"Wait...what exactly is my Lord's true Holy Emblem?"
Astrid froze, her expression gradually becoming bewildered.
Seeing her daughter's appearance, Balder sighed and said,
"Astrid, I know you don't want to abandon your past beliefs, but..."
"No! It's not like that! I really received my Lord's favor just now! I saw him! He sat on the throne, smiled at me...and granted me the power to defeat the totem power of the Forest Sea Tribe!"
the girl said excitedly.
Seeing the girl's anxious look, Balder slightly furrowed his brows.
He sighed, ready to continue persuading her, but suddenly his gaze fixed on the girl's right arm.
"Astrid, what about that old scar on your arm?"
She instinctively raised her hand and then realized the permanent scar left from when a Demon Beast had attacked her as a child had disappeared.
The girl was initially stunned but immediately reacted, saying excitedly,
"Father! Do you see? Even my past wound has disappeared!"
"It's the power of my Lord! I'm not lying to you! I really gained power from God just now! I was severely wounded in the previous fight with Gunnar, and it was my Lord's power that healed me!"
"That power not only healed me but also made the past scars disappear!"
Seeing his own daughter looking incredibly excited,
Balder himself started to waver.
To be honest, he really didn't know what had happened to his daughter just now; this sort of Holy Emblem and forgetting seemed much like the whims of a little girl.
But he knew one thing.
The old scar on his daughter's arm, even the best witch doctor in the Northern Territory couldn't remove,
And added to that, his daughter had emerged unscathed from her fight against the heir of the Forest Sea Tribe; these events... seemed not to be explainable by common sense.
After calming down and thinking,
Before he had rushed to the challenge arena upon hearing the news, he indeed felt a strong totem power.
However, that totem power was too powerful; he had not associated it with his own daughter.
Realizing this, Balder hastily grasped his daughter's arm, closing his eyes and channelling his Source Power.
Source Power entered the girl's body, but as it followed the past circulation route to check Astrid's condition, he felt an indescribable repelling force.
Balder felt as if he had seen a crimson flash before his eyes, and then... his power was completely expelled from the girl's body.
This...this was... Totem protection?!
Balder suddenly widened his eyes.
He completely calmed down and looked at the girl, asking somewhat incredulously,
"Astrid...the color of the 'Awakening' totem power you received, what color is it?"
Seeing that her father finally started to believe her, Astrid was very excited:
"Red! It's red! As red as blood!"
Balder's gaze instantly solidified. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ Nov3lFɪre.ɴet
His mind flashed back to when he had been looking for his daughter, the towering crimson light pillar he had seen.
Crimson totem light pillar, crimson totem protection...
Could it be that Astrid really gained totem power?!
He had thought the powerful force was from a large tribe's Totem Priest going mad, but now it seemed... could it actually have been his own daughter?
But... if her daughter really obtained the Totem Power, why couldn't she use it now, and even forgot the so-called "Holy Emblem"?
"Astrid... are you sure the Totem Power you acquired before belonged to our Lord?"
After pondering for a moment, Balder asked with a serious expression.
The girl nodded eagerly like a chick pecking at grains:
"Sure! Very sure! It was truly our Lord! His palace... it's almost identical to the Divine Hall we have in the canyon!"
"An identical palace, hmm..."
Balder muttered to himself.
After a flicker of emotions, his gaze gradually hardened:
"Astrid, let's go, we are heading back to the tribe now."
"Go back... to the tribe? Now?"
The girl was momentarily stunned.
The Northern Territory warrior nodded and said in a deep voice:
"If you truly awakened the Totem Power, and if it really belongs to our Lord... perhaps returning to the Divine Hall would allow you to wield that power once more."
He paused, the vision of the scarlet beam shooting up into the sky earlier coming to mind, and continued:
"If that scarlet glow was indeed the sign of your awakening Totem Power, then... there's no need for us to attend Duke's meeting."
As the tribal chief, Balder knew much more than Astrid.
Since three years ago, the power of the Demon Beasts in the Northern Territory had been steadily increasing, threatening the survival of many Northern Territory Tribes.
At the same time, over these three years, the Totems worshipped by many Northern Territory Tribes had also grown in power to varying extents.
Furthermore, there were even rumors that some of the Gods worshipped had shown signs of resurgence.
However, the "God" worshipped by the Free Tribe Alliance had never shown such signs.
But if his daughter's experiences were truly a gift from the God...
Then perhaps, this time it was their turn.
Thinking this, Balder also started to get excited.
If it hadn't been a last resort, he wouldn't have wanted to accept the Duke's "recruitment."
Hearing her father's words, Astrid also calmed down.
She recollected everything she had just experienced and nodded:
"Yes! Back to the Divine Hall, we'll return to the Divine Hall!"
"Once back in the Divine Hall, in front of our Lord's Divine Statue, I will certainly be able to reconnect with our Lord through prayers!"
Finally, father and daughter reached an agreement.
Without hesitation, they hurried back to the inn they were staying at, packed their belongings, and returned.
Astrid couldn't fathom why she had lost the connection she had just established with the God, even forgetting the God's Holy Emblem entirely.
Meanwhile, far away, others were surprised by this outcome as well.
On the battleship of Falling Star Kingdom transporting the "Queen."
Charlotte slowly opened her eyes, severing the link with the Northern Territory.
"The connection just established was suppressed..."
"No, not suppressed; it feels more like an interference, a kind of shielding, able to even erase a believer's memory."
"How intriguing, could this also be... the power of the Faceless Divine Statue?"
"No... It seems like there's something else, causing disturbance, preventing me from establishing contact with the Free Tribe Alliance..."
Short and powerless... this chapter is for last night, and there's another update tonight...