Chapter 499

378 Holy Emblem

“Some kind of…special means?” Listening to the words of the Spider Fang Priest, Kenk’s confusion didn’t diminish, and at that moment, the Spider Fang Priest spoke again.

“Once I catch him…everything will be known.”

As he spoke, the Spider Fang Priest gazed into the distance indicated by the Spiritual Thread. After detecting a sudden shift, he chuckled and continued.

“It seems that the mastermind has sensed something is amiss and is already trying to escape. But at this speed…”

As he spoke, the Spider Fang Priest’s expression grew serious, and then his figure blurred. Suddenly, a grotesque bulge appeared behind him, and a pair of large bat-like black wings burst through his clothing.

With the black wings sprouting from his back, the Spider Fang Priest leaped out of the window. The bat wings unfurled behind him, and he soared into the night sky beyond the villa. After adjusting his direction in mid-air, he flapped his wings and shot off at high speed towards a target several kilometers away.

Thus, amidst the howling winds of the night, the winged Spider Fang Priest darted towards his target. At that moment, Dorothy could also sense the rapid approach of the opponent through the Spiritual Thread.

…

“That guy’s caught up, and so fast!?”

Inside the carriage, sensing the rapidly approaching target in the distance, Dorothy was taken aback. While the pursuit by the Spider Fang Priest was within her expectations, the speed of the chase was something she had not anticipated.

The speed of the Spider Fang Priest was incredibly fast, even surpassing many birds; this speed was simply not something Dorothy’s carriage could compete with.

‘d*mn… So fast, this guy must be flying! At this speed, not to mention a carriage, even a horse running at full speed without any burden wouldn’t be able to match it…’

Dorothy thought anxiously to herself, then immediately forced herself to calm down, beginning to calculate the speed with which he was approaching using her connection through the Spiritual Thread, trying to ascertain whether she had any chance of escaping.

Using the Scholar’s information processing ability, she quickly calculated the result in an instant. Based on the opponent’s flying speed, she realized there was no way she could escape before reaching the city, whether by carriage or riding a horse.

No matter how Dorothy calculated, she would be caught by the Spider Fang Priest in about ten minutes, and her position at that moment would still be a long distance away from the urban area, making it highly unlikely for the Archbishop to notice.

There’s no escape! According to the current situation, there’s no way to escape!

After concluding that her chance of successfully escaping was nearly zero, Dorothy’s expression darkened sharply. After suppressing her other turbulent emotions, she forced herself to regain her calm, her expression becoming unprecedentedly serious.

‘Ah… calm down. Since I can’t escape, I need to think of another way… I have to devise some other means of escape.

‘If I can’t flee, perhaps I could create a gigantic commotion to draw the attention of the An Yin Bureau and the Church… but the issue is that we’re far from both the Church District and the Gale Fortress, at least dozens of kilometers away. Even a commotion that could alert those two points would be loud enough to attract the attention of the entire city of Tivyán. Not to mention whether I could even produce such a commotion; even if I could, the response from the An Yin Bureau and the Church would come too late. That guy would reach me in ten minutes!

‘Similarly, due to the short response time, the calling method Audric gave me wouldn’t work either. That old man, due to his spiritual deficiencies, needs at least half an hour to an hour after using that stone sculpture to project any influence. That simply won’t work…’

Dorothy severely contemplated this, regarding the calling stone sculpture Audric had given her. In the letter before Audric left, it was explicitly stated that this sculpture was a medium to notify him, and he needed considerable preparation time to use it to project influence.

This was due to Audric’s own blue bar issues; as a quasi-gold being with only a black-tier blue bar, he needed to use external storage items to provide the necessary spiritual consumption for high-tier abilities. Ordinary spiritual storage items couldn’t be used directly for ability consumption, and Audric needed to set up a special workshop, which required time. Given Dorothy’s current situation, there wasn’t enough time left for him to set up a workshop.

After dismissing two plans in quick succession, Dorothy continued to think urgently, and in the end, only one final countermeasure emerged in her mind.

“It seems… for now, the only choice is to advance to see if the situation can change…”

Inside the moving carriage enveloped in darkness, Dorothy muttered, deciding that immediate advancement was her last resort.

That’s right, Dorothy wanted to promote her white chalk! She wanted to see if she could escape from the hands of this red-tier entity with her white chalk capabilities!

Even if the abilities post-promotion weren’t enough to allow her to escape, it would still give her more strength to confront that red-tier entity. As long as she could prolong the encounter, whether it be to create a commotion to draw the An Yin Bureau and the Church’s attention, or to use the stone sculpture to summon Audric, there would be a chance.

The Spider Fang Priest was a red-tier entity, not a true red-tier extraordinary being. However, even so, based on the abilities he displayed inside the villa, his strength should still exceed that of an ordinary white chalk. As a black-tier, she certainly wouldn’t be able to withstand it, and she might be defeated in a single encounter. To contend with him, she would at least need to advance to the white chalk tier.

Once she reached the white chalk tier, she could see if she could directly utilize her new abilities to escape. Even if she couldn’t escape, she would have a greater chance of buying time; as long as she bought enough time, whether to summon the An Yin Bureau, the Church, or Audric, there would be an opportunity…

So while the Spider Fang Priest was still on his way, Dorothy needed to promote immediately!

Determined, Dorothy quickly took out her magic box, opened the lid, and pulled out a handful of items to spread out before her. Upon closer inspection, there were five emblems, which were indeed the holy emblems she had recently collected from the Pure Color Deities!

The emblem that radiated outward in a sunburst pattern belonged to the Savior of Radiance. Dorothy had received it with a smile from a cleric after donating over a thousand pounds at the church.

The emblem that was smooth and simple, shaped like an equilateral triangle and resembling an ordinary flat pebble, belonged to the Prince of Stone. Dorothy had purchased it from the swindler Beverly for over a thousand pounds.

The elegantly long, inverted triangular emblem resembling a female uterus belonged to the Cup Mother. Dorothy had acquired it through long-term correspondence with Vania, who obtained it from the Wolf bl**d Association.

The emblem adorned with bony exterior, closed-eyed and resembling the eye of the deceased, belonged to the King of the Underworld. Dorothy had traded for it from the Underworld Coffin Cult through a “fair trade” with Nephnis.

As for the last emblem, it was somewhat special; it was not made from any precious metal but folded from paper.

It was imprinted with numerous symbols, with open eyes and resembling a child’s craft project. This emblem belonged to Dorothy, and she had folded it from torn book pages while praying to the system, “This thing is the ‘Enlightenment’ emblem… this thing is the ‘Enlightenment’ emblem…”