The pitter-patter of rain sounded softly, as a light drizzle gently fell upon him, bringing a slight dampness mingled with a hint of cold. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but it was certainly refreshing.
"Where is your maid?" asked a middle-aged nun from Notre Dame, her eyes filled with curiosity as she gazed at Felix. Just before boarding the carriage, she suddenly spoke up.
"She left," Felix replied, spreading his arms to let the fine rain soak him. It was a childish gesture, and for the first time, the middle-aged nun sensed a childlike illusion emanating from Felix.
This poor little fellow, identified by the "Night Watch," seemed to have been matured too quickly by that mad woman. That's what the middle-aged nun thought.
"Why did she leave?" Among all the people, the only one she couldn't see through was the unusually tall maid serving Felix. The middle-aged nun had wanted to persuade her to join the embrace of the Virgin Mary, but the exceptionally tall and beautiful woman had laughingly told her, "I'm not very familiar with the Virgin, she wouldn’t want me serving her."
Such blasphemy, yet, unusually, the middle-aged nun couldn’t muster the courage to punish her.
"Do you think, if we encounter an undead army led by a death knight, we could survive and return alive?" Felix didn't respond to her question. Instead, he turned his head to look directly at her and spoke calmly.
The middle-aged nun paused for a moment, then regained her composure. She didn't say anything more and just stepped into the spacious carriage. Anyone who had become a death knight in the prime material plane had been strong enough in life to step into the Golden Dominion or even attain the title of the Sacred Coffin Knight. Facing such a killing machine-like undead creature, the chance of survival for anyone was slim.
"Why did you insist on my coming?" Felix suddenly asked, just before the nun entered the carriage.
She stopped in her tracks but didn't turn around. After a moment of silence, she spoke in a low voice, "Ireland killed my niece, my only kin."
Felix's body shuddered, his hands clenched tightly before slowly relaxing. After calming his mind, he spoke softly, "If you wanted revenge, it wouldn’t need to be so complicated."
"You're just a pitiful little fellow," the middle-aged nun looked down at Felix with a look of pity, speaking softly, "I won't take revenge on you, because you are just her toy. Ireland wouldn't care about the life or death of a toy."
A slight curve appeared at the corners of Felix's mouth. He suddenly found the middle-aged nun in front of him very interesting. There might be a very convoluted story behind this.
"Do you know Mrs. Ireland well?" Felix looked up, a smile tinged with sarcasm on his face.
The middle-aged nun was unusually silent. She ignored Felix's sarcastic smile, pondered for a long time, and finally said, "She is a madwoman. She should go to hell!"
Her voice was calm, her tone indifferent, but her words sounded more like a curse. Felix didn't continue the topic. He turned around and smiled slightly at the 'mermaid' who was slowly emerging from Jasmine’s Fragrance. He slightly bowed his head in respect.
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"We will meet again." A faint, elegant fragrance lingered as the mysterious woman passed by Felix, leaving these certain, exceptionally certain words.
Felix didn't respond. He stood tall, watching the mysterious woman leave. She wore a wide grey cloak, yet even that couldn't hide her graceful figure, the curves from her full chest to her rounded hips, under the light rain. Her silhouette was beautiful, full of charm.
Felix couldn't be certain, but he felt that the mysterious woman glanced back at him as she boarded the carriage. Her gaze was strange, unreadable.
The ordinary, even somewhat weathered carriage gradually moved away in the misty rain, heading in the opposite direction of Felix. It was traveling to where Felix had come from.
Driven by a middle-aged knight, rumored to be of The Silver Hand and a member of the Golden Dominion, the carriage carried a woman reminiscent of the sea and mermaids. Felix found the world fascinating. If she really was the legendary Princess Helen, the situation in the capital was destined to become even more complex and intriguing. But Felix liked it, for this was the outcome he desired.
Felix picked up a gray cloak and draped it over his snow-white priestly robe. He entered the spacious carriage, lined with soft blankets, to the respectful voice of the coachman. It was a three-day journey to The Burial Ground of Bones, not a particularly long time.
Without his angelic sister, who liked to stretch out lazily beside him, Felix suddenly felt the previously cramped space become much more open. Yet, deep down, he couldn't understand why he felt a sense of loss.
Maybe his angelic sister was a bit mad, but at least she carried the aura of the past, a breath from a world deep within the heart. This familiar scent, familiar words, brought him a sense of closeness.
After calming his emotions, Felix picked up "The Holy Cross - Teachings." He circled something in the margins where he had previously made annotations, then wrote down his new understanding in the corner of the page.
"The Teachings" was a book worth reading for a lifetime. Each time Felix read it, he gained new insights. After finishing the "Redemption Volume" of "The Holy Cross - Teachings," it was already noon. The group hadn't reached the next town, so a beautiful female knight brought a hot lunch to Felix's carriage.
The lunch consisted of beef, clear soup, vegetable rolls, and two sacred breads blessed with holy light. Felix’s wine was his own, stealthily taken from Lady Elizabeth’s prized collection.
He wondered if Lady Elizabeth would go mad upon discovering her stolen treasures. But if she did, Felix believed the scene would be very interesting.
If his angelic sister were still here, she would excitedly bring out Felix's prized wine, then place the beef in front of herself, and the vegetable rolls and soup beside Felix. She would then smile, gently stroke Felix’s beautiful brown hair, and say in an unusually tender voice:
"Be good, little one. You’re growing, in your developmental years. You should eat more vegetables, get more vitamins, to grow up strong and handsome."
Then, the angelic sister, who never gained weight, would dramatically devour the meat. Every time this happened, Felix found it both amusing and touching.
Felix reached into his chest and felt a pure silver cross with mysterious and profound stigmata inscribed in mithril – the traces of Heaven. After taking Felix's private money, his angelic sister, still possessing a conscience, had bought some precious spellcasting materials and crafted "Angela's Protection" during the journey, unbeknownst to Felix. It was a magical ornament with the consumable spells of level 75 holy light defense "Holy Cross - Protection" and level 75 holy light healing "Holy Light - Major Healing."
This was meant to be a gift and a surprise from his angelic sister, but in the end, it was handed to Felix by the mysterious woman.
The three carriages sped along the road until the evening, when grey, foggy mists began to appear, signaling the edge of the Titans Empire. Beyond this point lay the border between the Titans and Saturn Empires and the edge of what was once Vulture Plain, now The Burial Ground of Bones.
In the mist was the scent of death. Even without harnessing negative elements, Felix could feel the corrupting essence permeating the fog.
This marked the beginning of the domain of the undead.