The elite knights who had come up to rescue her were ordered to retreat, and the Silver Knights surrounding Eunice were also commanded to stop. Cynthia escorted Susan down from the lighthouse. Even with over a hundred exceptionally skilled elite knights staring her down, she showed no sign of panic, instead sizing them up with great interest.

Compared to the other Silver Knights, the aura of these hundred-plus knights was much stronger. Cynthia felt that even if they encountered a seventh-generation vampire, these men might have the ability to fight back.

Cynthia’s attention was entirely on these knights. As she glanced around, the hand on Susan’s shoulder moved with her. Seeing the flame get closer and closer, Susan couldn’t help but speak up, “…Be careful. I don’t think these knights want to see their master burned to ash.”

Although Susan hadn’t witnessed the flame’s power firsthand, she could sense that Cynthia wasn’t just bluffing.

When did the God Race gain this kind of ability? She had interrogated Jenny for ages and only learned that the God Race seemed to have mastered some kind of healing spell for wounds.

Cynthia withdrew her gaze from the elite knights. The flame on her fingertip flickered, making Susan’s body stiffen in fear. Cynthia thoughtfully moved her hand a little to the side and said softly, “These knights of yours are quite special. The sword aura they use seems to be a well-established system.”

Susan must possess the training method for this sword aura, which is how she was able to cultivate so many loyal knights.

But… Cynthia looked Susan up and down and asked doubtfully, “Why haven’t you practiced this sword aura?”

The first time she saw Susan, she had noticed that the woman was just an ordinary human.

Although Susan didn’t want to answer Cynthia, the flame was right beside her face, and she could even feel the scorching heat from it. Susan pursed her lips and replied reluctantly, “My constitution and talent are average.”

It wasn’t that she hadn’t tried to practice it, but compared to those strong men, the results of her training were minimal.

But what did that matter? These knights still had to obey her commands.

Even though her life was currently in someone else’s hands, Susan still said with a proud expression, “If I had to do all the blood-staining work myself, then what would be the point of training these knights?”

She might not wield a sword, but she held “the sword” in her hands, and that was enough.

Hearing Susan’s arrogant words, Cynthia merely curled her lips slightly and said nothing.

Betty and Chelsea were released less than half a day after being captured. As they followed the Silver Knights out of the dungeon, Betty was still in disbelief, suspecting it was another one of Susan’s schemes. It wasn’t until she saw Cynthia that her doubts were truly dispelled.

“Cynthia…” Betty ran to Cynthia and said dejectedly, “I’m sorry, you had to come and save us again.”

Cynthia first looked them all over. Seeing that no one was injured, she withdrew her gaze and comforted them softly, “It’s fine. As long as you’re safe.” As she spoke, she glanced in a certain direction and added, “Eunice is here too.”

Betty followed Cynthia’s line of sight. Eunice was standing alone behind the troop of knights, her red robes stained with blood and visible wounds on her body. She clearly looked like she had just been through a difficult battle.

When Eunice saw Betty emerge, she started walking toward her, but unexpectedly, Betty only had eyes for Cynthia. She stood rooted to the spot with a gloomy expression, as if shrouded in a haze.

Betty was startled when she saw Eunice’s injuries and quickly ran over.

Seeing her approach, Eunice let out a cold snort, turned, and strode away.

Cynthia watched Betty chase after Eunice. Recalling Susan’s earlier words, the smile on her face faded slightly.

Susan, who had been watching Cynthia closely, didn’t miss this subtle change. She glanced over at Eunice and Betty, her eyes narrowing.

“Your companions are all here. You should let me go now.” Susan gave the knight captain standing ten meters away a meaningful look. The captain ordered the Silver Knights to clear a path to the city gate.

Susan pointed toward the city gate. “You can go. I cherish my life, so I definitely won’t send anyone after you.”

Sarah still remembered how Susan had mocked the God Race earlier. Hearing her words, she said angrily, “You say you won’t hunt us down, and we’re supposed to believe you?”

“You’re so wicked!”

Susan looked at the fuming Sarah and said with amusement, “Little sister, if I weren’t a little wicked, I’d probably be long dead. My corpse would have been tossed somewhere by the vampires, who knows where.”

She glanced sideways at Cynthia and pursed her lips. “I’m not like you, with such a powerful companion by my side.”

Sarah glared at her angrily but didn’t know what to say in rebuttal.

Although Susan appeared very calm, she was actually quite anxious inside. Seeing that Cynthia had no intention of letting her go, she frowned and asked, “What else do you want?”

Cynthia was staring blankly at the most luxurious castle in Hatz City. Hearing Susan’s question, she raised an eyebrow and asked, “Is that where you live?”

Seeing Cynthia’s gaze lingering on her castle, Susan suddenly had a bad feeling. Before she could figure out how to answer, she heard Cynthia say, “I imagine every city lord has a room for their collection of treasures.”

Cynthia removed her hand from Susan’s shoulder, thoughtfully straightened her wrinkled collar, and said softly in a tone that brooked no refusal, “City Lord Susan, why don’t you take us to admire it?”

Susan: “…”

The situation for humans was difficult, but City Lord Susan’s life was quite comfortable. This was evident from the warehouse in Hatz City.

Even Chelsea’s expression changed after entering the warehouse. However, she wasn’t interested in the gold and silver jewelry or the beautiful clothes. What truly caught her eye were the two shelves of gems and various materials.

Cynthia gestured for the witches and Sarah to go in and gather some useful things to take with them, while she stood at the entrance, keeping an eye on Susan.

This time, the smile on Susan’s face vanished completely. To spare herself the heartache, she simply turned around and looked outside the door.

The Space Gems had limited capacity. After Chelsea and the others filled their own, they searched the warehouse again but only found two more, both of which were already full of items.

More than half of the items in the warehouse had been cleared out, but the witches and Sarah were still reluctantly picking through what was left.

Chelsea handed a full Space Gem to Cynthia, then glanced up at Susan beside them and asked, “Can her words really be trusted?”

Cynthia took the Space Gem and looked down at it, replying nonchalantly, “No.”

Susan, who was pretending not to care but was actually focused entirely on them, heard her answer and rolled her eyes ungracefully.

“She won’t send people to hunt us down, but she never said she wouldn’t leak our whereabouts to the vampires.” Cynthia looked at Susan with a half-smile. “You witnessed her cunning when you first met, didn’t you?”

Chelsea frowned. “Then what should we do?”

“Take her with us.” Cynthia glanced at the troop of knights standing guard just over a hundred meters away, a slight curve to her red lips. She turned to Susan and said, “City Lord Susan surely wouldn’t mind escorting us to a safe place.”

Susan looked at Cynthia’s smiling face and said through gritted teeth, “I don’t mind at all.”

As a human in control of all of Hatz City, she had faced numerous dangers, and life-or-death situations were not uncommon. But none had ever been as frustrating as this.

Susan felt that compared to this silver-haired member of the God Race, she was practically a saint.

Because they had taken Susan along, Cynthia’s group not only had a carriage for transportation when leaving Hatz City but also an escort of powerful knights.

The carriage was much faster than traveling on foot. It took them only half the time to return to the valley where Susan had captured Betty and the others. The mountain road was steep and rugged, and a recent downpour had made the already difficult path wet and muddy.

The carriage could go no further. Cynthia and the others got out. Seeing that it was already getting dark, they decided to rest at the entrance for the night and cross the venomous-insect-infested mountain the next day.

There were many scattered boulders at the valley entrance. Cynthia found a relatively flat one, placed a thick cloak on it as a cushion, and sat down to continue studying the items Chelsea had taken from the Hatz City warehouse.

She put the materials aside after a single glance, but she picked up each of the gems to examine them carefully.

Ever since she accidentally discovered the core of the fire spell through Olivia’s memories, Cynthia found that her sensitivity to the elements seemed to have grown stronger.

Actually, “stronger” wasn’t quite the right word. Her state was more like a seal within her body had been broken.

It was as if her body had always possessed this ability, and the core of the fire spell had merely awakened its memory.

Olivia had once said that for the God Race to develop, they needed a complete system of Light Magic, and Light Magic required a great deal of time to research and perfect.

The Elf Race, blessed by the Goddess of the Forest, took only about a thousand years. The witches, however, had to rely on their own research. Even after several thousand years, although their witchcraft had formed a system, its power was not particularly outstanding.

Both examples illustrated how difficult it was to establish a system of magic. Cynthia had initially thought so too, until she developed other spells after the Light Fire spell. Now, she felt that this example might not apply to her.

This body of hers was too strange.

If they weren’t so far from the Slade Sea Region now, Cynthia would have really wanted to go back and investigate the origins of her body.

It was a pity she didn’t have something like a Space Gem when she transmigrated; otherwise, she would have definitely taken that ice coffin with her.

“The first time I saw this white gem, I thought it looked a bit like your God Race’s Divine Stones.” Chelsea walked over and sat down beside Cynthia, looking down at the white gem in her hand.

The white gem was about half the size of a fist. Its luster wasn’t very clear; holding it up to the light, one could see a hazy interior, as if a white mist was flowing within.

The reason Cynthia had been observing this gem was that she felt the same way as Chelsea. She could even sense a faint aura of light from it.

“This gem contains the Power of Light. I wonder where Susan found it.” Cynthia glanced at Susan, who was sitting not far away, being closely watched by Betty and the others. After they stopped to rest, Susan’s knights had been ordered to stand guard a thousand meters away, but Betty was still uneasy and was watching her personally.

Cynthia withdrew her gaze from Susan, casually tossed the white gem to Chelsea, and asked, “Do you think this gem is useful for anything?”

Chelsea caught the gem, looked down at it for a moment, and replied with a frown, “For a staff?”

Cynthia’s heart stirred. “The kind of staff you hold when you use witchcraft?”

When Chelsea, Betty, and the others used witchcraft, they would hold a staff. Cynthia had once curiously asked about its purpose, and Betty’s answer at the time was that the staff allowed them to better channel their witch power and could also increase the power of their spells.

Chelsea nodded. She took out her own staff and pointed to the gray gem at its tip, saying, “This gem contains witch power.”

Cynthia took the staff, stared at the gem at the tip for a few moments, then her gaze moved down. Her fingers stroked the not-so-smooth shaft as she asked, “What kind of wood is this?”

“It’s a vine from a Sangman plant.” Chelsea also reached out to touch it and said lightly, “The clan elders say this type of vine is fire-resistant and quite tough, able to withstand the arrays sealed onto it.”

“You have to seal an array on it too?”

Chelsea nodded. “It’s a refining method.”

Cynthia lowered her eyes in thought for a moment, then asked, “Are there any books on it?”

“…You want to craft a staff?” Chelsea’s expression was a bit strange. “This isn’t something you can do with intelligence alone.”

A skilled hand was the key to successfully crafting a staff. Chelsea had studied under the elders since she was a child and still couldn’t guarantee she could successfully craft one.

But despite saying this, she still took out the book.

Cynthia opened the book, read a few pages, and then closed it. Meeting Chelsea’s questioning gaze, she shook her head and smiled. “You’re right.”

It required too much experience, and Cynthia didn’t have time to delve into it right now.

She returned the book to Chelsea. Her lips parted, about to say something, when a fierce argument suddenly erupted not far away. Cynthia turned her head toward the sound and saw the witches angrily surrounding Eunice, arguing about something. She frowned slightly and said in a low voice, “I’ll go see.”

With that, she stood up and walked toward the witches.

Chelsea also stood up, about to follow her, but the corner of her eye caught the white gems on the ground. She paused, thought for a moment, then bent down and put three of the gems into her Space Gem.

“Before we left our territory, the elders specifically warned us not to kill innocent humans. How is what you’re doing any different from what those vampires do?”

“We work so hard to save humans, yet you kill them behind our backs.”

“Eunice, have you been secretly studying the Power of Darkness again?”

The witches were usually a bit afraid of Eunice, but after Susan told them that a red-robed witch had massacred a village, they were filled with anger. The fear temporarily receded due to their rage and the presence of their companions who were also condemning her.

They spoke one after another, their words growing sharper and sharper.

But Eunice, the target of their condemnation, acted as if she couldn’t hear them, leaning back against a rock and playing with a dagger out of boredom.

“That’s enough.” Betty, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up. “Stop talking.”

The witches fell silent and all turned to look at Betty.

Betty looked up, her face calm as she looked at Eunice and asked, “Did you kill them?”

Eunice stabbed the dagger into the ground, raised her eyes slightly, and swept a cold gaze over the witches surrounding her before finally looking at Betty. She pursed her lips and said, “No.”

Eunice was a little annoyed. “Why would I kill them.”

Betty was silent for a moment, then nodded slowly, looking as if she believed Eunice’s words. “There might be some misunderstanding.”

Susan, who was sitting to the side enjoying the show, tactlessly interjected, “I’ve seen the villagers’ bodies. The wounds on them were made by a dagger.”

She deliberately glanced at the dagger Eunice had stuck in the ground.

Eunice glared at her coldly and yanked the dagger out. Sensing danger, Susan subconsciously dodged behind Betty.

Seeing her movement, Eunice’s face darkened.

Betty frowned at Eunice. Eunice looked away unhappily. Her peripheral vision caught Camille sitting on the other side. She snorted coldly, raised her hand, and threw the dagger, her eyes dark.

Camille failed to dodge. The dagger grazed her arm, tearing her sleeve. Blood trickled down the back of her hand.

She trembled in pain, clutching her arm as she hid behind Betty. The way she lowered her head and cried made her look very pitiful.

“Eunice!” This time, Betty was truly angry. She shot to her feet, strode over, grabbed Eunice’s arm, and dragged her aside to scold her.

When Cynthia arrived, she only saw the backs of Betty and Eunice as they left. She walked over to Susan, looked down at her, and sighed, “You really can’t keep out of trouble.”

“If you think I’m trouble, then hurry up and let me go.” Susan stood up from the ground, her voice clearly filled with dissatisfaction. “Where exactly are you making me take you?”

She knew that crossing this mountain meant leaving Hatz City, and the areas outside Hatz City weren’t safe for her either.

“To Ochester.” Cynthia saw that Susan’s face was a little red from the cold, so she took out a cloak and handed it to her. But after holding it out for a while, Susan didn’t react. She asked, “What’s wrong?”

“…You’re going to Ochester?” Susan ignored the offered cloak, staring at Cynthia with a strange tone.

Cynthia observed Susan’s expression, her golden eyes narrowing slightly. She said with a smile, “We are.”

Susan refused without thinking. “I’m not going.”

“What’s wrong with that place?”

“…Nothing.” Susan’s eyes flickered as she feigned composure. “It’s a nice place.”

Cynthia casually draped the cloak she had been holding over Susan’s shoulders. A faint smile played on her lips as she said unhurriedly, “It seems Ochester is very dangerous.”

“In that case, I have all the more reason not to let you and your troop of knights go. The weak witches and God Race need your protection.”

Susan: “…”

How could this person say such things without batting an eye.