Before departing, Prince Brennus had filledLeoric's dimensional bag with the Dragonscale Activating Shield, a ring, a defensive brooch, magical potions, and several scrolls. Among them was a Scroll of Teleportation, originally intended for escaping dire situations, and it finally came in handy at this critical moment.

  Magic might be powerful, but wizards were too fragile, easily perishing in this perilous world. In light of this, wizards developed many spells for survival, with "Teleportation" being the most renowned. However, due to its high difficulty, only very high-level wizards could cast it. Later, a simplified version of Teleportation was invented, known as the "Portal."

  On the surface, Portals and Teleportation seemed very similar, but their actual effects differed greatly. They could both traverse space, but the distance was much shorter—hence, the casting difficulty was much lower, otherwise,Leoric couldn't have used it. He stepped into the portal with Mavis, feeling his body rapidly stretch and flatten until he completely lost volume, becoming a two-dimensional plane,穿梭ing through the vast, dark void, and then suddenly, he tumbled out of the portal to find himself outside the city of Escor, in the midst of the Great Desert.

  Mavis, whom he had pulled along, also passed through the portal and was now standing beside him. Obviously, she hadn't expected this turn of events, and a hint of surprise fleetingly appeared on her face before vanishing.

  "Thank you," she said briefly toLeoric.

  Leoric had thought she would question where he had been hiding, but Mavis seemed to have completely forgotten about it. She quickly assessed their location and found they were about six or seven miles outside Escor, with no Sphinxes in pursuit.

  She pondered for a moment, then said toLeoric, "Head north, and you'll be out of the desert in two days' walk. Goodbye."

  Leoric was taken aback before snapping out of it. "What about you?" he asked. "Where are you going?"

  "They've taken the relic. I need to get it back," Mavis replied.

  "The relic?"

  Leoric immediately understood that the so-called relic must be the rose-colored transparent sphere. "You're going back into the city?" he asked incredulously. With at least twenty Sphinxes in the city now, Mavis alone stood no chance. No matter how important the relic was, it wasn't worth risking her life—especially since this wasn't just risking it; it was outright suicide.

  There were always people in this world who knowingly went to their deaths, andLeoric wasn't surprised by this. Risking one's life for a "relic" was also very fitting for a "paladin." IfLeoric encountered such a person under normal circumstances, he would naturally keep his distance and avoid trouble. But the problem was that the one going to her death this time was a beautiful girl, which was truly regrettable.

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  "I used a life-saving scroll to rescue you, not for you to go to your death again... If you must go to your death, at least let me have a go first, okay..."

  Of course, such thoughts could only be kept to himself; he couldn't voice them, or he'd surely be sliced with a sword.Leoric tried to persuade Mavis to abandon this impractical idea, but it was obviously futile.

  "The relic is very important," Mavis said, "so it must be retrieved."

  Nonsense, if it's a relic, it's obviously important; everyone knows that. If it's not important, it's not a relic; it's just junk. But no matter how important a relic is, it's still just a thing; how could it compare to a life?

  "Things are naturally not as important as human lives," Mavis fully agreed withLeoric's tactfully expressed view, "which is why the relic must be retrieved."

  "Why?"

  "Because the relic is used to save lives," Mavis replied calmly. "A great plague has struck the area around Baldur's Gate, killing nearly a hundred people every day. There's no way to stop it, except for this relic created by the Dawn God: the Dawn Stone."

  This news startledLeoric. "Are you saying there's a great plague in Baldur's Gate?"

  "Yes."

  "You plan to use this Dawn Stone to quell the plague."

  Mavis nodded.

  Damn it,Leoric cursed in his heart. No wonder Prince Brennus said none of his men were willing to deliver the message. It turned out that Baldur's Gate was stricken by a great plague, which was why this errand fell on his head. He had been going to a plague-stricken area all along, and from the sound of it, this plague was extremely deadly, which was why they had to use a divine artifact from miles away.

  How could Prince Brennus not mention such an important detail? It was too excessive, completely disregarding his employee's life safety. If he rushed in recklessly like this, forget about delivering a letter to some old wizard named Lavok; he might just collapse by the roadside and become an innocent victim.

  "This plague came suddenly," Mavis continued, "and it's very virulent. Neither medicine nor healing divine spells can contain it. Our only hope is the Dawn Stone. It's said that a similar great plague occurred over twenty years ago..."

  Leoric wasn't paying attention to what Mavis was saying; he was frowning, feeling a headache. He had thought it was just a simple errand, but it was getting more and more complicated. The Scattered Tower was blocked by the Dark Road, forcing him to take a big detour through the desert. The Sphinxes ambushed Bedai and almost got him involved. Just when he thought he had escaped and was about to walk out of the desert, he heard that his destination was a plague-stricken area. At this rate, who knew how many more troubles awaited him ahead.

  Of course, it wasn't all bad news. At least he now knew that Mavis's destination was the same as his, which meant there was a high possibility that he could travel with this female paladin—provided she didn't go to her death.

  But this was obviously impossible; Mavis was very resolute.

  "Alright,"Leoric finally said, "I'll go back with you, but not now. I need to prepare my magic again, and we also need to rest."

  Mavis looked at him and nodded. "Thank you," she said.