What's wrong with me, a mage, loving to farm?

Chapter 222. Is it a matter of escaping for your life or digging for treasure?

With Kroya's help, the situation at the front-line base has stabilized. At least until the magic power provided by Kroya and the various potions that help magical plants grow quickly are used up, there will be absolutely no problem.

Unless... some particularly powerful mage or cultist, or a warrior or knight capable of single-handedly breaching a city, arrives.

However, even if there are things that can affect the plant defenses, Milfein will take action to deal with them.

The situation is now clear: the enemy intends to use this worthless swarm of insects to deplete Mifein's magic power, as well as the knights' stamina and lives.

However, coincidentally, Kroa is the one least afraid of a war of attrition.

Having expanded his agricultural holdings across the seas, he now possessed ample resources. He hadn't even deployed the modified magical beasts yet, only sending out a portion of magical plants for combat.

That's not his true strength at all.

Even if some unexpected events occur, he can mobilize more magical plants to deal with them.

All of this can be seen as necessary losses in training magical plants and testing magical plant tactics. As long as some experience can be gained for improvement, it is worthwhile.

Therefore, Kroya was very confident. After resolving the matter here, he chatted with Miffy, who was finally able to take a breather.

Then he focused on dealing with matters in the Yavana Holy Mine.

Although he wasn't directly controlling them just now, the angel version of Kroya was still leading everyone forward.

Although leading this group of people through the rock face was quite difficult, they actually managed to find quite a few treasures.

It should be noted that this is one of the largest mineral deposits on the continent of Zemuria, and it is a mineral deposit that has not been depleted even after hundreds of years of destructive mining.

The power of the Earth Mother Goddess and the magic of the Aether Realm formed countless magic crystals and their derivative minerals within this place.

The wonders of the earth are clearly revealed within this giant mine, such as what Kroya is seeing now—

Countless crystals formed a narrow cave, so many of them that they formed a crystal forest. A yellowish-brown magic flowed within the crystals, making them both crystal clear and heavy.

From a distance, it looks like a palace made of earth crystal, inhabited by gods and elemental lords who serve them.

This is one of the derivative minerals of magic crystals, called "earth topaz," which is a major material for drawing earth-attribute magic circles and making potions.

Its price even exceeds that of the magic crystal itself; a standard-weight earth yellow crystal can cost as much as three magic crystals.

Kroya's first reaction upon seeing these things was to put them all away—however, he was currently in his angel form.

Imagine this: an angel radiating dazzling holy light suddenly starts working like a miner, hammering and pounding away, greedily taking all the ore into his pocket.

This scene was so offensive that he couldn't even bear to think about it.

However, he felt it was a huge loss to let so many ores go. His territory was in the ocean, and while he had plenty of water element ores, earth element ores were quite rare.

So he hesitated briefly, then decisively communicated with the elf Ellie: "Have the earth thief help me get some of this earth yellow crystal, and we'll split it 50/50."

Ellie's first reaction upon hearing Chloe's mental communication was... You actually value these things?

As a member of the Orpheus family, the small plane she was born in had many mineral veins and deposits brought back by the elders of the family, which she could basically take at will.

Having never worried about resources, she suddenly felt a sense of unreality when she heard that such a holy and powerful angel wanted these things.

Fortunately, she's not the kind of person whose emotional intelligence is so low it's practically nonexistent.

Since Chloe wants her help, she will help.

She immediately said, "The quality of the earth yellow crystals here is quite good, Your Grace. Could you stay here for a while?"

We've all collected some.

The elf Mayne, who had been following her, suddenly looked up and stared at Ellie with a look of utter disbelief, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated, yet remained silent.

In the end, nothing was said.

What shocked him even more was the angel's reaction—

"Can."

An angel radiating dazzling holy light summoned pure white clouds, sat down, and closed his eyes slightly, seemingly to rest.

"..."

Mayne had absolutely no idea what to say.

Seeing their hesitation, Ellie said, "Go and collect the food. I have some food here, and we can rest for a bit."

After saying that, she took the lead in collecting the earth yellow crystals.

The paladins watched as the beautiful elf went to collect materials, and the angels, who were resting, also began to gather materials, eager to join in.

Seeing this, Mayne had no choice but to join the others in collecting earth yellow crystals and then put these materials into the space magic bag inside the earth-stealing rat's neck.

For a moment, the cave echoed with the tinkling sound of crystals being struck.

After about half an hour, the materials were finally collected. Without saying a word, Kroya got up and continued to lead the way.

During his rest, he communicated with Celeste, who was deep underground, and the pit lord to determine the direction and location.

The other party seems to have arrived at a rather strange place, and even the communication channels with the Holy Spring Chamber of Commerce are somewhat unstable.

As he pondered what to do next, he watched people collect earth yellow crystals.

The members of the Silver Wing Knights all carried spatial magic devices, so there was no mention of them carrying earth yellow crystals as they advanced.

Elf Ellie is practically a spatial magic artifact from head to toe—it contains not only all sorts of supplies, but also food she's bought from all over the world.

While collecting ore, she generously shared it with the Silverwing Knights.

After resting and eating their fill, and having acquired a batch of valuable amber crystals, the knights suddenly felt that the journey wasn't so difficult after all.

The group continued onward.

Not long after, before the angel in the form of Kroya, the stone wall was wiped away by holy light, and then a dazzling rainbow-colored light suddenly flashed behind it.

Even with the angelic avatar as a man-made light source, everyone squinted because of the light.

But only Kroya saw what was inside the cave—sheep with soft, curly white fur, small wings made of white light on their sides, and pale golden halos on their heads.

Well, he's an old friend.

Angel Sheep!

At this moment, their bodies were all shimmering with rainbow-colored light, and beneath their curly wool, countless fragments of obsidian shone brightly.

They forcefully formed rainbow-colored rays of light, rippled outwards, and illuminated the entire cave like a heavenly realm on a rainbow.

The last time I saw the angel sheep was inside that strange cloud island in the sea, but this time it was deep in the earth.

Moreover, the celestial crystals on these sheep are extremely large, almost as big as the raw stones of the Seven Luminaries Crystal.

Kroya's first reaction upon seeing them was to immediately wave her hand and unleash a white-gold light curtain, instantly enveloping all the angel sheep within it.

After seeing these angel sheep last time, Kroya asked the angels many questions and also bought information about the angel sheep from the Holy Spring Merchant Guild.

After comparison and contrast, he was basically certain that this was a very peculiar creature, born with extremely powerful spatial magic.

The source of this magic is unknown, yet it can withstand almost any attack and can also open spatial passages anywhere to escape.

However, some Radiant Crystals would fall off after attacking them. Therefore, the Holy Spring Merchant Guild believed that their spatial abilities came from the Radiant Crystals on their bodies.

The more damage you inflict on them and the more spatial power you consume, the more Radiant Crystals will fall.

As for more, the Holy Spring Merchant Guild, besides saying that a higher membership level was required, directly stated that these magical beasts were extremely difficult to capture, and even they could only capture a few.

Even powerful legendary mages who are lucky enough to encounter them can only obtain a massive amount of Radiant Crystal fragments, and then watch helplessly as they flee.

Kroya was no exception. Although the platinum light curtain had trapped these angel sheep, and the power came from the angels, it was still opening spatial rifts.

Colorful shards of light shed from their bodies, and this time it wasn't just the four types of shards: earth, water, fire, and wind, but also the three superior attributes: void, illusion, and time.

Various kinds of obsidian crystals were piled up on the ground, extremely dazzling.

After falling through a layer of obsidian crystals about five centimeters thick, they finally opened the spatial passage, eagerly rushed inside, and fled.

From the moment Kroya unleashed the platinum-gold light barrier to their escape, less than a minute had passed; at most, it was only thirty seconds.

Because the tunnel he specially opened was very small, it could only accommodate two people walking side by side at most, so the procession was very long. In addition, he immediately enveloped the angel sheep with a platinum light curtain.

So at this moment, the people following behind him could only see the burst of rainbow light, and they hadn't figured out what was going on yet, so they stood still obediently in place.

"With so many Radiant Crystals, it doesn't matter if they escape..."

Looking at the scattered fragments of Radiant Crystal, Kroya disregarded her angelic composure and immediately swept all the fragments into her pocket.

This is also a convenient magical technique that can use spatial power to create a pocket that can hold things in a short time.

Of course, this is magic that can only be used in his angelic state. If he were in his true form, he could only control a small amount of spatial magic, at most enough to create a pocket the size of a brick.

After installing the Radiant Crystals, Kroya acted as if nothing had happened and continued on his way.

The cave was completely empty after the Yao crystal was taken away, so although people were very curious about what had just happened, no one dared to ask.

This is the benefit of having a certain status; even if they are very curious, they won't ask as long as Kroya is unwilling to bring it up.

Kroa was extremely pleased with his unexpected acquisition of the Earth Yellow Crystal and a large number of Obsidian Crystals, and he also had a vague feeling that there would be more gains to come.

And that is indeed the case.

On the rest of the journey, he came across a vast expanse of jade-filled water, each containing pure water that had been contained within the jade at the time of the earth's creation.

In addition, there are endless stalactites and the earth's milk-like fluid at the bottom of the stalactites; underground gas springs that spew out massive amounts of fiery magic; and extremely silent underground lakes inhabited by blind fish without eyes.

Faced with these things, Kroya didn't suggest taking them all for himself. Instead, he let Ellie speak up and pretended to tacitly approve of their collection.

After these few incidents, the group had completely lost their initial cautiousness and trepidation, and even began to doubt whether they were there to escape or to collect treasures.

Even Chloe herself was a little doubtful. Even if there were many treasures in the Yavana Holy Mine, wasn't her luck a bit too good?

Not only did they not encounter any enemies, but they also collected so many treasures; it's like they had a lucky streak.

He couldn't help but recall the way the angel had always addressed him—"Lucky Friend."

Could it be that this luck refers to real luck?

……

In contrast to the relaxed and enjoyable treasure hunt on Kroya's side, the situation on the Orpheus Oak Ark was not so good.

As it broke through the rock layers and continued downwards, mushroom warriors, mushroom mages, and cultists from the Zul'Gurub territory began to appear and try to stop it.

These beings, originating from a lower plane and corrupted by demonic magic, possess extremely corrosive magic whenever they cast spells.

They didn't rush to block the divine ship's path immediately, but slowly consumed the magic power of the Orpheus Oak Divine Ship, like a spider web, trying to control it.

Faced with this situation, the Orpheus Oak still chose to unleash its magic without hesitation; now, all it felt was the joy and eagerness to see its master.

It has even begun to affect its intelligence.

We all know that once one loses their rationality, even the strongest power will gradually lead to destruction—this is what the cardinal, sitting on the deck of the Shenzhou and pouring the magic of light into the rudder, thought and did.

He muttered to himself, "Soon, soon... but it's not time yet."

While casting his magic, he also took out a magical artifact shaped like the Star of Bethlehem and said into it, "Ruthes, have you found the place?"

A respectful voice came from the magical artifact: "Your Excellency Cardinal, I am now almost at the site of the wound where the Earth Mother was torn apart."

As you requested, I have inscribed the Light-Burning runes on all the Silverwing Knights. As soon as the magic circle outside is activated, I can immediately summon the messenger of the gods!

The cardinal nodded in satisfaction: "The core of the magic circle at the front-line base is in your hands. You must remember that..."

His voice became solemn and serious, filled with a condescending gaze and pity: "They sacrificed themselves for God's gift; their flesh and blood will become the ladder for God's descent, and their spirits and souls will live forever in God's glory!"

If Cloa were here, she would punch him without hesitation, because his expression showed almost no compassion for life other than religious fanaticism and expectation.

This is the root of Kroya's long-standing aversion to forces like the Church of Light; they are simply too fanatical, willing to sacrifice the vast majority of people without hesitation for a single goal.

Upon hearing his command, Bishop Ruthes, who was deep underground, immediately replied respectfully, "As you wish, all for the coming of the Son of God!"

"Go do it."

After the last sound faded, Lutes looked at the Bethlehem Star-shaped magical artifact in his hand, put it away, and then looked back—

Behind him was a group of Silverwing Knights, their bodies clad in countless wondrous and intricate magical runes, their bodies completely naked.

These magical runes shimmered with a bright light, pure and flawless, seemingly intolerant of the slightest filth, so pure that it made one feel somewhat uneasy.

They all had their eyes closed, their steps stiff, but their faces were filled with the fanatical light of impending martyrdom. Following behind Ruthes, they were like a group of walking corpses.

"For the coming of the Son of God... Mifein."

The bishop took a deep breath and carefully took out the magic circle plate that he always carried with him, which was engraved with the core of the front-line base's magic circle.

But when he saw the extremely stable magical light flashing on the magic circle, his expression immediately turned extremely ugly.

"How is this possible—"

He exclaimed, "How can Milfein still be maintaining the bountiful wheat fields? Won't his power run out?"

This discovery immediately made him very uneasy.

According to the plan, once Mifein is exhausted, he will activate the magic circle and sacrifice all the lives in the entire city.

Those powers will be absorbed uncontrollably by Mifein, and he will be instantly filled with the power of light.

At that time, the Earth Mother's favor will surely stop it, and the seal deep within the Yavana Sacred Mine will be broken by the explosive magic, surging towards Mifein.

He could take this opportunity to sacrifice the rest of them. These Silver Knights were extremely devout fanatics, and their power could summon divine messengers.

The divine messenger will absorb the blessings of the Earth Mother Goddess from Mifein, and through Mifein's body, descend into this world, then drive away evil and come to the depths of the earth to make a wish.

The plan was flawless, but without a significant depletion of Milfein's power, nothing could be accomplished.

Even if the divine messenger were to truly descend, he would surely be driven away by the still conscious Mifein. At that time, it would be a direct clash between the divine power of the Earth Mother Goddess and the divine power of light.

Even if the church members are slow to react, they will definitely arrive immediately.

The thought of that scene made him look at the tall figure clad in holy white dragon armor not far in front of him, and he questioned:

"What on earth is going on?!"

His tone was extremely angry.

Thank you so much for your monthly tickets and recommendations, I am extremely grateful!

(End of this chapter)