Chapter 519: Weren’t You Two in a Band Together?
Janis turned her head as she heard the voice to see Eivass in the arms of Her Highness the Saintess, riding on a unicorn.
Her expression immediately became somewhat indescribable.
She bowed slightly, placing her right hand on her chest, and saluted Saintess Grey on the unicorn, “Your Highness the Saintess, it has been a long time. May the Candlemaster protect you.”
“And may the Candlemaster protect you too. It has been a long time, Janis.”
Grey smiled and said gently, “Just call me Grey.”
This was the true name of the “Pure White”—in theory, it shouldn’t be known by many people.
“Then… Grey.”
Janis adjusted her hat, pulling it down slightly in the front, as if subconsciously trying to shield her face with it. “Are you alright?”
“I’m very well.”
Grey gazed at Janis, her right hand on her chest.
She lowered her voice and said with utmost seriousness, “But I miss you very much.”
Janis clearly realized something. She let out a meaningless groan, covering her forehead with her hand as if pretending to have a headache, using the back of her hand to hide her face.
But her cheeks were already flushed, extending all the way to the tips of her ears.
*Oh wow.*
This was the first time Eivass had seen the carefree Janis react this way.
He raised an eyebrow, and his whole demeanor immediately perked up.
*So they knew each other?*
*And it looks like… this attitude… seems like…*
Eivass thought silently for a moment and came up with a brilliant analogy:
“It’s as if you two were in a band together when you were kids.”
He had initially seen Janis standing there motionless, and for a moment, he had even mistaken her for a sculpture.
Eivass had been a bit worried that if Janis kept staring at it for too long, she might end up with Amber Compaction Syndrome. But it seemed he didn’t need to worry about that anymore.
Eivass wasn’t the only one who heard this.
Although the Pure White Saintess had lowered her voice, she was at least five meters away from Janis. At this distance, if Janis could hear, then the three people beside her could also hear.
Sherlock and Lily, standing nearby, both looked over with a *swish*.
Fortunately, there were no other elves spectating around. Only these acquaintances were nearby. Janis took a deep breath and managed to compose herself.
She tilted her head up, reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, and revealed her usual cheerful and carefree smile, “Indeed, Grey… It’s been over two hundred years since we last met, right?”
“One hundred and ninety-five years. Not quite two hundred, you’ve misremembered.”
The Pure White Saintess replied, pointing at the sculpture, “Master Bettinaydia’s Amber Compaction… in 1704. You left the Church then.”
Hearing this, Eivass subconsciously looked at the sculpture in front of Janis.
It was an elf dressed as a painter. She looked not much older than Janis, around her early thirties.
Unlike the fashionable, casual, and unrestrained style of Janis’s clothing… that elf wore a knee-length dress, her hair pulled up high, revealing her slender neck.
Her appearance was beautiful and gentle, with a focus in her downcast eyes that seemed to slow down time itself. If she weren’t holding a paintbrush in her right hand, one might even think she was holding a spoon, feeding a child.
Her clear, transparent sculpture presented a beautiful yellow-green hue—like dim yellow salt suddenly falling from high above into a emerald green lake. It melted and decomposed as it sank. By the time it reached her chest and abdomen, it had completely dissolved, transforming into a mass of spreading, tentacle-like flowers.
“Like potassium permanganate crystals dissolving in water… Is Amber Compaction related to the Path?”
Sherlock’s expression was solemn, and he muttered in a low voice, “Two Paths merging together… Why would it turn this color…”
Lily, beside him, gently patted his arm, signaling him not to speak.
Eivass, meanwhile, looked at the plaque beneath the sculpture.
*“Bettinaydia Flower, 1388-1704. Achieved Amber Compaction due to breaking through the limits of her painting skills. Amber Compaction period lasted five months.”*
He realized… this was essentially a graveyard for elves who had undergone Amber Compaction.
The essence of Amber Compaction was becoming a Spirit Amber. Spirit Amber referred to amber encasing creatures like insects.
Once solidified, it meant entering a state between life and death.
The soul had not entered the Dream Realm, nor had it reincarnated—the soul still existed within the body. Therefore, the ‘Spirit’ in Spirit Amber also referred to their solidified souls within their bodies.
Elves who underwent Amber Compaction were like entering a long slumber. They still had some perception of the outside world, but their sense of time would become extremely long; even centuries would feel like a mere flick of the fingers. Because of this, directly killing or destroying them was inherently inhumane… one could only find a place to store them.
The Thirteenth Ring was just right.
…She wasn’t even four hundred years old.
*So young,* Eivass thought silently.
So, even if Bettinaydia were alive now, she wouldn’t be much older than Janis.
—Janis was already older than her teacher was when she underwent Amber Compaction.
Was this considered a young prodigy of the elf race?
But from the first onset of Amber Compaction Syndrome to death, there were less than five months. This speed was considered quite rapid even among cancers…
Thinking of this, Eivass glanced back at the Pure White Saintess with a hint of worry.
Even though, according to the game, Grey’s condition seemed to have stabilized in the end.
But the situation was different now, and it was hard to say if she would definitely recover… Moreover, Eivass had no idea why she had undergone Amber Compaction.
This was considered a mental illness—but for elves, mental illness could destroy their bodies.
At this moment, Grey did not look down at Eivass.
She simply looked at Janis, her voice gentle, “Master Bettinaydia’s Amber Compaction day, you must remember it well. So why did you forget the time of our parting?
“Or perhaps, you forgot… that I came to see you off on the day you left?”
“It’s a figure of speech, a figure of speech… Time flies when you miss someone…”
Janis was sweating profusely, stammering, “Because I missed you, I subconsciously added a few extra years. This is… this is an exaggeration…”
“—You returned to the Church three times in the interim.”
Grey interrupted Janis.
Riding on the unicorn, she instinctively gripped Eivass’s shoulder, her expression becoming increasingly calm as she stared at Janis, “Why didn’t you come to see me?”
“I actually saw you… I caught a glimpse from afar… Uh, more than a glimpse, I paid attention to you for a long time…”
“—Did you think I would forget you? Why didn’t you come to find me?”
“I thought… uh, you might be very busy…”
“One hundred and ninety-five years. In terms of human lifespan, five generations have passed. One hundred and ninety-five years ago, the Daffodil Duchy and the Black Hawk Duchy were still independent nations; one hundred and ninety-five years ago, the Lloyd Society had just been founded; one hundred and ninety-five years ago, goblins were not yet involved in troll trade, and the third Water War of the Lords had not yet erupted.”
Grey interrupted again, calmly and sternly, “This is already longer than the time we spent growing up together.”
Janis wanted to explain further, but she struggled for a moment, then sighed dejectedly and lowered her head, “Yes… I’m sorry, Grey.”
—This was the first time Eivass had seen Master Janis in such a dishevelled state.
This camera elf was always so cool in Avalon. She never used doors, mostly moving through paintings as if she knew all the secrets, with a profound smile playing on her lips.
She was a truly reliable senior. Even in front of Queen Sophia, she always maintained a high degree of dignity.
When she left Avalon, she was so carefree and free. That romantic and dependable aura even moved Eivass and Isabel.
The more he admired her then, the more he found her current state pathetic after the filter shattered.
*So Janis and the Pure White Saintess were childhood sweethearts of over a hundred years ago… No wonder Isabel could contact her, and no wonder she was the one who came to find them when they were fleeing in the original game…*
This was indeed knowledge Eivass didn’t have.
In the game, these two had no interaction at all—or rather, Janis at that time was more capable of escaping, and wasn’t captured at all throughout the entire game.
It seemed that back then, the Saintess wasn’t looking for Isabel, but wanted to use Isabel as a clue to find Janis, who had disappeared somewhere…
And for Master Janis, if she set her mind to not be seen, she would be incredibly difficult to capture.
Before the Fallen Heavenly Envoy Descends, the lowest-cost and longest-distance teleportation ability was the “Reflection in an artist’s painting.” This was also the only teleportation ability that could be used at will. It was much better than Shafiya’s portal, which required a long charge-up to teleport thirty meters.
After Master Janis sincerely apologized, the Pure White Saintess did not say anything about it.
She neither accepted nor rejected, simply looking at Janis quietly.
Janis panicked and immediately tried to change the subject, “Eivass, why can you sit on a unicorn?”
“Why indeed… I’m also looking for the answer.”
Eivass said softly, “Do you think I might know? This is my first time seeing a unicorn today.”
“I guess it might be related to your ability to reflect in mirrors,” Janis said, revealing a bright smile and pushing her hat up further. Her body began to become somewhat ethereal, “I have some other matters to attend to, so I’ll be going now. I’ll come find you after I’m done…”
“Why don’t we go together then?” Grey suddenly said. “Eivass is about to take up the position of Bishop. It’s better to have more acquaintances for these kinds of things, don’t you think?”
“I really have something… Never mind, fine.”
Janis mumbled a few words, and her already half-etherealized body solidified again. Eivass also took the opportunity to dismount the unicorn and walked to Master Janis’s side.
He asked in a low voice, “Do you really have something to do?”
“I really do—and it’s somewhat related to you,” Janis lowered her voice and glared at Eivass, “You scoundrel, not helping me and just watching the show…”
“Because I also think it’s a bit much to abandon a friend for two hundred years without seeing them,” Eivass said seriously. “So, what’s going on?”
Although he felt that Janis was capable of doing such a thing—she was a woman as free as the wind. She couldn’t stay in one place for too long. But leaving a friend for two hundred years sounded too outrageous.
Janis subconsciously glanced at Grey, shook her head repeatedly, and said nothing.
“Let me tell you, you brat…” Janis lowered her voice and said fiercely, “It was your sister who invited me. If there’s any delay, it’ll be her time that’s delayed.”
“…Freya?”
“Yes—how many sisters do you have?”
Hearing this, Eivass hesitated and glanced at Grey.
Grey calmly looked at Janis and said softly, “I’ve got you now, Janis, you can’t escape. Come to the twenty-first layer in three days. I’ll give you a day to explain.”
“…Alright.”
Janis nodded, glared at Eivass again, and then vanished as she became ethereal.
At this moment, Grey sighed.
She bowed to the air, “You’ve seen a spectacle, Cardinal Matilda.”
“It’s alright,” came a voice as gentle as flowing water, “I’m glad you two can make amends.”
The air rippled slightly, and a young elven woman with blue long hair, appearing to be in her late twenties or early thirties, appeared there.
Neither Eivass, Lily, nor Sherlock had noticed her presence earlier.
However, Eivass recognized at a glance that she was wearing a Cardinal’s robe—the biggest difference between Cardinals and Archbishops was that their robes were custom-made, each with its own design and color, rather than being red or golden-red.
They were embroidered with black Sin Thorns patterns, and the center of the pattern was always hollowed out, revealing skin or inlaid with jewels.
Cardinal Matilda’s robe was violet, and the Sin Thorns were in the center of her chest, forming a thorny circle. Her most distinctive feature was her very wide sleeves, reminiscent of petunia flowers.
For some reason, Eivass felt as if he had seen her somewhere before.
He thought for a moment, wondering if this person was one of the elves who had undergone the Advancement Ritual with the Pure White one… but judging from her age and appearance, it didn’t seem to match.
Matilda nodded slightly at Eivass, placed her right hand on her chest, and introduced herself, “I am Matilda, a Hierarch of the Sacrament Department. I am responsible for the promotion of those at the Bishop rank and above.”
“Cardinal Matilda.”
Eivass tapped lightly three times and said respectfully, “May the Candlemaster watch over your light.”
Matilda nodded, then turned to the others and said, “Past this point is the Sacrament Department. Others, please wait here… Eivass, come with me to change clothes first.”
Update!
(End of this chapter)
