A brilliant golden radiance reminiscent of the sun’s rays irradiated the fog-covered town, but it brought about not hope but a countdown to death. Under the golden light, Roel collapsed to the ground as if someone had siphoned his soul out.

  But before the old man with the fog lamp could make a second move, Lilian suddenly leaped into the room out of nowhere. She gritted her teeth to endure the soul-rending pain as she pulled Roel tightly into her arms.

  The next moment, four magicians dressed in white garbs appeared out of nowhere and began chanting a cryptic chorale.

  The fog lamp had already dimmed afterhaving subdued Roel, but upon Lilian’s arrival, it released yet another burst of soul-reaping light.

  Lilian stood unfazed against the terrifying attack. Right before the second wave of light was about to strike, her magicians finally completed their incantation and invoked a spatial teleportation spell, bringing them out of this dangerous place.

  Abhorrence warped the old man’s face when he saw the two of them escape. He turned to the four spatial magicians who were left behind and waved his bony hand. The four spatial magicians immediately disappeared as if they had been devoured by the fog.

  After dealing with the remnants of his enemies, the old man’s expression finally eased up a little. He gazed at the depths of the fog and wandered off as if he was searching for something.

  Meanwhile, in an empty room in the town, an embracing couple suddenly appeared out of thin air and tumbled onto the ground.

  “Tok!”


  A loud thud echoed within the room. It was a heavy fall, but Lilian had no time to pay it any heed. The moment she landed in the room, she placed her hand on the floor and invoked the Ackermanns’ specialty spell.

  “Ten Fortresses!”


  With a glow of mana, another layer of walls started forming along the inner perimeter of the dark room. It swiftly closed up to form a small isolated space.

  At the same time, a barely discernible tracking spell swept across Roel and Lilian, but it was unable to pick up on their existence under Ten Fortresses’ protection.

  Lilian looked slightly relieved after she finally completed her defensive measures. She quickly turned her sight toward Roel.

  “Roel, are you alright? Roel?”


  Lilian endured her own discomfort and tried to wake him up, but it was to no avail. Roel refused to regain consciousness no matter what she did. It was only then that she realized that there was something amiss with the situation and hurriedly sat upward to hold Roel’s body.

  “What’s wrong, Roel?”


  Flustered by his lack of response, Lilian anxiously inspected his body, but she was unable to find any wounds on him. Left with no choice, she could only hesitantly raise her hand and place it on his cheek.

  I can’t continue indulging in my bloodline resonance with Roel—this was something she had already made up her mind on, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to bear parting ways with him if she continued getting closer to him.

  She had intended this mission to be her parting gift to Roel, hoping that it could at least reduce the danger he was exposed to. But as if fate was playing a trick on her, the one thing she had been praying for to not happen still came to be.

  Lilian closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. By the time she opened her eyes, her bloodline had already started trembling in resonance.

  As if two ripples had formed on a calm water surface, Roel and Lilian’s bloodlines and mana swiftly achieved synchronization. Despite it being only a slight physical contact, Lilian was able to attain a full understanding of Roel’s current condition.

  Warmth also started spreading from her heart, bringing about a strong feeling of intimacy and fulfillment. It filled up all of the holes in her heart, and all sorts of irrepressible emotions such as affection gripped her. It was such an intense feeling that it left her feeling slightly giddy.

  Fortunately, she didn’t lose control of herself. She remained steadfast to her primary goal.

  It was just that she didn’t expect even an inspection via bloodline resonance to yield no results. Roel hadn’t lost too much mana, and the side effects caused by his Crown’s Stones were mild. In fact, he was in a better physical condition than her. Despite so, he still remained unconscious.

  This put Lilian in a complete loss. The pained look that had started appearing on Roel’s face made her feel as if knives were stabbing into her heart, but she forced herself to remain calm so as to figure out a solution.

  Earlier, when she was about to save Roel, she noticed that he was accompanied by two other ladies from the Knight Kingdom. However, she was unable to save them because they didn’t collapse onto the ground as Roel did. Instead, they disappeared into thin air just like the others.

  That was also the fate that had befallen the members of Lilian’s main team.

  Lilian was the exception to her team, and Roel was the exception to his. From the looks of it, it would appear that the Ascart Bloodline possessed immunity against this mysterious form of attack.

  “In other words, the cause of Roel’s current condition wasn’t the earlier attack but something else… The fog lamp! I see… It’s his soul!”


  Lilian was suddenly reminded of the intense pain she felt earlier as if someone was tugging her soul out of her body, and her eyes narrowed sharply. A euphonious voicesuddenly sounded in the room as though responding to her analysis.

  “You’re right, it’s his soul.”


  “You are…!”


  The Witch Queen suddenly manifested out of nowhere. Floating in the air, she gazed upon the alarmed and vigilant Lilian and spoke.

  “Good day to you, Lilian Ackermann. You look like you need advice from a witch.”


  “…”


  The Witch Queen’s smile widened at Lilian’s silence.