Chapter 68: The Unraveling Mystery and Angelina’s Revelation

“What about that Bone Dragon? Was Alfred able to take it down?”

I had personally witnessed the Vampire’s demise, so its current state came as no surprise. Now, in its true form, the bat lay cleaved in two, not far from where I stood.

“Of course, I helped chop it to death.”

Angelina pointed proudly behind me. Turning to look, I saw a scattering of white bone fragments, confirming its absolute destruction.

“That’s cheating!”

I mumbled, a surge of envy, jealousy, and resentment washing over me, then turned away, unwilling to look any longer.

“So how did you even find your way here?”

I asked, curiosity piqued. This was the Dark Continent, after all, and we were struggling to locate a suitable exchange point for teleportation. If she could reach us, surely that meant we could return as well?

“You all should find a different place before we discuss anything further!”

Alfred suddenly interjected.

“This area isn’t safe. Since Flora is unharmed, everyone needs to leave immediately.”

He then turned to Angelina, inquiring, “Which direction did you come from?”

“Over there!”

Angelina pointed towards the northwest. We were currently west of Val City, meaning her approach had been from the city’s northwest.

“We can talk as we go.”

Amos also spoke up, echoing Alfred’s sentiment that the location was far too perilous.

Given that Angelina’s route might lead to the new teleportation exchange point, the group began a swift evacuation.

As I took flight, I noticed that Angelina now sported an additional pair of wings on her back.

“You’ve advanced another rank?”

It had only been a few days since we last met, yet she had already become six-winged. Her speed was astonishing; indeed, one must truly look at a scholar with new eyes after three days apart.

“A lot has happened in the days you’ve been gone.”

Angelina flew beside me, our pace deliberately slow to accommodate those traveling on the ground below.

“The very next day after your disappearance, news spread throughout the royal capital that a massive army of demonic beasts was suddenly encroaching from the north.”

“This was no longer a distant border conflict; the entire city began to mobilize, and the Adventurers’ Guild temporarily ceased accepting new quests…”

“I know about that!”

I nodded, signaling my full awareness of the situation.

“That’s because the teleportation beacon was left in Tedles Town, and the demonic beast army couldn’t locate it, so they had no choice but to launch an early assault.”

“You knew?”

Everyone below looked up at me, surprised.

“Uh… I haven’t mentioned it yet, but I captured a troglodyte back near the volcano…”

I quickly shared the intelligence I had extracted from Bog with the entire group.

“So that’s how it was. The official information the royal capital gave us adventurers only stated that dark creatures had found a way to bypass the border defenses and transport large numbers of troops remotely…”

Angelina, flying beside me, turned her head and spoke.

“When you didn’t come home that night, I was incredibly worried. Like you, I went to the Adventurers’ Guild to inquire, and they told me you were heading to Tedles Town in the north on a mission to escort church members…”

“Like me? You knew I had also gone to the Adventurers’ Guild the night before?”

I interjected, asking.

“Yes, the staff member told me. She said you had spent points looking for me just the night before, and then, only a day later, it was my turn to look for you.”

Angelina looked at me with an apologetic gaze.

“I’m truly sorry for making you worry that night.”

“Good, because I went through a lot!”

I snorted, turning my face away. Recalling the events of that night made my heart ache with worry. Unable to resist, I glanced back at her.

“So, you spent points too?”

“Of course, I did. How else would I have known where you went?”

Angelina replied, her expression indicating it was the most obvious thing, then continued the previous topic.

“Initially, I thought you might have been delayed by something, unable to return that day.”

“However, the next day, reports placed the demonic beasts’ appearance precisely near Tedles Town, which utterly panicked me.”

“Fearing I couldn’t face an entire demonic beast army alone, I joined the temporary guard legion organized by the royal capital.”

“You didn’t expose your identity, did you?”

Hearing that she had joined the royal capital’s army, I knew it would be impossible for her to conceal her true nature any longer.

“There was nothing else I could do. With you missing, how could I worry about such things?”

Her apparent lack of concern over the matter touched me slightly.

What followed was quite straightforward. According to Angelina’s account, the kingdom highly valued her identity as an angel, and swiftly dispatched her to the front lines as per her request.

After a day of fierce fighting, the royal army successfully halted the enemy’s advance halfway to the capital. It was during this period that she happened to ascend to a higher rank.

Today, while the main forces were holding back the demonic beast army, Angelina finally found an opportunity to fly alone to Tedles Town, only to find no one there.

After effortlessly slaying a few lurking monsters, she suddenly realized that the distant mountain range had vanished.

Having been teleported to the Dark Continent during daylight, Angelina quickly located Val City. En route, her gaze was drawn to the massive Bone Dragon entangled with Alfred in the sky. It was at that critical juncture that she finally rescued me.

“What a truly convoluted journey…” Sally couldn’t help but exclaim after hearing the tale.

“Exactly!” Erica chimed in, echoing the sentiment. Watching the two young girls huddled together below, constantly whispering, made me feel a strange discomfort.

“It seems our route is correct.”

Hayden, more concerned with their escape, remarked with excitement.

“As long as we reach the spot where Angelina recently teleported, we can be quietly sent back and return to the kingdom safely.”

“That should be right. In such a short time, it’s impossible for them to have moved the location again.”

Amos also declared that success was finally assured. The group’s morale instantly surged, and their pace quickened considerably.

Essentially, by this point, the entire mystery had largely unraveled.

With nothing else to do on the journey, and after consolidating all the gathered intelligence, everyone began analyzing whether any crucial details had been overlooked.

Suddenly, Sally raised a question.

“What do you think happened to those two high-tier demonic beasts sent here to escort the divine artifact? A Tier 6 Lamia and a Tier 5 Wolf-Head Man—how could they possibly be killed by a Tier 3 human?”

“That’s very difficult to guess…”

Everyone wore troubled expressions. With so little information, even Amos shook his head repeatedly, admitting he had no clue whatsoever.

Just as I thought this would remain an unsolved mystery, forever beyond our grasp, Angelina raised her hand, indicating she had something to say.

“Actually, I’m not entirely sure if it’s related to this matter, but about a week ago, I did kill a Lamia…”

According to her description, around that time, villages near the Dahinib Mountain Valley in the Asante Kingdom were plagued by low-tier demonic beasts known as Demonic Boars.

Consequently, they had commissioned the royal capital’s Adventurers’ Guild to post a mission for clearing these low-tier monsters.

Since the Dahinib Mountain Valley was quite far from the royal capital and difficult to search on foot in the mountains, the quest had remained unclaimed at the Guild for a long time.

Just as it was about to expire, Angelina, who had just lost a day’s worth of games at “Summerfield’s Entertainment Room,” arrived at the Adventurers’ Guild.

As an angel, she could fly, making her travel swift. With no better quests available at the time, she reluctantly accepted a commission she would normally be too lazy to undertake.

Upon reaching her destination, Angelina spent nearly half a day searching around the Dahinib Mountain Valley but failed to find her target.

As evening approached, she grew anxious, realizing any further delay would mean missing dinner at home.

In her haste, she spotted a faint wisp of black smoke rising from the mountain forest not far away. Flying closer, she discovered a serpentine monster with a human torso and a Wolf-Head Man roasting meat over a campfire.

Although they were demonic beasts, Angelina generally adhered to the principle of avoiding unnecessary trouble and had no intention of interfering.

Even if they detected her approach, she could easily retreat from the sky.

However, upon seeing the food clutched in the two monsters’ mouths, Angelina immediately changed her mind.

It was precisely the Demonic Boar she had been searching for so long, and it had already been devoured until only its head remained.

“How can this be? You’ve roasted it! What if I can’t deliver the goods?”

I’m not exaggerating; these were Angelina’s exact words, as she herself admitted. Since they were in the wilderness anyway, she shamelessly pulled out her divine artifact without a moment’s hesitation.

After a brutal massacre, the Lamia was instantly killed, and the Wolf-Head Man, gravely wounded, fled into the mountain forest.

Angelina had no intention of pursuing; she was simply relieved to have successfully salvaged the remaining boar’s head from the Lamia’s maw.

To conceal the fact that she hadn’t killed the Demonic Boar herself, she remained silent about the incident upon her return.

The Guild staff harbored suspicions about the thoroughly roasted Demonic Boar’s head for a long time, even withholding her reward on the spot.

It wasn’t until days later, when follow-up investigators confirmed with locals in the mountain region that there were indeed no more traces of Demonic Boars, that the quest was finally marked as complete.

“…”

Coincidentally, the Dahinib Mountain Valley was precisely where Amos’s team had been relocated, and the timing roughly aligned.

“Hey, Flora, why isn’t anyone talking anymore?”

Noticing that everyone had silently resumed their journey after she finished recounting the events, Angelina sensed the odd atmosphere and whispered her question to me.

“Doesn’t your conscience bother you?”

I gave her a speechless glance, unconsciously flying a little further away.

“Why would my conscience bother me?”

Angelina, showing absolutely no sign of remorse, flew closer to me.

“It was just two demonic beasts, wasn’t it? Oh, wait, only one demonic beast. Shouldn’t that count as a significant contribution on my part?”

“You’re truly thick-skinned! Keep your distance from me!”

“Don’t be like that!”

…