"Miss Muse, you’re so kind."

Ariel smiled shyly, without the slightest hint of restraint. She naturally leaned onto Muen’s back, then extended her two slender arms—so slim they showed no trace of sword training—and gently looped them around Muen’s neck.

Her figure was still as slender and light as ever, thighs long and firm. The only flaw was how utterly flat her chest was—so flat that even in such close contact, the elasticity one could feel was no more than the faint budding of an undeveloped curve.

Small had its advantages, at least. That delicate refinement... wasn’t something Liya, that dairy cow, could ever possess.

Though of course, when she swung a greatsword, “delicate” wasn’t the word—“berserk” was.

Muen tilted his head slightly. Seeing Ariel’s cheeks flushed, her face blooming like peach blossoms, her head resting quietly on his shoulder like a rabbit... the sheer dissonance of it made him momentarily dazed.

"What’s wrong?" Ariel twirled a strand of hair beside her cheek. "Is there something on my face?"

"No, nothing."

Muen hurriedly snapped back to himself.

There was nothing to fuss over. After all, this wasn’t the first time he’d seen this girl’s wounded, fragile side.

"Got a good hold? We’re setting off."

"Mhm."

Muen walked to the entrance of the sealed room.

He pressed his ear against it again, confirming there was no movement from monsters outside for the moment.

Though he hadn’t been awake long, in the previous fight he’d still gained a rough understanding of those monsters whose appearance screamed “unrestrained freedom.”

They were fast.

Not weak in strength.

The claws on their forearms were extremely dangerous.

Though they could only move within that mist, they were numerous—seemingly capable of revival.

Most importantly, their facial expressions influenced human emotions.

Because of this, whenever they wandered, they always produced eerie laughter, low growls, weeping noises and other disturbing sounds.

It was a small blessing in misfortune: thanks to those traits, even if not one hundred percent accurate, one could roughly judge whether an area was temporarily safe.

"By the way, the monsters Ariel faced—there are only two types for now, right?" Muen asked.

"Mhm. If we’re only talking classification, then yes, two types."

Ariel nodded. "The emotion-affecting ghouls, and that huge alchemical golem that suddenly appeared. But by my deduction, both should belong to a single category called Corruptors."

"Corruptors?"

Muen blinked. "You know these monsters?"

"No."

Ariel shook her head lightly. Perhaps because she was pressed so close, her cheek kept inadvertently brushing against Miss Muse’s soft hair.

"It’s just that before coming here, I met a white-haired loli. The term Corruptor came from her."

"A white-haired loli?!"

Muen’s voice shot up.

"What kind of white-haired loli? White stockings, long hair, red eyes, likes wandering around in a pink strawberry pajama set—that kind of white-haired loli?"

"Miss Muse, you really do know her," Ariel said, wearing a look that asked where on earth you met someone that weird. "Pretty much exactly what you described. It should be the same person."

"So it really was that one... Aside from that, what else did she say?"

"Nothing much. Just some things that made no sense."

"Made no sense?"

"Like a riddle-speaker who only says half of everything—makes you really want to punch that pretending-to-be-young loli face."

"Deeply relatable... So did you punch her?"

"No. She didn’t look like someone you could defeat with fists. And old monsters like that are usually petty—better not provoke them casually."

"What a pity..."

Muen clicked his tongue.

So that old disgrace Mela had come here too?

Given he hadn’t managed to see her since leaving the Academy, she must have been plotting something early again. She’d probably already predicted the demonic upheaval here—and hopefully hadn’t deliberately treated him as a lab rat again to test something.

The waters of Gutongs Castle were getting deeper and deeper.

But on the bright side... since that ancient loli also knew his direction of travel and hadn’t stopped him...

"That means... I’m on the right path?"

Then things were simple.

Muen’s eyes sharpened. His hands behind his back suddenly crossed.

As his sleeves brushed together, a faint, extremely subtle metallic sound rang out.

Dim arcs of electricity spread from his sleeves, rapidly enveloping both him and Ariel behind him.

"This is..."

Ariel’s eyes widened in surprise. "An alchemical field?"

"Right. Just a simple alchemical field. It can somewhat isolate the sounds and presence we produce while moving."

Muen brushed it off quickly.

He didn’t want to explain much. His alchemical field had been used in many public settings before—he couldn’t be sure whether Ariel had ever seen it personally.

So this was only a simplified version; even the glow of the arcs was greatly dimmed.

"So amazing. Miss Muse can even do something like this."

"Ariel’s methods surpass mine by far, don’t they? After all—"

Muen suddenly froze.

Damn. He’d followed the conversational flow and started flattering again—but wouldn’t saying that just prove once more he was very familiar with Ariel?

"Haha... no, really. Miss Muse, honestly, I feel like you understand me even better than Liya does?"

As expected, Ariel began wriggling excitedly, like a grub reading the sweetest passage of a romance novel in the dead of night.

Muen’s expression stiffened. He didn’t dare respond at all.

How was he supposed to answer that? Any answer led to death.

So Muen simply focused harder. His fingers flicked; the surrounding light warped, causing both his and Ariel’s figures to gradually blend into the surrounding shadows.

"This is..."

Ariel’s eyes widened even further. "Illumination? How exquisite... A simple illumination spell can actually be taken to this level?"

"Just a basic application. Nothing special," Muen chuckled.

"No, it’s already extraordinary. I’ve seen so many powerful mages, but someone who can use illumination to this degree—I suspect only Miss Muse."

Ariel looked full of admiration.

Powerful, beautiful, and intelligent.

Was there anyone in this world more perfect than Miss Muse?

"Speaking of illumination, though, it reminds me of someone."

Ariel suddenly snorted.

"S-someone?"

"It’s basically a joke known throughout our Academy. Some magic idiot who took an entire semester to learn a single illumination spell—his aptitude was even worse than the professor’s pet cat."

Ariel leaned to Muen’s ear and laughed softly. "Completely incomparable to Miss Muse, don’t you think?"

"...Heh, heh. Y-yes... I suppose..."

Muen’s cheek twitched.

This really was a conversation that couldn’t be had properly.

"Let’s not talk about this for now. We need to start moving."

"Okay."

After replying sweetly, Ariel instantly returned to silence. Only from an angle unseen by others, she stared at Muen’s pale neck, a deep, unreadable gleam flowing through her eyes.

Muen reached the entrance he’d sealed earlier and lightly traced a square with his finger.

Ariel understood immediately. The Skyfire greatsword in her hand slid soundlessly into the stone wall, slicing it like tofu to cut out an opening large enough for the two of them to pass.

Muen stepped forward in sequence, supporting the separated block of stone so /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ it wouldn’t fall and make noise.

"Hiss... so cold."

Once the passage opened, dense chill surged in instantly. The temperature outside the stone house seemed at least twenty degrees lower than inside; the moment Muen poked his head out, frost whitened the edges of his brows.

It seemed even colder than when they’d first arrived.

Fortunately, just as expected, there were no wandering Corruptors nearby.

After scanning around to confirm safety, Muen quickly left the stone house with Ariel on his back and continued toward the direction indicated by the Myriad-Age Cycle branch.

The path remained narrow—far inferior even to Belrand’s Lower District—but relying on his agility and powerful bodily control, Muen still maintained a decent speed.

"Miss Muse," Ariel suddenly whispered by his ear.

From the corner of his eye, Muen glanced—sure enough, at roughly four o’clock, a grinning Corruptor crouched on a rooftop, aimlessly scanning around.

Mist drifted thickly. Most of its form was obscured in haze, yet precisely because of that, the half-visible smiling face was even more chilling.

"What do you think these things resemble?" Muen asked.

"Resemble?"

"Yes. This bizarre appearance, bizarre abilities, and—"

Muen suddenly slipped into the corner of a wall.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The ground trembled faintly. A massive figure was passing along a slightly wider main road.

It was an entirely black alchemical golem, utterly lifeless. Yet as it passed the two of them, both Ariel and Muen could clearly hear, beneath that cold shell, a wet gurgling like writhing flesh.

More importantly, there was a huge slash across the golem’s chest. The wound was gradually shrinking in time with the gurgling—but...

"I clearly dismembered it before," Muen murmured grimly.

At this point the two exchanged a glance, and spoke the same answer in unison:

"Creation of an Evil God."

A grotesque product formed when pollution or power leaked from some Evil God attached itself to these monsters.

That was why they were so hard to kill—or rather... even after being killed, they could revive again.

So far, such things were not rare to Muen. Yet even with his knowledge of many Evil Gods, he couldn’t identify which deity’s authority this strange power came from.

"Strange... Would Shenyi really allow the ground beneath him to be polluted by another Evil God’s power?"

"I’ve been thinking about that too, but I have no clue for now."

"Seems it’s not something we can answer anytime soon."

Muen didn’t dwell on the issue long.

He knew his own level was insufficient; pondering such castle-in-the-air matters was only wasting time.

He focused fully on the present.

"We’re here."

The chain on his wrist trembled slightly.

Following its vibration, Muen slowly raised his arm. His gaze tracked the chain’s floating tip upward...

"This is—"

"What?"

Hearing his surprised voice, Ariel instinctively looked up too—and even her pupils contracted.

Above them.

Mist swirled.

No—when mist was this dense, it could no longer be called mist, but... cloud.

Within this underground space existed an immense, vast, heavy cloud layer.

And at the exact center of that vortex-turning cloud layer stood a four-sided, prism-shaped silver tower—majestic, like a pillar reaching the heavens. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Yet from their perspective, the tower was not standing.

It was... inverted.

"An upside-down tower above our heads. Is that our destination?"

Ariel recovered first. "But how do we get up there?"

Right.

How?

Muen blinked and ventured, "Fly up with magic?"

"I don’t have enough mana left to sustain flight for two people."

Ariel shook her head with a wry smile.

"I see... That’s troublesome."

Muen rubbed his chin, thinking.

Even though Ariel’s expectant gaze behind him was intense, he still wanted to say he didn’t know any flight magic at all.

Sorry for only knowing illumination.

"Wait—this!"

As if recalling something, Muen’s eyes fell again to the chain on his wrist.

If anything could bring them into that tower, it had to be this.

What An had left him—the branch of the Myriad-Age Cycle.

And... thinking carefully, why would the ancient relic called Myriad-Age Cycle possess teleportation at all?

Those densely packed chains didn’t resemble a manifestation of “teleportation.”

Which meant...

"Could it be that teleportation isn’t the Myriad-Age Cycle’s power at all, but just some auxiliary function attached to it?"

Like a one-click home service installed for convenience. This “teleportation” probably wasn’t to arbitrary locations, but to a fixed coordinate.

That coordinate was this tower.

It was just that in that emergency situation, An hadn’t obtained full control of the Myriad-Age Cycle, so she’d only managed to send him halfway.

"Now that we’re this close, you as a branch of the Myriad-Age Cycle should have the ability to bring us in, right?"

Muen tapped the chain lightly. Blood-red runes surfaced, and that ring-like “interface” appeared before his eyes again.

The strange symbols were still hard to grasp, but after earlier fiddling, Muen was far more familiar with it. He flipped rapidly, searching for the inevitably existing hidden function.

"Miss Muse..."

"Don’t worry. I should figure out how to use this thing to get us inside very soon."

"I mean... if you really have a way, please hurry."

"An enemy coming? Ghoul or alchemical golem?" Muen frowned without looking up.

"No. I think... neither."

Ariel lowered her gaze. Following the gooseflesh rising along her arm—and the Skyfire greatsword she’d already raised—she looked into the distance.

There, the mist seemed to have suddenly stopped flowing, congealing in place.

"Something very frightening... is about to arrive."