Chapter 2268: Chapter Two Thousand Three Hundred and Thirteen: The Burning Moon Bay

In fact, for everyone in the group, although their ring warlock grades had already surpassed their own year level, the summer examination week was just an ordinary exam for the four people other than Xia De—no one had opened up upgrade or skip-grade permissions for them—so the number of subjects in this exam was no different from previous years.

Luvia was the first to finish her answer sheet before noon. After submitting her parchment, she also picked up little Mia, who had been sunbathing in the cat bed on the windowsill all morning, before leaving the room.

Xia De guessed she had gone to feed that cat, because a full half hour later, the orange-and-white cat leisurely padded back in through the crack in the door.

It circled Xia De's chair once, saw that he was writing seriously, so it first jumped onto Dorothy's desk by the window, then with a powerful push leapt back onto the windowsill, settling down contentedly to sunbathe while watching Xia De.

Apart from Dorothy, who was focused on answering questions and got startled by the cat, no one else—including the professors—had any particular reaction.

Priest Augustus had the lowest year level and his subjects were relatively simpler, so he was the second to finish. Right after him was Dorothy, followed by Doctor Shi Nai De. The three of them, as if they had made an appointment, handed in their papers one after another between half past one and two in the afternoon, leaving only Xia De still writing furiously.

Even an Outsider cannot answer every question perfectly. Just as Miss Jia Lin Na said yesterday, if Saint Byron's exams could be passed just by having a good memory, the academy would have long since declined.

Therefore Xia De had to worry about the situation in Moon Bay while dealing with those tricky questions on the parchment, and at the same time could not let his handwriting be too ugly—these parchments were to be permanently preserved in the library.

Fortunately, with "her" help and soothing by his ear, Xia De was gradually able to calm down.

Even though he intentionally tried to be quick, by the time he wrote the last letter and placed the period, the glow of the setting sun had already appeared outside the window.

Little Mia's cat fur became even more brilliant and dazzling under that orange-yellow light. Xia De could only think of such adjectives, and quite admired that the cat had actually been able to lie on the windowsill all afternoon without moving much.

He handed in his exam paper and answer parchment, then the professors disappeared together, and would reappear an hour later to announce everyone's grades for the summer examination week.

"Finally over!"

Xia De sat wearily in his chair staring at his own ceiling. After letting out a long sigh, he stood up, picked up the cat, and walked toward the door.

By this time, dinner had already been laid out in the dining room of the neighboring Room No. 1, and the four members of the group were all waiting for Xia De to come eat together.

It could be seen that the others were fairly satisfied with this exam; there was no repeat of last year when Dorothy knew right after finishing that she had bombed it. Of course, Doctor Shi Nai De, as in previous years, still asked Luvia to help divine for each person.

And the purple-eyed Miss's divination results were still precise. When an hour later everyone sat down again in the neighboring room and the professors appeared and announced that everyone had passed, smiles appeared on everyone's faces.

"Mr. Xia De S. Hamilton, you have passed all 28 of your exams. Please check your transcript for specific scores. Congratulations on entering the sixth year. We have sent a letter to Professor Dannister, who is away on business, and Miss Dannister has asked us to convey her congratulations to you on her behalf."

So, after a full year, the Outsider, who originally had no diploma in this world, reached the sixth year through his own effort and struggle. For a correspondence ring warlock, this grade was already enough to follow the group to Saint Byron's, and if he had no intention of continuing his studies, he could actually choose to graduate and become Saint Byron's liaison in the civilized world.

But for Xia De, the sixth year was only the midpoint. He looked up at the Path of the Twelve Deities' Ascension, but did not forget that as a mortal, life must be taken one step at a time.

The road ahead was truly still very long.

The professors left, and everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. After mutual congratulations and a toast with the wine Xia De provided, Doctor Shi Nai De, as usual, invited Priest Augustus out for a drink, and the priest, at Xia De's home, formally bade farewell to the four:

"After tomorrow's Saint's Prayer Day event, I will be setting out on a journey. Don't ask me when I'm leaving; I'll just pick up my luggage and depart. Please look forward to seeing me again when I return—I will bring you gifts."

"Priest, perhaps we'll meet again in Moon Bay very soon."

Xia De said with a smile, and the old priest, wiping his pipe, also replied with a smile:

"Moon Bay shouldn't be such a small place, but if we really do run into each other, it means it's time for us to help one another again."

After the priest and the doctor said goodbye, Dorothy and Luvia, knowing Xia De still had to go to Moon Bay, saw him off to the basement together.

Little Mia certainly couldn't be brought along, and since both swords were in the witches' hands, Xia De didn't even need to carry any large luggage.

After touching the ancient god statue in the basement, he arrived at the dragon's nest outside Moon Bay. In a rather good mood, he walked out of the cave, stood in the small grove outside the city looking toward Moon Bay's urban area, and then discovered that although it was already night, the sky above the city was so bright—and bright in an orange-red color.

"Is there a bonfire party in the city today? I haven't heard of any festival in the city recently. Could it be the local Limingjiaotang warming up for tomorrow's Saint's Prayer Day event... hmm?"

Xia De looked in astonishment at the night sky, more than half of which was reddened by firelight:

"Is this a large-scale fire in the city?"

His right hand took down the key hanging around his neck. When the pitch-black long staff appeared in his hand, Xia De lightly tapped the ground with it, and his entire body transformed into red butterflies, flying toward Moon Bay's urban area like a stream of light.

With the increase in level and proficiency, he was becoming more and more adept at this transformation art.

Saint George Stone Bridge was completely empty; even the streetlamps on the side closer to the city had not been lit. The gate opening beneath the city wall was blocked by sandbags and a burning carriage and could not be passed through, but through the gaps between these obstacles, Xia De could see that the street inside the city gate really was burning—and what was burning was clearly not just this street:

"I've only been gone one day—what happened here? Weren't the witches in the east of the city seeking revenge on the【Light Worshippers' Research Society】? This is the north of the city."

Citizens fighting the fire were everywhere on the streets, but when a shriek and a scream came from the distance, they fled in panic toward the blocks that had not yet caught fire, because a figure wrapped in blood-colored aura descended from the sky.

The sound of gunfire came from somewhere unknown, but could not stop that beast-like figure. So the swarm of red butterflies, amid the crackling sound of burning, passed through the gap in the gate opening, then crashed headlong into that low-level vampiric beast.

The swarm of red butterflies passed through its body, and Xia De's boot then stepped on the monster's corpse.

The raging fire on the building beside them illuminated the face of Xia De, who had transformed back into human form. He raised his head and stared in astonishment at the dense, enormous swarm of bats flying above the city:

"The vampiric species—are they going to war with the church?"

This afternoon was clearly supposed to be the【Witches' Council】's revenge against the【Light Worshippers' Research Society】. Xia De did not understand why it had turned into vampiric beasts attacking the city.

A beam of dazzling golden light now swept from the distant city center toward the sky. Those large vampiric bats were mostly swept away, but the remaining ones flew toward the source of that beam. Dense swarms of vampiric bats kept pouring in from the direction of the mountains; the ash produced by the burning in the north of the city flew into the night sky, carried by the flying bat swarms and scattered all over the city.

A dragon's roar seemed to come from the distance, but that should have been in the direction of Chengnan dock—too far away for even Xia De to hear clearly. Looking up at the nearby night sky, several figures were battling above the burning city; the light and fireballs from explosions seemed to add an even more absurd embellishment to the night.

With a crash, the crossbeam of the house beside Xia De collapsed in the fire. He squinted slightly, listened to the sound of heartbeats, then turned and rushed into the fire.

Not long after, Xia De, covered in black ash, walked out of the fire carrying two crying children. From among the crowd keeping their distance, a weeping woman darted out quickly and took the baby from Xia De's arms.

"When did the fire start?"

He asked the weeping and terrified woman in Carsonrick language, and she said between sobs:

"About fifteen minutes ago, five streets in the north of the city all caught fire, and then those murderous, blood-sucking monsters... it's the prophecy! The prophecy that Moon Bay will be destroyed!"

Looking at it this way, it wasn't the entire city that had caught fire, and such a terrible situation hadn't been going on for very long either.

Xia De watched the woman holding the children being pulled away again by her husband. He watched the people kneeling and weeping before the burning houses everywhere, and the citizens still trying to use water to put out the flames and save their property.

"Her" voice came to his ear:

【Outsider, you have felt the Whisper. Within the nearby area, you will continuously be affected by the following effects:】

【The recovery speed of spirit and stamina for Human-race ring warlocks is reduced; due to the weak effect, this effect is invalid against you.】

【Large-scale interference with weather phenomena such as rain and snow—wonder arts, curse arts, and rituals—is weakened.】

【You are more susceptible to mental attacks; due to your powerful soul, this effect is invalid against you.】

【Once injured, wounds are harder to heal; due to your sturdy body, this effect is invalid against you.】

【Mental perception ability is severely affected; due to your stable mind, this effect is invalid against you.】

"Is the Maze Lock being restricted?"

【Not restricted.】

With his right hand he took out that bottle of glowing pink perfume; the glow was mostly due to his recent days of "abstaining from lust."

After taking a small sip, as the smooth perfume entered his mouth, the Yggdrasil Staff held in Xia De's left hand lightly tapped the ground. Thus the night sky, shrouded in the black fog and thick smoke produced by the burning, seemed to become a little clearer.

A very few people noticed the starry sky seemed to flicker for a moment, but what more people noticed was goose-feather snow falling in great drifts from the sky, landing atop the wounded citizens, the burning fires, the battling humans and monsters, and the countless buildings standing quietly in this chaotic night.

The Outsider, carrying his long staff, walked toward this long dark night. He did not know how much effect this would have, but in the end he still had to do something.