The moment Ian was taken away by Phoenix.
The entire town fell into brief silence.
The people who had still been immersed in the miracle and joy brought by Phoenix's arrival all stood frozen in place, staring at the golden motes of light slowly dispersing above the cliff.
As though they had yet to process what had happened.
Phoenix's golden tail flames still lingered in midair like a fading sunset. The crowd in the square seemed to have been struck by a Petrification Charm, hundreds of eyes staring blankly at the empty center of the square.
The silence lasted a long while.
"Gone... gone?"
The fishmonger uncle let out a baffled murmur. His octopus assistant was equally stunned and loosened its tentacles, causing several silver-scaled fish to fall into the tank with loud splashes.
"Did Lord Phoenix God just take Ian away?"
"Oh, heavens! He... he disappeared!"
Only then did the crowd begin to stir.
Voices rose and fell one after another.
Like a pot of boiling soup.
Xiaoya was the first to react. She hurried into the central square and searched everywhere, but she could not find any traces of Ian's disappearance. In the end, she could only tilt her head back and shout.
"Brother Ian?"
Her voice echoed across the empty square.
There was no response.
Ian had indeed been carried away from the town by the enormous Phoenix rather than flown into the sky. Once everyone realized this, the already noisy crowd exploded into even greater uproar.
"Lord Phoenix God took the foreign hero away!"
"I told you he wasn't an ordinary trainer!"
"Phoenix clearly took him to the holy land!"
"Nonsense! She obviously saw how strong he was and wanted to test him!"
"You people don't understand! This is the legendary 'rite of passage'! I read