Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 719 - 80 - The Pursuer_1

Chapter 719: Chapter 80 - The Pursuer_1

"What’s going on?" When Catherine hurried back to her resting room, she found that Pannis had already packed up. He still wore his thick coat, but it was apparent he had shed a few layers from when he first arrived. Instead of his usual large backpack worn during adventures, he had switched to a more lightweight one. His one-handed sword, a familiar tool, was stuck between his backpack and back, with the hilt tilted upwards and positioned for an easy grab. This way of preparation clearly indicated a battle-ready state – a state only adopted when one is about to engage in intense fighting and wishes to sacrifice most of their supplies in exchange for better mobility. Catherine furrowed her brows and asked, puzzled, "Are you going to fight?"

"It’s nothing," Pannis said nonchalantly. "I just sensed an old friend’s trail. I’ll go see him, and it’s not certain that I’ll have to fight. But it’s always necessary to be prepared ahead of time. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be back in five or six days at most, just in time to celebrate Vivian’s recovery. This is the most important thing, and we absolutely can’t delay it."

"If it’s for five or six days..." Catherine didn’t dissuade him but helped him check all his equipment again. She fastened his backpack tightly and asked in a low voice, "Do you need our help? Although our fighting ability is still inferior to yours, we can at least not be a burden, right? We may be able to help if we go together."

"Of course, you’re not a burden," Pannis shook his head, but he still declined, "But, it’s better if you all stay here this time. Even though Ava is here to take care of Vivian, we should avoid unexpected situations by never leaving her alone. Besides, I’m more maneuverable on my own. Besides, I’m just going to meet an old friend, not necessarily fighting. Plus, it’s not safe on the ice field. You’d best not go out unless it’s necessary because you could encounter dangers out there, such as a sudden ice storm."

"Knowing this, you still want to go out," Lina protested discontentedly. "Even a Demigod like you couldn’t choose to confront such a calamity directly, right?"

"It’s because I have something to do," Pannis shrugged, shutting Lina up with a single sentence. She spun around, visibly annoyed.

"Alright, I’m going now," Pannis finally secured the buttons on his coat, wrapped his scarf around his face, and muffled words came out from underneath it, "Take care, guys. I’ll be back in a few days, nothing will go wrong. Remember to have Ava lock the laboratory door properly. The goblin’s buildings are very safe, we don’t have to worry about any of the weird creatures from the ice field breaking their way in."

"Got it, you just go," Catherine waved her hand, watching Pannis disappear behind the automatic door as though they were still living in the Holy City and she was seeing one of the mansion’s members off. Only after Pannis left did the female knight sigh and murmur, "Meeting an old friend in the most desolate ice field in the world – isn’t that too coincidental? Who do you think it might be?"

"There are only a few people who he would call his old friends," Lina set aside her prayer book and sat down on a chair, thinking aloud, "It definitely won’t be the Elf Queen. She should still be in the Elven Royal Court, preparing for the oracle’s arrival. She wouldn’t have time to come here. I also don’t think it’s the Winged Twins - it’s too cold for them to fly here. Could it possibly be the Time-Space Mage Master Fila?"

"Not likely." Freya shook her head, "According to information from the Mage Guild, Master Fila’s physical condition is similar to my teacher’s when they were still alive. They couldn’t make a long journey, so it can’t be Master Fila."

"So, that narrows it down quite a bit," Lina muttered, and the young women fell silent. Ava even projected her image onto the Crystal plate in the room, silently accompanying the three girls.

It was just past ten in the morning, nearing noon, which was relatively the warmest time on the ice field. However, ’warm’ was a relative term; if one were to expose their skin, they would still suffer severe frostbite in a matter of seconds. From a certain day onwards, in addition to the chilling cold, it began snowing on the ice field. Goose feather-like snowflakes were carried by the wind, mixing with the omnipresent fog, making the ice field even colder.

In the snow and wind, a shadowy figure was rapidly advancing through the fog. The smooth ice and cold climate seemed to have no effect on him. The figure ran with such speed on the ice field that each stride covered a distance of two or three meters. Despite his swift movements, his appearance did not seem clumsy. He appeared to not be wearing many layers of clothing, which was astonishing, considering his endurance. It was hard to imagine, besides ice spirits, there could be humanoid races that can freely move in the ice field with such little clothing.

A closer look revealed that the figure was clad in an earthy yellow robe, completely concealing his identity. Suddenly, he halted as if he could switch from running to stillness without any difficulty. He gently nodded towards a spot beside him and a hoarse, rough voice echoed from under the robe, "They’re here?"

"I didn’t expect to see you here." Amid the whirlwind of snowflakes, Pannis suddenly appeared next to the figure, dusting the snowflakes off his body, "Why did you come here?"

"Kill," The figure replied habitually with the simplest syllable to express his intention. According to his habits, if one word was enough, he would not use a second. However, there were times that he had to say a second word, "You?"

"I’m with a few friends looking for a relic, which we’ve found," Pannis answered succinctly. "Now, we’re just waiting. I’ve got nothing else to do, and I just happened to find you passing by, so I came to see you. But I felt it strange when I sensed that you had opened your domain to fight. Who would be worth pursuing all the way from your nest in the City of Innocence to here?"

"Met before," the figure’s reply was still terse, as if speaking more than necessary would sap his life force, "One hundred years ago."

The expression hidden under Pannis’ scarf changed. He asked in a serious tone, "Are you saying, the person you’re killing is one of the three High Priests who escaped from the temple all those years ago? One of the three leaders of the Divine Servants? Are you sure?"

The dark figure did not utter a sound this time, just giving a slight nod of affirmation.

"So, they’re emerging from their hiding places to stir up trouble again?" Pannis crossed his arms, his eyes flashing as he asked, "We previously encountered some Divine Servants outside the Magical Beast Forest; they were creating a living pillar and we don’t know why. It seems that besides the Magical Beast Forest, they are also active in the City of Innocence, and their leader is personally leading them."

"No," the dark figure shook its head and said, "I found out elsewhere, by coincidence."

"Okay, whether in the City of Innocence or not, at least they’ve been discovered by you." Pannis nodded, "By the way, I didn’t ask yet. You instructed Passion and Indulgence to pursue clues related to the Divine Servants, did they find anything?"

"Yes," the figure nodded. "Living Pillar, Ritual."

"Look, Aske, we’ve been friends for so many years." Pannis let out a frustrated sigh, smiling bitterly, "Do me a favor and give more detailed explanations when the subject is this important, could you?"

"Not used to it," said Aske, reluctant. Once a demigod hero, a sand assassin, now one of the three demigod leaders in the City of Innocence, known as Thorn. "They are conducting the Living Pillar Ritual."

"I know." Pannis nodded. "I already said it earlier. Tell me something I don’t know."

"The ritual may have already succeeded." Aske immediately divulged information that Pannis didn’t know. "Effects unknown."

"Impossible." Pannis squinted at Aske’s gritty face hidden beneath his robes, "I am sure that we have disrupted one of their ritual steps. According to the rules of such rituals, if one step fails, the whole ritual should fall apart. How could it possibly succeed in the end?"

"Too early." Aske explained simply, "Forced simplification of the ritual, reduced effectiveness, delayed."

"Ah, so it’s like that." Pannis understood the content in Aske’s words, "So by the time we sabotaged the Living Pillar, their ritual had not actually started, so they had the chance to forcefully simplify the ritual using the remaining human pillars. Even though the effectiveness was reduced and the effects were delayed, overall the ritual could still continue. Is that what you mean?"

Aske nodded again, but added, "Antuin said so."

"Alright, they succeeded this time." Pannis clenched his fists tightly, scoffing, "So you’ve been hunting them down all this time to try and kill one and reduce their strength as much as possible?"

Aske simply nodded without saying a word.

"Then my decision to come here was the right one." Pannis squinted his eyes, whispering, "How can I not be considered for such things? Let’s go together. By the way, how many of the three moribund high priests have arrived?"

Aske did not say anything, but held up a single finger.

"In that case, let him rest eternally on this icy plain. Such beings, like the moribund, are more reassuring when they’re thoroughly dead." Pannis said softly, "What do you think?"

"This...is...my...goal," Aske said, pausing after every word, "Let’s go." (To be continued. If you like this novel, please vote and give a monthly ticket on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users can read at m.qidian.com.)