“You’re hoping to receive Madam Alice’s assistance for… that?”
Perhaps hearing the doubt and ridicule in Gillian’s voice, Joey let out an awkward chuckle. Of course, he knew Gillian wasn’t an easy one to deal with. She might be smiling all day, but she would make one’s life miserable once she started messing with them! He would be doomed entirely if he weren’t careful! If it were in the past, Joey wouldn’t have been willing to do so. But now, since he had already spoken, all he could do now was to put on a bold face and continue reporting. If not, who knew what troubles this sly and playful young lady would bring him?
But that was enough for Gillian.
“Your Highness Alice, I’ll leave it to you then.”
After ending the communication with Joey, Gillian turned around with a chuckle, gazing quietly at Alice, who sat in the corner reading a book. Alice heard her, but didn’t say a word. She nodded slightly, extended her arm, and a heavy tome appeared in midair, quietly falling in front of her. The tome opened and on the empty pages, lines of words appeared on their own. As long as the target was determined, be it a person or group, Alice wouldn’t have any difficulty. Shortly after, Gillian witnessed everything that they had done.
“Hmm… what’s that? The refugees are doing some kind of a spiritual ritual. That’s interesting. Could they be cultists? They wouldn’t be intending to summon devils now, right? Or perhaps they are devil worshipers? In this case, we may need little Celestina to deal with them…”
“… Along with the chants, the ritual lights up. As the Grians’s elder chants, the enclosed space slowly opens up. Then…”
But this was the end of the recording in Alice’s tome. The same time the ‘then’ appeared, the sentences that were neatly recorded suddenly came to a halt. Not only that, but the recordings on the pages also faded away quickly as though an invisible eraser were removing the words. In the blink of an eye, everything was gone. The heavy tome in Alice’s hand slammed itself close all of a sudden. As it happened too quickly, Alice and Gillian didn’t react in time. After a few moments, Alice stood up with knitted brows, lifting her head in hesitation, and looked outside the window. Her expression changed slightly.
“This is bad.”
After she spoke, she suddenly disappeared to nowhere. Meanwhile, Gillian also realized the cause of the problem. No matter what, the person who counteracted Alice’s investigation was definitely much stronger than Joey and the rest!
“Joey, send the message; get everyone to retreat!”
What exactly is that?
Randolf stared blankly at the sudden burst of a scarlet light column rushing into the sky. He didn’t know what exactly happened there. However, it was apparent that something was amiss. His heart sank instantly. He had followed Rhode for a long time and naturally suspected that something bad must have happened for this to happen. With this thought, Randolf hesitated no more. He lifted his head quickly and blew a sharp whistle.
“Everyone! Fire!”
“———!”
The guards were already in position. Upon hearing Randolf’s order, they swiftly blasted a dozen golden magic beams across the night sky like a meteor shower that ripped through the darkness. The magic beams were aimed at the Grians’s gathering place. In the next few seconds, the small gathering place would be blasted into filthy dust by the powerful magic beams. At this moment, Randolf could no longer concern himself about Dwight. Just as Joey said, Dwight could only blame himself for his bad luck and decision.
But at the next moment, Randolf widened his eyes in astonishment.
The magic beams didn’t cause a series of explosions on the gathering place as expected. Instead, the instant they approached the scarlet light column, their trajectories were twisted all of a sudden and they merged into the column as though being absorbed by magnets! After the light column absorbed the magic beams, it doubled in size. Randolf gaped speechless as he had never witnessed this happened before. What… What exactly was going on?
“Randolf! Randolf! Madam Gillian ordered us to retreat immediately! Retreat!”
At this moment, Randolf heard the frantic screams of Joey from the back. Randolf turned pale and quickly reached out for a crystal in his pocket and tossed it in the air. Shortly after, the crystal erupted a bright, dazzling radiance that resembled daylight. This was the signal for an emergency retreat. Randolf didn’t have a bad habit of watching a bustling scene curiously. After following Rhode for a long time, he witnessed many deaths as a result of being an onlooker. Times had changed and he definitely didn’t want to be one of those idiots. Moreover, the light column was too bizarre to even absorb the magic beams like magnets. Just this point alone was strange enough!
In fact, this proved that Randolf made the best decision. Almost at the same time as he retreated, he felt a bone-piercing cold wind blowing against him. Then, the green prairie was instantly covered in a layer of frost! Not only that, but the blades of grass fluttering in the wind also froze! The frost spread in all directions and within a few seconds, it froze the surroundings completely. Randolf was baffled at this scene. Fortunately, he gave his order in time. If not, not even he could defy such a mysterious attack.
But…
After keeping a safe distance away and confirming that the mysterious chill had stopped spreading, Randolf lifted his head and scanned ahead. All he saw was white like the snowfield in winter. He trembled in fear, knitting his brows and staring sternly at the scene before him. Although it was shocking, he also felt really odd. If his men almost froze to death, wouldn’t the Grians have turned into ice sculptures already? What was the purpose of them… doing this?
While Randolf let his thoughts run wild, the situation took a turn once again. The scarlet light column turned pale blue before quickly coalescing into a ball of light that flitted across the night sky. Along in its movement, Randolf and Joey instantly felt a scorching heat strike their faces as though they were tied, facing the grilling stove. Not only that, but the white, frozen prairie also melted suddenly; the frost evaporated under the blazing heat while the blades of grass instantly withered into lifeless yellow and collapsed to the soil. In an instant, the snowfield of a ‘thousand miles of ice and fluttering snow’ turned into a desert with ‘lone smoke rising up in the air and the round sun setting slowly over the long river’. The withered soil and flying sand were totally unlike what they saw earlier. Randolf and Joey sucked in deep breaths of cold air, before exchanging terrified looks with each other. What exactly were they facing?
Meanwhile, Grandia was also facing a similar, intense view.
“What exactly is going on?”
Rhode asked, gazing at the solemn Marlene, Gillian, and Alice. He thought the matter with the Grians was insignificant, but it seemed otherwise now. It was pardonable that Marlene and Gillian were alarmed, but Alice’s appearance was what truly surprised Rhode and made him realize the seriousness of the situation. This was because he was clear about Alice’s personality; a 100 percent nerd who stayed home all day and wouldn’t leave home unless necessary. And this time, she actually took the initiative… Was that group of Grians so capable?
“This was what happened… Master…”
Shortly after, Gillian explained the situation to Rhode, including the details of the failed cannon blasts and strange phenomenons that happened thereafter. Rhode knitted his brows. In all fairness, he felt rather strange when he heard the report. Even though it wasn’t easy to be immune or defend against the magic cannons, it was still possible, after all. But what was with the fluttering snow and vast desert of intense heat thereafter?
Rhode didn’t take the Grians seriously because he took them down in the game before. Although the Grians had a few powerful beings among them, most of them basically presented no threats to players. At least, Rhode didn’t recall the Grians possessing the ability to devour magic power and transform it into other elements.
“How’s the situation over there?”
“Randolf and Joey are investigating, but I heard there’s almost nothing left.”
Gillian spread her arms apart and curled her lips. Rhode pondered in silence before saying.
“What about the Grians?”
“Seems dead.”
They decided to kill themselves to prove their determination and courage?
But Rhode didn’t think that the situation was this simple. He puckered his brows and shifted his gaze to Alice who remained silent after arriving here as though she was thinking about something. Meanwhile, Marlene was also seemingly pondering deeply as though she faced a tough problem. Upon sensing Rhode’s gaze, Alice looked up and explained.
“Your Majesty… this incident may be a little troublesome.”
“Troublesome?”
Rhode asked. Perhaps Alice realized the doubts in his question, she nodded and continued to explain.
“In fact, I have to tell you that before this happened, I monitored the group of Grians according to Miss Gillian’s request. Based on the historical tracing records, it states that they are preparing a summoning ritual, praying and yearning for the descend of their so-called ‘God’. My historical records showed that they opened up a sealed space…”
“Sealed space?”
Rhode’s gaze changed slightly. This was the benefit of Alice’s ‘Historical Tracing’ as she could clearly record what the Grians were doing. For instance, the ritual would only be seen as a mysterious ritual by others without knowing its exact purpose. With Alice’s ‘Historical Tracing’ was recording, it would also display the true meaning behind their actions. This was a killer weapon for the intelligence department.
“Then?”
“That was all. My records only showed that they opened a certain sealed space, before it was forcefully stopped and erased.”
Since they opened up a certain sealed space, it meant that there must be something released from it. Rhode began to feel uncertain. Alice was the History Deity Warden and no one could beat her ‘Historical Tracing’. But now, her ability was disrupted and erased…
“Could it be that the Grians summoned a devil?”
“No, Rhode. Instead, they…”
This time, Marlene finally spoke. She exchanged looks with Alice hesitantly, before answering awkwardly.
“If Miss Alice’s and my judgments are correct, the Grians should have summoned a Deity Warden.”
“… Huh?”
Rhode was taken aback. This was the first time he heard that the Grians were capable of summoning a Deity Warden. This surprised him, but come to think of it, only a handful of people were capable of resisting Alice’s ‘Historical Tracing’. Besides, Christie, Marlene, and Alice were Deity Wardens. Although according to them, no one survived except for Christie who fled back to the Astral Temple during the war with Chaos, weren’t Marlene and Alice standing right before him now after miraculously crossing the boundaries of time? At this thought, Rhode wasn’t as astonished anymore. Instead, he found it to be good news. After all, if it were one of the Deity Wardens, the Deity Warden should be willing to serve him.
But shortly after, he realized that the situation wasn’t as simple as he had thought.
According to Alice, this particular Deity Warden had also died a long time ago. Just like Alice and the others, in order to secure a chance to return to the world in the future, the Deity Warden also had her own solution. She sealed a fragment of her soul in the space of another dimension. Rhode accepted this explanation because it was his younger sister who fused with the system. In other words, it was the final trace of the soul fragment of his younger sister as the Void Dragon. Since the Void Dragon could do it, it wasn’t surprising that the Six Deity Wardens were aware of this method as its direct subjects.
But this was where the problem laid.
As a result, Rhode didn’t know how the Grians got into contact with the residual soul of the Deity Warden, it was apparent that they were connected to the Deity Warden. Everyone knew that the Grians were fanatical and extreme toward their faith. In this case, the residual soul of the Deity Warden gradually changed after spending a long time with the Grians. Perhaps this Deity Warden was currently in a state of confusion and immediately attacked as soon as she was released from the sealed space, which caused her to instinctively sense danger and escape quickly.
“You’re saying that… the Deity Warden thinks that she is a Grian?”
Rhode felt like the situation was getting out of hand. However, Alice’s answer surprised him.
“No, Your Majesty. It’s impossible for her to think of it this way. But the long years of interactions have apparently twisted her sanity. In this case, she may possibly do something extremely stubborn and determined. We hope you can find her as quickly as possible and stop her from doing something irrecoverable.”
“I see.”
Rhode nodded after finally understanding their thoughts. It was just like back then when he met Marlene’s doppelgänger in the spatial corridor. As too much time had gone, it led to her thoughts being distorted and paranoid. And now, since this Deity Warden spent a long time with the Grians, it was imaginable how unstable and worrisome her mental state was. But even so, Rhode still had his doubts.
“Why must I be the one to go? Isn’t it more convenient for Deity Wardens to go instead?”
There were three Deity Wardens around, so why must he be the one to do it? Besides, since they were all Deity Wardens, wouldn’t it be easier for them to convince her? Besides, even though Rhode was the Void Dragon, they didn’t know each other, after all. As for Rhode’s doubt, the silent Marlene exchanged looks with Alice. After pondering for a few moments, Marlene spoke with some hesitation.
“Because, according to our judgment, this Deity Warden may possibly be the Contrast Deity Warden, Cassidy.”
