The ground above trembled slightly as Fisher and Elliog passed through the grand entrance of the treasury. Because of the trembling, everything that Blake and Mu Xi had carried toppled uncontrollably and scattered across the floor, as if it were worthless trash carelessly discarded.
When Fisher passed by this place again, he felt an additional pang of melancholy.
Elliog, on the other hand, effortlessly hoisted Moli onto her shoulder, looking as casual as could be. Fisher was about to remind her to be careful with how she held Moli, but a strange intuition told him that showing concern for Moli at this moment would be ill-advised, as he could infer from Elliog’s actions that she didn’t want him to touch Moli.
With that thought, Fisher kept quiet. They made their way to the room that he and Moli had come down to earlier, where a reverse Teleportation Magic had been set up. Blake and Mu Xi must have used it to return above.
Fisher checked the condition of the magic and, thankfully, it hadn’t been damaged in the recent combat.
"The teleportation magic is still intact; we can head up from here..."
Elliog glanced around and then set Moli down from her shoulder. Looking at Fisher, she said,
"Then you take this little Whale-man girlfriend and leave. I need to head back to the Abyss from here. Agares will likely come to fetch me..."
"Blame that bastard Agares. But don’t miss me too much, meow. If one day you return to the South Continent, we’ll see each other again..."
Elliog winked lazily at Fisher, her casual charm truly the essence of Elliog.
Yet as he listened, Fisher suddenly felt a bit guilty.
The South Continent...
He found himself thinking about a certain proud, sun-like red Dragon-man from the South Continent. If he ever went back there one day, it was possible he’d encounter Rafael, and if Elliog and Rafael were to meet...
"What’s wrong?" Elliog asked, noticing Fisher’s thoughtful look.
Fisher just smiled and shook his head before responding,
"Nothing, just thinking about some future matters... Have a safe journey."
Elliog’s mouth quirked into a smile, and her tail lifted slightly. She reached out again, pulling Fisher’s head close to her own.
Then, her lips, fiery as flame, approached Fisher again, but this time the kiss was very short, like a mere taste or perhaps a seal of memory.
Xiayat, standing nearby, shuddered. She suddenly felt the need to say something upon discovering something about Fisher’s nature.
But the next second, she silently glanced at Moli sleeping on the ground and then back at the formidable Elliog...
In the end, reason overruled conscience, and Xiayat chose to remain silent.
Moli, oh Moli, truly sorry, it’s not that teacher Xiayat is too timid. It’s just that even if she told you now, you wouldn’t understand... Sorry, sorry.
After that kiss, a "gurgling" sound came from inside Elliog, like magma bubbling up. She reached out and pressed against Fisher’s chest, her tail also pointing at him,
"One last grope before I go, meow. Thanks for the hospitality... Look after yourself, practice the combat techniques I taught you well; they’ll be handy. And take good care of the Death Rune..."
Having already taken several steps, Elliog waved at Fisher standing in the magic circle, then suddenly yawned as if remembering something. She rubbed her belly and smirked at Fisher,
"By the way, it didn’t take last time, so no Little Demon, what a pity... Next time we’ll try harder, Mr. Fisher."
Xiayat stood beside them, utterly confused by their cryptic conversation. While Fisher knew what she was referring to, he sighed heavily, exasperated by the adult nature of the dialogue, and simply activated the Teleportation Magic to return to the surface.
Elliog leaned against the doorway of the treasury, no longer joking, and just yawned and waved at Fisher. Then, the familiar magic surged again, and with the sensation of losing gravity, a blinding brilliance burst before Fisher’s eyes.
Streams of fine light passed in front of Fisher as they experienced a reversal of gravity once more. This time, though, it was excessive weight followed by weightlessness, completely opposite to their descent.
Before long, Fisher and Xiayat reappeared amid the chaos of the library, where the floor was cracked and books lay scattered about.
Once back on the surface, the unrest in Saint Nali City grew more apparent; clearly, the monster that Anna had become had breached the city limits.
Fisher didn’t hesitate to pick up Moli and was about to call Xiayat to follow when he realized that she was covered in bite and scratch wounds, likely from fighting those Human Worms in the dark confusion of the treasury which Fisher hadn’t noticed before.