Sonia glanced sideways at Ash, returning the warmth in her eyes back to the sunset, her eyes shining like rubies, unguarded in displaying so pure emotion.
Ash blinked his eyes, but before he could react, the doorbell rang again.
"How coincidental, you all are here?"
The oak door was slamd open with a bang, and the Witch practically slid inside, striding over in two steps to their side, asking, "Is this Void material really that good, that you all are here?"
Although she said this, Diya’s gaze stayed fixed on the bag next to Sonia. Sonia, observing Diya’s sudden change into a similarly styled yet more mischievously charming combat outfit, intuitively understood everything and flashed a glance at Ash.
This was bad.
Ash was most worried about this—if they had all drawn swimsuits or all regular clothes, it wouldn’t matter, but the Witch was in regular attire, whereas the Sword Maiden was in a swimsuit. The discrepancy between functionality and appeal was so great that if the Sword Maiden hadn’t spoken harshly just now, Ash might have already backed down.
He should have just given the gift to the Witch!
At most, the Sword Maiden would just get angry, unlike now where there was also a hint of disdain.
And if there had been a chance to see the Sword Maiden in her swimsuit before, now with the Witch appearing in her new outfit, the Sword Maiden, who cared the most about her own image, would under no circumstances wear it.
At this point, all Ash could do was to tell the truth, "On this adventure, I obtained two sets of clothes, and if you wear them in the Void Realm, you will receive enhanced protection. My dark red coat is also one of these, but these clothes are made-to-asure, effective only if you wear them, useless to others."
Ash’s underlying ssage explained why he gave the Witch a standard combat suit and the Sword Maiden a swimsuit because it was beyond his control. Diya proudly spun around to show off her new outfit, then, curious, asked, "Sword Maiden, what did the Observer gift you?"
Sonia turned her head away, "You ask him."
"Custom clothes are not all designed for combat," Ash struggled to explain, "The Sword Maiden’s outfit is just not suitable for everyday wear, but it does have special scenarios it fits... Oh no, it’s ti to pick Void materials, we must hurry!"
The three of them left the coffee shop, each choosing a direction to continue their exploration.
As Ash walked, thinking whether his gift-giving was unfairly biased, suddenly, the back of his neck was struck. He instinctively raised his Holy Domain in defense, turning around to find himself hit by a piece of candy. Looking up, he saw the Sword Maiden walking normally in the distance, who seed not to be the perpetrator.
But if it wasn’t her, it would be strange.
Ash picked up the candy and hurled it back; the candy traced an arc through the warm light and seed about to hit the Sword Maiden on the back of her head when strands of water abruptly surfaced on her, and her right hand swiftly caught the candy.
Moving while casting "Water Moon," her Miracle reached a new level... wait, she used a Miracle for defense?!
The president of the Claw Club turned to face Ash, leisurely opening the wrapper and gently biting the candy, her tongue delicately swirling it into her mouth. Sensing the sweetness of the candy, she squinted her eyes and from a distance mouthed at Ash:
"You owe ."
With that, she disappeared into the crowd in search of more Void materials.
Ash scratched his head, questioning how his well-intended gift ended up making him owe the Sword Maiden an outfit again... a swimsuit could be worn under clothes just fine... this was unreasonable.
However, despite the sudden and non-existent debt, and missing a rare opportunity to swim, the Cult Leader was not the least disheartened. Instead, his mood lightened, and he humd a tune played by Harvey as he continued his search.
Unnoticed by anyone, on a nearby rooftop, Weiser silently watched everything.
She first observed Ash leaving, but her gaze finally rested on the distant Sword Maiden.
In the night market of Black Robe Town, she had pretended to test Ash with the rcury Wooden Horse, concluding that Ash’s "true self" was not a controllable power but more an unpredictable stress response, like a cat refusing to eat in a strange place.
Weiser quickly realized that Ash’s transformation was triggered by her killing Ya Sha Jin, so she used the life or death of a Spirit Mage to test Ash’s reaction.
If Ash truly reverted to his ’true self’ because of this threat, Weiser was ready to use the Host God to break through the Mirror of Flowers’s constraints, using the Spirit Mage’s blood as the paint to stain Ash with his true colors.
Ash, however, held back. Perhaps only by witnessing Death could he awaken from the delusion to the immortal truth.
In fact, Weiser had considered killing everyone else, although difficult, it wasn’t impossible. She had refrained from causing major disturbances in the food factory town, not wanting to alert the Transcend Sect prematurely.
However, she soon realized a flaw in her murderous plan: the Sword Maiden and the Witch.
If living in delusion, Ash was a pet cat, then in truth, he was a wild cat. The best way to turn a pet cat into a wild cat would be to make him holess.
Weiser could manage to eliminate his companions and was very keen on killing the Sword Maiden and the Witch. The thought of Ash losing his sanity to awaken his true nature, and tornting himself in every imaginable way, excited Weiser nearly uncontrollably, longing to imdiately dye Ash’s eyes with the Sword Maiden’s blood.
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