Chapter 255

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Chapter 255

Titus jumped up and hung on the doorknob, using its own weight of thirty pounds to open the door.

He lifted the second magician up. These battle magicians had decent physical fitness, at least much better than the old scholars in the tower. The male demon carried his master, while others climbed up the rope. Finally, the entire special investigation team entered the tower in the desert.

This is a very mysterious place for people on the entire continent. The tower in the desert is the dwelling of the powerful High Peak Blossom. There are all kinds of legends about Aimekotes, but none of them match this place.

This place looks quite cozy.

"In-vaders…" Suddenly, flames started to burn. The chef in the fireplace woke up, its armor missing half, exposing a glowing molten core, emitting a reddish light.

"Hey, hey! Elvis! Here’s the thing, can you calm down your flames? This is Diego Westcounty, the senior of Archmage, do you remember? The one often mentioned in the letters? His daughter and young lady are classmates? Let’s see what’s happening here."

"…" The Fire Lord was too weak to speak. It curled up, hiding inside the fireplace, looking dull. Titus bounced around and nudged Virgil until Virgil took out his dry food and shared it.

Titus had eaten enough and was very enthusiastic. Even though he couldn’t speak, he animatedly led them downstairs to the library.

The terrifying state of destruction in the library scared everyone. There was a deep furrow on the ground, as if it had been clawed by a gigantic creature. The floor was full of indentations, the slabs were overturned, there were burn marks, scratch marks, and melted traces. A table had been shattered, bookshelves toppled, and books were scattered everywhere. When they heard someone come in, the books were startled, flying around like moths before slowly settling down.

The two inspectors approached the remaining magic circle, uncovering the strange bodies’ faces. They showed disgusted expressions one by one.

In contrast, Diego and Virgil both breathed a sigh of relief. That’s great.

"It’s shadow magic. I’m afraid the archmage is indeed a victim. A terrible battle took place here."

"Rufus, come with me to take a look at the Portal," said Diego, calling one of their team members. They walked towards the broken Portal, using an Illumination Spell to illuminate it. Diego asked, "Hmm… what is the likelihood that the Portal was broken to prevent the archmage from escaping?"

Rufus said, "It’s hard to say. What if the other side simply likes to use brute force? Oh? Coordinates… Δ? This door leads to…"

Diego turned back and asked, "The Hall of Audience?"

Virgil ran over at that moment and said, "How is it? Can you put it back together so we can go back and have dinner? Right?"

"No, of course not, this door has been changed."

"…changed?"

"The coordinates have been changed, it doesn’t match the original door anymore, so we can’t go back." So, we have to go back again? Virgil almost felt dizzy, this was not what they agreed upon!

But he still asked hopefully, "Can you change it back?"

"No, we have to carry it back with the Mountain Giant. These are all evidence, they must be taken back." Diego happily lifted his head, "I have to say, so far the evidence is in Xerath’s favor."

Virgil really felt like he was about to faint.

When Xerath woke up from her faint, her headache felt like it was splitting open. She felt a hand and immediately grabbed onto it tightly, "Sylas!"

"You’re awake?"

Xerath opened her eyes, everything was blurry at first, but it slowly returned to normal. The person in front wearing a red hat, dressed in a white robe, and holding a hammer looked familiar, but she couldn’t remember at the moment.

"Can’t remember who I am? I’m Raphael! We used to sit in front of each other at primary school. Do you remember?"

The self-proclaimed Raphael priest put down his hammer and gestured for the two Miss Priests beside him to set down their wands. Awkwardly, the wands were tucked away behind them, and the two priests looked to the side.

The old wizard hadn’t figured out what was going on yet. "Raphael?! Of course, I remember you… you’ve grown up a lot." This was, of course, a kind way of saying it.

Raphael laughed heartily. "Grown old a lot? Not like you!"

"Where am I?"

"Saint Trelanxi."

"I’m still alive, but how am I? Amputated? What about my body? Is it still there? Or am I just a head?"

Raphael laughed, "You’re still holding onto me. Your body is perfectly fine, no amputations. We soaked you in holy water for two days and got rid of all the negative energy. Three choir members took turns singing for you, and all the female priests in the city took shifts to ward off evil spirits. Thank Father’s mercy, any later and you would have been doomed."

"Hmm… good, I feel pretty good too. What about Sylas?"

Raphael’s expression hesitated a bit. "She’s… next door."

Xerath lifted the blankets and got out of bed. She ran outside barefoot, with Miss Priest quickly following. Outside, a row of fully-armed Paladins stood, surrounding the archmage who had rushed out.

Some people even started chanting "exorcism" spells. Miss Priest came forward to break the siege, telling them all to step back and turn around.

"Ahem," she awkwardly coughed, and handed Xerath a robe. "I hope you understand everyone’s reaction, after all, you may not be fully recovered."

Xerath smiled. She had no time to worry about anything else now. Sylas’s room was closed, but unlocked. She carefully pushed it open and found no one else inside, just Sylas lying peacefully, eyes closed and hands folded on her abdomen. Her face and lips were pale.

I once kissed her there…

Xerath looked at her and suddenly felt a sense of worry. She hurried to the side of the bed and grabbed her wrist.

Thankfully, there was still a pulse.

Miss Priest followed her in and whispered, "She has exhausted her magical powers, she has been asleep all this time. I suggest you don’t disturb her and eat something first."

"Is she really okay? No ill effects from any dark spells? No… other problems?"

"She was affected by direct contact with you, but we have already dealt with it," Miss Priest answered cautiously, "some small check-ups must wait until she wakes up, I can only assure you that her life is not threatened."

Xerath walked to the side of the bed and sat down, quietly watching her.

She herself was very weak, just a little distance and she felt like her strength couldn’t bear it, even sitting by the bed became a very tiring task, she just wanted to find a comfortable place to lie down.

But the dignity of the old-fashioned magician was still intact, she could not lie down in front of so many people, let alone next to Sylas.

Is she tired too? Her magic must be completely depleted, the pale color replaced the once healthy pink, her lips dried and turned pale, there was a glass of water on the table, but it remained untouched.

Xerath reached out one hand and lightly touched Sylas’s face with the back of her finger, maintaining her composure.

Thankfully, her face was warm, her breathing was steady, her skin was soft and elastic, but… her lips were too dry.

These lips… that she had kissed, they should be soft and moist, with a mysterious sweet scent… her hand slowly brushed Sylas’s cheek, her fingertips still sticking to her face, greedily seeking that burning sensation.

"Sylas…"

The archmage’s fingertips were glowing, with mist gathering on them. She gently brushed her thumb over the cracked lips of the young apprentice, causing tiny droplets of dew to seep into the space between them.

Finally… it didn’t look so ugly anymore.

She pursed her lips, let out a deep sigh, and with the support of the priest, left the room.

Priest Raphael stood by the door, waiting for her. He kindly said, "You need to eat, my friend, and then the Oversight Committee will come to ask you questions."

Xerath turned her head slightly in surprise. Raphael shrugged and said, "Do you remember being corrupted by shadows? Your statue broke."

She returned to her own sickbed and lay down. Raphael hesitated, unwilling to leave. Xerath had to ask, "Do you have something else to say, Raphael?"

"Of course… I don’t know if it’s appropriate to ask. You see, this is the Hall of Audience, the Holy See. No one can suddenly appear at the ‘origin point.’ The temple wants to know how you arrived here."

Xerath remained silent for a moment and said, "Sylas modified the Portal in our house."

"Sylas？"

"My… apprentice."

"And then what?"

"In principle," Xerath raised her head, closed her eyes and let out a sigh, "we ‘broke through’ the one-way door. But I don’t remember what happened afterwards."

"’Broke through’?"

Xerath looked at him and cautiously said, "I think you should find someone who knows a bit about spatial magic to discuss this with me, if you’re willing to continue delving deeper."

Raphael touched his nose.

Xerath indeed chose not to continue talking further with caution. Raphael had once locked Sylas in the underground temple ruins, and she hadn’t forgotten about it. But it was clear that he didn’t know the connection between Sylas and the "Keatler Elemental Chaos" back then.

The scent quickly wafted over as a nun carried a small table and placed it in front of Xerath, allowing her to lie down and eat properly. In this aspect, the temple’s service was quite good.

"I hope you can understand that the temple is a place of asceticism, so the food is also very simple. But for the time being, we can’t obtain anything better. The current Pope is a… ‘serious’ person."

The priests’ clothes were all made of wool, and the colors were limited to black and white. Only high-ranking priests like Raphael had the privilege of using gold thread for embroidery on their clothes, which featured sacred spells. Miss Priest, who stood beside him, was dressed entirely in white, while the nuns wore black. Compared to their simple attire, the food in front of them was considered abundant.

It was a plate of steamed vegetables, with half of the rice covered in tomato sauce. Inside the sauce, there were peas, carrots, and minced meat, and it was quite thick. There was also a small dish of mashed potatoes on the side.

It seemed like a simplified lunch for the researchers. "I understand."

In certain periods of history, the lives of the temple dwellers were extremely luxurious and corrupted. The priests wore outer robes made of wool or cotton due to the rules of the teachings, but underneath, they wore silk. The houses they lived in were dilapidated, but the interiors were resplendent. They dined with golden utensils or precious ceramics, and their dishes were filled with exquisite and abundant food made from rare and hard-to-find ingredients, such as peacock tongues.

But the current Pope seemed to have effectively curbed this negative trend, and the temple had become truly simple. Raphael himself didn’t wear silk or satin under his woolen coat.

"This is already the standard for cardinals," he himself being a cardinal. "If you still can’t get used to it, I’m afraid you won’t find anything much better within a hundred miles of Saint Trelanxi."