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A black sun against a blood-red sky.

A huge black ancient castle sat silently at the heart of a deserted field, like a beast that was waiting for the arrival of its prey.

The walls were covered with vines, making the castle seem like it had been abandoned for a long time. However, a light flickering could be seen through a window on the highest floor.

A girl with long white hair stood by the window in a black dress.

She was gazing into the distance, at the flame that was burning on the horizon.

“This place never changes. The stillness and peacefulness are reassuring. I like it here. I just want to stay here… with the person who is important to me. But why? Why do people keep disturbing this wonderful dream of mine?”

There was no response.

The girl suddenly raised her head to look at the black sun.

Her fine eyebrows furrowed slightly.

“That fluctuation again. Why does it make me feel so afraid?”

Her eyes turned frosty.

“In any case, this must be resolved quickly. The fire mustn’t reach here. Otherwise, I won’t be able to save this place even when I’m in my best condition. After all, not even this power can change everything. I’ve lost everything and I will never let that happen again.”
“Cornelia~”

The girl turned her head. The frost in her eyes instantly melted, then replaced by warmth and tenderness.

“Mom, I’m here…”
“Sheesh, it’s cold tonight. Why did you come all the way here?”

A gentle-looking middle-aged woman appeared in front of the girl and gently embraced her.

“Don’t catch a cold now, my little baby.”
“Mom, why are you treating me like a child again?”

The girl pouted so adorably that the middle-aged woman couldn’t stop herself from tapping her nose lightly.

“Right, right. Our little Cornelia is a fine lady now. When are you going to bring a boyfriend home?” the middle-aged woman teased.

“What are you talking about, mom? I’m only fourteen!”
“Didn’t you just tell me that you’re not a child anymore?”
“But that’s…”

The girl stuck her tongue out mischievously. “I don’t really care. I don’t need a boyfriend. All I want is mom and dad.”

The middle-aged woman stroked the girl’s head with a smile. “But mom and dad won’t be able to take care of you forever.”

“Of course not. I’ll be the one taking care of you in the future.”
“Haha, seems like our little Cornelia is indeed all grown up. Come, it’s time for dinner. Dad is waiting.”
“Alright.”

The woman took the girl’s hand and led her downstairs. The moment they exited the room, the girl suddenly looked back.

Her face was as cold as ice.

Shiloah bowed respectfully at the window and silently mouthed at her, “Leave everything to me…”

………

………

Meanwhile at the natural cave which was made into the temporary headquarters by the combat team unit that would fight Golden Demon Htilil…

The group that had originally banded together to hunt down the Golden Demon were all worn out and looking pathetic before they even set out.

Dozens of seriously injured people were wailing on the ground. White mages were already scarce to begin with and now they were all occupied with healing the injured.

Durance slammed his fist on the stone table angrily. “Damn! What was that?!”

He had every reason to be upset. The group wasn’t even done discussing the plan to deal with Golden Demon Htilil when they were suddenly teleported to the entrance of a huge castle out of the blue, and were then greeted by a hundred-meter tall giant skeleton that came out from the castle.

Although they managed to defeat the giant skeleton, they suffered heavy losses. No one died, but their combat power was reduced by at least one-fifth.

This undoubtedly made their already challenging task even more challenging.

And now, they were suddenly transported back into the cave again. This strange phenomenon in the ancient ruins shook many people to their cores.

“How would I know?” President Diana put her hands up in the air helplessly. “Don’t forget, we’re in the ancient ruins. Anything can happen.”

“Tsk, we haven’t even laid a finger on Golden Demon Htilil’s hair and we have lost important combat power. How can we even carry on like this?”

Durance was speechless. For someone who had always been at the top, this situation obviously dealt a huge blow to his self-esteem.

“Looks like it’s all your fault. We wouldn’t have suffered such a heavy loss if it hadn’t been for the mistake in your command just now.”

“Hmph, if it weren’t for my command, you would have been crushed by that giant skeleton!”

Durance didn’t even bother to maintain his demeanor. He narrowed his eyes in irritation at Rosdell’s provocation, looking like he was going to draw his sword and fight him at any moment.

“Enough. We should be thinking about what to do next. This is not the time to fight each other,” Diana intervened to stop both of them.

After this battle, Diana’s reputation grew even more among her peers.

With her interruption, Durance and Rosdell suppressed their urge to fight each other.

“What should we do then?” Rosdell huffed.

“I think it’s no longer realistic to fight against the Golden Demon in this situation.”

Diana sighed. “I don’t want to admit this but based on our coordination in dealing with the giant skeleton earlier, our remaining combat power and the feedback from Coleman on Htilil’s strength, I think it’s very difficult for us to defeat her.”

“What then?”

“This ruins is still full of mysteries. To be on the safe side, let’s give up on defeating the Golden Demon for now. We should instead focus on rescuing the princess and then retreat to recover and reconsider our next plan.”

“Retreat?” The expression on Lucas’ face changed. “But we haven’t found any treasure yet! How can we return like this?”

Diana slapped Lucas on the back of his smooth head angrily. “Which one is more important, your life or treasure?”

“Life… of course.”

“But without anything to bring back, I think half of my life is as good as gone,” Lucas sighed dejectedly.

Diana’s cheek twitched in annoyance. She then turned to Durance, “Do you have any brilliant plan on rescuing the princess?”

Durance shook his head. “I don’t have any brilliant plan, but I do have a plan.”

“Stop wasting time, spill it.”

Durance drew his rapier. The shiny blade cast rainbow flowers-like patterns on the stone table.

Lucas couldn’t help but exclaim, “As expected of Golden Flash. Are you thinking of cutting the Golden Demon Htilil into thousands of pieces with your blade and save the princess?”

“No, I’m just drawing a map.”

“……”

Durance returned his rapier into its sheath, then pointed to a place on the simple map that was pretty much made up of a few lines.

“To rescue the princess, we must first infiltrate a place that isn’t far from the target. According to Coleman and the rest, there is a dense jungle here. This is the only natural barrier around the aboriginal villages, but it also provides us a place to hide. So, we just have to sneak into this jungle…”

……

………

“…As long as we set up a large number of traps in this jungle, we can hold off the black devils for some time.”

Lesiah pointed at a place on the simple map in front of her with a branch, then looked up at Lilith. “This is the only place around the Titans village that can act as a barrier. This is our only option.”

“Hmm…” Lilith stroked her chin. “What kind of traps then?”

“Leave that to me.”

Lesiah smiled confidently, “After all, I’m an expert in that area.”