“I’ll let you punish me however you want once we’re back, Teacher Felica, but for now, could you please get off me…?”
Lynn had no time to worry about the unique softness of the girl pressing against him; he simply felt like he was being suffocated.
Lynn had a premonition.
If Felica stayed on top of him any longer…
He really would die in her arms.
“Hmph, you’re so useless, Lynn.”
Felica lightly pinched Lynn’s cheek before reluctantly climbing off of him.
For some reason, during that short time she spent lying in Lynn’s embrace, she had felt an unprecedented sense of peace.
As expected, only Lynn was her destined husband.
At the thought of this, Felica felt a surge of sweetness deep within her heart.
Even though the execution of this plan had been riddled with frequent mishaps…
Still…
Being able to lie in Lynn’s arms for a little while like that didn’t seem too bad.
Thinking of this, Felica let out a long sigh of relief.
Now, what she needed to do was completely finish off this annoying fellow and then head back to give Lynn a severe punishment.
As for what kind of punishment…
Felica looked at Lynn, who was lying on the ground, and licked her lips.
A sly, mischievous smile played across the corners of her mouth.
“Do you need a hand?”
Felica reached out toward Lynn.
Lynn grabbed Felica’s soft little hand, used the leverage to pull himself up, and stood.
He brushed the dust off his clothes and took a few heavy breaths before barely managing to return to normal.
Now…
Lynn looked at Joel, who was paralyzed on the ground.
His entire body was gradually being enveloped by a thick, black liquid.
The slime even crawled into his gruesome wounds.
In just a few breaths, the injuries on his body were completely healed.
Then, Joel stood up from the ground in an unnervingly bizarre posture.
“How interesting.”
Joel’s voice suddenly became crisp and clear, as if the owner of the voice was no longer him.
“Not only do you possess a legendary Piece, but you even have a witch protecting you.”
“No wonder that useless Crown Prince of the Northern Territory couldn’t beat you.”
Joel took a slow step forward, and the grass beneath his feet instantly rotted away.
Wherever he stepped, several streaks of pitch-black liquid transformed into tentacles and burst from the ground.
Hearing this, Lynn froze for a moment.
Immediately following that, his pupils suddenly constricted.
No, that wasn’t right.
The Secret Realm was equivalent to an independently preserved segment of time; time would only ever flow repeatedly within the recorded range.
It was impossible for him to know about things that had happened just a few days ago.
“Who exactly are you?”
Lynn’s brow furrowed deeply.
“Me?”
The pure black figure paused for a moment, appearing as if he had just realized something, and gave a slight bow.
“My apologies, Mr. Lynn. Please forgive my rudeness.”
“Since this is our first meeting, you may call me…”
“The Sage.”
His voice wasn’t loud, but it was clear and ethereal.
The moment those two words left his mouth, alarm bells rang out in both of their hearts.
Even the ordinary citizens watching the spectacle from the periphery couldn’t hide the look of terror that washed over their faces.
“Why would one of the Twelve Apostles appear here?”
“Go notify the Council immediately! Evacuate the crowd!”
A sudden commotion erupted among the people.
The Sage, the Tenth Seat of the Abyss Order’s Twelve Apostles, had long been on the Central Royal City’s wanted list.
Rumor had it that this madman had used his own heart’s blood to forge two spears capable of piercing through anything.
It was said that if those two spears were completely destroyed, one could kill the Sage once and for all.
But obviously, no one had managed to do so in hundreds of years.
As a veteran who had already cleared the game once, Lynn was naturally well aware of the strength of the Twelve Apostles.
Each one of those twelve, if taken individually, could go toe-to-toe with an eighth-rank Legendary Mage and possessed enough power to destroy an entire nation.
The “Living Breath” that Joel had used in this dungeon was exactly one of his handiworks.
“What is your goal?”
Lynn gripped the Piece in his hand tightly.
“I have no interest in you. As long as you hand over the Dragon’s Heart, I will let you leave.”
“And then you’ll take it to kill even more people, right?”
Felica’s tone was also filled with gravity.
“No, no, no, my lady, you misunderstand.”
“You don’t understand at all what a noble ideal we are working to realize!”
The Sage slowly pressed his hands together.
His calm tone was filled with a sense of piety and morbid fanaticism.
“And for the sake of this ideal, any sacrifice is acceptable.”
“Even my own life is the same.”
“…”
Lynn didn’t answer.
He just felt that something was strange.
Judging by the Sage’s true strength, if he wanted to, he could even kill Lynn instantly and snatch the Dragon’s Heart from his hands.
Why bother wasting so many words?
After a brief moment of thought, Lynn let out a long breath.
There was only one possibility.
The Sage before him was not his actual body, but a projection he had sent into this Secret Realm through some method.
In other words, restricted by the rules of the Secret Realm, his current strength would not exceed that of a fourth-rank Mage!
They still had a chance to win!
Thinking of this, Lynn did not hesitate and immediately activated the Dragon’s Heart.
In the next moment, A-Yan’s massive body suddenly appeared in the sky above.
“Yes, that’s it. How beautiful…”
Watching the dragon soar through the air, the Sage’s tone carried a hint of morbid anticipation.
“Scorching Sun… Heart Sunder!”
As Lynn’s voice echoed across the high sky, a massive crimson magic circle quickly formed in front of A-Yan’s mouth.
A moment later, three scorching fire dragons interlaced and flew rapidly toward the Sage.
But before the fire dragons could reach him, another black spear tore through space.
The spear surged toward the three fire dragons, and the moment they touched, the dragons collapsed like they were made of paper.
“What?!”
Seeing this, Lynn couldn’t help but be stunned.
“Why? Why must you ruin this sacred moment?!”
The Sage’s tone became a bit crazed, but then he seemed to realize something and calmed himself down slightly.
“You really are choosing to do things the hard way.”
The Sage shook his head with some regret and gave a slight wave of his hand.
Following that, the spear immediately changed direction, carrying a force that could crush anything in its path as it charged straight for Lynn.
However, just before it struck Lynn, the spear’s speed was suddenly and without warning slowed down drastically.
Then, a golden sword beam completely split the spear apart.
The Sage didn’t seem to expect this sudden turn of events.
As the spear was completely destroyed, he coughed up a mouthful of black blood, caught off guard.
“Miss Livia, Miss Livia! Look! Wasn’t that strike of mine super cool?”
Sophie looked at Livia with eyes full of anticipation.
“Yes, yes, you’re very cool…”
Livia praised her in a very perfunctory manner.
But Sophie still put on a bashful and shy expression, appearing to be very pleased with the compliment.
After spending this much time together, Livia had more or less figured Sophie out.
If she didn’t praise her…
She really might nag her for the entire journey.
Sigh.
Livia let out a nearly imperceptible sigh.
Then, she ran quickly to Lynn’s side and slowly took hold of his hand.
“Sorry I’m late, Mr. Lynn. Are you okay?”
Livia’s tone was filled with worry.
But then, Livia’s brow furrowed slightly.
Because she thought she smelled a particularly annoying scent on Mr. Lynn.
She sniffed carefully, and then she suddenly remembered the owner of that scent.
It was Felica!
Only then did she notice that Felica was currently clutching the corner of Lynn’s clothes, standing right next to him!
Wait, a man and a woman alone…
Before she arrived, just what had that vixen Felica done to Mr. Lynn!