Hilia led the way, with Blake and the others following behind, entering a cave hidden within a tree hollow.
Alina was right behind Blake, watching Hilia's back with a hint of confusion.
As her mentor, Alina had interacted with Hilia many times, and she felt that Hilia was a bit different at this moment.
She couldn't say exactly what it was—maybe less innocence, and more confidence mixed with a kind of disdain for everything… arrogance?
But since Alina had been busy with her coursework and sect-related tasks, she wasn't all that familiar with Hilia anyway. She just thought Hilia had matured.
As for the others, they'd only just met Hilia today, so they had even less clue about her changes.
Not that she'd changed much, she'd just swapped out for a different Evil God stand-in.
"The final trigger for the Self-Destruct Rune is combat inside the stronghold. There should be a lot of deathsworn waiting for us in there. We cannot engage them in battle."
