Chapter 28: The Situation

—Ancient Ruins, Tower of Thunder【Vander】—
Nearly a week later, the alliance meeting to combat the Saxons finally took place in Mage Tower Vander. The attendees were mostly representatives from various local forces.
It was Aibel who presided over the meeting. Having lived in Vander since childhood, she could be considered its de facto ruler, enjoying an authority unmatched by others. As the granddaughter of the late Archmage Greta Kaines and the wife of Mage Hode Kendi, she was the perfect choice to host the meeting.
“Well… please take your seats!” Aibel politely invited the representatives to sit down. Dressed in an indigo astrologer’s robe, she spoke concisely, “I’ll skip the pleasantries. First, I thank you all for respecting this meeting and taking the time to attend despite your busy schedules. I believe everyone is aware of the purpose of this meeting… The empire is currently in its most chaotic phase, and the culprit behind it is that man named Agus. To prevent him from causing further trouble, we must deal with him as soon as possible…”
“But that man isn’t easy to deal with…” said a middle-aged general with a beard, representing Fort Lorn, gravely. “I’ve heard that Agus has an army made up of demons. Those demons are almost immortal and far beyond our human capabilities… I’m not underestimating Sgder’s magical power, but he also has the help of necromancers, not to mention those damned royal mages…”
“General Krolie, I must disagree with that,” interjected Cliff Belis, a former mage from the First Royal Mage Corps standing beside Prince Theo, shaking his head. “Royal mages have always obeyed the emperor’s orders and been his loyal followers. Agus alone cannot fully control this force. As far as I know, those who have chosen to help Agus are merely the mages from the Glon faction, led by Jerry Belford, the former vice president of the royal mages. So please note that the actions of these people cannot represent the will of all royal mages!”

“Oh?” General Croley wore a teasing smile on his face as he said sarcastically, “Is that really all I think? The Royal Magi used to be the guardians of this country, but now they’ve become our enemies, haven’t they? As for the will of the Royal Magi…” As he spoke, a look of reminiscence appeared on the general’s face. After a fleeting hint of respect in his eyes, he said in a low voice, “Anyway, the power of the Royal Magi cannot be underestimated. I wonder if Vandel has the strength to resist such power?”
“Strength?” Abel snorted coldly. “Are you joking, General Croley? Sgdel now possesses the empire’s most powerful magic. Can those Gloam Sect magi even compare to Vandel?”
“Uh…” General Croley then remembered that Sgdel had gathered 2,000 black magi. Although their abilities varied, to be honest, no other magical force could match them. After some thought, he warned cautiously, “I’m sorry, respected Ms. Kaines. I just wanted to remind you that army battles are different from other fights. An individual’s strength is insignificant on the battlefield. I’m not underestimating Sgdel’s black magi, but the problem is they’ve never participated in large-scale battles. At most, they’ve been involved in a few battles as mercenaries. Meanwhile, the Royal Magi were originally organized in a military style. They’re more familiar with battlefield combat, command transmission, and coordinated operations than individual fights. All of this takes time to develop. An army of new recruits can never defeat seasoned veterans!”
“Hmm,” Abel’s expression softened considerably after hearing his explanation. She nodded at General Croley and said, “You’re right, General Croley. But sadly, we no longer have time… I believe everyone knows that Argus has built a dark altar near Sassen. He plans to summon a terrifying being to this world. If we don’t act quickly, once that being appears, it will surely destroy the world as we know it. That must not happen!”
“But I heard that to summon that terrifying being, Argus needs a large amount of pure soul energy. If I declare war on Sassen, won’t that just help that guy?” asked a burly warrior, representing the mercenary world, calmly. Next to him, a mage nodded in agreement.

“Are you Jorgy Tetham, a mercenary from the Kalam region?” Aibel nodded as a greeting, then said with a light laugh, “I thought as a mercenary, you’d understand better what it means to ‘sit and wait for death’… Indeed, you’re right, but don’t forget—if we choose to defend passively, Argus can still summon that terrifying being to this world. In fact, he’s already done so, causing harm to countless innocent civilians of the empire. I just want to say that being is far too powerful for us humans to deal with. If we choose to attack, we might have a chance of winning. On the contrary, if we stick to a defensive strategy, we’ll undoubtedly give up our slim chance of success. What do you two think?”
“Hmm!” Mercenary Jorgy Tetham pondered for a moment before nodding in agreement.
“Well, the question now is how to deal with the Sassen forces under Argus’s control,” said Bert Brackley, the former deputy commander of the Royal Knights, looking at those present. “I believe that since this is a joint operation, an excellent commander is essential to avoid confusion in commands among various armies. Therefore, I suggest that His Royal Highness take on the role of commander for this joint operation. What do you all think?”
“It must be the former prince!” a middle-aged man who seemed a bit obese snorted coldly, filled with contempt. “Oh dear, how can we allow a criminal accused of killing his own father to command this joint army?” With that, he glanced at Allen and said to Aibel, “As the lord of Boydel, I suggest that Allen Scand, the outstanding and remarkable young commander of the Wind of Freedom Knights, take on the role of commander. Captain Allen has long fought against Argus’s demonic army and is very familiar with their strength…”
“That’s sweet talk!” Bert Brackley sneered. “Some so-called outstanding young man—aren’t you greedy merchants just trying to gain the most profit?”
“Oh dear,” said Yak Persop, the lord of Boydel, fanning himself with an exquisite fan, mockingly. “Aren’t you trying to do the same thing? It’s the same for us! I just think our young captain is far more suitable than that ‘famous throughout the country’ former prince!”

“You!” Hearing those clearly sarcastic words, Bert Brack felt annoyed. Indeed, Prince Theo, burdened with the crime of killing his father, had his reputation among the empire’s people plummet. After much thought, he had no choice but to turn to General Croley, who represented the forces of Fort Lorn. After all, the young commander of Fort Lorn was one of the few who still stood by the royal family.

General Croley seemed to notice the look in his opponent’s eyes. After some thought, he hesitantly said, “Personally, I think it’s better to handle this matter in the name of Prince Theo. That way, it can be seen as a struggle for the imperial throne rather than an open rebellion, which is of great significance for this joint operation!”

“Great significance?” Lord Boydell, Yak Persop, snorted and shook his head, putting on a strangely amused expression as he said pointedly, “Is it really good to expose such ugly internal strife among the royal bloodline to the public? It’s unimaginable that descendants of the great King Sassen would end up in such a situation…”

“What do you mean by that?!” Bert Brack stood up angrily.

“Enough! Everyone else, shut up!” With an impatient expression, Aibel slammed the table and frowned. “This meeting is about discussing how to deal with Agus, not listening to your pointless arguments!” She snorted and added firmly, “As for the command position, I’ll take it. Those who disagree, speak up!”

“Huh?” Lord Boydell glanced in surprise at Aibel, then at Allen. Seeing him shrug, he smiled dryly and said softly, “If it’s Lady Kaines, Opereils has no objections!”

Bert Brackley, former deputy commander of the Royal Knights, glanced at Prince Theo and then at Scott. Seeing Scott push up his glasses and shake his head subtly, he reluctantly chose silence.

“Does Altak have any objections?” Still annoyed, Aibel asked Ravia. When she turned to Sos beside her, she couldn’t help but glare at him fiercely. That icy gaze made a thin layer of sweat appear on Sos’s forehead.

Watching her ‘husband’s’ embarrassed appearance with amusement, Ravia secretly glared at Sos before shaking her head. With a dignity no less imposing than Aibel’s, she said calmly, “Of course not!”

“What about the others?”

The representatives from nearby cities present, as well as those from the mage and mercenary communities, seeing that all three factions—Operelles, Galic, and Altak—had expressed agreement, naturally did not offer any objections, though they thought it was somewhat inappropriate for a woman to be the leader of the allied forces.

“Very good!” Aibel nodded in satisfaction, then sat back down. With a snap of her fingers, a holographic screen appeared above the long table, displaying a map of the entire empire.

“Let’s discuss the deployment of each army group…” Aibel stood up, drew a magic staff from her robe, and pointed at the map. “Kalia, Scidio, and Giang are located north, northwest, and southwest of the Sasan Empire’s capital, respectively. Agus has abandoned other regions to strengthen the defenses of these three cities. In other words, he intends to engage us in a decisive battle in this area… As far as I know, Agus has been closely monitoring our movements, so he must be aware of this meeting. Yet he hasn’t come to stop us. It seems he quite welcomes these uninvited guests to Sasan. I believe his efforts to create chaos in the empire are aimed at this major battle. So everyone, be careful—this war is different from previous ones. We must avoid casualties as much as possible. The souls of soldiers who die will be absorbed by Sasan’s dark altar, becoming forces to serve Agus’s schemes… But if we can’t capture these three cities, we won’t be able to open the path to Sasan. Therefore, the first battle of the allied forces will be to take these three cities!”

“Attack them all at once?” Lord Boydell, Yak Persop, frowned.

“Yes!” Aibel nodded and said firmly, “The distance between these three cities is very short, and they’re not far from Sasan either. So attacking just one city would be pointless; instead, it would put us at a disadvantage. Therefore…” She glanced at Scott and continued, “Galic’s army will attack Kalia. The defender of that city is one of Agus’s most formidable subordinates—a legendary one of the seventy-two demon gods, the arrowman of misfortune, Kars Lelarkin!—Don’t underestimate them, Scott!”

“Karl Lelagin?” Upon hearing that name, Scott felt as if his blood was boiling. The long-suppressed hatred made his gaze terrifying. Pushing his glasses up, he gritted his teeth and said, “That guy… leave him to me!”
Aibel wasn’t aware of the grudges between Scott and Lelagin, so she was surprised by Scott’s reaction. But now wasn’t the time to ask questions. She nodded and turned to Ravia, saying, “Altak, you’ll be in charge of attacking Scidio. The defender of that city is a werewolf named Jean Cornell, who is extremely powerful…”
“Jean?” Ravia showed surprise, and Soth, Allen, and Scott also looked puzzled. After all, that werewolf had once had a good relationship with them, and he wasn’t some vicious villain. But why would he help Argus? They couldn’t understand it.
“I’ll fill the walls of Scidio with Altak’s flags!” Ravia said calmly and firmly.
Watching Ravia’s composed demeanor, which was no less impressive than her own, Aibel sighed inwardly. Glancing at Soth irritably, she turned to Allen and said, “Allen, your army will attack Gio. The defender of that city is also one of Argus’s subordinates—the legendary one of the seventy-two demon gods known as the Dark Knight, Clark Simonley. Legend has it that he is the commander of the dark army. In other words, Gio has the strongest defensive forces, so don’t be careless!”
“Understood!” Allen shrugged cheerfully and said nonchalantly, “The Dark Knight… Hey, I really want to see him!”
Shaking her head slightly, Aibel turned to Scott and Ravia and said, “If possible, I hope Galk and Altak can work together to hold off Gron. As far as I know, Gron’s lord has an ambiguous attitude toward Argus and didn’t send anyone to this meeting. We can only assume that Gron is likely to be a potential enemy. To avoid being caught off guard by Gron’s troops…”
“Sure!” Scott said calmly, pushing his glasses up. “I’ll contact my father right away!”
“Gron probably won’t risk becoming enemies with Altak and Galk just to help Argus, right?” Ravia nodded with a faint smile. “I’ll remind my grandfather to be cautious!”

“Very good, then let’s do it this way!” Aibel nodded in satisfaction, resting his hands on the table as he said in a deep voice, “With Ghalik, Altak, and Operelles as the main forces, and other regions and factions helping them as much as possible, I hope to rely on your strength to defeat Argus!”
“Of course!”
“No problem!” Representatives of city lords from nearby regions, as well as representatives of mercenaries and mages, all said they would offer their help.
Finally, Aibel glanced at Thos with a slight sigh and said irritably, “Thos, I hope you can lead the dark mages of Sgder to help Allen, Scott, and Ravia capture those three cities as soon as possible!”
“Me?” Thos was somewhat surprised.
Seeing his involuntary expression, Aibel grew annoyed. After all, in Vandel right now, there weren’t many people with great power. Even those elders only had high reputations, but due to their age, their strength had declined significantly, leaving them unable to fight on the front lines. They could only serve as symbols to rally the dark mages. As for Aibel himself, he had a young son to take care of, and his own strength wasn’t enough to handle the situation ahead.
So, Thos, as a disciple of Professor Hodde, was naturally the most suitable candidate. More importantly, he possessed power comparable to, or even greater than, Argus’s, enough to suppress those two thousand dark mages.
Perhaps Aibel intended to train Thos as Vandel’s successor. After all, the era of Heliriox had ended. Following the late great mage Grett Kaines and the missing former royal mage Wiston Malajigi Hastings, the empire… no, Vandel needed a new symbolic figure!
And Thos was the best candidate among the few youngsters Aibel knew. Not only because of his status and power, but more importantly, he wasn’t caught in the conflicts between merchants and nobles. But speaking of selfishness, perhaps Aibel didn’t want to see Thos by Ravia’s side under the name Volmon Klaest—after all, she had a very good relationship with Dia. More importantly, he didn’t want to see Dia sad, with that expression so similar to his own…
“Huh? Letting this young man lead an army of two thousand dark mages?”
“Who is this guy?”
“Hey, I heard his name is Volmon Klaest. He’s the son-in-law of the Altakvomisli family…”

“Huh? The husband of that little girl? Really? I thought it was her brother or something…”
“He’s her husband… But I really didn’t know this young man was one of Vandel’s men…”
“I wonder if he can control those dark magicians… He seems so young…”
“Tch, a son-in-law who moves into the family…”
The unaware onlookers whispered among themselves, casting various looks at Thos—envy, mockery, sneers, disdain. But none of this could affect Thos at all. He stared at Aibel in shock and said, “Me? Leading those dark magicians?”
“What’s wrong with that?” Seeing Thos’s helpless expression, Aibel almost wanted to step forward and hit him hard to wake him up. After taking a deep breath, she said softly, “Lack confidence in yourself? Don’t forget, you’re an apprentice of my husband, Hode Kendi, and you’ve even fought against Argus. You should be the one who knows Argus’s strength best!”
“What?—This young man is Hode Kendi’s apprentice?”
“He also said he fought against Argus… I can’t believe it!”
The looks people gave Thos instantly turned to admiration and respect.
Under Aibel’s expectant gaze, Thos looked at her awkwardly. After all, he wasn’t entirely part of the empire anymore—half of him belonged to Salonia. Taking control of the empire’s dark magician army would mean abandoning Salonia, something Thos couldn’t do. Though he didn’t have much affection for the Church, he owed many favors to its elders, whether still alive or already gone, favors he might never be able to repay.
Most of the people present couldn’t understand Thos’s hesitation. Just then, Bon Hamsworth, the Church cardinal who had remained silent in the corner, stood up and said loudly, “Respected Ms. Kaines! I don’t mean to offend you, but Lord Kleist cannot take control of the dark magician army!—Though temporarily dismissed, he remains our cardinal of Salonia!”
“What? Salonia?”
Amidst the astonished gazes of everyone, Aibel snorted at the newly appointed cardinal, Bon Hamsworth, and said coldly, “Shut up!—I don’t care about Salonia or the Church. All I know is that this brat is my husband’s student, Heliorex’s student, and Vandel’s student! This is an internal matter of the empire. Please stop interfering!”

“Uh, this…” Hearing Abel elevate the matter to the level of the empire’s internal affairs so quickly, Bon Hamsworth couldn’t come up with any further defenses. After all, as a representative of Salonia, it was not appropriate for him to interfere in the empire’s internal affairs.
“Still hesitating, kid?” Abel said softly, looking at the reluctant Thos. “Or have you already voluntarily become one of Salonia’s people? No longer my husband’s student, nor Heliorix’s student?”
After pondering for a while, Thos raised his head and said in a deep voice, “I understand! — Please leave this matter to me!”
“Lord Klaest?!?” Bon Hamsworth stared at Thos in shock, then showed a hint of regret. After all, he had heard that the Church planned to send troops to the empire to help Vandel defeat Argus, and if possible, incorporate the vast territories of the empire into Salonia’s domain. If Thos took charge of the Black Mage Corps, it would inevitably lead to conflicts with the Church’s interests. Out of their long-standing friendship, Bon Hamsworth didn’t want to see this young man face difficulties because of this in the future.
But…
“Very good!” Abel looked at Thos with satisfaction.
And so, the first Imperial Alliance Conference came to an end. Before long, more than a dozen regions in the west, northwest, and southwest of the empire would unite to launch a counterattack against the Sassen, deciding their fate in a decisive battle. Perhaps this would be the largest civil war in the empire’s history.
A few days later, Ivan O’Gill, the lord of Galk and Scott’s father, led 10,000 Galk troops to the border city of [Rilikama] between Galk and Gron. Around the same time, Naialek Vayer Wilti Vomisli, the former lord of Altak and grandfather of Lavia, led 8,000 Altak troops to the border city of [Tiyastar], adjacent to the Gron region, in order to tie down the forces in that area from both the east and west, preventing Gron from sending reinforcements to the Sassen from behind.
On Vandel’s side, they seemed to be preparing various things for a counterattack against the Sassen—food, pay, weapons. The merchants of Operelles generously provided a large amount of resources, winning the support of many mercenary forces. Scott was outraged by Allen’s “despicable” tactics. Although he wanted to do the same, unfortunately, Galk wasn’t that wealthy…
It was foreseeable that the conflict between the merchant class and the noble class would grow increasingly intense.

Yet all of this seemed far away from Thos. To be honest, he didn’t want to get involved in the competition between the two sides, especially since the representatives on both sides were his closest friends. Of course, he wasn’t really eager to take control of that army of 2,000 dark magicians either. As someone who valued freedom, he would never have accepted such a troublesome position if it weren’t for Eibel.

Lavia, on the other hand, was more than willing to take it. After all, she had never approved of Thos’ idle lifestyle, and even now that he was her “husband,” she wouldn’t hold back from saying what she thought.

“Isn’t it great? You’re now a representative of Vandel—much more prestigious than the title of heir you got by marrying into the Womisley family, right?” As she spoke, Lavia, who was sitting on the sofa flipping through a magic book, looked up at Thos with a hint of reproach. “I really don’t know what’s bothering you. With your power, subduing those dark magicians should be a piece of cake, right? Besides, some of those magicians were once professors from Riox who helped you…”

What Lavia meant were some academy professors from the former Heliriox faction, led by Professor Manhet. After Heliriox Academy was destroyed by Argus, these professors, perhaps out of resentment or a desire to restore Heliriox’s former glory, gradually moved to Vandel.

In fact, after meeting Thos, Professor Manhet, the former head of the grade, seemed very pleased. After all, Thos, along with Allen, Scott, and Lavia, had been famous students at Riox Academy. Especially when Professor Manhet learned that Thos’ power surpassed that of Professor Hodde Kenda and even the former headmaster, Grand Mage Grette Kaines, he became eager to ask Thos to rebuild Heliriox. For this reason, he gathered some magicians who had been traveling around the world to Vandel as well.

“Hmph, I don’t think this is a good thing!” Thos said irritably from the sofa across from her.

Although Thos understood the mindset of these old professors from Heliriox Academy, to be honest, he had no desire to become some kind of headmaster. He didn’t want his already limited freedom to be further restricted by things he didn’t want to do.

Unfortunately, Professor Manhert seemed to have no understanding of Thors’s personality at all. He kept approaching Thors to talk, and watching this once-proud head of the department speak to him in a subservient tone, Thors really couldn’t bring himself to refuse. He could only delay matters, deciding to find a solution after dealing with Argus first.
Yes, dealing with Argus was the most important thing right now!
“You!” Lavia couldn’t help but find his capriciousness amusing. After three years apart, their old friends had grown much more mature. Allen had become the leader of the knight order, a figure highly regarded by the merchants of Opereles, while Scott would inherit his father’s title. As for her, she had become the unofficial female lord of Altak. Yet this guy in front of her was still just as free-spirited as before, like a cloud drifting in the sky, unwilling to be bound by anything…
Idiot, how can one live in this world without any ties?
Lavia shook her head with a smile, teasingly saying, “Aren’t you going to see your little lover?” She was referring, of course, to Dia.
Hearing Lavia’s casual tone, Thors grew angry and retorted, “You’re the little lover, aren’t you?”
“Huh?” Lavia was momentarily stunned before showing a mischievous expression. She licked her lips with her delicate tongue and said playfully, “That’s so hurtful… Really! I’m still your wife, right?” When alone, Lavia showed no trace of the strong female lord she was in front of others—instead, she acted like a newlywed woman, often using provocative gestures and tones when speaking to Thors. She seemed to enjoy seeing his flustered or embarrassed expressions.
Thors rolled his eyes at Lavia and lay back on the sofa with his eyes closed. After suffering a few more setbacks, he no longer wanted to discuss this issue with her.
This made Lavia feel a bit bored. Just as she had said to the Queen Puppet Queenine before, since arriving in Vandel, she seemed eager to create trouble for Thors, especially in front of Dia. Thanks to her, the relationship between Dia and Thors had become extremely awkward.
Although Dia finally understood the situation after Thors’s explanation, it still hurt her feelings, especially when those unaware of the truth considered Thors to be Lavia’s husband…

So, during the joint meeting, Dia seemed to deliberately avoid meeting Thos to prevent any negative rumors from spreading. Ravia was fully aware of this. Perhaps only during this time was she Thos’s “wife.” Once Argus was dealt with, she would surely return to Altak. By then, the woman by his side as his “husband’s” wife would no longer be her… Perhaps for this reason, Ravia, out of spite, tried her best to create trouble for Thos. After all, no matter how competitive or boyish she might be, she was still a woman at heart… Perhaps this was also one of the reasons Thos wanted to resolve Argus’s issue as soon as possible—he wanted to end this ambiguous relationship promptly. But could they really distance themselves from it? In fact, Thos understood that he had impulsively entered into this unclear relationship with Ravia out of his desire not to have her marry someone else despite their friendship. Looking back, not to mention Ravia, he himself had been burdened by it. His originally legitimate relationship with Dia had become something secret and shameful. No wonder Dia, though silent, was clearly displeased… What a hassle… With a slight sigh, the sound of pages turning beside Thos grew softer, and he gradually fell asleep… Speaking of which, for some reason, Thos had been experiencing an unsettling sense of disorientation lately. Ever since Sloth fully awakened, he had stopped having those strange dreams. But in recent days, the frequency of dreaming had increased dramatically, to the point where he would enter that “dream” as soon as he closed his eyes. It was the same dream in which Aibel had used astrology to predict their future. In that dream, the sky was red—vivid red, striking red, the color of human blood, causing a strong sense of discomfort. What he stepped on was not land but corpses—countless corpses with terrifying expressions, filled with deep attachment, reluctance, and obsession. The air in that dream was also red, like mist, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be human blood. Breathing in it made one wonder whether what they were inhaling was air or blood. Endless corpses floated in the blood—it was hard to imagine how much blood from how many people would be needed to float all those corpses. Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Millions?

It’s hard to imagine what kind of brutal war could cause such massive casualties; this place is nothing but a land of death. It’s hell, yes, truly hell! There are living people… just one, at least that’s all Thors saw… a very young magician who seemed to be in his twenties. Now that he thinks about it, the person was wearing a robe similar to those of the papal cardinals that Thors was familiar with, but it was black, adorned with dark golden runes that emitted irregular dark golden glows, as if they had a life of their own, giving off a strange and mysterious aura. In Thors’s eyes, this mysterious magician stood on a towering altar, looking down on the sea of corpses below like a god, with a contemptuous gaze as if looking down on ants. His eyes held no emotion, as if he had no connection to this world and existed outside of it. ‘Who is he?!’ Thors really wanted to see what kind of person he was, but unfortunately, at that time, his body was covered by a thick layer of dark aura—a denser mist-like substance—that prevented Thors from seeing his face clearly. But recently, that dark aura strangely began to disappear, and Thors was able to see him. It was a face covered in black demonic tattoos, and Thors was all too familiar with those tattoos, as they had appeared on his own face many times… What concerned Thors even more was the appearance of that person—a face that resembled his own extremely closely, with the only difference being that the other person seemed much more mature… ‘…Belial…’ “Huh!” When Thors opened his eyes again, he found himself back in the real world. Ravia was still holding the magic book, flipping through its pages and staring at Thors with a strange look. “What’s wrong?” Ravia, who was engrossed in reading the magic book, couldn’t help but show some confusion when she saw Thors sweating profusely. She asked curiously, “Had another nightmare?” “Mm!” Thors replied indistinctly. Recalling that nightmare, he felt an inexplicable sense of panic—it was his subconscious warning: that person was too powerful, far beyond his ability to confront. Seeing that Thors didn’t seem willing to elaborate, Ravia smiled mockingly, closed the book, and said deliberately, “Isn’t the worst thing already happened? What are you still worried about? My husband… Lord Volmon Vormisley?”

The worst thing Lavia referred to was undoubtedly the incident that initially led Abel and Dia to misunderstand their current relationship. Back then, Thos had to explain repeatedly before finally gaining Dia’s understanding.
“Stop joking! — And don’t mix up names!” Lavia’s remark about her husband made Thos annoyed; he glared at her and said irritably, “Isn’t this all your fault? — Is this something to joke about? Can’t you explain it for me?”
“Explain?” Lavia smiled slightly, with a hint of teasing in her voice, and said lightly, “What do I need to explain? — Everything I said is the truth! Or am I deliberately distorting anything? She misunderstood—that’s her problem, what does it have to do with me?”
“Hey…”
“Besides,” Lavia said, giving Thos a reproachful look with a hint of resentment, “Vander has now gathered lords and their representatives from all over. As my husband, even if only nominally, can’t you put aside your beloved little woman for a while? — How am I supposed to face others knowing that my new husband, Lavia Vomisley, keeps showing up around another woman? At least consider me a bit!”
“You!” Thos was so angry he couldn’t speak; he pointed at Lavia and said irritably, “I shouldn’t have helped you!”
“Oh?” Surprisingly, Lavia suddenly showed a sly smile after hearing this. She put down her book, sat next to Thos, leaned back slightly on the sofa, licked her lips, and said softly in a tempting tone, “Would you really let me… marry someone else? A complete stranger… How heartless!”
Feeling Lavia’s mature feminine presence so close, Thos’s heartbeat quickened slightly. He leaned back a bit and said quietly, “Hey, stop playing around!”
“Alright,” Lavia’s eyes showed disappointment and sadness. After sighing inwardly, she returned to her normal sitting position and said softly, “Tell me about what just happened! — I’ve only been lying down for about half an hour, and already you’re making a fuss. What happened?”
“It’s like this…” Thos selectively told Lavia about the scenes in his dream, omitting the surroundings and focusing only on that mysterious magician.
“Belial?” After hearing this, Lavia couldn’t help but laugh. Covering her mouth, she giggled and said, “I didn’t know you had that name too. Do you have a twin brother?”

“Stop joking!” Thors frowned and said irritably, “I’m talking seriously! — It feels strange—like that person is me, yet not entirely me… This premonition is very strong!”
“What exactly are you trying to say?” Ravia asked, somewhat puzzled.
“That guy… the one in my dream… had Sloth’s dark tattoos on his face…”
“Isn’t that normal?” Ravia said in confusion. “When Sister Aibel predicted our futures for us, what we saw were our future selves, right? Allen, Scott, and me—of course. What’s so strange about seeing your future self? As for those dark tattoos…” She paused, casting a skeptical glance at Thors before saying seriously, “You… haven’t had that power recently, have you?”
Watching Ravia’s expression, as if she were questioning a man about his secret savings, Thors snapped, “There’s no way I’d use it! — What’s with that look?”
“I’m just reminding you,” Ravia said with a smile, her expression relaxing. “That’s not a power humans should possess! — Don’t forget, Thors. You promised me that once we finish with Argus, you must give up Sloth’s power and never use that dark force again!”
“Okay, okay!” Thors shook his head helplessly. Ravia was right, and he knew it well. During his three years in Salonia, he had seen many people consumed by dark power and turned into puppets of demons. Although the Ancient Will was different from those demons, it wasn’t much different in essence—just gaining power at a cost. And as an apostle, the price to pay was even heavier.
In other words, if he wanted to live a few more years, he had to give up the power granted by the Ancient Will, because it was a power humans could never fully control.
Glancing at Thors, Ravia sighed softly, with an indescribable hint in her voice, “This guy… is really unsettling! — I’ll keep an eye on you until you completely give up that power! I certainly don’t want my ‘husband’ to have dark tattoos all over his face…”
“Hey, hey…” Thors expressed his dissatisfaction, only to be reminded of that dream again.
Did everyone see their future selves?
Then was that guy… his future self?

Thors did not tell Raviya that once one’s entire body was covered in dark tattoos, it meant they had become complete apostles, with no way to renounce the power of darkness… Would he too end up like Argus? Yet, somehow, Thors had an inexplicablepremonition that the dark age triggered by Argus would not end with Argus’s death; the darkness enveloping the empire and even the entire world seemed to have just begun…