“…”
Carolyn stared intently at Roel’s earnest face with a conflicted heart. A long time later, she heaved a sigh and said, “The Mother Goddess and her believers have been the enemies of our clan and the Twilight Sages Assembly since the ancient era. Countless brethren of ours have died in this battle. The grudge between us is irreconcilable. I should have killed you for your ties with the Mother Goddess, but you’re my descendant. I’ll give you a chance to right your wrong.”
“Lord Ancestor…”
“Leave now. I’ll settle things here.”
“…”
Roel’s body stiffened up, whereas Alicia narrowed her eyes.
Alicia knew what would happen to her once Roel left, but for some reason, her nervous heart calmed down a little upon knowing that there was a way out for him, especially considering his current condition.
She could clearly sense how powerful Carolyn was, which was how she knew the severely injured Roel would only be giving up his life for naught if he chose to stay with her. The thought of harm befalling him was so unbearable that she would rather he abandon her instead.
She looked at the chains binding her limbs as she readied herself for a desperate fight to the death.
On the other hand, Roel remained silent. As he looked at the black miasma around Carolyn, he knew that there was no room for further negotiation. However, there was no way he could leave at this point.
…Just a bit more.
Roel slowly raised his head, revealing his pale face under the moonlight. He looked at Carolyn with a grim expression as he voiced his final request: “May I have some final words with Alicia?”
“…Go ahead,” Carolyn replied.
Roel turned around and walked up to Alicia.
Alicia looked at Roel with a complicated look in her eyes. She hadn’t fully regained her memories yet, but she was already certain about her feelings. She was just about to bid farewell to him when the latter suddenly raised his hand and covered her mouth.
“Alicia, I know that you haven’t fully regained your memories yet, but you should know that there’s no conspiracy behind your adoption into the Ascart House. We have overcome plenty of storms in the past, and it’ll be no different this time around… Trust me, Alicia!”
“!”
A blinding light suddenly burst forth from Roel. Amidst the intense mana pulsation, Edavia manifested out of thin air.
…
The sudden appearance of the evil god caught Alicia by surprise, as the seal placed on her soul instantaneously unraveled.
“Impossible!” Carolyn couldn’t believe that Roel had summoned an ancient god despite her bloodline suppression. Her astonishment only deepened when she saw the orange-haired girl floating in the air. “That’s… the Spiriteer Sovereign!”
“Indeed,” Roel replied as he released a compressed burst of lava to stall Carolyn.
At the same time, the power of the Witch Queen surged from his body and freed Alicia from the chains.
The truth was that he had been stalling for time all this while. He had been waiting for Edavia to break out of the Inner Sanctum, and the Spiriteer Sovereign hadn’t disappointed him.
“Alicia, Divine Domain!” Roel shouted.
“Yes!” Alicia replied as she released a colossal amount of mana.
It was impossible for them to escape due to Carolyn’s Divine Domain sealing off the use of spatial spells. To overcome that restriction, they had to first break out of the Divine Domain.
The key to their escape lay in whether Alicia could successfully unleash her Divine Domain. Thus, she went all-out as soon as her restrictions were lifted, but she was swimming against the tides here. She was going against Carolyn’s fully-released Divine Domain, not to mention that the latter was unbelievably powerful as a transcendent.
Alicia had to give her all just to keep her Divine Domain from collapsing from Carolyn’s suppression.
Meanwhile, Roel relentlessly attacked Carolyn in order to buy time for Alicia.
Boom!
Lava erupted from the ground and blasted everything into the sky, but it failed to inflict any injuries on Carolyn. Neither the lava nor the black miasma was able to get to her, as if she was surrounded by a transparent barrier.
Faced with Roel’s attack, Carolyn’s face darkened.
“I see that you have made your choice,” she said coldly.
A flood of mana gushed out. The pressure on Alicia, who was unleashing her Divine Domain, and Edavia, who was maintaining the Inner Sanctum, immediately intensified.
At the same time, a golden ray of light descended from the sky like heavenly retribution.
This is bad!
Roel was alarmed. Alicia shouted in horror.
At this critical moment, Roel gritted his teeth and activated Being Toward Death once more. Through Sia’s blessing, he received an instantaneous surge of mana, which he used to channel the power of the four other Crown’s Stones to collide with the golden ray of light.
Boom!
A violent explosion ensued, producing a golden ripple that swept across the sky.
Roel’s body jolted under the impact of this clash, worsening his injuries. Blood splattered from his wounds. He had managed to stop Carolyn, but he had reached his limit too.
“Lord Brother!” Alicia exclaimed.
A boundless ocean with towering waves overlapped with the plains.
Alicia had successfully unleashed her Divine Domain while Roel was stalling Carolyn. She quickly rushed down to hug him, while a white fog appeared behind her.
“It’s useless. You can’t escape,” Carolyn said as her golden eyes further lit up.
Her Divine Domain compressed around them, causing its might to become even more concentrated. The white fog behind Alicia swayed weakly under the immense pressure.
However, Roel shook his head and said, “That might not necessarily be so.”
“What?”
“Lord Ancestor, I haven’t been escaping aimlessly,” Roel replied with a smile.
A speck of light suddenly appeared in the distant sky. A fatal light beam was shot from far away in their direction.
“!”
A flood of blinding light enveloped everything, temporarily unraveling Carolyn’s interference in the process. Thanks to Light Devourer’s assistance, Shrouding Fog was finally able to tear open space.
“Lord Brother!”
“Mm.”
Roel grabbed Alicia’s outstretched hand, and the white fog swallowed the embracing duo.
Comments