"Don't cut in, I know all that!"

I naturally understood Cyra's concerns. Actually, I didn't want things to get all messed up again because of knowing the future developments too early. But this time was different, since it involved Adrian. I had been harboring a very uncertain guess in my heart, so I took this opportunity to ask Adonis the question I cared most about.

"That...is Adrian actually on our side?"

"Of course! You can totally rest assured on that! It's just..."

Upon hearing this, Adonis nodded without hesitation to give an affirmative answer. But then he couldn't help glancing at Cyra, as if wanting to say something more but ultimately holding back.

"Nevermind, the situation foretold in the prophecy is basically impossible to change anyway. Knowing it now is pointless for you all."

After saying that, he grabbed Judith's hand and instantly vanished from our sight.

"What the! What kind of move is that? Amazing! They really left this place?"

Cyra couldn't help exclaiming. To confirm they didn't just use invisibility tricks, she even stretched out her hands and ran forward to feel around. But of course, it was to no avail. This mother and son were just gone, as if they had never come here at all. Only the two of us remained in the room now.

Seeing this situation, I was dumbstruck. Finally, I suddenly remembered something and quickly took out a newspaper from my storage ring.

This was one I had casually bought from a street vendor while wandering around the holy city of Jethrobaines. Of course, that was a long time ago. But I didn't keep it for the news, I mainly wanted to confirm one thing.

"The Ilandra Dominion Empire dispatched envoys to Crescent City yesterday upon invitation for a visit. This marks the restart of high-level mutual visits between the Sage Council and Ilandra Dominion after a decade-long hiatus. Additionally, from unconfirmed sources, it is rumored that during this visit, the Sage Council Chairman Adonis Cael may negotiate with the envoys on the long-suspended territorial disputes, with the participation of important councilors like Meredith..."

Below this news blurb was a small inconspicuous paragraph introducing the background of Chairman Adonis. Originally I had only glanced at it casually without reading carefully.

"Adonis Cael, current Chairman and leader of the Sage Council. Although he did not awaken his Battle Qi until the ripe old age of 56, his space and time manipulation dual abilities undisputedly propelled him to be recognized as the strongest human on the Eldoria Continent, even surpassing the angel race's leader Elara. Unlike other famous Battle Qi awakeners, his potential was not considered particularly strong. However, due to his unparalleled comprehension of the rules which he flexibly incorporates into all kinds of magical combat, he can achieve astonishing effects. For instance..."

"Cyra, come take a look at this!"

The more I read, the more my hands trembled. I hurriedly pulled that ignorant fellow over.

"Huh?"

Hearing me, Cyra came over and following my pointing finger, she too read it out loud in disbelief, mouth agape.

"Oh damn, damn damn damn damn! It's rumored his Battle Qi ability can rewind the entire world's time by up to one minute. Although one minute may not seem that long, for the combatants involved, using it at the critical moment can completely reverse the situation's outcome. Moreover, Adonis also has spatial manipulation abilities. It's said he's not just limited to teleportation..."

Listening to Cyra read out Adonis' publicly known abilities word-for-word, my mind was consumed by one thought - to give her a good beating.

Reed had arranged for such a powerful helper for us, but Cyra messed it all up! It's true I had also underestimated him, thinking an old man's Battle Qi, no matter how strong, couldn't be that outrageous. So I didn't pay much attention when he left. Little did I expect there was such a bug-like existence among humans.

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"Why didn't you tell me sooner! Even clinging to his legs, we should have kept him around!"

Realizing this powerful outside help was now gone without a trace, never to provide assistance again, Cyra couldn't help complaining to me.

"Well why didn't you say anything when you kept insisting on using it prematurely? You even brought up the machine gun!"

I snapped back at her, feeling equally annoyed. It's too late for regrets now. I blame myself for being deluded and ignoring her actions, ultimately resulting in this mess.

"I was just curious too!"

Cyra could only shrug helplessly with a wry smile in apology.

"But who could have guessed that Reed actually knew about the critical fact that Judith and the Sage Council's leader were actually mother and son? The past few days they've just been discussing elements and formations together. How was I supposed to pay attention to that..."

"Nevermind, nevermind. Now we can only rely on ourselves!"

I cut her off impatiently. No point dwelling on it anymore since there's no way to go back. Just then, I unintentionally heard voices seeming to talk outside the window. I hurriedly covered Cyra's mouth.

"Is there someone in the house? I just heard voices!"

Cyra and I were both startled, not even daring to breathe loudly. It seemed to be a man's voice. I wasn't sure if it was a monster or human, but leaned more towards human since a monster would likely just barge in instead of questioning from outside.

"Could it be survivors who fell off the airship?"

"But it sounded like two little girls' voices. You don't think it's residents who didn't get to evacuate in time? I just saw many people searching for missing relatives..."

Seeing we didn't respond for a long while, the people outside murmured to each other softly. It seemed there was more than one person! Then I heard footsteps heading towards the front entrance before the door was kicked open.

Alright, no point hiding anymore! Actually, if we really wanted to hide, using invisibility magic wasn't impossible. But in that brief moment when they rushed in, I suddenly had an idea. I pulled Cyra behind a table and we peeked our heads out, pretending to look very scared.

"You guys aren't allies of those monsters from the sky, are you?"

The two were soldier-like humans, likely members of the Parristol resistance based on their attire. Seeing our state, I deliberately asked.

"See, I told you..."

Noticing Cyra and I each peeking our heads out to look at them, the two soldiers glanced at each other and smiled, finally lowering their rifles. One of them even stepped forward to ask us:

"Don't worry, those monsters are temporarily our allies for now, at least helping us fend off the Kingdom's invasion for the short term. But you two, why are you still in a place like this? Didn't you get the notice to quickly evacuate underground?"

"We got lost on the way to evacuating. You know, unfamiliar with the place since it's so big..."

Cyra whined with an innocent tone. Based on our guesses, many local Parristol residents must have been moved into this city in advance. But they would definitely also be unfamiliar with it, which could explain the "getting lost" situation the soldier mentioned.

"I see...I felt we shouldn't have scattered the civilians so quickly initially!"

As expected, seeing our "pitiful" state, the two quickly believed us. They grumbled as they entered, looking us over before routinely asking:

"Are you two sisters? Do you have parents?"

"Of course we do! They must be out there searching for us too!"

I quickly responded. Who knows what might happen if I said we didn't have parents - I didn't want to needlessly expose our identities in this situation. But to my surprise, Cyra behind me suddenly kicked me and whispered in complaint:

"We don't have any parents, what if they ask us to confirm the lie later?"

It couldn't be helped though - for two random girls to be alone here without any family would be even more suspicious! But with the current circumstances, I couldn't explain to her immediately. I could only symbolically kick her back. However, this ear-biting interaction was noticed by one of the soldiers. Thinking we were just worried about meeting bad people, he smiled reassuringly:

"We're good people, Parristol guard soldiers. We won't do anything to you!"

"By the way, we heard you two talking outside about wanting someone stay. Is there anyone else here?"

Then the other soldier suddenly spoke up. He seemed a bit more meticulous, probably feeling uneasy, as he looked at us suspiciously and continued questioning.

"There's no one else, right? We were just discussing whether to keep staying in this house or try our luck outside."

Cyra blinked her eyes and tilted her head, feigning innocence to mislead them. They had probably overheard quite a bit of our earlier conversation, but luckily the most crucial details didn't seem exposed. The two soldiers then thoroughly searched the entire house, going back and forth. Only after confirming there were no other suspicious signs did they finally put their doubts to rest.

"It's very unsafe outside now, an airship could fall from the sky at any moment! Even if your parents are worried, they couldn't possibly be randomly running around the streets. For now, we'll take you to the evacuation shelter!"

Phew - that's exactly what I wanted to hear! Seeing the two soldiers had finally fallen for our act, the situation was finally developing according to plan. Cyra and I were more than happy to readily agree before following behind them to leave the building.