Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon
Chapter 401 - 400: The City of Defense 15 Years Later

Chapter 401: Chapter 400: The City of Defense 15 Years Later

By the time everyone had come to and made their way on foot to the edge of the City of Defense, an hour had passed.

On the road, Chaoyang had also asked Mekefa and others how they felt about their visit to the City of Defense fifteen years earlier, but their responses were somewhat evasive, and they could hardly put together a few sentences. Particularly, Priest Yukel of the Furnace Cult, hadn’t even realized he had returned to a City of Defense before it was swallowed by the mist.

This made Chaoyang realize that each person’s experience on this journey was different. Just because he had spent a full four days and three nights did not mean everyone else did too. Some unfortunate souls might have just awakened and died; those memories were only a few minutes long, but the time they returned to reality was the same for everyone.

This point was later confirmed with Engfelt.

Faced with Kokomoqi’s probing, the latter honestly recounted his experience—he woke up to find himself trapped in a sewer, bound hand and foot, feeling extremely weak, while rats gnawed at his thigh. He was probably a poor soul murdered by a gang, and by twist of fate, his body had become Engfelt’s substitute. He died shortly after offering his wishing power to the Magic Goddess, and until the moment his consciousness faded, he had no idea where he was or what had happened outside.

So when a group of people stepped into the territory of the City of Defense, people like Mekefa were stunned speechless, even Grandmaster Level Warriors, who when looking at the bustling streets, found themselves unable to utter a single word.

Leisk was equally astonished.

He always remembered the City of Defense as a city engulfed in mist, a proof that the Mist God protected mortals. But now, there was a stark conflict between memory and reality—the city was not only unscathed, it was even thriving, its scale seemingly better by far than Thistlefort, which was quite worldview-shattering.

"Can you tell me... what exactly did we miss?" He looked helplessly at Chaoyang, his eyes so full of confusion it was almost pitiable.

Chaoyang just smiled back at him, "Try praying to the divinities."

Leisk was stunned for a moment but still took up the horn to try, and soon after, his mouth dropped open in disbelief, "I can feel the presence of Lord Hidden Mist!"

Not only that, a parrot flew over and arrogantly perched atop his head.

"Buddy! Buddy!"

"Huihui?" Leisk was truly moved this time. The bird of an Envoy of Mist was bestowed by the divinities, and his last bird had passed away in Magnificent Castle. He thought he would never gain another companion, but as soon as he prayed to the divinities, a parrot flew over.

Doesn’t this mean he was quite close to the Mist God?

"Can I stay here a few more days?"

"It’s not that you can’t, but if you’re seeking divinities, it’s probably not necessary." Chaoyang deliberately kept him in suspense, "As for the reason, well, you’ll find out sooner or later."

After entering the city, not only Mekefa and the others, but even Ailuodi and the players were dumbfounded... because they saw flags embroidered with the emblem of Paradise Sect hanging everywhere on the streets, as if this place was actually the stronghold of the Paradise Sect.

The Angel couldn’t help himself and approached a local vendor, asking, "These flags are..."

"Oh, you must be from out of town!" The other party cheerfully explained, "These are the symbols of the Paradise Sect, they’re not seen much in other places. As for the background of this sect, there’s much to tell. You might want to visit the central city square, there are shops there selling promotional brochures about Paradise, and they have sect reception offices too, they’ll have clearer information!"

"This can’t be possible... We must still be trapped in an illusion!" Mekefa murmured, "How could the City of Defense possibly develop on its own like this!?"

It wasn’t just the Paradise flags that were overwhelming him, but also the smooth stone streets, the clean red-brick houses, shops everywhere... In the distance, rows of chimneys could be seen, a sight normally only found in the industrial areas of other cities.

Is this still the border town from the history books?

Shouldn’t this kind of place be filled with criminals, smugglers, sea bandits, and fishermen?

"Whether this is an illusion or not, we should make contact with the local magistrate first," Chaoyang was probably the only calm person in the group, "Since this is no longer an abandoned city, if we want to find the heart, it’s better to give the authorities here a heads-up."

So they made their way to the central square, where Ailuodi just spat out a mouthful of water in surprise.

In the center of the square stood an astonishing Angel statue!

But to say it resembled Ailuodi, well, it didn’t quite match.

This statue was three meters tall, of a female figure with wings and long, dense hair, and carried a bit of Kokomoqi’s grace. Its figure was also quite impressive, clearly modeled after Ailuodi’s shape at the time. The statue’s hand held a bolt of lightning, with a tall and tense posture, and more exaggeratedly, it wore an X-marked mask over its mouth!

Embedded at the base of the statue was a bronze plaque inscribed with the words "Paradise Master."

"I think I’ve figured it out," Chaoyang couldn’t help but take pleasure in the predicament, "This is clearly a combination of you, Baili, and the Magic Goddess."

After all, she was only playing the role of a Divine Envoy, while Kokomoqi had appeared as a Goddess. The issue was that during the execution field event, the divinities in the sky were led by Ailuodi, which left such a strong impression that the statue ended up looking like nothing in particular.

Instead, the true Paradise Master was completely ignored.

"This is so embarrassing," Ailuodi covered her face, not willing to take another look at the statue.

"But then again... has history really changed?" Kokomoqi gazed at the statue and whispered, "I remember this place was the boundary between the Lower City District and the rich section, with guards by the low wall and the doorways full of begging vagrants..."

Now the low wall was gone, a multitude of low houses had been demolished for an open space, replaced by more orderly buildings along the streets.

"If this isn’t a dream, then it’s definitely an unquestionable miracle," she concluded in the end.

Ailuodi deeply agreed, "I’m a bit curious... what has that beach cave become now?"

"Look," Zhang Zhiyuan pointed to a corner of the square, "That seems to be the Paradise Sect’s reception area."

"Ailuodi and I will go ask about the situation, you guys can just wait here."

"I’m going too!" Kokomoqi declared, grabbing the Angel’s arm without waiting for a reply.

Seeing Ailuodi’s helpless expression, Chaoyang could only agree.

"Hello, how can I help you?" As soon as the three of them approached the entrance of the house, a lively and cute girl immediately came up to greet them warmly, "Not only can we provide consultation for joining the sect, but we can also introduce the city, provide accommodation, and recommend jobs!"

A strange feeling suddenly rose in Chaoyang’s heart... He had led and deeply participated in the construction work of the Paradise Sect in Magnificent Castle and Thistlefort, and he could say he knew the religious organizations of those two places like the back of his hand. However, this Paradise Sect in the City of Defense was something he had never been involved in, and he was truly curious about what kind of entity this "wild" sect was.