From the moment I was chosen by the holy relic

A few days later, before the morning mist had fully dissipated, the outline of Diarant came into view in the distance. The ruins lay silent like a sleeping behemoth, shrouded in rubble and dim light. Eric and his group approached the familiar mountain ridge once more, bypassing the charred road and entering a hidden passage on the outskirts of the city.

They moved with utmost lightness, as if they dared not even breathe heavily.

As they walked back into the familiar old canal, Eric suddenly stopped, his brow furrowed.

"It's unusually quiet," he said.

His voice echoed softly in the empty canal, as if disturbing some unspeakable silence.

"Indeed." Leah stopped and looked around. "There are no wild animals, no footsteps, not even crows."

"This isn't right." Elotian's gaze was icy, her hand already on her quiver. "Don't make any rash moves. I'll go scout ahead first."

He climbed the stone wall like a shadow in the night, and disappeared into the dim crevice a moment later.

Time passed slowly and heavily. Eric instinctively gripped the hilt of his sword, his knuckles turning white. Leah noticed his tension and gently placed her hand on his sword. "She'll be alright."

Eric didn't say anything, he just took a deep breath.

A moment later, a soft thud was heard as Elotian returned to the canal, her expression even more solemn than when she left.

"The city is empty."

"Empty?" Eric frowned.

"There wasn't a soul in sight. The dark soldiers, the beasts, the corrupted creatures—all gone. I walked to the south alley entrance and couldn't detect a single trace of their presence."

Just as they were wondering what was going on, a familiar bird call broke the silence, and a Mirror-feathered raven with shimmering feathers and a silver-purple tail descended from the sky and landed steadily on Leah's shoulder.

"Mirrorwing!" Leah's eyes widened, and she immediately took the letter tube off its leg.

Eric exclaimed almost impatiently, "Quick, look! It's Eileen's letter!"

Leah opened the letter, her eyes softening with surprise in an instant. The familiar, handsome handwriting leaped off the page: "I have banished the dark forces from the city. If you arrive, you may find me at the city hall."

Elotian exclaimed, "Her? All by herself, she wiped out the entire city?"

His eyes held a complex expression, his tone a mixture of shock and admiration. "Just who is she?"

Eric smiled gently, as if his deepest belief had been acknowledged: "I didn't lie to you, did I? I told you long ago, Eileen... is just that amazing."

He looked up at the other side of the ruins: "Let's go, let's go to the city hall."

The group walked through familiar but deserted streets and alleys, arriving at the former site of the city hall. Although the building was dilapidated, it possessed an indescribable sense of clarity and solemnity. The floor tiles inside the hall were already cracked, and the broken stone pillars still bore faint traces of scorch marks and cracks left by the battle.

However, in the very center of this dilapidated building, a ghostly blue light curtain rose up.

In the very center, a purification array forged from runes and ancient words slowly rotated. A figure sat cross-legged in the center of the array, her golden hair turning slightly white in the spiritual light, her cloak fluttering in the remaining wind. She held a staff in one hand and guided the runes in the air with the other. Her expression was focused, and a thin layer of sweat beaded on her forehead, but she did not waver in the slightest.

"Eileen!" Eric blurted out involuntarily.

Upon hearing the voice, Eileen raised her head slightly, her expression momentarily stunned, before she revealed a rare smile: "You came... faster than I expected."

Eric strode forward, but just as he was about to approach the rotating magic circle, Eileen raised her hand to stop him.

"Don't come any closer, you can't move yet." She said calmly and steadily, though her voice was weary. "This purification array is drawing away the fragments of the magic core from the ground. After the Black Witch died, the fragments of her magic power still seeped into this land. If it's not cleaned up in time, the city's groundwater will be contaminated."

Elotian stepped forward, looking at her with a complicated expression: "You did all of this by yourself?"

Eileen didn't look up, but continued to guide the magic circle: "I am not alone. I have a group of soldiers who are willing to return with me. They should be repairing the damaged Diarant."

Eric frowned and looked at the empty corridor: "When we came in, we didn't see a single person."

"That's impossible." Eileen's tone suddenly tightened, and her staff paused slightly. She turned her head, a hint of doubt in her eyes. "They've been stationed outside, repairing the streets and clearing away the magical embers. They shouldn't have disappeared without a trace."

Before she could finish speaking, a deep, thunderous roar suddenly came from outside the city hall.

"Be on guard!" Elotian shouted suddenly, his body tightening like a taut bowstring.

Immediately afterwards, a loud bang was heard—

boom!

The main gate of the city hall shattered with a deafening roar, scattering stone chips and billowing dust. The doors, once protected by magical barriers, were reduced to rubble by some overwhelming force. Before the dust had even settled, a chilling and biting aura swept over the area like a tidal wave, as if the entire air itself had darkened.

The light outside the door was blocked by a dark mass of figures. They churned like dark clouds, their silence carrying an indescribable sense of oppression.

At the very front stood two people.

A woman wore a tattered yet still dignified robe, her black hair flowing over her shoulders, and spiderweb-like black lines appearing at the corners of her eyes. A smile played on her lips, but it was as cold as frost, and her eyes gleamed with a morbid excitement.

The Black Witch, the Weaver of Calamity.

Beside her stood a towering warrior, clad in heavy armor, as black as night iron. His breastplate was etched with some ancient and savage tribal totem, and his left shoulder bore obvious signs of stitches, indicating he had survived an extremely brutal battle. In his hand lay a massive sword nearly as tall as a normal person, its blade as wide as an axe, yet its tip as sharp as the wind, its surface faintly gleaming with a dark red light.

He stood there motionless, as if the weight of the entire hall was gathering around him, making the air thick and suffocating.

The black witch spoke first, her voice like the cawing of a raven, carrying a mocking cruelty and arrogance: "Finally, I've lured you all out."

She turned to Eileen, her gaze sweeping across her face like a viper's lick:

"You think you can really drive me away? Your magic might be good for fooling a child. Trying to deal with me? You're nothing but a toy."

Eileen's expression didn't change much, but her voice became calmer and colder: "I didn't expect you to come back so soon."

She slowly rose, her golden hair cascading down in the radiant light. She twirled her staff in her hand, and a deep blue light emerged from its tip, like a tiny star burning in the night sky.

"I'm just cleaning up the mess you left behind," she said bluntly. "If you come back shamelessly, then please be buried with me in this city you've corrupted."

The black witch's smile froze for a moment, but quickly turned into a louder sneer: "Still got a tough tongue." She glanced at the burly warrior beside her. "Did you hear that, Kadlow? She said she was going to bury us."

The warrior called Kadro didn't speak, but slowly raised his greatsword horizontally in front of him, emitting a low, metallic scraping sound. His face was obscured by his helmet, but judging from his slightly forward-leaning shoulders and the light step he took, he was a wild beast ready to pounce at any moment.

Eric stood before Eileen, slowly drawing his sword. He stood ramrod straight, his eyes devoid of fear, calmly gazing at his enemy before him, and softly asked Eileen:

"Could you pause this magic circle for a moment?"

Eileen shook her head slightly: "No, once the magic circle is activated, it cannot be stopped."

"Then we'll buy you some time."

Lia had already stood on Eric's other side, her arms outstretched, light swirling in her palms, the Purifying Tide spell already warming up.

Eileen whispered to Eric, "She talks a lot, but magic is not for children."

Elotian stepped back half a step to Eileen's side, her bowstring already drawn: "How long do you want?"

Eileen uttered only two words: "Thirty breaths."

Elotian nodded: "Enough for me to shoot three."

The air grew colder and colder, and the Black Witch's minions surged forward like a tide, their black cloaks fluttering in the air like battle flags.

"Then we," Eric gripped his longsword, which pointed slightly at the ground, "will dance with them."

Leah smiled gently: "If we don't dance, it would seem like we have no manners."

The next moment, the first arrow shot out, whistling with a sharpness that almost sliced ​​through the air.

The moment that first arrow pierced the air, battle was already inevitable.

Bang-!

Eric roared, his figure splitting the night sky like lightning, his sword drawing a pale blue arc as he met Kadlow's greatsword head-on.

The clang of metal on metal almost made the air tremble.

"Click—!"

That sword strike was as heavy as a thousand pounds.

Eric's feet pierced the stone bricks, and he was thrown back several steps by the impact, his arm throbbing with excruciating pain. He could almost hear the faint cracking of his humerus. If Huilan hadn't automatically activated the anti-curse repulsion array in his shoulder and arm, returning some of the impact to Kadlow, he probably would have had his arm bones shattered by that sword strike.

"Damn it!" Eric muttered through gritted teeth, sweat dripping from his forehead.