Capri Plains.

Night enveloped the land. A squad of wizards in black robes, holding bone staffs, searched for something. Before them, pale white skeletons held torches to light their way. The surroundings were deathly quiet, save for the heavy footsteps of the wizards and the clattering of the skeletons’ bones, a sound that seemed to echo in one’s heart, creating an inexplicable sense of irritation.

Sunny was the first to lose her patience with the deathly silent atmosphere. She stopped abruptly, jabbed the ground forcefully with her bone staff, and said through gritted teeth, “You’re all so useless. Can’t you even find a single temple?”

The other wizards also stopped, looking at each other in dismay. One stepped forward to explain, “We’ve been trying our best to find it, Elder Sunny, but we truly can’t sense any dark aura at all.”

Sunny angrily swung her bone staff and struck the wizard. Her voice was sharp. “Impossible. The Temple of Darkness is here. The Vampires said that the witches have lived near the Temple of Darkness since the age of the gods.”

The Sitatul Continent had collapsed due to the departure of the gods, and the ensuing disasters had destroyed too much. The Sethite wizards had also spent a long time living as fugitives, their situation only improving after they colluded with the Vampires. The fear of death and their unwillingness to accept it made them yearn for eternal life. But when they began to search for any information from the age of the gods, they discovered they couldn’t even find a complete map from that era.

Fortunately, the Vampires had lived long enough, and many had experienced the age of the gods. So, they could still get the information they wanted from the Vampires’ mouths.

Though it came at a price.

“Keep searching. I refuse to believe we can’t find it.” After Sunny’s outburst, the wizards continued their search. Suddenly, a fierce wind swept through. Sunny and the wizards stopped simultaneously. The wind swirled with black mist, forming a dark vortex in the air from which two figures emerged, one after the other.

Sunny looked at the brown-haired man who stepped out first. The anger on her face froze, and she cautiously lowered her head, respectfully calling out, “Grand Elder.”

After speaking, she raised her eyes and looked at Maia, who had followed the Grand Elder out. Maia met her gaze and gave a slight nod.

After emerging from the black vortex, Eden glanced at everyone’s faces and knew they had come up empty-handed again today.

Although the Capri Plains were vast, they had been searching for long enough. No matter how vast, every corner should have been searched by now.

And yet, they still couldn’t find the exact location of the Temple of Darkness.

It was somewhat strange.

The Vampires wouldn’t deceive them, so there had to be another reason.

Seeing Eden’s displeased expression, Sunny’s heart tightened. Without thinking, she blurted out, “Just give me a little more time, Grand Elder. I’ll definitely find the Temple of Darkness.”

Eden glanced at her and asked, “What’s your plan?”

Sunny was at a loss for words, stammering, “I-I’ll keep searching…”

They had already searched the entire area once; continuing to search would be a futile effort. Eden knew Sunny wasn’t very bright and held no expectations for her. He calmly averted his gaze to Maia beside him and asked, “Do you have any ideas, Maia?”

Only after being addressed by Eden did Maia, who had been standing quietly to the side, speak up. “This has always been the witches’ territory. Perhaps we can ask for their help.”

Before Eden could reply, Sunny couldn’t help but interject, “We went through all that trouble to drive them away, and now you want to bring them back? Everyone knows the witches are allied with the God Race now.”

“Besides, if we can’t find it, why would the witches be able to?”

Maia waited quietly for Sunny to finish before explaining, “I suggested the witches because I think their divination skills might be useful.”

“As for their alliance with the God Race… from what I know, the witches have already left the God Race’s territory.” As Maia spoke, she subtly glanced at Eden’s expression. Seeing that he seemed interested in her proposal, she felt relieved and continued, “I’m not sure about the relationship between the Garcia and Morgan families and the God Race, but the Anderson Family has a conflict with them.”

“Ryan and I were able to return here thanks to the help of an Anderson witch.”

Eden stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes slightly lowered as if in deep thought. The flickering light from the skeletons’ torches cast an eerie glow on him. He remained silent for a while before slowly speaking, “You think the Anderson witches can be reasoned with?”

Maia smiled faintly. “I think so.”

Eden narrowed his eyes. “Elaborate.”

“The Anderson witches practice the power of darkness. They want incantations for dark magic, and we happen to have plenty of bargaining chips.” After interacting with that young Anderson witch, Maia had learned a lot of useful information from her. “It’s not just about divination. If we give them enough chips, I believe we can obtain some even more interesting information.”

She paused, her gaze deepening. “For example, some news about the God Race.”

The Anderson witches had spent a long time in the God Race’s territory. From the information the young Anderson witch had revealed to her, they knew the God Race’s territory like the back of their hands.

“Elder Iman died at the hands of the God Race. I hear the Tzimisce Vampires are furious about it. This is an opportunity, Grand Elder. If we can eliminate the God Race, we can demand a greater reward from the Vampires.”

Maia’s words moved Eden. He considered it seriously for a moment before saying in a deep voice, “You go and try to make contact with them first. We can plan the rest slowly.”

Then, as if remembering something, he asked, “Do you have a way to contact them?”

Maia nodded and took out a skeleton mouse. “I can contact a young witch from the Anderson family.”

The young witch had given her this skeleton mouse on her own initiative, and she had also volunteered the information about the God Race. Although the witch was very young, Maia could see the profound cunning hidden beneath her innocent, smiling face—a cunning that belied her age.

The Anderson Family truly was a family that raised lunatics.

The witches Cynthia had rescued from Pegel were teleported directly to the God Race’s territory. Although a rift had formed between the witches and the God Race because of the Anderson family, the God Race had not forgotten the help the witches had given them.

The God Race temporarily took in the rescued witches and sent a message to the Garcia Family, asking them to send people to retrieve their kin.

However, the message explicitly stated that they did not want to see any witches from the Anderson Family in their territory.

Given the previous conflict between the God Race and the Anderson family, the Garcia Family found this request understandable. But this meant that the task of retrieving their people could only be handled by the witches of the Morgan Family.

They were now very far from the God Race’s territory, and the God Race had destroyed the teleportation array they had once left behind. The witches could only use dark magic to travel. The Sitatul Continent was not peaceful, so the rescue party could not be too small.

And since the Morgan and Anderson families had never gotten along well, leaving them here alone could lead to trouble.

Sending the Morgan Family was the most suitable choice. After all, their relationship with the God Race had always been better than that of the other two families.

Betty leaned against a tree, watching Chelsea, who was in the middle of her kin, adjusting her robes and preparing to depart. Her expression was a little downcast. She wanted to go too, but Eunice was not welcome by the God Race.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps from behind. Betty raised a hand to rub her face, composing herself. By the time she turned around, a smile was already on her face. She took a few steps toward Eunice, then craned her neck to peek behind her and asked curiously, “Is the discussion over so quickly?”

They had used divination to locate their kin and found this place. Their people were imprisoned in a city a few hundred miles away, but it was filled with Vampires, making them difficult to deal with.

Eunice’s dark magic was powerful, so Elder Kana and the others now included her in their discussions, though Eunice found it tiresome.

Eunice grabbed Betty’s hand, led her to a clean patch of ground, and sat down. Then she took a soft piece of bread from her space gem and stuffed it into Betty’s hand, pouting. “I don’t want to listen to their nonsense.”

Betty took a bite of the bread and frowned. “Eunice, you can’t talk about the elders like that.”

Eunice shrugged nonchalantly. She glanced over at the Morgan Family and asked abruptly, “Aren’t you going with them?”

Betty shook her head. “I’m not going.”

Eunice watched her for a moment, let out a soft huff, then turned her back to her and lay down on the grass.

Betty lowered her head and took a few more bites of bread. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Eunice secretly turn to watch her, and her lips curved into a smile unconsciously.

She quietly scooted closer and leaned against Eunice, still holding the half-eaten bread. Her brown eyes were downcast as she smiled softly.

Although both the Garcia and Morgan families had chosen the Anderson family over the God Race, the Andersons had been consistently excluded since leaving the God Race’s territory. Even in discussions about rescuing their kin, they were merely there to follow orders.

Elder Molly leaned against a tree trunk, idly playing with the bone staff in her hand. Other Anderson witches gathered around her, just as idle as she was.

To think that after the Garcia and Morgan families also began to practice the power of darkness, that little monster Eunice would become so valued. Molly’s gaze fell on her bone staff, and her red lips curled into a scornful arc. How infuriating.

“I’m so mad.” Camille sat by Molly’s legs, digging in the dirt with a bone while complaining, “Sister Eunice is becoming popular.”

“I want to be close to Sister Betty too.” Camille looked longingly in Betty’s direction, her cute face looking rather pitiful due to her aggrieved expression. “Sister Betty used to like me so much.”

Molly looked down at Camille and scoffed, mercilessly shattering her delusion. “Are you dreaming? Betty was always playing with Eunice, even as a child.”

And Camille? She was just a pathetic wretch who followed them around every day, hoping to receive a single glance from Betty.

Camille’s face darkened, but it quickly returned to normal. She tossed the bone aside and began digging with her hands, saying nonchalantly, “In the future, Sister Betty will be mine alone.”

Why should Eunice get to monopolize all of that person’s gentleness?

Why was Eunice the genius… Camille’s expression began to twist. The pile of dirt in her hands suddenly moved, drawing her attention. She glanced down to see a skeleton mouse emerging from the ground, a folded piece of parchment stuck to its body.

Camille pulled out the parchment, her eyes lighting up. She looked up at Molly with a brilliant smile and said happily, “Look, a surprise has arrived.”

Molly glanced over indifferently and asked, “What surprise?”

Camille hummed a little tune, her mood cheerful. “The kind of surprise where someone sends you dark magic incantations without you having to work hard to study them.”

The gestation period for the Elf Fruits was extremely long. Although Cynthia’s help had purified most of the dark power afflicting the Tree of Life and the Elf Fruits, there was still some time before the little elves would be born. Therefore, Olivia had to remain in the territory to guard this new batch until they were born. She had even sent only a single squad of elf warriors to support the Wolf Race.

After all, for the sparsely populated Elf Race, reproduction was the most important matter.

A week had passed since Hanni’s departure when the Elf Territory suddenly welcomed a new group of guests.

Led by elf guards, Darcy and a squad of God Race members entered the Elf Territory. As far as the eye could see, everything was a vibrant green, and the air was filled with the refreshing fragrance of flowers. The God Race members looked around curiously, all of them stunned by the beauty of the elven lands.

They had spent a great deal of time transforming their own territory, but they had only managed to make the Slade Sea Region and Ochester slightly more habitable for humans. The harsh climate of the Sitatul Continent was not something they could easily change.

Only the elves, favored by nature, possessed such an ability.

The elf guards led the God Race to Cynthia’s residence and then departed. Darcy pushed open the door to the wooden cabin, walked around inside, and casually picked up a piece of parchment from the bed.

The parchment was densely covered with unfamiliar incantations. Darcy studied it for a moment, a faint smile playing on her lips. It seemed that while they had been busy in their own territory, Cynthia hadn’t been idle either.

“The Light Magic spell produced by that incantation is very powerful,” a smiling voice suddenly came from outside. Darcy looked up from the parchment to see Cynthia leaning against the doorframe, raising an eyebrow at her with a playful smile. “But it’s very complex. I wonder if you can understand it.”

Darcy shook the parchment and chuckled, joking back, “Do you want me to cast it for you right now?”

“Better not,” Cynthia said, stepping aside to glance at Olivia behind her. Her voice was gentle. “If it hurts the little flowers and grasses, Her Majesty the Queen will surely be angry.”

“I haven’t kicked you out for trimming the leaves of the Tree of Life every day,” Olivia said coolly as she walked past Cynthia into the cabin. “Do I get angry that easily?”

“Of course not,” Cynthia followed Olivia inside, grinning. “I was just joking.”

“How could Her Majesty the Queen get angry over such a small thing?”

Olivia glanced at her. Although she said nothing, the aura around her was not as unapproachable as it had been moments before.

Darcy put down the parchment, her gaze shifting between Cynthia and Olivia. She tried to interject several times but found the atmosphere between the two of them so harmonious that there was no space for her to join in.

This… what was going on? Darcy blinked. Back in the Slade Sea Region, the atmosphere between them hadn’t been like this, had it?