Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon

"But I don’t know if she’s willing to share those secrets with me..."

"Listen, the divinities... I mean the Latter Divine, they retain a considerable amount of their original characteristics," Shi Yin suddenly said with a serious tone. "In other words, in some aspects, they aren’t much different from humans. How do you usually make friends with a stranger? For a demon skilled in the art of seduction, this shouldn’t be too difficult, right?"

Chaoyang clicked his tongue, "You’re not suggesting I seduce a nine hundred year old..."

"Hold on, where is your mind going?" Shi Yin hastily interrupted him, "Not seduce, but engage in what she likes! Do I really need to spell this out? And besides... how could I possibly allow you to seduce someone—"

It cut itself off abruptly, then closed its mouth.

Then came a knocking sound from outside the window.

Chaoyang turned his head to see Ailuodi knocking on the window outside, carrying a woman bound tightly on her shoulder.

He quickly opened the window and let the Angel in.

"Phew..." The latter sighed, gently placing the woman on the couch, and then wiped the sweat from her forehead, "It’s a good thing my strength is plentiful recently, or else I wouldn’t have been able to fly over a hundred kilometers carrying her."

"Mmm—mmph—mmm!" The woman struggled fiercely, but the ropes binding her were too tight to allow anything more than squirming.

"Why was she delivered like this?" Chaoyang twisted his mouth. The person in question was undoubtedly Elise Ben, only now looking nothing like a dignified lady; the style of the rope binding her was all too familiar to him, as if the work of a master of rope art, triggering his passive memory.

"It was Mr. Anthony’s suggestion; he said her muscles were unusually well-developed, probably like Ms. Shandela, and the effects of anesthesia might be greatly reduced anyway." Ailuodi walked over to the desk, grabbed Chaoyang’s teacup, and gulped down a mouthful, "It turns out he was right. She woke up halfway through the flight. If she hadn’t been tied up, I probably would’ve had to knock her out again to bring her here. Oh... it was Qianyuan Meiko who tied her up, quite securely."

Truly befitting the scion of the Qianyuan Family, her knowledge was indeed extensive.

Chaoyang thought to himself.

And Ailuodi... Six months ago, it would’ve been hard to imagine an Angel kidnapping someone, but now she was talking about it without any guilt. It seemed a good environment really did breed talent.

"Mmph! Mmph!" Hearing the words "I brought her to you," Elise’s struggle intensified, and her eyes were sharp enough to kill.

This was a massive misunderstanding.

Chaoyang sighed and reached over to remove the cloth from her mouth.

"Cough cough... You, you are the messenger of the Paradise Sect!? Why are you here? Where is the Magic Goddess Kokomoqi!"

Unexpectedly, Elise’s first words were not of concern for her own situation, but an interrogation about what he had done to the Magic Goddess.

"She’s quite fine, apart from losing the contest," he replied.

"You’re lying! How could the Magic Goddess lose to a—"

Elise suddenly froze.

What had Lady Kokomoqi said before meeting him?

"...Perhaps he is the very Paradise Master you mentioned before."

"You are... the Paradise Master?"

"Mm-hmm." Chaoyang passed his hand over his face, and his features shifted instantly to another visage—his early disguise as a private detective, "Do you remember me now?"

Elise’s eyes widened, still somewhat disbelieving, "You are... the man who debated with me in the street! At the Magnificent Castle!"

"Good memory." Chaoyang nodded, reverting back to his original form, "It’s somewhat rude to bring you here in this manner, but I hope you believe me, we have no ill intentions."

"...Every villain starts by saying that," Elise bit her lip, her face full of suspicion, "I’ve seen the news... There was a serious Heretical Cult incident at the Magnificent Castle."

"Misunderstandings are normal, but I think it’ll be cleared up soon," Chaoyang remarked, glancing occasionally at the door, "I will untie the ropes binding you, but for the time being, please don’t move around. I don’t want to turn my office into a mess."

"An office?" Elise surveyed her surroundings and realized that this place indeed was stacked with various documents and books, "are you in charge of the Paradise Sect’s affairs?"

"What about it?"

"Divinities... aren’t they supposed to disregard the mundane affairs of the human world?" She expressed her confusion.

"Uh... you could say that each divinity has their own temperament," Chaoyang shrugged, then with a snap of his fingers, the ropes binding her body suddenly disappeared—player equipment carried on their person are naturally shaped from wishing power, and could be dispelled at any moment, "Also, an old friend of yours wants to meet you, she’s already here."

Before Elise could respond, a knock on the door sounded, "Archbishop, I have arrived. Did you want to see me for something?"

The door opened, and entering was none other than Shandela Allen.

Upon seeing her friend, Elise’s mouth dropped open, then she clenched her fists, "You really—betrayed me! I shouldn’t have—"

"Elise?" Shandela was momentarily taken aback upon seeing the young lady, then quickly ran over and wrapped her in a tight embrace, "I’m so glad you’re here too! I was worried that they might give you a hard time if I left on my own..."

"You’ve thrown in your lot with the Paradise Sect... why would you still care about my circumstances?" Elise was caught off guard by her warmth, greatly surprised.

"I haven’t betrayed you... especially after knowing what happened at Thistlefort, I think leaving the Snow Country was the right choice," Shandela clearly knew what her friend needed the most, "But we can talk about this later. The Paradise Sect is not an ally of Duke Longjiu, quite the opposite, they are willing to eradicate the greedy Mechanical Sect and the Longjiu Army. From that perspective, the Kingdom Army isn’t an enemy to the Paradise Sect."

"Yet they resorted to force to bring me here..."

"Because you definitely wouldn’t have agreed to come to Thistlefort, right?" Shandela glanced at Chaoyang, "I understand your feelings, but please believe me, this Mr. Chaoyang is definitely not a malicious person. Didn’t you say before that you wanted to introduce me to someone? Actually, that person is..."

"Yes, now I realize that I actually had the audacity to think of introducing a divinity. I was truly ignorant," Elise said self-deprecatingly.

"Why not explain the situation directly with the Dream Entering Technique?" Ailuodi whispered.

"No," Chaoyang replied, "Implanting memories at a time like this might backfire. Let Shandela explain it slowly, we’re not short on time. And I know... Elise will certainly believe her."

The two indeed talked for a long time.

They talked from the afternoon into the deep night.

When Chaoyang finished his work and returned to the office, Shandela and Elise were still chatting away, with a pot of tea still warm on the stove beside them. This time, the look Elise gave Chaoyang no longer held the caution and hostility from before.

She even stood up, lifted the non-existent hem of her dress, and gave him a noble curtsey, "I apologize, I had previously thought that the Paradise Sect was a Heretical Cult, not realizing it was you who thwarted the Evil God’s schemes at Magnificent Castle."

"It’s no problem, the Paradise Sect is after all a newly established sect, and it’s normal for outsiders to misunderstand it," Chaoyang said indifferently.

"I have a question... the Magic Goddess... She really is alright?"

"You care about her?"

Elise hesitated slightly, "After the Kingdom Army’s devastating defeat, I thought no one left in the world could stop Duke Longjiu and the Mechanical Sect, but it was she who made me see the hope of victory again..."

So that’s how it is. Learning that the often elusive divinities had suddenly come together to help a defeated group resist, to those who had hit rock bottom, this was indeed like a lifeline. Sometimes, it even evolved into faith in the divinities. Chaoyang nodded, "Don’t worry, our exchange was friendly, and she was not harmed in any way. And if I’m not wrong, she might even come to Thistlefort. Just wait a day or two more, and you might be able to meet the Magic Goddess yourself."

Elise couldn’t help but be surprised, "Is that true?"

"Mr. Chaoyang has not spoken a single lie to date," Shandela was very confident of this, "Just you wait and see."

...

Meanwhile, to the north of Thistlefort, within the dark, primordial forest.

Kokomoqi stumbled along through the woods, her steps uneven, occasionally floating up to look around, but no matter how far she strained her eyes, she could not find the lights of the city.

After deep consideration, she confirmed her current situation—

She was lost.