"People from the church?"
Evelyn hesitated for a moment, clearly not having a favorable impression of the church.
"That's the only way," Luo Wei thought. In this remote region of the empire, only the Holy Edict Church still held official supernatural power. It was the only way to suppress the Magic Hermit Order.
More importantly, they were not subordinate to the Brugge City Hall and were highly independent. As long as they were informed that there were dark sorcerers causing trouble in Heglais Town, they would eagerly rush in like wolves catching the scent of prey.
"But..." Evelyn looked at Luo Wei with a worried expression.
"If you send me away, what will you do here? What if that witch really intends to harm you? By the time I come back to save you, will it even be in time?"
"Teacher..." Luo Wei gazed deeply at her.
"Actually, this is also about saving yourself. In some ways, you're in even greater danger than I am."
Evelyn was momentarily stunned.
Luo Wei silently pondered the events of the past few days. He had a vague feeling that if Tilis hadn't still cared about his feelings and didn't want to break ties with him, Evelyn might have already been killed...
He had keenly noticed that the way Tilis looked at Helena and Evelyn was completely different.
Perhaps because Helena always acted like his younger sister, their relationship was indeed like that of siblings who relied on each other. So, when facing Helena, Tilis occasionally showed warmth, even giving gifts not just to him but also remembering to leave something for her "sister."
But as for Evelyn...
Tilis was completely indifferent, showing no warmth at all...
This made Luo Wei fearful. He couldn't gauge how powerful Tilis was now, but no matter what, it seemed that she could easily do whatever she wanted, even if he resisted...
And he now clearly realized that the day they reached the research institute would be the day the truth was revealed.
At that moment, it would also be the most dangerous time. It was likely that all pretense of civility would be dropped, and any lingering warmth would vanish entirely...
"Little Wei," Evelyn still hesitated, "but..."
"No buts," Luo Wei said sternly, looking at her.
"Teacher, listen to me."
Evelyn finally nodded silently, "Alright, I'll do as you say."
Then, she glanced toward Tilis, who was focused on the Divine Research Institute and hadn't noticed their conversation. With a quick movement, she didn't leave openly but instead charged toward the relentless fish-like monsters chasing them.
After a while, amidst the chaos of battle and the cover of the dense forest, Evelyn's figure finally disappeared from Luo Wei's sight.
Luo Wei breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
At that moment, he felt a warm touch in his hand.
Helena held his hand and looked back, "Brother, let's hurry. Those monsters are catching up."
Luo Wei gripped her hand tightly and asked softly,
"Are you scared, Helena?"
He wasn't referring to the half-human, half-fish monsters, and Helena understood what he meant.
She smiled and shook her head, "Not scared."
"As long as I'm with you, I'm not afraid of anything!"
Luo Wei gently ruffled her light golden hair and smiled warmly.
"Let's go. It's time to face those demons and monsters!"
Holding Helena's hand, he strode forward without hesitation onto the final stretch of the journey to the Divine Research Institute.
...
When they reached the foot of the mountain, the group stopped again.
The valley below was filled with the roars and screeches of the monsters.
Although they posed little threat to the mages, hearing these sounds for so long was gradually becoming irritating.
Two mages, during a break, muttered as they looked down the mountain.
"Those mages we captured earlier told me that those things are the so-called 'Sea God's' followers, and their bloodlines are purer than the believers in town. They're here to avenge their god, which is why they're so fearless. What a headache..."
"But we didn't kill that Sea God. I heard that on the day Tilis and Elder Usoma arrived, the god's corpse was already floating by the shore..."
"Well, we'll have to ask the leader what she did. Back in the day, we never had so many crazed monsters coming to the island..."
The mages' whispers made Elder Margery's expression turn displeased.
She glanced around sternly, and the group quickly fell silent.
At that moment, Elder Roens looked at the sky and suggested to Tilis,
"The mages on the island said you often operate at night. It's getting late now. Why don't we set up camp here and lay down defensive magic arrays? We can enter the research institute at dawn."
It was a reasonable suggestion, but Tilis' expression immediately darkened.
"Wait? The institute's gates are right in front of us, and you're telling me to wait until dawn?"
"But, Tilis..."
Elder Roens had never seen Tilis so emotionally unstable before.
In the past, she would always listen to his and Margery's opinions, but this time, she was being unusually dismissive...
"But what?" Tilis' purple eyes glinted coldly as she sneered, "If you're too scared to go in, then stay here. I'll go alone."
With that, she turned her gaze back to the building atop the mountain.
Her eyes were filled with an uncontrollable urgency.
"That won't do! You can't go alone!" Elder Margery immediately objected.
"You're the only hope of our hermit order! Whether we can break the 'curse' and restore the glory of the Magic Empire depends entirely on you!!"
After Elder Margery finished her speech, one that Tilis had heard countless times, Tilis furrowed her brow slightly.
In her eyes, there was not only disdain but also a faint trace of killing intent.
Luo Wei observed everything closely, as he had been watching Tilis' changes all along.
From the foot of the mountain to its peak, her emotions grew more intense, as if something there was truly calling to her.
"Fine, Roens and I will accompany you," Elder Margery quickly said.
Then, she instructed the other mages, "The rest of you, wait here for the rear guard. Before nightfall, seal off all entrances and exits of the research institute. Don't skimp on the Magic Crystal Stones! Understood?"
All the mages immediately acknowledged the order.
Tilis, along with the two elders, pressed on toward the research institute without resting.
Luo Wei and Helena followed closely behind.
"Tilis... are they coming too?" Elder Roens glanced back.
To be honest, he had always been puzzled as to why these few had been following the group all this time.
"They're Tilis' friends," Elder Margery explained to Roens. "They're mystics, well-versed in the legends of deities from various regions. They can also assist Tilis with alchemy. Tilis said they're indispensable for this mission."
"Oh, is that so..."
Elder Roens looked at Luo Wei, who was smiling, and nodded thoughtfully.
Hearing Elder Margery fabricate their identities, Luo Wei couldn't help but chuckle inwardly.
He wondered what Tilis had told her to make her spin such a tale.
But the last part was spot on—he was indeed indispensable for this mission...
After all, it was undoubtedly aimed at him.
ave】 Shen Qingling was a man with peerless looks, a cunning mind, and the ability to play both the aloof noble and the innocent sweetheart—a master of seduction who could outplay any player. But after an untimely death, he found himself bound to a system and transmigrated into the tragic "true young master" of a melodramatic novel. In the original story, his childhood sweetheart treated him as a backup plan, his fiancée swore to break off their engagement for the sake of the "fake young master," and his own sister saw him as the family's disgrace. He was nothing more than a rat everyone wanted to stomp on. System 077: "Your mission is to change the original fate and conquer the goddesses." Shen Qingling: "Thanks for the invite. If seduction had tiers, I’d be max level." His childhood sweetheart knelt, begging for forgiveness: "Qingling, I was wrong. Please give me another chance." His ex-fiancée refused to marry anyone else: "Shen Qingling, I was blind before. In this life, I’ll marry no one but you." A yandere CEO went mad for love: "Shen Qingling, you can only like me. I’ll stop at nothing to make you mine!" His green-tea sister clung to him daily: "Brother, look at me, won’t you? I’m more obedient than them—I love you the most~" At first, they scorned and trampled on him. Later, they burned themselves like moths to a flame, all for his sake. His looks were his weapon, his sweet words the bait—heroines obsessed over him, villains turned to madness for him. Shen Qingling became a true male siren, igniting battlefield after battlefield of women fighting for his affection. Years later, when System 077—now one of the elites—was asked how to become as outstanding as it, it lazily exhaled a smoke ring and replied: "Just know how to cheer ‘666’ at the right time."
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
