Four hourster, in the skies above the Valley of Life and Death, a metallic gray falcon flew by. After making a dive, it suddenly disappeared in the air.


    At the same time, two figures steadilynded on the ground.


    "Are you deliberately taking advantage of me?"


    Contrary to most expectations, the one to utter that phrase was none other than Char himself.


    At this moment, Her Majesty the Queen was hanging on to him like a ko bear, unwilling to budge.


    "Let go,e on... Hey, passenger who bought a ticket, you''ve arrived at your stop."


    "Hmph..." Reluctantly, Lucius let go.


    "Now, can you tell me what that thing is?" She pointed to the sky and asked.


    She was referring to "Little Bee" that had flown the two of them here. It was the weakest member of the Sky Guards of the Second Era with a status roughly equivalent to gravel in reinforced concrete. It was inconspicuous but yed an extremely important role, serving as both a wingman and cannon fodder, and in necessary situations could evenunch a suicide attack that was impossible to defend against.


    "That''s a specialty of Ravend. If Your Majesty likes it, give me a hundredborers and I''ll get you whatever you want." Char continued to flirt shamelessly.


    "I''m asking you why it disappeared, I''m not asking you to take my men from me! So, is that the Mechanic''s Pseudo Divine Space? "


    "It seems that Corex and Robin, who were captured by you to be your aides, are doing their work." Charmented.


    The two were Mushmen who failed to escape to the surface and had to "rely" on Lucius, bing her technical consultants in the process. However, because they would rather die than receive lower pay, they really did dieter.


    They were definitely role models for the working ss.


    Receiving no proper response, and having been bored by the topic, Lucius did not ask any more questions.


    Ever since the information regarding Ivanhilde had been passed to Char, thetter had changed his strategy from seeking stability to taking the initiative.


    Thanks to Little Bee''s excellent anti-reconnaissance and flying abilities, the two of them located a patch of soil that was stained red with blood on their way here. They followed the smell of blood that had yet to dissipate to their current location.


    Fortunately, Char''s Mage level was high enough, otherwise, his mana would not havested so long. After all, all machines that were taken out of the Blue Moon space relied on his mana to operate, and they ignored any other form of energy sources. Little Bee was a flying device that consumed the least amount of mana to operate.


    ...


    "This should be the ce."


    Char stood by a waterfall and looked down, but he was met with pitch back darkness. Only the sound of the running water hitting the hollow rock wall could be heard.


    "Your Majesty, can you grant me the ''Honor'' buff?" Char turned around and asked.


    "Is this the attitude you should have when you''re asking for help?"


    "Haha... I''ll leave it to you to decide then."


    "Hmph!"


    Although she was dissatisfied with his attitude, her body acted honestly.


    Lucius reluctantly walked over and took the sword he offered, tiptoed and lightly tapped Char''s shoulders with the de.


    "I hereby bestow thee supreme Honor," she said warmly.


    At the same time, a projection of a crown seemed to sh above the Queen''s head. A purple Halo spread out andpletely entered Char''s body when it touched him.


    Then, a powerful buff appeared in Char''s status bar.


    [ Rose''s Blessing : When within 1000 meters of the wearer of the Rose Crown, receive a level 7 night vision bonus, a level 5 stealth level bonus, a 30% increase in the power of all Shadow Samurai series skills, a 50% reduction in mana consumption, and a 50% reduction in side effects when using Bestowment Extrication. ]


    [ The aura is only effective for one person and has a cooldown of 72 hours. ]


    This was equivalent to concentrating the Rose Crown''s effect which was usually cast for an entire army onto a single person, usually the Queen''s trump card.


    It was said that when Empress Laurel was exiled, herst Shadow Samurai, who had died of exhaustion, had cut down more than half of the Queen''s guards. It was said that most of the people who received the aura would die in battle.


    With the level 7 night vision buff, to Char, his current surroundings were no different from daytime.


    "As expected, there have been people here. From the traces on the ground, there were two rows of people that traveled on both sides of the road. The distance between each row was around 40 meters, and it seems that a dozen or so of them had left their lines as if to move something... Hmm, interesting, they maintain an orderly conduct even when moving those items. This group of people are quite something." Charmented.


    "So, Joshua is probably dead?"


    "Well, not necessarily. I actually think there''s a greater chance that old guy is still alive."


    "Why?"


    "It''s simple. Based on the clues we''ve found, there was no mutiny in the army. Managing Prince Flowerblossom''s business is no joke. Even with Ivanhilde and the Copper Street people''s skills, if there were a mutiny, even Prisilia would have a hard time restraining the army without bloodshed. Moreover, the blood we saw before was not from the fighting between two armies, but more like a makeshift execution ground..."


    Lucius paused, thinking. "You mean... They epted apromise?"


    Char''s eyes lit up. "Yes, apromise. What then?"


    Lucius narrowed her eyes and thought. "Old Maimon has been killed by you, and Lord Bloom has gone missing for a long time. As you had mentioned, the only leader left within this rebellion group is Joshua. During the time he was away, Prisilia could easily control the army, but she could not strip Joshua of his power..."


    "Yep, she was only able to maintain control until Joshua returned," Char added.


    "Right. Maybe even she didn''t expect that I would release Joshua so soon."


    Lucius smiled cunningly.


    "ording to Astro''s description of the Crystal Illusory Snake, Prince Joshua is highly likely to have awakened by the time he returns, and he will inevitably trigger a conflict with Prisilia... It''s at this point where Ivanhilde wille in handy. Haha, poor Joshua, who was just held hostage by you in front of two armies not long ago, probably would not expect bing a prisoner again upon returning to his base camp..."


    "Hey, tell me, is my prediction correct?"


    She looked at Char expectantly.


    "Even if it were me, I couldn''t have done any better."


    Char responded with a subtlepliment, then lowered his head and focused on the school of fish tumbling under the waterfall.


    The piranhas in the river of life, Aisuna, were huddled together because of the delicious meals offered to them. These terrifying beasts, which can bite through standard long swords and had levels up to level 45 were truly fearsome foes.


    Using their teeth as arrowheads would result in the arrows dealing more damage than standard iron arrowheads.


    However, they were very picky with their food and were not interested in living or dead people. Their favorite meal were bodies of those that had just died.


    Ordinary people would never even think that a river full of piranhas would turn out to be the best hiding ce.


    Char mumbled to himself.


    While standing behind Char, Lucius watched as Char bent down at the edge of the cliff as if he was considering which angle he should descend to achieve maximum discement.


    A single kick from behind would send anyone falling off...


    Lucius thought maliciously.


    Perhaps her vengeful attitude was rted to their experiences along the way. Or maybe there was an inexplicable connection with Evelyn''s arrival, but she was unwilling to admit it.


    Before meeting Evelyn, she always thought that she and Char were just using each other. Her behaviors towards him — seduction, coquetry, and teasing, were just pranks.


    However, Char was even more skilled in responding to those behaviors than she was. The two of them yed along the line between healthy and unhealthy, crazily testing the possibility of this book being censored.


    This was indeed an interesting form ofmunication.


    It was a pity that ever since Evelyn''s arrival, Lucius could sense that Char was clearly trying to draw a line between them.


    In other words, Char would try his best to avoid contact with her, and had even cut down on his jokes.


    To think that throughout their entire ride here, he had not even touched her once!


    While she was ridiculing the other party''s hypocrisy, there was also an indescribable feeling manifesting in the depths of her heart...


    It was like a sense of loss, yet also a sense of unwillingness to ept it.


    ...


    "Hey, what are you thinking about?"


    Char waved his hand and interrupted Lucius'' thoughts.


    "Are you thinking of kicking me down?"


    "Hmph..."


    Having her thoughts exposed, she snorted nomittally and chose to remain silent.


    After all the time they had spent together and all the defeats she had taken, she knew that remaining silent was best.


    "Forget it, let''s go."


    Char dusted off his hands nonchntly and walked towards the resting ce of the Nightingales. Just as Lucius was about to follow, however, a low rumble suddenly echoed in her ears.


    What?


    Brrrrrrrrrrrr—


    Almost simultaneously, the two rings on Lucius'' fingers lit up, and a tangible light instantly spread throughout her body, weaving a thin, iron-like protectiveyer as strong as a cicada''s wings.


    ng!


    The crisp sound of metal colliding seemed to overshadow the sound of the roaring waterfall in that instant. Before Lucius could react, she was violently pushed forward by a great force, like a cannonball, and shot forward.


    What''s going on?


    Amidst her shock, a pair of eyes full of killing intent suddenly appeared in her vision.


    It was Ivanhilde!


    The stiff, expressionless face, swollen and whitened from being soaked in water for too long, looked nothing like a living person. But the killing intent in the eyes was as if it had returned to that night at the Pleasure Pce 46 years ago, when he used up hisst bit of strength to turn his head and look back as six Shadow Samurai''s long swords pierced his body from different directions!


    He looked like a grim reaper!


    The memories hidden deep in Lucius'' heart were suddenly brought back to life, as the murky memories resurfaced in her mind.


    It was as if all the images in the world had disappeared, leaving only the pair of eyes staring straight at her.


    In an instant, she lost her ability to think, and even the thought of escape was overshadowed by fear!


    Suddenly, a deafening scream exploded in Lucius'' ear like thunder —


    "Wake up!"


    With a jolt, Lucius regained consciousness.


    "I''m still alive..."


    With relief, Lucius realized that the intense gaze in front of her was not directed at her with murderous intent. The previous attack triggered the shield on the Queen''s body, but did not block the psychic spell that triggered her fear of Ivanhilde.


    Although the Rose Crown could block most mind spells, it could not erase her fear of Ivanhilde that was like a seed that would grow rapidly once it got a little bit of sunlight and water.


    This was the reason why she had fallen prey to the mental attack.


    But the voice that woke her up...


    Turning her head, she saw a " huge box " covered in ck mesh facing her. The voice seemed to being from there.


    As soon as she saw the item, Lucius felt a slight pain in her ears.