Chapter 151 : Chapter 151
Chapter : 151
Just as they were preparing to grit their teeth and fight these black-robed people, Penelope finally arrived with the supervising teacher of this trip. It hardly took any time at all before these black-robed people were successfully taken down.
The students, who had been incredibly nervous, all breathed a sigh of relief. A few of the younger ones couldn't help but choke back sobs, and as their tense emotions relaxed, they now burst into loud wails.
The injured person who had been healed by Yise was quickly transferred into the hands of another teacher who was more skilled at healing.
Rowena turned her head, only to see Yise casting a minor healing spell with a normal expression.
The magic skill that originally contained the light element was concealed, making it completely unnoticeable that she had ever used such a talent skill.
Even the teacher who had just taken over healing the injured person didn't notice, and instead praised Yise for learning the healing spell well.
Perhaps only Rowena, who had witnessed everything, knew what had just happened.
Yise wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled sweetly at the teacher, "After all, if I learn healing magic well, I won't have to let my companions wait for death in this kind of situation. I have been properly studying the courses you taught."
Such an obvious compliment was greatly appreciated by the teacher. The little old man nodded cheerfully, "Not bad, not bad."
Yise winked in Rowena's direction. Rowena touched her nose and finally averted her gaze, deciding to give up on getting to the bottom of this matter.
Anyway, everyone had their own secrets, even she did.
A familiar, fresh scent drew near. Rowena was startled, and when she turned around, she met Yise's gentle, tea-colored watery eyes, which were like the ripples spreading across a summer lake, unbelievably beautiful.
"I won't tell anyone." Rowena didn't know what she was thinking either, but the words slipped out the moment she met those eyes, making a promise she herself didn't fully understand.
Yise blinked and let out a soft laugh. Her looks were not stunning, her features gentle. When she crinkled her eyes and smiled, she was like an elegant lily in full bloom.
Even though her face was also stained with dirt, and her hair was disheveled.
"That's not what I meant." Yise waved her hand, holding out the handkerchief in her hand toward Rowena again.
She gently tapped the tip of her own nose with her fingertip, "Here, you've got some blood on you, oh, wipe it off."
Rowena froze for a moment, wanting to reach up and touch her nose.
When she came to her senses, she looked at her own fingers, which were still stained with the blood from pressing on the injured person just now.
Rowena looked at the handkerchief Yise offered. It was a beige-white kerchief embroidered with a cute bluebird, so lifelike, petite, and lovely, that she felt a bit embarrassed to take it to wipe her own face.
She could just imagine what a sorry state she was in right now. She must be covered in dirt, a mix of sweat and mud... and the bloodstain she just got.
Although this was a common sight on the battlefield, and logically Rowena should have been used to it, for some reason, a sense of shame welled up in her heart.
She didn't even know what she was ashamed of.
Rowena pulled at her own sleeve and wiped her face haphazardly a few times, saying in a muffled voice, "No need, you should wipe your own face. You also have... dust on your face."
Yise tilted her head and stuffed the handkerchief into Rowena's hand, leaving no room for refusal.
"You're the one who needs it. Go wash up properly. If you're so careless, you'll turn into a little calico cat."
After speaking, she smiled and pointed to where the injured person was. "I'll go over and see. Maybe the teacher needs my help with something."
Without waiting for Rowena's reply, she turned and left with light steps.
Rowena stared blankly at her retreating back, then looked down and squeezed the fragrant handkerchief in her hand, utterly perplexed. "I'm not a Beastman, am I? How could I turn into a calico cat?"
Penelope, who had walked over and accidentally overheard the entire conversation, had her smile stiffen for a moment.
Rowena turned around and saw Penelope standing behind her. She was startled, "Principal Penelope."
Very few students at Sigret Academy didn't know Principal Penelope. Although she was low-key, her strength was immense.
She seemed as gentle as a spring breeze, but in reality, her methods were very firm. It was just that she would occasionally disappear for short periods, during which her younger sister, Alison, would act as the substitute principal.
Students had always speculated about what Penelope did during her disappearances, and there were always rumors about her within the academy.
"Hello, Miss Rowena." Penelope's smile was kind. "I have heard about you. You are a very brave swordswoman—how has your health been recently? I remember you just applied to return to the academy not long ago, right?"
"I, I'm fine." Rowena was a little nervous. "I already took a health test when I applied to return to the academy. I only came back after passing the test."
Penelope reached out her hand and pressed down gently twice in a reassuring gesture.
"Don't be nervous, child. I was just asking out of concern. I'm not questioning your health test. It's just that you look quite disheveled right now, so I couldn't help but ask about your condition."
Rowena opened her mouth. She was puzzled again. Did she really look that disheveled?
Perhaps if someone had handed Rowena a mirror at that moment, she would have discovered that her face was not only a mixture of mud, sweat, and blood but also flushed with an unnatural blush, while her lips were deathly pale. She really didn't look much better than the injured person lying on the ground.
"I really am fine," Rowena insisted.
"Alright, alright." Penelope nodded understandingly. "Then may I ask some other questions? About what exactly happened to you all, and how did you escape before we arrived?"
Rowena breathed a sigh of relief. As long as she wasn't being asked about her health, Rowena was more than willing to cooperate with Penelope's questions.
-She recounted in detail how she and William were tricked by the girl named Agana, then taken near Ska'en City by mercenaries, and then moved to this godforsaken place by the black-robed people.
She also mentioned how the black-robed people were preparing to conduct a sacrificial ritual and had already stabbed one of their classmates, when a masked man calling himself Joker suddenly appeared and stopped the black-robed people's further actions. Then, a black mist spread, and Joker and those black-robed people disappeared.
Penelope listened to Rowena's account with a smile, but when she heard that these black-robed people said the ritual was to offer life and blood to the Eternal Lord, her expression finally faltered a little. "The Eternal Lord?"
"That's right. Those black-robed people claimed to be from the Eternal Divine Sect," Rowena answered honestly.
"I thought about it, and the Eternal Lord they mentioned should be the Demon King of the Eternal Empire that fell a thousand years ago, right?"
Penelope pondered, "Hmm... If they were really talking about the Eternal Lord, then it would indeed be that Lord. However, that Lord would never allow his believers to use the method of sacrificing lives to worship him..."
"It's probably some villain in the background, secretly doing bad things under the name of the Eternal Lord."
Penelope sighed softly, "No wonder I've never heard much about it before..."
She glanced at the scale of this underground altar, a hint of coldness flashing in her eyes, but her voice remained gentle.
"To be able to do this, to even have their people inside Sigret Academy, the scale of this Eternal Divine Sect must not be small. Yet I haven't heard a single rumor. It seems they only dare to operate secretly in dark little corners."
After all, once the name of the Eternal Lord was mentioned, who knew how many major powers on this continent would be mobilized to investigate the master behind the Eternal Divine Sect.
Anyone who dared to do evil under the name of the Eternal Lord had to be prepared to be held accountable by the top experts of the major powers, not to mention this was also caught by...
Remembering who had told her this news, the expression on Penelope's face couldn't help but turn a little strange.
What a coincidence.
Getting caught doing bad things by the real one himself, should one say their luck was too good, or too bad?
Penelope: "And after that, the person named Joker disappeared along with the black-robed people?"
Rowena nodded, "Yes. I suspect there's some special formation here. Principal, would you like to go look for that Joker's tracks?"
Penelope also paid frequent attention to news outside the academy, so she naturally knew about the incident in Bartovita half a year ago.
With just a little connection, she could quickly link Yan Yunqing's and Joker's identities together.
"I understand. I will pay more attention to this matter. You shouldn't get involved in what happens next. Leave it to the teachers," Penelope said to Rowena.
"Later, a teacher will take you to the nearest city... hmm, it should be Ska'en City, right? Go there and rest for a day or two first."
"Judging by the situation, it will probably be difficult to continue the field training. First, wait for the teachers to finish compiling the statistics of the missing and injured this time. In the end, you will be informed how the subsequent field training will proceed."
After finishing her instructions to Rowena, Penelope spoke with the few teachers who had come with her and then left the place first.
Now that she had news of the Eternal Divine Sect, Penelope couldn't possibly do nothing and just wait for that Lord's return.
She had to at least find out where this Eternal Divine Sect came from, and where was its headquarters.
The black-robed people who appeared here today and were dealt with by the teachers were obviously just minions, not even considered minor elites.
A religion of such a large scale and yet so secretive obviously couldn't possibly only have members of such a low level.
It was unknown what power was behind them, to be so bold as to directly trick Sigret Academy students into becoming sacrifices, and using that Lord's name at that.
Utterly senseless and audacious.
Thinking of this, Penelope's expression turned cold.
***
Yan Yunqing was panting heavily. He finished off the last mob that pounced on him, downed another recovery potion prepared by Robin, and rubbed his slightly full stomach.
Recovery potions and the like were very useful, it was just that it was easy to get bloated from drinking them when soloing a dungeon.
He still needed to get a recovery skill when he got back. At least when soloing dungeons, he could restore his own status and wouldn't have to constantly use line of sight and positioning to drink recovery potions.
[Timed Challenge · Underground Altar] was a pure monster-grinding dungeon. The only boss was that scepter person, but that scepter person was more like a summoner, or a support-type existence.
She herself didn't have much damage; she would only use the black mist to strengthen the mobs and then let the mobs charge up to fight him.
After Yan Yunqing finished off a batch of mobs corroded by the black mist, the boss's health bar would drop by a large chunk. It was considered a mechanics-based monster.
Finally, amidst the scepter person's unwilling low roar, Yan Yunqing rushed up with a heavy sword and shattered the opponent's black mist.
Boss scepter person, deceased.
【'Timed Challenge · Underground Altar' cleared. Exit?】
【Yes】
【You have exited the dungeon. Dungeon content has been recorded, now auto-generating...】
【'Timed Challenge · Underground Altar' dungeon has been generated. Players are welcome to challenge again.】
Yan Yunqing took one last look at the messy dungeon and exited.
He exited from where he had entered the dungeon, returning to the original underground altar.
Yan Yunqing discovered that this place had also been destroyed beyond recognition, as if it had gone through a fierce battle.
Yan Yunqing had just taken two steps when a low shout rang out, "Who! Who's there!"
Yan Yunqing's steps faltered. He didn't even need to turn around to recognize it was a teacher from Sigret Academy, because this voice was all too familiar to him—it was the voice of Teacher Barnett, whose class he audited every day at the swordsman academy.
Yan Yunqing looked down at his own somewhat disheveled appearance. The red cape was hanging precariously, stained with a lot of blood and dust.
Tsk, he was still under the identity of Joker right now. How could he let Teacher Barnett catch him?
It was one thing to be caught being late on a normal day, but not at a time like this!
Yan Yunqing couldn't be bothered with anything else. He backhandedly used [Sylval's Longing] and opened the space-time gate back to Sylval before Barnett could rush over.
There was no other way. Among his current few teleportation items, the teleportation anchor was very convenient, but it had a one-minute casting time after use; the active skill of the substitute doll had too short a range, and he hadn't placed a substitute doll outside in advance, so he couldn't swap positions.
That only left the fixed-point teleportation [Sylval's Longing]. Coincidentally, he could also check on Lilian's condition.
Before, in order to rush over to save Rowena and William, he hadn't dared to linger for even a second, afraid that if he were a second late, Rowena and William would be killed instantly.
Fortunately, everything was just in time.
Before teleporting away, he even looked back at Teacher Barnett and gave him a smile.
The next second, the chestnut-haired man disappeared from the spot, and Barnett lunged at empty air.
"Damn it, I couldn't stop him!" Barnett climbed up from the ground and tsked. "A guy who looks like no good at first glance, and he even dared to mock me!"
...
Yan Yunqing landed and subconsciously surveyed his surroundings.
Simple furniture woven from vines, and a hammock that looked very comfortable to sleep in. The sky outside the window was pitch black, without a single star in sight.
He had spent a lot of time in the dungeon, estimating it to be about two days, which was longer than any dungeon he had played before.
This was mainly because this time it was a pure combat dungeon, and he was soloing a group of monsters with higher levels than him, so it was perfectly normal for it to take a bit longer.
He didn't know where Legolas had set his fixed teleportation point, but when he saw that very comfortable-looking hammock, he couldn't help but yawn.
After two consecutive days of being mentally tense and constantly fighting those mobs, even someone as strong as Yan Yunqing felt tired. It was fine when his mind was taut, but now that he had relaxed, he felt sleepy too.
Yawning again, Yan Yunqing observed his surroundings. He couldn't tell who this room belonged to.
Thinking that Legolas probably wouldn't set his teleportation point in a place frequented by other elves, Yan Yunqing naturally assumed this room was prepared for him.
He switched back to his original avatar. The costume on his body would be automatically cleaned and returned to its original state when put into his backpack.
This was also why Yan Yunqing only considered the costumes he had bought with real money when preparing a fixed outfit for his Joker persona.
After all, there were just too many dirty and tiring jobs to do as Joker!
Yan Yunqing took out his magic staff, cast a few cleaning spells on himself, then stretched and turned into a black cat, leaping onto the hammock and curling into a ball.
It wasn't that he didn't want to sleep in his own body, but mainly that the hammock was too small, probably only big enough for a six or seven-year-old child to sleep in. Yan Yunqing's own body couldn't fit at all.
It was probably because he had always been wandering around in front of Legolas in the form of a Kami Beast, making Legolas think he had been reincarnated as a Kami Beast in this life, which was why he had prepared such a small bed for him...
Probably?
The little black cat swayed its tail, yawned again, twitched its ears twice, and pillowed its head on its paws, sinking into a deep and sweet dream.
"...purr purr"
Before long, the little black cat started to snore softly.
The entire treehouse was so quiet that only the breathing of the little black cat could be heard; you could hear a pin drop.
The night in Sylval was like a paradise, peaceful and serene.
The door of the treehouse was gently pushed open, and a figure walked in barefoot. The plain white robe made a barely perceptible rustling sound as he moved. He paused slightly by the hammock.
Strands of snow-white hair drooped slightly, forming a sharp contrast with the little black cat's smooth, shiny black fur.
An almost inaudible murmur was heard.
"...King."
...
Perhaps because he was truly exhausted, Yan Yunqing slept very soundly and deeply this time.
When he groggily and slowly awoke from his sleep, he felt a perfectly pressured stroking on his back... it felt like being petted, so comfortable that Yan Yunqing, whose brain was still a bit sluggish from just waking up, wanted to roll over onto his back.
...Wait?
Who was petting him? Didn't he just finish the dungeon and teleport to Sylval to sleep?
Yan Yunqing's eyes snapped open. His claws were about to come out instinctively, but they ended up digging into something soft yet a bit firm.
Yan Yunqing: ???
Yan Yunqing subconsciously kneaded his paws, only to belatedly realize that he wasn't curled up sleeping in the comfortable hammock, but was curled up on... someone's lap?
No, strictly speaking, he should be the only person who could appear in Sylval, so this was some elf's lap...
Yan Yunqing: Hmm?
Who was it? It couldn't be Legolas, right? With Legolas's serious, old-cadre personality, he didn't seem like the type of elf who would hold him on his lap and pet him! Could it be that Legolas had a hidden cat-lover trait?
Yan Yunqing instinctively wanted to look back, but his head was held down by the hand that was petting him.
A cool and clear voice sounded, gentle and carrying a feeling that was extremely familiar to Yan Yunqing.
"King."
Yan Yunqing froze.
His body stiffened for a moment, and the movement he was about to make to turn his head also stopped. He lay back down, following the pressure of the other's hand.
"You..." Yan Yunqing opened his mouth.
Yan Yunqing wanted to ask who the other person was. This voice was too familiar to him, but at this moment, Yan Yunqing couldn't believe he would reappear before him.
Whether it was Lilian or Legolas, their various reactions and their narrations all indicated that the elf living in his memory had remained forever in the past.
He shouldn't have appeared at this time.
Sylph.
"Shh... King." That voice was clearly cool and detached, yet it was like a continuous spring, enveloping him gently.
"My time is short."
"I have not seen you for so, so long. Please allow me to indulge for a moment."
This reunion, a thousand years late.
"Will you refuse me?"
The little black cat's tail was somewhat rigid. As that voice sounded, it slowly, slowly relaxed.
"Mmm... mm." Yan Yunqing's voice was muffled, but the one he was responding to would definitely not mishear him.
That pair of slightly cool hands once again began to stroke the fur of the little black cat on his lap, once, and again.
As if narrating how long the wait of a thousand years had been.