The terrain within the labyrinth underwent a complete change. Houses collapsed, and the soldiers of both factions toppled to the ground. This entire region was flattened.

  Roel and Wade’s clash created a force far beyond imagination. A huge cloud of dust rose into the sky like a soaring dragon, and it took a long while before everything finally settled down.

  There was only one person left standing at the center of the explosion, and it was a black-haired boy. He set his eyes on the collapsed Wade before staggering over with his strained body.

  Without a doubt, Wade had lost in the collision of power. Due to Roel’s weak body, Grandar had only exerted enough strength to nullify Wade’s spell, but this was more than enough to achieve victory. Wade was simply too severely injured by the earlier attack from Ponte and Victoria that he couldn’t sustain himself anymore after losing almost all of his mana.

  “I don’t understand. You are a heretic. Why do you stand in my way?”


  Wade was weakened to the extent that he couldn’t even rise to his feet anymore. From the moment he expended his vitality to force a breakthrough to Origin Level 2, it had already become a battle against time for him to defeat Victoria and Ponte before his body caved in. Strictly speaking, he had lost not to Roel but to himself.

  Knowing this, Roel didn’t put on the attitude of a victor before Wade.

  He dragged his fatigued body over to Wade’s side, and he looked at the latter with eyes filled, not with scorn, but respect. He pondered Wade’s question before slowly giving his reply.

  “There are many reasons. For one, rather than stirring up a huge war of unification, I believe it’s more worthwhile to devote our resources to improving the lives of the populace instead. But, if I really have to choose one…… if I were to give you an opportunity to raise your arms to protect your loved ones, would you grasp it?” said Roel as he glanced at a golden-haired girl running toward him.

  It was Nora, who had overcome the shockwave through her magic tool. She heard Roel’s words on her way over, and her footsteps suddenly came to a halt. Wade happened to glance over at this moment, and the two of them met each other’s eyes.

  “I see. It looks like we’re the same type of people……”


  Wade stared into the boundless sky as the image of his mother, Consort Mary, flashed before his eyes.

  “It’s just that I was unable to raise my arms when my loved one was in danger. When I was finally ready to protect her, she was already no longer around.”


  Listening to Wade’s remark, Roel suddenly felt a little conflicted on the inside. Wade was someone who had devoted his life to erasing the tragedy he had once suffered. He rose to fight for the heretics, raising a revolution to bring them a brighter future. Yet, at the same time, he brought suffering and death to many innocents. Roel couldn’t help but wonder if he would have walked down the same path had he been in Wade’s shoes.

  There was a long moment of silence between them before Roel finally spoke up.

  “You might have failed in your revolution, but you were still a worthy emperor for your people.”


  “Oh? And you still turned against me?”


  “I recognize your talents and your spirit, but I oppose your goal and your ambitions.”


  “Is that so? What a traitorous subject you are. Young lass, it looks like you’ll suffer quite a bit in the future.”


  There was an indistinct smile on Wade’s lips as he watched Nora walking over to Roel’s side to support him. His words seemed to carry a deeper meaning, and it left Nora at a loss as to how she should respond.

  Looking at these two young children, Wade suddenly felt the wrath that had been burning within him ever since Mary’s death slowly coming to a rest.

  Maybe these two children will lead the Theocracy to a better place than I ever could? If this boy’s strength were to be paired with the Xeclydes’ unique abilities……

  As such thoughts crossed Wade’s mind, his expression gradually eased up, as if he had let go of all of the baggage weighing him down. Under Nora and Roel’s watch, he closed his eyes for the final time.

  【The goals of the Witness State have been fulfilled. Remaining time left: 4 hours 2 minutes】【Evaluation: Perfect (102)】


  “Roel, what’s wrong?”


  As soon as Roel saw the word ‘Perfect’ reflected in the System, his body finally reached its limit. He wobbled unsteadily on his feet, and he would have fallen to the ground if not for Nora noticing it in time and supporting him.

  “It’s noth…… Alright, it’s something. I don’t have the strength to continue standing anymore.”


  Roel was barely standing, he felt completely expended. The only thing keeping him upright was his arm flung over Nora’s shoulders. Truthfully, he could barely feel anything in his body at all. The aftereffects of tapping into Grandar’s overwhelming strength had taken a huge strain on his body, such that his consciousness had started blurring. He even wondered if he would pass away like Wade as soon as he closed his eyes.

  Breathing in the scent of Nora’s body, Roel tried his best to pull himself together. He took a look at the latest notification coming from the System.

  【Remaining time left: 4 minutes 42 seconds】


  Roel heaved a sigh of relief. The time had updated. After three days of heart-thumping danger, the two of them were finally going to leave this place alive. His eyes turned a little moist just thinking about it.

  One must know that Roel lived a privileged life of luxury prior to coming to this place. Dealing with a couple of kids was already his limit. To suddenly be put through such a trial was honestly far too much of a leap ahead. Nevertheless, in order to protect Nora and awaken his bloodline, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and persevere through crisis after crisis.

  After all his effort, he was finally going to leave this place in 4 minutes’ time. There probably wasn’t enough time to say farewell to Ponte and the others, though it was likely that he wouldn’t be able to do it anyway with the restrictions on speech here.

  With such thoughts in mind, Roel began sharing the news with Nora.

  “Nora, we’ll be leaving……”


  “Are the two of you fine?”


  It was then that Ponte and Victoria arrived at the scene too, interrupting Roel’s words. Victoria swiftly noticed that Wade had stopped moving altogether and froze on the spot. Tears formed in her eyes, and she began to weep silently over the death of her younger twin brother. Ponte moved forward to console her.

  Victoria knew that this wasn’t a good time and place to be grieving over Wade’s death, so she quickly pulled herself back together and turned to Roel to ask for Wade’s dying words. However, when she saw the state that Roel was in, she jolted in astonishment.

  “What happened? His body has undergone undead reanimation?”


  Victoria took a closer look at Roel’s physical state before remarking with widened eyes. Ponte also quickly examined Roel’s condition and frowned.

  “How did things turn out like that? Could it be the price demanded by an ancient god?”


  “Undead reanimation? Ancient god?”


  Looking at the anxious faces of his two predecessors, Roel implicitly understood that they were referring to Grandar. His body had lost all feeling after that powerful straight jab pulled off by the giant. Most likely, his joints and nerves must have been severely damaged by having to exert a force beyond what they could withstand. The realization of just how terrible a state he was in made his cheeks twitch a little.

  However, before he could make a fuss about the condition he was in, someone else was already doing it for him.

  “We don’t have any mana left…… Quick, Nora! You should be the one to do it!”


  “Ah? I’m afraid that I don’t have any spells that aid in recovery.”


  “No, that’s not what I meant. Don’t you have one of the Twelve Wings weapons with you?”


  Victoria shot a glance at the short sword hanging by Roel’s waist and quickly drew it out. She stuffed it into Nora’s hands and urged.

  “Use this!”


  “Use…… this?”


  Facing the dumbstruck Roel and Nora, it finally dawned on Victoria that these two children were oblivious to the many uses of the Twelve Wings series. Heaving a deep sigh, she began explaining to them.

  “Your mana fused together during the unsealing of the blade, which resulted in the incubation of an ability within it. So, by using it as a medium, it’s possible for you to transfer mana to one another to some extent, be it through an exchange of blood or intimate contact.”


  Roel was still initially nodding in agreement with Victoria’s words, but the last few phrases that she mentioned nearly made his eyes bulge out.

  Wait a moment. Exchange of blood? Intimate contact?!

  He was getting a very bad feeling about this, and he really wanted Victoria to stop speaking. However, Victoria paid no heed to his silent plea whatsoever and continued ‘imparting knowledge’ to Nora.

  “He can’t afford to lose any more blood, or else his condition will worsen. You’ll have to sacrifice yourself in order to save him!”


  The opportunistic Victoria instinctively knew that this was a good chance to play the wingman and help her ‘little sister’ score a homerun. If things go well, it would be killing two birds in one stone……

  No —Victoria shot a glance at Ponte— it would be three birds in one stone……

  So, she looked at Nora intently and threw a discreet straight ball right over.

  “Nora, are you certain that you have chosen him? You won’t regret this?”


  Victoria’s words were a secret message known only by the Xeclydes. As descendants of angels, the Xeclydes valued purity very highly. Every Xeclyde, be it man or woman, could only have a single companion for life. Regardless of how lacking they were in offspring, the virtue of purity took precedence over everything else.

  Nora quickly understood Victoria’s intentions. Her sapphire eyes widened as her face reddened in embarrassment. Roel sharply noticed that there was something wrong with the atmosphere, so he quickly interjected.

  “If I may ask, what are the two of you talking……”


  “Roel, my apologies, but I’ll have to ask you to hold your tongue for now.”


  Roel: “???”


  In a rare show of blatant dominance, Nora silenced Roel with a sharp tone. Meanwhile, Ponte understood what Victoria was driving at, and he looked at the two children before him doubtfully, wondering if they were still too young to make such a decision.

  “Victoria, don’t you think that……”


  “Teacher, you should stay out of this.”


  Ponte: “???”


  The two princesses of the Xeclydes displayed their dominant personalities, leaving the two subdued Ascart boys looking at one another. They suddenly realized just how low of a standing they seemed to have before these two women.

  “Nora, if you have already made up your mind, go ahead and do what you have to. Don’t end up like me. Even though I won’t let him get away, things aren’t that easy for me anymore.”


  Victoria shared the lessons she had learned from her personal experiences, and Nora nodded in agreement too. The Ascart boys had an incredibly frustrating tendency to reach out to them but not do anything at all. Yet, when they tried to approach them, they would back away out of fear. With such thoughts in mind, Nora’s eyes became firm.

  “I understand.”


  Nora responded to Victoria with affirmation before she turned her eyes toward the confused boy beside her.

  No, wait a moment. What do you understand?

  Roel was still bewildered by the current turn of events. These two girls seemed to be speaking in riddles that he couldn’t understand. But, for some reason, he felt that there was something dangerous in the gaze Nora was directing toward him. It was a predatory gaze, yet it carried a hint of tenderness and warmth too. In any case, it was just weird!

  “Since you have made up your mind, I wish you all the best!”


  Victoria struck Nora’s back in encouragement as a burst of green light rose from her head. Before the dumbstruck Roel could react, Nora had already supported his body upward and sealed his lips.

  “Wuu!”


  Roel couldn’t even begin to wrap his head around what was happening. Then, a notification came in.

  【Countdown ended. Commencing return.】