Pillar of Yita

Fang Hong didn’t expect to encounter the Divine Descent of the Lady of the Forest.

And this Divine Descent was somewhat different.

First of all, the Lady of the Forest has always been distrustful of the Invokers, and she is one of the few deities who doesn’t accept False Believers as her followers. Ameya’s aloofness is especially renowned even within the Oly Pantheon—her Divine Descent is rare in history, let alone among the Invokers.

But to say she favored him was not entirely accurate either.

Overall, this Divine Descent was quite bizarre—

She neither chose him as an Elect nor bestowed any Divine Strength upon him, let alone giving him any benefits—as if she simply passed by and chatted with him for a while, saying she was giving him a gift, but it was just a cryptic statement:

’Grey Wolf and Longsword—’

Fang Hong thought about it for a long time before realizing it was the symbol on the Big Cat People’s emblem.

That’s actually the Holy Emblem of Marlan.

But when he followed up with a question, the Lady of the Forest merely nodded slightly and mentioned a term:

”Fenris.”

This term Fang Hong could understand, but what it represented, he had no idea.

This made him feel as if the Lady of the Forest was joking with him, but as a distinguished deity, the Master of the Jungle and Nature, would she really have such idle time?

Fortunately, Atira was still there.

He looked at her, the Elf Miss lowered her long lashes slightly and said: ”Just now I perceived the will of the Lord Goddess.”

The group, listening to their cryptic conversation, was already confused, but upon hearing this statement, they turned their attention to her.

”Divine Descent?”

Even the Big Cat People were a bit surprised: ”Could it be... just now...?”

Atira nodded lightly:

”It’s Lady Ameya, the Lord Goddess hopes we can help her with something.”

Upon hearing this, the group gasped in surprise.

”Wait a minute, wait,” even Parker couldn’t help but raise his hand, loudly saying: ”We’re only at such a level, the Lord Goddess wouldn’t need us... err, newbies, would she?”

”Aren’t you the King of Nightingales?” Elisa asked.

The Papalarian opened their mouth, thought for a moment, and replied: ”That’s not contradictory.”

But upon hearing this, Fang Hong became clearer, somewhat understanding the situation. It turned out the Lord Goddess was here for Atira, and merely had a brief conversation with him on the way—why exactly, Fang Hong hadn’t figured out, assuming it might be the Hailin Crown on him.

After a moment’s pondering, he came to a conclusion.

Help the Lady of the Forest.

This kind of task surely should be accepted.

Invokers are enthusiastic about finding various rare tasks in Eteliria to gain benefits. But what task is more legendary than a ’Divine Oracle’? Moreover, after hearing Miss Tata’s description, he roughly guessed the reason for Ameya’s visit.

After all, Dika’s demise was caused by her hand.

The Blind God’s pursuit was of the twisted end of life, which is Nature’s nemesis, and one major responsibility of Lady Ameya’s Holy Tree Sanctuary is to monitor the followers blindly.

And Miss Atira is precisely the Ritualist of this sanctuary.

So Fang Hong asked: ”Is it to investigate matters related to the Blind Followers?”

Atira nodded: ”That’s exactly what the Lord Goddess intends, since over ten years ago, she vaguely felt the breath of her old nemesis. But just like the Lizardman God, the enemy hides deeply. In fact, Lady Ameya has been using divine perception to search for the whereabouts of the enemy in Colin Ishurian until that ’Blood Servant’ recently appeared—”

”Over ten years ago?”

Fang Hong fully recovered now, felt he had grasped something upon hearing this.

He glanced aside, seeing Hilveld looking at him. He understood from the beginning that their task wasn’t simple, especially at the slave traders’ emplacement; discovering either the Blind Followers’ ritual or encountering the ’Blood Servant’ didn’t surprise him much.

It’s just now that those missing clues started connecting like beads on a string.

Due to Dika’s preference, there’s a considerable proportion of Scholars and Alchemists among the Blind Followers, and creating the Blood Servant involves combining Necromancy Spell with Alchemy. Hence, Istania is indeed one of the most suitable places for the Blind Followers to develop.

But this thought reminded Fang Hong of another matter.

And at this point, he seemed to feel something, turned around—just right to see Abed entering again from outside, and upon entering, he suddenly intervened, saying: ”Everyone, I have something to say.”

The group paused and looked at this taciturn innkeeper—by now, they were aware that his true identity was the Princess’s Secret Spy, not merely an ordinary lodge owner.

Abed took a moment to organize his words before saying: ”Apologies, due to certain reasons, we’ve kept some facts from you. Actually, the Princess asked you to investigate those slave traders not just to curb slave trading… but for another reason.”

He paused: ”This goes back over ten years, because the Wandering Alchemist who attacked the Queen might exactly be among these people… I personally experienced that attack. During the combat, I was severely injured and survived merely by being buried underneath layers of corpses. I witnessed the battle firsthand; those Alchemists attacking the Queen’s carriage also brought many such monsters…”

”Just like the monster you all saw earlier, identical in appearance…”

Having spoken, he stopped to quietly observe the group.

The group was somewhat surprised by his revelations, still unclear why he suddenly narrated this.

Only Fang Hong wasn’t at all surprised, as if he had expected it. He merely looked at Abed and asked: ”So, the Princess knew about this from the start?”

Abed nodded slowly.

”Please don’t blame the Princess, since she actually doesn’t have evidence linking these slave traders for certain, only suspicion,” he answered quietly: ”After all, the Wandering Alchemist appeared in Tansnier again, leaving only the slave traders as their trail…”

”And us,” Fang Hong asked: ”are the only ones who’ve interacted with that Wandering Alchemist?”

Abed nodded again.

But he further explained: ”However, the Princess didn’t intend to deceive you; she truly wanted you to check the origin and whereabouts of these slave traders, but didn’t anticipate—”

Big Cat People inserted at this: ”Didn’t anticipate us identifying their identities immediately?”

The Sand Lodge owner didn’t respond.

Reed slightly squinted his silver ash eyes, spoke: ”So now, what do you plan to do?”

Abed then lifted his head, looking towards them: ”That’s up to all of you.”

”What do you mean?” Fang Hong asked.

”The Princess’s aim is actually to find the culprits who killed her mother over ten years ago,” Abed then straightforwardly replied: ”Now confirmed these slave traders are related, so I hope everyone can continue to complete this task, to find the whereabouts of these slave traders.”

Fang Hong pondered briefly.

Their intent was entirely within his expectations. He knew the Grand Princess’s involvement wasn’t simple; why had she insisted on meeting them in person right after they met the Wandering Alchemist?

Moreover, at the banquet, she subtly mentioned something about a decade ago.

But whether to agree or how to agree was another matter entirely.

...