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A violent shockwave, accompanied by sharp fragments like a torrential rain, rushed toward him. The white-clad Priest had just freed himself from his restraints and could only raise his sword to block, before his body was sent flying like a leaf in a tempest.
Dorian adjusted his center of gravity mid-air, landing on his feet and sliding several meters backward before barely stabilizing himself. He knelt on one knee, leaning on his sword, blood surging within him as he spattered a mouthful of blood; the entire left side of his body was a bloody mess.
A fellow healing Priest quickly rushed over to treat his wounds. Dorian felt a venomous gaze piercing him from behind. He turned to see Ward standing behind the chaotic crowd, watching him with a smirk that was neither a smile nor a frown.
His handsome face bore two scars, extending from the corners of his lips to behind his ears, giving him a constantly enigmatic smile that made his already androgynous features more bewitching.
Beside him stood a tall, slender white-haired Witch, like an ethereal swan, with transparent ice-blue eyes shining with an inorganic light.
"Snow Queen" Eugenia, the strongest among the new generation of Witches and Ward's Demon Attendant. Her abilities were formidable; ferocious Demons submitted before her like vassals, offering their necks to be slaughtered. It was she who had easily controlled his actions just now.
"You really weren't careful, Dorian. It must be quite inconvenient without a Demon Attendant, right?" Ward approached, grinning triumphantly.
Dorian's expression remained cold. Eugenia's powers were intangible. To outsiders, it had appeared as if he had simply moved too slowly and had taken a fatal hit from the dying Demon. It seemed Ward had no intention of letting this go easily, and Eugenia would surely become a significant problem for him in the future.
However, he had no time to deal with Ward now; Arabella was still waiting for him to return. After performing some basic treatment on his wounds, he entrusted the cleanup tasks at the scene to his colleagues and rushed to the Holy See on horseback.
In a side room of the library, Arabella lay listlessly on the table, staring blankly.
Nina approached with several books in her arms and set them down beside Arabella. "You can start with these for the basics. By the way, why the sudden interest in alchemy?"
"I have to learn something, right?" Arabella replied, picking up one of the books and resting her chin on the table, flipping through the pages casually. "Even without any abilities, I can at least learn how to make some healing potions."
"What triggered this change in you?" Nina leaned back in her chair and took out an apple to munch on.
"Nina… how did Seraphina die?" Arabella asked.
As expected… Nina knew this question was coming sooner or later.
"It's said she encountered a powerful Demon while on a mission, lost control and fell into darkness, and was executed on the spot by Dorian with the Sigil."
Arabella fell silent. She had always thought he must have loved Seraphina. The memories they had shared seemed woven into his very being, every habit a shadow of the past. But such an important person, he had killed without hesitation because Seraphina had become a Demon that threatened the world.
If she too were to be Demonized, Dorian would likely show no mercy in killing her. He saved her out of compassion for human life, but would kill her to protect the greater good, without a trace of personal sentiment; great love can be the coldest.
"Nina, do you know where the Alchemy room is?" Arabella stood up to start gathering the books around her. No matter what, she had to do what she needed to do.
"Go east from here to the second floor of that experimental building. It's a bit convoluted and hard to find, but it has all the regular herbs. Since you are the high-ranking Priest's Demon Attendant, you can use anything inside. As for some rare materials, you'll have to obtain those yourself."
Arabella nodded, taking a deep breath to muster her spirits. How Dorian thought was his concern; at the very least, she had to become a useful person by his side.
The night had already fallen. At this time, Arabella would usually be in Dorian's secret chamber undergoing special training. However, today she did not want to return. For the first time, defying Dorian's orders made her feel a mix of anxiety and excitement. It seemed Dorian also had no intention of coming to find her, perhaps indulging her little whims.
"Go down to the third level of the west bunker, pass through the guards, and open the door using the mechanism on the left side…" She murmured the directions to the Alchemy room; it indeed wasn't easy to find.
She descended the dark stairs of the bunker, and in front of her appeared two griffin statues nearly two people high. As she approached, the statues seemed to come alive, their stone eyes glowing with a golden light.
Arabella stood frozen, clutching her books. The statues leaned their heads closer, sniffing her before returning to their original positions, the light in their eyes extinguishing.
There really were guards. Arabella felt beads of sweat forming; she didn't understand why a place for Alchemy needed such stringent defenses.
She soon reached the third underground level, where at the end of the empty corridor stood a small door. She walked over and pressed her hand against an inconspicuous stone slab to the left of the door. The slab gradually illuminated with complex magical patterns, and the small door swung open in response.
Behind the door was a thick Darkness; the entire doorway resembled an ominous giant mouth, ready to swallow anything that entered.
Arabella's body trembled. Everything here felt wrong, and an unnamed fear ignited in her subconscious, making her desperate to flee. But she couldn't move her feet; a voice in her mind told her that her destination was here, urging her to step inside.
Yes, this was the place she had been searching for. She had to go in.
The books in her hands fell to the ground as Arabella stared blankly, mechanically moving her legs, step by step, into the eerie black void.
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