Chapter 124: The Missing Child

Rosa quickly brought her hand up and activated a rune on her palm!

[Diamond Web]!

An intricate woven pattern formed in front of Rosa before solidifying into a perfect crystalline shield, and the flaming arrow slammed into it and exploded! Rosa was thrown back into a wall, but thankfully the shield had negated enough of the attack, and she wasn’t too hurt! Rosa coughed as she tried to get to her feet, but when she looked up, she was shocked to see a massive tail swinging straight at her head!

SLAM!

Rosa’s vision swam as she was thrown back through the wall! Rosa was a researcher who had never even been in a fight before, but Hildegard’s mother was a veteran from the war who had been in multiple battles! It wasn’t even a contest to know who would be far more comfortable in this situation! Hildegard’s mother raised her hand and created another red magic circle, and then she spoke in a final voice.

"Everything I have done, I did for the coming of Ragnarok. I have fulfilled my duty, and now it is time for Hildegard to fulfill hers."

[Fireball]!

An intense surge of flames erupted from in front of her palm, and the entire east side of the house suddenly exploded!

KA-BOOM!

The flames surged up and fought against the cold, biting air as it disintegrated everything to ashes! Hildegard’s mother looked over what she had done, and she made sure that there were no movements from inside the flames before she turned and grabbed her bags, before slithering through the snow to leave this kingdom! Now that Rosa was dead, Hildegard’s mother was sure that she had about one or two days before the Kingdom Guard could find her. And that was more than enough time for her to vanish once and for all!

But unfortunately for Hildegard’s mother, her calculations were completely off! Because although Rosa wasn’t strong enough to defend herself against the explosion, there was an artefact around Rosa’s neck that she had gotten from Verati a long time ago, and once the artefact sensed Rosa was in trouble, it immediately activated and formed a protective shield around her!

A few meters away from the burning house, Rosa groaned as she sat up in the snow, and she held her head as an intense headache hit her! Rosa looked up at the house on fire, and she felt dread enter into her body as she realised that something serious was going on here. There was a silver shield surrounding Rosa’s body, and when Rosa looked down, she saw that the shield had originated from the necklace Verati gave her. Rosa smiled for a moment and sent a thank you to the hero, but she didn’t have time to sit still!

Something had happened to Hildegard, and Hildegard’s mother was probably the only person who knew what it was! Rosa immediately opened a communication circle and sent a message to her close friend, Princess Vivian!

[Rosa. It’s a surprise for you to call me unexpectedly. Is there something wrong?]

Vivian was currently in the middle of decorating a cake that she wanted to send to Percy later, and she had a frown of confusion on her face as she waited for Rosa to tell her what was wrong. Vivian had never gotten an unexpected call from Rosa before, so there was no way this was ordinary.

"Vivian! I need you to tell your father that there’s a problem! Hildegard, the third-class magical risk, is missing. Her mother attacked me when I went to visit their home, and she burned down their home. Hildegard’s mother is currently on the run, but Hildegard is nowhere to be found!"

There was silence on the other end of the call for a few seconds before Vivian immediately dropped everything that she was doing and began running towards her father’s chamber!

[I’ve heard what you said, Rosa! I’ll tell my father to send some Kingdom guards to apprehend Hildegard’s mother. Do not go after her no matter what. Do you understand? She is far too powerful for you.]

Vivian knew about all the dangerous people in society since it was a part of what she learned to be a better ruler in the future, and Vivian knew that Hildegard’s mother was a sixth realm mage with very high fire-based magic! If Rosa tried to fight her, then she would definitely lose!

"But I can’t just-"

Rosa was about to argue about following Hildegard’s mother, but Vivian was not going to allow her to say anything! Instead, Vivian told her to do something else.

[Go into the city and find Percy! Tell him what happened and give him the direction he needs to go in! He’ll handle this.]

Rosa blinked in surprise when she heard this. Was Vivian really telling her to go and ask the librarian to solve this case?

[Go, Rosa! I’m not playing around! Tell him what happened!]

Vivian shouted at Rosa angrily, and Rosa realized that Vivian wasn’t joking at all! Rosa quickly said that she understood, and she closed down the magical circle. Rosa turned to look at the burning house one more time before she quickly turned and ran back towards the city!

....

[Central Region of Aquinas City]

"Bring it to me."

The minotaur demihuman spoke in a gruff voice as he held his hand out, and Mirio stood up from his knees and began taking the Staff of Verati towards the Minotaur. This plan had been in the making for close to a decade now, and the minotaur was certain that nothing could ruin it at this stage.

There were currently three locations around the city where Hellfire had been activated. These three locations would serve as the focal point of the ritual, and it was here, in the central region of the city, that the true ritual would be taking place. Once Mirio handed the staff over to the Minotaur, the Minotaur closed his eyes and took in a long, deep breath before exhaling as he felt the intense magic of the staff flowing through him!

For more than a decade, their people had suffered because of the actions of Verati, and it was only right that Verati’s staff would serve as the catalyst to give their people another chance at glory!

"Bear Witness, oh Messiah!"

The Minotaur’s booming voice echoed through the air, and a massive surge of mana suddenly pressed down on everyone present in the square! Mirio quickly took multiple steps back so he wouldn’t interfere with the ritual, and he went to stand beside the shadow-user in the distance, and he watched with rapt attention.

"Hear our cries and grant us your mercy!"

The minotaur shouted even louder this time, and a magic circle suddenly burst to life around the altar! The flames flowed up into the air like smoke, and the people who had been kneeling around the altar all brought their cups of red liquid up to their mouths again! This time they finally drank all of the liquid inside of the cups, and they all grunted in pain as the scorching hot liquid travelled down their body! Their eyes began to glow with an intense red light, and in the next moment all of them burst into Hellfire as they began to burn from the inside out!

The Minotaur never stopped his chanting, and at this point, the entire world had begun to shake from the intensity of the mana in the air! The Minotaur allowed the magic in the staff to fuel the ritual, and he yelled out one last mantra!

"Grace us with your presence! Lord Vero!"