Chapter 657: The Sleeping Naclis

"Finally, we can bring Naclis back..."

Among the witches with coordinates, Naclis was the last one to be recovered.

Naclis had also been the very first witch Loren ever met, yet now she was the last to be found. This made Loren feel somewhat emotional.

"Naclis is in a basement somewhere around here. She probably dug this basement herself. It's deep enough that it can't be detected."

"Let's hurry and find her. She's probably been waiting anxiously for a long time..."

"Unfortunately, we still haven't recovered all the witches. Movila's whereabouts are still unknown."

Loren activated cognitive concealment and led the group through the streets of the Holy Flame Empire.

Due to the war, everyone here was busy, and the destruction Loren had previously caused here had not been fully repaired.

"By the way, there's a witch mixed in among the Sun-Chasers. To hide herself, she gave up her Arcane Ability."

Loren told the others about Justitia. Right now, Justitia should still be lurking among the Sun-Chasers.

With her there, even if a witch appeared in the Holy Flame Empire, she could protect the witch's safety.

Loren actually admired her quite a bit. Now that they were here, Loren wondered if he could take the opportunity to see her.

But the priority right now was still to find Naclis first.

As Loren and the others drew closer, the area became more and more remote. Eventually, Loren arrived at a stretch of ruins.

This ruin looked familiar to Loren. It was exactly the destruction he had caused when he summoned the God of Fear back then. Loren could even sense that the corruption of the God of Fear still lingered here.

Naclis had chosen the right place. Under normal circumstances, even ruins would still draw quite a few visitors, but with an Outer God's corruption here, basically no one dared to come.

Especially since this particular Outer God was the God of Fear. Ordinary people would probably be swallowed by fear the moment they got close.

It wasn't that the God of Light and Fire was incapable of repairing this place. It was that there was no need to.

The benefits of repairing this place did not outweigh what He would have to expend. That was His consistent way of doing things.

"It's right here."

Laila pointed at an abandoned house. The ceiling had caved in, and the walls had long since cracked apart.

"Can anyone even live in a place like this?"

Veronica grumbled. Even her own dwelling was far better than this.

"Naclis is in the basement. Having things broken down above makes it harder to be discovered."

Loren led the group into the ruins. Eventually, in a concealed corner, Loren found a staircase leading downward.

"She really hid herself deep..."

Only after Loren descended along the staircase did he realize just how deep Naclis had hidden.

Below was just an ordinary basement. If not for Laila being certain that Naclis was down here, Loren would have definitely thought he had come to the wrong place.

In the end, Loren found a hidden door in the basement. Opening it revealed a ladder leading deep underground.

"Hiding this deep?"

The passage could only fit one person through, and it was uncertain what the situation below was like. In the end, Loren decided that he and Laila would go down while the others kept watch above.

If not for Loren needing Laila's Arcane Ability, he wouldn't have let Laila come down at all.

Laila climbed down the ladder for a long time before finally reaching the bottom and finally seeing Naclis.

"This is... a tomb?"

Everything below looked like a tomb chamber. The facilities were crude, there was no light source whatsoever, and in the very center was a crystal coffin.

If not for Loren's night vision, he wouldn't have been able to make out anything down here.

"Naclis is right here. Can you see her?"

"I think I have a rough idea of where she is..."

Loren raised his hand, and light flickered at his fingertips. This was light magic used for illumination.

He had instinctively wanted to use the fire spell he was more familiar with, but he was afraid of burning up what little oxygen there was down here.

"It really is a tomb..."

Only after the place was illuminated did Laila see the structure clearly.

Upon discovering the coffin in the center, Laila instantly tensed up. Loren, on the other hand, let out a breath of relief:

"If something had actually happened to Naclis, there's no way there would be such a proper tomb chamber. The coffin is even one of those crystal coffins from fairy tales."

"What if it was suicide?"

Laila was still a bit scared. Many possibilities ran through her mind.

She felt that if Loren died, it wouldn't be impossible for the witches to die alongside him out of devotion.

"That's also impossible. I taught her many principles, including that a double loss is better than a single victory.

"Even if she really wanted to die, she would drag some god down with her in an explosion."

Loren walked to the side of the coffin. Through the crystal, Loren could see Naclis's face.

She was lying peacefully in the crystal coffin, her skin somewhat pale, holding a stalk of red spider lily in her hands.

"Making it so ceremonious. Looks like she really is fine, and this was probably arranged by Reflection Naclis."

As he spoke, Loren had already opened the coffin.

He cradled Naclis's face in his hands. Her body temperature was somewhat cool. When Loren checked her heartbeat, he found that her heart rate had slowed considerably.

"She should be in a dormant state right now..."

Loren picked Naclis up, intending to carry her out, and the orb of light at his fingertip floated into the air.

"How do we bring her out? The entrance can't fit two people, right? We can't carry her out on our backs."

"Worst comes to worst, we just dig a new hole. But that would either be slow or loud.

"The best method is still to wake Naclis up."

"But the problem is, how do we wake her?"

Laila crowded around Naclis, observing her condition.

"I don't know either... If nothing else works, let's try Magical Potions."

The Magical Potions were all in Scarlett's space. To get the potions, they would have to go back up first.

"Sleeping Beauty needs to be woken with a kiss~"

Just as Loren was thinking, a voice sounded from behind him.

When Loren turned around, he found another Naclis poking her head out from Loren's shadow.

"Are you the Reflection?"

"Yes, it's me."

Reflection Naclis fully emerged from the shadow and wrapped her arms around Loren's neck from behind.

"Long time no see, Master Mentor."

Her appearance had changed quite a bit. Her entire form had dimmed considerably, and her eyes had turned completely black.

"Long time no see."

Loren wanted to reach out and stroke Reflection Naclis's hair, but at the moment he was holding Naclis and had no free hand.

"How did you show up here?"

"I can sense the original body's condition. When I noticed you had arrived, I teleported over. I can also teleport back to the original body's side."

Reflection Naclis moved in front of Loren and urged:

"Quick, Master Mentor, give Naclis a kiss so she can wake up."

"Alright."

This was a bit far-fetched. Loren didn't need to think to know that Reflection Naclis had some method to wake Naclis and was just trying to trick him into kissing her.

But Loren didn't spoil the mood either. He planted a kiss on Naclis's forehead.

"Wrong spot, Master Mentor."