—
Watching the scenes in the illusion, Renji couldn’t help but grip Suthia’s hand a bit tighter next to him.
In the game, Suthia had a base-building ability, which was to enhance the mental stability of the gathering place, increasing the populace’s trust in their leader.
Such a BUFF might not mean much in the mid to late game, but at the early stages when manpower was short, it was undoubtedly excellent, after all, who knows how many new players focused too much on expanding their territory, only to overlook the discontent of their populace, leading to collapse.
Or, as in previous battles, when trust was not high, it led to game characters disobeying commands, or even fleeing directly.
In the game, Suthia’s ability was represented just by a skill panel and percentage numbers.
But here, Renji understood that the early-stage gathering place’s +20% leader trust was actually built up bit by bit through the efforts of the little nun, speaking on behalf of the leader.
Under his command, Suthia would be the first to help treat the injured, doing her utmost to soothe their emotions, explaining the importance of these commands, praising their bravery, thus resulting in characters with absolute high obedience in the game.
And when he had an expansionist mindset, allocating more resources to the warriors at the expense of the general populace’s welfare in the rear, causing discontent among the members, it was also Suthia, moving from one to another, calming them, telling everyone the purpose was for better development, making everyone willingly endure less food and drink to cooperate with his development plan.
Even later on, as his gathering place grew and developed to a certain scale, it naturally went from being obscure to attracting the attention of many other gathering places.
Renji looked towards another illusion.
This illusion did not include himself but showed Suthia leading a team out for exploration, presumably corresponding to the game’s “Dispatch” feature.
At this time, he already had several Eclipses besides Suthia. The dispatched team, after a battle, was resting at night.
Suthia wasn’t sleeping; inside her tent, she was planning the route back to the gathering place, and despite it being late at night, there was an unexpected visitor.
The visitor looking for Thia, Renji actually remembered, was a Danger Rank Vanguard character who was quite good in the early phase and considered a main force by himself.
After pretending to chat casually for a while, he finally revealed his purpose.
“Thia, have you ever considered leaving?”
“Leaving?” The nun in the illusion, who had a gentle face just a moment ago, immediately showed a slight frown.
“Ah, to tell you the truth, we’ve fought together for so long, we’re old comrades. You should know about the Roca gathering place, right? It’s the biggest gathering place in our region. I heard they have over a hundred Eclipses there, more people than our Ashen Gathering Place combined!”
“Now, their people have contacted me, saying their leader values us and wants us to join them. Let me tell you, Thia, the leader of the Roca gathering place is different from our leader, not someone who hides under a cloak all day. They have connections with the high-ups at the Azure Base, supposedly the illegitimate child of a deputy leader!”
“I don’t need to say what the base is, it’s something gathering places like ours can only look up to for a lifetime, having such a background means an unlimited future. So, what do you say, Thia, will you join me? They even told me, their leader particularly values you, saying just your presence would warrant a treatment ten times better than what you’re getting at the Ashen Gathering Place! In my view, that illegitimate child leader definitely has his eyes on you!”
“Thia, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Just by joining him, with his resources, you breaking through from Danger Rank to the initial or even mid-level of Disaster Rank isn’t out of the question!”
The Danger Rank Vanguard became more and more excited as he spoke, his imagination running wild with visions of success.
But what he failed to notice was the increasingly darkening eyes of the nun opposite him.
“No, Helen, I won’t be going. Thia will only stay in Lord Ashen Gathering Place; I’ve already made it my home.”
“Thia, you… Oh well, I guess I could have guessed. After all, who in our gathering place doesn’t know that you’re the most loyal to Lord Ashen, hardly ever speaking of anything but your Lord”
“Well, that’s that then. I’m leaving anyway, and I’ve pulled along Kolon and others. We’ve had our time together, so if fate wills it, we’ll meet again Thia. Ah, without you as a teammate, it’ll take some time to adjust, such a pity.”
The man was about to get up and leave, but Suthia called out to him again. .
“Helen, could you please wait a moment longer? I have a few potions here, almost ready. Consider it a farewell gift from me. For now, go and call over Kolon and the others. By the time you all get here, I’ll have the potions ready. It could help you recover from injuries better, heal some chronic diseases, so perhaps you could perform better in the new gathering place?”
With these words, Suthia undoubtedly moved Helen deeply. In that moment, he saw her as the true Saintess, selflessly devoted to others, willing to give them her last bit of strength even knowing they were leaving.
Helen nodded in gratitude, then immediately left the tent, calling over the remaining three or four Eclipses who had agreed to switch to the Roca Gathering Place together.
When they all arrived at Suthia’s tent, indeed, the nun had prepared a potion for each of them, seemingly mixed on the spot.
“I’m sorry everyone, Thia can’t help you more than this, only these healing potions to replenish your state.”
“Everyone. drink it while it’s warm.”
The four thanked the nun and without any suspicion, opened the healing potions and drank them down. After all, that was Suthia, the angelic Saintess recognized by the gathering place, who had saved their lives countless times and fought alongside them through many battles.
Until…
“Ugh, ah… Ugh.”
“You… The potion… Tia, you…”
“Why”
“Why would you”
*Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!*
Within five seconds of drinking the potion, all four Eclipses collapsed at Suthia’s feet, their life force rapidly fading away. In their last moments, they stared at the nun with eyes full of disbelief and incredulity.
But all they received in return were those emotionless eyes from Suthia, eyes they had never seen before.
Updated from .𝘤𝘰