Chapter 317: The Heavenly Kingdom's Past
Hearing Olivia reveal her identity, Flamme was shocked.
Sure enough, this Sky-Winged girl before her was the existence who had journeyed with Master Rhodes in history.
But why did she call herself Master Rhodes's familiar? Shouldn't the Sky-Winged be the familiars of the Goddess?
Flamme couldn't quite figure out the reason. Following behind Olivia, she walked through the city in the sky, her gaze involuntarily drawn to everything around her.
The buildings towering on both sides of the street seemed reinforced by special magical runes. Many were styles Flamme had never seen before.
A pity most of them were cracked. Otherwise, this would undoubtedly be an incredibly magnificent and glorious pure white city.
"These buildings..." Flamme couldn't help but speak softly. "The materials used are somewhat peculiar. I can sense an extremely faint mana resonance lingering within them."
She reached out, wanting to touch a broken wall nearby, but looked hesitantly at Olivia ahead.
Olivia didn't turn back. "Mn. The stones within the Heavenly Kingdom were once blessed by the power of faith. They are excellent mana conductors in themselves." She paused, then added, "It is precisely because of this that they can bear the weight of this city suspended in the sky."
Flamme understood, gaining a more concrete imagination of the kingdom's past glory.
Noticing Olivia didn't stop her, she felt relieved and grew bolder, continuing to examine this millennium-old solitary city with curiosity.
If not for this Sky-Winged lady's permission, anyone else would have been blocked by the barrier, let alone allowed to observe so closely.
Fortunately, being the disciple of Master Rhodes and Master Serie counted for something.
Eventually, the two arrived at the very center of the city—the temple where Olivia had been earlier.
Compared to the dilapidated state of other buildings, this temple was intact, showing no signs of damage. The gates, carved with various patterns, were wide open, as if welcoming Flamme's arrival.
Olivia led Flamme into the hall.
The interior was extremely spacious. The dome was high, supported by countless massive white stone pillars. At the end of the hall stood a tall statue of the Goddess. The entire hall was empty, with almost no superfluous decorations.
"Sit."
Olivia pointed to a few solitary small chairs to the side. Flamme sat as instructed, her eyes still scanning the surroundings. She couldn't sense any trace of life here.
How does this Sky-Winged lady survive?
"The Sky-Winged do not need to rely on food to sustain life. Mana is the fuel that maintains our actions," Olivia explained, seeming to see through her thoughts. "Of course, we can eat normally. Although the city used to store food, after a thousand years, it has all rotted away long ago. So I cannot offer you hospitality. My apologies."
Flamme waved her hands hurriedly. "Lady Olivia, you are too polite."
Olivia nodded slightly, not dwelling on it.
With a flip of her hand, a small bottle appeared in her palm, flowing with a beautiful luster. "This is Goddess Dew, a secret medicine of the Sky-Winged." She offered the bottle to Flamme. "It can permanently increase the consumer's mana capacity by a small margin. There isn't much left; consider it a meeting gift."
Flamme was shocked. A potion that permanently increased mana capacity? She had never heard of such a miraculous liquid. It was priceless.
She stood up quickly, hesitating for a moment before extending both hands to accept it respectfully. "Thank you very much, Senior Olivia!"
"It is fine." Seeing Flamme accept it without false modesty, Olivia was satisfied. She sat down again and asked, "Why are you here? Was it... Lord Rhodes's arrangement?"
Flamme carefully put away the potion and shook her head. "It was not Master's arrangement. I discovered this moving city by chance while looking at the sky. I came to investigate out of curiosity."
"Moving..." A look of understanding flashed in Olivia's eyes. "I see. The Heavenly Kingdom is not stationary. Suspended above the clouds, it drifts slowly along an ancient trajectory. Even I do not know where we are currently located relative to the continent."
"We are currently in the North of the continent, near the front lines where the allied forces are fighting the demons," Flamme informed her actively, briefly recounting the recent war provoked by the demons.
"Demons... war again?" Olivia showed no surprise or concern. "Has Lord Rhodes acted?" She cared more about Rhodes's movements.
"Master seems to be guarding against a newly appeared Demon King, so he hasn't intervened directly in the battlefield yet."
Olivia nodded and said no more. If Lord Rhodes needed it, she wouldn't mind using this city again, even if it meant losing the last remnant of her homeland.
But clearly, with Lord Rhodes's current strength, he no longer needed her help.
The hall fell into a brief silence.
Unable to contain another curiosity in her heart, Flamme hesitated repeatedly before asking, "Lady Olivia, since the building materials used in this city are blessed by the power of faith, theoretically, even after a thousand years, it shouldn't be as dilapidated as it is now, right?"
She had noticed earlier that the damage to many buildings wasn't natural weathering, but looked more like tearing wounds caused by explosions or the like.
Olivia thought for a moment. Her gaze swept over the empty hall, deciding there was no need to hide it from Lord Rhodes's disciple.
"It was caused by Teleportation Magic," she said slowly, a trace of reminiscence in her tone. "The spatial tearing caused by ultra-long-distance teleportation."
"Teleportation Magic?" Flamme was stunned.
"Mn." Olivia nodded. "A thousand years ago, to completely eliminate the first Demon King, Lord Rhodes used Teleportation Magic to forcibly transport the entire Heavenly Kingdom instantly to the sky directly above the Demon King's Castle."
Flamme sucked in a cold breath. Teleporting an entire city through space?!
That is terrifying!
Olivia continued, "Then, borrowing the massive power of faith accumulated by the Heavenly Kingdom over countless ages, he unleashed an attack capable of destroying everything. Not only did it completely destroy the Demon King's Castle, but it also turned the first Demon King, along with all traces of his existence, into nothingness."
Flamme listened with surging emotions, but then suddenly remembered the records she had seen earlier and couldn't help blurting out, "But... legend says the first Demon King was eliminated by the elven monk, Kraft?"
Olivia turned her head to look at Flamme. "That was the honor Lord Rhodes deliberately let Kraft shoulder." She enunciated every word clearly. "The person who truly killed the first Demon King was Lord Rhodes! And that history was covered up by his own hands."
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