Chapter 558 - 556: Hilia Isn’t Dead, Is She?

When the news that "Hilia is missing" came, Flora and the other two immediately understood why those two Tier Five heretics had made such a flashy entrance to draw their attention.

At first they hadn’t thought Hilia was the target, because she had almost no presence at the banquet. She didn’t even go near the bishop or Flora; she filled herself up before the banquet officially started, then went off alone to sit in some corner.

Flora and the bishop, surrounded by nobles and mages, hadn’t even noticed whether Hilia had come to the banquet.

They’d only met Hilia once; they weren’t even friends, so naturally she wasn’t the first person to come to mind.

Flora and the bishop looked at Bois. "So when did Miss Xilia join the banquet, and why didn’t you say anything to us?"

Bois gave a bitter smile. "She arrived before you did. I went to meet her once, and she said she didn’t want to be disturbed, so I left her alone. When you arrived there was too much going on, and I never got around to telling you... I thought you’d see her yourselves."

Flora and the bishop: "..."

Flora’s face darkened. "So Hilia vanished at your banquet?"

Bois said, "Lesoto said she left. Anyway, let’s go back first."

"Fine."

If the Dusk Sect’s goal was to capture Hilia, then this was getting serious.

But Hilia was already Tier Four, and Flora didn’t really believe she’d be snatched so easily.

The bishop said, "I finally get why those two were casting Magic so recklessly, like they were desperate for everyone to see how powerful their Magic was. Turns out they were covering up Magic fluctuations coming from somewhere else."

Flora nodded, her gaze heavy. "That should be it. But Miss Xilia ought to have been with the crowd—if a fight broke out, there’s no reason no one would know."

"Miss Xilia definitely isn’t that easy to capture," Bois said, sounding a little rattled.

Before long the three of them were back at the castle, quickly gathering every detail of what had happened inside.

In order to get a better view of the battle, Hilia had quietly slipped away and run off on her own.

But there had been sharp senses among the people present; someone had felt battle ripples coming from the rear.

Only, since the fight hadn’t lasted long and the fluctuations hadn’t caused any damage to the castle, they’d assumed it was just the castle guards fighting heretics that had slipped in, and hadn’t bothered with it.

For those at Tier Four, the sight of Tier Five fighting is what really matters.

After hearing all this, Bois, Flora, and the bishop traded looks and hurried to the place where the fight had taken place.

Seeing the lingering Ice Element on the ground, and faint threads of shadow, Flora gripped her Magic Staff so tightly she almost couldn’t stop her surging Magic Power from erupting.

"Ice Element—that is indeed Hilia’s main branch. And the other is Shadow..."

"The one who attacked Hilia was a Shadow Mage!"

"No wonder it was so fast. A Magic Master facing a same-tier Shadow Mage, without any warning, pretty much has no chance."

Bois’s expression shifted back and forth. He suddenly looked toward one spot and rushed over.

Not long after, he came back dragging a lifeless corpse.

Bois’s face was ugly. "That damned bastard killed all the mages I’d secretly stationed here. No wonder no one reported to me."

They weren’t the only ones there; Lesoto and several subordinates had come along as well.

Hearing Bois’s words and seeing the dead mage in his hand, Lesoto’s face changed.

"It–it can’t be that Miss Xilia died inside our castle, right?"

Hilia was a candidate Holy Daughter of the Holy Court.

If she died in battle against heresy, that wouldn’t be a big deal.

But inviting her to a post-war celebration banquet, only for her to die miserably inside the castle...

Lesoto could already picture the Holy Court joining forces with the Ista Royal Family to strip their hereditary title, throw them all in prison, and finally send them to the chopping block.

Thud!

Bois kicked the babbling Lesoto flying and roared, "If you don’t speak no one will think you’re mute. What nonsense are you spouting? Miss Xilia is that strong, how could she possibly die in our castle?"

If she dies, it should at least be outside!

No, no, no—if she dies, it definitely shouldn’t be after going missing inside the castle.

Bois looked at Flora from the Huijin Divine Hall and swallowed hard. "Lady Flora, um..."

Flora’s eyes flashed. She thought for a moment, then said, "Shadow Mages do restrain traditional Magic Masters to some extent. But I don’t believe a same-tier Shadow Mage could kill Hilia. Her record is a lot more ferocious than you think."

Back when she was Tier Three, she could already kill Tier Four. Now she was Tier Four—how could someone of the same tier possibly assassinate her?

No matter how she thought about it, Flora refused to believe that.

After a long moment of thought, she looked at Bois and said coldly, "City Lord, I suggest you immediately mobilize every mage under your command and have them search for any trace of Hilia inside and outside the city."

Bois nodded, his face grave. "Understood. I’ll issue an emergency order right away."

...

The entire city began to operate in secret, while Hilia still had no idea she’d already ’gone missing’. She had already returned to Dawn City.

Only, she wasn’t using her own face—out of habit, she’d put on a disguise.

"I’m not going to the banquet. I was only going in the first place to freeload food and drinks and, by the way, find out what they were going to do about Dusk Town."

Hilia was in an excellent mood.

She’d already found out about Dusk Town. They weren’t planning to do anything in particular; they were just going to watch and see, sending people to tail them and observe what those praying Believers were doing, quietly investigating whether they were truly loyal to heresy.

If they weren’t heretics, they couldn’t be bothered.

After all, so-called "heresy"—aside from those truly evil cults that commit every crime imaginable—basically refers to anyone who doesn’t worship the Pantheon or who fabricates their own Gods and spreads that faith.

There had once been major campaigns to "cleanse heresy" and wipe out heretical faiths, but people always used them as cover to stir up trouble behind the scenes, causing huge scandals that were closely tied to the four empires’ independence.

After that, the Holy Court no longer dared to do such things.

"If I’m not going to the banquet, I still have to stay disguised. Otherwise, if they find me, I won’t be able to quietly do my own thing."

Hilia was very realistic about her own reputation, especially in the Northern Alliance and Ista.

Among the high-ups, most people knew who she was. On top of that, she’d already advanced in tier, so no matter where she showed up, it was bound to cause some unnecessary trouble.

"Speaking of which, will me leaving without saying goodbye cause trouble for the City Lord? Like, they might think I was captured or something."

Hilia wondered.

Then she shook her head.

"How could something like that happen? It’s not like a Tier Six Mage made a move."

Hilia burst out laughing.

But it wasn’t long before Hilia stopped laughing.