novelraw Book 2: Chapter 189: Silti's Promotion
Book 2: Chapter 189: Silti's Promotion
Vol 2 Chapter 189 Silti's Promotion
After a bout of distress, Sylutia’s mood gradually calmed, and she could finally savor the scene she had made.
Now the hills were blanketed with Bright Flame Cornflowers, and all had reached Third Tier. Unfortunately, they were a very special mutated variety. Even Sylutia, as their creator, could only cultivate them inside the manor; transplanted elsewhere, these cornflowers could not continue to grow—they relied heavily on the unique environment.
She selected a batch of Bright Flame Cornflowers with good quality and condition and transplanted them back into the manor. Sylutia rose to leave, then suddenly remembered something she had forgotten.
She grew her butterfly wings again and flew into a low canyon, searching the soft, charred soil. Using catalyzing vines, she dug up a silkworm cocoon buried deep in the earth.
Inside the broken silk cocoon, a red-haired youth still slept soundly, showing no sign of waking.
Sylutia stepped in front of him and blinked. Light flowed through her eyes as she examined him carefully, finding no major problems. Then she brought her hands together into a triangular shape and closed her eyes to pray.
Soon, clear dew poured from the image of the Bottle-Bearing Saintess behind her and sprinkled over the young man.
The red-haired youth, who had slept for a long time, felt a coolness on his face and saw the fuzzy chaos in his mind clear into wakefulness.
“What is this?”He sat up dizzily and, looking at the girl in front of him wearing a white, waist-cinched dress, his gaze gradually steadied.
Under the dark sky, the girl looked like she was dressed for a picnic in a summer dress, and they stood in a beautiful sea of flowers—an image that clashed with the locations in his memory and made Gallas feel disoriented.
Am I dead? Was I ferried by a Celestial Gardens messenger to a fairy garden? But that kind of treatment is usually reserved for legendary heroes, right?
His thoughts scrambled. The beautiful flower sea felt like a dream.
Seeing him still dazed, Sylutia had to wave a finger in front of his eyes.
“Not awake yet? I think you should be mostly fine.” The girl murmured softly to herself.
When those words fell, they pulled Gallas from the dreamlike haze back to reality. He suddenly grabbed at the soil beside him, looked around, and touched his face and legs.
“I… I’m not dead?”
“Not dead yet, senior.” The girl put her hands behind her back and lifted one leg slightly, the pretty knee shaping and defining itself beneath her skirt.
After Sylutia explained, Gallas finally understood the general course of events.
“So we were exploring inside a giant monster, and near the end it woke up and tried to swallow us—completing some kind of resurrection?”
“That’s right.” The girl glanced to one side, twirled a finger through her hair while thinking, then nodded.
“I extracted some information from the soul-consciousness it released when it died. The whole trial was actually a large ritual.”
“If we integrate those card abilities into ourselves during the trial, it’s equivalent to agreeing to a kind of ‘contract.’”
“Opponents who die in the trial have their powers absorbed by the victors. When the last member wins, he absorbs the other six people’s powers, fusing them into himself to ascend. The more people he absorbs, the deeper he becomes bound to the ‘contract.’”
“In the end, the entity lodged inside the host monster can, according to the ‘contract,’ demand our souls and take over the final victor’s body.”
Sylutia recited the ritual’s process based on records in her grimoire.
After listening, Gallas shivered with fear.
“Will the ability the labyrinth granted in my fate plate still be affected by that entity?”
“Not anymore, probably, because the creditor to the contract is dead.” The girl blinked prettily.
“Huh? How did it die?” Gallas couldn’t help asking. A monster like that should have been at least Fifth Tier.
“Well… it seems… it should count as being killed by me.” Sylutia answered with some embarrassment. In truth, she had relied on outside help—the power of an otherworldly witch.
“This…” Gallas looked at the girl before him. She was roughly Fourth Tier, maybe, and the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, yet how could someone of Fourth Tier strength slay such a terrifying ancient monster?
“The process is complicated. Think of it as me seeing through the contract it enforced, finding its weak point, and countering it.” Sylutia offered that explanation.
Though hard to believe, Gallas found no better reason to doubt her. After all, she had saved him and did him no harm; there was no reason for such a clumsy lie.
“I understand.” He answered with some difficulty.
“Let’s go back. This situation is special; we should report to the Hidden Grove Alliance.” Sylutia recalled something and felt a fresh wave of worry.
The youth before her was easy to mislead, but the high-ups in the Hidden Grove Alliance were not so simple. How could she explain that she defeated the monster? Fully disclose everything? As a visitor from another world, what treatment would she receive? She had no confidence.
With mixed relief and anxiety, the two returned to the Flint Fortress and reported to the Hidden Grove guild stationed there.
As expected, upon hearing their account, members of the Hidden Grove guild were astonished and urgently passed the information upward. Soon others went to inspect the place where the Bright Flame Cornflowers bloomed.
The dramatic environmental changes there shocked the investigators, who reported upward. Now not only the Flint Fortress, but also senior figures of the Hidden Grove Alliance heard of the astonishing occurrence.
One month later.
The flower sea where the Bright Flame Cornflowers bloomed was protected by a special magic array set up by the Hidden Grove Alliance. White stone pillars were erected on the perimeter, walkways and stairs were paved, a Castle-type aspect structure was constructed, and a protective veil was raised to isolate and defend the area.
Afterward, many personnel came to the flower sea to station and research, exploring the secrets behind the environment’s formation and the special properties of the Bright Flame Cornflowers.
Scholars from various quarters sifted through historical scraps looking for records of Pallen Markov, a Named One long vanished, and gradually pieced together part of the historical truth.
“Clearly, the name ‘Pallen Markov’ was not a single person’s true name. During the Eighth Epoch, a cult deliberately created this image to gather belief and perform special rituals.”
“Each generation’s cult leader would act as the role of ‘Pallen Markov.’”
“In that era when the Hours shifted and Named Ones fought, this heretical organization expanded greatly. They came very close to success.”
“Through a series of earth-shattering deceptions, they managed to crystallize the concept of ‘the lie’ and engraved ‘Pallen Markov’ on the world’s walls.”
“But that final grand deception angered another Named One. Out of humiliation and rage, that Named One used his true name and aspect to burn, tearing the cult’s base from the surface continent and plunging it into the Twilight Sea.”
“After that, the name ‘Pallen Markov’ slowly faded from history and was forgotten.”
“By the way, this cult’s origin is the Twin-Snake Cult, and it was a branch under Twin-Snake.”
“So you can see many rituals involving human sacrifices, devouring opponents’ flesh and powers, and forbidden arts that fuse multiple life bloodlines.”
As analysis and investigation concluded, the truth gradually came into view.
“In the end, to better manage this special region, we decided to establish a new garrison here and name it Sunblaze Garden. And naturally, the manager and leader of this new garrison is… Miss Sylutia.” On stage, a Hidden Grove Alliance scholar raised the appointment letter and handed it to the silver-haired girl standing beside him.
Today she wore a dignified gown of white with flaming red at the sleeves and hem. A Bright Flame Cornflower was tucked at her ear, decorating her smooth long hair.
When she accepted the appointment, the high-ranking members of the Hidden Grove Alliance in the audience applauded and offered smiles of admiration and praise. Only the newly honored girl looked slightly troubled, thinking of the growing weight of responsibilities on her shoulders.
This should be a good thing, she consoled herself.
At least after over a month of investigation, the Hidden Grove Alliance believed her account without suspicion, entrusted her with an important duty, and she had now set one foot into the alliance’s decision-making circle, gaining knowledge of many of its secrets and high-level policies.
Though she still could not match the familiarity or rank of Captain Cassius or the wizard Kuland Hill, she was no longer an ordinary apprentice or a small nobody within the Alliance.