So that's how it is! After hearing the Republic envoy's explanation, I had an idea. It seemed very likely that Reed had entered the area protected by that barrier. As for Mia, based on the evidence, she probably found out where Reed was going and followed to protect her.

But these were just guesses. We didn't know for sure what happened. With Mia there, Reed might not be in too much danger. But since they hadn't come out after so many days, something must have gone wrong. Maybe they were trapped somehow. To find them, we'd have to go to Ilandra Empire!

"Thank you very much for the information. It's been a big help. No matter what happens, Edenmere promises to send an envoy to thank your country soon," I told the Republic envoy, passing on Elara's message.

The Republic fleet had already flown far away after a few days and was about to return home. This envoy came back specially to give us the news. Because of their friendly attitude towards angels, we naturally had to treat them well too.

Worried about Reed's safety, Elara and I were already connected through our mental network before the meeting. So all the information was immediately passed on to her.

"Since you already agreed to Galadra's request to go to Ilandra Dominion, I won't stop you. But I feel this whole situation is a bit strange. I have a bad feeling about it..."

The situation in the north was better now. Plus, this involved the Founder, the Cycle of Rebirth, and Reed's safety. So Elara couldn't ignore it like before. But because the journey was so long, her help might be a bit delayed.

"In about three days, Shirley will lead the Fifth Angel Legion to meet you at the target location. The Empire is vast, but they're not as friendly to angels as the northern countries. Remember to be very careful. Don't act rashly!"

After reminding me of these things, she quickly left the spiritual network.

Back in reality, I nodded at Adrian. Like Elara, he had heard the whole story about Galadra asking for my help last night. So he immediately understood what I wanted to say.

For the next while, everyone was busy getting ready. We were mainly buying supplies in different parts of the city for the upcoming journey.

When I finished packing my things in the room and was about to check out of the adventurers' inn, I suddenly heard Judith's voice from outside.

"Hehe! Looks like you all are getting ready to leave. Is this sneaking away without saying goodbye? Not very nice of you!"

Since returning to the Sage Council, Judith had gone back to her job as an elemental theory researcher. She'd been busy running between work at the academy and visiting her son. We hardly saw her during this time.

But surprisingly, our plan to leave Crescent City didn't escape her notice. It was quite rare for her to show up here directly. She walked in from outside and looked around the room, asking:

"I remember Meredith promised you all a free fortune-telling session. Don't you want to use that before you go?"

"That won't be necessary!"

Mentioning Meredith reminded me of her stunning black dress, which still left a deep impression on me. But hearing about fortune-telling, I wanted to run away! How could I possibly fall into that trap again? So I quickly waved my hands to refuse.

"Hmph... Then how about I have my son throw you a farewell party?"

Judith didn't seem surprised by my answer. She held up her finger, looking proud, and suggested a send-off for us. "Why not bring some bodyguards too? It should be normal for the Fate Breaker to have these special treatments. If I insist strongly, he won't dare refuse!"

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

But I politely declined again. I knew she was reluctant to see us go, but there was a reason behind this...

We didn't tell Adonis and Judith we were leaving ahead of time on purpose, not because we didn't have time or forgot. We mainly didn't want to make the goodbye too sad.

It was okay for Elara, Adrian, and the others to know about Galadra and the Cycle of Rebirth, since they were involved. But there was no need to let more people know and have the Sage Council find out. So in others' eyes, this trip to Ilandra Dominion was just about rescuing Reed, which was angel business. The Sage Council didn't need to get involved.

But if Judith knew we were leaving soon, there would probably be all sorts of emotional scenes. The goodbye might drag on for a very long time. Just thinking about how the Pope and his group in the holy city of Jethrobaines had "eighteen farewells" made my scalp tingle...

Plus, there was a very important thing we needed to do after leaving the city. It wouldn't be good to waste time on this. So I had planned to just leave a letter in the inn room briefly explaining where we were going, and leave without saying goodbye. But now it looked like that plan had failed...

"Um... how about..."

To be honest, I was getting a bit anxious. I couldn't think of a good excuse and tried to change the subject. After all, I had agreed to meet Adrian and the others at the city gate in ten minutes. What if I was late because of this unexpected hold-up?

"Alright, I won't force you!"

Surprisingly, Judith changed her mind when she saw how I looked. She made a very helpless expression. "Actually, my son has been very busy these past two days. He often doesn't have time for me, let alone for a farewell party! I guess you're just unlucky..."

"Hmph, I wanted to show off my good son's abilities to you some more, but you're all leaving. What a pity. Well then, goodbye and take care!"

After saying this, Judith waved her hand, pretending to be angry. She turned around and left without looking back.

Is such bad acting really necessary? I couldn't help but feel both amused and touched watching Judith leave. I knew she said that to avoid making things difficult for me. Maybe we'd have a chance to meet again in the near future.

Soon it was past noon.

Adrian, Cyra and I finally left the city and arrived outside Crescent City's gate.

"Are you sure we should wait here?" Cyra asked me doubtfully. There was no one else around yet.

In front of us was a green meadow outside Crescent City. It was far from the main road and hardly anyone came here. But we didn't come here to find a place to take off. After all, Adrian couldn't fly. Carrying a grown man and flying thousands of miles to the empire's southeast border would waste too much energy.

You should know that Ilandra Dominion's total land area is about six or seven times as big as the Astralrealm kingdom. It's one of the few super-large countries on the continent! Even if angels flew at full speed, it would take at least one or two days to go from north to south. For a rescue mission, speed is crucial. There's no need to waste energy on this.

Plus, we had to consider if Nicola might be hiding somewhere, waiting to attack Adrian after we left Crescent City. So flying normally to our destination definitely wouldn't work.

Of course, the main reason was that we actually had a better option...

"Come out! I know you're secretly watching us!"

I shouted at the air around us, imagining Galadra slouching on the sofa, staring intently at a virtual screen. But after calling several times with no response, I started to panic.

Oh no! Did that guy get too caught up in "drama-watching" and forget that we needed her help to teleport? If there's no response for a long time, what should I do? How can I explain this to Adrian and the others?

"Coming, coming!"

Another minute passed. I called out several more times with still no response. Just when the others were about to lose patience, a familiar voice finally appeared at the last moment. Then a small figure suddenly materialized in front of us.

It was a miniature Galadra, about the size of a 10-year-old human girl. She looked very cute, and you could vaguely make out what she would look like "grown up".

"Whoa, where did this loli come from? Kawaii!"

Cyra immediately started speaking Japanese, looking like a creepy uncle. She reached out to pat the little one's head. "Could you be the legendary Galadra? So you're a loli?"

But the next second, her fingers passed right through little Galadra's body. It turns out this wasn't a real body, but an illusion.

"Sorry, projecting my avatar to the continent takes a lot of energy. I have limited power left, and I still need to provide long-distance teleportation later. So to save energy for possible unexpected situations, I can only use an illusion for now."

Galadra, that ancient immortal angel, of course knew what Cyra wanted to do. She covered her mouth and teased. It wasn't clear if what she said was true, or if she just turned into an illusion to annoy Cyra.

But after seeing Cyra's face clearly, Galadra's expression suddenly turned strange for a moment. She paused slightly, almost unnoticeably. But this expression disappeared quickly and she soon returned to normal. If you weren't paying attention, you wouldn't have noticed at all.

Strange, does she have some special thoughts about Cyra? I saw all of this, but I still couldn't figure out what it meant.

Cyra must be really dense. She didn't realize at all that this little Galadra actually looked just like a miniature version of herself.