"!!!" Noel was shocked. In Anna's eyes, Noel had this expression due to the shocking revelation about the Saintess. But in Noel's perspective, the mission became clearer.
This was the first time he saw a mission update from Ardagan.
'As expected, it seems that Ardagan has some information about the future while Anna has some knowledge about everything in the world. If I use Anna's knowledge to stimulate Ardagan, I can get more unique missions like this.' Noel got a bit excited because it was clear that he needed to use Anna's knowledge to discover more and more missions.
Only a special mission like this could give so much benefits unlike his repetitive missions.
After some considerations, Noel said, "Alright. Assuming what you said is true, do you know any demon that can influence such a person?"
"You believe me?" Anna stared at Noel in disbelief. If it was any other person, they would consider her a heresy by cursing the Saintess.
"You won't say something without thinking it through. You are dumber than me, but by no means, you are an idiot. Even though I suspect you too, I'll still listen to what you have to say. Only then will I make a decision." Noel explained.
"Dumber than you…" Anna's eyebrows twitched.
"Don't deny it, that's a fact." Noel calmly replied.
"Fine, fine. I might be dumber than you, but you're weaker than me!"
"You can fix weakness by getting stronger, but you can't fix stupid."
"…" Anna was speechless as she had never won in an argument with Noel. She could make him fall into tricks, but Noel could truly come up with any argument as long as he could lie. Still, she truly wanted to smack him in the head.
"I'll be a bigger person and forgive what you said." Anna snorted and tried to calm her heart down. After that, she said, "Anyway, to answer your question, the demon should be an Advanced Level Demon. I don't know about the type of that demon, considering Demons can grow stronger by influencing living beings like beasts, livestocks, or even plants."
"I see. The Advanced Level Demon is scary, but the Saintess should have a good blessing whatever, right?"
"Yes. That's why the Advanced Level Demon shouldn't be that strong in terms of combat because its talent lied on its corruption ability. Still, we're talking about Advanced Level Demon, there was a big difference between Mid Level Demon and Advanced Level Demon…"
Noel squinted his eyes and continued her words. "Because Advanced Level Demons could behave like a human. The previous Advanced Level Demon we found in the Demon Forest, it could fight like you but with stronger power, so…"
"Yep. It's going to be a dangerous mission, but we should still have enough power to kill it." Anna nodded.
The two seemed to have come to an agreement on how to approach the Saintess this time. And they continued their journey to make sure they weren't too late.
…
In Argali Town.
At the top of the clock tower, the highest point of the city, a person stood below the bell that always rang whenever a day had passed.
She had a white robe covering her body but her eyes seemed to be covered with a blindfold. Despite such condition, she seemed to be able to see everything and had no trouble in moving around.
When she reached the top of the tower, she was looking at the night sky, specifically the crescent moon above her.
It was a tranquil city. The city wasn't big, but it certainly had many things they needed. But they certainly had a big problem.
The moment she lowered her vision, she could see a dome-shaped translucent barrier that covered the entire city.
Many demons were swarming the barrier and kept hitting it as if they wanted to break it, but to no avail.
Still, the fact that the entire city was surrounded from all directions meant there was no path to enter or exit the city.
There wouldn't be any supply coming into this city and vice versa. The longer it continued, the harsher the situation would become as the city would be destroyed because the people inside died due to starvation.
Suddenly, the woman glanced to the back before a man covered in armor emerged from the stairs, bringing a plate of food.
"Saintess. Please eat your food… We can't afford to have you collapse because you don't eat anything." The man paused for a moment, looking at the Saintess. He wanted to say many things, but the words stuck in his throat. In the end, he put down the plate and left her. "Please eat it, Saintess."
It turned out the woman was the Moon Temple's Saintess. She was looking at the food and frowned. "The food still has meat, but there's no more seasoning. The water has become a bit scarcer as well… And this must be the best food they can give me… How about the people? They might not be able to eat in this circumstances… the town has truly suffered."
The Saintess bit her lips, regretting the fact that she couldn't do anything to help them. The only thing she could do was to erect that barrier during the night to let the people recover for their fatigue from fighting against the demons during the day.
"And I don't think I can last for that long either…" The Saintess bit her lips while glancing to the west where she spotted a black spot on her golden-colored barrier. It was clear that such a color shouldn't appear in that barrier, especially with the fact that it continued spreading to all directions.
She fell on her knees while joining her hands, praying. "Dear Moon Goddess… please bless us with your grace. If you need a sacrifice, please use my body as a sacrifice to help all 1021 people left in the city. Please send your help because we can't last any longer."
Suddenly, the light of the moon seemed to be enveloping her body. The Saintess felt a slight discomfort in her body but there was one word that suddenly flashed in her mind.
And that word was…
"Hope."
