In Valhalla, Willow handed a piece of paper to Ed.
"An investigation report on residual Psionic Energy of unknown origin? Who taught you to write things like this?"
"A few of the more reserved Soul Returner."
"It's clearly very meticulous..."
Ed's facial muscles twitched as he suppressed a laugh and asked:
"Let's get straight to the end. It's too long for me to read."
The lich pointed to the last paragraph of the report and said:
"Based on my analysis, that Psionic Energy wasn't a remnant of a spell, but rather part of the spell itself."
"Is this a mark?"
"That's right."
"Used for location tracking?"
"The specific uses are currently unclear, but location is only the most basic effect. Other effects have disappeared due to time or distance. After all, in the current world, such spells will quickly be eroded by the Demonic Tide if they are too far from the caster."
Who did it?
"I don't know, but he must be someone with some skill in Psionic Energy."
"Can the rank be determined?"
" Middle Tier and above."
"I listened, but it's like I didn't hear anything..."
Looking at the report in front of him, which was formally formatted but lacked substantial content, Ed adopted the demeanor of a mentor from another world, lightly patting the report on the desk and saying:
"So you haven't done anything all week?"
"Ah?"
Willow's mouth dropped open involuntarily. The last time she heard such a tone was from her mother. Her mother would assign her trivial questions about Psionic Energy research, and whenever things didn't go as planned, her mother would say similar things in a similar tone.
Ed looked like an old lich instructing a newcomer, which made her feel a lot of pressure.
Willow composed herself and handed the second sheet of paper to Ed.
"What's this? Let me see... a leave application?"
Ed looked up in confusion:
Is there something you need?
"I want to continue investigating the origin of this wisp of Psionic Energy, so I may have to leave Valhalla for a while."
"So you submitted a leave application?"
"Yes."
"Didn't anyone tell you that you should be submitting a business trip application in this situation?"
"... ah?"
After some back and forth, Willow's business trip paperwork was finally completed, and she was about to embark on her first business trip.
She didn't have to go through all this trouble, just like Seraphina, who didn't care at all where Ed wanted to fly to every day.
However, the lich and the Red Dragon are still difficult to compare in some aspects. Objectively speaking, Seraphina is the angel investor of the Second Holy See, so she has never lacked confidence.
Willow was at best an early employee, working in a technical role. Such employees are the easiest to be fired once the company grows.
Differences in personality are also a factor; dragons are naturally unrestrained, while liches...
After observing for some time, Ed discovered that the liches seemed to be a race that pursued order and was accustomed to standardizing most things according to procedures.
This creature is practically a born research prodigy, but unfortunately there's only one offspring so far, which slows down the research progress.
Detective Willow left the castle and activated her Psionic Energy -feeding state. Like a police dog, she used her Psionic Energy senses to detect the mostly dissipated remnants and began her reverse tracking.
Lower level of the cathedral in Fir City.
Marba sat down before Antiya Lisi once more:
"I have obtained concrete intelligence; the core of the rebel force is located north of White Wax Town."
" White Wax Town? Isn't that the town furthest from Fir City?"
Antiya Lisi's expression was somewhat grave. He could somewhat guess what Marba was thinking, but it was far too risky.
"That's right, that's the place. I want to lead the legion to strike directly at the heart of the enemy and solve the rebel problem once and for all."
Marba placed his ten fingers together in front of his lips, looking confident of victory.
"Even if the rebels eventually collapse into a state of disorganization and fighting their own battles, they will be easier to deal with when they are scattered and fighting their own battles."
"Let me think about it."
Antiya Lisi fell into thought. To be fair, the legion commander's words made sense. He also knew that continuing to drag things out would lead to certain death. So far, the rebels had given him too many surprises, or rather, too many frights. His assessment of the rebels' strength had reached a level that was unimaginable to most people.
Recently, Antiya Lisi has felt that the other side actually has the strength to take Fir City directly. The current way of slowly wearing them down is more like a game and entertainment, a hunter who has locked onto his prey but then leaves the prey with a sliver of Vitality.
Therefore, if a decisive battle can be fought before the people's hearts are completely lost and morale is not severely damaged, it may not be a bad thing.
But contrary to his expectations of a large-scale open-field battle, it seemed that Marba wanted to directly attack the rebels' oldest stronghold and carry out a decapitation strike.
This was a very risky plan. More importantly, Marba controlled half of Fir City's military force. If he led these men away from Fir City, how would he defend the city when the rebels launched a major offensive?
Marba goes to raid the enemy's base, the rebels will undoubtedly come to raid his Fir City. If this plan is actually implemented, then it's really a competition to see who can raid the base the fastest.
"You're gambling with the lives of the Holy Crusaders."
Antiya Lisi said with a stern face:
Their lives should be used for more valuable purposes.
"For example? You transformed him into Treant Hunter?"
Marba scoffed:
"Let's not laugh at each other. I know it's dangerous to go out, and it's dangerous to stay put, but if we still want a glimmer of Vitality, this is our only chance. After all... you don't want to be turned into a mindless puppet by Lord Sailesi, do you?"
Antiya Lisi sighed deeply upon hearing this:
When do you plan to leave? How long do you need me to stay?
"Tonight, I will withdraw eighty percent of my Holy Crusaders. Those with poor physical condition can be left to you to command."
"Considering the rebels' ability to control those flying insects to some extent, I need to detour through the area near the Wilderness of Chaos. It will probably take two... no, three days to reach the vicinity of White Wax Town."
Marba sighed inwardly. This was the flaw of humanity. If it were the former Demon Allied Army, they could have sent those flying demons to fight in the sky, and those swimming demons to guard the water, while he could have led those tireless and immortal demons to launch a fierce attack day and night.
It's astonishing how difficult this is for humans, even requiring the elimination of soldiers with substandard physical abilities to weaken their own strength...