On the hilly terrain, two young men standing in front of one another collapsed to the ground. In the distance, the avatars of the battling ancient gods dissipated and vanished from the world.

  Roel’s body was in a horrible state at the moment, but there was a faint smile persisting on his lips. He was in a good mood at the moment, feeling like he had accomplished something momentous.

  When he initiated Glacier Heart, there were only less than twenty seconds left to the end of his enhancement. Back then, there were still two possibilities surrounding Ro Ascart’s constant revival, for he knew that there were two possibilities when it came to eliminating shadows.

  One was to vanquish all light in the surroundings, fulfilling the adage ‘shadows cannot exist in the absence of light’. The other was a concept that had yet to exist in the Sia Continent, ‘shadowless light’.

  The former would still be much easier to pull off. Roel had many ways to achieve that effect, the white fog he had cast earlier being one of them. However, he wasn’t one to leave things to chance, so he made preparations for the second case too.

  The difficulty of vanquishing all shadows was indubitably much higher. It was arguable whether shadows existed in the absence of light, but the presence of light naturally cast shadows.

  So, how could Roel achieve that effect?

  It was unlikely that anyone in the Sia Continent had a perfect answer to this question. There were many spells that utilized shadows but none that specialized in vanquishing shadows, for shadows weren’t a product of mana.

  There was hardly any research on the Sia Continent on that aspect, but there was something in Roel’s previous life that could roughly produce that effect.

  Shadowless lamps.

  It was an important invention for the medical industry in Roel’s previous life, mainly used for surgical purposes. The theory was centered around using multiple light sources from different angles in order to remove contrast shadows, achieving a high level of shadow dilution.

  Admittedly, it couldn’t remove all shadows either, but it should be enough to go to this extent.

  Ro Ascart’s ability was indeed powerful, but the law of the world dictated that powerful spells had severe activation conditions too. The fact that he was unable to revive under the intense concentration of light was proof of that law in action.

  It had been a truly tough fight, be it the initial illusion spell, the clash of the ancient gods, and the duel between frost and flame, but Roel still achieved victory in the end. He triumphed over the higher level Ro Ascart, and he thought that it was something to be proud of even if the latter was just an unintelligent fake.

  The real Ro Ascart would have likely concealed the secret of his undying spell much better, doing all sorts of misdirections through his words and actions.

  “Tsk, what a monster,” remarked Roel as he tried his best to push himself up.

  It was then that a chuckle sounded behind him, causing his body to completely freeze up.

  “Don’t say that. You’re breaking my heart.”
……

  A light breeze whistled through the darkness as Roel stiffly turned his head around to look at the thin figure behind him in a daze. There was a huge question looming in his head at the moment.

  W-why is he speaking?!

  Roel was certain that the Ring Guardians created by the dungeon possessed no sentience, and that was the case for the Rodrick clone and the Ro Ascart clone he fought earlier on. It was precisely due to this flaw that the Origin Level 4 freshmen stood a chance against them.

  Yet, the clone suddenly started talking to him. More importantly, there was a change in his gaze.

  Roel stared at the helpless but amicable eyes directed toward him from Ro Ascart, and his lower jaw fell slackened.

  It was almost certain that the person standing before him did possess sentience, and the inexplicable sense of familiarity Roel felt toward him made it likely that he was the real Ro Ascart!

  “Y-you……”


  Roel pointed to the young man before him with a shaky finger, but he couldn’t find the words to express his thoughts. On the other hand, Ro sighed deeply.

  “Even though it’s just a doll that possesses my skills, I didn’t think that I would actually be defeated. Should I say, as expected of a descendent of our Ascart House? What’s your name?”


  “R-Roel……”


  “So your name is Roel?”


  There was a complex look in Ro’s eyes as he murmured Roel’s name.

  He’s able to reach such a level despite being only at Origin Level 4. On top of that, those two ancient gods……

  Ro assessed the descendant before him with narrowed eyes. His memory of the earlier battle was a little fragmented, but he could still remember bits and pieces. Putting aside the mystical formation of mirrors Roel had used in the final comeback, the two ancient gods fighting alongside him also far surpassed his expectations.

  Even the descendants of the Ascart House wouldn’t be able to find ancient gods of that caliber easily. Summoning a specific ancient god required a relic, but acquiring that relic was so difficult that it was almost like finding a specific pebble in a vast ocean. It was also possible to summon ancient gods without using any relic, but that would be pretty much praying for a jackpot, not to mention that it would be extremely dangerous as well.

  The relics served as a suppression tool that allowed them to exert some level of control on the ancient gods, and the absence of them meant that they would have to personally negotiate with the ancient gods, which were nigh impossible to succeed due to how fussy they tended to be.

  How did he manage to make those monsters submit to him? Could they not be in a master-servant relationship? Wouldn’t that be extremely dangerous then?

  But what’s more concerning is that freezing ability of his. It’s not an ability of the ancient gods, but it harnesses the aura of the Crown. If I’m not mistaken, it’s likely to be that……

  That realization turned Ro’s face grim, but his attention was soon captured by the pendant Roel wore around his neck. He leaned in to take a closer look, only for his eyes to narrow a little upon seeing the clear amber.

  “Adamantine amber? You’ve met Kayde?”


  “Yeah, Kayde gave this to me,” replied Roel with a nod.

  He realized that this was an opportunity for him to verify what he had heard from Kayde and gather more information, so he continued asking.

  “I have been to the Karon Forest. One of the reasons why I came to the Saint Freya Academy is to seek out the Twilight Sages Assembly’s ‘Academic’. That was your goal back then, right? Did you manage to find him?”


  That question made Ro’s face darken a little. He slowly shook his head before posing an odd question that appeared to be completely unrelated to their conversation.

  “What’s the frequency of the Ascart Bloodline’s awakening recently?”


  “Hm…… I should be the only one who has awakened the Ascart Bloodline in the last three centuries since your passing.”


  Ro fell deathly silent upon hearing the number. I

  “Is that so? It’s still fine. At least you’re here. There’ll be hope as long as you’re here……”


  It took him a long while before he finally spoke up once more, but his voice was so soft and hoarse that it sounded almost as if he was trying to reassure himself.

  Roel looked at his despondent ancestor and sighed softly. He could see where the latter was coming from.

  I guess any noble house that only produces a descendant who awakens to its bloodline once every few centuries could be considered to have fallen in decline. As one of the greatest patriarchs of the Ascart House, it must have been hard for him to bear the news.

  After a short moment of silence, Roel posed a doubt that had been floating in his mind.

  “If I may ask, what’s your current situation?”


  “This is a fragment of my consciousness that was left behind to serve as a Ring Guardian.”


  “I see…… Does your sudden appearance mean that there’s some crucial information or task you wish to relay to me?”


  Roel glanced at the dagger he had plunged into Ro’s body as he posed his question quickly, fearing that the latter would suddenly drop dead in the middle of the words as cliché to such development of events. Ro contemplated deeply for a moment before replying.

  “I do have something I need you to handle…… Are there any daughters of the Ackermanns studying in the academy at the moment?”


  “Yes, there is one……” replied Roel slowly as he blinked his eyes in confusion.

  Ro’s eyes lit up upon hearing the answer. He excitedly slapped Roel’s shoulder and exclaimed in delight.

  “That’s wonderful! Here’s your mission—knock her up!”