After sneaking north along the Sonal River valley for several minutes, Lucian grabbed Natasha and changed direction, using Greater Flying to streak eastward at top speed while simultaneously dispelling the faint layer of luminescence covering her.
"The idea is to draw the demigod lich's attention to us, so Aunt Camille can slip out of Husum City safely and head for the eastern desert?" Natasha bore no resentment at Lucian's failure to warn her in advance. Instead, she accepted it calmly and with complete trust, keenly perceiving his intent—the product of multiple brushes with death.
As Natasha knew, somewhere in the eastern desert lay one of the Magic Parliament's secret contact points, equipped with a Sound Transmission Circle capable of relaying messages back to the controlled territories across the sea.
Once Lucian's whereabouts, along with exact coordinates, were known, Fernando and Hathaway could first return to the Primary Material World and then open another interdimensional gate leading directly to the northern mountains of the Eldo Peninsula. Though this would cost roughly a day's time, it would still be many times faster than crossing the ocean and desert in this space where flight speed was suppressed.
As for a Heavenly Knight traveling from Husum City to the eastern desert contact point—if familiar with the specific location of the semi-solidified spatial barrier—it would take less than two days. If unfamiliar, it would stretch to three or four. Unfortunately, Camille belonged to the latter category.
Wind howled around them as they flew at tremendous speed, the biting cold cutting through everything. Lucian smiled and nodded, speaking through the psychic link between them: "If the demigod lich returns to Husum City after his resurrection and finds no trace of us, he'll certainly start hunting for others—especially Aunt Camille, given her close ties to us. By then, he'd not only learn our true objective and dash our hopes of waiting for our teacher and Grandma Hathaway to rescue us, but he could also use Aunt Camille to threaten you. So we have to snip the danger in the bud before it even arises."
"Exactly. If the demigod lich can 'lock onto' our trail, he'll rush after us immediately to avoid losing the chance. That way, Aunt Camille only needs to stay hidden to buy herself time to recover."
"And once she's out of Husum City, in a world where even a peak legendary's spiritual field is suppressed to within three hundred meters, the demigod lich trying to backtrack and find her would be extraordinarily difficult. He'd have to rely on the traces of fate—a method prone to deviation. Moreover, within less than a day, Aunt Camille could make it back to the northeastern mountains and enter Lord Valenshil's sphere of control. Unless the demigod lich intended to single-handedly sweep through the entire Church, he wouldn't dare continue the pursuit."
Natasha flew through the air like a keen arrow, helping Lucian finish his thought while also informing him of Valenshil's approximate location so he wouldn't accidentally blunder into it. They couldn't use the tactic of pitting Valenshil against the demigod lich to escape, because Valenshil had ways to notify the Church. If he learned of their situation, Lucian would face the Pope, Saints, Cardinals, and Holy Knights in pursuit—a danger ten thousand times worse than their current predicament.
"Mm. So for this one day, we need to keep the demigod lich firmly occupied," Lucian said gravely.
Natasha raised her left eyebrow. "Aren't you worried Aunt Camille might tell Valenshil about you?"
"In a dangerous moment like this, you can't account for every possibility. And besides, once seven days have passed and Aitena has absorbed the fragment, I'll have a chance of surviving even against the Pope. Besides, I trust you," Lucian replied earnestly.
The corners of Natasha's mouth curved upward, a bright smile spreading across her face. "Which is precisely why I told Aunt Camille that the Silver Moon Aitena would need only four days to absorb the fragment. If she hasn't betrayed you and sends the message to a territory controlled by the Magic Parliament, then whether or not Aitena has recovered, the Storm Sovereign and Grandma Hathaway will definitely come looking for you."
"And if she has betrayed you, by the time His Holiness the Pope and the others arrive, roughly three days will have passed. Thinking about the fact that they'll be facing an Aitena who has returned to the demigod tier—without the Divine Descent spell, His Holiness the Pope may well decide it isn't worth the risk to continue the search."
Lucian tilted his head, looking Natasha up and down, clicking his tongue in admiration. "I always thought you preferred to charge straight ahead in battle and in handling affairs. I never expected you could read people with such precision. But Aunt Camille has been at your side for so many years—are you really not afraid of hurting her feelings by deceiving her?"
Natasha gave a short laugh. "You're the one who deceived me, so what I told Aunt Camille is misinformation. I'm an honest and upright knight—how could I possibly lie?"
After the lighthearted exchange, her expression turned solemn. "Though I'd rather rely on my own strength, living in noble circles as the Grand Duke's heir means that even a moment's carelessness can lead to the same end as what happened with Cousin Verdi—deception and betrayal. I believe Aunt Camille would never betray me. But whether she would betray you, I can't be certain. Perhaps in her eyes, sending you to the stake and freeing me from the danger of being hunted by a demigod lich would be the greatest kindness she could offer."
"I can't stake our safety on 'what I want to believe.'"
In that moment, Lucian felt as though he were looking at a true Grand Duchess—decisive, cautious, and never letting emotion cloud her judgment.
Of course, that only meant she didn't let emotion cloud her judgment, not that she was entirely divorced from feeling when choosing her own path.
Lucian chuckled softly. "We've already come this far. What happens next is beyond our control. We'll alternate between heading north and east to keep the demigod lich thinking we're taking an irregular route toward the eastern desert."
The moment he finished speaking through the psychic link, a layer of solidified black, white, and grey once again spread from his left hand, engulfing his entire body. The Greater Flying spell failed, and he plummeted downward. An eerie, inexplicable aura of the necrotic world emanated from him—like a torch blazing in the night, visible from far away, seemingly having broken through the spatial suppression.
Natasha dove and caught Lucian, then drew "Pale Justice" and slashed fiercely at that monotonous layer of color.
The long sword struck as if hitting cured leather. This time, it failed to shatter the layer in a single blow. Natasha frowned slightly and continued hacking. It took three full strikes before the black-white-grey layer finally shattered and receded, once again suppressed.
"What happened?" Natasha asked with concern.