Upon hearing this, Pidia buried his head even lower, nearly pressing it against the floor.
"I-I don't know!"
"I'm just a lowly servant. How could I ever see Lady Ranni!"
"Please, forgive me! Please, forgive me!"
Unfortunately, Pidia just kept apologizing to Bai Shi.
Although Bai Shi felt that Pidia was just putting on an act, he didn't waste any more time arguing with him.
Bai Shi shook his head, jumped back down to the first floor of the church, and shouldered the large jar again.
Since he had already come this far, it wouldn't take much longer to continue forward.
After Bai Shi had moved some distance away, Pidia climbed up from the floor, sighing in relief.
He stared at Bai Shi's retreating back, lost in thought.In the distant Seluvis's Rise, Seluvis, who had been sitting in silence, stood up and began walking toward Ranni's Rise.
——
Bai Shi walked out of the church and stepped onto the bridge leading to the upper section of Caria Manor.
As Bai Shi stepped onto the bridge, several puppet soldiers appeared.
Unlike spirit ashes, these puppets had physical bodies, though their appearances were coated in a layer of blue magic, as if they had been preserved.
Without exception, these puppets were all wearing the equipment of Cuckoo Knights.
They were likely crafted from the corpses of the Cuckoos who had once attacked Caria Manor.
These soldiers blocked the narrow bridge, making it nearly impassable.
Facing this group of puppet soldiers wielding swords and shields, their gazes hostile, Bai Shi simply summoned a storm and blew them all off the bridge.
Watching the storm sweep away all the soldiers, revealing the clear bridge path, Bai Shi nodded in satisfaction.
As for the soldiers who fell off the bridge, they were already puppets anyway, so such an injury was nothing to them.
Besides, they weren't his puppets; they belonged to Seluvis.
From this high bridge, Bai Shi could easily see the other towers within Caria Manor.
Most of the buildings in Caria Manor were designed this way, with high defensive capabilities.
There were passages from the bottom to the top, and once up, warriors and sorcerers could assail the enemies below from the tops of the towers.
Seeing a ladder on a nearby tower, Bai Shi suddenly remembered that there was a legendary weapon within Caria Manor—the Sword of Night and Flame.
However, before meeting Ranni, it was best not to wander around.
If it weren't for the fact that there was no one to even pass on a message, Bai Shi would never have done something like barging into Caria Manor.
Under these circumstances, continuing to randomly take things would be somewhat impolite.
As he walked, a faint blue Carian sigil suddenly appeared beneath Bai Shi's feet.
Then, a glintstone pebble shot out fiercely from the magic circle, firing up at Bai Shi from below.
Bai Shi took a step back, dodging the glintstone pebble.
But another trap was triggered nearby, firing another glintstone pebble at him.
Bai Shi used his sword-spear to disperse the pebble, then looked carefully at the bridge.
There were quite a few magical traps on this bridge, and they were extremely well hidden.
Before being triggered, it was almost impossible to detect them.
So Bai Shi gave up on disarming them and just walked straight ahead.
A few glintstone pebbles were nothing for him to worry about.
For him, rather than finding and disarming them one by one, then going around, it was more time-efficient to just take the hits head-on.
Even if he triggered all these traps, it wouldn't matter; they couldn't hurt him.
However, the next magical trap took Bai Shi by surprise.
Bai Shi had already reached the end of the large bridge and could see the lift that led to the upper part of the manor.
Soon, he would be able to take the lift and reach the upper section.
But just as he stepped onto the last flagstone at the very end of the bridge, he triggered another trap.
The trap Bai Shi stepped on was a teleportation trap.
The range of this teleportation circle was quite large, extending several meters in every direction from where he stood. It was impossible to leave before the teleportation began.
And the teleportation speed was incredibly fast, as quick as a waygate. In just an instant, Bai Shi was teleported away.
Bai Shi's vision blurred, and when he looked up, he found himself teleported to an open field.
He turned his head and saw, in the distance, the main gate of Caria Manor.
This teleportation trap had sent him directly outside Caria Manor.
And the defensive magic outside Caria Manor began to activate.
A continuous rain of magical swords fired at Bai Shi, as if to turn him into a pincushion.
This trap was aimed at enemies who had already entered Caria Manor.
Teleport them out, and make them face the cleansing rain of magic arrows once again.
But Bai Shi felt it was most likely Pidia, or rather Seluvis, being a damn nuisance.
To be honest, Bai Shi hadn't cared at all about the small traps and obstacles before.
But now there was a teleportation trap that sent him straight outside Caria Manor, forcing him to run the gauntlet all over again.
Bai Shi felt his blood pressure rising.
But it wasn't enough to make him lose his composure. He had been having it a bit too easy lately and almost forgot this was that old trickster's world.
Cracking his knuckles, Bai Shi took a deep breath and decided to charge back in immediately.
Bai Shi blew Torrent's whistle, summoning him.
He mounted Torrent and galloped toward Caria Manor once more.
Torrent's speed was incredible, leaving the rain of magic arrows far behind, unable to hit him no matter how they tracked.
In just a few minutes, Bai Shi and Torrent passed through smoothly.
Standing at the entrance of Caria Manor once again, Bai Shi sighed.
What happened inside the manor had already made him lose faith in it.
Without a doubt, no one would come to announce his arrival for him.
Bai Shi took the staff hanging from his waist and cast Unseen Form on himself.
Although the Fingercreepers were ugly and vicious, they were, after all, the guardians of Caria Manor.
Killing one earlier was unavoidable, but now he would just sneak in invisibly.
Bai Shi once again broke through the encirclement of Fingercreepers, passed through the second-floor church, and arrived at the spot where he had been teleported away.
Bai Shi went upstairs to settle the score with Pidia, but upon arriving, he found him gone.
This confirmed for Bai Shi that it was indeed his doing.
Bai Shi silently added a mark against Pidia and Seluvis.
So what if he couldn't find Pidia? Did he think he couldn't find Seluvis?
When the time came, he'd go to his basement and snatch all his puppets.
This time, Bai Shi encountered no other traps on the large bridge.
He just cleared another wave of Cuckoo puppets and easily crossed.
He wasn't sure if he had already triggered all the traps or if he was just lucky enough not to step on any more.
This time, Bai Shi successfully reached the upper part of the manor.
Bai Shi walked out of the room and immediately saw the phantom of a small Golden Tree in the distance.
Bai Shi didn't rush out; instead, he recast Unseen Form from the Town of Sellia.
Because here, Bai Shi finally saw normal creatures.
Beside the Golden Tree phantom, there were several gray and white wolves.
They seemed quite lively, chasing each other and playing.
The one being chased had something spherical in its mouth.
It wasn't until it was caught by its companions and the ball was snatched from its mouth that Bai Shi realized the ball they were playing with was a round Golden Seed.
This seemed to be a game of theirs. The one holding the Golden Seed would be chased by the other wolves. Once caught, they had to give the Golden Seed to the next wolf.
Watching these little guys, the blood pressure that had shot up from being teleported away finally came down a bit.
Using Unseen Form, Bai Shi passed by them and walked up the path leading to the Royal Moongazing Grounds.
Within a section of the city wall, Bai Shi saw a Troll Knight guarding this path.
Bai Shi had already given up the idea of asking them to announce his arrival, so he simply bypassed them and went to find Ranni himself.
He was already almost at the very top of the manor now; telling them he needed them to announce him would be a bit ridiculous.
Anyway, ahead was at most just Loretta's phantom, guarding the path between the Royal Moongazing Grounds and Ranni's Rise.
A phantom had no life, so he figured there would be no problem even if he fought it.
Besides, what Bai Shi valued was that Loretta's phantom could give him an achievement point.
In other words, it could restore one use of his Fengling Yueying system.
While the Unseen Form effect was still active, Bai Shi passed by them.
After passing them, a short distance further led to the Royal Moongazing Grounds.
Because the journey had taken a long time, and he had been teleported away and had to re-enter, wasting a lot of time, it was already night.
Just like in the game, there was a very large circular pool at the Royal Moongazing Grounds.
Through the calm surface of the water, Bai Shi could clearly see the moon in the sky.
Around this pool, numerous chairs were arranged in a circle.
Bai Shi willingly dispelled his Unseen Form and placed the large jar containing the Black Knife aside.
Ripples spread across the circular pool, and a phantom appeared like a mirage.
The phantom of Loretta, wielding a war scythe resembling a glaive and riding a warhorse, appeared in the center of the pool.
Upon appearing, Loretta's phantom raised both hands, conjuring a massive magic bow on her scythe. Four magic arrows were shot from the bow.
As the four magic arrows flew, Bai Shi immediately sensed he was locked on by a magical force.
Facing the incoming magic arrows, Bai Shi poured his magic into the Dragon Communion Seal.
Agheel's massive head quickly materialized above Bai Shi's own.
A roaring, fan-shaped inferno erupted from Agheel's mouth, instantly engulfing the magic arrows in a sea of fire.
Loretta's warhorse galloped swiftly to the side, escaping the range of Agheel's flame at the last second.
While the warhorse was moving, Loretta's phantom wasn't idle either, casting Carian Phalanx as she moved.
The moment Agheel's flame subsided, nine glintblades were already shooting toward Bai Shi's face.
Bai Shi swept his right-hand sword-spear, shattering these Carian glintblades to pieces.
Loretta was already charging over on her warhorse, quickly closing in on Bai Shi.</
A blue magical glow enveloped the war scythe. Loretta's horse leaped high, and the scythe chopped down at Bai Shi from the air.
As the scythe cut through the air, the magical blade on it instantly expanded, growing several times in size.
Bai Shi didn't dodge at all, single-handedly raising his sword-spear to block, firmly catching this strike from Loretta's phantom.
Under the heavy blow, the stone bricks under his feet shattered.
A smile tugged at the corner of Bai Shi's mouth. Getting this close was practically serving herself up on a platter.
He raised the staff in his left hand, aiming it at Loretta right in front of him.
Crystal Barrage (Glintstone Machine Gun), fire!
Loretta's phantom reacted and tried to dodge, but at such close range, it was already difficult to evade.
Countless tiny glintstone pebbles erupted from the staff, striking the phantom's body.
Loretta immediately spurred her warhorse to dodge away, avoiding taking the full brunt of the attack at point-blank range.
However, in that brief moment, Crystal Barrage had already dealt sufficient damage.
Not only that, but as Loretta leaped away to dodge the Crystal Barrage, Bai Shi stopped casting.
He instead twirled his staff, casting Ambush Shard, while his right-hand sword-spear thrust straight at Loretta.
Loretta had no choice but to raise her war scythe to block Bai Shi's sword-spear, and because of that, her back was struck squarely by the Ambush Shard.
Facing the relentless assault, the mist of Loretta's phantom gradually became less solid.
It grew faint and illusory, as if it was about to disappear.
Loretta's phantom quickly spurred its horse to retreat, creating distance from Bai Shi.
Loretta's phantom stood in the center of the pool, its form soon becoming solid again.
The sound of battle had attracted the attendants and the Troll Knight guarding outside.
The attendants had already loaded their crossbows, and bolts rained down on Bai Shi.
Although they didn't know how this person got in, since he was fighting Lady Loretta's phantom, he was definitely an intruder.
Bai Shi didn't want them to interfere with the fight, so he summoned a storm that covered the entire Royal Moongazing Grounds, blocking them outside.
The attendants tried for a while but couldn't get in at all.
The only one who might have been able to enter, the Troll Knight, was stuck outside the wall due to its size.
It could only roar in impotent fury, drawing its greatsword and casting its greatblade phalanx.
Unfortunately, it was still useless.
Within the storm, Bai Shi cast one last Carian Phalanx with his left-hand staff.
Then he hung the staff back at his side and raised the sword-spear in his hand high.
Under the effect of the seal, Black Flame covered the surface of the sword-spear.
Bai Shi gripped the sword-spear with both hands, slightly crouching to build up power.
Aided by the fierce wind, his entire body shot forward like an arrow, instantly crossing a distance of over ten meters.
Even the glintblades hovering beside him couldn't react in time, remaining in place for a moment before finally shooting out.
This speed was far beyond what could be achieved by running or charging; it could almost be called teleportation.
Bai Shi instantly arrived beside Loretta, the black-flamed sword-spear piercing into the body of her warhorse.
Then, with a powerful upward flick, the illusory body was easily sliced halfway open, continuously dissipating.
Loretta's phantom seemed to know that victory was hopeless, so it gathered all its remaining power into the war scythe.
The magic on the scythe gathered more and more, and a massive blade expanded three times over.
A gigantic magic blade, far surpassing Greatblade Phalanx, appeared in Loretta's hands.
Unfortunately, before she could swing the massive magic blade, a storm had already surged up on the sword-spear.
Wrapped in Black Flame, the storm tore at Loretta's phantom from the inside out.
In an instant, Loretta's phantom was torn to shreds.
The magical blade she had been accumulating was never released.
Loretta's phantom disappeared, and Bai Shi retracted his sword-spear.
Loretta's strength was considerable, among the top tier of heroes.
But unfortunately, this was only a phantom of her.
And even if her true self were here, she wouldn't be able to defeat Bai Shi.
At best, she wouldn't have been defeated so quickly and thoroughly, and might have left a few wounds on him.
Bai Shi dismissed the storm, preparing to ignore the attendants on the side and head to Ranni's Rise.
But after dispelling the storm, Bai Shi discovered that the attendants on the side had all put away their weapons and were bowing their heads respectfully.
Bai Shi felt something and looked up at the altar on the huge steps beside him.
Ranni sat upon the altar, a giant moon wheel behind her.
The bright moonlight cascaded down, making it clear to anyone who saw—she was the moon.
Ranni seemed to have arrived a while ago, a faint, almost imperceptible smile on her face as she looked at Bai Shi.
"Long time no see, Stormhawk King Bai Shi."
"I wonder, for what purpose have you so suddenly trespassed into Caria Manor?"