“I see.”
Joel nodded thoughtfully.
“So, you teamed up with an outsider just to get rid of your son, is that it? Father.”
Joel was furious, yet his face became eerily calm.
“Stop this. You have already made a terrible mistake…”
The Lord of Nibelung shook his head in pain.
“Mistake?”
Joel laughed disdainfully.
“Isn’t this version of me exactly what you looked forward to the most?”
“Sigh.”
The Lord of Nibelung let out a long sigh.
At this moment, regret mixed with heartache surged continuously through his mind.
If he had given him enough respect back then, if he hadn’t pushed him so hard, if he had given him enough understanding and spent more time with him…
Would things not have reached this point today?
“I’m sorry, child.”
The Lord, who had been headstrong his entire life, finally relented at this moment.
“If it weren’t for me… you wouldn’t have come to this point.”
“Can you forgive me?”
As he spoke, the dim light in the Lord of Nibelung’s eyes flickered back to life.
He looked at Joel, waiting for an affirmative answer.
Seeing Joel look somewhat moved, Lynn felt a surge of joy, sensing that this might actually work.
Although Lynn had played through this secret realm in the game by brute-forcing his way through and didn’t fully understand the mechanics, he had still watched the story.
Of course, that was mainly because the cutscenes were unskippable.
He remembered very clearly that after defeating the final boss, Joel would scream the Lord of Nibelung’s name with his last breath before dying.
Didn’t that prove he still deeply loved his father?
Surely it was just a small misunderstanding between father and son!
Thus, a plan for a damage-free “skip” gradually took shape in Lynn’s mind.
Since Joel was definitely tracking him, why not use that to his advantage and let him hear the Lord of Nibelung’s true feelings with his own ears?
So, after signing the will, Lynn did not rush to leave. Instead, he cooperated with the Lord of Nibelung to put on a show, letting Joel understand that the Lord of Nibelung had loved him from beginning to end.
This way, not only could he safely take the rewards of the secret realm, but he could even repair the completely fractured relationship between father and son, providing a new clear-path strategy for those who came after him.
It was truly killing two birds with one stone.
Lynn could almost see the “Heart of Nibelung” waving at him.
As expected, communication between people must be based on equality and opening one’s heart.
It looked like today was another day of doing good deeds.
Thinking of this, Lynn’s mood improved.
“Of course, Father.”
As Joel spoke, he slowly placed his hand on the Lord of Nibelung’s shoulder.
Immediately afterward, green specks of light began to flicker on the Lord’s body, slowly flowing into the palm of Joel’s hand.
Feeling his life force drain away at an extreme speed, the Lord of Nibelung’s heart jolted violently.
He looked at Joel beside him and reached out his hand, desperately wanting to grab onto something.
But in the next moment, the Lord of Nibelung collapsed to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been completely cut, devoid of all life.
Seeing this, even Lynn couldn’t help but freeze.
To be honest, Lynn had rehearsed many worst-case scenarios in his mind.
But this scene of “filial piety” before his eyes…
Was far beyond his expectations.
“Based on the choices you have made, the ending has changed.”
“Objective Updated: Defeat Joel”
This line of abrupt text appeared in his vision without warning.
At the same time, the Royal Guard members outside, who were watching through the broadcast channel prepared to laugh at Lynn, were now as silent as cicadas in winter.
They could no longer understand Lynn’s operations.
One had to know that Joel had lacked love since childhood and grew up almost entirely under the threat of the Lord of Nibelung’s rod.
Over time, his psyche had become twisted.
He wished he could skin the Lord of Nibelung alive and scatter his ashes.
Even before his death in the original script, he would curse the Lord of Nibelung to never find peace after death.
That was why he had tortured the Lord of Nibelung until he was half-dead and locked him in the attic library.
Even if the relationship between the two was that bad, Lynn still tried to find a way to reconcile them?
This guy’s way of thinking seemed different from a normal person’s…
“Could it be…”
While everyone else looked down on Lynn, only Felica frowned thoughtfully.
Up until now, almost all normal ways of clearing this secret realm had been developed.
Only the hidden endings and damage-free strategies had yet to be found.
And since Lynn’s process didn’t belong to any known walkthrough, there was only one possibility.
He was looking for the hidden ending of the secret realm.
“…”
Thinking of this, Felica’s heart suddenly tightened.
A so-called hidden ending occurred when some unpredictable error happened while the secret realm was being carved into the Inscribed Stone.
It resulted in a secret realm that originally had a fixed ending now having more choices.
Of course, the difficulty and rewards would naturally increase accordingly.
A wave of worry gradually surged into her heart.
“Lynn, you idiot…”
She had only looked away for a moment, and he had placed himself in danger again.
“Sigh.”
Felica sighed helplessly.
“You really are a person who leaves one worried. No wonder Livia is always so concerned about you.”
“However…” A smile gradually curled onto the corner of Felica’s mouth.
“I will definitely win against her this time!”
Looking at the prompt in front of him, Lynn’s brow furrowed.
Although Joel was only a Third-Circle Mage, with the enhancement of the secret technique “Vitality,” his actual strength could likely go toe-to-toe with a normal Fourth-Circle or even Fifth-Circle Mage.
“Now then,” Joel slowly turned his head, “there should be a final settlement between the two of us.”
As his voice fell, Joel stopped pretending, and the aura of the Abyss Cult was fully revealed.
At the same time, as if sensing Joel’s murderous intent, several lightning bolts the thickness of an arm immediately fell from the sky.
According to the Lord of Nibelung’s will, Lynn had become the new lord of this territory after his death.
And Joel’s emergence of a thought to attack the lord was naturally a violation of the contract.
But unexpectedly, after being hit by several heavenly thunderbolts, Joel did not suffer any damage.
Lynn was slightly stunned, and then he noticed a purple gemstone shining brightly on Joel’s collar.
It was the Heart of Nibelung.
As an anchoring object for the Thunder Element, wearing the Heart of Nibelung granted immunity to a certain degree of lightning damage.
Heavenly punishment was not originally included in this, but in the projection of the Inscribed Stone, the strength of the heavenly punishment had been greatly weakened.
It just happened to be weakened to the point where it could be neutralized by the Heart of Nibelung.
Lynn frowned.
Things were getting a bit tricky.
But it wasn’t impossible to fight.
Based on Lynn’s observations, although the opponent’s strength was powerful, his defense had not increased along with it.
In other words, Joel was nothing more than a glass cannon.
As long as Lynn could find a suitable opportunity, there was still a chance to kill him.
Thinking of this, Lynn immediately increased the distance between them, waiting for Joel to reveal a flaw.
However, Joel merely raised his hand slightly, and a dim magic circle gradually formed in the palm of his hand.
In just a moment, all of Lynn’s paths of retreat were completely locked down.