“Just cooperate with me for a bit. Don’t let him figure out my identity, or else…”
Ayan whispered softly into Lynn’s ear.
The warm breath continued to tease Lynn’s ear, but he only felt a growing chill in his heart.
After all, her mischievous little hand was already resting on the soft flesh of his waist.
“Uh, true… true,” Lynn said with a bitter smile.
“I see. Big Brother, you and Sister-in-law really are… a talented man and a beautiful woman, a match made in heaven.”
Aldro’s right eyelid twitched incessantly.
‘Is this what a powerhouse is? Not only is his strength superior, but even his taste is so… seasoned and unique.’
However, Aldro had the self-awareness of a good underling.
Since she was his Big Brother’s woman, it wasn’t his place to ask too many questions.
As for why she looked familiar, he was probably just seeing things.
“Forgive me, Sister-in-law. Please overlook the offense in my words just now,” Aldro said, a hint of bitterness in his voice.
But Ayan barely heard a word of it.
Her mind was filled with the title “Sister-in-law.”
A flush of red gradually climbed onto her cheeks, and a strange, indescribable feeling welled up in Ayan’s heart.
“Did you hear that, Lynn? He called me Sister-in-law.”
Ayan pinched Lynn’s cheek, her tone filled with irrepressible joy.
“All right, all right, get down first…” Lynn said helplessly.
To be honest, being pinched by her out of the blue really hurt.
“Eh? Does Darling hate Ayan now?”
Ayan’s watery eyes blinked, looking harmless, but in reality, her mischievous little hand was already increasing its pressure.
Lynn’s right eyelid twitched, and a bitter smile appeared on his face.
Seeing the couple’s affectionate display, Aldro couldn’t help but sigh.
Even with such immense power, Big Brother still doted on his wife.
This… this was truly… a role model for their generation!
While Aldro was still frantically worshipping Lynn in his mind, a voice, half-husky and half-clear, suddenly echoed through the small cave.
“It seems I haven’t arrived at a very good time.”
Then, a figure wearing a white mask slowly appeared at the entrance of the cave.
Immediately afterward, the light from the campfire began to flicker erratically. It was the Sage.
The moment he saw him, Aldro clenched his fists.
‘This guy again…’
But then, he immediately realized this was his chance to show off in front of Big Brother!
He had to avenge the humiliation from that previous sword strike!
Thinking this, Aldro slowly stood up.
He pulled out the greatsword that had been thrust deep into the ground and blocked Lynn, who was about to step forward.
“I’ll handle him.”
With that, a powerful aura gradually radiated from Aldro.
His silver-white armor was instantly covered by thick, black dragon scales, and an air of murderous intent suddenly manifested around him.
Based on his previous experience fighting the Sage, the opponent’s strength was equivalent to only a Tier 4 Mage in human ranks.
It was primarily the energy he manipulated that was far too strange.
As long as he could dodge the attacks of that energy, beating this guy to a pulp would be no problem at all!
If he hadn’t been careless earlier and failed to dodge, would he have really fought to a draw with such a character?
At that thought, Aldro gradually regained his confidence.
He raised his greatsword and pointed the blade at the Sage.
He had a premonition that this would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform.
Therefore, he had to put on a grand show in front of Big Brother and let him know how reliable he was!
“We meet again, ant,” Aldro sneered, his voice full of disdain.
“This time, I’ll give you 5 seconds to think of your last words.”
“Last words?” The Sage slowly lowered his head, resting his chin in his hand as he thought seriously for a moment.
“Have we met somewhere before?”
The Sage’s tone was sincere, devoid of any sarcasm.
He truly did not remember ever meeting Aldro.
Perhaps while searching for Lynn, this person had blocked his path.
But that didn’t matter; the Sage had never taken him seriously.
The moment Aldro heard those words, his face turned pale with rage.
He felt like his dignity had been completely shredded.
The infuriated Aldro no longer held back his strength.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished from his spot.
“Die!”
A moment later, following a flash of a black afterimage, Aldro appeared in front of the Sage.
He then raised his greatsword, and the image of a black dragon gradually materialized above the blade.
He swung down.
The massive black dragon immediately charged toward the Sage with a force capable of destroying everything in its path.
Clang!
A crisp sound of metal clashing rang out.
The moment the black dragon collided with the Sage, the surrounding space seemed to ripple.
However, as the black dragon vanished, the Sage remained standing in place, completely unharmed.
Lynn immediately sensed that compared to the previous projection, this one had an additional defensive spell.
Under Aldro’s full-strength strike, the shield produced by the defensive magic only flickered once.
“What?!”
Aldro was astonished to see his full-power blow seemingly hit a pile of cotton.
A second time, then a third… After several attacks, Aldro’s stamina was completely depleted, and he still hadn’t managed to break through the Sage’s defense.
Looking at the unharmed Sage, the weakened Aldro suddenly felt like he had run out of tricks and it was time to retreat.
‘I’m really burnt out, Brother.’ Aldro turned to look at Lynn with a bit of bitterness.
“Is it my turn now?”
The Sage took only a single step forward, and the ground beneath his feet began to decay without warning.
Then, several black tentacles gradually grew from the corrupted earth.
With just a casual swing, the already weakened Aldro was swatted into the rock wall, knocking him unconscious.
Lynn watched silently from behind, beginning to understand what trick the Sage had prepared for him this time.
What surrounded him was no longer an ordinary defensive spell.
It was a damn hit-count shield!
He figured that in their last encounter, the Sage had figured him out and knew he was a glass cannon.
The best way to counter a glass cannon wasn’t to be an even bigger cannon, but to use a hit-count shield to negate the glass cannon’s full-strength strike!
‘What a character.’
Lynn’s brow furrowed.
Ayan hopped off him, her face serious.
“As I expected, even after being thrown into Sleeping Dragon Valley, you wouldn’t die so easily, Mr. Lynn,” the Sage spoke slowly.
“I must admit, as an opponent, you are truly unlike any I have ever seen. Perhaps we might have even had a chance to become best friends. However, because you took the [Dragon Heart] and obstructed our noble plan…”
The Sage reached out his hand toward Lynn.
“Therefore, please die.”
With those words, several slimy tentacles instantly transformed into sharp blades and lunged toward Lynn.
Lynn instinctively shielded Ayan behind him.
Then, the [Purple Epic] rank Chess Piece [Last Wish] appeared in his hand.
He prepared to whittle down the Sage’s hit-count shield first.
But a moment later, as Ayan watched Lynn shielding her, she suddenly felt a daze.
‘Wait, this scene…’
Ayan’s crimson pupils constricted.
In her trance, the figure of that man who had shielded her and saved her 1,000 years ago gradually overlapped with the current Lynn.
Ayan’s limpid, autumn-water eyes shimmered with tears.
‘It’s him. I will never mistake him again. Have you come back for me? If that’s the case… why have you been unwilling to recognize me from the very beginning?’