Richter, walking on the golem’s shoulders, looked around. Perhaps because he’d escaped the oppressive atmosphere of Mittal, he was more energetic than he had been before, but the knowledge he’d learned from his studies kept him calm, cautious, and aware of the potential dangers. For now, he was limiting himself to observing and hadn’t thought about exploring the chasm.

His master watched him, his mind suddenly filled with old, faded memories. At the end of the Fourth Era, he and his master had come here. Back then, this was the most fertile land in the world. A city whose name he had forgotten had stood here, providing food for more than half of Lanstier’s population…

Those silver memories couldn’t be superimposed on the current scene.

With the tireless efforts of the golems and treants, they quickly arrived at the origin point of the flames.

They saw a landscape of fallen trees. Almost half the forest had collapsed. A powerful force had uprooted and felled these tall trees, completely killing these strong plants. A sea of fire still burned among the debris. Even the heavy rain couldn’t extinguish these flames, which were born from pure elemental transformation. The heat permeated the rain, and Richter was surprised to discover that his clothes were quickly drying. This made him even happier.

After all, he was the one who washed their clothes…

Compared to the eruption of the flames, the current scene didn’t surprise the master. He ordered the golem and treant to stop in a place where they could observe but were still safe from the immediate danger. Then he walked into the rain himself, a faint light forming a white shield around him, protecting him from the rain.

Good. Richter understood and hadn’t caused him any more trouble. The master tilted his head and saw that Richter was still calmly sitting on the golem. He felt proud.

Perhaps he should take him out more. For a boy his age, Mittal's capital was too oppressive…

His thoughts didn’t make him relax his vigilance. He cautiously moved through the debris. The fallen trees confirmed his suspicions—this was a deliberate “spellcasting.” Though its power was immense, almost reaching the level of a forbidden spell, it was still within his expectations. The northern Mittal battlefield saw several forbidden spells unleashed on Tophis’s city, which existed in a different space, every day. These spells, directly supplied by the magical fortresses, had terrifying destructive power.

As one of the Divine Construct’s most powerful mages, he wasn’t afraid of another mage who could unleash forbidden spells. He had fought alongside the allied forces in the war against the old church. Everyone on the front lines had endured several forbidden spells. And this wasn’t a battle. He didn’t need to engage in close-quarters combat with a mage.

Everywhere, elemental flames burned—difficult to extinguish, but not a major problem for high-level superhumans. But seeking trouble in this situation was just asking to die, so he avoided the burning flames. Finally, after dodging a burning tree, he saw a large, sunken pit. Faint traces of a magic circle were visible at the edge of the pit. In the center of the pit was a shocking pool of blood. Flames burned within the blood, like a blooming crimson flower. A “mage” lay calmly in the pool of blood, surrounded by countless elemental flames.

It was a young girl, seemingly younger than Richter, with dark hair and a frail physique.

The flames almost filled the pit, but they automatically avoided her. The sea of fire created a path for him, stretching all the way to the “mage.”

This gave him pause.

He remembered the Astrological Society’s continued promotion of the “Elemental Will” theory. They believed that the four elements—earth, wind, water, and fire—all had their own will, governing the movement of the elements in the world. But this theory had been around for over a hundred years, and no mage had ever actually observed the existence of “Elemental Will.” This theory was just a hypothesis.

This might be the first recorded observation of elemental will, but the most important thing right now wasn’t academic research. So, he focused his mind and quickly walked towards the pool of blood.

The girl’s injuries were severe. That was his immediate assessment. After all, someone who had a hole in their neck and had been burned for a while wasn’t exactly healthy. In any other situation, he’d have declared her dead and maybe even asked for her next of kin’s contact information.

But this was the Forest of Divine Punishment. Nothing could be judged by ordinary standards. And this girl, who had just survived a forbidden spell, definitely wasn’t an ordinary person… In the realm of magic, age wasn’t a reliable indicator of actual age. As a mage who had lived for more than 1400 years, and who was far from the end of his lifespan, he understood this very well.

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The Forest of Divine Punishment was in Lanstier territory, and he knew that a female mage who had also lived since the Fourth Era was currently serving in the Lanstier Magic Society.

He slowly approached the girl immersed in the pool of blood. The flames around her flickered, a warning emanating from within.

Elemental thoughts are always chaotic and vague, impossible to interpret. That’s common knowledge. But as a peak superhuman mage, he was able to interpret the girl’s vague will, a clear and discernible will—Help her. Take her away. Don’t harm her.

The old mage nodded in agreement. The flickering flames moved from the girl and fell into the pool of blood.

The old mage commented on the fact that the elemental flames were actually moving, and quite quickly, as he cautiously stepped into the pool of blood, enduring the unpleasant feeling of the blood as he picked up the girl. He discovered that the wound on her neck had been sealed by magic and was healing rapidly, which reassured him. Upon further examination, he discovered that although the girl’s ears looked normal, a closer look revealed slightly pointed tips, a characteristic of elven bloodlines.

Though he hadn’t met her, he knew that the mage from the Lanstier Magic Society definitely didn’t have elven blood—she had been famous for hundreds of years, and no elves had ever claimed her as one of their own. That would have been unthinkable for the elves who were so proud of their bloodline.

Just as the old mage was about to turn around, the sea of fire suddenly stirred. A bag, as tall as a person, flew out of it. The old mage quickly caught it with magic, but before he could ask any questions, the flames had subsided. He had no choice but to give up.

Stepping over the blackened, scorched trees, the old mage returned to his party. Under his instructions, a treant’s branch grew and intertwined, forming a small platform above them. To Richter’s surprise, the master placed the girl on the platform. Soft leaves rustled gently beside her. The treant, which was somewhat simple-minded, seemed to be in a good mood.

The old mage watched in surprise as the treant automatically used its branches to secure the girl’s position, using newly grown, soft leaves to cover her body. Where the vines touched her limbs, leaves grew to prevent chafing. The lush leaves would soon grow into a bed. The observant old mage also noticed that some of the branches had grown fruit… He had used this treant for hundreds of years, and he had only just discovered that it could bear fruit!

The old mage wanted to ask a question, but his caution as a mage held him back. He took the bag, then climbed onto the golem, his face hidden. He casually put the bag down, showing no interest in opening it.

The summoned creatures moved unsteadily, heading south. Watching as the sea of fire slowly receded after the protective creatures had left, the old mage sighed softly.

Another complicated matter.

Richter approached him, anxiously asking, “Master, she is…”

“I found her there…” The old mage pondered for a moment, fragments of text emerging from the depths of his memory. Combining this with what he had seen, a hypothesis gradually formed in his mind. “She might be a ‘Regressor.’”

Richter looked at him, puzzled.

“It’s a term used to describe a group of people who have incredibly strong mana harmony and elemental control abilities, but who also suffer from elemental assimilation. The Fourth Era’s Magic Emperor, Annea, was a Regressor. After he became a superhuman and ascended to become the Magic Emperor, he studied his unique abilities. He concluded that he must have died once without realizing it. But he didn’t end up in the realm of the gods. The Night Lord, one of the four Primal Gods, and the legendary ruler of the afterlife, didn’t receive his lost soul.” The old mage clearly explained this rarely known history. “He hypothesized that his soul had come into contact with the essence of elements and mana in a post-death dimension. This is where his terrifying magical talent originated. Then his soul returned to his body in a daze, returning to the world. So Annea gave this group of people with similar abilities the name ‘Regressors.’”

Richter pondered for a moment, then said, “But this theory has flaws.”

“Of course, it has flaws,” the old mage smiled mysteriously. “The gods wouldn’t let free souls wander outside their realms. And Annea’s family would have noticed his brief death. He was the son of a Duke.”

The two didn’t delve deeper into this topic. Richter anxiously glanced at the girl lying on the treant’s shoulders. He saw that she was frowning, as if trapped in a nightmare.

He suddenly said, “Master, what are you planning to…”

“Our journey must continue. Richter, Regressors are rare, and her safety is worth our attention, but we have a more important mission.”

“But I promised the fire element that I’d look after her…” The old mage hesitated. It wasn’t that he wanted to break his promise so soon, but he wasn’t sure how the fire element defined “help” and how he would fulfill that promise. He couldn’t possibly spend the rest of his life running around, fetching tea and water for her…

“We’ll go to Alorn first, resupply, and then head to the Holy City. If all goes well, we’ll be back in Mittal soon. If she wants to come with us after she wakes up, I can take on another student. If not, there are superhuman mages in the Holy City, and the Divine Glory Church’s headquarters is there. They should be willing to help her.”

“But you never told me what kind of mission made it necessary to secretly meet with the Lanstier Emperor and the Pope of the Divine Glory Church. What if things go wrong and those two have you executed?” Richter muttered, then jumped from the golem to the treant. “I’ll go check on her.”

The old mage shook his head helplessly. He still hadn’t figured out the meaning of the astrological results, but his intuition told him there was no danger. So, he let Richter do as he pleased.

“A Regressor hasn’t been seen in a thousand years. The war between Mittal and Tophis. The ‘Still Star’ beneath the Holy City… There’s certainly been a lot happening these past two years.”