Chapter 77: The Best Opportunity

Celeste realized that after Mephia transformed into a One-winged Angel, she clearly had some aftereffects.

Otherwise, there was no way she would have left without interrogating her much after capturing her.

If she had no aftereffects, she might actually have been forced to reveal some secrets.

Unfortunately, once she left, no prison could hold her.

Looking down at the magic shackles on her body, Celeste smiled sweetly.

Then, Eros Energy surged, and all the magic shackles on her body fell off on their own.

Clang—

Even the prison door opened for her.

As for the other guards in the prison, at this moment Celeste could easily bypass them without even using Eros Energy. After all, as a Three-star Bronze, she was far stronger than these guards.

After leaving the prison, she did not immediately return to Harris Manor. Instead, she turned and headed to the Witch Council’s hideout—an ordinary tavern on the street.

Although this mission had been a trap, the mission reward had already been submitted before the mission was issued.

So after completing the mission, she could still claim those rewards.

Arriving at the tavern, Celeste found the bartender and explained the mission situation.

After waiting two or three hours, she received the twelve magic crystals.

The extra two were her weekly salary as a core member.

Going up to the second floor of the tavern, she found a VIP room, and then used Eros Energy to absorb these twelve magic crystals, converting them into her own magic power.

And with that, her magic power broke through the Bronze rank and reached Silver Grade!

One-Star Silver!

The difference in strength between Silver Grade and Bronze rank was incomparable.

The magic power in her body had surged dozens of times.

If she faced that Silver-rank monster again, she believed that a single spell would be enough to kill it instantly!

In fact, she felt that even against Mephia in her usual state, she might be able to exchange one or two moves!

As for a full-power Mephia… her fate would probably be the same as Marcus’s.

But no matter what, reaching Silver Grade at this point satisfied her.

Even if Hela City fell into chaos now, with various organizations running rampant, she had the ability to protect herself.

If possible, she could even meddle in the plans of some organizations!

No!

No, no, no. That was too dangerous.

Her goal was only to survive!

Forcibly suppressing the dangerous thoughts rising from the depths of her heart, she calmed down.

She realized that if she wanted to continue improving her strength, she would probably need to absorb higher-grade magic crystals.

It was only at this moment that she understood why the Witch Council generously gave each core member two magic crystals every week—it turned out that for a Silver-grade witch, ordinary magic crystals were already useless…

The next grade of magic crystal was the Condensed Magic Crystal, which was the essence of many magic crystals concentrated together.

Obtaining this grade of magic crystal was not easy.

Scanning the Witch Council’s missions, Celeste found that quite a few core-level missions rewarded Condensed Magic Crystals, but the mission locations were not in Hela City at all.

In fact, there were almost no missions left near Hela City.

Come to think of it, the entire Human Empire’s territory was boundless, and Harris Territory was just a drop in the bucket, let alone Hela City within the territory.

No matter how many members the Witch Council had, there couldn’t be that many missions in Hela City.

To get Condensed Magic Crystals, she would have to leave Hela City.

But… her other identity was the daughter of Count Harris, Celestia.

How could she possibly leave Hela City like that?

Thinking it over, Celeste couldn’t figure out any way, so she simply pushed the problem aside, got up, and left the VIP room of the tavern, preparing to return to Harris Manor.

But just as she stepped out of the tavern, she saw several Inquisitors hurrying past on the street.

She quickly ducked into an alley, a hint of doubt rising in her heart.

What else had happened in the city?

—

Late at night, a group of Inquisitors in uniform moved through the streets like specters, stopping in front of an inn.

The man at the lead looked up.

Moonlight fell on his face, revealing a hint of eeriness and danger.

He was Raymond.

His sinister eyes gleamed with excitement.

The corners of his lips curled up, revealing a nearly cruel smile.

“Here?”

An Inquisitor behind him stepped forward and lowered his voice:

“Sir, we have reliable intelligence that after Mephia left the prison, she went to an inn on Central Avenue. If nothing unexpected happens, she is probably unconscious there!”

Raymond gave a light snort, his tone increasingly amused.

“Hmph, quite cautious. She didn’t return to her quarters at the Inquisition. Obviously, she long suspected there was a traitor inside the Inquisition. Unfortunately… no matter how cautious, it’s useless.”

He paused, raised his hand, and waved it forward.

A cruel, cat-and-mouse-like satisfaction appeared on his face.

“Go, find her quickly. This is the best chance to kill her!”

The five Inquisitors silently pushed open the inn door and filed in.

Raymond followed at the rear.

His boots stepped on the wooden stairs, emitting a very faint creak.

At the same time, he placed one hand on the sword at his waist, ready for battle at any moment.

But they had only taken a few steps when their vision blurred, and in an instant, they found themselves in a forest.

No, that wasn’t right.

Raymond’s brows furrowed sharply, then with a mix of shock and anger, he said, “Damn it! This is Illusion Magic!”

“Shit! She set a trap before falling unconscious!”

One Inquisitor exclaimed in horror, his face turning pale.

The other Inquisitors also instinctively stepped back a few paces, their expressions panicked.

Raymond took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. His gaze swept through the nearby trees like a blade, as if searching for possible flaws.

“Don’t panic! Find the flaw in the illusion! Every illusion has a flaw, especially one she cast right before passing out. It was done in such a hurry—there’s no way this illusion is perfect!”

Three Inquisitors immediately spread out, each casting detection magic.

Fragile streams of magical light danced at their fingertips, constantly probing the magical nodes of the illusion.

Time passed minute by minute.

Suddenly, one Inquisitor’s eyes lit up.

“I found it! The magical structure here has a flaw…”

Before he could finish his excited words, his expression froze.

A spear made of pure magic power, without any warning, thrust out from the “flaw” he was pointing at, piercing through his chest!

Blood splattered, staining the forest floor.

The Inquisitor couldn’t even let out a scream.

His body collapsed limply, pupils dilated, lifeless.

“What!”

Another Inquisitor staggered back, his face deathly pale.

“This magical structure is a trap!”

Raymond’s fist clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.

“Damn it! She was this cautious even when she was about to pass out!”

The remaining four Inquisitors huddled together like frightened prey.

One of them spoke with a trembling voice:

“Sir Raymond, what should we do?!”

Raymond took a deep breath, suppressing the surging anger and unease in his heart.

His gaze swept over the corpse lying in a pool of blood, then over the surrounding eerie illusion space, and he said word by word:

“What to do? Keep looking for the flaw!”

He turned his head sharply, staring coldly at the several Inquisitors.

“Or what, do we just sit here and wait for death?! Don’t forget, if we can’t kill her, then we’re the ones who will die!”

Just because he was able to command these three Inquisitors from the Snake Eye, that didn’t mean he had high status.

He knew very well that in the Snake Eye, he was insignificant.

If this wasn’t handled well, he believed that Lord Marcus would tear him apart without mercy.

The four Inquisitors shuddered and quickly nodded.

“Yes, yes…”

They spread out again, this time more cautiously.

Every detection spell was cast carefully, as if navigating a minefield.

Before long, another scream pierced the silence.

An Inquisitor had half his head sliced off by a vine that came from nowhere.

His corpse twitched a few times as it fell.

Another one dead.

Raymond gritted his teeth, but his eyes never left the nearby forest.

After a long time, the forest trembled, and the sound of the illusion cracking came from the sky.

One Inquisitor pointed forward abruptly, his voice filled with barely contained excitement.

“It’s broken! This flaw is real!”

He stretched out his trembling hand, pouring magic into the flaw.

Soon, the illusion space shook violently!

The unreal scenes peeled away like broken mirror shards, revealing the real inn staircase behind them.

They gasped a few times, then rushed forward.

Just then—

A sharp Wind Blade shot from the end of the staircase!

“Watch out!”

One Inquisitor instinctively raised a magic barrier, but the Wind Blade shattered it instantly, along with his protective magic.

It was as flimsy as paper.

Blood splattered.

The Inquisitor didn’t even have time to scream before he fell into a pool of blood.

A small fairy with butterfly wings flew out from the shadows, spreading her wings to block the staircase.

She glared fiercely at the group of Inquisitors, the magic swirling around her proclaiming her strength.

“A monster?!”

Raymond’s pupils contracted.

“Monster?! Your whole family is a monster!”

The little fairy spread her wings, and a sharp magic fluctuation rippled between them.

“I am a familiar, the familiar Elsa!”

Then, she fixed her gaze on Raymond, poised to strike.

“You bastards taking advantage of someone’s weakness, die under my blade!”

With a flap of her wings, three Wind Blades howled out!

The last few Inquisitors dodged frantically, most of them injured.

Raymond was no exception—a Wind Blade grazed his cheek, leaving a bloody gash.

Silver Grade.

This familiar was Silver Grade!

“Hmph.”

Raymond let out a cold snort from his throat, but the corners of his mouth curled up into a strange smile.

“Do you think you’re the only Silver Grade?”

He raised his hand.

A ring engraved with intricate patterns on his wrist suddenly lit up!

Light exploded!

A ferocious figure charged out from the light, smashing through half the wall!

Rocks flew, dust billowed, and the entire inn trembled violently!

Panicked screams and footsteps came from downstairs as people scrambled to flee the building that had suddenly turned into a battlefield.

The stairs and many rooms collapsed, except for the place where Mephia was, which was protected by magic.

The dust cleared.

A hawk hovered above Raymond’s head.

Its eyes were blood-red, each feather as hard as steel, carrying a bloodthirsty killing intent.

This was a genuine monster.

The hawk flapped its wings, and a fierce wind rose!

Elsa’s figure wavered in the gale.

Her Wind Blades struck the hawk, leaving only shallow white marks.

And every time the hawk flapped its wings, Elsa gained several more wounds.

Soon, Elsa was swept up by the wind, slammed heavily into the wall, and slid down weakly.

Her body began to turn translucent.

Her eyes were full of unwillingness.

“Master…”

She murmured, then turned into a stream of light that vanished into a room on the third floor of the inn.

Raymond, along with the last two Inquisitors, burst into that room.

At the same time, they saw the figure lying quietly on the bed.

Mephia.

She was still wearing that white-gold dress, her face pale as paper, eyes closed tightly, breathing so faint it was almost imperceptible.

At this moment, she was completely defenseless.

Raymond slowly stood up, walked to the bedside, and looked down at her.

The corner of his mouth curled into a smug arc.

His face showed the excitement of imminent revenge.

Even now, he could not forget how Mephia had mocked him long ago.

Fortunately, all those who provoked him ended up dead.

“Alright, hawk, kill her.”

The hawk on his shoulder slowly spread its wings.

Its blood-red eyes locked onto the figure on the bed.

Between its steel-like feathers, a sharp Wind Blade was gathering.

But at that very moment, a clear female voice came from outside the broken wall.

“Divine Thunder!”

Boom—!

A blinding bolt of lightning fell from the sky, piercing through the entire inn!