"9527, scan the scene!"
[Beep—Scanning environmental residual data.]
[Analyzing...]
[High concentration of ghost element residue detected (dissipated), extremely high intensity ground element residue detected, Dragon Element detected...]
Siniel was stunned for a moment. "Dragon Element? Has a dragon been here?"
The wanted poster he saw when entering the city—the "blue demon"—instantly flashed through his mind. Recently, there had been news of the Dragons Nest starting to become active on the border... Could it have been done by that wanted dragon?
"Impossible."
Before Siniel could speak, the priest next to him, Hyte, suddenly spoke up and interrupted his thoughts.
The young man Hyte wore a set of tattered priest robes and usually looked quite slovenly, but at this moment, his expression was exceptionally serious.
He squatted at the edge of a large crater and reached out to grab a handful of soil that was still slightly hot.
"It's absolutely impossible for it to have been done by a dragon."
Hyte stood up and brushed the dirt off his hands, his tone certain.
"Why?" Siniel was puzzled.
"Because of this."
Hyte pointed around him, a look of confidence appearing on his face. "Can't you feel it? The divine aura lingering in the air."
"Divine aura?"
The other three looked at each other.
There were dead bodies and the smell of blood everywhere; where was this divine aura coming from?
"You aren't members of the clergy, so it's normal that you can't sense it."
Hyte took a deep breath, as if smelling some peerless fragrance. "This is very pure Holy Light power... even purer than the holy water in the cathedral."
"Within roughly the last twenty minutes, someone released a high-level divine Spell here."
"That level of purity, that faith that dispels all evil..."
Hyte's voice even cracked with excitement. "This is the Great Holy Light Spell, and even the Advanced 'Luster Purge' within it!"
"Great Holy Light Spell?"
Siniel was somewhat surprised.
He was no stranger to this term.
This was a high-level divine Spell of the Church of Light; only powerhouses at the Cardinal level or a Saintess Candidate could possibly master it.
This kind of Spell has a devastating impact on evil creatures, and the casting conditions are extremely harsh.
The caster must open the "Eye of Miracles" and have absolute devotion to the god of light to be able to channel such a massive amount of Holy Light energy.
"A Saintess Candidate, huh..." Siniel felt a bit helpless. In the past, he had invited a Saintess Candidate to join the party, but she actually refused to take the risk because she was afraid of goblins.
That was quite a regret.
"You mean," the Dwarf Azer stroked his beard, "a Saintess ran to this godforsaken place and wiped out these cultists?"
"I agree with Hyte's judgment." Fleur stood up, tapped her staff, and began a wave of logically rigorous reasoning. "There are not only traces of Holy Light here, but also very violent traces of physical destruction and fluctuations of Draconic Magic."
She pointed at the corpses at the bottom of the crater that had been violently dismantled.
"A mere Saintess Candidate definitely couldn't do this much. Therefore, there is only one truth—this must be a top-tier adventurer party!"
"The party includes an extremely devout Saintess Candidate of unfathomable strength responsible for purifying evil. There's also a Dragonborn Berserker with Dragon Clan bloodline and terrifying strength responsible for the frontal assault. There might even be a Grand Magus specializing in ground-type magic responsible for crowd control."
"This party had long since targeted the Plasma Cult, and while they were holding an evil ritual, they broke in and wiped them out with the force of a thunderbolt!"
After hearing this analysis, the other three fell silent.
It made so much sense.
"It seems we're too late." Siniel sighed with a bitter smile. "The other side must also be a party of heroes investigating the Three Sacred Artifacts... We've run into colleagues."
"But that's also good."
Fleur comforted him plainly, "At least it shows we have allies nearby. To be able to do such a thing in the name of heaven, they must be powerhouses from the righteous faction."
"It would be great if we could meet them."
Hyte looked gratified. "As long as evil is purified, it doesn't matter who did it. May the Holy Light bless that pure and flawless Saintess."
A certain Gabite heard these words from afar, and his expression was simply priceless.
What the hell, a pure and flawless Saintess.
But these four were clearly convinced. In this world, humans' understanding of the Dragon Clan mostly stayed in legends. Who would have thought that a dragon could use Shadow Claw and Sand Tomb simultaneously, and even carry a flashlight to release flashbangs?
"Well then, since the matter is settled, let's withdraw too." Siniel waved his hand. "By the way, let's go notify the guild... these spoils of war have an owner."
Everyone nodded, preparing to leave.
Just then, Siniel suddenly stopped.
The System 9527 in his mind suddenly popped up a quest notification:
[New Quest: Find Signal Enhancement Point.]
[Description: Abnormal wavebands detected in this area. Please proceed to the highest point of the current area and remain still for 30 seconds to assist the System in uploading data.]
[Reward: Points +50.]
Siniel was stunned. What a strange quest? Finding a signal?
But he was an honest man, and 50 points were still points.
"Um... wait a moment, you guys." Siniel gave a couple of dry laughs. "I want to go to the top of those ruins to look at the scenery and express some feelings."
His three teammates looked at him like he was an idiot.
Just now he said it was spooky here and wanted to leave, and now he wants to look at the scenery? Has this hero's brain short-circuited?
But they were also used to Siniel's occasional eccentric behavior.
Siniel lightly climbed a remaining watchtower next to the ruins. This was the highest point of the entire munitions factory.
He stood at the top of the tottering tower, facing the wind, striking what he thought was a cool pose, and muttered in his heart: "This is Hero Siniel, I have completed the quest!"
[Positioning successful. Signal uploading...]
[Progress: 10%... 50%... 100%.]
[Upload complete.]
At the moment the progress bar finished, Siniel didn't feel anything unusual. But in an invisible dimension, an extremely obscure waveband followed the ancient necklace on his chest and instantly shot into the sky.
This waveband passed through the atmosphere and connected to the invisible network covering the entire world of Azeria... At the same time.
In an ancient ruin buried deep underground on the other side of the continent.
Countless red indicator lights suddenly flickered wildly. On the massive holographic screen, the originally steady data stream instantly turned into a mess.
[#9527# Abnormal signal source detected: Lordaeron Empire, Osterburg.]
[Signal characteristics: Unknown.]
[Is it a Think Tank sequence? No.]
[Is it a known divine reaction? No.]
[Warning: Logical error. This area should not contain such high-dimensional interference.]
All Mechanical Species terminals received this inexplicable report at this moment. Whether it was a Hero System in hibernation or a Hero System executing a quest, their actions all stuttered for that instant.
A signal with no source?
In this strictly monitored world, how could a signal with no source exist?
[Question #9527#: Is it a new Think Tank model?]
[Negative.]
[Question #9527#: Is it a virus intrusion?]
[Negative.]
Massive data streams converged and collided in the Pandormirra Temple, finally reaching a conclusion that confused all the Mechanical Species:
[Unknown error. Suggested continued observation.]
[[[#Praise! Pando Mirra!#]]]
...Siniel naturally didn't know how much of a stir his action had caused.
As soon as the 30 seconds were up, he immediately jumped down from the top of the tower.
Brushing the dust off his hands, he gave his teammates a bright smile: "Done!—Let's go, the coolest hero has already left his footprints; there's nothing left to see here."
Fleur, Hyte, Azer: "..."
The hero party left grumbling, leaving behind a silent ruin... in the forest.
Caesar watched the group walk away and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Although the auras of those four people just now weren't particularly strong, that elf mage gave him a very troublesome feeling.
"They're gone."
Caesar shook his shoulders. "Alright, come down. That priest just now praised you as a Saintess; aren't you going to give some acceptance speech?"
However, there was no movement from Cecilia on his head.
"Hey? Did you fall asleep?"
Caesar reached out his claw to scoop up the loli on his head.
With this grab, the feel of the claw was wrong.
The originally cool and smooth dragon scales had now become extremely hot, as if he were touching a red-hot branding iron.
"Mm... hot..."
Cecilia let out a mumbled murmur, her voice soft and weak.
Caesar was startled and quickly pulled back the cloak.
He saw that Cecilia had already deactivated her human disguise and turned back into that plump silver Young Dragon.
But right now, her entire body's scales were flushed with a strange crimson, her originally sparkling silver luster had become somewhat dim, and they even began to slightly curl up.
A large amount of white steam rose from the gaps in her scales, making her look like a freshly steamed bun.
"WTF? What's wrong with you?"
Caesar was a bit hard-pressed. "Did that ultimate move just now fry your CPU?"
Was the power of [Luster Purge] too great and burned her brain?
"Sleepy... so sleepy..."
Cecilia opened her eyes in a daze. Those originally clear vertical pupils were now covered with a layer of mist, their focus scattered. "Caesar... I feel like... something inside my body is going to explode..."
Explode?
Caesar quickly pulled up the System panel to check her status.
[Target: Cecilia Silverwing]
[Race: True Dragon (Silver Dragon)]
[Rank: LV.19 -> LV.20 (Advancing...)]
[Status: Evolutionary Slumber (bloodline concentration being purified)]
Seeing this line of text, Caesar suddenly slapped his thigh.
How unlucky!
I forgot about this!
This silly dragon was already at level 19 with full experience. In that battle just now, although she only released a flashbang as support, the experience points she leeched were definitely not small.
She's about to break through her Rank!
True Dragons and Magical Beasts are different.
A Magical Beast leveling up might just be sleeping or having a good meal.
But every time a True Dragon crosses a major Rank, they need to undergo a deep slumber to digest inheritance memories and reshape their physical body.
Commonly known as—a growth spurt.
"Scared the crap out of me; I thought you were going to self-destruct."
Since it's an advancement, then it's fine.
However... Caesar looked at the little Silver Dragon in his Shadow Claw, who was as hot as a hand warmer, and his expression gradually became strange.
When a True Dragon advances, their body will unconsciously gather a large amount of pure Dragon Element.
This is like a fermenting dough; the fragrance cannot be hidden.
Right now, dense Dragon Element was gathering on Cecilia. For Caesar, who was also a dragon, it was simply a top-tier temptation.
"Gulp."
Caesar's Adam's apple bobbed.
Although it was a bit scummy to use the System to intercept "dragon-type factors" at such a critical growth juncture... it shouldn't have too much of an impact, right?
"Just one lick..." Caesar leaned in, opening his dragons maw towards that cocoon of light.
"(Slurp) Let me level up too; that's not too much to ask, right?"