Chapter 197: Chapter 195: I Picked This Up by the Roadside

The maximum speed of the Flying Broom is 150 yards.

This is its design limit.

At this moment, under the immense pressure from the Tier Four Mage behind her, Hilia tossed aside her fear of speed and pushed the Flying Broom to its highest speed.

But she still felt it wasn’t enough.

"I heard Tier Four Mages can fly without relying on flying devices. As long as they learn Flying Skill, they can fly for a long time. Will this speed be enough to escape?"

The girl’s teeth were chattering, but she still asked Rose if the speed was sufficient.

Rose grinned, "Normally, it’s definitely not enough. But, by a stroke of luck, that Shadow Mage doesn’t have a flying device, nor has he really studied Flying Skill—he’s relying on running to travel."

Hilia asked, "But can he run this fast?"

Rose nodded, "He can."

The girl’s heart tightened, but Rose laughed: "Don’t worry, the direction I sent you in already changed from plains to rugged mountain paths. Walking isn’t exactly fast.

Oh right, maximize Disguise Skill. While you can’t be as invisible as that Shadow Mage, it will at least make people down below ignore you."

Hilia didn’t understand why Rose wanted her to do this.

But since it was Rose’s orders, she could only comply.

From discovering the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association’s base in the Star Spirit Forbidden Land, to snatching a high-quality Heart of the Magic Puppet, to now, being hunted by the Association.

Hilia was certain Rose was plotting something through all of this.

After spending so much time together, she chose to trust Rose and follow his plans.

They’d always been going against the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association—maybe Lord Rose had found the so-called "Roster" behind it all?

Hilia thought to herself.

When it came to targeting the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association, she raised both hands in support.

It’s not like they were targeting the Gods of the Holy Court, so why would she feel any conflict~? 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Of course she should support it unconditionally!

Crush the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association!

With Disguise Skill fully activated, Hilia’s figure blended into the shadows, leaving no trace in the dim sky.

As she flew over a certain area, she felt some movement below, but when she looked down, there was nothing to be seen.

Flying onward for a while, she saw disordered figures below, as if... people from the Southern Border City?

The girl was puzzled, but there was no time to think—she buried her head and sped forward.

A few minutes later, Rose’s voice sounded in her mind: "Okay, we’ve arrived. Slow down and take a break before going any further."

"Alright."

Hilia didn’t doubt him, slowed down, and finally let out a sigh of relief.

"This speed is way too thrilling, I can’t take it. Speed 40 is the best for me."

Rose shook his head. "You’ll get used to it. Get down. From here, you just need to walk the rest of the way."

"Okay."

Though she didn’t know the destination, Hilia still followed instructions.

She lowered her altitude, jumped off the Flying Broom once she got close to the ground, folded the broom up and stored it in her bag, then took out her Magic Staff, channeling in some magic power to use it as a light source.

Hilia found a tree and sat down, patting her chest and gasping for breath.

After a minute, she stood up again, just about to ask Rose where to go next, when she was suddenly startled.

"There seem to be Array markings around here? A Shadow-element concealment type?"

With her acute sense for arrays, the moment she subconsciously sent out Mage’s Hand to scan the surroundings, she immediately noticed something unusual nearby.

Rose’s apparition appeared before her, smiling calmly: "This is the destination I sent you to. There’s something here you forgot to take."

"What is it?" Hilia asked curiously.

"When we destroyed the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association’s base in the Star Spirit Forbidden Land, you forgot to take something—a medium used to transmit faith between the Heart of the Magic Puppet and the believers."

Hilia blinked. She had no idea what it was, but since Rose said it was valuable, it must be good stuff.

She steadied her heart and began to sense the faintly concealed array.

After a while, she stopped beneath an ordinary-looking tree.

"Found it, the array’s node!"

Hilia reached out, touching the tree. Mage’s Hand, carrying magic power, penetrated the trunk and invaded the hidden array inside.

"This array even has a defense mechanism. The defense... is to directly spray out a big glob of pollution. What a disgusting protective measure."

The concentration of that pollution was very high. If triggered by mistake, unless you were Tier Four or above, you’d be invaded instantly and faint on the spot. You’d only wake up once your magic power triggered your self-protective instincts.

As for how long it would take to wake up, that was unknown.

Hilia considered—it would probably knock her out until tomorrow morning if it got her.

"Good thing I caught it in time, hmph. With such a nasty setup, how could I just ignore it?"

With that, she grabbed the array and ripped it apart.

Intense Holy Light surged from Hilia’s hand, forming a sacred net that wrapped the ball of pollution which the array was about to release, and began to purify it with all her might.

Pollution in the air was much easier to purify than inside a body.

It didn’t take long for Hilia to clean up all the pollution.

Only then did she look at what the Concealment Array had been protecting.

It was inside a tree hollow.

Next to the hollow, there was a... elf maiden?

Hilia froze for a second, then immediately understood.

"This poor kid must’ve accidentally triggered the array’s defense and got knocked out by the pollution."

She sensed the aura on the girl’s body and confirmed it.

"So the array can even throw people who set off the defenses right into itself so they get repeatedly polluted... How vicious."

She took a quick look and found this elf maiden was quite resistant to pollution—not seriously tainted, just a little bit in her organs. Nothing major.

So she focused on the tree hollow, shone her Magic Staff inside, and reached in to pull out a fist-sized polyhedron crystal stone.

Seeing the stone’s form, the girl’s eyes widened and she cried out: "A Pure Magic Crystal?!"

"Correct." Rose smiled. "You see now why I didn’t remind you to repair your staff? Because there’s a Pure Magic Crystal here—even better than an Advanced Magic Crystal, and it’s just lying here free for the taking."

Hilia’s shock morphed into joy, her face blossoming into a grin.

"Woohoo! Long live Lord Rose!ヾ(≧▽≦*)o"

After some excitement, she carefully placed the Pure Magic Crystal in her bag.

Then, she looked at the elf maiden before her. "This girl probably came for the Advanced Magic Crystal too. She just knew nothing about arrays and got trapped—so decisive and yet so unlucky. Should I help her...?"

Hilia fell into thought.

With some uncertainty, she asked Rose: "Lord Rose, do you think I should help her?"

From the traces of pollution, and from what Rose had said about "the thing she forgot at the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association base," Hilia pretty much guessed who had hidden this stuff.

"If I don’t help, won’t she just get found by the heretics coming back for the stuff?"

Rose smiled slightly: "Just follow your heart."

After a long hesitation, Hilia gritted her teeth, "Even if I save her, she’ll probably notice I have the Pure Magic Crystal. And this Pure Magic Crystal can’t be that simple... But if I don’t save her, I’m not worthy of being a Holy Daughter. As the future Holy Daughter, why should I fear saving others?"

Having made her decision, Hilia summoned a Magic Puppet, ordered it to hoist the elf maiden onto its back, and quickly set off toward Southern Border City.