Aria and her companions continued their journey. Had their party included a Ranger Class Holder, they would have detected the faint traces left by Evernight's passage.
Feidric, though intelligent, wasn't specialized in this area. Spotting such minuscule footprints in the dense forest, amidst its lush vegetation, was an incredibly difficult task.
As they walked, Aria suddenly paused, a puzzled expression on her face. She trotted over to a nearby tree, leaned in for a closer look—or rather, a sniff.
"What is it? Did you find something?" Feidric asked.
"I think... I can smell Sister Cipher's scent?" Aria replied.
Feidric wasn't the only one to react. Olivia and Douglas also wore identical expressions of bewilderment and confusion.
What do you mean, "smell her scent"?!
Aria explained, "Um... I can't really explain it. I just have a feeling that Sister Cipher must have passed through here recently—and not too long ago!"
Feidric pressed for confirmation, "Are you sure?"
Aria nodded her little head rapidly. "Really, really! It's definitely Sister Cipher's scent! Er, I mean, my instincts are usually right!"
Feidric frowned, paused for a moment, then said, "But if Cipher passed by here recently, why didn't she join us directly?"
Truth be told, Feidric was already eighty percent convinced. Aria's instincts were remarkably accurate, but if this was true, he couldn't fathom the reason.
"Regardless," Feidric continued, "let's just keep moving forward."
Meanwhile, slightly ahead, Evernight and Cipher exchanged speechless glances. Though Evernight was physically present, she had left a Jellyfish near Aria, which had just witnessed the entire scene.
Cipher immediately brought her right hand to her nose and sniffed, detecting no scent. She then brought her tail over and sniffed again, still nothing.
Finally, even Evernight approached Cipher, grabbed her tail, and held it to her nose to sniff.
Hmm, there really is a faint scent, but it's incredibly faint. Given that we're in a forest, how did Aria detect such a trace?
Cipher had assumed there were no Rangers in the group, so she should have remained undetected. Yet, in this absurd way, Aria had picked up on a hint of her presence.
Cipher hastily quickened her pace, putting more distance between them, while Evernight maintained her steady pace, continuing to lead the way.
Time slowly passed. Before long, Aria and the others could clearly sense the surrounding sky growing increasingly dim. Looking into the distance, they saw a dense darkness arched over the land like an inverted bowl, its diameter spanning at least a hundred kilometers—a truly awe-inspiring sight.
Feidric remarked, "It seems we're nearing our destination. The Child of Flesh is likely just ahead."
He surveyed the area, found a relatively flat spot, and announced, "I'll prepare the Magic Circle here. When the time comes, you'll need to lure it to this location."
"Alright!" Olivia agreed immediately, drawing her weapon and preparing to advance into the darkness. Feidric hastily called out, "Wait!"
He began casting a series of spells: Light, Darkvision, Guidance, Protection from Evil, Shield Spell, Trigger Spell, and more.
The Light spell needed no explanation, while Darkvision granted ordinary humans the night vision of a cat, which Feidric thought might prove useful.
Guidance guided Feidric himself, preventing the group from getting lost and ensuring they could find the Magic Circle. The subsequent Shield Spells were purely defensive measures.
As Feidric layered buff after buff on himself, Olivia couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, "Whoa!?"
Once Feidric finished casting his spells, Douglas began praying and casting Divine Magic: Death Ward, Freedom of Movement, Divine Shield, Bear's Endurance, Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, Owl's Wisdom, and the War Priest's signature Divine Magic spell, Rhythm of War.
Among them, the Death Ward could withstand a single fatal blow, making it exceptionally powerful. Freedom of Movement allowed the blessed to ignore any treacherous terrain, even moving freely across water, swamps, or quicksand.
Divine Shield needs no explanation. The subsequent spells—Bear's Fortitude, Bull's Strength, and Cat's Grace—all enhanced basic attributes. As for Owl's Wisdom, while it might sound like it increased intelligence, it actually boosted the Perception attribute, making one more attuned to danger.
Finally, Rhythm of War forged a link between Aria, Olivia, and Douglas, allowing them to sense each other's thoughts during battle and coordinate seamlessly.
Even complete strangers, when empowered by this Divine Magic, could fight as if they had been lifelong partners.
As a Priest, Douglas possessed far more support Skills than Feidric the Wizard. However, Douglas had already reached his daily limit for casting Divine Magic, expending all his remaining spells in that instant. Otherwise, he could have unleashed even more auxiliary spells.
To put it bluntly, Douglas had become a completely blank-slate warrior.
Aria chimed in excitedly, "My turn! My turn!"
As she spoke, she raised her Divine Artifact, unleashing a barrage of overpowered buffs onto everyone: Unlimited Stamina, ultra-fast regeneration, massive all-attribute boosts, increased damage against evil enemies, and more.
Then, Olivia, the only one in the group without any aura skills, stared blankly as buff after buff piled onto her.
If this were a game, the buffs on Olivia's status bar would likely have filled several rows, possibly even overflowing off the screen.
Even Half chimed in, "Holy shit, what the hell are all these things?! Seriously, I feel like I could spit and kill that Jay guy right now..."
Feidric retorted, "Buffing up before the final battle? Isn't that standard practice?"
Aria declared, "Alright, we're ready to go! Let's move!"
With that, she took the lead, plunging headfirst into the darkness ahead.