My dear witch, please turn evil according to the script!

Chapter 369 Communication Interruption, Cangya Castle

Cellina had no idea how long she had been walking in the snowstorm.

At least she was no longer able to maintain the power of her runes.

Although she still has a lot of magic power within her, she must use it in battle.

The far north is never short of monsters.

Ultimately, demons are simply creatures with advanced intelligence.

Since the high concentration of magic in the far north can give birth to demons, it is not surprising that some powerful magical beasts also emerge from it.

At least in Cellina's limited memories of the demons, the royal army would organize an extermination operation every year to eliminate the powerful demonic beasts that entrenched themselves near the demon city-states.

Some of these colossal beasts even required the intervention of the King of the Royal Court to eliminate them.

Although we've traveled for so long, we haven't encountered any powerful monsters. At most, we've only encountered some kobolds, orcs, and demon bandits, as well as some giant slimes.

Celina is not difficult to deal with.

But what if...

She needs to reserve enough magic power to activate the runestone's power at least once, to defend against potential enemies of the ninth-ring legendary rank.

Especially now that Roland is unconscious and it's unclear when he will wake up.

Although Roland's life force was stabilized by the flames burning on his body.

However, there are few signs of improvement.

And to make matters worse, all the communication spells I had just tried had failed!

Not only could they not call for help, they couldn't even relay their current situation!
Cellina could hardly imagine Kalia's mental state when she heard that Roland's fate was unknown.

She had already witnessed it get out of control once, although the harm was stopped in time.

However, the mental pressure he felt when facing those "shadows" made the bishop's out-of-control blessing seem so kind and endearing.

It was a fear and tremor that originated from the soul. Even if the energy level of the power was not high, it could still prevent a person from having the slightest feeling of resistance.

This was Kalia's out-of-control state when she had fused with half of an evil god and her rank was still low.

If she loses control now... no, no, why must we assume she loses control when we think about how things will develop?

After all, there are still Iluvia and Flam there.

Based on her understanding of the princess, this person had probably left something on Roland.

After all, decaying authority also represents a portion of life.

If Iluvia really did leave some marks on Roland, at least we could know Roland's safety through her.

As long as she's not dead, Cellina believes that Kalia shouldn't be out of control now.

Now she could only hope that the princess's bad habits from her time in the capital hadn't been completely corrected and that she still retained some subtle possessiveness.

Otherwise, until Cellina finds a way to remove the communication barrier, humanity will remain completely unaware of Roland's condition.

As she walked and thought, Cellina suddenly felt that her surroundings were becoming familiar.

They even discovered a dirt and stone path through the forest.

Cellina realized something, and her body began to tremble slightly.

She quickened her pace and walked along the dirt and stone path that appeared in the forest bushes and was not yet completely covered by snow.

Soon, a dilapidated, mostly collapsed ancient castle estate came into view before Cellinina.

She thought she would never return here in her life.

But it is precisely now, right now...

As a descendant of the Cangya family, she knew best where the Cangya family stood.

Because of the Demon King's trust, the Cangya family, which rose rapidly during the Thousand-Year War, soon obtained a family residence near the Royal Court Covenant Temple.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have passed by the Temple of Covenant and seen the Golden Horn, the artifact of creation, when she was escaping.

In other words... they are now right next to the royal court's headquarters.

Even less than 100 kilometers away.

Cellina shivered violently.

Given their proximity, it was impossible for the royal court not to have noticed such intense spatial fluctuations, especially since Roland was using the Demon King's signature technique, the Spear of Boundary Breaking!
Although the initial fear subsided, Cellina quickly realized that if the royal court had truly discovered her, her journey would not have been so easy.

In other words, at least for now, they are safe.

Moreover, the Cangya family has been destroyed for a long time, and for most people, this place is already a ruin.

When I dealt with those bandits blocking the road, I didn't use any magic; I solved the problem simply by wielding my sword.

There's no need to worry about leaving any traces of magic.

Cellina calmed down and then took Roland into the family castle, which had been reduced to ruins.

Although most of the castle collapsed during the battle back then... isn't there still a small part that hasn't collapsed?
At this point, having a roof to shelter from the wind and snow was enough. Fortunately, as Cellina searched, childhood memories began to surface, allowing her to move unimpeded through the ruins and eventually find the solitary spire connected by a covered bridge where her bedroom was located.

This place wasn't completely destroyed!
The covered bridge was damaged!

With a few leaps, Cellina carried Roland to the observation deck of the spire, which was more than ten meters high, and then jumped down to the platform connecting the bridge below.

She pushed open the door, which was locked with a rusty and fragile lock. With the sound of the lock falling off, a room that was covered in dust and cobwebs and filled with all sorts of small animals appeared before Cherlinina.

The place is still largely preserved as it was when she fled.

The collapsed bookshelf—the strict Moon Fox teacher, who liked to tell her little stories in her spare time after class, pulled two books about cultivation and meditation from the bookshelf at the critical moment and stuffed them into Cellina's arms.

Because of its rough handling, the entire bookshelf was pulled to the ground, scattering the books all over the floor.

He then went out to fight, trying to buy her even just a minute.

The messy, open wardrobe—her mother hurriedly grabbed only two essential winter coats for her before fleeing with her through the open window.

And the locked door.

The maid, who had grown up with her since childhood and was like a sister to her, chose to impersonate her at the last moment and stayed in the room with several loyal family guards, blending in with her.

She knew nothing of the fates of everyone except her mother.

But thinking about it... the only way out is death.

Those painful memories and emotions, which she had long since forgotten and sealed deep within her mind, all surged back to her heart the moment she revisited the place.

She has never forgotten these things... she just doesn't want to think about them.

She only wanted to live out the rest of her life peacefully, carrying the wishes of her family and friends who had given everything so that she could live.

What she didn't expect was that her past, which she had tried to avoid at all costs, would eventually find her again many years later in a way that could be described as playful and ironic.

She gently released her magic, and the afterglow of the sunstone swept away the chill, dust, and insects from the place.

The bed I used as a child is no longer usable, as are the other pieces of furniture.

But she did not choose to clean it up.

Her room was large enough that she could take out a portable cot and a blanket from her storage ring for Roland to rest in.

After settling Roland in and making sure the flames on his body wouldn't ignite the blankets, Cellina sat on the windowsill, glancing at the furnishings inside the house, then at the unconscious Roland, and then at the snow and ruins outside the window.

Finally, she turned her gaze away from the window.

The hatred and anger that had been dormant for a long time were once again suppressed in Cellina's heart.

Now, all she wants is for Roland to wake up soon.

Then perhaps she could join Roland and escape back to human territory along the same escape route they took back then.

Compared to myself back then, it should be much easier for me to do this now.

After all, when she was fleeing for her life, there wasn't a single bone dragon that could fly.

Thinking of this, Cellina leaned forward, hugged her knees, rested her head on her knees, and looked at Roland with a smile.

Hmm... the life force seems to be more vigorous.

Is it really just a lack of a suitable resting environment?

Should I prepare some food for myself at this time?

As Cherlinina was thinking this, she suddenly realized a major problem.

There was no food, or rather, not enough food.

She's not Kalia; she doesn't have such convenient shadow spaces to store large amounts of food.

She only had enough dry food and water for one person to eat for a day—a habit she had maintained over her years as an adventurer and mercenary.

Although beings at the transcendent level can go without food for a period of time, a lack of food intake will slow down the recovery rate of magic power. Without food, they can only use magic power to maintain the survival of their physical body.

We can only hope that Roland's storage ring contains plenty of snacks to appease Kalia.

...Otherwise, they would have to risk being discovered by the royal court and go hunting outside.

Otherwise, if they don't eat, their combat power will decrease due to hunger and lack of magic.

For the two who are currently in the enemy's main camp, not a single bit of combat power can be ignored.

Um?what is that?
Can fog even form during heavy snow in the far north?

Cellina squinted and looked into the distance, checking several times before she was sure she saw a thick fog appearing at the edge of the horizon.

No... no matter what, the extent of this fog is just too exaggerated.

Huh!? It's disappeared!?
Startled, Cellina jumped out of the window and stood at the top of the spire, gazing into the distance. She then noticed that the mist that had just appeared briefly had suddenly vanished.

Moreover, she turned her head and looked in the direction of the Royal Covenant Temple from her memory, and sure enough, there was a bonfire lit on the top of the Covenant Temple.

Attack!?
Could it be that these mysteries are the reason why the demons are heading south to start a war?

(End of this chapter)