Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

A small pavilion in the south garden…

A thin, soft nightgown was attached to Saintess Andi's body. The candidate with the highest number of votes did not have an awe-striking face, but she did have an impressive physique. The night breeze on the mountain swept past, caressing the nightgown over the woman's smooth and curvaceous body...

She was barefooted, looking down at the dimly-lit Citadel of Athens.

She had been doing the same thing for years. She enjoyed admiring the bustling night scene of the city from the great height. She liked seeing a huge crowd of her supporters chanting her name passionately...

However, she was not feeling ambitious tonight!

"We didn't expect it to come to this." The Great Muse Mellaura was standing close to the statue in the garden with a gloomy expression.

"The election is grander than that for a president, it's never meant to go smoothly. How can we expect that all four Saintesses will be on our side?" Andi said calmly.

"You sound like you aren't too bothered that Asha'ruiya has shown up to interfere with our plan? And aren't you curious about who's supporting Ye Xinxia behind the scenes?" Great Muse Mellaura asked.

"I have a premonition," Andi slowly walked down from the pavilion along the white stairs. She did not continue her sentence, but suddenly said, "I initially thought Panijia was our greatest enemy..."

"You're worried about Asha'ruiya?" Mellaura said.

Andi shook her head and said sternly, "The scariest thing is, I still don't know who they are."

"Perhaps you've been worrying too much? Once we make it to the final phase, we won't have to worry any longer. Back then, when I was assisting Izisha, she was very anxious and worried, too. She kept discussing her brother to me, but she was still the winner in the end, wasn't she?" Great Muse Mellaura said.

As the two were talking, the old servant Gulan hurried over. She purposely dismissed the other servants that were standing by in the garden and ran over to Mellaura and Andi.

"Essendale... they caught him!" Gulan said in disbelief.

"That was the premonition I was referring to," Andi said.

Beside her, Mellaura was utterly lost in her thoughts. She could not even hold the Staff of the Great Muse firmly. It fell onto the statue nearby.

"Then we..."

"We've lost," Andi said.

"How is that possible? We were so close, so close to ruling this place!" Great Muse Mellaura totally lost her calm. It looked like she had aged significantly in an instant.

"The funny thing is, I still don't know who's pulling the strings..." Andi said in a self-mocking tone. She took a final glance at the Citadel of Athens and untied the nightgown as she slowly approached the edge of the pavilion.

The edge was the cliff of the sacred mountain, and at the bottom was the Ten Thousand Stairs.

Gulan was just about to ask what they should do next when she saw Andi still walking toward the edge. The moonlight set off the amorous charm of her naked body, as flawless as a milky-white statue!

She finally reached the edge. She suddenly took another step forward and started falling as Gulan screamed.

Gulan did not see Andi using any magic, nor was she channeling any spell. She continued to fall unimpeded!

---

Xinxia was sitting on the balcony outside her window while conversing with Asha'ruiya. She suddenly stopped, her eyes fixed on the cliff in the distance...

"It seems like someone has just fallen off the cliff," Xinxia pointed at the cliff, but she did not sound too confident.

"You're already a Candidate, so who's occupying the residence above yours?" Asha'ruiya did not turn around. She still had a gentle smile on her face.

"Was that really a human?" Xinxia grabbed the wheels of her chair firmly, about to head out.

The sacred mountain was very tall, so it would take some time before the person reached the bottom. There was a chance that she could still save the person if she started heading there now.

"If you don't let her die tonight, she will hate you for the rest of her life," Asha'ruiya said.

"Was that Andi?" Xinxia asked with a complicated look.

"Yeah, a wiseass. Well, it serves her right," Asha'ruiya answered heartlessly.

"I want to leave this place," Xinxia said firmly.

As a matter of fact, Xinxia had the urge to leave after she was chosen as a Candidate by the Hall Mother. She was just an outsider at the Parthenon Temple, yet she was suddenly dragged into the competition for the role of the Goddess.

"From the first day you set foot in the Parthenon Temple, your path to the Hall of the Goddess was already lit up with a green light, wasn't it?" Asha'ruiya mused.

"I want to leave this place."

"Are you sure about that?" Asha'ruiya smiled. She added before Xinxia could respond, "I initially thought you were quite old, but you're so young still. I have come to visit you because I'm hoping that we will just mind our own business."

---

---

Another news shocked the entire world when the World College Tournament was still going on. The whole city burst into an uproar when the news reached Venice.

Mo Fan had just come out from his seclusive cultivation. He realized that everyone was talking about the same news: that Saintess Andi had passed away due to some sickness.

Mo Fan had heard the name Andi before. First, the European countries were rather religious. The Parthenon Temple was like the most sacred entity to them, and the Goddess was treated like the spokesperson of the gods, like a pope. As such, it was reasonable that Mo Fan had heard the name of the Candidate that had the highest hope of being elected as the Goddess.

He had heard Xinxia mentioning her name a couple of times, too.

The Goddess of the Parthenon Temple was not just a symbol of faith. She was the person that actually had access to the Spell of Resurrection. Mo Fan clearly remembered how some people kept mentioning the Goddess of the Parthenon Temple whenever someone died...

When Xu Zhaoting was turned into a Cursed Beast, Mo Fan had asked Tangyue, and learned that the only way to save Xu Zhaoting was the Spell of Resurrection of the Parthenon Temple.

The hero that stopped the plague in Hangzhou, Wang Xiaojun, was currently lying on a bed after losing his soul, and the only way to wake him up was the Spell of Resurrection.

It was impossible for life to return after it was lost. Despair and pain of death could easily wipe out the meaning of life.

As such, the significance of the Spell of Resurrection surpassed everything!

"Hall Master Kendi announced that Andi had always suffered from a genetic disease. She had devoted her limited life to helping the world, but the gods had taken pity on her, and were not willing to let her suffer further. He has received her in Heaven… she did not leave us, she only went closer to the gods, she no longer has to speak on behalf of the gods, or listen to the gods. She will be praying for us beside the gods..."

"The world is saddened by the death of Saintess Andi, but the Holy Judgment Court has been questioning the truth. They believe Saintess Andi committed suicide to escape punishment. Essendale had committed an unforgivable crime, and he was once very close to Saintess Andi."

"Saintess Andi's remains were not allowed to be viewed by the public. The sorrow that Hall Master Kendi, her father, is going through is understandable. She was a good Candidate, and had done many great things for Greece, for Europe, and for the other continents..."

The news spread rapidly. Mo Fan kept seeing news about Andi whenever he looked at his phone or had a conversation with someone. Mo Fan did not really care about politics or religion. Andi's death did not really matter to him. He was struggling to understand why the people were making a big fuss about it...

On the other hand, Mo Fan was puzzled after learning that the Master of the Shadow Element, Essendale, was captured and executed.

Considering how strong Essendale was, only a few people in the world could possibly defeat him. Essendale was the Master of the Shadow Element; if he was determined to run away, it was almost impossible to catch him!

"You don't seem to care about Andi's death? Let me tell you, I have some insider information; Andi actually committed suicide. She jumped from the highest place of the sacred mountain naked and fell onto the Ten Thousand Stairs without any protection. Imagine how bad she would look...tsk tsk tsk, a Candidate with such an alluring physique smashed into minced meat like that… I bet she hadn't even tasted a man before..." Zhao Manyan kept saying how much of a pity it was.

Zhao Manyan was someone from the upper class of society, thus he would know a lot more than ordinary people.

"Her death has taken everyone's attention away from what happened to Essendale. I don't care how she died, I just f**king don't understand how the Master of the Shadow Element ended up being caught!" Mo Fan sighed.

"You really want to know?" Zhao Manyan said in a mysterious voice.

"Aren't you talking nonsense? I'm passionate about magic, about power, not some fight over influence!" Mo Fan replied.

He could easily tell that Andi had lost the fight for power in the Parthenon Temple, and so she had been disqualified. Mo Fan was clueless about the complicated situation, nor was he interested in learning about it!

"Here, I have something incredible to show you. It's a clip of Essendale's arrest and death. Are you interested in it? It's forbidden to watch it, and the Holy Judgment Court has declared that every person that watches it is committing a crime. Are you still sure you want to watch it?" Zhao Manyan said.

"Are you sure its source is safe?" Mo Fan raised his brows.

"Yes."

"Then just play it."

---

Mo Fan had no idea how Zhao Manyan was able to get his hands on the recording. Since most spells would emit brilliant lights when they were cast, it was almost impossible to use a mobile phone or device to record a magic battle. The broadcast of the World College Tournament through the Observer Eagles was specially handled to make it viewable. If anyone tried recording the fights with their phones, it would only end up as a white screen.

As such, the clip that Zhao Manyan got his hands onto was most likely recorded with some unique military equipment. The Holy Judgment Court would severely punish anyone that broke the rules!

"It seems like a member of the Holy Judgment Court recorded it. We can't really see Essendale from this angle," Mo Fan mumbled, staring at the clip's strong interference.

Mo Fan was fairly curious about the power of a Mage like Essendale. Pang Lai was already one of the strongest Mages in China, yet he was still no match for Essendale. The battle that the Holy Judgment Court had fought to catch Essendale was surely going to be spectacular!