Chapter 488: The descendants of that one clan
"What’s wrong?"
Maya’s sudden, violent reaction made Reiger subconsciously activate the Transparent World.
But just as Reiger activated the Transparent World, Maya turned her head and walked away.
The pure white vestment robe on the priestess’s body unfurled, as if turning into a pair of wings, allowing Maya to take flight.
Maya flew away right before Reiger’s eyes, her movements filled with panic and urgency, and anyone who saw her like this would understand one thing.
That is, something big had happened.
"[Flight]."
Reiger’s eyes twinkled, he didn’t hesitate much, and directly cast magic, turning into a streak of light, flying after Maya.
Flying like this and not yet having reached their destination, Reiger already knew where Maya was heading.
"The Temple..."
This direction was straight towards the temple in the city center.
With this certainty, Reiger and Maya one after the other quickly arrived at the plaza where the temple was located.
Here, the Knights of the Meipros family, led by Revin and Nipede, for some reason, had stopped all their actions, standing rooted to the spot in confusion.
Including Revin.
The Border Guardian Sword Saint still held the rebels’ sword in his hand, his body shrouded in dark light, the posture of raising his great sword clearly demonstrated he was prepared to attack the barrier protecting the temple, but for some reason, he had stopped his attack and stood frozen, just like the others, motionless.
"What’s going on here?"
Initially, Reiger thought they had triggered some kind of counterattack effect from the temple’s barrier and were bound by a kind of binding magic, rendered unable to move against their will.
However, that wasn’t the case.
The reason they were motionless was only one.
Someone had penetrated the temple’s barrier and entered inside.
When Reiger looked towards that person, they also seemed very confused.
And upon seeing the person clearly, Reiger’s eyes immediately widened a bit.
Maya got ahead of Reiger and flew directly towards that person.
"Who...!?"
Revin, Nipede, and the Kazi brothers finally came to their senses and seemed to notice someone approaching rapidly; disregarding their astonishment, they turned towards Maya’s direction.
Maya, however, ignored everyone else, landed and rushed towards the temple, entering the barrier.
Yes, as if the barrier was nothing to her, Maya actually passed directly through it.
And after entering the barrier, she grabbed the hand of the person who had also entered.
"Ah!"
The person let out a small cry of surprise, the voice carrying a hint of childishness.
"Liz!"
Reiger also landed in the plaza, witnessing this scene, he couldn’t help but call out.
"Master, Master!"
The young girl whom Maya had grabbed by the hand, immediately turned towards Reiger with teary eyes.
That’s right.
The person who had entered the barrier was Liz.
What was going on?
Why had Liz suddenly passed through the temple’s barrier and entered inside?
How did she manage to do it?
This was the first question that arose in the mind of an astonished Reiger.
And such a question was clearly shared by the city’s Guardian.
"How did you get in here?" Maya shouted at Liz: "Who are you? Exactly what method did you use...!?"
"I..."
Liz was so confused that she became inarticulate, stuttering as she spoke, but could only spit out a single word.
"Speak up!"
Maya’s eyes, filled with anger as she stared at Liz, were as if something precious had been desecrated, and her grasp on Liz’s hand grew even tighter.
Seeing this, aside from everyone else, Reiger flashed in position before the barrier.
"Maya Feit," Reiger looked at Maya as she gripped Liz’s hand firmly, "you let go of her first."
Unfortunately, as if Maya hadn’t heard him at all, she not only did not release Liz but gripped her even more tightly.
"It hurts...!"
Liz finally cried out in pain.
And it was this cry that instantly filled the entire place with a terrifying oppressive atmosphere.
"————!"
In that instant, not only Maya but also Revin, Nipede, the Kazi brothers, and the numerous Knights of the Meipros family all felt a startling chill invade their hearts.
The source of the chill, naturally, was Reiger.
His face was ice-cold, his surroundings tinged with a high temperature that could distort the atmosphere, and in his eyes, there was the flow of firelight.
Full Concentration·Sun Breathing — Activated!
"He..."
Watching Reiger like this, everyone present showed a look of terror on their faces.
Even Revin and Nipede experienced the same.
At that moment, an extremely terrifying and appalling pressure emitted from Reiger, causing the entire city to tremble.
In such a situation, Reiger seemed to be exhaling Sun’s Fire as he spoke word by word.
"I said, let her go."
This short phrase, as though carrying tremendous power, struck Maya’s heart.
Maya’s pretty face instantly turned pale, her hand releasing involuntarily, allowing Liz to regain her freedom.
"Master...?"
Liz quickly ran out from the barrier, just like Maya had before, penetrating the barrier and appearing before Reiger, timidly calling out to him.
Not until then did the terrifying oppressive aura emanating from Reiger dissipate.
"Are you all right?"
Reiger glanced at Liz’s hand, which had just been firmly gripped by Maya, and asked this.
"I-I’m fine!"
Liz quickly responded and subconsciously hid her hand, which was marked red, behind her back.
Reiger did not speak, but simply nodded his head, then turned back to Maya.
Maya stood inside the barrier, still pale, looking at Reiger with eyes as if seeing some monster, her gaze no longer filled with overt hostility as before but with a trace of fear.
Because Maya wore a mask, Reiger did not see these expressions.
But he did not care.
"What are you doing?" Reiger asked indifferently, "You scared my person, did you know that?"
This sentence, although spoken by Reiger in a very calm tone, felt even more terrifying than before to everyone present.
Maya instinctively realized that if she did not answer this question properly, the situation would become uncontrollable.
If it turned that way, perhaps, the entire city would disappear.
That’s the feeling Maya had.
So Maya bit her lip hard, suppressing the chill and fear rising in her heart, and mustering her courage, she glared at Reiger.
"Since she is one of your people, then you should ask her properly!" Maya shouted loudly, "How did she get through the barrier?"
Upon hearing this, Reiger stared at Maya for quite a while, until Maya started to have difficulty breathing, and then he turned to Liz.
"What happened?" Reiger asked, "Why did you enter the temple’s barrier?"
The question left the little princess utterly bewildered.
"I-I don’t know," the little princess was still somewhat at a loss, as if something completely unfathomable had happened to her, speaking with trepidation, "Initially, I was following Master’s instruction to watch over Master’s illusion here."
"But then, I don’t know how, when the Meipros Viscount started attacking the barrier, the Moslo sword suddenly became agitated and started vigorously pulling me toward the inside of the temple."
"I-I didn’t react in time, and was pulled over all at once, by the time I came to my senses, I was already inside the barrier," Liz spoke, and lifted the Moslo sword she had been clutching tightly.
With this lift, Maya, who was inside the barrier, suddenly widened her eyes.
"That-that sword is...!?"
Maya visibly began to waver.
Noticing this, Reiger questioned Maya, "What’s the matter? Do you recognize this sword?"
Maya did not answer but just stared intently at the Moslo sword in Liz’s hand, then back at Liz, her gaze toward them seemingly filled with complicated emotions.
At this time, Revin and the others also approached.
"What exactly is happening now?" Revin first asked this, then looked at Maya, "Who is she?"
Nipede and the others all turned to look at Reiger.
"...According to her own claim, she is the guardian of this city," Reiger paused for a moment before speaking calmly, "It means this is her territory, and we are intruders who have invaded her domain."
Upon these words, the expressions of Revin and the others changed instantly.
"The guardian of this city?" Nipede even said with a look of astonishment, "A guardian for an ancient ruin?"
Who is this person?
Are they related to the ancient magic civilization?
The onlookers’ gaze at Maya changed like Reiger’s had before, becoming different.
"Master, Master," Liz, looking uneasy, said, "Did I cause trouble again?"
It wasn’t Reiger who responded to the unsettled Liz, but Maya, who had been looking at Liz with a complex expression since the beginning.
"...No, you didn’t cause any trouble," Maya’s voice was also unusually complex as she said, "So it is, that lineage actually has descendants left?"
"If that’s the case, it makes sense."
"It’s natural for you to penetrate this barrier and enter the temple."
Having said that, Maya walked out from within the barrier.
This act caused Revin and the others to react slightly, and they subtly went on alert.
Reiger too narrowed his eyes, but did not take further action, and simply watched silently.
Thus, Maya approached Liz.
She examined Liz carefully, gazing at her face as if committing it to memory and also took another look at the Moslo sword.
Only after a long time did Maya take her gaze off Liz and turn towards the others present.
"You want to enter the temple, right?"
Maya spoke.
"Fine, I’ll take you there."