Unless the other party had deliberately changed their appearance to toy with her, either this person did not exist at all or was hidden far too deeply to appear in ordinary Book. What surprised her was that she did find information about Lilith, whom she had assumed to be some ancient legend. The records described a Witch who had risen to fame on The Continent in recent decades, noting only a rough appearance and title.
The only certainty was that Lilith was extremely strong and clearly extraordinary. Details were scarce, but the Second Prince of Parret had personally guided her before, which said enough. Alba sighed, rubbing her temples as irritation grew with every page.
"There's still no clue, and the more I read, the more annoyed I get. This is strange, I never felt like this even with history textbooks, so why do these religious books feel so unbearable?" She looked at the pile of Book beside her and gave up for now, not because the content was truly dull, but because she simply could not bring herself to continue.
Reading on only left her sweating, mentally exhausted, and weighed down by an unexplainable sense of fatigue. Forcing herself further made her feel close to throwing up. In the end, she pushed the stack aside.
She picked up a single Book with a white-gold cover of the White Tier tier. A radiant gem-like Sphere was set into its surface, surrounded by rings of gilded patterns. She stared at it, murmuring, "The power of Holy Light… what exactly does it have to do with this Book?"
This question had been on Alba's mind for days. Through experimenting with the book, she had noticed several odd details and its unique traits. The original task content and the System functions were still there, spells were still drawn at random, but now it could support four or five uses a day.
The task description still displayed that lonely objective of finding the Abyss Evil God. The only change was a progress bar marked 0/1 beneath it, and when Alba connected that to her current destination, her heart sank. Was there really a Abyss Evil God lurking under the Church of Holy Light in Holy City?
She almost laughed at the thought, imagining the Otherworld pulling the same old trick of the Church of Holy Light secretly being the final villain. Still, she had already half accepted the idea. Anyone targeting her would never give her something simple to do, and for a being of the God level to scheme, the target could only be something of equal standing.
Another thing that troubled her was her own Holy Light. After some research, she realized just how outrageous her past behavior had been, and no longer wondered why Elvin had looked at her that way. It was like seeing a new intern casually stamping official seals with no consequences, making anyone question who they really were.
The scale and growth rate of her power were astonishing. Ordinary users of Holy Light could never recover like she did, sleeping it off overnight after exhaustion. They usually needed long periods of practice and devout Prayer to replenish themselves, and the reason she could use it so freely lay with this Book.
After that earlier incident, Alba felt something in herself had changed. Those vague perceptions were now certain, and the source supplying her Holy Light was the Book she carried with her. Considering where the book came from, she could not help but wonder whether what she used was truly Holy Light.
Elvin and Raina had both firmly confirmed that it was Holy Light, and an extremely rare form at that. So she decided to keep calling it that for now. Still, her feelings toward the god behind it were complicated.
She had spent so long fearing that this being meant her harm, only to find nothing of the sort. In fact, she had gained countless benefits, using their Holy Light without any visible side effects, saving herself and others many times over. Yet if it truly meant no harm, then her arrival in this world and all these troubles might still have been pushed along by that unseen hand.
Whenever it acted, it acted big, jumping straight to events like the descent of the Evil God. The task conditions were growing harder and more unreasonable by the day. In the end, everything still seemed to be under its control, perfectly contained, with almost no victims except herself.
If she lacked resolve, everything would fall apart. Combined with that earlier encouragement to act boldly, it felt like being pushed to stir up another major incident. "I'm just an ordinary person… right?" she muttered, then sighed, unable to convince even herself anymore.
With her thoughts laid bare, she could no longer cover her ears and pretend ignorance. The key was that Holy Light. The Book only amplified her power and sped up recovery, and she could clearly feel that the power itself came from her. If she tried to refuse external replenishment, the strength and scale of Holy Light would drop sharply.
When she channeled Holy Light into the Book, the cover grew slightly warm. At the very least, the book's appearance was extraordinary, from the dazzling gem-like Sphere at its center to the elegant gilded lines. The patterns, like molten Gold, intertwined across the clean White Tier cover, forming the image of a three-headed Dragon with wings spread.
Layers of the Sun radiated outward through the design on the back. Judging by its style alone, Alba could not link it to that pitch-black god she had encountered before. She realized she might be judging by appearances, but if that god looked more like this book, she might not feel so uneasy.
"Forget it, I'll stop thinking about this for now and go out for a walk." She paused, then added quietly, "Why did I come to this world anyway? I'm supposed to be a traveler, so why does this Otherworld feel so familiar?"
She pushed open the door and instinctively shielded her eyes. By time reckoning, it should have been night, but the light here came from the Holy Sword. There was no darkness, no visible path of the Sun, only the brightness of noon or near-noon.
The Holy City itself also emitted a natural glow, living up to its reputation as a land favored by the God. Still, Alba felt that this light was somehow different from her own Holy Light, in a way she could not quite explain. She skillfully layered disguises on herself, donning a plain robe, tying her hair back, and using small Magic tools to dye it black.
Her eyes were harder to hide. No lenses could cover that golden glow, though she could usually restrain it a bit. "I'll go clear my head, and see if there's anyone I can help," she said softly.
She walked straight out the front gate without hesitation. The guards did not stop her, only nodding respectfully, and no escort followed. After the previous incident, if she had not spoken so much along the way, these resurrected soldiers would likely still be calling her My Lord at every turn.
The Simulator had effectively shut down centuries ago, reduced to a decorative icon in the corner. Alba no longer expected it to simulate anything, since later simulations were no different from facing reality itself. As for safety, she carried the Book close, and felt no real worry about her life.
If anything truly dangerous appeared, Elvin was flying overhead and certainly not blind. By now, she was probably already cutting down enemies without pause. Outside Holy City, markets had naturally formed where crowds gathered, and Alba moved through them before deciding on the food street.
It was more of an entertainment street than just food, with stalls and performances lining the way. She had come to relax, after all. Shouts echoed from all sides, drawing attention with exaggerated claims.
One call made her stop. She turned to look, curious who could possibly use a chest Shard in a performance. On a raised platform in the crowd, she saw a blonde girl swinging a massive hammer down onto a huge stone placed on a black-haired girl's chest.
The force was very real, the wind from it brushing Alba's ears. With a thunderous crash, the stone, the hammer, and even part of the platform shattered into Shard. The black-haired girl then sat up calmly, raised her hands, and the crowd erupted into applause.
Alba felt her brain struggle to keep up. Was this really the Otherworld? Another shout followed, announcing Icelis's act of eating seven ice creams in one second, and the cheers grew louder.
She noticed that other performers nearby had been completely overshadowed by these girls. Finding it amusing, she bought a skewer of food and looked for a seat. In the distance, she spotted a black-haired girl sitting on a bench, holding a white-gold Book.