Chapter 3001: Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu and Memories

"Meow~"

Xia De gently rubbed the top of little Xiao Miya's head, then slightly turned his head to look at the little elf who had fallen into a peaceful sleep in the firelight. Little Lianna was also lying beside the bed keeping her company, and hadn't even taken off that gleaming golden suit of armor.

"Don't worry about that for now. Wait until after the Chosen One ceremony before considering this matter."

Xia De sighed and turned back to speak to Luvia and Bella:

"Let's focus on what's in front of us. After the third wave of the insect tide attacks, you can't relax the search for the 'Watchmaker' either. Emilia has already used one Sublimated Voice tonight, one Witchlock, and drawn the Sword of Light once. What I'm most worried about now is what she'll do when she faces the 'Watchmaker' later... Have Miss Orlanode prepare."

"Since the Battle of Time is a fair one-on-one contest, let Miss Orlanode use her strongest witchcraft right from the start."

Luvia nodded lightly:

"Although there's been constant news from Miss Jia Lin Na's side, they still haven't found the treasure. You probably wouldn't guess, but she led people and together with those female sorceresses from the 'Waning Moon Secret Cult' discovered the entrance to a massive underground palace."

"... Underground palace?"

Bella said with great regret:

"Yes, you can also understand it as a massive dungeon. Judging from the decorative style near the entrance and the internal defensive situation, it was indeed left behind by a powerful witch from the Fifth Epoch. Additionally, they found a stone slab at the entrance that read: My treasure lies at the end of the underground palace. Miss Jia Lin Na has already led people inside, but it looks like they won't be coming out within an hour or two."

"That's fine. The more it seems like this, the more it proves there's value there. What about Flora? Has she returned?"

"Just received news. Flora and the Academy's team have successfully completed the rescue, and the ordinary people among the Hermits have already been properly settled in the forest. However, when Flora's group and the Academy professors' rescue team were covering the retreat, they encountered a derivative of the Sage-level relic 【Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu Hall】—【Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu】—controlled by paradox bugs. So now all of them are undergoing inspection to confirm that each and every one of them is still themselves."

"Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu? What is that?"

Xia De raised an eyebrow. He really hadn't heard of this kind of relic. So the flame-formed Baroness, somewhat uneasy, crossed her arms over her chest and explained with a hint of disgust:

"【Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu Hall】, together with 【House of Impostors】 and 【Mansion of Personas】, are collectively known as the three most notorious relics among Sage-level items. For certain reasons, the information on all three of these relics has been hidden away—you can't find it unless you actively apply for access."

"Simply put, you can think of the so-called 'Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu' as a kind of species with special abilities. They can transform humanoid creatures into a skin, then wear that skin themselves, thereby gaining all of the target's memories and abilities."

"These things are extremely, extremely disgusting, and even now no one knows what their true form actually is. However, records show that this thing originated in the dark and chaotic Fourth Epoch, born from the... special pastimes of some upper-class nobles of that time—a sin born of indulgence."

The Baroness with the beautiful birthmark between her brows seemed to feel that the words she herself had spoken were filthy, so she only gave a brief introduction before stopping. Luvia then reassured Xia De:

"It looks like 【Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu Hall】 shouldn't have truly descended in this area. This kind of relic has nothing to do with time. This time it was probably just one of its derivatives somehow appearing in the woodlands. The thing inside the Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu has already been eliminated, and that Pantanal Pantanal Xiewu skin was also successfully recovered. The Academy is being cautious, which is why they're having everyone undergo inspection. After all, this kind of thing really is disgusting. Flora and the others will be back soon."

"Oh, those forest Hermits said they wanted to thank us for our help, so they gave Flora an item that can temporarily allow her to overcome the time curse and return to her normal level."

"Oh?"

Seeing Xia De suddenly perk up, Luvia added:

"Don't get your hopes up. Only Flora can use it. It was only after the Hermits saw Flora's exquisite shapeshifting arts that they thought to give it to her as a gift. It's not a relic, and it can't even be considered a divine artifact—a corrupted Holy Acorn."

"The 'Holy Acorn' is legendarily the fruit that grew on the very body of that God of Fortune. Unfortunately, by modern times only a handful remain. The one given to Flora has already rotted, but the Hermits say she also has very deep attainments in necromancy, so there won't be any side effects for her."

"After she consumes the acorn and uses shapeshifting arts, she can recover the power of an Eleventh-Tier Great Witch while in her shapeshifted form. It's just a pity that it only works when she transforms into a non-human form, so you won't see an Eleventh-Tier witch or an Eleventh-Tier owl, but I think you'll soon see an Eleventh-Tier unicorn joining the battlefield."

The number of casualties from tonight so far was absolutely not as many as that summer at Moon Bay, but none of tonight's casualties could be revived by Xia De's Witchlock.

On the day of the Divine Battle at Moon Bay that summer, because the Light had attempted to absorb all souls into itself as light, thereby birthing an evil being like the "Light Pleiades," the souls of those who died were unable to reach their final destination and instead lingered in the mist, which is why they could be "revived."

But tonight, no one stepped in to intercept those spirits of the dead, so death was destined to be true death. Although it sounds somewhat cruel, the Outsider believed that a war without resurrection was the correct one... After all, even setting aside the balance of life and death, when death can be toyed with at will, life itself would seem utterly worthless.

The second wave of the swarm's attack slowed, and combined with the return of the elites who had just been deployed to fight the "Guardian," the defenses above and around the city were temporarily stabilized again. Not long after Xia De and the diviners finished their conversation, Hivi, whose shift had been taken over by Vanessa and Sister Sister Daifulin, returned. Miss Haily Aurora brought people to greet her aunt, and Hivi, upon seeing Xia De, also breathed a sigh of relief:

"Although Vanessa said you were all fine, I only felt at ease after seeing you with my own eyes... Emilia has fallen asleep again? Oh, poor Miss, she was the one who worked the hardest tonight."

To avoid disturbing Emilia, Xia De took the cat and Hivi out to the corridor to talk. He gently embraced Hivi, and the witch clung to him, unwilling to let go. As for the Misss passing through the corridor, of course not a single one dared to voice any objection.

"How are things outside?"

"Still okay. Just now we almost couldn't hold the defensive line. The support troops the Church had arranged on the ground even had to bombard the sky from the rooftops. Fortunately you all helped deal with that big trouble in time... Why do you look not very happy?"

She asked hesitantly, moving her chin from Xia De's shoulder to look at him directly. Xia De voiced his doubts:

"I feel something is very strange. The 'Guardian,' which has wings and can fly at high speed, and can even travel through time, actually had to anchor itself to a hill. Was it afraid of flying so fast that we couldn't catch up? Because I had previously found a method to counter its undying nature, actually before tonight, what I worried about most regarding the battle with the 'Guardian' wasn't that I couldn't beat it, but that I couldn't catch it."

"Well... anyway, we won."

Hivi's thinking was actually quite simple:

"Maybe you think this is another conspiracy, like with Bennet. But no matter what, this fits our plan. Even if this is part of someone else's plan, what can we do about it?"

She gently pecked at the corner of Xia De's lips:

"Besides, I believe that no matter what situation we face afterward, you can handle it. Oh, right, Luvia told us to keep an eye on you. You can't wander around before the third wave of the insect tide."

"Actually, I've been wanting to ask since the first time we came back just now—what is Luvia worried about? My condition is perfectly fine."

So the witch with brown wavy long hair said, half-annoyed and half-amused:

"Of course she's worried about the situation from the Battle of Moon Bay happening again. Do you really think you can die and come back to life every time? No one wants to be heartbroken again. I wasn't on the ground at the time, but I heard that when Luvia saw your corpse, she suddenly became very terrifying."

"Anyway, we don't need you right now, so just rest up and keep our little elf Miss company. Of course, considering I just returned from the battlefield, please keep me company too."

"Alright... do you need me to feed you a late-night snack?"

Xin Shi Chong Chong's Xia De asked her. A cute blush spread across Hivi's face at a speed visible to the naked eye:

"What are you saying... let's go over here."

Emilia's sweet sleep was woken by the sound of her own stomach growling.

She had originally worried that Xia De, who was keeping her company, would hear it, but when she opened her eyes she found that Xia De wasn't here. Miss Haily Aurora, seeing she was awake, brought over the late-night snack that had been prepared long ago from the table.

Little Lianna, still in her armor, was bracing her front hooves against the windowsill, looking outside together with the cat on the windowsill. Outside the window, snow was still falling heavily. Although most of the sounds and lights were blocked by the shield protecting the city, when Emilia looked out the window, she could still faintly see the densely packed insects in the white mist beneath the night sky.

"Yes, it's not over yet... Thank you, I'll do it myself... Have the dragon maid Misss left?"

Emilia asked softly as she took the tray. The young Miss Aurora smiled and said:

"I overheard when Mr. Hamilton was chatting with my aunt. Those Fifth Epoch witches left after your Witchlock disappeared. How impressive, Miss Shinode. You were really impressive tonight."

Emilia felt a little embarrassed, so the young witch apprentice asked curiously:

"You've met many powerful witches in Fifth Epoch Saint Byrne's, right? You must have a good relationship with them to be able to invite them to help?"

Emilia, who had placed the tray on her lap, nodded:

"Yes, the relationship is pretty good. But that's not because of me. It's because those beautiful ladies know Xia De, so they like chatting with me, and they're very nice to me. Because Principal Feliana and Miss Orlanode care about me a lot, the other witches at the Academy also look after me very well. There was also one time when I met a visiting witch with silver hair who wasn't very tall, but was very, very beautiful..."

Her thoughts were briefly carried back to the Fifth Epoch. Although the two years of living at the Academy took her far from Xia De and her family, she actually really liked that period of time:

"Speaking of which, where did Xia De go? He... didn't come to visit me?"