As a city lord, Susan did have more than one warehouse, but Cynthia had already plundered all the Light Gemstones. She didn’t have a single one left.

Darcy had come to Hatz City full of anticipation, only to receive this news. She couldn’t help but frown. “Are you sure there are none left?”

Cynthia had fewer than a hundred. Not counting the children in the clan, it wasn’t enough to make staves for everyone.

She wondered if the Divine Stones they possessed could be used as a substitute for the Light Gemstones to be inlaid on the staves. However, Divine Stones had always been a consumable item for their clan, and producing several thousand at once would be a problem.

Susan didn’t know Darcy was already considering substitutes for the Light Gemstones. Seeing Darcy’s persistent frown, she assumed the gemstones were extremely important to them. She hesitated for a moment before saying, “I don’t have any of those gemstones here, but I know where to find more.”

Darcy was a little surprised. She looked up at Susan and asked, “Where?”

“In the lair of Kalchas.” Susan’s tone was grave. “Kalchas is a Magic Dragon. Its lair is in a deep mountain at the northernmost edge of Hatz City.”

Before those Light Gemstones ended up in Cynthia’s Space Gem, they had been collecting dust in Hatz City’s warehouses for a long time. The gemstones had actually been found by her father by chance when he was young. He had led his trained knights on an expedition and accidentally stumbled into the Magic Dragon’s lair. They had sacrificed nearly half the knights just to escape with their lives.

And those Light Gemstones were what they had picked up from that lair. Because they didn’t react to the Power of Light, the stones had been left to gather dust in the warehouse.

Susan’s sudden mention of a Magic Dragon stunned Darcy for a moment. Then, as if remembering something, her eyes slowly narrowed. If Susan hadn’t brought it up, she would have almost forgotten that dangerous creatures like demonic beasts still existed on the Sitatul Continent.

A Magic Dragon… It was said to be one of the first demonic beasts to appear on the Sitatul Continent. Although this was no longer the era of the gods and the strength of demonic beasts had waned, just thinking about their massive size was enough to give anyone who encountered them a headache. Demonic beasts were always troublesome and difficult to deal with. However, creatures like dragons did seem to have a fondness for collecting shiny things.

During the age of the gods, demonic beasts were a threat even to the gods themselves. After the gods left, they had, conversely, settled down.

There were still many demonic beasts on the Sitatul Continent, but the threat they posed to humans and other races was far less than that of the Vampires.

This was because they now preferred to slumber in their own territories and rarely came out to cause trouble. Of course, if someone were to accidentally step into their territory, they wouldn’t pass up on prey that came right to their door.

Demonic beasts were a type of bomb that seemed stable but could, in fact, detonate at any moment.

After completely occupying the Slade Sea Region, large numbers of humans had gathered, making it much more convenient for the God Race to recruit believers.

Darcy had always been in charge of recruiting believers. Chloe, who still held no fondness for humans, never involved herself with the matter of believers, focusing solely on urging her clan members to practice Light Magic.

The power of the God Race was developing rapidly. Seeing the two of them managing the clan in an orderly fashion, Cynthia felt relieved and settled down comfortably with Olivia to research Light Magic.

The system of nature magic possessed by the Elf Race was inherited from the Goddess of the Forest, while the Light Magic Cynthia had been researching came from the Goddess of Light. As both were from gods, the two types of magic had quite a few similarities, which provided Cynthia with a great deal of inspiration.

Parchments covered in writing were spread all over the bed, some even having fallen to the floor. The silver-haired God Race member leaned against the bed, engrossed in a book she had gotten from Olivia, occasionally putting it down to pick up a quill and write down a spell.

While Cynthia researched Light Magic, Olivia sat quietly at a nearby table, sipping flower nectar. She would occasionally glance in Cynthia’s direction, but most of the time she stared into the void, lost in thought.

Though the high bridge was open and spacious, the atmosphere wasn’t desolate. Even the intense, direct sunlight seemed to carry a faint gentleness.

Time flowed slowly. An uninvited guest broke the silence on the high bridge. Polly jumped up from below and, upon looking up, found Olivia frowning at her. She stood obediently, secretly glancing at the silver-haired God Race member on the other side, and spoke cautiously, “Someone is looking for Cynthia.”

Although the God Race member and Her Majesty the Queen were not sitting together and had no interaction, Polly had the feeling that she had disturbed them.

Hearing her name, Cynthia looked up from her book and asked, “Who’s looking for me?”

“Darcy.” Polly pointed down from the high bridge. “She’s right below. It seems she’s come to get you to fight a Magic Dragon.”

A Magic Dragon? Cynthia blinked. Hadn’t Darcy gone to Susan to get Light Gemstones for the staves? Why was she now going to fight a Magic Dragon?

Hearing “Magic Dragon,” Olivia lowered her eyes and thought for a moment. “It must be that demonic beast to the north,” she said.

Although the demonic beasts were always slumbering, their powerful auras were impossible to ignore, especially for elves like them who were sensitive to such things. When Olivia had first settled in this forest, she had already identified the slumbering locations of several nearby demonic beasts.

Although she didn’t know why Darcy suddenly wanted to fight a Magic Dragon, Cynthia knew she wouldn’t do something meaningless. She closed the book, placed it aside, then stood up and stretched her arms. “A demonic beast, is it?” she said nonchalantly. “This is a good chance to test out the new Light Magic I’ve been developing.”

Olivia glanced at Cynthia and reminded her coolly, “A Magic Dragon’s strength is not much lower than a Third Generation Vampire’s.”

Though Olivia’s tone was still cold, Cynthia could detect a hint of concern in it. She turned her head to meet Olivia’s gaze. Looking into those beautiful, pale green eyes, her heart stirred, and she walked over to stand before her.

Olivia looked at her questioningly. Cynthia placed one hand on the table and leaned in slightly. Her long, silver hair cascaded forward with the movement. Her eyes held a smile as she looked at Olivia, her voice as gentle as water. “Since it’s so dangerous, why don’t you come protect me, Her Majesty the Queen?”

Cynthia’s gaze seemed gentle, but it was actually quite scorching. After meeting her eyes for a moment, Olivia couldn’t help but turn away, avoiding her gaze. “Do you still need protection?” she asked in a low voice.

“Of course.” With Olivia looking away, Cynthia’s gaze naturally fell upon her fair neck and the faint outline of her collarbone, visible through her slightly open collar. Cynthia’s eyes darkened, and her hand restlessly reached out to take a lock of Olivia’s hair, toying with it. “I’m just a weak member of the God Race,” she said distractedly.

The hand holding her hair was a bit too close to the side of her neck. Olivia frowned and leaned back slightly, signaling with her eyes for Cynthia to let go. But the owner of the hand either truly didn’t understand Olivia’s hint or was pretending not to, showing no intention of releasing her.

Standing to the side, Polly listened to the seemingly ordinary yet somewhat ambiguous conversation between the two. She then looked at the unusually close distance between them and was suddenly alarmed. She hurriedly spoke up to break the strange atmosphere, “I’ll go protect you, Cynthia.”

Cynthia and Olivia both turned to look at Polly. Facing their gazes, Polly braced herself and said, “I’m very strong, too. I can protect you well.”

When had Her Majesty the Queen become so indulgent with this silver-haired God Race member? This was the first time she had ever seen anyone dare to grab Olivia’s hair.

This was not a good sign.

“Let Polly protect you.” Olivia slapped Cynthia’s hand away and pushed her back with a gust of wind. “She is an elite warrior of the Elf Race,” she said coolly.

Cynthia used the force of the wind to retreat a few steps. Her peripheral vision caught Polly staring at her warily. She gave a helpless, soft laugh and conceded, “Alright.”

With Polly watching her like a hawk, Cynthia had to give up on the idea of teasing Olivia.

But even Polly had seen through her intentions. Was it really that obvious? Cynthia raised a hand to touch her nose.

She did indeed harbor feelings for Olivia that were not entirely pure. It was because Olivia was too wonderful—powerful and dazzling, causing her simple admiration to unknowingly transform into something else.

The heart is often moved in an instant.

But Cynthia had no plans to confess to Olivia just yet. In Olivia’s eyes, her impression had only just changed from a somewhat unreliable God Race member to a reasonably trustworthy ally. Cynthia didn’t want to ruin their relationship with a reckless impulse.

She would first secure her position as an ally. As for the rest… she could take her time.

Although Olivia had verbally rejected Cynthia’s invitation, in the end, she still went along with them.

When Darcy learned that the Elf Queen would be accompanying them, she returned to Manden City and brought back a group of people.

Over a thousand young knights in golden armor with golden longswords at their waists appeared before Cynthia and the others. Darcy looked at these knights with a satisfied smile on her face and turned to Cynthia. “What do you think? Not bad, right?”

Besides being busy recruiting believers during this time, she had spent the rest of it training these knights. Cynthia had told her about the idea of infusing the Power of Light into sword aura, and she found it very plausible. She had even specifically asked Cynthia to invite an elf guard over to provide guidance. Although everything was still in the exploratory stage, it was already showing initial results.

“Let’s take them along for some experience.” Darcy glanced toward Olivia and smiled faintly. It was rare for the Elf Queen to travel with them; it would be a shame not to use this opportunity to train these knights.

The golden armor was a bit too dazzling, but it fit the image of the light well. Cynthia scanned the ranks of knights and was surprised to see a somewhat familiar figure among them.

Short, curly golden hair and a determined gaze that didn’t match her age. It was the young girl she had met in a village on her way to Hatz City.

Cynthia walked up to the girl and said with interest, “We meet again. What’s your name?”

“Hello, my name is Sophie.” The girl clearly remembered Cynthia. She reached out to touch the longsword at her waist, bowed slightly, and said in a low voice, “Thank you for giving me the sword back then.”

Cynthia sized up the girl, a slight curve on her red lips. “It seems you can wield that sword now.”

“Yes.” Sophie paused after speaking, then looked up to meet Cynthia’s eyes, her tone earnest and firm. “The weapon is heavy, but I can now hold it tightly.”

In truth, Sophie’s physique was not outstanding. Due to years of starvation, she was not only thin but also rather short. It hadn’t been easy for her to “hold” this sword.

The knights sent by Susan had always looked down on her and other similarly frail humans, but the God Race hadn’t given up on her, and she hadn’t given up on herself.

If she didn’t want to keep running, she had to grip the weapon in her hands tightly. Only then could she protect herself, and protect… this continent.