Mystic Overlord: Reading Gives Strength-Chapter 1264 - 1258: A Simple Objective

Old Yang?

Is she calling me?

——A voice all too familiar.

——A form of address Ronald thought he might never hear again.

These two reasons prevented Ronald from reacting impulsively after being stopped. Instead, he turned his gaze towards the person.

Fiery red hair, a teasing gaze that seemed to both smile and not smile.

Catherine stood in the shadows of the street, greeting Ronald.

"I originally thought you'd come over tomorrow."

"But seeing as you're here now—should I revise my predictive spell model?"

Before Ronald could respond, Lilu, seeing their familiarity, asked her curiosity:

"Old Yang? Ronald, is she calling you?"

"..."

How should he answer that?

Ronald had buried that name deep in his memory.

He had told Catherine that name because he and Bapulor were about to leave the [Infinite Negative Field], while Catherine stayed behind alone for their final farewell.

It was just the result of the atmosphere at the time!

But now, upon reuniting, who knew Catherine would start with that?

"Ronald is just Ronald. Why care so much about what you're called?"

Catherine stepped in to help him out of the bind.

Then, the magic fluctuations within this master of astronomy, not transcending humanity, began to manifest:

"Elijah Baley steadfastly resists the fear within…"

A spell from the "Galactic Empire" series was activated.

A powerful spell curtain enveloped Ronald and the others, forming an invisible, intangible yet existent special entity.

The pursuit of the fire element had just arrived.

It was a non-humanoid, massive, spherical fire element aggregate.

It rampaged down the street, scorching everything in its path.

However, oddly enough, it didn't notice Ronald and Lilu, his targets, as it barreled past them, akin to a lost soul uncertain of its destination.

"..."

Bare Sun—a spell from the "Galactic Empire."

Ronald immediately discerned Catherine's cloaking spell and understood the general situation.

At the moment, the spell's curtain disguised their presence as cold steel, making outsiders perceive them as lifeless machinery.

Regarding the fire element rampaging within the city…

Unless Catherine voluntarily disrupted the spell, it would have no chance of finding its true target.

"Catherine, where are Costate and Il?" Knowing the situation, Ronald immediately shifted topics, "According to what I gathered, you must've brought them here, right?"

Catherine smiled subtly, not immediately giving a detailed response:

"They're safe now, let's talk as we walk."

The master of astronomy had clearly operated in this city for more than just a day, guiding Ronald and Lilu through the city with a clear goal, moving swiftly and familiarly. Until the fiery and confused fire element was far behind, the three arrived at a dilapidated square.

Aside from the three of them, there was no living thing here.

After all, no buildings surrounded the square for anyone to hide in, and lava accumulated in the sunken square, forming a lake of fire—an obvious hazard.

But Ronald sharply sensed a difference.

A powerful, aggressive magic power had subdued the active lava here, preventing any unexpected incidents.

"Catherine, impressive work," Ronald couldn't help but remarked.

"Just a little trick, nothing like your current impressive abilities," Catherine offhandedly dismissed the remark and then led Ronald and Lilu to sit on a step in the square.

Sizzle—

"Eek!"

Lilu leapt up as soon as she sat down.

The ground near the lava lake was searing hot, ignorable for Ronald and Catherine, but not for a mermaid.

"..."

Lilu caught the gazes from Ronald and Catherine, unsurprisingly blushing.

"It's… it's kind of hot here."

Awkwardly uttering a sentence, Lilu placed her bag beneath her before sitting down again.

Catherine teasingly commented to Ronald:

"Ronald, your new friend is quite adorable."

Ronald shrugged and got straight to the point:

"Catherine, tell me the whereabouts of Costate and Il first. I know you wouldn't lie to me, but I can't stop worrying right away."

Catherine looked around the square, as the golden glow of the fire city reflected in her eyes, and then replied to Ronald:

"Regarding them, I mainly utilized their non-human identities."

"There's no pressing trouble right now, so I sent them back to Barrier Mountain via a cross-realm passage."

"So theoretically—" Ronald deduced, "if I hadn't come in here and waited by the lava lake, I would have already reunited with them?"

"Hahaha," Catherine laughed unsurprisingly, patting Ronald's shoulder, "that wouldn't work because here, I have a need only you can fulfill."

Ronald's tone relaxed:

"I get it, just saying."

"But Catherine, I have a question—did your earlier misdirection deliberately lead us toward earth and water elements?"

"Earth elements? Water elements?"

Catherine was momentarily taken aback but quickly returned to normal.

Then the master of astronomy started explaining:

"The traces I left were primarily based on predictive history to yield more valuable information and increase our mission's success rate."

Ronald didn't care about the switch from 'I' to 'we' in Catherine's speech. He calmly accepted the outcome and began recounting his experience:

"Along that path, Lilu and I first arrived in the realm ruled by mountains, inadvertently disturbing a dormant earth elemental giant…"

All three were in the [Quadrant Sky], so Ronald had no reason to withhold information.

After hearing the entirely foreign journey, Catherine contemplated earnestly before activating a spell for a prediction. She then returned to the conversation state. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"Ronald, it must've been tough for you."

"This is crucial for our upcoming mission."

Firstly, Catherine slightly bowed as a token of appreciation for Ronald, as it was her guidance.

Then, the master of astronomy succinctly revealed her objective, pointing to the center of the fire city where the lava lake lay:

"Allow me to explain now."

"Our goal is straightforward—kill him."