Re: Evolution Online Chapter 357 - What did she see?

Chapter 357 - What did she see?

[Ding. Congratulations. Demon Army has been defeated]
[Ding. Congratulations. Spatial Rift has been cleared]
[Ding. Congratulations. You are the first to conquer a Spatial Rift. Your grand achievement will be etched in history]
[DING. Kingdom Announcement: Congratulations. 'Crimson Abyss' guild has conquered a Spatial Rift.]
[As the first guild to conquer a spatial rift and defeat the demons, 5000 gold coins have been rewarded, 5000 fame points have been awarded. This grand achievement will be etched in history.]
[DING. WORLD ANNOUNCEMENT: Congratulations. 'Crimson Abyss' guild has conquered a Spatial Rift.]
[As the first guild to conquer a spatial rift and defeat the demons, 5000 gold coins have been rewarded, 5000 fame points have been awarded. This grand achievement will be etched in history.]
Everyone was utterly stupified on seeing the series of notifications ring one after the other.
The fight with the Demon General was a bit difficult in that it had taken the team longer to bring him down, but that was about it.
The rest of the fight was just casual, even easier than a dungeon run.
If not for the notifications resounding loudly, everyone would have had difficulty in believing that the fight was actually over.
While all the other guilds were struggling with this, their guild cruised through the mess smoothly to get an easy win.
It was utterly unbelievable.
Just as everyone was standing around in a daze, staring at the system notifications, a bright ray of light suddenly appeared in front of them.
This light was dazzling. It shone brightly as if its mere presence even cleansed the violet world they were in.
"Hmmm?"
"What is this?"
Everyone looked at this odd occurrence in perplexion. Only Liam took a step back, narrowing his eyes.
He knew what this was and yet he frowned because of the strange feeling his body was currently exhibiting.
For some reason, he had an uncomfortable itching.
"Is this perhaps because of…"
His doubt was soon answered when the small ray of light became brighter and brighter.
The single ray became a beam of light that shot from the sky, sending ripples across the violet world.
And from the midst of this light, suddenly an ethereal figure stepped out, a woman dressed in golden robe.
Everyone couldn't help but gasp slightly as they did not expect this. This woman in front of them looked like a goddess descended from the sky.
However, on closer look, she wasn't real, she was just an image, a projection maybe.
Even so, she looked very real. Her skin was pure white in color and her face and body were mesmerizing.
She held a golden staff in her hand and was decked in mysterious jewels from top to bottom.
[Divine Temple Priestess ?????]
"I am priestess Goya. On behalf of the divine temple, I thank you all for your efforts in protecting our world and eradicating the demon army."
The gaze of the goddess-like woman landed on everyone, traveling from one end to the other.
Everyone shuddered because it felt as if she was seeing right through them, scanning every inch of their being, without leaving any secret.
The priestess's gaze momentarily stopped when it landed on Mia, her face revealing a visible shocked expression.
However, it appeared and disappeared quickly, unnoticed by most people. And surprisingly, that was not the only time.
When the priestess once again looked at the remaining people in the group, she looked at Alex and revealed a similar shocked expression.
Liam frowned. He was feeling even more uncomfortable now. Initially, this interaction should last only for a second, why was it dragging on like this?
Just as he thought about it, the gaze of the priestess flickered once again as she looked at the remaining people, and lastly, her gaze landed on him as well.
For a second Liam felt as if he received an electric shock and the expression of the priestess changed.
But unlike before, she did not look pleasantly surprised this time, rather she had a slight look of disdain and disgust.
Liam's frown deepened. He already knew the reason for this.
This priestess was definitely checking everyone's constitution, which he did not think was on her to do list.
Perhaps they were getting this special attention because they were the first to clear a rift?
If he had known this before, he would have never let this happen. What was going to happen? She must have surely seen his nether affinity?
Did she also find out other things? Was something going to happen?
However, unexpectedly the priestess looked calm and composed once again as if nothing was out of place. She simply continued speaking.
"Brave warriors, heroes, and saviors of the human kingdom, the divine temple acknowledges your contribution and opens its gates for your arrival."
"After your return to our world, you may now visit the divine temple to pursue eradicating evil."
"The gates of the temple are always open to you."
And just as the last of her words echoed, the priestess along with the ray of light disappeared.
In her place, a huge portal opened up instead.
Seeing this, Liam breathed a small sigh of relief.
This priestess was supposed to show up, say thanks, and open the portal back to their world.
It was unusual that she lingered around for so long.
For a second, he felt as if something unexpected was about to happen but in the end, things seemed to have settled smoothly.
"Liam, does this mean we will get more quests if we visit the divine temple after this?" Mia asked, breaking the silence.
"Yes. That should be the case." Liam nodded. This was also why the priestess should have hung back and read the extra script.
Either way, he did not want to mull over this at the moment.
Unlike what everyone else was assuming at the moment, they were not done yet with this spatial rift.
So before anyone touched the portal, Liam quickly spoke up. "Wait, don't go near this portal. We still have work to do here."