Chapter 141: [Epilogue]—Miss High Priestess
A week had passed since the battle at the Wild God Altar.
As the capital of the Savage Lands, although only a temporary alliance, the Wild God Altar was still a core region.
And with its abundant bloodlust, it had been a valuable resource for the beastkin.
But now, it was gone, annihilated in less than a day, not even a trace remaining. To most beastkin, it was unbelievable.
And with the death of Queen Arachne, and the annihilation of her Hellblood Spider clan, the Savage Lands had lost its backbone.
From the information they had gathered, it seemed a human Knight unit, with new and powerful devices, had been present at the battle.
Although there was no evidence they had defeated Queen Arachne, they had survived, with few casualties.
(Mainly because the Sharp Assault Knight unit had only participated in the first phase of the battle, when the Queen and the Wild God were still separate, and the Wild God’s primary target had been Eleanor and Green Lolita.)
This was enough to prove that the North Empire’s new Knight units were capable of fighting in a Calamity Class or higher conflict. No beastkin tribe would dare to underestimate them now.
Previously, although the Empire’s devices had been effective in small-scale skirmishes, it hadn’t been enough to prove their superiority.
But now…
A single beastkin tribe was no longer a match for the human Empire.
However, with Queen Arachne’s death, the Savage Lands had been plunged into chaos, a power vacuum that had led to a brutal civil war.
In just one week, several large tribes had been conquered, their people absorbed into other tribes.
Perhaps, in time, a new “Queen Arachne” would rise, to unite the beastkin, to once again form a tripartite power with the humans and the elves.
Or perhaps, the Savage Lands would fall into decline, and when the Abyssal Demon Realm returned, they would be an easy conquest.
And in all of this, in the aftermath of the great battle, everyone, from the Savage Lands to the North Empire, seemed to have forgotten the true protagonist—Bai.
Somehow, all records of her presence in the Savage Lands had been erased. In all the reports, all the chronicles, there was not a single mention of her.
Eleanor and Isabelle’s participation in the battle, the High Priestess’s use of a substitute, her secret intervention… all of these were recorded in the annals of the great battle.
Only Bai, like a ghost, had been forgotten.
“That’s for the best,” Bai thought.
She had access to the same intelligence as the other leaders, and she had been surprised by her own absence. But it didn’t matter.
In fact, it was better this way.
She looked up at Eleanor, who was fidgeting, a troubled look on her face.
“Eleanor, what is it?”
“I…” she stammered, “I think I have to leave.”
“I see,” Bai nodded. “Are you going back to the Bewildering Forest?”
They were now on the border of the North Empire, not far from Saint Noyes.
“Yes…” Eleanor’s voice was a whisper, so soft Bai could barely hear it.
“You’ve been away for a long time. It’s time to go home.”
Bai smiled faintly, but then she remembered Green Lolita’s final words, and her smile faded.
Eleanor was still fidgeting, and Bai sighed.
“If I’m not mistaken, the High Priestess has summoned you back, hasn’t she?”
“Huh? How did you know?” Eleanor looked up, surprised. “Did the High Priestess tell you?”
“I guessed,” Bai said softly.
Green Lolita’s last wish had been for Eleanor to stay away from Bai, as far away as possible.
The fairies, who had fought to the last against the great destruction, had already paid too high a price.
Green Lolita didn’t want her daughter, the last ember of her race, to be dragged into this.
And Nimora, as Green Lolita’s close friend and rival, would have understood. It was only natural for her to recall Eleanor.
“And the High Priestess has announced… her retirement,” Eleanor said, scratching her head sheepishly. “So I have to go back, to become the next High Priestess. Hehe, since I’m the Holy Maiden…”
The Holy Maiden was, theoretically, the High Priestess’s successor. But so far, no Holy Maiden had ever outlived Nimora…
So, when the news of Eleanor’s succession reached the Bewildering Forest, everyone had been stunned. There were even rumors that Nimora had been seriously injured in the battle at the Wild God Altar.
But those rumors had been quickly dispelled when the High Priestess had reappeared on the balcony of the Divine Temple.
“…She must be tired,” Bai said after a long silence.
Nimora, who had been the High Priestess since ancient times, was a legend.
Even Green Lolita had been surprised to learn she was still in her position.
But she had been carrying a heavy burden for a long, long time. If not for her dedication to the Bewildering Forest, she would have retired long ago.
So, when she had found a suitable successor, Eleanor, the last of the fairies, she had made her decision.
Once Eleanor was ready, she would step down, and entrust the future of the Bewildering Forest to her.
And she had chosen this moment to retire, partly because Eleanor had grown so much during their journey, and partly because of Bai.
Nimora knew what Bai was planning to do, and she wouldn’t let her friend’s daughter, her own successor, be a part of it.
Bai, of course, knew this as well. But she had also promised Green Lolita.
“That’s wonderful. I won’t be able to call you Eleanor anymore. It will have to be ‘Your Excellency, the High Priestess’—or ‘Miss High Priestess’?”
A rare smile touched Bai’s lips, a hint of her old self.
