Once again opening her eyes, Violet found herself still in the temple-like shrine from before, with Hilda lying on the ground with all her limbs broken, seemingly unconscious.

 

“Master! Are you okay?!”

 

The little dragon girl anxiously grabbed Violet’s shoulder, and the others, including Leila and Rene, had also gathered around.

 

Without an immediate response, the priestess first clenched her fists, feeling her internal state.

 

No changes. The sudden gray light that had struck her face had disappeared, seeming to be a kind of mental power. The battle that occurred within the illusion hadn’t depleted Violet’s MP, but her SP had decreased slightly and was automatically recovering.

 

A pure clash of souls, huh…

 

“I’m fine. Was I unconscious for a long time? What happened during that time?”

 

“Not long… about three seconds or so. I was on guard the whole time, and that woman suddenly closed her eyes and stopped moving…”

 

Perhaps genuinely worried, Lady Dragon hesitated and double-checked.

 

“Are you really okay, Master? Although it was brief, I could feel a severe fluctuation in your spirit earlier.”

 

“I’m really fine… this level of attack can’t do much to me.”

 

It seems in this special interactive illusion, internal time isn’t completely frozen. The intense mental fluctuation Xiao Guang mentioned should be when she massacred millions of abyssal beasts using her Destruction Mode inside. Activating that mode indeed would have some impact on Violet’s spirit.

 

If one’s spirit dies within the illusion, they probably won’t wake up in reality either.

 

It seems I’ll need to be more careful in the future. This time, it was fine, but if it were a real battle on the same level, even a few seconds of vulnerability could be extremely deadly. It’s better to withdraw immediately upon encountering such situations again.

 

With a reassuring glance at the worried faces of Sigrid and others, Violet didn’t explain much further. She simply squatted down again to check on Hilda’s condition.

 

The gray vine-shaped mark on her forehead had disappeared. Without surprise, it was likely used as fuel for Hilda’s counterattack against Violet. Such a level of attack wouldn’t be easily replicated, even within the illusion.

 

However, Hilda’s dark gray hair, tied into a single-sided ponytail hanging down from her chest, and her wings, broken into peculiar shapes, hadn’t returned to their original white color. The ear wings, symbolizing her status as a half-angel, still remained.

 

It seemed this was a permanent change, at least in the conventional sense.

 

As for her current condition…

 

Violet activated her Information Detection once more.

 

Ah, she’s dead.

 

“……”

 

The little dragon girl’s actions were measured. They likely only incapacitated her without endangering her life. Therefore, Hilda’s cause of death should be attributed to the gray light that left her body earlier.

 

Perhaps, like the parasites of Calamity, when under control, there isn’t much issue, but once detached, life rapidly deteriorates, leading to death within a short period.

 

This gray light was likely of a similar type, but even more intense than the former. While it granted terrifying pseudo-godlike power, it also acted as a Damocles’ sword, threatening to take the bearer’s life at any moment.

 

The essence of the Withering Authority… that person even mentioned she had damaged her toy.

 

When she transformed Hilda into this doll-like state, she didn’t intend to let her live, did she?

 

Such a cliché taste.

 

However, the more so, Violet was determined to thwart the plans of that self-proclaimed superior individual.

 

Pretending as if nothing had happened, the black-haired girl slightly turned her head and looked towards the people behind her.

 

Judging by the time, no one had yet come forward to check. Violet was the first to notice the death of this former high-ranking member of the Wings of Freedom.

 

Xiao Guang probably noticed too, but she never liked to waste words and didn’t care much about Hilda’s life or death, her expression almost unchanged.

 

“Ahem.”

 

Intentionally clearing her throat, Violet attracted the attention of the people around her. Sigrid, who had been monitoring the situation closely, immediately looked nervous.

 

“Violet? What happened to Senior Hilda? Aren’t you a priest? Please, you must save her!”

 

Without getting up, Violet maintained her original posture, not even turning her head.

 

“Please calm down. Although her injuries are severe, she’s not beyond saving. For now, please wait outside. I need some time to administer treatment.”

 

“?”

 

Though they looked at each other hesitantly, due to Sigrid’s trust in Miss Priestess and the common knowledge that treatment required a quiet environment, in the end, Leona and the others didn’t say anything. They just nodded silently before leaving with several priests.

 

Leila, Rene and the other winged girls followed suit, leaving only Violet and her assistant pet in the temple.

 

With no outsiders around, Little Dragon Girl naturally spoke bluntly.

 

“Master, are you planning to revive this woman?”

 

“Well, actually, after I was hit by that gray beam just now…”

 

Violet briefly explained to Xiao Guang what had happened in the illusion. Surprisingly, after hearing it, Xiao Guang also pondered for a moment and made some kind of speculation or judgment.

 

“Master, the Seth you encountered in the illusion should be the same person on Omo Island.”

 

“Is that so…”

 

Although there were already suspicions, Little Dragon Girl’s words undoubtedly provided a significant weight and evidence. Violet understood her character well and knew she wouldn’t speak without enough certainty.

 

With this, things became clearer.

 

The one who had been collecting fragments of the Goddess of Earth’s divinity was this somehow unsealed, even now incredibly powerful, fragmentary entity. It’s highly likely she took the divinity fragments from the Wordless Tome.

 

Violet remembered that this individual had mentioned meeting the Sky City’s divine priests while conversing with Hilda.

 

There were two interpretations of this statement. One was that they knew each other and were in some kind of cooperative relationship, but that seemed highly unlikely no matter how one thought about it. Therefore, the most plausible explanation was that the Sky City also harbored fragments of the Goddess of Earth’s divinity, and this Seth had clashed with the divine priests who guarded it in an attempt to seize them.

 

Considering the importance of the Sky City and the power of the divine priests, it’s highly likely the weight of this fragment was significant, and the last attempt by “Seth” probably ended in failure.

 

Otherwise, with her vile personality and disregard for life, the situation in the Sky City wouldn’t have remained so calm.

 

During the catastrophe on Spryce Island, the memory of Seth had mentioned “reaching this realm again” in a self-muttering manner. Additionally, she easily transformed Hilda into a pseudo-god-level angel…

 

It’s likely that this Seth had made another breakthrough and reached a level worthy of being called a god.

 

If they were to do it again…

 

Violet frowned, contemplating some rather unpleasant possibilities.

 

Well, regardless, let’s revive Hilda first.

 

Although she didn’t have much interaction with this winged lady, Violet just wanted to trip up that arrogant deity a bit.