Chapter 207: Chapter 205: City Lord: The Castle’s Destruction Has Nothing to Do with Hilia

Vanessa noticed the odd expression on Hilia’s face and a thought popped into her mind; she lowered her voice and asked, "Hilia, that strange magic puppet, does it have anything to do with you?"

Faced with something she’d done herself, Hilia decided to come clean.

"Yes, that strange magic puppet was indeed brought here by me."

Although it was under the guidance of a god, it was ultimately carried out by Hilia, so what she said wasn’t exactly a lie.

Vanessa was taken aback, about to say something when City Lord Puniel burst out laughing, saying, "This matter has nothing to do with Miss Hilia—it was our oversight and nearly got Miss Hilia hurt. It’s our fault, really."

Vanessa recalled Hilia’s explanation at the inn earlier and said, "That shadow mage is an expert at assassinations—even I might fall for it if I’m not careful. If you were the one who attracted him, why didn’t he just come for you directly?"

Puniel nodded as well. "Yes, the bishop was injured because of this and is still bedridden. If it was Miss Hilia who lured him, the Hilia we see now wouldn’t be lively and well, but a corpse instead.

"Heretics are infamous for their oddities. Maybe they discovered something and reversed the situation, deliberately luring us out of the city so that the mage could ambush us outside. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have rushed back to Southern Border City right after our emergency transmission and tried to besiege me."

Vanessa nodded.

After last night’s battle, she’d asked Puniel about the details and knew the course of events.

That strange ’magic puppet man’ met with the mage couple outside the city and then fought Puniel and the bishop together—it didn’t seem at all like he was after Hilia.

Hilia was silent for a moment, a bit embarrassed, and said, "The place where you fought outside the city isn’t far. You should find a lot of heretics dead there. If there aren’t any bodies, there should be marks of battle or something."

Puniel smiled slightly. "We did find some heretic corpses nearby, and a lot of heretics were collecting the dead. After our people subdued them, some of the conscious heretics said they were fighting a mysterious mage, but that mage wasn’t Miss Hilia."

As he spoke, Puniel activated his wristband and displayed a scene from the battle.

It showed Hilia in disguise fighting heretics.

In order to avoid being recognized by the heretics through details, Hilia’s disguise was always thorough—the bag she carried was newly bought, and even the magic puppet was disguised.

So, the mage shown in Puniel’s light projection was a complete stranger.

The projection couldn’t detect the opponent’s strength, only their spellcasting performance.

Vanessa immediately judged, "The purification skill this mage used is different from the Holy Court’s version. Judging by her performance, she’s nearly a Tier Four mage at least."

The video was brief, just five seconds, and didn’t show the shadow mage in action.

Apart from using the Holy Light Skill, all that could be seen was the magic puppet flashing about, slaughtering heretics. There was no footage of the magic puppet using any magic.

Hilia recognized this as the battle she’d just had against the heretics; at the time, she was using a purification skill to apply negative effects to the heretics, and the magic puppet hadn’t started using the scroll yet.

Hilia fell silent.

Puniel smiled, "It’s possible this mage used a shadow-element disguise skill, but with this performance, it couldn’t be Miss Hilia.

"A few days ago, I heard a young elf royal lady had slipped into Southern Border City, moving about furtively. I sent people to follow her in secret. Last night, when pursuing the heretics, my spies told me that young elf royal disappeared. I think those heretics must have been killed by her."

Vanessa nodded in agreement.

Hilia recalled the elf maiden who’d barged into the concealment array and got her face contaminated.

When they carried her in last night, didn’t that uncle who dug the tunnel say... she was from the elf royal family?

Could the City Lord be talking about her?

No, it must be her.

Hilia couldn’t help but mutter, "With her like that, how could she manage something like this?"

The two Tier Four mages had sharp ears and instantly caught Hilia’s muttering.

"Miss Hilia, do you know that elf royal lady?" Puniel asked in surprise.

"I wouldn’t say I know her—she’s in my room right now." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

An unfamiliar elf maiden, and a royal at that—who knows what she’s up to. As the future Holy Daughter of the Holy Court, there’s no need to cover for such a suspicious person; might as well just tell Puniel and let them receive her with proper diplomatic courtesy.

Hearing this, Puniel nodded knowingly. "After we heal those two puppetmasters, could I trouble Miss Hilia to make the introduction?"

"No problem, leave it to me."

While they were chatting, the group made their way through the castle ruins and arrived at a side hall.

"Miss Hilia, the two puppetmasters are inside. Sorry for the trouble."

"Don’t mention it."

Hilia entered the hall and saw the two people lying in a side room.

Their condition was dire. His lips were already pale. Though both body and spiritual power were stable, there was still a sense that life force was draining away rapidly.

Seeing this, Hilia didn’t delay. She sat down next to one of them, and as per Rose’s instructions, took out the Sea God Divine Fragment, pressed it to her fingertip, and began to resonate with the Divine Format.

Upon seeing the Divine Fragment in her hand, Puniel’s eyes went wide. He pointed at the Divine Fragment, utterly shocked.

Vanessa noticed his reaction and quietly asked, "What’s wrong?"

It was a while before Puniel quietly said, "The Heart of the Magic Puppet Miss Hilia is using looks a lot like the one we dug out of that magic puppet—in fact, it’s identical! Only, its aura seems a bit weaker than that puppet’s heart. Don’t tell me... Hilia really brought it here?"

Vanessa’s face looked strange. She shook her head and said, "This is a high-quality Heart of the Magic Puppet Hilia brought from the Pure Magic Crystal heretic base you guys raided. She says high-quality puppet hearts have problems causing soul shock and won’t let me touch it.

"The hearts being similar doesn’t prove that the ’magic puppet man’ was summoned by Hilia. It only proves the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association has a lot of those high-quality puppet hearts, some of them used to create those monsters—not quite man, not quite puppet—just like that ’magic puppet man’."

Vanessa then laughed, "The Star Ash Town Divine Hall was destroyed because the heretics came to ask me for healing and realized Hilia also had a Heart of the Magic Puppet. That’s why the conflict happened. I pretty much understand now why, at the last moment, that ’magic puppet man’ charged Hilia.

"He obviously detected the high-quality Heart of the Magic Puppet on Hilia."

Puniel suddenly understood. "Then it really isn’t related to Miss Hilia."