Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation

Although the roads in the Karga Mountains can conceal our tracks, they are much more difficult to traverse than the gravel wastelands of the Dark Continent. And to minimize the chance of exposure, Nicola and I don't even dare to fly, we can only walk with everyone for now.

All the way, everyone is rather quiet. We should be celebrating our return to the Astralrealm Kingdom, but the situation is still dangerous with pursuers behind us, so it's hard to be happy.

The only noticeable difference is probably the dark elemental aura in the air that is gradually becoming fainter. After staying in the Dark Continent for so many days, suddenly being free from the foul environment around us, my whole body feels much more refreshed.

"Is the Fire Goddess really as powerful as you guys claimed, that so many of us have to take a detour to avoid her?"

Seeing Alfreed and the rest with gloomy expressions, always silent, Hayden finally couldn't help but speak out.

After all, although we kept mentioning that she should be very strong, there was no actual experience regarding a goddess he had never heard of before.

"You should have seen how powerful Claudia is. A goddess that even she respectfully addresses, how could she be lacking?"

Alfreed glanced at him and sighed as he answered.

Probably because his weapon was borrowed by me, Hayden didn't directly participate in the battle. So he couldn't feel the pressure that everyone else felt when facing Claudia.

I'm the same, because I lost consciousness at the time, everything that happened was told by Nicola afterwards, so I don't have much intuitive feeling either.

But this does not prevent me from inferring Michelle the Fire Goddess' might based on this information.

"But the vegetation in these mountains is so lush. Can they really catch up to us?"

Eleanora seemed a little skeptical about this. In order to conceal ourselves, even Nicola and I had folded our wings. In the Dark Continent, the monsters might not even be able to find us, let alone in the mountains of this kingdom.

"It would indeed be unlikely under normal circumstances..."

If it was before seeing those maps that looked like satellite surveillance, I would probably be so optimistic too. But my intuition tells me that things are not that simple, and I feel a little uneasy for some reason.

"Feliciana, take Selene and head back to Norvale first."

Adrian probably has similar concerns as me. He walked over to me and said,

"It's too risky for you to keep following us, and don't you still have an unfinished mission? This is a good opportunity for Selene to leave with you too."

"No..."

I was about to decline as soon as I heard it, but on second thought, this didn't seem to be just my own business anymore, it also involved Selene. My mission was to escort her back safely to the capital in the first place, and now was the perfect time to complete it, right?

"What about you guys then?"

I looked at Alfreed and the others walking ahead. If I left with Selene, there would be even fewer people left. What if the Fire Goddess catches up?

And what about Nicola? I don't know if she would stay behind if she knew I was leaving.

"If you're going back to the capital, I must go with you. It could still be dangerous in the skies with just the two of you, you may not be able to handle it, especially with another person."

As expected, as soon as Nicola overheard my conversation with Adrian, she came over to state her stand.

"You should leave now while you still can. The later it gets, the more dangerous it becomes. If we get caught up, there won't even be a chance."

"Nicola is right, hurry up and take Selene away."

Seeing Nicola urging persistently, Adrian also agreed and called Selene over at the same time.

"We're going back to the capital now?"

When Selene learned that I was going to take her away, she seemed a little reluctant, looking back at the others longingly.

"What are you thinking? This is a great opportunity, hurry up!"

Seeing her reaction, Eleanora also persuaded her decisively and gave Selene a push towards me. Has their relationship become so good after just a few days?

"Exactly, no matter how powerful that Fire Goddess is, our squad isn't weak either. Not to mention with terrain like these mountains and forests where we excel the most, even if we can't beat her, it shouldn't be a problem evading her, right?"

Hayden said confidently. Before being teleported to the Dark Continent, they had been tracking monsters in similar environments for days after all. Looking at it this way, it was still quite convincing.

"If everything goes smoothly, we could be out of these mountains by tomorrow the fastest, reach the kingdom's military maincamp, and arrive in Norvale the day after. We can meet up again in the capital by then and even go out for a meal together..."

As Hayden optimistically estimated their schedule, he even already made plans for after they got back. He was even lacking just one final flag about going home and getting married before his words could qualify for inclusion in textbooks.

"You..."

I was a little speechless. At first, I still felt that what he said made some sense, but it became more and more like he was courting death towards the end. The flags he set up were simply too textbook-like.

"Are you guys really that relaxed?"

Suddenly, a tender voice came from behind and gave everyone a shock.

"Who are you?!"

When we turned around and saw that the speaker was unexpectedly a young red-haired girl who didn't seem very old, we all felt a strange, indescribable feeling for a moment.

In fact, this girl could be said to be extremely beautiful with exquisite features that were no less than Nicola's or what I saw of myself in the mirror. Although the smile on her face was so charming, she couldn't conceal an air of otherworldliness that emanated from her. It was truly hard to imagine encountering such a beauty in this remote mountainous area.

However, the more extraordinary she appeared, the more it proved there was something wrong with her. Moreover, given that we were being pursued, we couldn't afford to be careless.

"How did you get behind us? Why are you following us?"

Alfreed drew out his longsword nervously and questioned her. How could this girl have approached them so silently without anyone noticing?

"I just saw you all huddled together as if discussing something, so I came over to take a look."

She didn't seem to care much about Alfreed pointing his sword at her and leisurely answered. Speaking as if she was merely curious.

"Feliciana, do you sense anything off about her?"

Adrian whispered to me, without any hesitation taking out his usual bow and arrows.

"I feel everything is off about her!"

I said helplessly. For her to appear so silently, she must be a big shot. There was no running from this conclusion!

"But oddly, she has no aura of dark elements at all."

If she was a monster, I should have been able to identify it quickly. At first I thought she might be that Fire Goddess Michelle representing all dark creatures. But the actual detection results were a bit unexpected, making me doubt my senses for a moment.

"No way..."

"What's wrong?"

Seeing my change in expression, Adrian immediately took out an arrow and nocked it on the string. Beside him, Eleanora and Hayden also quickly took out their weapons.

"She has the aura of light elements, the same as Feliciana and the others. It seems she's also an angel who has folded her wings?"

Selene cut in to say. She could sense light elements and with me and Nicola right next to her for comparison, she quickly drew this conclusion.

"Huh?"

Almost everyone present was stunned. This development was too bizarre. Just when we thought the other party was a monster chasing us, it turns out she was actually an angel instead.

"It seems to be an angel... But why would an angel be here?"

Nicola also sensed it. The other party's body was indeed composed purely of light elements without a doubt ─ almost an angel's hallmark. The hand she originally wanted to summon her Condensation Sword with also withdrawn back. Speaking of which, her impression of angels had always been rather good.

"It's considered normal for angels to appear around this area. The kingdom is currently at war with monsters. After fighting for so long, it's very possible for angels to have joined in the battle."

Selene thought about it and said with a strange look on her face.

"But the weird thing is why she's alone here, and no other angels can be seen."

Uh...

I suddenly feel Selene's description seems a little familiar. Isn't this almost the same situation as when I first met them in the Elara Woodlands? It's basically identical! I think now I understand how they felt back then.

"Are you an angel?"

Hearing our whispered discussion, Alfreed relaxed a little and asked the girl.

"Angel?"

The girl seemed slightly startled, apparently not expecting us to ask her this question.

"Hehe, I guess so..."

"guess?"

My brows knitted slightly. I felt a contemptuous tone in the other party's reply. Something was wrong with this answer!

To be honest, although the red-haired girl's encounter was similar to mine when I first arrived in this world, it did not make me let my guard down. Everything about the way she behaved seemed strange, as if she was not as simple as just an angel.

And oddly, I kept having this nagging sense of familiarity about her looks, as if I had seen her somewhere before.

Perhaps it was in that dream when I lost consciousness, or perhaps in a much more distant past.

"Why are you alone in a place like this? Where are your other companions?"

I roughly repeated Selene's doubts.

"Of course it's to find you all."

The other party answered matter-of-factly with a smile at the corner of her lips.

"As for my other companions, they will be here soon."

"Really?"

Hearing the reply, Selene and the others were instantly overjoyed, thinking it meant there would be reinforcements.

"Wait a minute! What do you mean by finding us?"

I felt something was wrong. I originally thought when I heard she was looking for us, it was directed at me and Nicola. After all Nicola had just recently exposed her identity to the kingdom's army.

But I quickly realized this was impossible, because we had just returned from the Dark Continent. It had only been such a short time, even if the angels had very smooth information channels, it would still be impossible to locate our position so accurately deep in these mountains.

So apart from us, who else could she be finding? The answer to this sent chills down my spine just thinking about it.

"Who exactly are you? What's your name?"

Adrian also noticed something amiss and directly asked this critical question even before the other party could reply.