Anna Helmenius.
This woman, with skin as white as jade and without a single wrinkle, her vivid green eyes shining brightly, was in fact a wizard over two hundred years old, though she did not appear so at first glance.
Through the specialized magic of the Mutation School, which alters the human body, she had dramatically extended her lifespan. In a sense, she was a living legend.
After she appeared, the city of wizards and Hatun became independent from the Calus Empire and turned into a safe place, protected from the attacks of priests.
Though she was no longer considered a veteran, she was still held in high regard by the wizards, having accomplished countless feats, making her a true archmage.
Considering that the previous master of magic was the Duke of Polaina Principality who had his head torn off by a martial monk, and that the current master of magic was a problematic figure, in reality, the greatest mage was Anna Helmenius.
She was a true grand mage recognized by all gods and humans except for the Supreme Divinity.
It was likely due to such confidence that this woman opened Aslan’s cell and simply seated him in front of her, clad in armor.
No matter how sturdy the armor might be, it could not withstand her Manifestation School magic.
Of course, if Aslan were in such a situation, he would likely crush the knight killer’s heart before she even had a chance to cast her spell. However, since such an event would not occur, this assumption was meaningless.
The issue seemed to be that the woman appeared to be well aware of this fact.
Her ordering soldiers to bring weapons from the armory likely stemmed from this context.
If Aslan truly intended to kill her, he would have done so long ago.
Thus, Aslan sat down, equipped with Steamfalos’ wings, storm sword, and Qi absorption gear.
With a table between them, on which the guards had been playing cards just moments before, Aslan met Anna Helmenius privately.
It was the woman who spoke first.
“So, when did the Veteran of Battle become the mount of the Ancient God?”
The question came in an emotionless tone. Upon hearing it, Aslan rolled his eyes and glanced briefly at Angie.
“The mount is not me, but my companion in the party.”
Anna Helmenius raised an eyebrow at this statement. A fleeting spark of curiosity entered her otherwise emotionless gaze before fading away.
“That seems different from what I saw before.”
Aslan blinked in confusion at her reply, and the woman directed her green eyes, softly glowing with light, toward him, seemingly more puzzled by his reaction.
“The mana flowing within you… It has increased beyond comparison to what it was before. Were you perhaps unaware of this?”
At this, Aslan closed his mouth and slightly narrowed his eyes.
Anna Helmenius could see mana. Thus, she could discern both its quantity and flow.
Aslan was well aware of this particular ability of hers.
What puzzled him was why she believed his mana had increased, unless they had met before. If not, it would have seemed like mana he was born with.
However, Anna Helmenius was confident that his mana had grown, as if she had seen him somewhere before.
“Have you ever seen me?”
So Aslan asked, and in response, the woman stared at the card lying on the table with an expressionless face, idly touching its corner.
The card, worn from the guards’ handling, fluttered lightly under her touch.
Just as Aslan was about to reiterate his question, the woman whispered.
“On the day Beryl burned.”
That whisper froze Aslan’s body.
“I saw you then.”
Her voice was quiet. As her faint voice flowed through the cell, Aslan involuntarily closed his mouth. His Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed.
“At that time, you barely had any mana. But now, you possess the level of an archmage. So…”
And with her eyes cast downward, she continued speaking until she looked up at Aslan, stopping when she saw his cold expression.
Aslan’s expression carried a trace of hostility—not towards her, but a heavy and delicate hostility directed at himself that day.
Seeing this subtle hostility, Anna remained silent, and Aslan, feeling the need to apologize, sighed after touching his own face.
“You’re right. I… share the power of the mount with someone else.”
While Angie is judged to be the mount of the ancient god, Aslan also benefits from the capability distribution.
In effect, Aslan possessed half the power of the mount.
For a while, the woman silently observed Aslan, possibly wary of the hostility he had just emitted, before speaking.
Her tone was stiff with caution.
“I won’t say much. You must have a reason for coming here. I will help you with your request if you answer one question.”
“Of course.”
Though the caution quickly disappeared with Aslan’s gentle tone, a certain tension lingered where it had once been, akin to the tension that arises when approaching some taboo or secret.
“If divine power can collapse the balance of this world or shatter the veil protecting it, allowing evil deities to enter, what do you intend to do with that divine power?”
Divinity. She referred to the ancient deity as a deity rather than an evil deity not because of her background.
Anna Helmenius lost her family to an evil deity and its priests. She sought revenge. She earnestly desired the death of the evil deities.
Aslan knew well of this vengeful woman and how she lost her family.
Anna Helmenius, she was a wizard of Green lineage—what one might call a half-orc—but among such hybrids, her human blood was strong enough to bear children.
Despite being closer to humanity, she possessed remarkable magical talent.
Thanks to the exceptional mana sensing abilities characteristic of Greens, she became the empire’s foremost mage without needing magical tattoos, and before she turned twenty, she had already taken the position of general.
She married in her early twenties. She had children, and both her family and her husband’s family wished her marriage smooth and happy.
Around the time her daughter learned to walk, she became a grand mage, and tragedy struck as if it were inevitable.
Well-organized martial monks attacked the city where she lived.
The young woman, barely over twenty, was unable to properly use magic due to postpartum complications, and the city of Koda fell that day.
Dozens, hundreds of soldiers were swiftly slaughtered. Though several martial monks perished in the process, there were far too many of them to honor the renowned grand mage.
Her disciples died, and her daughter, husband, and entire family were torn apart by the martial monks.
Anna Helmenius barely survived, but this ordeal filled her with boundless hatred towards the evil deities and their priests.
Aslan knew all this well.
In the game, she would always recount her past to any mounts visiting the city of wizards and make proposals, regardless of circumstances or timing.
Her ultimate goal was singular: to kill the evil deities.
The problem was that in the game, killing the evil deities was an impossible task.
The evil deities were practically invincible, their capabilities transcendent, making them impossible to defeat. Even in the ending where one becomes a benevolent deity, the evil deities remained too powerful to be slain.
Thus, every time she played the game, she met a tragic end at the hands of the evil deities.
Aslan couldn’t let someone as significant as Anna Helmenius die that way.
Her resources, the strength of the wizards, her own magical prowess—all were too valuable to lose.
The excellent stronghold known as the City of Wizards couldn’t be abandoned either.
In this twisted world of Geladridion, characters with the audacity or madness to stand against the evil deities were rare and precious.
Above all, Anna Helmenius’ story was unbearably tragic.
Yet Aslan had to reject her unspoken request.
Her question was essentially probing whether his power was sufficient, and what she was about to ask likely diverged from her ultimate goal.
“The power of the ancient deity… has its purpose.”
The woman instinctively sensed that this wasn’t an answer to her question and tensed.
“I cannot disclose my plans. If I did, the evil deities would prepare accordingly. But I am not lacking in power. What you desire… I may be able to accomplish it. It won’t be difficult. However…”
As streams of mana began to flow across Anna Helmenius’ hardened expression, Aslan couldn’t hide his sympathy.
“Anna Helmenius, I cannot grant your request. And my response to it is only one.”
The woman, carrying both a glimmer of hope and anticipated disappointment, received Aslan’s soft reply.
“Let go of your daughter.”
Upon hearing this, a fierce green light surged in the woman’s eyes, her hair rippling with immense mana.
Without averting his gaze from her form, Aslan slowly spoke.
“All I can offer you is nothingness in return for vengeance and the death of all evil deities. Beyond that, I can give you nothing.”
Unfazed by Aslan’s apparent anticipation of her words, Anna Helmenius channeled more mana. The surrounding air grew oppressive with the intensity of her power, prompting Aslan to glare at her.
He understood why she acted this way—the ominous glow emanating from the necklace around her neck.
Aslan openly glanced at the necklace before speaking.
“Anna Helmenius, your daughter is dead.”
Aslan knew exactly how her request would unfold and lead to her demise—it facilitated a quicker completion of Eternal Dominion.
Anna Helmenius, the second-generation grand mage and mayor of the city of wizards, possessed the soul of her daughter who had died 180 years ago.
A soul that had become a priest without her noticing.
If he completed the quest by granting her wish, she would meet her daughter in death. The daughter would exact revenge on the mother who had confined her for 180 years, and the mother would die in penance.
Knowing all this, Aslan had to refuse her request—Anna Helmenius was too precious to lose.
With resolute tones, Aslan placed his hand on the wing of Steamfalos.
“I will not assist in reviving your daughter.”
But the future was unknown to the woman. As her fluctuating mana began to coalesce into a spell, Aslan closed and reopened his eyes, channeling his own mana.
“Grasp.”
With those words, Steamfalos’ wings began to disintegrate. Amidst the hundreds of daggers filling the air, Aslan thought to himself.
First, he needed to cool her head.
