intent on having us perish, don’t strike me down now at our meeting. Is it truly just for the so-called judgment of the pantheon?"

"Yes, and no."

"Hmph, no need to answer, but capturing me won’t be that easy."

Haroldias assumed a posture, with the power of life and death blooming from deep within his soul, hinting at cracks in the robust defenses Rose constructed.

The battle was about to erupt!

One minute later.

Dragging Haroldias like a lifeless dog, Rose exited Lana’s Spiritual Space, returning to Hilia’s Spiritual Space, tossing the two souls together to let them merge.

Haroldias’s Soul Body reformed, glaring angrily at Rose, snorting: "An unearned victory, if I hadn’t had only half a soul, you wouldn’t have won so quickly."

"You are now a complete soul, if dissatisfied, feel free to continue," Rose gestured.

Haroldias squinted, glancing around, "Is this the Spiritual Space of that perfect carrier?"

"Her name is Hilia, not a perfect carrier," Rose corrected.

"There’s no difference between mortals and ants, no need to remember their names until they become sacred,"

Hilia, watching from the shadows, felt her heart gradually turn cold.