Their romance storyline only begins on the second playthrough

The old woman simply stood behind the counter watching their figures gradually disappear, and finally sighed.

"Lord Rhodes, please take care. Welcome to visit again."

……

Rhodes led the two girls forward, walking in the warm light of the rising sun.

At first, Ivina and Cecilia had quite a few arguments, including Cecilia's complaints after her death, and Ivina bringing up Cecilia's excuse of running away.

In fact, the moment they started arguing, Rhodes understood that Cecilia had achieved her goal.

Ivina was kind-hearted after all. Even though she had just been stabbed by the doll she once relied on a few days ago, after a few days, she acted as if nothing had happened and forgot about it all.

That's just how it is...

However, Rhodes stopped in his tracks and looked ahead, noticing that the crowd had inexplicably become much larger, and it seemed that everyone was surrounding the person in the middle—

"It seems like they're buying something up ahead," Rod thought.

"Huh? What? Blocking the middle of the street." Ivina was a little unhappy, but her eyes quickly flashed with a shimmering light. "Is it common for businesses to stand in the middle of the street and block the road? Rod Rod, hey hey."

Not often, unless it's something special.

Rhodes listened intently to the voice from the center.

A precise shout reached his ears immediately.

It was the voice of a middle-aged man:

"The imperial capital has decided to hold a divine sacrifice in two weeks, and for this reason, the Imperial City Star Orbit has started operating!"

"Gentlemen, you are all well aware of the function of the Imperial City Star Track, right? As a transportation artery connecting the entire empire, it is not activated most of the time."

"Now, because of the sacred ceremony, a special number of train tickets have been sold to ensure the safe arrival of nobles in the capital."

"And in my hands..."

There's no need to listen to the rest.

Because it's nothing more than sales pitches like, "I have a few train tickets. This is the best opportunity to see the gods in person and receive their blessings. As long as you travel by star trail, you can safely and quickly travel to the capital to enjoy the divine sacrifice for free!"

Star Orbit Rhodes naturally knew.

As the nation of "pleasure," Linlank naturally boasts the most advanced and convenient technological development among all nations.

Because of this magical kinetic energy, it is also possible to create convenient vehicles that can travel across the country.

If the orbital train that Rhodes and his companions rode in operated within the city of Phillips, then the Star Rail was a high-speed transportation tool that spanned the entire Empire.

For example, if Rhodes and his group were to travel directly to the capital normally, it would take about three days, but using the star trail, they could easily arrive in a day at most.

However, the Star Orbit is usually only activated when a major event occurs in the Empire, because the amount of magic power consumed is simply too enormous.

Clearly, a problem has arisen—

A major event – ​​a divine sacrifice.

"A divine sacrifice?" Rhodes' eyes froze, his alertness instantly rising to its highest level.

Then, he glanced at Cecilia and asked, "Tell me about it?"

"Tsk... What a damn thief, how come he already told you what I was going to tell you tonight?"

Cecilia covered her mouth, looking somewhat helpless.

Something I never expected.

That makes sense, though. Once preparations for a major event like a religious ceremony begin, the news probably spreads throughout the country in just a few days.

Or perhaps, the capital city also had the ambition to do something big, and was eager to prove to the people of the whole country that the gods were still alive, so it's no wonder that the news spread so quickly.

Although she could understand, her eyes were still filled with displeasure.

Everything was fine before, but if it weren't for that person shouting...

He not only blocked her way and ruined her mood, but also prematurely revealed the invitation she had prepared for the grand opera performance that evening.

In an instant, all the fun was destroyed by this person.

That's it.

Since the invitation had been leaked beforehand, there was nothing more they could do but continue talking like this.

"Yes, the sacrificial ceremony, how was it? Were you happy?"

Cecilia composed herself, tilted her head, and looked at Rhodes with a smile. "Darling, this is a little gift that we witches have prepared."

"So, as I told you before, whether it's the Celestial Star Bow or the fragments, we have to wait until one thing is over before we start."

"Now you know exactly why, right?"

Rhodes's face was very calm, but the calmer he was, the more it revealed the turmoil in his emotions.

It was like... the time when I faced Lilith.

He understood what this thing represented, of course, as a divine offering.

It represents forcibly bringing a god into the world, uglyly revealing the truth that Lilith has already fallen, and bringing the Empire's madness a full month ahead of schedule.

One month.

Say no more, say less.

At least, he was able to break through to the fourth level in such a short period of time. If you do the math, you'll understand the difference in time pressure.

Last night, he calmly comforted Natalie and Felicity, but today's events really made him panic for a moment.

But this panic only lasts for a moment.

His eyes were calm, and his breathing was even and relaxed.

Come on.

Leaving aside the question of how Lilith used the restored power after obtaining the Star God Bow to fake that she was still alive...

He could also forcibly seize the fragments of the Demon God and become a pseudo-Star God ahead of time—

“Understood.” Rhodes nodded. “But the question is, how did you manage to do it? In the previous life, the divine sacrifice was not successfully held ahead of schedule.”

"Because there was a spy who helped us out."

"is it?"

"How about it, are you surprised?"

"It's alright." Rhodes simply nodded.

"Ok?"

Seeing Rhodes' calm reaction, Cecilia was actually a little unhappy.

"Are you pretending nothing's wrong because you don't want to make me happy?" she asked tentatively.

"No, I just thought about it and realized that having this extra thing makes no difference at all."

Rhodes shook his head, his expression returning to its usual indifferent state:

"The only extra thing is that we need to go back to the Duke's mansion to buy some train tickets from the Duke. After all, we still need to make use of the fact that the Star Rail has been activated."

"what."

Cecilia frowned, increasingly unable to understand.

Shouldn't.

The divine sacrifice should be a huge threat to Rhodes, at least enough to make him obediently give up on saving this meaningless country and return to his own empire.

But why does he seem genuinely indifferent?

Is he trying to appear calm? Or has he already found a solution?

Clearly, this is an extreme information gap.

Although Cecilia knew that Lilith could regain her power by obtaining the Star God Bow, she never thought that Lilith could use this faith to mobilize the gods.

She could never have imagined that Rhodes had obtained the Demon Seed, and she could never have guessed that he had actually managed to fuse multiple God Seeds and, after seizing the Demon God Fragment, could become a False God.

The idea of ​​fusing multiple divine species, no matter what, is something that can be dismissed in the blink of an eye.

Because it's simply impossible and unrealistic.

How can a god forgive a believer who worships two gods at the same time?

This is a very simple principle.

But she also found it difficult to understand why Rhodes in this life was so much stronger than in the previous life, and she also found it difficult to understand why his skills contained traces of other divine beings.

It's hard to guess, so it remains a mystery.

"That's good. I was worried that my darling would be unhappy," Cecilia said softly, a smile still playing on her lips.

"Alright, now let's make changes."

"Let's bypass this group of people and continue exploring. We can also head north and visit the Duke's mansion."

“After all, Ivina, you are leaving Phillips soon. It would be good for you to go back and say goodbye to the Duke.”

"Ah..." Ivina had been completely bewildered from the start. "I don't know anything about the divine sacrifice or anything like that... But anyway, we have to go back to find Father, buy train tickets, and go to the capital, right?"

"Yes, Ivina is very smart."

Rod reached out and gently stroked her head.

Feeling her bangs being pulled down, Ivina lowered her head, her face slightly flushed, and called out:

"Oh dear! I'm not a child, don't praise me with such a clumsy method!"

Chapter 148 The Young Couple Reports on Their Current Situation

The Duke of Sanders' House.

When Rhodes and his group returned here after a few days, the Duke's mansion was naturally unchanged.

It remains a classic medieval building, with knight totems engraved on the walls and pale red eaves.

The buildings damaged in the previous battle have been restored to their original state by Professor Merrick's restoration clay figures. In fact, because it was a renovation, the Duke's mansion has become much cleaner and tidier.