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The next step of Shadow’s plan was basically using Angor’s illusion to confuse the Krakoks, while Shadow would go for the portal and sneak into the Otherworld.

Previously, Shadow didn’t plan to attack Fiona. He only needed to get to the portal while she was away.

Since Angor was here, they decided to remove the “uncertainty” and let her go once everything was done.

“I’ll let you decide where to put her,” Shadow said to Angor.

Angor nodded. He was going to keep Fiona indoors until Shadow returned from his mission.

Once they placed Fiona back in her residence, Angor accompanied Shadow to the holy altar.

The ceremony would last three full days, so the mountain foot was still lively with singing Krakoks. The crowd wasn’t a problem, but they still needed to do something with the Krakok knights that were protecting the portal.

Angor couldn’t cast spells from within the crowd, so he had to deploy his illusion from afar, which proved to be quite a challenge.

Fortunately, there were only mortals around. Shadow was the only one who managed to sense Angor’s nightmare aura.

A moment later, Angor placed shading barrier around the portal, as well as the “fake” ceremony illusion which covered the guards.

“Alright, you should be fine now,” Angor said with a nod. “And be quick. If you aren’t back before the end of the ritual, I’ll ask Fiona to send me back to Real World without you.”

“Oh chill, I can always sense the location of that thing. I’ll definitely make it,” Shadow said. He considered for a moment before he continued, “Or even faster, if you can go there and help me.”

“Isabella wants me dead, and that’s her home base over there. Maybe she’s not inside Dark Castle right now, but we don’t know whether she left more of her consciousness behind, so... no.”

Angor would not risk anything after he experienced the strange rage that he received from the woman.

Shadow more or less had an idea why Isabella was so hostile to Angor, but he couldn’t say it since it had something to do with his own teacher. “Right. Meanwhile, you can stay here and look for a clue about that soul-refining power they have here. I’m expecting a double-gain when I get back!”

With that, Shadow prepared to float toward the altar.

Before he left for real, Shadow suddenly turned around and said again, “Fiona looks pretty good too. How about you try to get her into ‘business’ using this chance? I assure you that she won’t notice anything when we let her loose.”

“Get lost already.”

Shadow proceeded to the altar. Again, he said something else before he “disconnected” their Spirit Bond, “You know why she’s called ‘Mercy Witch’? She’ll forgive you for whatever you do to her! Believe me, just go for it!”

Shadow’s body slowly disappeared on the altar.

After Shadow was gone for real, Angor’s expression slowly turned grim.

Despite those joyful jokes, Angor knew that Shadow was only acting friendly because of their magic covenant. This man was forced.

Angor decided to check out Fiona’s place before exploring the holy temple.

Before he could leave, he suddenly noticed that the white-bearded priest had been looking at him from the mountain peak.

He wasn’t sure how long the old man was there. Not sure what to do, they just stared at each other across the distance for a while.

While Angor was confused, the Grand Priest remained peaceful and calm. Still, Angor got a feeling that those harmonious eyes were hiding something. Something rather violent.

“Did you see everything?” Angor asked quietly. He was using lip language.

The priest lowered his head a little and shook his head. Then he stepped back into the temple.

Angor wasn’t sure what that meant. He felt that the old man had seen their movements, but for some reason, he didn’t stop them.

As someone who watched over the plane passageway, the Grand Priest had to have something to contact Dark Castle... Yet he chose to stay silent...

Angor glanced at the temple one last time and left the mountain area.

...

At one corner of the southern plains of Hippocrotee was a round-domed palace. The outer wall of the building was full of beautiful carvings and decorations while its colorful, painted windows shone brilliantly under the sunlight.

The palace was called “Centenary”. The Krakoks built it as a temporary residence for visitors from Citadel.

Behind the bronze gate of the palace was a brightly-lit hall with luxurious furniture laying around. However, the lack of inhabitants made the place look a little desolated.

Fiona was sitting in front of a long desk in the center of the main hall while she carried the same, pale smile like all the other puppets that were controlled by Shadow.

Angor used Hand of Spell to carry her into the bedroom on the second floor. He planned to take some rest during these two days in the palace. However, he didn’t wish to stay with the creepy puppet.

As for Shadow’s “suggestion”... No. Just no. For one, He wasn’t interested. And even if he was... he would never be able to feel any urge for that kind of business while looking at Fiona’s hollow gaze.

After placing Fiona in place, Angor took Toby out of his bracelet.

Toby had been sleeping for more than a week now, but Angor wasn’t really worried about him since he knew that Toby was undergoing a breakthrough.

He decided to keep Toby outside for now. According to some of the books he read, a monster would cause all kinds of strange phenomena in such a case. He didn’t wish Toby to destroy his stash.

Footsteps suddenly came from outside the palace.

A sound transmitter at the palace gate was activated. “Lady Fiona, the choir has been assembled. May I know when is the election going to happen?”

Election?

Angor jumped a little.

An election for choosing Sky Choir members? Papaya mentioned something like that before.

He had completely forgotten about it!

Getting no reply, the cleric outside the door repeated his question again.

Angor rubbed his temples and frowned.

Oh, this is troublesome...

He made a quick cantrip which immediately covered the visiting clerics. He could easily mimic Fiona’s voice in the illusion. But since he had never heard Fiona talking before, his only choice was to block their sound-registering sense instead.

“In the evening,” Angor replied in his own voice. Thankfully, the clerics didn’t realize something was wrong.

“Shall we do it at the same spot?”

They always held the election under the holy mountain. The cleric was only asking out of courtesy.

“Umhmm, we will do it here,” Angor said. He had no idea where “the same spot” was.

“Um, Lady Fiona? Do you mean we’ll start the election HERE?” The cleric was confused since those words sounded as if the location had been changed to this palace.

“Yes, right here. I... feel a bit tired today, so let’s use somewhere quiet.”

The Krakok clerics were gesturing to each other while trying to get over the sudden change in plan, and Angor saw everything with his spirit feelers. He didn’t quite understand why the Krakoks acted so strange just because of a small change in the plan.

And he felt something might be wrong.

The clerics had finished their communication. “Understood. We’ll go ahead and make the arrangement. Please excuse us, Lady Fiona.”

Angor was still thinking about the situation after the clerics had gone. What was the point of the choir selection? Did Dark Castle need to do this every time they came? Or was it special this time?

Perhaps Isabella loved music just like Lydia?

...

Meanwhile, the clerics had returned to the holy mountain while bearing the new message.

The guards in front of the temple stopped them from going in. Usually, only the Grand Priest and his two service clerics were allowed inside.

“You can’t go inside, by order.”

“We have something important to report to the Grand Priest!” The clerics panicked a little, but the guards did not listen.

Their quarrel eventually drew the attention of the Grand Priest, who slowly walked out of the temple with the help of his walking cane.

“Oh, Grand Priest! Good gracious you’re here!”