Cistelene held Muxuan, gently applying a pale green, transparent liquid to Muxuan’s wounds.
Her eyes shimmered with a gentle, pained light.
She had originally intended to guard against Luthege…
A trace of regret flickered across Cistelene’s expression.
“Are you feeling better…?”
Cistelene’s voice was very soft. She was afraid of waking the little one in her arms, yet she wanted to confirm her condition.
“It hurts a bit.”
‘It was simply too painful!’
As Cistelene carried her away from that place, the whispers in her mind gradually faded, only for the pain throughout her body to sweep over her like a storm.
Muxuan still couldn’t open her eyes. Everything before her was a sea of gray and black; even when she forced them open a sliver despite the pain, she could only see blurred outlines.
Cistelene gently stroked Muxuan’s face, her gaze gradually darkening.
The Power of Light quickly gathered in her hand, shielding Muxuan, while her other hand gripped *Leirasel* and swung it forward instantly.
With a loud *clang—*, the shepherd’s crook was knocked flying, landing in a withered hand.
“It seems ‘He’ hasn’t fully awakened yet…”
There was a hint of regret in Cistelene’s tone as she pulled Muxuan even tighter against her.
“…I was only drawn away for a moment…” Muxuan’s eyelashes fluttered, her voice as faint as a silken thread. “Hehe…”
Luthege narrowed his eyes, his thumb constantly rubbing the shepherd’s crook. He was not in good condition; if he were to truly go all out against Cistelene, he would likely be the one to suffer in the end.
Cistelene’s only current weakness was Muxuan. Coincidentally, so was his. He could not possibly kill Muxuan just to deal with Cistelene.
Cistelene understood this perfectly.
“Then you first need to understand that some things are not for you to touch.” Cistelene narrowed her eyes as well, a dangerous glint flashing within them.
“I am curious, though. After being hit by mental pollution of that level, how did you realize something was wrong?”
Luthege only chuckled twice before pointing to his head, and then to his heart.
One must always keep an eye out.
‘Old fox…’ Cistelene cursed silently, realizing the reason.
Luthege knew that after Muxuan entered, she would eventually cross paths with Cistelene. To prevent any accidents, he had intentionally withheld three things from Muxuan.
One of them was his own name.
“Cistelene, you seem to know something else…”
Ever since coming out, Luthege had sensed that Cistelene’s goal was not the source of the pollution.
This was something he couldn’t quite understand.
“Yes, I know a few other things,” Cistelene responded candidly, but she immediately followed up with, “But is there any necessity to tell you?”
“…Do you want to get rid of this old man that badly…?” Hearing this, Luthege felt a tightness in his chest.
As one of the elders of the Central Mage Tower, everyone had been respectful and obedient to him after he achieved the rank of Sage. No one dared to defy him.
Now, Luthege was once again tasting the stifling sensation of being defied.
“You…”
The irritated Luthege wanted to say something, but having held a high position for many years, he had long cultivated a refined temperament and simply didn’t know any insults to hurl.
“Sage Luthege, after all these years, you haven’t improved a bit.”
As she spoke, Cistelene leaned down and pressed her warm, red lips gently against Muxuan’s cheek. Then, she straightened up and looked at Luthege with a provocative gaze.
“You know? I just love how you can’t stand me, yet you don’t dare to fight me.”
Watching Cistelene’s infuriating behavior, the blood in Luthege’s body surged. No matter how he tried to calm his anger, he couldn’t suppress the urge to have a fight with her.
The veins on the back of his already withered hand pulsed, and he pressed the shepherd’s crook several inches into the ground.
“Cistelene! You should understand what time it is!”
“And… so what?”
Cistelene didn’t care about Luthege’s thoughts. In her view, Luthege no longer posed a threat to Her Highness.
She was confident she could block any of Luthege’s attacks.
Listening to their conversation and knowing that if things continued, the conflict would inevitably escalate to an irreparable point, Muxuan reached out her finger and poked Cistelene.
“Just tell him…” she said in a weak voice.
Hearing Muxuan’s words, Cistelene froze for a moment. After looking at Muxuan with a complicated expression, Cistelene sighed helplessly.
Fine. Her own little Saintess was siding with an outsider; what else could she say?
After shooting a resentful look at Luthege, Cistelene spoke with some reluctance, “There are two sources of pollution in this area.”
“Clearing only one source will only make this place unstable, eventually causing it to drown in that bottomless pollution.”
After giving Muxuan a surprised look, Luthege’s expression quickly turned solemn.
He could distinguish what was important. Personal grudges were personal grudges, but the priority now was to solve this problem.
“So… both pollution sources must be cleared simultaneously…”
Luthege’s shepherd’s crook instantly lit up with white light as he constantly calculated the possibilities.
“Where is the other pollution source?”
“Guess.”
As soon as Cistelene finished, the white light on the shepherd’s crook dimmed for a moment before slowly brightening again.
Luthege only gave a cold snort and didn’t bother asking Cistelene again.
He might not have known the situation while outside, but now that he was within, even if Cistelene didn’t speak, Luthege was confident he could find the other pollution source within a certain amount of time.
Watching the two converse, the corner of Muxuan’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch.
‘Why does it feel like these two actually get along quite well?’
Feeling her body slowly recover under the effects of the medicinal liquid Cistelene had applied and her own Power of Light, Muxuan finally found a trace of strength and sat up with great effort.
“Hiss… it hurts…”
The movement pulled at the wound on her abdomen, causing Muxuan’s face to pale again. She gritted her teeth and said through the pain, “I can go!”
If both sources of pollution needed to be purified simultaneously to truly liberate this place, Muxuan still wanted to try.
“Your Highness, your wound isn’t healed yet, lie back down!” Seeing Muxuan like this, Cistelene panicked.
Cistelene could ignore anyone else, but not her own little Saintess!
Hurrying to support Muxuan, Cistelene’s eyes were filled with heartache and warmth.
Seeing Muxuan’s insistence on going and noticing Luthege’s brow furrowing tighter and tighter, Cistelene had no choice but to continue, “When these two sources of pollution collide, they can be purified.”
“What do you mean?” Luthege stopped his calculations. His brow remained furrowed as he looked at Cistelene with confusion.
He already knew where that source of pollution was… it was at a Nyx stronghold outside the city.